STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday February 22

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday February 22, 2008

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 334
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2588 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2314 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2605
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
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 February 21, 2008

Dow... 12,284.30 -142.96 (-1.15%)
Nasdaq... 2,299.78 -27.32 (-1.17%)
S&P 500... 1,342.53 -17.50 (-1.29%)
Gold future... 949.20 +11.40 (+1.20%)
30-Year Bond 4.55% -0.09 (-1.96%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.78% -0.13 (-3.40%)






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

[ozymandius]

1. Market WrapUp: S&P 500 Intermediate Term Prognosis

BY MARTIN GOLDBERG, CMT

Following is a technical opinion of the US stock market for the next few months. Below is the 3 year weekly chart of the S&P 500 index. What is apparent is a topping pattern similar to a multiple head-and-shoulders (HAS) reversal pattern. The low made in January of 2008 was a lower low than either of the lows made in August and March of 2007. The appearance of what is a lower low, in my opinion, puts the long term benefit of the doubt on the side of the bears. Since the post-Martin Luther King holiday “mini-capitulation” suggested last month, the market rallied from below 1300 to Wednesday’s level of 1360. In magnitude terms (so far) this rally has been fairly benign as you can see from the chart below. In duration terms, the last down leg off of the right-most completed shoulder lasted about 6 weeks whereas the rally has lasted about 4 weeks. After a 4 week rally, with the index now at what may be considered the proposed lower neckline, it would be totally logical and technically appropriate that the rally stall out soon without much further advance.

-chart-

Is there a technical event that would tend to support a bullish scenario for the stock market? Such an important factor is the ability of leaders to lead. Two such leaders consist of Nasdaq stocks and those of emerging markets. A continuation of the long term linear uptrend in emerging market stocks would support the bullish case. The trend is illustrated below.

-chart-

Today’s Market

Most markets were down today on light volume, led by the small cap Russell 2000 which was down by almost 2%. One point lost in the discussion above is the fact that if the market fails at the lower of the two necklines and then resumes its downtrend, it will not bode well for the longer term outlook for the stock market. Today’s action by itself probably didn’t amount to much significance. For what it's worth, the price action was bearish, opening near the day’s highs and closing on its lows. There are many “indicator stocks” in the technology sector. These are important stocks that sit near technically important levels. One such example is Oracle, where the $19/share support has been threatened for several weeks. It closed at 18.81 a share today – not decisively breaking the 19 level. What you see in the chart below are two scenarios for Oracle. If the market follows the multiple HAS scenario, then 19 should be strong support in the days ahead (and the market will probably rally back to the higher neckline). If 19 is surrendered over the next few days, this would further confirm that the market looks to be particularly weak. The “if” should be resolved by the time Oracle reports their quarterly results and this is expected to occur in mid to late March.

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

[ozymandius]

2. no goobermint reports today n/t

[ozymandius]

3. Oil falls to $98 as U.S. inventory rises

SINGAPORE - Oil prices dropped Friday after a U.S. government report showed domestic crude inventories rose last week. The decline, which began in the previous session, marked a reversal of a trend that had seen crude futures climb to a new trading record above $101 a barrel.

"The surge to $100 and beyond earlier this week was overdone," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst with Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "It has little to do with oil market fundamentals and so it's not surprising that the oil market has pulled back."

The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reported Thursday that U.S. crude oil inventories rose 4.2 million barrels in the week ended Feb. 15, more than the 2.9 million barrel increase analysts surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had expected.

Stocks of distillates, which include heating oil, fell 4.5 million barrels, three times the 1.5 million barrel drop forecast. Gasoline supplies rose 1 million barrels, in line with expectations, bringing gasoline inventories to a 14-year high and possibly limiting spring price increases.

.....

Light, sweet crude for April delivery lost 28 cents to $97.95 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midafternoon in Singapore. The contract fell $1.47 overnight to settle at $98.23 a barrel.

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

[UpInArms]

27. Oil up near $99, Turkish incursion supports

http://www.reuters.com/article/hotStocksNews/idUSSYD3274320080222

LONDON (Reuters) - Oil rose to near $99 a barrel on Friday, led higher by strong prices for heating fuel and supported by rising tensions in the Middle East after thousands of Turkish troops crossed into northern Iraq.

U.S. crude futures for April delivery rose 63 cents to $98.86 a barrel by 9:12 a.m. EST, resuming its climb after sliding on Thursday on rising U.S. crude and gasoline stockpiles.

London Brent crude rose 81 cents to $97.05 a barrel.

"Gas oil cracks have strengthened and have pulled up crude as well," said Mike Wittner, head of global oil research at Societe Generale.

The premium of ICE gas oil futures to Brent crude, known in the industry as cracks, rose as high as $19.890 a barrel, the strongest level since mid-October 2005, a sign that supply of the product is tight at a time of intensifying cold weather.

Oil's March contract hit a record high of $101.32 on Wednesday, taking it near its all-time inflation-adjusted high of $102.53 hit in April 1980, boosted by a tide of investor cash chasing commodities as a safer investment option at a time of rising inflation and overall market turmoil.

...more...

[UpInArms]

30. U.S. gasoline price soars past $3 a gallon: government

I missed this one from a couple of days ago :eyes:

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSN1929769320080219?sp=true

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. retail gasoline prices soared past $3 a gallon for the first time in four weeks, following a steep rise in crude oil costs, the government said on Tuesday.

The national price for regular unleaded gasoline jumped 8.2 cents over the last week to an average $3.04 a gallon, up 75 cents from a year ago, the Energy Information Administration said in its weekly survey of service stations.

The higher pump prices reflect rising crude oil costs, which hit a record $100.10 a barrel on Tuesday at the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The price of oil accounts for about two-thirds of the cost of making gasoline. Pump prices are likely to go even higher as the expensive crude is passed on to consumers and driving picks up heading into the spring.

In the EIA's latest weekly survey, gasoline was the most expensive on the West Coast, at $3.14 a gallon, up 7.7 cents. Among major cities, San Francisco had the highest price at $3.30, up 10.6 cents.

<snip>

Separately, the price truckers paid for diesel fuel soared 11.6 cents in the last week to $3.40 a gallon, the highest level in 11 weeks and up 91 cents from a year ago.

...more...

[ozymandius]

4. Starbucks cuts 600 jobs amid stagnant U.S. growth

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Starbucks Corp (SBUX.O) said on Thursday it would eliminate 600 jobs as it works to turn around stagnating U.S. coffee shops in the face of a weak economy.

The coffee seller has been battered in recent months by slower consumer spending, higher milk and labor costs and concerns that it may have saturated its domestic market.

Sales at established U.S. outlets fell last quarter, and Seattle-based Starbucks has already announced plans to expand overseas and close underperforming U.S. stores.
.....

Starbucks laid off 220 employees on Thursday. One-third of them worked in Seattle, spokeswoman Valerie O'Neil said.

Those employees performed a variety of duties from finance to design and marketing.

The company has also eliminated an additional 380 open positions, O'Neil said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080222/bs_nm/starbucks_jobs_dc

[Demeter]

33. Did You Know There's a Starbucks At Guantanamo?

But only one....report courtesy of Wait Wait, Don't Tell Me. NPR

[Hugin]

40. It's only a matter of time before they put one in my favorite junk yard...

I've observed that 'Road Tested' car parts are becoming trendy... too trendy...

It used to be one of the few places I could go to be... Well,ME. (Being "ME" consists of rolling in stinky
car fluids, reveling in communion with technological debris, and emitting various vapors when the
mood strikes.)

Now, however, the days of my joy are limited and it's only a matter of time before my grease covered, jumpsuit
wearing, soiled obscure logo-ed thrift store baseball cap wearing brethren/sisteren are sitting at a coffee
counter in the yard sipping double lattes or cinnamon spiced cappuccinos with pinkies extended.

:sigh:

[ozymandius]

5. Group says US economy to slow further

NEW YORK - The slowdown in the U.S. economy, coupled with a steady drip of bleak economic data, is starting to echo the conditions that presaged the country's most recent recession.

Data released Thursday by the business group the Conference Board showed its gauge of future business activity dropped for the fourth month in a row January. Its index of leading economic indicators has now fallen 2.0 percent over the last six months, the biggest drop since early 2001.

The index is designed to forecast where the nation's economy is headed in the next three to six months — and persistent, pronounced declines signal that a recession may be around the corner. :wtf: (around the corner?)

"The conditions are nearing those that historically preceded recessions," said Ataman Ozyildirim, an economist at the Conference Board. "Every recession is a bit different, but we're becoming more confident that we're nearing those conditions."

The figures, in conjunction with downbeat news about manufacturing and a murky employment picture, sent the Dow Jones industrial average down more than 140 points Thursday as investors feared the onset of a recession. Broader indexes also closed lower.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080221/ap_on_bi_ge/economy_51

[TalkingDog]

17. Just around the corner: Zeno's Paradox

One of Zeno's Paradoxes suggested that in order to reach a destination, one must complete an infinite number of tasks which makes the completion of any tasks or intention an impossibility.

So, we can be half-way to a recession, then half-way there again, then half-way again. No matter how far we progress, by those half-way measures, there is still another half to overcome.

You see, politicians and spinmeisters are all just frustrated philosophers, with the exception of their sophistry, at which they excel.

[Hugin]

51. Very interesting...

I'll bring that up at my next annual job appraisal... :think:



:7

[ozymandius]

6. Britain passes Northern Rock nationalization law

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's parliament passed legislation on Thursday allowing the government to nationalize Northern Rock (NRK.L), five months after the bank became a high-profile casualty of the global credit crunch.

The Banking (Special Provisions) Act allows orders to be issued for the transfer of all shares in Northern Rock to the government and for an independent auditor to calculate how much money shareholders should receive.

Britain's fifth-largest mortgage lender was rescued by loans of about 25 billion pounds from the Bank of England in September and the government also stepped in to guarantee deposits.

Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government said the collapse of Northern Rock would have posed risks to the wider financial system and that saving the bank was therefore essential.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080221/bs_nm/northernrock_parliament_dc

[ozymandius]

7. BOJ's Fukui Says Risk of Global Slowdown Is Rising (Update1)

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said the risk of a global economic slowdown is increasing as the U.S. economy worsens, while inflation may accelerate.

``The risk should be borne in mind that, if the negative effects from the housing market correction or financial-market developments are greater than expected, the U.S. economy may slow further,'' Fukui said in a speech in Tokyo today. He said the bank will ``continue to carefully assess the levels of uncertainty'' when it implements interest-rate policy.

The central bank kept interest rates on hold last week amid concern that slowing global growth will weaken exports and costlier oil will damp spending and fan inflation. Fukui, who has called for gradual rate increases since 2006, will probably finish his term on March 19 by leaving the benchmark borrowing cost at 0.5 percent, the lowest among major economies.

``Fukui is laying the ground for the next governor by pointing out risks such as the U.S. slowdown,'' said Hiroshi Shiraishi, an economist at Lehman Brothers Japan Ltd. in Tokyo. ``The bank won't be able to raise rates at least until next year because financial markets and the economy are unstable.''

Fukui added that there's no change to the bank's policy of gradually raising interest rates, given that the economy will probably extend its expansion and prices will remain stable. He said the bank needs to minimize threats to economic growth in the long term, such as the development of asset-price bubbles.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a3UnJ01X6wc8&refer=asia

[Ghost Dog]

81. Japan Cuts Evaluation of Economy

... Exports to the U.S. declined 3.2 percent in January, while overall shipments grew 7.7 percent, supported by demand in Asia and Europe, a government report showed yesterday.

Waning U.S. Demand

Waning demand in the U.S., the world's biggest economy, will eventually take its toll on the emerging markets where Japan ships about half its goods, Economic and Fiscal Policy Minister Hiroko Ota said last week.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aTYrSeEpDlfU&refer=japan

[Ghost Dog]

82. Japan Stocks Fall

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Japanese stocks declined, led by phone companies after a new discount plan from KDDI Corp. spurred concern price competition will reduce profits in the industry.

KDDI, Japan's most-profitable wireless carrier, tumbled the most in more than six years after introducing a plan that allows free calls for some customers, countering a similar offering from smaller rival Softbank Corp. Market leader NTT DoCoMo Inc. posted the biggest drop in a month.

``Price competition keeps intensifying,'' said Yoji Takeda, who helps manage about $900 million at RBC Investment (Asia) Ltd. in Hong Kong. ``Softbank will continue trying new strategies to lure customers and its two rivals will have to follow.''

Toyota Motor Corp. and Canon Inc. declined after a drop in U.S. manufacturing raised concern the world's biggest economy has entered a recession, and the yen strengthened against the dollar.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average slumped 187.82, or 1.4 percent, to 13,500.46 at the close in Tokyo. The broader Topix index fell 13.35, or 1 percent, to 1,321.37. The Nikkei recorded its seventh weekly loss this year.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=aJnyN_de4LIg&refer=japan

[Ghost Dog]

83. Asian Stocks Fall on U.S. Recession Concern; Toyota Declines

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks fell, with the region's benchmark set for its seventh weekly drop this year, on renewed concern the U.S. will enter a recession.

Toyota Motor Corp., the second-largest carmaker in the U.S. by sales, had its longest losing streak in almost five weeks, and Samsung Electronics Co. declined after a U.S. manufacturing index slumped. Japan's KDDI Corp. and NTT DoCoMo Inc. tumbled on concern price cuts will hurt profit at the phone companies. Nine of the MSCI Asia Pacific Index's 10 industry groups retreated.

``A large part of the region's exports are shipped to the U.S. so it's hard to see a sharp decoupling,'' said Jonathan Ravelas, strategist at Manila-based BDO Unibank Inc., which has about $3.7 billion in assets under management. ``Who will buy these goods if American consumers suffer?''

The MSCI benchmark fell 0.7 percent to 143.50 at 5:46 p.m. in Tokyo, with a measure of telecommunication stocks leading declines. China's CSI 300 Index lost 3.6 percent, the most in Asia, on speculation more companies will announce share-sale plans, diluting the value of current holdings. The Philippine benchmark dropped 3 percent, the most in a month.

Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average slipped 1.4 percent to 13,500.46. Most regional benchmarks declined except in Taiwan. Caltex Australia Ltd. fell after forecasting weaker profits from processing crude oil.

MSCI's Asian index is down 9.1 percent this year and has fallen each week except for one amid speculation U.S. demand for Asian products will decline. The stock benchmark has lost 0.9 percent this week.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a4HM0N815VvI&refer=asia

[Ghost Dog]

85. Sensex falls as investors worry about US recession

Bangalore: Indian shares fell 2.17 per cent on Friday on growing worries among investors about the impact of a recession in the US, with heavyweights Reliance Industries and ICICI Bank leading the market down.

The market posted its fifth weekly fall in the last six weeks as confidence was hit by fears that foreigners would withdraw funds from India if sharp losses increased risk aversion, removing a key driver of the market's surge to record highs.

"We seem to be completely dependent on what's happening elsewhere. India's growth story seems to be a thing of the past. Investors are behaving as if recession has come to India," said Arun Kejriwal, strategist at research firm KRIS.

The benchmark BSE 30-share index fell 385.61 points to 17,349.07, with 27 components falling.

Worries that the world's biggest economy may be deteriorating more rapidly than expected sent stocks from Sydney to London lower yesterday, and kept the dollar pinned at two-week lows versus a basket of currencies.

"The way the market is falling just on overseas cues gives you a very eerie feeling going forward. One thing that comes out of all this is very clear: worse is yet to come," Kejriwal said.

The main index fell 4.2 per cent over the week, and is more than 18 per cent below a record high of 21,206.77 hit on January 10.

/... http://www.gulfnews.com/business/Markets/10192073.html

[ozymandius]

8. Chinese Mills Reject Rio's Ore Price Push, People Say (Update4)

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Chinese steelmakers, the largest buyers of iron ore, will reject Rio Tinto Group's demand for a minimum 71 percent price increase in the raw material, two people familiar with the negotiations said.

The mills will only accept a 65 percent price gain for ore from London-based Rio's mines in Australia, said the people, who declined to be identified because the talks are confidential.

Rio, the world's second-biggest iron ore exporter, wants a higher price because of its premium ore and proximity to China, which reduces shipping costs. Chinese mills have failed to arrest advances in prices that have risen to records in each of the past five years, driving up costs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&refer=asia&sid=aoCz3j.KrASs

[ozymandius]

9. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Are Little Changed; Freddie Mac Falls

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures were little changed as investors speculated the world's largest economy may be falling into recession.

Chevron Corp., the second-biggest U.S. energy company, and Halliburton Co., the world's second-largest oilfield-services company, slipped as crude fell for a second day. Freddie Mac dropped after Merrill Lynch & Co. recommended selling shares of the two largest U.S. mortgage-finance firms. Motorola Inc., the biggest U.S. maker of mobile phones, gained after naming private- equity executive Paul Liska chief financial officer amid efforts to shore up its cash and weigh options for its handset business.

Standard & Poor's 500 Index futures expiring in March added 0.3 to 1,347.3 as of 10:37 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 2 to 12,323. Nasdaq-100 Index futures advanced 3 to 1,779.
.....

With no major economic reports due today, investors will look to next week for further clues on the economy. A report on Feb. 25 will probably show existing home sales declined in January, while a release on Feb. 27 is likely to show a drop in durable goods orders for the same month, according to economists' estimates compiled by Bloomberg News.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=stocksonmove&refer=&sid=aaDUudLD8_hY

[ozymandius]

10. MBIA sees a splitup ahead

As if there was any doubt, bond insurer MBIA (MBI) made clear Thursday afternoon that it believes an eventual split of its municipal bond business from its risky structured finance business is inevitable. The company issued a press release announcing it has dropped out of the industry’s trade group, the Association of Financial Guaranty Insurers. MBIA’s comments mark the latest stage of a remarkable about-face the Armonk, N.Y., company has staged this week.

http://dailybriefing.blogs.fortune.cnn.com/2008/02/21/mbia-sees-a-splitup-ahead/

-quite short-

[ozymandius]

11. Futures drift amid economic unease

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- U.S. stocks looked set for another rocky session Friday as investors remained wary of the slowing economy and crude prices pulled back further.

At 5:20 a.m. ET, Nasdaq and S&P futures were mixed, with a comparison to fair value suggesting a flat to positive start for Wall Street.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/22/markets/stockswatch/index.htm?postversion=2008022205

[ozymandius]

12. futures at 6:24ET

S&P futures vs fair value: +5.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +9.0.

[ozymandius]

13. I hope your day goes swimmingly.

:donut: :donut: :donut:

It's time for me to tend my students. See you when it's over.

:hi:

[AnneD]

20. Morning Marketeers.....

:donut: and lurkers. Yes Ozy, things will go swimmingly-one way or the other. We will get a few torrential showers today. Again. on the commute to work this AM (less than 8 miles-I saw 2 different cars with Michigan tags. I challenge all of you to watch the car tags on your way to work if you live in an area where you are holding your own.

In Houston, we are diverse enough and have a good energy industry base that we are just holding our own right now. Our housing is overbuilt and overpriced but folks still have jobs at the moment. The one thing that strikes me about these new folks as compared to the last MI. influx is that these cars look newer-not the rust bucket heaps of my memory. I also see many, many LA. tags-not as many as a few years ago, but we have people working here then going home on the weekend to try to rebuild in LA. Katrina blew in ALA. and MISS. tags too.

We still see some of those-the bread winner will work here and take a long weekend a month to go back home. I run into that a-lot because of where I live. I have lots of new friends that I keep an eye out for their place while they visit home. There are a group of electrical linemen here that do that. Their foreman, a nice young man, has his wife and home in ALA and visits her on the weekends. These guys have poker night once every two weeks and we all enjoy that.

I think we will be seeing more geographical shifts as folks try to survive this economic hurricane. We aren't seeing Bushvilles yet-but are not into the full force of the hurricane. The winds are just starting.

Happy hunting, and watch out for the bears.

Happy

[UpInArms]

14. dollar watch

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

Last trade 75.485 Change -0.129 (-0.17%)

Dollar Crumbled as Philly Fed Drops to 6 Year Lows

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/eur_fundamentals/Dollar_Crumbled_as_Philly_Fed_1203633394401.html

The US dollar crumbled today as it lost value against all of the other major currencies due to a decline in the Philadelphia Fed manufacturing release, and increased speculation that the Fed will resort to a 50bp rate cut in March. All of the commodity currencies posted major gains as the US economy continued to weaken, while the Euro hit a two week high against the fading dollar. The Swiss Franc and the British pound took the biggest bite out of the US dollar. The Pound was driven up as retail sales unexpectedly surged to 5.6 percent for the year indicating that consumer spending to be holding up amid lowered growth prospects.

The Philadelphia Fed report unexpectedly dropped to a 6 year low of minus 24.0 from minus 20.9, reflecting that the repercussions of the credit crunch is spilling over to the manufacturing sector, triggering market participants to look for another aggressive rate cut by the Fed. The Leading Indicators index fell for the fourth consecutive month to minus 0.1 percent as increased turmoil in the financial and housing sector continued to add mounting pressures to the struggling economy, and raised concerns that the US will ultimately face a recession. The labor market also lowered the outlook for the US as Continuing Claims increased to 2784K amid a minor decline in Initial Jobless Claims.

Bearish sentiment took hold of the security markets today as the negative economic releases moved investors into a selloff, and cut short the morning advances led by Cisco and Research in Motion. Increased volatility took hold of the DJIA as fell 142.96 points after rising 70 points this morning to 12,284.30, with Verizon and AT&T leading the winners, while Exxon and Chevron took the biggest blow as oil fell to $97.40 a barrel. In the broader indices, the S&P500 fell a moderate 17.50 points to 1,342.53, with Choicepoint Inc topping the advances, while Lithia Motors and First Mercury Financial were the forerunners for the losers.

...more...

Euro Heads Higher as Data Improves - Decoupling in the Making?

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio2/Euro_Heads_Higher_as_Data_1203679041190.html

The flash estimates for Eurozone PMI services surprised to the upside tonight, printing at 52.3 versus 51.0, with manufacturing in line with expectations at 52.3. The Euro firmed against the dollar on the news, building on yesterday’s gains after a seven year low reading in the Philadelphia Fed index sparked fears in the currency market of an oncoming U.S. recession

Contrary to consensus calls of a similar slowdown in Europe, the PMI services component saw gains in employment and new orders, strengthening the ECB’s argument that the Eurozone economy remains string enough to weather the current credit crunch without the need for monetary easing. On the other hand, the manufacturing sector showed weakness as industrial new orders declined the most in over two years burdened by weaker US demand and persistently high exchange rates. In short it appears, that the ECB will stay put for time being, but may be inclined to consider a rate cut in the second half of the year if the manufacturing data continues to deteriorate.

Tonight however, the auro bulls argument that the two largest economies in the world are in fact decoupling in their growth outlooks, received a strong boost from the PMI releases. For the near term, the price action in the pair is likely to be driven almost exclusively by US news. With Euro-zone economic growth slowing only slightly leaving rates in the region stationary at 4%, the only real question for the market is how low will US rates go if the US economy begins to contract. If the Europeans can continue to expand albeit moderately, while US experience an actual decline in GDP growth, the pair could easily break the 1.500 barrier as dollar sentiment will sour further.

...more...

[Ghost Dog]

88. Euro= USD 1.483, GBP 0.753, CHF 1.609 and JPY 158.8 at this time

[Ghost Dog]

90. Euro May Get Boost From `Abrupt Shift' by State Funds

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- An ``abrupt shift'' by state investment funds into euro-denominated assets could fuel gains in the currency, according to a draft European Commission paper.

``While an increased international use of the euro would definitely bring benefits, an abrupt shift towards the European currency'' by sovereign wealth funds ``could put unwelcome upward pressure on the euro and should be avoided,'' according to the draft paper obtained by Bloomberg News. The final paper will be presented to European finance ministers next month.

Against the currencies of the euro region's 24 biggest trading partners, the euro has strengthened 5.8 percent in the past year, hurting the competitiveness of the exports that drove economic growth since 2006. Europe posted its first trade deficit in more than a year in December as the euro's gains and slowing global growth curbed shipments abroad.

Governments, which use sovereign wealth funds to invest windfall revenues in foreign equities and other assets, have increased their holdings of the euro recently. The dollar's share of global foreign-exchange reserves fell to a record low in the third quarter as demand for U.S. assets waned after the collapse of the country's subprime-mortgage market.

The dollar accounted for 63.8 percent of reserves at the end of September, down from 65 percent three months earlier, according to International Monetary Fund data. The euro's share rose to 26.4 percent from 25.5 percent. IMF quarterly figures go back to 1999, the year the euro was introduced.

Other Currencies

Sovereign wealth funds, or SWFs, will quadruple in size to $7.9 trillion by 2011 from $1.9 trillion last year, according to Merrill Lynch & Co. In an October report, Merrill said the flood of cash may put pressure on the dollar as central banks diversify their reserves into other currencies.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601083&sid=aHw.maMkQluQ&refer=currency

[UpInArms]

15. Wall Street Bank Run

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/20/AR2008022002270.html

To explain how this happened, the CFO took a simple example of residential mortgages. As financial engineering improved in the 1990s, these individual loans were gathered into bundles -- 10,000 home loans of $100,000 each, let's say -- and turned into a $1 billion security that could be traded in ways the individual mortgages never could. But that wasn't enough. The financiers realized they could boost their profits by carving the $1 billion package into different slices, with different risk levels. In that way, a pool of B-rated mortgage assets could generate a slice that was rated AAA, because it was judged the slice most likely to be repaid.

But what happened when the real estate market confounded recent history and began to turn down? People holding the paper could no longer be sure if or when their particular slice would be repaid. The traditional accounting approach -- of estimating the projected cash flow and then discounting for the risk -- didn't work. With 10,000 disparate mortgages underlying the paper, both the rate of cash payments and the risk of default were impossible to predict. So the pyramid began to wobble.

The hubris in this system was Wall Street's confidence that it could value paper securities that had been sliced and diced so many times that they no longer had solid connections to their underlying assets. The nation's leading financier, Warren Buffett, had warned years before that "derivatives," whose value was balanced loosely on the real assets underneath, were the equivalent of "financial weapons of mass destruction." But in the rush for profits, nobody listened.

I've saved the worst for last. Do you want to know who is bailing out America's biggest banks and financial institutions from the consequences of their folly -- by acting as the lender of last resort and controller of the system? Why, it's the sovereign wealth funds, owned by such nations as China and the Persian Gulf oil producers. The new titans are coming to the rescue, if that's the right word for their mortgage on America's future.

[UpInArms]

19. hattip to swag for this story - Banks Lose to Deadbeat Homeowners as Loans Sold in Bonds Vanish

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aejJZdqodTCM&refer=home

Feb. 22 (Bloomberg) -- Joe Lents hasn't made a payment on his $1.5 million mortgage since 2002.

That's when Washington Mutual Inc. first tried to foreclose on his home in Boca Raton, Florida. The Seattle-based lender failed to prove that it owned Lents's mortgage note and dropped attempts to take his house. Subsequent efforts to foreclose have stalled because no one has produced the paperwork.

``If you're going to take my house away from me, you better own the note,'' said Lents, 63, the former chief executive officer of a now-defunct voice recognition software company.

Judges in at least five states have stopped foreclosure proceedings because the banks that pool mortgages into securities and the companies that collect monthly payments haven't been able to prove they own the mortgages. The confusion is another headache for U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson as he revises rules for packaging mortgages into securities.

``I think it's going to become pretty hairy,'' said Josh Rosner, managing director at the New York-based investment research firm Graham Fisher & Co. ``Regulators appear to have ignored this, given the size and scope of the problem.''

More than $2.1 trillion, or 19 percent, of outstanding mortgages have been bundled into securities by private banks, according to Inside Mortgage Finance, a Bethesda, Maryland-based industry newsletter. Those loans may be sold several times before they land in a security. Mortgage servicers, who collect monthly payments and distribute them to securities investors, can buy and sell the home loans many times.

...more...

[Hugin]

26. "if you're going to take my house away from me, you better own the note."

A bumper sticker for the new millennium!

Hallelujah brother!

[UpInArms]

16. Subprime loans defaulting even before resets

http://money.cnn.com/2008/02/20/real_estate/loans_failing_pre_resets/index.htm?postversion=2008022010

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- For months, we've fretted about the Armageddon that will hit when subprime adjustable rate mortgages start resetting to much higher interest rates.

What's happening is even worse: Many of these loans are defaulting well before their rates increase.

Defaults for subprime loans issued in 2007 - none of which have reset yet - hit 11.2 percent in November. That represents perhaps 300,000 households, and is twice the default rate that 2006 loans had 10 months after being issued, according to Friedman, Billings Ramsey analyst Michael Youngblood.

Defaults are spiking well before resets come into play thanks to the lax lending environment of the past few years. Many borrowers were approved for mortgages that they had little chance of affording, even at the low-interest teaser rates .

<snip>

But instead of cutting back on risky loans, lenders kept lending. Why?

"Because investors continued to buy the loans," said Doug Duncan, chief economist of the Mortgage Bankers Association.

...more...

[TalkingDog]

18. I kept stabbing him because I still had the knife......

I think if a vasectomy (and/or tubal litigation) were the punishment for this kind of greed and stupidity we might fewer children raised by people promoting the idea that money is more important than anything else (most likely including said children).

[Robbien]

21. Private equity buyout firm in a credit crunch.

Good. One less vulture preying on assets of on-going businesses

A firm affiliated with leveraged buyout giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., run by billionaire Henry Kravis, was forced to seek a two-week delay on the repayment of billions of dollars of debt after failing to find investors to refinance. KKR Financial Holdings, whose stock has fallen 50 percent in the last six months, said yesterday that it had reached an agreement with its lenders to delay repayment of the short-term debt while it continues discussions on restructuring.

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=55058

[UpInArms]

23. it would be nice to think that these pillagers would end up penniless

:nopity:

[Robbien]

29. One of the first ones I'd like to see go down is Rubenstein at Carlyle

When asked to answer for being a modern day Robber Baron spreading destruction and poverty where ever he goes, he said he gives back to society.

"One beauty of private equity is that if you are successful, you will have the means to give wealth away and see it being used while you're alive ... to improve society," Rubenstein told the conference that the wealth he had amassed through Carlyle had allowed him to purchase the only copy of the Magna Carta in the United States -- for $21 million -- and arrange for it to be on permanent display at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. "That's the kind of thing private equity people need to do more of, giving money back to the society.

Yeah right. Condescending bastard. As if having the Magna Carta on display helps even one of the multitude of people who have been adversely effected by having their jobs or benefits cut by one of Rubenstein's raids.

[UpInArms]

31. I despise The Carlyle Group more than almost any other

http://www.alternet.org/story/12868/

Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney seems to have triggered a raw nerve among lawmakers with her recent suggestion on a Berkeley radio station that Congress should investigate whether the Bush Administration had prior knowledge of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. McKinney (D-Georgia) alleged that President Bush might have been protecting the interests of the Carlyle Group, an investment firm where George Bush, Sr., is a board member.

"Instead of congress investigating what went wrong, President Bush placed a phone call to Majority leader Tom Daschle asking him not to investigate the events of Sept. 11. And hot on the heels of the president's phone call was another phone call from the vice president asking that Tom Daschle not investigate," McKinney told Flashpoints host Dennis Bernstein. "My question is what do they have to hide?"

McKinney quoted a Los Angeles Times report that on a single day in 2001 the Carlyle group had earned $237 million selling shares in United Defense Industries, the Army's fifth largest contractor. Bush's admonition to Daschle is all the more suspicious, she went on to say, because "The Carlyle officials say they decided to take the company public only after the Sept. 11 attacks."

From the uproar provoked by McKinney's remarks, you might think conspiracy theory had made a madcap escape from the dark corners of the Internet into hallowed halls of congress. McKinney's allegation drew fierce criticism and outright mockery from the media and several prominent national figures. The Washington Post quoted Carlyle Group spokesman Chris Ullman, "Did she say these things while standing on a grassy knoll in Roswell, New Mexico?" White House Press Secretary Ari Fleisher also cast McKinney upon the proverbial green mound of Kennedy conspiracy legend. "All I can tell you is the congresswoman must be running for the hall of fame of the Grassy Knoll Society."

[Warpy]

44. Yeah, money makes them completely tone deaf

and while I appreciate the gesture of donating the Magna Carta to a public exhibition, I'd have appreciated reopening a factory somewhere for the same amount of money even more, especially a factory making something essential that we no longer make for ourselves. You know, like TEXTILES.

[Demeter]

67. Or Small Appliances, Computers, TVs, Shoes

The list is virtually endless of things Not Made Here

[Warpy]

73. Furniture, refrigerators and stoves,

spare parts for cars, pharmaceuticals and vaccines, steel from blast furnace through rolling mill to finished product.

There is so much we no longer make here that we won't survive the next big war, let alone win it.

[UpInArms]

89. Today's Trivia: Jack Ruby was born under the name Jacob Rubenstein.

http://www.encyclomedia.com/jack_ruby.html

Jack Ruby was born under the name Jacob Rubenstein. He was a nightclub owner in Dallas, Texas, and changed his name to Jack Leon Ruby in December of 1947. Ruby put his name in history forever, under the heading; “Jack Ruby kills Lee Harvey Oswald.” He committed this act only two days after Oswald had assassinated U.S. President John F. Kennedy.
Background of Jack Ruby

Jacob Rubenstein was born in 1911. The exact day of his birth is uncertain and has been reported on various dates from March to June. The most common date of birth is said to be March 24, 1911. Rubenstein was born in Chicago, Illinois to Joseph Rubenstein and Fannie Turek Rutkowski. Both Joseph and Fannie were Orthodox Jews. Ruby was the fifth child of his parents’ eight.

Jacob Rubenstein had a rough childhood. He lived in four different residences before the age of five. His father was an alcoholic and would often get arrested. Rubenstein’s parents fought often and were sometimes physical. In 1921, his parents were separated and divorced.

On July 10, 1923 Jacob Rubenstein and his three younger siblings were placed into foster care. They remained in foster homes for a period of up to five years before returning back into custody of their mother. Once back home, his family lived a life of poverty. Jacob’s mother was ordered by the courts in 1937 to be admitted into a mental institution. She was delusional and uncooperative. She was released in August 1938 at an status of “improved.” She moved into an apartment and stayed separated from the family. Jacob’s parents apparently reconciled shortly after. In 1944, Fannie was admitted into the hospital for heart problems. She died on April 11, 1944. Following her death, Joseph returned to his children and lived with them until he died at the age of 87 on December 24, 1958.

...lots more...

[UpInArms]

22. 10:03 EST no joy in mudville this morning

Dow 12,268.26 16.04 (0.13%)
Nasdaq 2,295.23 4.55 (0.20%)
S&P 500 1,340.05 2.48 (0.18%)
10-Yr Bond 3.769% 0.015

NYSE Volume 358,177,468.75
Nasdaq Volume 212,174,609.375

10:00 am : The major indices are trading slightly below the flat line. Seven of the ten economic sectors are in the green, although weakness in the heavily weighted financial sector (-0.9%) is limiting the broader market from making gains.

Weighing on the sector is Fannie Mae (FNM 27.65, -1.34) and Freddie Mac (FRE 25.87, -1.88). Merrill Lynch downgraded both companies to Sell from Neutral, citing a weakening macro-economic financial market and credit trends.

Citigroup (C 24.83, -0.22) is also a laggard. Oppenheimer analysts Meridith Whitney said on CNBC there is no doubt Citi will have to raise more capital, and another dividend cut is likely. In November, Whitney correctly predicted Citi would cut its dividend. DJ30 -5.04 NASDAQ -1.14 SP500 -1.26 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1269/1085/166 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1503/1206/112 mln

09:45 am : Stocks open on a slightly higher note. Stocks got a lift from a favorable revision to the Producer Price Index (PPI). December PPI was revised to -0.3% from -0.1% month over month. November PPI was revised to +2.6% from +3.2%. Inflation concerns have weighed on the market as of late, so this downward revision was welcome by traders.

Corporate news has been slow, as is often the case on Friday.DJ30 +16.32 NASDAQ +2.89 SP500 +2.21

[Hugin]

24. ~10:15 ET: "Stocks edge up as traders grab bargains." (Actual headline...)

My comment: They wish. :rofl:

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 12238.87 -45.43 -0.37%
• NASDAQ 2287.39 -12.39 -0.54%
• S&P 500 1336.50 -6.03 -0.45%

[UpInArms]

25. Auction Debt Succumbs to Bid-Rig Taint as Citi Flees (Update4)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXXucptLVGuc&refer=worldwide

Feb. 21 (Bloomberg) -- The collapse of the auction-rate bond market, where state and local governments go to raise cash, demonstrates that regulators are no match for Wall Street.

Hundreds of auctions have failed this month, sending borrowing costs as high as 20 percent because dealers from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Citigroup Inc., UBS AG and Merrill Lynch & Co. stopped using their own capital to support the sales. Regulators, who allowed the manipulation of bids and lack of information to persist even after two probes in the past 15 years, are now watching a $342 billion market evaporate at the expense of taxpayers.

Inadequate disclosure ``may have masked the impact of broker-dealer bidding on rates and liquidity,'' Martha Haines, head of the Securities and Exchange Commission's municipal office, said in an interview. ``The large numbers of recent auction failures, which are reported to have occurred due to a reduction in bidding by broker-dealers, appears to indicate those concerns were well founded.''

Citizens Property Insurance of Tallahassee, Florida, a state-run insurer that protects homeowners against hurricane losses, is a casualty. The rate Citizens pays on a portion of the $4.75 billion in securities it has sold jumped to 15 percent from 5 percent at an auction run by UBS that failed on Feb. 13.

No `Backstop'

``The banks were the backstop,'' said Sharon Binnun, the chief financial officer of Citizens. ``If you had more sell orders than buy orders, they'd pick up the difference and you wouldn't have a failed auction.''

Officials at Goldman, Citigroup, UBS and Merrill declined to comment. All the firms are based in New York, except UBS, which is in Zurich. UBS told its brokers this month that it won't buy bonds that fail to attract enough bidders, and Merrill said it was reducing its purchases.

...more...

[UpInArms]

28. 10:35 EST and nearing the PIL of 12,200

Dow 12,204.52 79.78 (0.65%)
Nasdaq 2,280.05 19.73 (0.86%)
S&P 500 1,331.59 10.94 (0.81%)
10-Yr Bond 3.746% 0.038

NYSE Volume 679,906,937.5
Nasdaq Volume 430,150,062.5

10:30 am : The major indices fall to their worst levels of the session and are now posting modest losses. Financials (-1.3%) are leading the way lower, as the sector hits its worst level. Selling interest has been broad-based, with the exception of telecom (+0.2%), which now stands alone in positive territory.

Crude oil is down 0.9% to $97.38 per barrel. Oil has traded in a choppy manner throughout the morning. Meanwhile, gold is down 0.4% to $945.80 per ounce after hitting an all-time intraday high of $958.40 on Thursday. As a whole, commodities are up a slight 0.1%, thanks to more than 2% gains in cocoa and coffee.DJ30 -39.32 NASDAQ -12.43 SP500 -5.72 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1780/740/386 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2021/793/233 mln

[Hugin]

32. ~10:50 ET: The band played on with today's musical choice... "Nearer My God to Thee".

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 12214.61 -69.69 -0.57%
• NASDAQ 2280.63 -19.15 -0.83%
• S&P 500 1333.14 -9.39 -0.70%

Trivia: What exactly the band on the Titanic was doing in those last minutes is an 'Unconfirmed' Urban
Legend. But, my guess is they weren't splitting the Muni Bonds from the Junk Paper or rearranging the
deck chairs.

http://www.snopes.com/history/titanic/lastsong.asp


( H-E-L-L-O UIA... I thought we'd agreed today would be "Baseball Metaphor Day" on the SMW. :eyes: ;) :hi: )

[Demeter]

34. It's Just a Friday Slump

Testing the bottom, as it were. Nothing to see here. Besides, NY is socked in with snow.

[SlowDownFast]

36. It's not "just a Friday slump"

This is the beginning of wave 3 of 3.

We've thrown pins through support on all indices this morning.

I think we taste 1336 on the S&P from the bottom then bleed off. I believe we end the session at the 1315-1317 level.

My SPY puts are betting on it.


Look out below!

[Demeter]

39. Gravity--Not Just a Good Idea; It's the LAW!

[SlowDownFast]

35. My theme song for the stock market

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iquCHSkmUek

[Hugin]

52. Haha! Good pick.

I hadn't quite gotten that far yet. :D

[TalkingDog]

41. My baseball metaphor:

I'm a do-er, not a watcher. I liken it to a meal. Given a choice between eating that delicious medium rare rib-eye, steamed asparagus with butter and garlic potatoes and WATCHING somebody eat....well, I think it's obvious where my preference lay.

So, while I like playing any game. I'm not such a fan of watching. The Spousal Unit, however, has one of those brains that can tell you who was driving for what NASCAR team from the 50's on, who was on what baseball team when and what original cities and leagues they belonged to.... etc. football, etc. hockey, ect. musical groups....*phew* too exhausting......

So one day baseball was being discussed and the talk was about which teams were going to be in the playoffs and go on to play for the Pennant. And because I am curious, if not exactly knowlegeable, I said: "So, the winner of the Pennant is the winner of the series, right?"

"Yes."

"Oh," says I, sagely connecting the dots, "that would make the Pennant like the World Series of Baseball."

Now the Spousal Unit is fairly unflappable (there is the TalkingDog to contend with on a daily basis, after all) so the blank stare was only a slight clue that there should be smoke rolling out of ears......

The laughter on the other hand......

[Hugin]

48. Okay, filed for future use...

:rofl: :D :thumbsup:

As, opposed to the Super Bowl of Bowling? :crazy:

Sport is such a rich field of metaphores... (Pun intended.)

[Roland99]

43. 11:49am - Still hovering just above...

Dow 12,205.90 -78.40
Nasdaq 2,276.94 -22.84
S&P 500 1,333.23 -9.30
Gold $946.40 $-2.80
10 YR 3.74% -0.04
Oil $98.35 $0.12

[Hugin]

49. ~12:30 ET: 12,200 PIL broken...

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 12173.66 -110.64 -0.90%
• NASDAQ 2266.62 -33.16 -1.44%
• S&P 500 1329.87 -12.66 -0.94%

[Roland99]

53. We better take some pills then

[Hugin]

56. ~13:00 ET: Looks like they chose the Red pill...

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 12178.39 -105.91 -0.86%
• NASDAQ 2271.26 -28.52 -1.24%
• S&P 500 1330.52 -12.01 -0.89%

As usual, I'm probably in the 'control' group... Luckily, I like those sugary placebos! :9

[Yael]

61. I know 12.2 has a psychological barrier -- but what does PIL stand for?

[UpInArms]

63. psychologically important line (in the sand)

and that line moves with the wind :D

:hi:

[Hugin]

64. It's a SMW Insider's joke...

PIL = "Psychologically Important Level" and we started using it for everything as a farce on the Mass Media
which at that time was declaring almost every decimal level of the Dow as a "Psychologically Significant
Barrier" especially as the Markets were rising a year or so ago.

Oh, does that count as Insider Trading Jokes? ;)

[Yael]

65. Thanks both!!

Back to lurking on this thread for me.

Appreciate all y'all do throughout the day to keep us cube rats informed!

[UpInArms]

66. come in anytime, the water's fine!

and there are no barracudas swimming here :)

[Hugin]

68. Oh, great...

Don't mention the Loan Sharks. :eyes:

:7

[Yael]

69. LOL!

[UpInArms]

70. shhhhh!

I also was keeping the lid on the piranha thing - you know, the reason there is blood in the water ;)

[Robbien]

37. Countrywide: No Remorse, Just Still Living The High Life

There’s something called remorse. Maybe you’ve heard of it. Clearly Countrywide Financial is not in touch with that emotion right now.

While many Americans are struggling to pay mortgages they never should have been offered or are staring down the face of foreclosure--and while many Countrywide stockholders are staring at holdings that are worth 1/5th of what they were a year ago--and while 11,400 former Countrywide employees are trolling the want-ads, Countrywide execs are going skiing.

Yep, that’s right. Next week Countrywide will “host about 30 representatives of smaller mortgage banks for three nights at the Ritz-Carlton Bachelor Gulch ski resort in Avon, CO,” according to a report in the Wall Street Journal. The meeting, billed as the “2008 Advisory Council”, includes dinner at Spago, hotel rooms, ski rentals, lift tickets and of course cocktails. There are two four-hour business meetings, followed by skiing and dinner at “Zach’s Cabin, where diners arrive by sled.”

. . . I realize that the folks at Countrywide don’t see themselves as the least bit to blame for any of the troubles in the subprime mortgage market and the greater credit markets.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/23293219

[Demeter]

38. Avalanche Time!

[MilesColtrane]

76. I could definitely see some Donner party action happening if they got snowed in.

Mmm...subprime rib!!!

[Demeter]

77. Food Poisoning!

Stick to vegetation.

[Warpy]

46. I told a BoA guy last week he needed to revise his 10% loss figure

on Countrywide's debt to 30%-50% minimum. It's not just the subprime, liar's loans they made, it's the prime loans issued over the past 5 years in the hottest markets. People who find themselves owing 100% more on a house than it's worth are going to lock that front door and walk away. They'd be fools not to.

BoA got enough of a deal on the Countrywide purchase that they can still make money on the deal, even with a 50% writeoff. However, they're going to have to rein in those executives starting NOW and they're going to have to plan accordingly for that big a loss.

Right now, they're still dreaming.

[Robbien]

54. Countrywide's debt is not the only questionable item. Their revenue stream is iffy

From everything I've read, Countrywide made a killing on collecting fees on closing loans and moving debt around.

That revenue stream is gone. In the latter years fees were THE larger portion of their gross revenue.

Yet the high life partying goes on.

I am surprised your BoA guy only has a 10% reserve on Countrywide. It boggles the mind.

[Warpy]

62. Well, it might be the official BS line he was ordered to give

but he's used to having me laugh at him and tell him the truth. He never bothers to defend any of the bullshit, so I'll keep him employed for now. He's only as sleazy as he needs to be to keep his job.

He's also the one who fed me the oil company projection that the price per barrel would fall to $40 in 2006. I laughed at that one, too, and told him why.

I haven't mentioned what I fully expect the stock market to do when the whole house of cards collapses from the top down. I'm just giving him guidance on avoiding institutional stocks like the plague and hoping for the best on the rest.

[AnneD]

80. Maybe it was the fact that...

he had an unnatural tan in December. More like someone that spends more time on the golf course rather than planning meetings. I first sat Countrywide's CEO Frank Mozilo was on WSJ Week with Maria Bartiromo. They were talking (actually she was asking, he was spinning) about the BOA deal. It was a win-win yadayadayada, I sold my share because I have to send kids and grandkids to college, unexpected drop in sales. Last time I saw that much spin was on a dre idle.:eyes:

The long and short was....I didn't trust the guy-the red flags went up. I just had a strong reaction to the guy. Not all my strong reactions are bad. I believed Joe Wilson from the first time he every opened his mouth, when yellow cake uranium was just a rumour. And I still believe this guy deserves a high office in the diplomatic corp.

As far as Mozilo is concerned. The BOA CEO that signed the contract needs to count his fingers and check his wallet and pen. And check the family jewels while your at it.

[Warpy]

128. Yeah, I mentioned all that, too

I think this Countrywide sponsored extravaganza for bank execs was their last attempt to deflect an investigation. Wine them, dine them, let them hit the slopes, plenty of floozies in the hotel, and they won't investigate.

Yeah, right.

[Roland99]

57. I guess Chuck E. Cheese was booked.

[DemReadingDU]

42. Healthcare fraud trial in Columbus, Ohio - Update

2/21/08 Investors were misled for years, former exec testifies

False information was given to investors in National Century Financial Enterprises dating back to 1995, a former company executive testified today in federal court.

National Century established two subsidiaries to sell bonds to investors and began falsifying reports when the companies were formed in 1995 and 1999, Sherry Gibson said.

Gibson, who created investor reports for National Century, testified that company president Lance K. Poulsen told her to falsify reports.

“We were not to issue an investor report that was not in compliance,” Gibson said Poulsen told her. But the reports were based on false financial information, she said.

The subsidiaries were National Premiere Finance VI and XII.

National Century used the money from the bond sales to advance money to health-care providers and in turn collected on the providers’ accounts receivable for a share of the funds.The company began having financial troubles because it was advancing more money to health-care providers than they could collect, Gibson said. The company also kept trying to collect on accounts receivable that were more than six months old – at which point such debts were to be classified as uncollectable.

“I added receivables. I changed the aging categories. I added payor information. I manipulated the reserve accounts,” Gibson told jurors.

Problems with using false data became so bad that in 1999, National Century created a separate compliance department, housed in a different building from the rest of the company, she said. The compliance department was in charge of creating reports that were given to investors, auditors and rating agencies.

more...
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2008/02/21/nat_cen.html?sid=101


2/22/08 Books falsified, former officer testifies

There were two sets of books at National Century Financial Enterprises.

One set, the actual books, showed that the company had been short on cash since 1995. Only a few executives of that Dublin-based company were privy to those.

The other set, the financials the rest of the world saw, included numbers that were dreamt up and plugged in monthly, Sherry Gibson, a former executive vice president of the company, testified yesterday.

more...
http://www.columbusdispatch.com/live/content/business/stories/2008/02/22/NatCen22.ART_ART_02-22-08_C10_299E3PF.html?sid=101


links to previous articles...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3189726&mesg_id=3189894

[Karenina]

93. Thanx for these updates! Microcosm et al...

[AnneD]

45. U.S. hiking fines for hiring illegal immigrants by 25%

WASHINGTON — The government said today it will raise by 25 percent the fines it will levy against employers who knowingly hire illegal immigrants.

Attorney General Michael Mukasey and Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff announced the increase, which is the first boost in fines in nearly a decade.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the federal agency responsible for investigating illegal hirings, has stepped up its enforcement of the employer sanctions law in the past year, leading to a dozen major busts. Currently, fines range from $2,000 to $10,000 depending on the offense. The agency says some penalties could include at least six months in jail.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5562070.html

[Robbien]

58. Big deal. No one enforces the law anyway.

The only raids being done are done for political purposes and means diddlysquat.

By the way the headline is misleading, it is not immigrants who are illegal in this story. It is illegal employers. The employers are the ones who are breaking the law.

[AnneD]

86. We have had a slight uptick in them here lately....

but I remember when they use to go to my Dad's work site once a month for checks. Seems though they are nabbing American citizens in the raids too but that story isn't reported.

They have needed to up the fines-that's the story. If they upped the fines regularly, and preformed raids regularly-they could pay for the increased cost-maybe even higher enough border patrol agents instead of putting up a ridiculous fence.

Hubby has gotten off work (UTPD-officer still in uniform) and drive past 'labour' areas and had folks suddenly disappear.

We joke about it-if he ever has a flat tire there-he will be SOL.

[AnneD]

47. British bankers to be sentenced in Enron case today

HOUSTON — Three British bankers who have pleaded guilty for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow are set to learn their fates.

David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew each face up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 when sentenced today.

In November, the three men each pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud as part of a plea agreement after initially saying they were innocent of colluding with Fastow in a secret financial scam in 2000 to enrich themselves at their employer's expense.

Federal prosecutors are recommending that U.S. District Judge Ewing Werlein Jr. sentence each of the men to just over three years in prison.

more...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/5561483.html

Another lone trader on the grassy knoll theory goes up in smoke. :sarcasm:

[AnneD]

55. Forget big returns in the coming years, say stock market bears

Some see 6% annual returns or less for a decade; a return to the Seventies?


How long will the bear market last? Hard to say, but some market-watchers expect a long period of choppy market returns that will include sizeable declines as well as shorter-term rallies.

These pessimists say the numbers just don’t add up for investors who expect to achieve historical returns on stocks over the 10- to 20-year period that typically defines a secular bear market.

Contraction of price-earnings ratios could cause stock market returns to shrink, regardless of corporate earnings, these bears say.

Most bull-market phases begin with a market P/E under 10, said Ed Easterling, president of investment firm Crestmont Holdings and market trend specialist Crestmont Research. Today, the P/E of the S&P 500 stocks remains relatively high at around 20, said Mr. Easterling.

more.....

http://www.financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080222/REG/227393376/1036

This was a good article about what a bear market looks like and brings up some thing that some of us may have been too young to remember.;)

[DemReadingDU]

50. Whitney: It's Time to Dump the Federal Reserve

2/21/08 It's Time to Dump the Federal Reserve By Mike Whitney

The credit storm which began in July when two Bear Stearns hedge funds were forced to liquidate, has continued to intensify and roil the markets. Last week the noose tightened around auction-rate securities,a little-known part of the market that requires short-term funding to set rates for long-term municipal bonds. The $330 billion ARS market has dried up overnight pushing up rates as high as 20% on some bonds---a new benchmark for short term debt. Auction-rate securities are now headed for extinction just like the other previously-vital parts of the structured finance paradigm. The $2 trillion market for collateralized debt obligations (CDOs), the multi-trillion dollar mortgage-backed securities market (MBSs) and the $1.3 asset-backed commercial paper (ABCP) market have all shut down draining a small ocean of capital from the financial system and pushing many of the banks and hedge funds closer to default.

The price of insuring corporate bonds has skyrocketed in the last few weeks making it more difficult for businesses to get the funding they need to expand or continue present operations. Much of this has to do with the growing uncertainty about the reliability of credit default swaps, a $45 trillion dollar market which remains virtually unregulated. Credit-default swaps are a type of financial instrument that are used to speculate on a company's ability to repay debt. They pay the buyer face value in exchange for the underlying securities or the cash equivalent if a borrower fails to adhere to its debt agreements. When the price of CDSs increases, it means that there is greater doubt about the quality of the bond. Prices are presently soaring because the entire structured finance market---and anything connected to it—is under withering attack from the meltdown in subprime mortgages. As foreclosures continue to rise, the securities that were fashioned from subprime loans will continue to unwind destroying trillions of dollars of virtual-capital in the secondary market.


...the Fed refused to perform its oversight duties because its friends in the banking industry were raking in obscene profits selling sketchy, subprime junk to gullible investors around the world. They knew about the “massive off balance-sheet positions” which allowed the banks' to create mortgage-backed securities and CDOs without sufficient capital reserves. They knew it all; every last bit of it, which simply proves that the Federal Reserve is an organization which serves the exclusive interests of the banking establishment and their corporate brethren in the financial industry.

Surprised?

The upcoming global recession/depression will give us plenty of time to mull over the ruinous effects of Fed policy and to devise a plan for abolishing the Federal Reserve once and for all. That is, if they don't destroy us first.

more...
http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article19401.htm

[SlowDownFast]

59. Yesterday Whitney was on CNBC

saying she sees best case 15% downside on financials, worst case 50% downside. This was at the end of the interview and Bartiromo was speechless for a couple seconds when she said 50% - Maria then shrieked 50%?? then cut her off and quickly ended the interview.

:nuke:

here's the interview:

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=659529306&play=1

[DemReadingDU]

60. Different Whitney

Not good out there, according to either Whitney

:(

[AnneD]

106. Loved it....

someone squeezed her Charmin.

[Hugin]

71. ~Quarter 'till Two ET: Hovering near the 12,170 PIL...

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 12170.16 -114.14 -0.93%
• NASDAQ 2267.85 -31.93 -1.39%
• S&P 500 1329.25 -13.28 -0.99%

Edit: Oops, getting a little ahead of myself there. :blush: (Y'all can come back in off the window sill, sorry. My bad.
etc. )

[UpInArms]

74. ...

[UpInArms]

72. 1:45 EST closing in on the PIL of 12,172.22

Dow 12,173.34 110.96 (0.90%)
Nasdaq 2,268.39 31.39 (1.36%)
S&P 500 1,329.75 12.78 (0.95%)
10-Yr Bond 3.75% 0.034

NYSE Volume 1,908,031,375
Nasdaq Volume 1,285,238,375

1:30 pm : The pressure holding stocks in the red has waned a bit. Each of the major indices has pulled off their session lows, but remain in negative territory.

Though selling is less intense than earlier, decliners continue to outpace advancing issues 2-to-1 on the NYSE.

The session's choppy trading has lifted volatility. The VIX is up 1.9%.DJ30 -76.12 NASDAQ -25.21 SP500 -9.02 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1987/815/1.21 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1999/1057/684 mln

1:00 pm : The defensive utility sector (+0.4%) is weathering the broader market's downturn. The Dow Jones Utility Average (+0.3%) remains modestly higher, while the Dow Jones Transportation Average is down 1.5% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average is down 0.89.

Though stocks remain in negative territory, they are off their session lows.

Crude oil prices have returned to positive territory. The commodity is up 0.4% to $98.65 per barrel, near its best level of the session.DJ30 -92.81 NASDAQ -28.30 SP500 -10.60 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2028/767/1.10 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2117/925/623 mln

12:30 pm : The major indices are pushing toward new lows. Financials (-1.5%) are weighing on the broader market as the sector dwindles toward its session low.

The tech sector (-1.3%) is also a laggard in today's session. Large-cap tech stocks like Microsoft (MSFT 27.53, -0.57), IBM (IBM 105.99, -0.94), and Apple (AAPL 118.32, -3.22) have all made precipitous drops since the early going.DJ30 -108.11 NASDAQ -31.95 SP500 -12.21 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2018/746/985 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2194/830/562 mln

[Robbien]

75. Nasdaq wants to list 'blank check' companies

"Blank check" companies are created as shells with capital but no operating business. Their purpose it to shop for firms that they can buy and operate. These corporations are also known as SPAC for special acquisition companies.

According to The Wall Street Journal , "Last year, SPACs accounted for nearly a quarter of all IPOs in the U.S., according to Dealogic, and the Amex was the go-to listing location for nearly all of them." Now Nasdaq (NASDAQ: NDAQ) wants a shot at allowing SPAC listings as well.

SPACs has been put together by several LBO and investment firms to be used to make buyouts down the road. That would allow the operating companies to be publicly traded right away. But, trading them on stock markets before they buy real businesses is a bad idea even if it gives the SPAC owners an edge on getting to the public market.

Trading in SPACs is trading in a phantom. Investors have no way to know what the SPAC will buy or even if it will ever buy a real business, forcing it to return money to investors. It is a form of gambling being encouraged by the exchanges.

http://www.bloggingstocks.com/2008/02/22/nasdaq-ndaq-wants-to-list-blank-check-companies/


The DotCom disaster being rejuvenated and repackaged?

[Robbien]

78. Democratic Fundraiser Targets Hedge Fund Pros

Of the more than $3 million in hedge fund cash given to presidential candidates last year, 75% went to Democrats. That margin has helped the leading Democratic presidential candidates to raise almost three times as much as the presumptive Republic presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Party leadership is hoping to leverage this newfound strength with a New York fundraiser aimed specifically at hedge fund professionals.

“The importance of political leadership to the functioning of the economy and the markets has never been as clear as under the present administration,” Dan Loeb, who runs New York activist hedge fund manager Third Point, told FINalternatives. “Understanding how the current crop of political candidates assess these challenges and plans to address the economic issues threatening our country makes this the most important and interesting election in our lifetimes.”

Loeb is joining private equity chieftain (and New Jersey Investment Council chairman) Orin Kramer and the interim chief investment officer of Harvard University’s endowment fund, Robert Kaplan, as a panelist at next Thursday’s fundraiser at the Feldman Gallery. Half-market forecast, half-insider strategy session, the event also features former Vermont Gov. (and 2004 presidential candidate) Howard Dean, the chairman of the Democratic National Committee, who will talk about the remarkably tight race between Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.).

. . .

According to event chair and organizer Leonard Carr, a marketing director for a New York-based hedge fund, “this is the hottest ticket in the industry.”

. . .

While the panel’s participants have taken sides—Kramer and Loeb are major Obama supporters, while Kaplan backs Clinton—the event is strictly non-partisan, from a candidate standpoint, anyway, with all funds raised going to the DNC.

http://www.finalternatives.com/node/3636

[Hugin]

79. "Lenders fighting mortgage rewrite" - WaPo via MSNBC

"By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum

Fri., Feb. 22, 2008
WASHINGTON - The nation's largest lending institutions are lobbying hard to block a proposal in Congress that would give bankruptcy judges greater latitude to rewrite mortgages held by financially strapped homeowners.

The proposal, which could come to a vote in the Senate as early as next week, is being pushed by Democratic congressional leaders and a large coalition of groups that includes labor unions, consumer advocates, civil rights organizations and AARP, the powerful senior citizens' lobby.

The legislation would allow bankruptcy judges for the first time to alter the terms of mortgages for primary residences. Under the proposal, borrowers could declare bankruptcy, and a judge would be able to reduce the amount they owe as part of resolving their debts."

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23289066/

______________________________________________________________________________________

Oh, gee... Why didn't I see that coming. :eyes:

[Ghost Dog]

84. European shares shed 1% as utilities, banks drag

LONDON, Feb 22 (Reuters) - European shares ended down on Friday as downbeat results from Germany's RWE (RWEG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) hit utilities and poor U.S. data fed concern that the world's largest economy is headed for recession, which weighed on bank stocks.

RWE shares fell nearly 6.5 percent after Germany's second-largest utility earned less than expected and said earnigns could be flat this year, which knocked shares in rivals such as E.ON (EONG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research).

Auto stocks led by Renault (RENA.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Fiat (FIA.MI: Quote, Profile, Research) felt the pinch of a broker downgrade and a rise in the euro <EUR=>, which makes their exports less competitive.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended down 0.8 percent at 1,320.04 points. The index has fallen nearly 13 percent since the start of the year.

The broader European market has risen for the second week in a row, but sentiment has been plagued by worries about the resilience of the U.S. economy and corporate profitability.

"The markets are being pulled between information on the here and now, which is quite discouraging, and hopes that more aggressive action to try to reflate the U.S. economy in say nine months' time will (make things) look a lot better," said Andrew Bell, a European strategist at Rensburg Sheppards.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCAL2224012520080222?rpc=611

[Ghost Dog]

87. Second-half pickup may be wishful thinking

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The consensus opinion among economists that the U.S. economy is likely to rebound in the summer after a tough few months is already showing signs that it might be little more than wishful thinking.
The biggest hole in the underpinnings of this consensus was blown earlier in the week by noted economist Martin Feldstein, who was former chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers under President Reagan and had been on everyone's short-list of possible replacements for former Fed chief Alan Greenspan.

One reason Feldstein deserves attention is because, so far in this financial market tsunami, he was first and he was right.

In late August at the Fed's Jackson Hole retreat, Feldstein warned the financial market turmoil was going to have a negative impact on the economy and advised the Fed to quickly get about the business of lowering short-term interest rates.

"Feldstein led the charge in being pessimistic about what all this market turmoil was going to mean for the economy," said Mike Englund, chief economist at Action Economics.

In his op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday, Feldstein said the Fed's interest rate cuts can't end this recession as it has previous ones in the past two decades.

Feldstein said that his principle cause of concern was the paralysis of the credit markets, which had the elements of the following Catch -22: the credit flows needed for economic expansion require confidence in the values of existing financial assets, but market participants may not have such confidence while the risk of recession hangs over us.

"If a recession does occur, it could last longer and be more painful that the past several downturns because of differences in its origin and character," Feldstein said, adding that the deep recession of 1981 "only lasted 16 months," implying that this recession could be longer.

/... http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/capitol-report-outlooks-second-half-pickup/story.aspx?guid=%7B3D0DF466%2D8948%2D4706%2D8481%2DEFB69EF82A66%7D&dist=hplatest

[UpInArms]

91. 3:23 EST and rocketing toward the PIL of 12,164

Dow 12,168.78 115.52 (0.94%)
Nasdaq 2,268.54 31.24 (1.36%)
S&P 500 1,328.31 14.22 (1.06%)
10-Yr Bond 3.79% 0.006

NYSE Volume 2,611,603,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,764,042,875

3:00 pm : Financials (-1.4%) and Tech (-1.1%) stocks remain underperformers this session. Of the top ten laggards, three are financial firms and four are tech companies.

General Electric (GE 33.25, -0.44) is the worst performer among the ten most influential stocks in the S&P 500 this session. Its shares are currently trading just 1% above their 52-week low.

Crude prices closed $0.68 higher at $98.91 per barrel.DJ30 -86.21 NASDAQ -26.98 SP500 -10.51 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2012/859/1.61 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2013/1076/898 mln

2:30 pm : Stocks continue to trade in negative territory. The market is down 1.4% this week alone. Year-to-date the S&P 500 is down 9.4%. The S&P 500, however, remains roughly 20 points above its 52-week closing low reached in late January.

Treasuries have surrendered the session's gains. The 10-year note is currently at the unchanged mark, yielding 3.77%, while the 30-year bond is down 12 ticks, now yielding 4.57%.DJ30 -102.50 NASDAQ -31.03 SP500 -12.29 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2028/801/1.48 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2124/965/831 mln

[UpInArms]

92. 3:30 EST "miracle" recovery in progress

Dow 12,219.90 64.40 (0.52%)
Nasdaq 2,271.74 28.04 (1.22%)
S&P 500 1,333.88 8.65 (0.64%)
10-Yr Bond 3.79% 0.006

NYSE Volume 2,683,818,250
Nasdaq Volume 1,820,323,000

I guess big pockets daddy warbucks has decided to run in and buy up all the bargains and hold them over the weekend :eyes:

[Hugin]

94. Must maintain that all important 12,200 PIL...

Couldn't have Stagflation without it.

It's a fact.

[UpInArms]

96. Has now crossed over that other all important PIL at 12,300

:shakeshead:

Who would have thought that at the end of the week something would drive the markets straight up 150 points.

[UpInArms]

97. buyin' those bank stocks blather - rah rah sisss boom bah!

3:40 pm : Stocks took fresh lows, but quickly rebounded. The Dow and S&P 500 are now positive, while the Nasdaq has made up most of its losses. Financials have spiked off their lows and have crossed back into positive territorty.

A CNBC commentator noted that a bailout plan for bond insurer Ambac (ABK) could be announced as early as Monday or Tuesday next week. The report has given way to refreshed strength in regional banks (+1.0%) and multi-line insurance (+1.0%).DJ30 +7.65 NASDAQ -7.51 SP500 +1.26 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1753/1122/1.93 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1632/1473/+1.10 bln

[Ghost Dog]

105. Here's da spin:

http://dealbook.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/22/report-on-potential-ambac-bailout-reverses-stock-slide/

As a major snowstorm descended upon Manhattan on Friday, stocks seemed to fall in tandem, driven by continued turmoil in the financial services sector.

But that seemed to reverse sharply late that afternoon after CNBC’s Charles Gasparino reported that a deal to save the triple-A rating of Ambac Financial, the second-largest bond insurer, was near. Mr. Gasparino reported that “significant progress” was being made in negotiations involving Ambac, a consortium of eight banks including Citigroup, and New York’s insurance regulator.

The news more than arrested the slide in Ambac’s stock price and it rebounded, closing at $10.71, a gain of 16 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average also did a 180-degree reversal, closing up $96.72 at $12,381.02. The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index closed up $10.58 at $1,353.11

The CNBC report did not give details on what a potential deal would look like, though capital infusions and lines of credit would likely be part of any bailout.

But in recent days, Ambac and its troubled peers have said they would seriously consider cleaving their two businesses, the insuring of municipal bonds and of structured financial products backed by subprime mortgages.

That move, which has also been suggested in different forms by the New York insurance superintendent, Eric R. Dinallo, Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren E. Buffett and a short seller, William Ackman, would shield municipalities against defaults in the structured finance business. It would also help preserve the credit ratings of the municipal business, keeping the cost of borrowing lower for local governments and the like.

Yet none of the parties involved have been able to agree so far on just how to structure such a plan. While some, like regulators, have sought to preserve the credit ratings of the municipal businesses, banks have been unwilling to see the structured finance units suffer too much.

Drastic drops in the credit ratings of those operations would likely force banks, like Citigroup, to take even more write-downs tied to their exposure to bundles of subprime mortgages known as collateralized debt obligations. Analysts like Meredith Whitney of Oppenheimer Research have estimated that banks could suffer as much as $75 billion in additional charges if bond insurers are downgraded.

According to CNBC, New York’s insurance department believes that both Ambac and its larger rival, MBIA, have enough assets to cover losses stemming from their insurance of CDOs. But the bigger question is whether those companies will suffer downgrades — and whether they can attract new business, as many municipalities can by law hold only triple-A-rated securities.

Go to Article from CNBC »

[UpInArms]

95. 3:40 EST full recovery for Dow and S&P

Dow 12,286.34 2.04 (0.02%)
Nasdaq 2,293.14 6.64 (0.29%)
S&P 500 1,344.54 2.01 (0.15%)
10-Yr Bond 3.79% 0.006

NYSE Volume 2,897,347,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,961,385,250

[Hugin]

98. Uhm... I'm having a moment of prescience here...

*Channels the Corporate Media*

"Markets ended up for the week*"

(* by 3.5 points.)

Okay, there's my prediction... No need to watch or listen to the news or blather.

[UpInArms]

99. now up 104 points with 2 minutes to go

Dow 12,388.67 104.37 (0.85%)
Nasdaq 2,301.87 2.09 (0.09%)
S&P 500 1,352.84 10.31 (0.77%)
10-Yr Bond 3.79% 0.006

NYSE Volume 3,167,189,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,146,628,250

[Hugin]

104. I'm revising my prescience with some postscience...

:shrug:

[UpInArms]

129. U.S. Stocks Rise for a Second Week, Led by Energy, Bank Shares

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a9_q3qhXUglk&refer=home

Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stocks gained for a second week, led by energy and financial companies, after oil climbed to a record and investors speculated that bond insurers will keep their credit ratings.

Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp., the largest U.S. oil producers, led all 36 energy companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index higher after oil rose to $101.32 a barrel on Feb. 20. American International Group Inc., the world's largest insurer by assets, and Morgan Stanley, the second-biggest securities firm by market value, gained on a plan to save Ambac Financial Group Inc.'s AAA credit rating and avoid losses on $556 billion of securities it guarantees.

``The financial companies are at the very core of global infrastructure, and they must be stabilized before you see the economy moving forward,'' said Quincy Krosby, chief investment strategist at the Hartford in Hartford, Connecticut, which manages $330 billion. ``When financials lead a downturn, they've got to bring you out.''

The S&P 500 added 0.2 percent to 1,353.11 for the week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 0.3 percent to 12,381.02. The Nasdaq Composite Index decreased 0.8 percent to 2,303.35.

243-Point Turnaround

Rescue talks for the bond insurers sparked a 243-point turnaround in the Dow average during the week's final hour, erasing losses for the holiday-shortened period. The gains overshadowed a drop in industrial shares, including General Electric Co., after the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia's general economic index slumped to the lowest level in seven years. The measure dropped to minus 24, a reading that has always corresponded with a U.S. recession, according to data since 1968 compiled by Bespoke Investment Group LLC.

...more...

[specimenfred1984]

100. Amazing late day recovery or market manipulation?

Welcome to fascist America

[Roland99]

101. Over 200pt. swing to the positive? I'm assuming investor confidence.

:spray:


Dow 12,389.40 +105.10
Nasdaq 2,303.35 +3.57
S&P 500 1,353.77 +11.24
Oil $98.81 $0.58
10 YR 3.79% 0.01
Gold $947.80 $-1.40

[Hugin]

103. No doubt...

:spray:

[ozymandius]

126. If a major bond insurer were getting a bailout - who wouldn't want a piece of that action?

:showsassinpublicplaces:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

102. Tinky?

[citizen snips]

107. Ambac Report Sends Stocks Higher

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street staged a dramatic turnaround Friday, shooting higher in the last half-hour of trading after word that a bailout plan for troubled bond insurer Ambac Financial could be announced next week. The major indexes were narrowly mixed following a week of choppy trading.

CNBC reported shortly before the closing bell that a plan to help shore up the finances of Ambac Financial Group Inc. could be announced Monday or Tuesday. Ambac shares jumped on the report and finished up $1.48, or 16 percent, at $10.71.

The market's turnaround came after nearly two full days of selling. The Dow Jones industrial average had been down nearly 130 points, but by the close, showed a 225-point reversal from its lows of the session.

"There's probably some validity to the rumors," said Jim Herrick, manager of equity trading at Baird & Co., referring to traders' speculation about Ambac. "With the overall financial crunch we've experienced, this brings new confidence in the sector."

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/wall_street.html

[citizen snips]

108. GM, UAW to Shift Health Care Costs

DETROIT (AP) -- The United Auto Workers and General Motors Corp. are taking a big legal step toward shifting billions in retiree health care costs from the automaker to an independent trust fund.

The union and attorneys representing several retirees sued GM on Thursday to get a federal judge in Detroit to approve the change. It will cover about 500,000 retirees and spouses, plus current UAW workers when they retire.

GM will not oppose the major points of the lawsuit.

If the court approves, the trust gets responsibility for $46.7 billion in health costs in 2010.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/uaw_health_care.html

[citizen snips]

109. Gas Prices Jump, but May Not Stay High

NEW YORK (AP) -- Gas prices jumped Friday to their highest level since June, a possible preview of what many analysts believe will be a record spike in pump prices this spring.

But the current price surge could be short-lived. While gasoline has risen sharply in recent days in response to oil's dramatic climb to a new record above $101 a barrel, gas supplies have quietly grown to their highest level in 14 years.

"We've got a major supply cushion," said Jim Ritterbusch, president of energy consultancy Ritterbusch and Associates in Galena, Ill.

At the pump, gas prices rose 2.9 cents overnight to a national average of $3.115 a gallon, according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That was the highest since June 8.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/oil_prices.html

[citizen snips]

110. Delta/Northwest: Cold Feet at the Altar?

ATLANTA (AP) -- Not too long ago, Delta Air Lines Inc. and Northwest Airlines Corp. seemed all but certain to announce a combination soon.

That still could happen in the next few days, but an impasse over seniority involving the pilots unions has jeopardized a deal, raising the question of what happens if Delta or Northwest walks away.

Industry observers say the two airlines could stay independent, seek a quick deal with another carrier or wait until next year to try the consolidation game again.

"I can conceive of the pilots not coming to an agreement and destroying a potential merger," said Ray Neidl, an airline analyst with Calyon Securities in New York.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/delta_northwest.html

[citizen snips]

111. Hot Stocks of the Week: ONXX ENCY NVTL

NEW YORK (AP) -- In a holiday shortened week, quarterly earnings and outlooks played a major role in shaping some of the most widely traded stocks for the week.

Shares of Onyx Pharmaceuticals dropped 33.1 percent to close at $33.09 on Tuesday in trading volume around 14 times its average, following news that the company will stop a late-stage trial of drug Nexavar to treat lung cancer because it wasn't improving survival among patients. Onyx also said its loss narrowed in the fourth quarter, but fell short of expectations because of higher expenses.

Shares declined steadily as the week continued, with trading volumes still above average.

On Friday, the stock lost 71 cents, or 2.3 percent, to close at $30.11, down 33.1 percent for the week.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/hot_stocks_of_the_week_mover.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

112. S&P 500 Leaders & Laggards: ABK INTU

NEW YORK (AP) -- The Standard and Poor's 500 index finished higher on Friday, as shares of Ambac Financial climbed on news that a bailout plan may be forthcoming.

CNBC reported shortly before the closing bell that a plan to help shore up Amabc's finances may be announced next week. Ambac shares finished up $1.48, or 16 percent, at $10.71.

The S&P 500 index rose 10.58 points to 1,353.11.

MGIC Investment Corp. advanced $1.32, or 9.8 percent, to $14.80.

First Horizon National Corp. rose $1.30, or 7.3 percent, to $19.14. In a client note, Friedman, Billings, Ramsey analyst Paul Miller touted efforts by the company to reduce national real estate exposure, but said the company must first work through the current housing crisis.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/s_p_500_laggards.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

113. Nasdaq 100 Leaders & Laggards: LVLT INTU

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of Level 3 Communications Inc. rose on Friday and helped send the Nasdaq 100 to a higher close, as Wall Street advanced in the final hour of trading.

Level 3, an Internet network provider, rose 16 cents, or 7.5 percent, to $2.30, helping to reverse Thursday's losses.

The Nasdaq 100, which tracks 100 of the largest nonfinancial securities listed on the Nasdaq Stock Market, rose 7.14 points to 1,773.44. The broader Nasdaq Composite index advanced 3.57 points to 2,303.35. In the last hour of trading, Wall Street turned positive on news that a bailout plan for troubled bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. may be revealed next week.

Television programming company Discovery Holding Co. rose $1.09, or 5 percent, to $22.96, following an analyst upgrade.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/nasdaq_100_laggards.html?.v=1

[citizen snips]

114. Treasurys End Mixed After Wary Session

NEW YORK (AP) -- Treasury prices closed mixed Friday after wary investors bought shorter-term notes as a hedge against economic and political risks, but sold long-term bonds on inflation worries.

Treasurys of all maturities were higher most of the session. But late in the afternoon, the 30-year long bond sold off after new reports quoted Dallas Federal Reserve President Richard Fisher as saying he is hearing more concern about rising price pressures.

Inflation signs often lead traders to sell the long bond to send its yield higher because it erodes the value of fixed-income securities.

Fisher's remarks played into fears in the bond market that the Federal Reserve has cut rates too fast and too much this year and that this could send inflation higher. The central bank has cut the overnight Fed funds rate by 1.25 percentage points already this year.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/bonds.html?.v=4

[citizen snips]

115. DJIA Leaders & Laggards: AIG INTC

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of life insurer American International Group Inc. rose on Friday and helped send the Dow Jones industrial average to a higher close, as Wall Street advanced in the final hour of trading.

The blue chip index rose 96.72 points to 12,381.02, as 25 stocks surged higher. In the last hour of trading, Wall Street rose on news that a bailout plan for troubled bond insurer Ambac Financial Group Inc. may be revealed next week.

AIG rose $1.29, or 2.7 percent, to $48.88. On Thursday, credit-rating agency Fitch Ratings said losses at U.S. life insurers tied to deterioration in the subprime mortgage market will likely be manageable.

Shares of Verizon Communications Inc. rose 84 cents, or 2.4 percent, to $36.20.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/djia_laggards.html?.v=1

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116. USDA Sets Milk Price, Soybeans Soar

NEW YORK (AP) -- Wall Street analysts said Friday Dean Foods Inc. should get a boost from a U.S. Department of Agriculture report that lowered the price the dairy processor pays farmers for milk.

In the report, released Friday, the USDA set the base price for Class 1 milk at $16.70 per counterweight for March. That represents a 15 percent decline from the February price of $19.68 per counterweight. The base price represents the minimum price processors can pay farmers for fluid milk. The price is largely determined by production levels.

J.P. Morgan analyst Pablo Zuanic said the news is good for Dean Foods "particularly because the stock has been hit by concerns that milk prices will start to rise."

That fear, Zuanic said, has driven the stock to new yearly lows in recent weeks. Earlier Friday, the stock hit a new 52-week low of $23.73 before rebounding slightly to rise 6 cents to $23.95 in afternoon trading.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/march_milk_price_commodities_wrap.html?.v=1

[KoKo]

120. Dean Food's "Horizon" milk products need some heavy monitoring...

I buy them here in NC from my local grocery stores and I can't tell you how many cartons of their "Low Fat Milk" I've had to return because they were sour, off taste..

Maybe it's that their quality control from plant to grocery are keeping the temps too high...or maybe the grocery stores aren't storing their milk properly. But for all I pay for "low fat organic" it would seem to me that "Horizon" should be able to have some basic "quality control." After returning my latest two gallons to my store for refund...I'm now buying "off the shelf" low fat milk....that has no guarantee about anything.

Their milk has BIG PROBLEMS. :shrug:

[citizen snips]

122. I live in NC and I haved not runned into that.

But Dean Foods has been running into some hard times at NYSE.

[citizen snips]

117. Chavez: $100 Oil Is 'Fair'

CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) -- President Hugo Chavez on Friday called $100 "a fair price" for a barrel of oil, and said Venezuela and other OPEC-member nations would try to prevent the price from dropping below that level.

"We will do everything that must be done within OPEC to continue strengthening the price of our oil," Chavez said during a televised address. He said "$100 is a fair price."

Venezuela is one of the leading price hawks within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, consistently arguing in favor of production cuts at the group's meetings.

Oil prices have floated around $100 in recent days. Light, sweet crude for April delivery rose 49 cents to $98.72 a barrel but alternated between gains and losses.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/venezuela_oil_prices.html?.v=1

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118. UN Says Warming Threatens Fish Stocks

PARIS (AP) -- Major world commercial fish stocks could collapse within decades as global warming compounds damage from pollution and overfishing, U.N. officials said Friday.

A U.N. Environment Program report details new research on how rising ocean surface temperature and other climate changes are affecting the fishing industry. It says that more than 2.6 billion people get most of their protein from fish.

"You overlay all of this and you are potentially putting a death nail in the coffin of the world fisheries," Achim Steiner, head of the program, said in a telephone news conference from Monaco.

The research sheds new light on an undersea flushing mechanism that helps renew fish stocks in three-quarters of the world's primary commercial fishing grounds. Report author Christian Nellemann said global warming is disrupting this circulation.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/global_warming_fish.html?.v=1

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119. SanDisk Falls on Analyst Prediction

NEW YORK (AP) -- Shares of memory chip maker SanDisk Corp. fell Friday after an analyst said he was "staying in the sidelines" on the stock and would continue to buy shares of its competitor Micron Technology Inc.

Oppenheimer & Co. analyst Vijay Rakesh was speaking after a meeting with Micron management, in which they outlined expansion plans for Intel-Micron Flash Technologies, its memory chip joint venture with Intel Corp.

Rakesh said IMFT is moving "aggressively" into new markets and should be ahead of other NAND flash chip makers by the end of 2008.

NAND flash is used in Apple's iPod and other electronic devices that require data storage.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/sandisk_last_call.html?.v=1

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121. Sector Glance: Microchips Down

NEW YORK (AP) -- Microchip shares mostly fell Friday, as at least one analyst saw economic uncertainty bringing a cut in chip production this year.

Friedman, Billings, Ramsey analyst Mehdi Hosseini said in a note on Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd. that his industry analysis suggested that chip companies will continue to cut production as inventory levels and economic problems bring uncertainty.

Here's how the major chip companies fared in trading Friday:

Intel Corp. fell 48 cents to $19.82.

Texas Instruments rose 21 cents to $30.17.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/chips_sector_glance.html?.v=1

[UpInArms]

123. shuttin' up shop

Dow 12,381.02 96.72 (0.79%)
Nasdaq 2,303.35 3.57 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,353.11 10.58 (0.79%)
10-Yr Bond 3.79% 0.006

NYSE Volume 3,574,303,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,340,207,000

Financials weighed on the market for the majority of Friday. Then, a late-day report indicating a possible bailout plan for a major bond insurer is imminent sparked a sudden rally. The news restored optimism and lifted the market from a session low back into positive territory. Stocks finished the day 0.8% higher, near their best level of the session. From its session low to its close, the S&P 500 climbed 2.0%.

Financials led a late-day recovery effort after a CNBC commentator indicated a bailout plan for beleaguered bond insurer Ambac (ABK 10.71, +1.48) could be announced as early as this coming Monday or Tuesday. The financial sector had been in negative territory as much as 1.9%, but managed to make a gain of 1.6%, finishing as a session leader.

With the exception of utilities, each of the major economic sectors spent the majority of the afternoon in negative territory. After the late-day rally, only the healthcare sector (-0.03%) finished in negative territory. The sector's decline, however, was muted.

Two stocks unable to fully participate in the rally were Fannie Mae (FNM 28.72, -0.27) and Freddie Mac (FRE 26.61, -1.14). The companies were weighed down by a Merrill Lynch report that downgraded both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to Sell from Neutral. The premise of the downgrade was rooted in weakening macro-economic trends along with financial market and credit trends. Still, their stocks closed off session lows.

Though the tech sector (+0.3%) participated in the market's late surge, it still finished as a relative underperformer. Among its worst performers was Intuit (INTU 27.05, -2.74), which announced today second quarter results that topped the consensus estimate, but guided third quarter earnings per share below analysts' expectations. Intuit's third quarter is historically its most profitable.

Though there were no new economic surveys or reports released today, the December Producer Price Index (PPI) was revised to -0.3% from -0.1% month-to-month. November's PPI was revised to +2.6% from +3.2%, indicating inflationary pressures were not as strong as initially believed.

For the week, the Dow closed up 0.3%, S&P 500 up 0.2%, but the Nasdaq closed down 0.8%.DJ30 +96.72 NASDAQ +3.57 NQ100 +0.4% R2K -0.2% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +10.58 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1608/1297/2.32 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1273/1838/1.42 bln

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124. Citi Provides $500B in Credit to Fund

NEW YORK (AP) -- Citigroup Inc. earlier this week agreed to provide $500 million in credit to one of its troubled hedge funds, the bank disclosed in a regulatory filing late Friday.

The Citi-managed fund, known as Falcon, was brought onto the bank's books, which will increase the bank's assets and liabilities by about $10 billion. The fund focuses on fixed income.

Citigroup recorded a $10 billion loss in the fourth quarter, and has been working to sell shares of itself and other assets to raise cash.

The bank might continue having trouble returning to financial health, though. After home mortgages drained more than $150 billion from the world's banking industry last year, many experts say commercial real estate loans and bond insurers could be the next culprits. In Citi's regulatory filing Friday, it detailed its exposure to these risky assets.

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/citigroup_fund.html

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125. Beef Recall Affects Trade Negotiations

MONTEREY, Calif. (AP) -- U.S. Agriculture Secretary Ed Schafer said Friday he wants to wait to see the results of an investigation into the nation's largest beef recall before making any policy changes, but he acknowledged that the debacle has delayed negotiations to ship U.S. beef to Japan and South Korea.

Those markets closed to the U.S. cattle industry in 2003 after a scare over mad cow disease.

Speaking before meat packers and processors, Schafer said the Westland/Hallmark Meat Co. recall announced earlier this week had already prompted diplomats to ask why the U.S. can't produce safe meat.

"As people look for reasons to protect their own market places ... they say you can't even send us safe meat," he said. "Do we need to issue new regulations and things? Right now we're just not prepared to do that."

more...
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080222/slaughterhouse_abuse.html

[UpInArms]

127. note to Ozy: 3 more Enron execs convicted

Bankers Each Get 37 Months in Enron Case

HOUSTON (AP) — Three British bankers were sentenced Friday to just over three years in prison for their roles in a fraudulent scheme with former Enron Chief Financial Officer Andrew Fastow, and they're hoping to serve some of that time back home.

A federal judge sentenced David Bermingham, Giles Darby and Gary Mulgrew each to 37 months.

They each pleaded guilty in November to one count of wire fraud as part of a plea agreement after initially saying they were innocent of colluding with Fastow in a secret financial scam in 2000 to enrich themselves at their employer's expense.

"I'm glad this is finally over," Bermingham told reporters after being sentenced. "I'm looking forward to getting back to my family."

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