STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday May 30

[ozymandius]

Source: DU

Wednesday May 30, 2007

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 600 LONG DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2338 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2050 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2011
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 9
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 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 May 29, 2007

Dow... 13,521.34 +14.06 (+0.10%)
Nasdaq... 2,572.06 +14.87 (+0.58%)
S&P 500... 1,518.11 +2.38 (+0.16%)
Gold future... 663.40 +2.00 (+0.30%)
30-Year Bond 5.01% +0.01 (+0.12%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.88% +0.02 (+0.43%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

---

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

---

Read more: DU

[UpInArms]

1. dollar watch

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

Last trade 82.400 Change +0.069 (+0.08%)

US Dollar: Reversals in the Dow and in Carry Trades

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/US_Dollar__Reversals_in_the_1180477220192.html

We saw major reversals in the financial markets today. Not only did the US dollar erase all of its losses against every major currency with the exception of the Japanese Yen, the Dow also reversed nearly all of its gains. The major volatility in the financial markets has been triggered by one thing and that is fear. In the first half of the European trading session, demand for carry trades returned with a vengeance taking EUR/JPY to a fresh record high and CHF/JPY to an 8 year high. When US consumer confidence came out much stronger than expected, the dollar began to take off. The strength was so widespread that for a brief moment USD/JPY rallied in lockstep with USD/CHF. Unfortunately, the stock market / carry trade relationship is too dominant to suppress. When the stock market reversed its gains around noontime, USD/JPY also reversed, despite the fact that the dollar continued to rally against the Euro and British pound. The trigger for the reversal was another attempt by China to cool the rapidly growing stock market. With the Shanghai stock index hitting another record high last night, the government tripled its stamp tax on stock trading. Having just increased interest rates, widened the Yuan trading band and increased reserve requirements 2 weeks ago, the government is clearly becoming very anxious with the stock market’s unstoppable rise. The hope is that the stamp tax will reduce the amount of trading, but with a tax of 3 in a thousand, the increase may only have a limited impact on the Chinese market in the long term. In the short term however with the Chinese stock market, US stock market and carry trades extremely overbought, this could be a trigger for some further unwinding. This will all depend on how the Chinese markets behave tonight. A big reaction in Asia will trigger a bigger reaction in the US, but at the same time, we need to see that reaction first because the Chinese appetite for risk should not be underestimated. Meanwhile, it is important to point out that the S&P/Case-Schiller house price index dropped for the first time in 15 years, which is further evidence of the vulnerability of the housing market. This week is non-farm payrolls week and tomorrow’s ADP employment index is one of our first leading indicators for payrolls. A strong number could extend the dollar’s rally as well as hawkish FOMC minutes from the March 9th meeting.

...more...

Forex - Dollar pushes higher after upside US consumer confidence surprise

http://www.forextelevision.com/FT/AFX/ShowStory.jsp?seq=218522

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - The dollar pared some earlier losses against its major competitors, bar Canada's currency, after a stronger than anticipated survey into consumer confidence in the US reinforced market expectations that the US Federal Reserve will not be cutting interest rates any time soon.

The New York-based Conference Board said its consumer confidence index rose to 108.0 in May, from an upwardly-revised 106.3 in April.

The consensus of analysts polled by Thomson Financial News was for a rise in the May reading to 104.8 from April's original eight month low of 104.

The news immediately helped push the euro back below the 1.35 usd mark it had settled for most of the trading day.

The Conference Board's survey kicks off a week of reckoning for the dollar, with the market set to make crucial decisions about the near-term outlook for US interest rates in the wake of a raft of crucial economic data, most notably Friday's non-farm payrolls report for May.

"Recent data from the US has tended to surprise on the upside and the US employment report should hold the whip hand for expectations for rates, equities, bonds and the dollar in the near term," said David Brown, chief European economist at Bear Stearns.

...more...

[mojavekid]

18. Daily Pfennig 5/30/07: Bank of Canada Returns to the Hawkish Team

http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=1410

The currencies got off to a weaker start in this holiday-shortened week after Consumer Confidence printed even stronger than expected. Overnight we've had some stock moves in China that are spooking the markets, and further dollar strength. This Consumer Confidence thing really gives me a rash, but I carry on despite the dolt mentality of Confident Consumers...

Never mind that gas prices are going through the roof.... Never mind that house prices are falling through the floor... Never mind that the subprime market is gone, and that mortgage rates have risen... What we have here is a failure to communicate! But that's all I'm going to say on this, because I don't want to get my blood pressure out of whack!

OK... So the dollar gained on the news throughout the day... Overnight we had a weak Industrial Production figure from Japan, which was surprising to me... And this has further strengthened the dollar... So... This MAY be the week of the dollar... Personal Consumption looks to be stronger when it prints tomorrow, and the "experts" are forecasting a robust 175K new jobs created in the Jobs Jamboree on Friday. So.... If all that plays out, then I expect the dollar to continue to strengthen this week...

more...

[ozymandius]

2. Today's Market WrapUp

Tempting Fate
The Return of the Bear -- Part II
BY FRANK BARBERA, CMT

Okay, so we know the market has had a huge advance, and that at the moment it is simply not fashionable to discuss the possibility of a Bear Market. We also know that more often that not, the proverbial discussion of whether or not a market has “turned into a bear” doesn’t normally evolve until prices are down more than 10% from the highs. A lot of good that does most investors!

If you are like most investors, it may be hard to see prices on a stock or a fund tick up month after month, reach a “high-water mark” and then start ticking relentlessly lower. At first you want to be patient during a decline on the belief that the decline is “short-term” in nature, and that a recovery rally could be just around the corner. When that fails to materialize and instead prices continue to decline, most of us then resort to stronger, less plausible doses of HOPE, or DENIAL, moving to the psychology that “if prices would just recover a bit, then it might be easier for me to get out.”

The trick in avoiding some of these serious pit falls is to at least have some idea as to whether or not the market could be near an important cyclical high in the first place so you can begin to properly raise your guard. While we would never suggest front-running or pre-judging the market (selling before it breaks trend), it is nevertheless helpful if one starts with an understanding of where major cyclical peaks begin from, as once a major cyclical peak is seen, a sustained and protracted downturn can begin and continue in unyielding fashion. Contrary to popular opinion, major tops do not develop ‘over night,’ and usually they develop with lots of warning flags flying, at least if you know what to look for.

-cut-

Because the market has had a long-term growth bias, the RSI has a similar tendency to display an upward ‘scale shift,’ shifting up from the more traditional +70 to +30 overbought/oversold lines which work well on both daily and weekly charts. Focusing on the lower clip, we note that at present, the 9 Month RSI for the DJIA currently stands at a reading of +78.53, which represents the 67th most overbought monthly reading ever seen. That means we are in the top 6% of most overbought monthly readings heading into the end of May. Now a funny thing happens with the monthly RSI. We went back and looked at the majority of major peaks, and with one or two exceptions almost all of them peaked with readings below +82. As it turns out, usually, if the RSI gauge on the monthly chart moves above +82.00, it normally implies extra-ordinary levels of momentum, the kind of bullish kick off that would be seen in the early and middle phases of a bull market. As a result, readings as high as +82 and above on the monthly RSI imply a lot of upside momentum in the market and even higher prices to come. Of the top 69 readings above +75, 24 were above +82 (relatively rare –only 2% of the broader total 1106), while 45 of 69 were between +75 and +82.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[UpInArms]

3. Chinese shares slumps 6.5 percent after trading tax rises

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20070530/bs_afp/stockschina

SHANGHAI (AFP) - Chinese share prices slumped 6.5 percent Wednesday after taxes on share transactions were raised in the government's latest effort to curb the nation's booming stock markets.

They said the hike in stamp duties from 0.1 percent to 0.3 percent had an immediate psychological impact on investors who chose to lock in profits after a sustained record breaking run.

However, the ultimate effect would likely be moderate with no reversal of the upward trend given continued fund inflows as investors seek higher returns than those available on bank deposits and a stronger yuan, they added.

Turnover was again very heavy, running at some 57 billion dollars to put the market nearly on a par with Wall Street, the world's largest bourse.

The fall was the biggest since a near 9.0 percent plunge in late February in Shanghai sparked by rumours the government would introduce a capital gains tax on stocks.

...more...

[ozymandius]

6. Stocks point lower on China market drop

NEW YORK - Stocks pointed to a sharply lower opening Wednesday as investors responded to a plunge in Chinese stocks and grew wary ahead of the Federal Reserve's release of minutes from its latest meeting.

Most on Wall Street were hoping the minutes, scheduled to be made public at 2 p.m., would indicate that policy makers are leaning more toward a rate cut by the end of the year than a rate hike.

Meanwhile, a tumble in Chinese stocks rippled through the global markets. When Beijing tripled a tax on stock trading to cool the country's market boom, the main Shanghai Composite Index dropped 6.5 percent and the Shenzhen Composite Index for China's smaller second market slid 7.2 percent.

The retreats in other Asian and European markets did not appear as dramatic as on Feb. 27, when investors around the world recoiled at a 9 percent slide in the Shanghai index.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070530/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

[ozymandius]

4. Today's Reports

10:30 AM Crude Inventories 05/25
Briefing Forecast NA
Market Expects NA
Prior 1969K

2:00 PM FOMC Minutes May 9

[ozymandius]

5. Oil prices rebound in Asian trading

SINGAPORE - Oil prices rebounded Wednesday after plunging by more than $2 a barrel overnight as developments in major oil producers Iran and Nigeria eased geopolitical concerns.

Traders were eyeing the release Thursday of the U.S. government's weekly fuel supply snapshot, which was expected to show higher gasoline stockpiles.

-cut-

"The $2 drop yesterday is not necessarily the beginning of a downward trend, so some market participants view the moment as a buying opportunity," said Victor Shum, energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore.

The Nymex July crude contract dropped $2.05 to settle at $63.15 a barrel Tuesday on hopes that the inauguration of a new president in OPEC member Nigeria would contribute to a stable supply from the Niger Delta region.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[UpInArms]

7. Homebuilder Pulte to cut 1,900 jobs

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/pulte_cuts

DETROIT - Facing a grim housing market, Pulte Homes Inc. said Tuesday that it is cutting about 16 percent of its work force, or about 1,900 jobs, as part of a restructuring.

Pulte, one of the nation's leading homebuilders, said the restructuring will save an estimated $200 million a year before taxes.

"The homebuilding environment remains difficult, and our current overhead levels are structured for a business that is larger than the market presently allows," Richard J. Dugas Jr., president and chief executive, said in a news release.

Pulte said it expects to take pretax charges of $40 million to $50 million for the restructuring, mostly in the second quarter of 2007.

Bloomfield Hills-based Pulte reported losses of $85.7 million, or 33 cents a share, and revenue of $1.9 billion in the first quarter of 2007. It earned $262.6 million for the same period last year, or $1.01 per share, on revenues of $3 billion.

It had about 11,900 workers before the cuts, down from 12,400 employees in 2006 and 13,400 in 2005.

...more...

[ozymandius]

8. Borders Group 1Q loss widens

DETROIT - Losses are growing for the book retailer Borders Group Inc. as it faces a difficult sales environment and a shortage of exciting new releases.

The company said it lost $35.9 million, or 61 cents per share, in its fiscal first quarter ending May 5, compared with a loss of $20.2 million, or 31 cents per share, in the prior year quarter.

Excluding costs for store closings and other nonrecurring items, Borders said it lost $29.9 million, or 51 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial, who typically estimate earnings excluding items, forecast a loss of 38 cents per share.

The sales environment is "more challenging than we anticipated," the company's chief executive, George Jones, said in a news release Tuesday. He said the results were in line with the company's own internal projections.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070530/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_borders_group

[UpInArms]

9. Supreme Court Injustice: Alito limits lawsuits for pay bias

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/scotus_pay_discrimination

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Tuesday limited workers' ability to sue for pay discrimination, ruling against a Goodyear employee who earned thousands of dollars less than her male counterparts but waited too long to complain.

The 5-4 decision underscored a provision in a federal civil rights law that sets a 180-day deadline for employees to claim they are being paid less because of their race, sex, religion or national origin.

Without a deadline, Justice Samuel Alito wrote for the court, employers would find it difficult to defend against claims "arising from employment decisions that are long past."

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, writing in dissent for the court's liberal members, urged Congress to amend the law to correct the court's "parsimonious reading" of it.

Lilly Ledbetter, a longtime supervisor at Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.'s plant in Gadsden, Ala., said sex discrimination was behind a series of decisions that left her pay significantly below that of men who performed similar work.

...more...

[ozymandius]

10. Zoellick to be nominated to World Bank

WASHINGTON - Robert Zoellick, a Goldman Sachs executive who has built contacts around the globe as President Bush's trade chief and as the country's No. 2 diplomat, is the White House's choice to be the next World Bank president.

Bush was to announce the decision Wednesday, according to a senior administration official who spoke on condition of anonymity in advance of Bush's announcement.

Zoellick, 53, would succeed Paul Wolfowitz, who is stepping down June 30 after findings by a special bank panel that he broke bank rules when he arranged a hefty compensation package in 2005 for his girlfriend, Shaha Riza, a bank employee.

-cut-

A seasoned veteran of politics both inside the Beltway and on the international stage, Zoellick is known for pulling facts and figures off the top of his head. He also has a reputation for being a demanding boss.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070530/ap_on_go_pr_wh/world_bank_bush

No doubt Zoellick will work very hard at keeping the world's poor just that way.

[UpInArms]

11. U.S. private payrolls up a measly 97,000 in May: ADP

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/adp-survey-shows-private-sector-payrolls/story.aspx?guid=%7B38071F25%2DD716%2D4C5E%2D86A2%2D43A8C483CFE9%7D&dist=

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. private-sector jobs grew by 97,000 in May, according to the ADP employment report released Wednesday. The report suggests U.S. nonfarm payrolls rose about 123,000 in May after adding in government jobs, a bit less than the 150,000 estimated by economists surveyed by MarketWatch. The nonfarm payrolls figure will be released on Friday. In May, services-producing jobs increased by 120,000, while goods-producing jobs fell by 23,000, ADP said. Manufacturing firms cut 10,000 jobs, the least since November. Large businesses added 8,000 jobs in May, the first increase since November. Small businesses added 58,000 workers, and medium-sized companies added 31,000.

[UpInArms]

12. Check out this article on foreclosures:

I have wondered and wondered how anyone could not understand "adjustable rate mortgages" meaning that the rate adjusts. Well, I finally found an answer and it is a whopper!

http://www.kccall.com/article.cfm?articleid=1251

excerpt:

Many subprime loans come in the form of an annual rate mortgage (ARM), she said.

In an annual rate mortgage, the loan’s interest rate increases after a specified number of years.

“(Most borrowers) don’t realize that they have an ARM only until after that loan was due,” Griffin said. “There needs to be an awakening. The mortgage industry needs to bring a greater level of of information to the public. The less you know, the more money they make.”

In Campbell’s loan, the rate increases after a two year period, unless he refinances with the lender.

“When you by a house research everything about the house. They upgraded the system from a 60 watt box to a 100 watt box, and the city came out in the middle of winter and shut my stuff off, and I didn’t have nothing until January,” he said. “I had to use kerosene heaters and a generator all throughout winter to keep my family warm. They shut my power off. Things change,” Campbell said.

...more...

Can someone - anyone - tell what the f*** an "annual rate mortgage" is and where is the world did that term come from?????

[ozymandius]

14. sounds like word games to me

Annual Rate Mortgage/Adjustable Rate Mortgage - same animal, different color

I remember when, as a kid, I argued with my mother about her refusal to buy me a go-cart. Then, lo and behold, the Sears holiday wishbook advertised not go-carts but fun-carts. Mom was too smart to see through the semantics game with a fun-cart.

[progressivebydesign]

25. You have to sign so many disclosure forms.. there's no way you couldnt' know.

I've bought plenty of homes, had loans just like you describe. All of those loans are not "subprime" by the way. Some people use them because they know they'll be selling the house within a set period of years, etc. People who claim they didn't know are full of shit. You have to sign very clear disclosures about your loan and the terms.. in most cases people just wanted to buy a house and figured they'd just refi when the time got close to switching to an adjustable. But.. things happen, jobs disappear to Mexico and India, housing market goes into the garbage, interest rates ratchet up, and the best laid plans go awry. But to claim you didn't know... that's just wrong.

[ozymandius]

13. pre-open blather

08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -5.5. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -9.0. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq 100 futures are still signaling a noticeably lower start for the cash market as investors digest data that suggest a slight softening in the tight labor market. Within in the last 15 minutes the monthly ADP employment report showed that an estimated 97,000 new private jobs, or roughly 123,000 nonfarm jobs, were created in May. However, the ADP report lacks credibility compared to Friday's more closely-watched and well-established May nonfarm payrolls, which is expected to check in around 135,000.

[ozymandius]

15. Markets are open for bidness.

and bidness gets redder by the minute
9:51
Dow 13,480.14 Down 41.20 (0.30%)
Nasdaq 2,558.50 Down 13.56 (0.53%)
S&P 500 1,513.72 Down 4.39 (0.29%)
10-Yr Bond 4.847% Down 0.035
NYSE Volume 280,155,000
Nasdaq Volume 188,681,000

09:40 am : As expected, the major averages open lower across the board as the latest sell-off in Chinese stocks gives investors in U.S. equities an excuse to lock in recent market gains. With the Dow just 35 points away from another record and the S&P 500 less than 1.0% from hitting a historic high of its own, valuations were already in question, so this morning's pullback isn't overly surprising.

Fortunately, this time around, market losses attributed to China's latest effort to curb speculative buying interest (i.e. by tripling taxes on stock trades) has not caused widespread panic. Instead, global market losses have been relatively modest in scope since this "Shanghai surprise" has been sparked by a regulatory decision that was incremental at best and not primarily fueled by concerns about the pace of economic growth. DJ30 -40.63 NASDAQ -17.13 SP500 -6.45 NASDAQ Vol 82 mln NYSE Vol 46 mln

[ozymandius]

16. little improvement

10:31
Dow 13,503.95 Down 17.39 (0.13%)
Nasdaq 2,568.01 Down 4.05 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,516.14 Down 1.97 (0.13%)
10-Yr Bond 4.861% Down 0.021
NYSE Volume 579,827,000
Nasdaq Volume 418,110,000

10:00 am : The indices are bouncing off their opening lows but selling remains widespread across most areas. Of the seven sectors losing ground, it's understandable to see Materials (-0.5%) and Technology (-0.5%) pacing the way since both rely heavily on China for sales.

Unfortunately for the bulls, the only areas attracting buyers are Utilities, Telecom, and Energy, with the latter advancing in sympathy with a rebound in oil prices. All three combined account for only 17.5% of the total weighting on the S&P 500, and their intraday gains are too minimal to offset larger losses in more influential sectors like Financials, Health Care and Industrials. The latter three account for more than 44% of the influence on the broader market. DJ30 -34.93 NASDAQ -11.04 SP500 -3.96 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1935/587/154 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1940/562/62 mln

[TrogL]

17. Loonie Watch

Highlights

Current:



30-day and 90-day vs.greenback:



30-day vs. Euro, Yen, UK Pound and Swiss Franc




Currency Comparison: http://members.shaw.ca/trogl/looniewatch.html

Detailed analysis: http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD

Up-to-the-minute graph: http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=CME_CD.Y%24%24&v=s&w=5&t=l&a=1

Historical values http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/data30.html

2007-04-30 Monday, April 30 0.903506 USD
2007-05-01 Tuesday, May 1 0.901876 USD
2007-05-02 Wednesday, May 2 0.901957 USD
2007-05-03 Thursday, May 3 0.903424 USD
2007-05-04 Friday, May 4 0.903424 USD
2007-05-07 Monday, May 7 0.907112 USD
2007-05-08 Tuesday, May 8 0.905141 USD
2007-05-09 Wednesday, May 9 0.903914 USD
2007-05-10 Thursday, May 10 0.903098 USD
2007-05-11 Friday, May 11 0.897989 USD
2007-05-14 Monday, May 14 0.903587 USD
2007-05-15 Tuesday, May 15 0.911079 USD
2007-05-16 Wednesday, May 16 0.906783 USD
2007-05-17 Thursday, May 17 0.911079 USD
2007-05-18 Friday, May 18 0.918864 USD
2007-05-21 Monday, May 21 0.921319 USD
2007-05-22 Tuesday, May 22 0.921319 USD (?)
2007-05-23 Wednesday, May 23 0.924556 USD
2007-05-24 Thursday, May 24 0.922424 USD
2007-05-25 Friday, May 25 0.926441 USD
2007-05-28 Monday, May 28 0.926441 USD (?)
2007-05-29 Tuesday, May 29 0.932923 USD


Current values

Loonie:

Last trade 0.9308 Change -0.0015 (-0.16%)
Previous Close 0.9326 Open 0.9329
Low 0.9303 High 0.9337


Other combinations:

AS.M07 AUSTRALIAN $/CANADIAN $ Jun (NYBOT) 0.8780 -0.00002
AU.M07 AUSTRALIAN $/US$ Jun (NYBOT) 0.8182 +0.0002
EC.M07 EURO FX Jun (CME) 1.3500 -0.0015
RA.M07 EURO/AUSTRALIAN $ Jun (NYBOT) 1.6454 +0.0001
RP.M07.E EURO/BRITISH POUND Jun (CME) 0.68040 +0.00085
GB.M07 EURO/BRITISH POUND Jun (NYBOT) 0.68080 +0.00085
HY.M07 CANADIAN $/JAPANESE YEN Jun (NYBOT) 112.90 +0.535
EP.M07 EURO/CANADIAN $ Jun (NYBOT) 1.44375 -0.00915
RY.M07.E EURO/JAPANESE YEN Jun (CME) 163.02 -0.16
EJ.M07 EURO/JAPANESE YEN Jun (NYBOT) 163.05 -0.09
EU.M07 EURO/US$ (LARGE) Jun (NYBOT) 1.34605 -0.0001


Blather (from http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

The June Canadian Dollar was higher overnight as it extends this spring's rally. Stochastics and the RSI are overbought but remain neutral signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near-term. If June extends the rally off February's low, weekly resistance crossing at .9475 is the next upside target. Closes below the 20-day moving average crossing at .9146 would confirm that a top has been posted. Overnight action sets the stage for a steady to higher opening in early-day session trading.

Analysis

Morning drivein lead article was the loonie hitting a 32-year high vs. the greenback. They spent almost 15 minutes going over the economic implications for various industries. Factors include:

• the falling greenback
  
• diversity in Canadian industry
  
• unique opportunity for manufacturing sector to re-capitalize
  
• Bank of Canada threatening to raise interest rates
  
• industries that pay in greenbacks (eg. oil, hockey franchises) are in an enviable position
  

The loonie's actually sinking a bit at the moment, but markets just opened and everybody may be looking at the economic landscape and going :wtf:

[mojavekid]

19. The Dollar: An Agonizing Reappraizal - Gold Vanishing Into Private Hoards

http://www.kitco.com/ind/fekete/may302007.html

Introduction. While doing research in the Library of the University of Chicago in the early 1980’s I came across the unfinished manuscript of a book with the title: The Dollar: An Agonizing Reappraisal. It was written in the year 1965. It has never been published (although it has received private circulation). The author, monetary scientist Melchior Palyi, a native of Hungary, died before he could finish it. Monetary events started to spin out of control in 1965, culminating in the default on the international gold obligations of the United States of America six years later in August,1971. Palyi had correctly prophesied that event which occurred after he died. He had also correctly diagnosed the malady and prescribed the remedy that could have arrested the train of events that would in all likelihood cause a crash further down the road. As part of the offering of Gold Standard University, I shall publish the manuscript serially in the form of excerpts, along with with my commentary, concentrating on parts that are still timely.

snip..

quotations from the manuscript.

The Gold Paradox

Nineteen sixty five will be remembered in the modern history of money. For the first time, private buyers absorbed almost the entire supply of new gold coming on the market. „Newly mined gold plus Russian sales amounted to approximately $1.9 billion”, reported the First National City Bank of New York, but „only some $250 million worth is believed to have reached officially recorded monetary stocks” (all quantities are stated in gold dollars, reckoned at the gold price of $35 per Troy oz.) And none whatsoever accrued to U.S. monetary reserves - which has actually declined by a near record amount of $1.66 billion.

What is happening to all that disappearing gold? Why does it refuse to go to official gold reserves? Why, in particular, is the U.S. Treasury on the losing side year after year, with no sign of terminating this process? And, above all, what does it say about the stability of the dollar, the economic health of the nation, and the future prospects of the Western World?

snip...

The crescendo of gold disappearing in private hoards is crying out for an explanation. Gold absorption into private hoards for the 20-year period from 1950 through 1970 was of the same order of magnitude as the entire U.S. gold reserve at its peak in 1949, the largest gold concentration ever in history: just short of $ 25 billion. It was followed by the greatest dissipation of gold ever. This private absorption of gold is unprecedented, both as to its magnitude and its speed. The total amount of gold absorption for the entire 56-year period 1950-2007 was approximately $ 90,000m, an amount greater than all the gold produced in history before 1950.

Clearly, something ominous is happening to the dollar. Vanishing gold is trying to tell us something, that is, if we have ears for hearing. More remarkable still than these extraordinary quantities of wealth shifted out of paper assets into phyisical gold, worth about $ 1,8 trillion at today’s gold price, a process that is still continuing at an accelerating rate, is the fact that mainstreameconomists and their paymasters in government are not asking questions about, nor offering explanations for this incredible movement of wealth going into hiding. The apparent lack of interest about the identity and intentions of the owners of this wealth on the part of the economists’ profession is in itself a worthy subject to investigate.

more...

[specimenfred1984]

20. China's stocks crash, U.S. stocks are up? What a fraud

All the U.S. financial press propaganda about China's great economy and stock market sure doesn't seem to have anything to do with U.S. stocks after all! I guess big investment firms haven't been investing in China and big U.S. corporations haven't outsourced anything to China either!

Either that or the same corrupt firms are propping up this fraud of a U.S. market today. Gee, I wonder which is true?

[specimenfred1984]

21. Fed speaks, Fed pumps: Same sht they've been doing for a few years now

The "market" didn't react to the Fed minutes at all so the Fed's market pumpers came in and bought to prop the fraudulent U.S. stock market up. Isn't it wonderful that hedge funds don't have to follow any regulations?

[Roland99]

22. 3:45pm - WHEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!

Dow 13,624.96 +103.62
Nasdaq 2,589.38 +17.32
S&P 500 1,528.86 +10.75
10 YR 4.88% 0.00
Oil $63.49 +$0.34
Gold $659.30 $-4.10

[ozymandius]

23. at the close: spit in the punchbowl increases punchbowl's value

Everybody got a little piece of this action.

Dow 13,633.08 Up 111.74 (0.83%)
Nasdaq 2,592.59 Up 20.53 (0.80%)
S&P 500 1,530.23 Up 12.12 (0.80%)
10-Yr Bond 4.878% Down 0.004
NYSE Volume 2,903,052,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,071,089,000

4:20 pm : Having overcome some early weakness related to another Shanghai sell-off, the market's resilience in the face of bad news got a second wind late in the day after the FOMC minutes implied that risks seem to be fading a bit.

The Dow logged its 25th record close this year and the S&P 500 finally finished at a new all-time high.

Before the bell, the biggest sell-off on the Shanghai Composite (-6.50%) since the one on February 27 that sparked widespread concern served as a reminder that the U.S. stock market looks ripe for a pullback. However, the underlying bullish momentum proved strong once again and investors looked at the early dip as a buying opportunity, confident that the problems in Shanghai are largely a local affair.

Investors also realized that excess speculation in Chinese stocks does not jeopardize the strength that remains evident in China's economy and does not greatly impact U.S. fundamentals.

It wasn't until the 2:00 ET release of the minutes from the last Fed meeting, though, that the bulls finally found the energy to build on recent gains. Initially, the data offered few surprises. They merely suggested that the Fed's monetary policy will remain on hold.

Bond traders certainly weren't of the belief that the data signaled a rate cut anytime soon, which echoed Briefing.com's belief that the Fed will hold rates steady for the rest of the year.

However, the market eventually looked past the Fed's continued concerns about inflation and placed added emphasis on what few positive takeaways today's report offered. Members said the housing market weakness will probably persist for longer than previously anticipated, but also noted that the turmoil in the subprime market appears to have remained relatively well contained.

Members also continued to view the "risks to economic activity as weighted to the downside," yet suggested that business investment is expected to pick up, which will help GDP ramp to a rate broadly in line with the economy's trend rate in 2008.

The market's positive spin on data that showed no inclination on the part of the Fed to change interest rates also helped pave the way for investors to revisit some of the morning's more encouraging developments. In particular, more evidence that the financial markets remain awash in liquidity.

Biogen Idec (BIIB 52.13 +2.92) surged nearly 6% after approving a $3 bln buyback while Viacom (VIA.B 44.48 +0.62) rose 1.4% after authorizing a $4.0 bln repurchase program. IBM (IBM 107.01 +1.10) climbed after saying it bought back 8% of its outstanding shares and raised its full-year EPS outlook.

On the M&A front, CDW Corp (CDWC 85.09 +1.98) confirmed that it will go private in a $7.3 bln deal while eight REITs were upgraded following yesterday's $13.5 bln buyout of Archstone-Smith Trust (ASN 61.02 -0.40).BTK +0.6% DJ30 +111.74 DJTA +0.5% DJUA +0.8% DOT +0.8% NASDAQ +20.53 NQ100 +1.0% R2K +0.6% SOX -0.4% SP400 +1.1% SP500 +12.12 XOI +1.6% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1374/1651/1.88 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1065/2241/1.37 bln

[progressivebydesign]

24. The Feds are just so clueless... they REFUSE to acknowledge the oil profiteering!

Bugs the shit out of me, really. The Federal Reserve are letting the housing and construction industry virtually collapse at their fucking feet.. because they're sooo concerned about "inflation". Bullshit. They claim that inflation is bad even if they exclude energy costs (i.e. obscene multi BILLION dollar profits by the oil industry each quarter). I'm not an economist, but any dufus on the street KNOWS that rising prices are usually BECAUSE of exorbitant energy costs. Any biz that transports anything is passing along the cost to the consumers, who pass along the costs to their customers, and so on and so on. Inflation is not an issue now. What is an issue is the collapse of the housing market (and it IS collapsing -- homes sitting on the market for over a year regardless of their pricing), construction companies laying off people, mortgage companies laying off.. etc. And.. oil profiteering is an issue now. And this so called "jobless recovery" which is doublespeak for "gee we can manipulate lots of figures to pretend that the economy is good for the average guy, except for the job numbers".

the truth is, as I saw buried in a financial article recently, the investors who want better returns via interest rates, and the credit card and banking companies all have a vested interest in keeping the interest rates higher, even tho it's destroying families by destroying the housing market. The Feds have indicated their willingness to let the housing market collapse so that the traditional investors can make money now.

Inflation. Bullshit. Remember when we used to have a president that cared about people not corporations? remember when the federal reserve at least pretended to do things for the good of the country, not just the credit card companies?

okay done with rant.

[UpInArms]

26. nice rant

do it here any time :D

:hi: