STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday October 28

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday October 28, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 27, 2010

Dow 11,126.28 -43.18 (-0.39%)
Nasdaq 2,503.26 +5.97 (+0.24%)
S&P 500 1,182.45 -3.19 (-0.27%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.69 -0.04 (-1.36%)
30-Year Bond 4.04 -0.02 (-0.57%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Reports

08:30 Initial Claims 10/23
Briefing.com 450K
Consensus 458K
Prior 452K

08:30 Continuing Claims 10/16
Briefing.com 4450K
Consensus 4428K
Prior 4441K

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[Roland99]

16. Weekly jobless claims drop 21,000 to 434,000

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/weekly-jobless-claims-drop-21000-to-434000-2010-10-28?dist=beforebell

The number of people who filed new claims for state unemployment benefits fell 21,000 to 434,000 in the latest week, marking the third straight decline and the lowest level since early July, the U.S. Labor Department reported Thursday. Economists polled by MarketWatch had expected initial claims to rise to a seasonally adjusted 450,000 in the week ended Oct. 23. Claims for last week were revised up by 10,000 to 455,000. A more accurate gauge of employment trends is the four-week average of initial claims, which is less volatile than the weekly number. The four-week average decreased by 5,500 to 453,350. Continuing claims, which track jobless workers already receiving benefits, fell 122,000 to 4.36 million in the week ended Oct. 16, the latest data available

[OnlinePoker]

18. I don't know if it's deliberate or not...

...but every week it seems they revise the previous week up. It's like they put out good numbers knowing that people will forget the next week when they revise them upwards. Continuing claims is particularly bad. For about 2 months, I've noticed it gets revised upward in the following week by 40k to 50k (this week 37k). I'm not sure if this has been going on all along, but it has happened virtually every week since I started looking at the weekly stats.

[Dr.Phool]

20. Of course it's deliberate.

They revise it up. Then they claim a drop the following week from the revised number, which makes the drop look bigger. Until the following week when it gets revised up also.

We have yet to see one get revised down.

[ozymandius]

2. Oil hovers near $82 on mixed US supply data

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near $82 a barrel Thursday in Asia as weekly supply figures gave mixed signs about U.S. crude demand.

Benchmark oil for December delivery was up 14 cents at $82.08 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 61 cents to settle at $81.94 on Wednesday.

The Energy Department said commercial crude inventories rose 5 million barrels — more than the 1.5 million barrel increase expected by analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos — but gasoline inventories fell 4.4 million barrels.

In other Nymex trading in November contracts, heating oil fell 0.12 cent to $2.237 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.37 cent to $2.106 a gallon. Natural gas slid 1.8 cents to $3.781 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[ozymandius]

3. World Bank launches scheme to green government accounts

This is encouraging...

NAGOYA, Japan (Reuters) – The World Bank on Thursday launched a program to help nations put a value on nature just like GDP in a bid to stop the destruction of forests, wetlands and reefs that underpin businesses and economies.

One of the targets before the ministers is to agree to include the values of biological diversity into national development plans, or possibly national accounts.

The World Bank program will give developing countries tools to help them measure the value and benefits of their ecosystems. India's Environment Secretary Vijai Sharma said at the launch the tools would make impact assessments more objective when looking at bids by miners or steelmakers to set up operations in India.

story here

The program is directed toward emerging economies such as India. India is in a unique situation as both a modernized emerging economy and as an economy that still reflects centuries-old industries; also India has highly capitalized technology industries and, conversely, benefits from micro loan aimed at helping people in rural areas.

[Demeter]

22. Because India won't Let the Vampire Squid and Its Rivals In

I didn't think I could get more cynical, but there it is.

[ozymandius]

4. Fed seen buying up to $100 billion in assets a month: poll

The Fed is expected to flood the banks with currency on the installment plan.

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Most leading economists expect the Federal Reserve to buy between $80 billion and $100 billion worth of assets per month under a new program to bolster the struggling economy, a Reuters poll found on Wednesday.

Estimates for how long the Fed will print money and how much it will eventually spend varied widely, from $250 billion to as high as $2 trillion.

The economists think the impact of the asset buying could be limited given that markets have already priced in the effect of another big round of monetary stimulus.

story here

And indeed the markets have priced in QE2 with negative yields on T-notes.

[Demeter]

12. Assets, or PAPER Asses?

The situation is absurd. In order to save the banks, they are buying up all the fraudulent mortgage backed "securities", but instead it will take the Fed Reserve down.

Well, good riddance to it.

[ozymandius]

5. New home sales rise 6.6 pct. after dismal summer

Here is another time when "less bad=the new good" in today's economy.

The Commerce Department says new home sales in September grew 6.6 percent from a month earlier to a seasonally adjusted annual sales pace of 307,000. Even with the increase, the past five months have been the worst for new home sales on records dating back to 1963.

The uptick in new home sales wasn't enough to convince investors that the sector has returned to health.

New home sales have risen 9 percent from the bottom in May but are still down 78 percent from their peak sales pace of nearly 1.4 million homes in July 2005.

story here

Summer is peak real estate selling season. It comes as no surprise that an uptick this lackluster fails to impress compared to historically depressed housing sales coupled with the fraudclosure crisis.

[tclambert]

7. 1.4 million was probably too high, part of the bubble. But 307,000 is pretty low.

What's a "good" level? Somewhere in the 800,000 - 1.2 million range? You can't expect new home sales to reach a healthy level with unemployment so high. People need not just jobs, but job security to feel confident enough to commit to buying a new house.

[ozymandius]

9. Buying a home underlines feelings of permanency.

Paradoxically, permanency asserts itself when people cannot afford to move for a new job. I recall reports (no time to look these up right now) detailing how people cannot afford to move even if the job pays more than what they currently make. Many businesses have dropped their moving allowances to save money. The net effect: people are stuck in areas where buying a house is either unaffordable or a mortgage is unattainable due to a person's employment status.

[ozymandius]

6. Law empowers SEC to go after more U.S. market players

Dodd allowed this inclusion? I'm surprised. Maybe he was not paying attention.

A provision deep in the 2,323-page Dodd-Frank law empowers the SEC to bring many more cases for monetary penalties in administrative-law courts, where the rules are more favorable to the government than in federal court. Several constitutional and other due-process protections that are available to defendants in federal court -- from the right to demand a jury trial to broad discovery rights -- don't exist in administrative courts, which are part of the agency itself.

Until now, if the SEC wanted to sue for monetary penalties and take advantage of the extra clout it has in an administrative-law forum, it could only go after a limited class of players: those it directly regulated, such as registered broker-dealers and investment advisers. Under the new regime, the SEC has the authority to go to administrative-law judges to seek financial penalties from anyone whose activities in any way involve securities -- from hedge-fund magnates, to bank CFOs, to day-trading retirees. The agency in the past could go after these people in an administrative-law court, but only to ask for a "cease-and-desist" order, often after the alleged damage had already been done, and not hit them in the wallet.

link to story

This is a versatile weapon against those who would manipulate stocks for personal and company gain. Andrew Mozilo would have been a target under these new rules.

[IScreamSundays]

28. You can still use federal courts to overturn administrative

actions if the application of any law was in error. Administrative law courts are very favorable to the governmental body that is bringing the action. There isn't any equal protection allowed to defendants.

[ozymandius]

8. Rocket Docket Pace Stumbles Due to Cancellations

Fraudclosure takes a new shape with process cancellations - even during the courtroom proceedings.

From Bloomberg:

Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The Miami judge managing a backlog of 80,000 foreclosures said it’s “frustrating” that lenders including Bank of America Corp. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. continue to cancel foreclosure auctions.

Bailey said banks are canceling foreclosure sales every day. They canceled at least 20 yesterday in front of one judge, saying they had to review the affidavits used to seize homes.

GMAC said it’s reviewing foreclosure cases with potentially defective affidavits in the 23 states that use judicial proceedings for foreclosures, including Florida. If there are problems, they will be fixed and the cases will proceed, said Gina Proia, a spokeswoman for GMAC. Any case going to foreclosure sale in non-judicial states will also be reviewed, she said in an interview.

The "rocket docket" has been the epitome of a kangaroo court. Any development that slows its pace is, to me, a positive thing.

[soryang]

11. MERS equals cloud on title at a foreclosure

Way to go,greedy f...ing morons! Who wants to bid on a quitclaim deed?

[DemReadingDU]

19. MERS also clouds title at a payoff

If a mortgage in the MERS system has been transferred to several different lenders, there doesn't seem to be any valid way of determining which lender's mortgage gets the payoff. A good clean title/deed/Satisfaction of Mortgage is doubtful.


and welcome to SMW!
:hi:

[soryang]

29. Point taken

Who files the safisfaction doc in the county records? Not good to say the least.

[DemReadingDU]

10. Columbus Ohio National Century Financial - Rebecca Parrett Arrested & in U.S.

10/28/10 National Century fugitive Parrett back in U.S.
She was nabbed in lakeside resort town in Mexico

Rebecca S. Parrett wasn't a typical fugitive.

The 62-year-old felon was living an upper-middle-class existence amid the cobblestone streets of Ajijic, a rustic, Lakeside village in west-central Mexico. She settled along the northern shore of Lake Chapala, a popular destination for U.S. and Canadian retirees.

"She could mingle with the other gringos," said LaDonna Farrar, who sells real estate in the communities that make up the Lakeside region. "She wouldn't stand out in the crowd."

Parrett had changed her name, using the alias Carol Ann Marrero, and changed her hair from blond to brunette by the time the U.S. Marshal's Service and Mexican immigration officials caught up with her Tuesday at her home in Ajijic.

She was back in the United States yesterday, appearing in federal court in Los Angeles and waiving her right to a detention hearing. A federal judge ordered Parrett returned to Columbus, where she was convicted in March 2008 for her role in a $2.3billion fraud case involving Dublin-based National Century Financial Enterprises, a company she helped create.

She disappeared within days of the conviction, triggering a search that lasted 2 1/2 years. During Parrett's absence, U.S. District Judge Algenon L. Marbley sentenced her to 25 years in prison for conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Investigators aren't sure how long she lived in Ajijic, but a marshal's service spokesman said she had made friends, was known to go out dancing in the community and had sought treatment from an anti-aging specialist.

"The common fugitive can't live that well," Deputy U.S. Marshal Brian Babtist said. "She had resources. She had money. Some of it may have been money she stole as part of her offenses. Maybe she was getting help. We don't know."

more...
http://www.dispatch.com/live/content/local_news/stories/2010/10/27/27-national-century.html?sid=101



Link backwards to previous articles
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4590249&mesg_id=4590864

[Tansy_Gold]

14. The wheels of justice may grind very very slowly, but. . . .

in the case of Rebecca Parrett, at least they ground.

Didn't she have health issues that required constant medication?


I wonder how well she'll age in prison.




Tansy Gold

[Demeter]

13. Economists: U.S. should remove top bank execs over foreclosure mess

http://voices.washingtonpost.com/political-economy/2010/10/economists_remove_the_senior_l.html

Two economists, William K. Black and L. Randall Wray of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, are proposing a solution to the foreclosure mess: They want the federal government to take control of the banks and oust their top executives. "We should remove the senior leadership of the banks and replace them with experienced bankers with a reputation for integrity and competence, i.e., the honest officers that quit or were fired because they refused to engage in fraud," Black and Wray wrote in an essay on HuffingtonPost.com on Oct. 22. The posting has been circulated widely on the Internet and has prompted strong reaction from fans and critics of their radical proposal.

The professors said Bank of America should be the first to be taken into receivership. Here's how their plan would work:

A receiver is appointed on Friday. The bank opens for business as normal (from the bank's customers' perspective) on Monday. The checks clear, the ATMs work, and the branches all open. The receiver's managers direct the business operations, find the true facts about the bank's operations, senior managers, and financial condition, recognize the real losses, and make the appropriate referrals to the FBI and the SEC so that the frauds can be investigated and prosecuted.

"If the government does not hold the fraudulent CEOs responsible, who is supposed to stop the epidemic of elite financial fraud? The Obama administration's answer is the fraudulent CEOs themselves, at a time of their choosing. You can't make this stuff up," Black and Wray said.

Over the weekend, the professors summarized criticism of their proposal:

First, it is claimed that while there were some bad apple lenders, much of the fraud was committed by borrowers. Our proposal would let fraudulent borrowers remain in homes to which they are not entitled, punishing the banks that were duped. Second, the biggest banks are too important to foreclose. And third, it is not possible to resolve a "too big to fail" institution.

They also rebutted these points, calling them "spurious arguments."

[Festivito]

15. Debt: 10/26/2010 13,673,749,566,734.14 (UP 4,389,663,238.48) (Tue)

(Up little. Good day.)
Eating hommous.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,059,227,318,152.54 + 4,614,522,248,581.60
UP 564,111,327.93 + UP 3,825,551,910.55

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,219.93 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,565,792 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,028.51.
A family of three owes $132,085.53. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 9,405,967,409.58.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,897,709,433.69.
The average for the last 32 days would be 6,466,602,594.08.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 268 reports in 391 days of FY2011 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.51B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 817 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 19.0T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
10/26/2010 13,673,749,566,734.14 BHO (UP 3,046,872,517,821.06 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,112,126,535,842.40 ------------* * BHO
Endof11 +23,188,646,922,834.60 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
10/05/2010 +000,697,809,032.26 ------------********
10/06/2010 +000,102,633,566.23 ------------********
10/07/2010 -010,581,200,428.89 -
10/08/2010 -000,047,594,597.51 ----
10/12/2010 -002,308,905,840.19 -- Tue
10/13/2010 +004,079,531,881.58 ------------*********
10/14/2010 -003,450,466,367.69 --
10/15/2010 +053,297,374,376.50 ------------**********
10/18/2010 +000,841,690,317.23 ------------******** Mon
10/19/2010 +000,443,038,294.93 ------------********
10/20/2010 +001,330,613,152.94 ------------*********
10/21/2010 -003,241,964,507.19 --
10/22/2010 -000,039,023,333.21 ----
10/25/2010 +000,057,456,608.35 ------------******* Mon
10/26/2010 +000,564,111,327.93 ------------********

41,745,103,483.27 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4590249&mesg_id=4590374

[Festivito]

38. Debt: 10/27/2010 13,663,891,267,223.32 (DOWN 9,858,299,510.82) (Wed)

(Up little. Good day.)
Vacant house day.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,059,338,712,702.84 + 4,604,552,554,520.48
UP 111,394,550.30 + DOWN 9,969,694,061.12

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,219.85 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,572,992 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,995.75.
A family of three owes $131,987.25. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 8,896,245,108.79.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,523,913,079.78.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 269 reports in 392 days of FY2011 averaging 6.52B$ per report, 4.47B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 816 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 19.0T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
10/27/2010 13,663,891,267,223.32 BHO (UP 3,037,014,218,310.24 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,102,268,236,331.60 ------------* * BHO
Endof11 +22,329,808,147,914.80 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
10/06/2010 +000,102,633,566.23 ------------********
10/07/2010 -010,581,200,428.89 -
10/08/2010 -000,047,594,597.51 ----
10/12/2010 -002,308,905,840.19 -- Tue
10/13/2010 +004,079,531,881.58 ------------*********
10/14/2010 -003,450,466,367.69 --
10/15/2010 +053,297,374,376.50 ------------**********
10/18/2010 +000,841,690,317.23 ------------******** Mon
10/19/2010 +000,443,038,294.93 ------------********
10/20/2010 +001,330,613,152.94 ------------*********
10/21/2010 -003,241,964,507.19 --
10/22/2010 -000,039,023,333.21 ----
10/25/2010 +000,057,456,608.35 ------------******* Mon
10/26/2010 +000,564,111,327.93 ------------********
10/27/2010 +000,111,394,550.30 ------------********

41,158,689,001.31 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4591371&mesg_id=4591442

[DemReadingDU]

17. Charles Hugh Smith: The Stealth Coup D'Etat: U.S.A. 2008-2010

10/28/10 The Stealth Coup D'Etat: U.S.A. 2008-2010 by Charles Hugh Smith

The Stealth Coup D'Etat in the U.S. (called "The Quiet Coup" by Simon Johnson) was begun long ago, but the takeover reached fruition in the 2008-2010 timeframe.
Though incisive, Johnson's critique fails to grasp several critical features of the Stealth Coup D'Etat:

1. Once you have control of the financial powers of the U.S. via the tiny Elites of the Congress, the Executive Branch, the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Treasury, then the rest of the government will follow.

2. This is how the Stealth Coup D'Etat works: the machinery of governance grinds through a simulacrum of democracy, but it's all for show; the theoretical structures are now completely different from the political realities.

3. The Stealth Coup can be traced by a simple dictum: follow the money. Once you control the money--the money supply, the manipulation of yields and bond sales, the budgeting and borrowing--then you control everything. This is how a small Financial Power Elite dominates the vast, sprawling American Empire.

4. I use the term politics of experience in Survival+ (with a credit to its originator, R.D. Laing) to describe the manner in which the apparently depoliticized context of our daily media-saturated lives are shaped by political forces we rarely recognize.

In my critique, I invoke the term parallel shadow structures of privilege to describe the formalized but masked structures of power which operate behind the facades of democracy, free markets, and all the other PR bilge drummed into the minds of the the citizenry by a media cartel which itself has been financialized into a Corporatocracy.

Over time, Americans have come to believe that the current state of governance is "democracy" rather than a mere facsimile of democracy. They have come to believe (those still covered by insurance they don't directly pay for) that the U.S. "healthcare" system is "the finest in the world" when by some metrics it is the worst, most profligate, illness-inducing system imaginable. And so on.

Thus "homeownership" was elevated to quasi-religious status as a means of stripmining assets and income from a larger pool of debt-serfs. Earlier this year I asked a simple question: how much of your household's net income flows to cartels? That would include banking cartels (mortgages, second mortgages, credit cards, etc.), Central State-banking cartels (student loans), agribusiness cartels (fast foods, packaged foods, Monsanto, etc.), energy cartels, sickcare cartels (healthcare insurance, hospital chains, Big Pharma) and so on.

If we consider that much of rent payments flow to the same banking cartels (which is why the commercial real estate sector is imploding--too much debt, etc.), then most of us would find that the majority (or perhaps as much as 90%) of our money goes to a handful of cartels dominated by Financial Elites via the steady financialization of the U.S. economy.

How much of your taxes flow to the same cartels via their partnership/control of State fiefdoms?

If you think the term Stealth Coup D'Etat is overwrought, I invite you to ponder the headline quote from the Freedom Guerrilla weblog: None are so hopelessly enslaved as those who falsely believe they are free.

lots more...
http://www.oftwominds.com/blogoct10/stealth-coup10-10.html

[Demeter]

23. this needs to be posted separately

I'd do it, but I have a crazy day in 34 minutes..

[DemReadingDU]

27. Good idea! I posted in Editorials

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x566931

[TalkingDog]

21. Seems somebody has put on their party hat early. US bankrupt

Commentary:
http://opinionatedcurmudgeon.blogspot.com/

Story:
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/commentary/neil-reynolds/the-scary-actual-us-government-debt/article1773879/

[Demeter]

25. The US Must Repudiate the Banksters Fraudulent Debts and RICO Them

Overreaching has its limits, and they've exceeded them beyond any possible expectations.

[snot]

34. I note Kotlikoff rec shrinking gov't programs

but not, heaven forbid, raising taxes. In fact, he wants to replace all income taxes with an 18% consumption tax.

[Dr.Phool]

24. Foreclosure mess will take years to clean up Borrowers, lenders, investors face years of red tape, l

Small world. The title company CEO quoted in the article is my brother-in-law. But, he doesn't know it. Well, he kinda does. Beats me.


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39874969/ns/business-personal_finance/


How long will it take before the American nightmare of home foreclosures is over? Ask Mike Dillon, who’s been fighting to keep his New Hampshire home for most of the past decade.

Though he missed two payments in 2002, Dillon then caught up and was current on his loan by later that year, he said. That’s when his mortgage problems began.

After the company servicing his mortgage failed to properly credit monthly payments to his account, it placed the loan in default. As he worked to straighten out the bookkeeping, with canceled checks in hand, the servicer began adding additional fees for property inspections, insurance and other charges.

In 2005, a New Hampshire judge agreed that the servicer’s “sleight of accounting resulted in improper assessments” against Dillon and, citing a “predatory scheme of penalties,” barred the foreclosure and ordered that the loan be reinstated without penalties as of August 2005.



Five years later, Dillon is still in court trying to resolve the dispute. While he is no longer under threat of foreclosure, he is still fighting to get clear title to his home.

“I’ve got nine years of my life tied up in this case, and it’s done a lot of financial and emotional damage to me,” said Dillon. “This isn’t about money in the long run. This is about the principle of the issue -- somebody tried to steal my house.”

Three years after the housing bubble collapsed under the weight of lax mortgage underwriting, some 5.5 million families have lost their homes or are in the process of losing their homes to foreclosure. Estimates vary, but analysts say there are at least that many more foreclosures likely before the wave subsides.

And the number could go far higher: Without a change in government policy, some 11 million borrowers are at risk of losing their homes, according to a research report earlier this month by Amherst Securities, which advises investors in mortgage-backed securities. That’s roughly one-fifth of the 55 million mortgages outstanding on the 80 million homes in the U.S.

Almost everyone involved agrees the the foreclosure mess will likely take years more to resolve, potentially postponing any meaningful economic recovery.

Related: Flaws plague foreclosure relief program

“There is no magic bullet,” said Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller, who is leading an investigation by all 50 states into recent disclosures that banks and loan servicers cut legal corners in an effort to speed the foreclosure process.

The investigation was triggered by recent disclosures that some major lenders used "robo-signers" –- employees who claimed they had verified mortgage documents without actually reviewing them -– to try to speed the foreclosure process. The disclosures brought a temporary freeze on foreclosures, but most lenders now say they have reviewed their procedures and are back on track.

The wave of foreclosures over the past few years has overwhelmed a system that was designed to collect payments from borrowers with performing loans -– not remove people from their homes.

“Even if we didn’t have the problem of robo-signers, with the sheer number of foreclosures we're now seeing, the system was never designed to handle that kind of volume," said Michael Waiwood, CEO of EnTitle Insurance, a Cleveland-based title insurance company, who has been in the industry for three decades. “This is far worse than everything I’ve ever experienced. It’s a very serious situation.”

[Demeter]

26. It Would Take More Than One Bullet--But the Results WOULD Be Magic

FRSP!

[AnneD]

30. I don't everyone's background.....

but I have very deep farming roots (pun intended).

When we wanted to breed animals, we would bring in the appropriate animal to 'service' our animals.

Now, when you go back and read these stories of banks "servicing" these consumer loans and mortgages and then turning around and serving investors, keeping in mind the farm definition. It all becomes very clear what has happened to this country.

In short we traded off our independence when we moved off the farm. We traded our personal time for a paycheck, pension, and gold watch. Now that can be a fair trade if it is a trade and not a theft.

The paradigm has shifted and this populace is being caught flat footed and flat broke in just about every way you can be. Some have woke up and will survive better than most, but it does not look good.

So to paraphrase the British comedy I ask "Have you been Served?". Not to be confused with the Twilight Zone's Episode, "How to Serve Man".:evilgrin:

[Ghost Dog]

36. At your service, ma'am.

(It was artificial insemination, I'm sorry to say, on the dairy farm my family briefly looked after, back around 1970 in West Wales).

But I know what you mean.

[AnneD]

45. Artificial insemination....

takes all the fun out of it.

Well, I don't know if they really enjoy it or not. I guess I will only know if I am reincarnated.

[Demeter]

31. No Miracle today

The fairies are taking an early weekend for Samhain.

[TalkingDog]

33. Nice catch on that! nt

[Ghost Dog]

37. Yes. *

... Though harvest festivals have been celebrated by most agrarian cultures for a very long period of time, Halloween as we know it stems from the Celtic celebration known as Samhain. Samhain was celebrated on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 as the period in which the seasons most noticeably changed, thus designating the start of their new year. Celts believed that on this day, when the weather was colder and nights were darker, the spirits of the dead would return to earth. To commemorate the day and keep the spirits from wrecking havoc, the Celts would build bonfires and dress in animal skins.

Once the Roman empire spread to Celtic land, Samhain was combined with two traditional Roman holidays: Feralia, the day known for the passing of the dead, and Pomona's Day, which celebrated harvest and crops, particularly of apples.

As Christianity spread through Europe in the 800s A.D., Pope Boniface IV designated a holiday on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1 to combine pagan rituals like Samhain and Feralia with an official Christian holiday. All Saints' Day on Nov. 1 was designated as a day to commemorate the martyrs and saints of old, and All-Hallows Eve on Oct. 31 was established as a day of mourning the dead. Nov. 2 became an added celebratory event as All Souls' Day, which was celebrated much the same as Samhain had been in the past...

/... http://bellehaven.patch.com/articles/this-is-halloween

[TalkingDog]

32. Trickle Down in Action

Given enough time, the cat WILL trickle on the dog.

If this isn't a perfect metaphor for class struggle I don't know what is.

[Dr.Phool]

35. Sometimes you just gotta help yourself.

[ozymandius]

39. For ye Night Denizens: Markets That Refuse to Fall

Ritholtz:

You gots to admit it: These markets simply refuse to go down. Whether its POMO of the PPT o9r just natural buyers, there is a very firm bid underneath.

Look, I am not saying this as a rampaging bull. We are now down to 33% cash in our long short accounts. The more wood we deploy the more I expect a correction or other surprise.

But goddammit! This market is resilient.

more

[TheWatcher]

40. It's not Resilient, it's Rigged.

When Skynet runs your Markets (70-80% Hi-Frequency, Algo-Robo, Program Trading), it has very little to do with fundamentals.

No matter what the CNBC fellating, Kool-Aid drinking, Propaganda Drunk, "Better Informed Minds" say.



In other news, Microsoft Flagellates itself about it's earnings, but buried somewhere in the article is this little nugget:

"In last year's quarter, Microsoft Corp. deferred some revenue from Windows sales. Had it not done so, net income would have been only 16 percent higher this year in comparison."

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Microsoft-earnings-rise-with-apf-311294536.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

And that's just the fudging THEY ADMIT TO.

You gotta love Pro-Forma earnings.

"We Make It Up, and it's all Good, Good, Good"

:eyes:

Looks like the Futures Don't Want To Go Where Microsoft Wants To Go Either.

Down Hard at the moment, and showing further weakness from the evening open.

I guess the faeries will have to skip the five Martini Lunch Tomorrow.

[Tansy_Gold]

42. GMTA, my friend

:hi:

[TheWatcher]

43. Hi Tansy!

How have you been lately? :hi:

Are you enjoying all the "Good, Good, Goodness" of this incredible period of prosperity we are in? :)

I'm actually thinking about doubling down and putting everything I have into NFLX and PCLN.

The Red Envelopes just make me feel so Optimistic, and naming my own price for things is hot! Surely this is the new paradigm to permanent wealth! :rofl:

[Tansy_Gold]

44. Doubling down? With what, two dimes?

I just had another $300+ vet bill, the car needs two new tires, and it took the entire profits from my last craft show to cover the bill for two (with senior citizens' discount) at the Chinese buffet!

Oh, yeah, it's good good double plus super plus good.

[Tansy_Gold]

41. "Night Denizens"??? It's still light outside!!!

Far be it from me to question the wisdom and expertise of Mr. Ritholtz, but in the naive opinion of Tansy Gold, this ain't a resilient market. It's a fucking bubble.


But what do I know?


TG, NTY