STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, March 9, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, March 9, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON March 8, 2011

Dow 12,214.38 +124.35 (+1.02%)
Nasdaq 2,765.77 +20.14 (+0.73%)
S&P 500 1,321.82 +11.69 (+0.88%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.54 -.00 (-0.11%)
30-Year Bond 4.66 -.00 (-0.02%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
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Handy Links - Government Issues:
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Handy Links - Videos:
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    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Today's Reports

Mar 09 07:00 MBA Mortgage Index 03/04 +15.5% NA NA -6.5%
Mar 09 10:00 Wholesale Inventories Jan 0.5% 1.0% 1.0%
Mar 09 10:30 Crude Inventories 03/05 NA NA -0.364M

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm#ixzz1G6XkUvrd

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil falls to near $104 amid mixed US supply report

SINGAPORE – Oil prices fell to near $104 a barrel Wednesday in Asia amid mixed signs about U.S. demand from a crude and gasoline supply report.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was down 62 cents at $104.40 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 42 cents to settle at $105.02 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude was down 23 cents at $112.83 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

The American Petroleum Institute said late Tuesday that crude inventories rose 3.8 million barrels last week while analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos., had forecast an increase of 2.3 million barrels. However, inventories of gasoline fell 3.7 million barrels and distillates fell 1.5 million barrels, the API said.

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

[tclambert]

68. Exxon CEO says oil prices not yet hurting economy

NEW YORK (AP) -- Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson said Wednesday he doesn't think the recent jump in oil prices is hurting the U.S. economy -- yet.

At the same time, he acknowledged that gasoline prices are approaching an uncomfortable threshold for American families.

Oil is about $104 per barrel, and the national average for gasoline is now $3.52 per gallon. Drivers on the West Coast are paying close to $4. And the price is expected to rise through spring and into summer.

Tillerson told reporters at the New York Stock Exchange that in 2008 American families appeared to change their driving and spending habits when gasoline hit $4 per gallon that June. Gas peaked at $4.11 in July that year as oil climbed to $147 per barrel.

from: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Exxon-CEO-says-oil-prices-not-apf-3242063659.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=3&asset=&ccode=
____________________________

So everything's OK! The CEO of Exxon wouldn't lie about how oil affects our economy, would he?

In some alternate universe, a gutsy US President in the 1970s made the official American energy policy the total destruction of Exxon Mobil. Realizing that oil and Exxon in particular, made America vulnerable to all kinds of terrible events (like wars in the Middle East), she increased funding for hydrogen fusion research and battery technology. That alternate America now derives most of its energy from seawater and mostly drives American made electric cars. Damn those alternate Americans! I wanted all that in our universe!

[wordpix]

72. "with my millions each year, I don't feel a thing - my jet's still waiting on the tarmac"

[rfranklin]

3. First to rec!

Today is gonna be a great day!

[Demeter]

12. whimper

I hope so, if only for you, dear SMW friend.

The abominable weather continues. It's raining, a cold, wet, but mercifully, not freezing rain (up to this point, at least). The Kid is under the weather, and I think I may join her.

I'd like to think that yesterday's flight of fancy in the DOW is the last gasp for the PPT. But that would be optimism. These clowns will be blowing bubbles until they are put away for 20 years of hard labor. Which won't happen any time in the next two years, it appears.

[Hotler]

4. k&r n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

5. 4th rec (drive by) n/t

[Po_d Mainiac]

6. The sheeple are now primed to be sheared

Two Years After Market Low, the Little Guy is Back

As a historic bull market reaches its second birthday, everyday investors are piling back into stocks, finally ready for more risk and hoping the rally has further to go.
The Standard & Poor's 500 index has almost doubled since March 9, 2009, when it hit a 12-year low after the financial crisis. And the Dow Jones industrials are back above 12,000, about 2,000 points shy of their all-time high.
Little-guy investors appear to be on board. Since the beginning of the year, investors have put $24.2 billion into U.S. stock mutual funds, according to the Investment Company Institute. They withdrew $96.7 billion in 2010.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41983415

[DemReadingDU]

8. The top must be near

Get ready for major decline in the markets

[Po_d Mainiac]

10. It is one of those major "bubble" indicators.

Just in time for the end of QE2 (The 6 Bil/day Fed pump job) ...and..."Sell in May, and go away"

[CountAllVotes]

52. Suze Orman was on PBS last night

She was advising all people (especially old people) to put all of their money that was in CDs into the stock market. She was saying that 4-7% was a guarantee! After that she advised everyone to buy her "Money Tools" for $250.00 a pop to learn exactly "which" funds to buy buy buy buy buy ... :puke:

:kick: & recommend.

[Warpy]

55. You can usually do the opposite of what any financial pundit says

and come out ahead. Now she's got me thinking about where else to put my money, although I have enough cash reserve to cope with anything but 300% inflation. Decisions, decisions.

Shorting Cramer was always the path to relative riches, too.

The only thing Orman ever said that made sense was in the early 90s, when she advised women to get that house first, then play the market. I listened to that one and it turned out all right, a cheap house as a hedge against rising rents.

[AnneD]

63. For my money...

commodities-like canned good. I would stock and rotate my canned goods. I would invest in gardening. I am looking to splurge on a solar oven. It is basically a solar crock pot but I figure in Texas that is a no brainer. I would learn to brew beer and wine. It is a useful skill, esp if your gardening is not up to snuff.

[Warpy]

69. My solar oven is some of the best bucks I ever spent

but be aware that the limit to them is wind, not lack of adequate sunlight.

I've done a lot of summer baking in mine. It's particularly great in August when you've been dying for baked mac & cheese and it hasn't gone below 90 in weeks. Yes, the top does brown. It's an oven. It does retain more moisture than a conventional oven does, great news if you like crunchy crust on your bread.

[Po_d Mainiac]

7. Seven "immutable" laws of investing....

James Montier, formerly at SocGen, and now at GMO, has released his latest white paper which shares his seven "immutable" laws of investing which are as follows: 1. Always insist on a margin of safety; 2. This time is never different; 3. Be patient and wait for the fat pitch; 4. Be contrarian; 5. Risk is the permanent loss of capital, never a number; 6. Be leery of leverage; 7. Never invest in something you don’t understand.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/james-montier-blasts-all-pundits-who-say-buy-stocks-when-bonds-are-unattractive

[Demeter]

13. Laws to Live By, in Any Endeavor

[Po_d Mainiac]

15. Ayuh

Eagles may soar in the clouds, but weasels never get sucked into jet engines:bounce:

[Demeter]

18. Weasels?

I hope you didn't mean that personally.

[Po_d Mainiac]

Of coarse not!..Invest with caution

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :toast:

[AnneD]

46. I see that most of my rules....

are in there. Number six is new but I can agree with that. I have no delusions of grandeur. I get in and out when I need to.

Best illustration I ever heard... Think of the market as a throwing a ball from one hand up into the air and catching it with the other. The contrarian sells on the upswing and buys on the downswing. Yes you might have made more by not pulling out...but you didn't lose your shirt either.

[xchrom]

9. Recommend

[Festivito]

11. Debt: 03/07/2011 14,186,168,803,680.47 (UP 3,541,618,799.44) (Mon, UP a little.)

(Good day.)
Drive. Not to Adrian, but to meet Adrinians -perchance.
(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)
= 9,571,237,801,717.37 + 4,614,931,001,963.10
UP 111,602,744.60 + UP 3,430,016,054.84

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,210.11 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,516,192 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 $45,539.11.
A family of three owes $136,617.32. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 20 reports in the last 30 to 28 days.
The average for the last 20 reports is 4,107,353,321.45.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,738,235,547.63.
The average for the last 28 days would be 2,933,823,801.03.
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$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 108 reports in 158 days of FY2011 averaging 5.78B$ per report, 3.95B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 685 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.7T$.
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)
03/07/2011 14,186,168,803,680.47 BHO (UP 3,559,291,754,767.39 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 +0,624,545,772,788.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,442,779,791,568.83 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********
02/16/2011 +000,114,208,468.26 ------------********
02/17/2011 -011,510,944,063.77 -
02/18/2011 +000,193,465,100.84 ------------********
02/22/2011 +000,575,498,293.73 ------------******** Tue
02/23/2011 +000,604,643,024.49 ------------********
02/24/2011 -006,532,296,295.79 --
02/25/2011 +025,792,712,781.54 ------------**********
02/28/2011 +054,201,582,504.95 ------------********** Mon
03/01/2011 -002,977,641,960.04 --
03/02/2011 +000,044,996,229.28 ------------*******
03/03/2011 +008,400,855,808.94 ------------*********
03/04/2011 +000,116,571,384.45 ------------********
03/07/2011 +000,111,602,744.60 ------------******** Mon

116,231,078,789.96 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=4760778&mesg_id=4760813

[Festivito]

71. Debt: 03/08/2011 14,193,176,753,471.62 (UP 7,007,949,791.15) (Tue, UP a little.)

(Good day.)
Report, rewrite, report, rewrite, … ENOUGH!
(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)
= 9,571,514,785,739.56 + 4,621,661,967,732.06
UP 276,984,022.19 + UP 6,730,965,768.96

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,210.03 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,523,392 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 $45,560.55.
A family of three owes $136,681.65. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 20 reports in the last 30 to 28 days.
The average for the last 20 reports is 4,137,797,170.47.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,758,531,446.98.
The average for the last 28 days would be 2,955,569,407.48.
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$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 109 reports in 159 days of FY2011 averaging 5.79B$ per report, 3.97B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 684 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.7T$.
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)
03/08/2011 14,193,176,753,471.62 BHO (UP 3,566,299,704,558.54 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 +0,631,553,722,579.90 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,449,793,136,740.02 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********
02/16/2011 +000,114,208,468.26 ------------********
02/17/2011 -011,510,944,063.77 -
02/18/2011 +000,193,465,100.84 ------------********
02/22/2011 +000,575,498,293.73 ------------******** Tue
02/23/2011 +000,604,643,024.49 ------------********
02/24/2011 -006,532,296,295.79 --
02/25/2011 +025,792,712,781.54 ------------**********
02/28/2011 +054,201,582,504.95 ------------********** Mon
03/01/2011 -002,977,641,960.04 --
03/02/2011 +000,044,996,229.28 ------------*******
03/03/2011 +008,400,855,808.94 ------------*********
03/04/2011 +000,116,571,384.45 ------------********
03/07/2011 +000,111,602,744.60 ------------******** Mon
03/08/2011 +000,276,984,022.19 ------------********

117,558,429,353.11 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=4762073&mesg_id=4762104

[Demeter]

14. Mortgage Settlement Term Sheet: Bailout as Reward for Institutionalized Fraud

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/03/mortgage-settlement-term-sheet-bailout-as-reward-for-institutionalized-fraud.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

American Banker posted the 27 page term sheet presented by the 50 state attorneys general and Federal banking regulators to banks with major servicing operations.

Whether they recognize it or not, this deal is a suicide pact for the attorneys general in states that are suffering serious economic damage as a result of the foreclosure crisis. Tom Miller, the Iowa attorney who is serving as lead negotiator for this travesty, is in a state whose unemployment was a mere 6.2% last December. In addition he is reportedly jockeying to become the first head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. So the AGs who are in the firing line and need a tough deal have a leader whose interests are not aligned with theirs.

Moreover, Miller’s refusal to discuss even general parameters of a deal goes well beyond what is necessary. He knows that well warranted public demands that a deal be tough will complicate his job, but it also does the AGs whose citizens have been most damaged a huge disservice. Pressure on the banks from the public at large is a negotiating lever they need that Miller has chosen not to use...

READ THE REST AND THE SUPPORTING LINKS TO GET A GOOD HANDLE ON HOW WE ARE BEING SCREWED YET AGAIN...

[Fuddnik]

21. The first head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Why am I not surprised....anymore.

You just knew they'd find an asswipe somewhere to subvert Elizabeth Warren.

Keep the banksters happy, get a gravy job.

[Demeter]

16. Tchenguiz brothers arrested in Kaupthing probe

Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz, among the UK's highest-profile entrepreneurs, have been arrested as part of an investigation into the collapse of Kaupthing, the Icelandic investment bank.

Enforcement officers from the Serious Fraud Office and the City of London police made the arrests around 5.30am on Wednesday while offices at Rotch Property, Vincent’s investment vehicle, have also been raided. The City of London police and the SFO declined to comment. Robert Tchenguiz did not return e-mails and phone calls.

Kaupthing was one of three Icelandic banks that failed at the height of
the credit crunch in October 2008. Regulators and enforcement officers in Iceland and Luxembourg have been investigating the bank's collapse

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/A1TNOO/QFYDX2/NRHD3/72HJ8Z/ZBJWPC/VU/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=9

[rfranklin]

19. If only the U.S. could put away a few of the crooks...

we wouldn't be facing Financial Meltdown Part Deux.

[xchrom]

25. they can but we can't?

:mad:

[Demeter]

28. It's more like "Won't"

[xchrom]

31. yes -- i realize that. lol -- and i don't think it's 'like' at all. nt

[Demeter]

17. Hopes grow for US budget extension AGAIN?

House Republican leaders are said to be crafting legislation to temporarily fund the government, and the bill is likely to contain spending cuts similar to the previous provisional measure

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/R5WAEE/9Z8BTX/JQU4J/5CL9DY/3O3W4Y/ZH/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=9

[Roland99]

20. Futures up (mostly)

DJIA up about 26pts...NASDAQ lagging at a point in the red.

[Demeter]

22. Germany recovery ‘roaring’ ahead, says Weber

Departing Bundesbank president forecasts German GDP to rise 2.5% this year after growing by 3.6 per cent in 2010 as ‘roaring economic recovery’ continues apace

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/R5WAEE/9Z8BTX/JQU4J/5CL9DY/FX0FJU/ZH/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=9

GERMANY--WHERE SCHADENFRUEDE WAS INVENTED


GARY COLEMAN:
Right now you are down and out and feeling really crappy

NICKY:
I'll say.

GARY COLEMAN:
And when I see how sad you are
It sort of makes me...
Happy!

NICKY:
Happy?!

GARY COLEMAN:
Sorry, Nicky, human nature-
Nothing I can do!
It's...
Schadenfreude!
Making me feel glad that I'm not you.

NICKY:
Well that's not very nice, Gary!

GARY COLEMAN:
I didn't say it was nice! But everybody does it!

D'ja ever clap when a waitress falls and drops a tray of glasses?

NICKY:
Yeah...

GARY COLEMAN:
And ain't it fun to watch figure skaters falling on their asses?

NICKY:
Sure!

GARY COLEMAN:
And don'tcha feel all warm and cozy,
Watching people out in the rain!

NICKY:
You bet!

GARY COLEMAN:
That's...

GARY AND NICKY:
Schadenfreude!

GARY COLEMAN:
People taking pleasure in your pain!

NICKY:
Oh, Schadenfreude, huh?
What's that, some kinda Nazi word?

GARY COLEMAN:
Yup! It's German for "happiness at the misfortune of others!"

NICKY:
"Happiness at the misfortune of others." That is German!

Watching a vegetarian being told she just ate chicken

GARY COLEMAN:
Or watching a frat boy realize just what he put his dick in!

NICKY:
Being on the elevator when somebody shouts "Hold the door!"

GARY AND NICKY:
"No!!!"
Schadenfreude!

GARY COLEMAN:
"Fuck you lady, that's what stairs are for!"

NICKY:
Ooh, how about...
Straight-A students getting Bs?

GARY COLEMAN:
Exes getting STDs!

NICKY:
Waking doormen from their naps!

GARY COLEMAN:
Watching tourists reading maps!

NICKY:
Football players getting tackled!

GARY COLEMAN:
CEOs getting shackled!

NICKY:
Watching actors never reach

GARY AND NICKY:
The ending of their oscar speech!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!
Schadenfreude!

GARY COLEMAN:
The world needs people like you and me who've been knocked around by fate.
'Cause when people see us, they don't want to be us,
and that makes them feel great.

NICKY:
Sure!
We provide a vital service to society!

GARY AND NICKY:
You and me!
Schadenfreude!
Making the world a better place...
Making the world a better place...
Making the world a better place...
To be!

GARY COLEMAN:
S-C-H-A-D-E-N-F-R-E-U-D-E!

[Demeter]

23. BofA predicts pre-tax earnings of $40bn after recovery

Bank of America chief predicts the largest US lender would churn out pre-tax earnings of $35bn-$40bn annually once its businesses complete their recovery from the crisis

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/QM42II/ZBNR2Z/LSLXF/RNYAHJ/LQ7LH2/4O/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=9

DO I HEAR A GREAT BIG "BUT" IN THAT CROWING?

[Fuddnik]

40. After tax earnings probably $50 billion after they get their return.

[Demeter]

43. That's Assuming the World Ends before the Crash, Part 2

They are just blowing smoke.

[Demeter]

24. Icahn returns investors’ cash amid fears of downturn

Activist shareholder Carl Icahn has decided to return money to outside investors citing an unwillingness to manage their money through another downturn

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/QM42II/ZBNR2Z/LSLXF/RNYAHJ/8ATIQ3/4O/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=9

NOW THERE'S A HARBINGER OF SPRING TO COME!

[xchrom]

26. dynegy warns of possible bankruptcy

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/dynegy-warns-of-possible-bankruptcy-2011-03-09?dist=beforebell

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of Dynegy Inc. slid about 8% in premarket trade Wednesday after the company said it may be forced to file for bankruptcy this year as it faces debt payments and low prices for the electricity it produces.

Dynegy /quotes/comstock/13*!dyn/quotes/nls/dyn (DYN 5.53, -0.26, -4.49%) said it may be unable to comply with debt payments by the third or fourth quarter of this year, according to a regulatory filing late Tuesday.

[Demeter]

27. S.E.C. Chairwoman Under Fire Over Ethics Issues

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/09sec.html?hp

The Securities and Exchange Commission took a beating two years ago for failing to detect Bernard L. Madoff’s multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme during the decades that he ran it.

Now, its chairwoman is coming under Congressional fire for hiring as the S.E.C.’s general counsel someone with a Madoff financial interest — David M. Becker, who participated in matters involving how the scheme’s victims would be compensated.

The revelations about Mr. Becker’s role have raised fresh questions about ethical standards and practices at the agency, where Mary L. Schapiro was brought in as chairwoman two years ago with a mandate to strengthen its enforcement unit. Ms. Schapiro will appear before Congress on Thursday to discuss the matter. Questions about Mr. Becker arose last month after Irving H. Picard, the trustee overseeing the Madoff case, sued him and two of his brothers to recover $1.5 million of the $2 million they had inherited in 2004 from a Madoff investment by their late mother. Mr. Becker’s financial ties to Madoff had not been publicly disclosed until that suit.

Mr. Becker said that he advised Ms. Schapiro and the chief ethics officer of his financial interest in a Madoff investment account, “either shortly before or after” joining the agency in February 2009...


ALL I CAN THINK OF, IS IF THEY HIRED WORKING STIFFS WITHOUT ANY APPRECIABLE ASSETS OR EXPECTATIONS OF INHERITANCE, WHO KNEW HOW TO KEEP BOOKS AND TESTIFY TRUTHFULLY, NONE OF THIS WOULD BE AN ISSUE, AND THE IDLE RICH COULD SUBSIST LIVING ON THEIR SINKING FUNDS WHILE HONEST PEOPLE COULD BE GAINFULLY EMPLOYED WITH HEALTH BENEFITS....

AND THEY'D CALL ME A SOCIALIST, NO DOUBT, FOR SUCH EGALITARIAN THOUGHTS.

[Demeter]

29. Oh, This Gets Even Better!

Down at the bottom of the article:

"Mr. Becker’s late mother, Dorothy, invested $500,000 with Mr. Madoff’s company; when she died in 2004, her three sons transferred the money into a new account at the firm. The next year, the investment was worth $2.04 million and they withdrew it. Mr. Picard said that the family should be allowed to keep the original $500,000 investment but return $1.54 million — all of the gain — to compensate other victims.

If the S.E.C. gets its way, Mr. Becker and his brothers would be allowed to keep more than that to compensate them for the time the money was invested with Mr. Madoff. How much more is unknown because details of the commission’s proposal have not been disclosed.

Both SIPC and Mr. Picard, the trustee for the Madoff estate, have proposed that the customers who withdrew funds before the fraud was uncovered should be allowed to keep only as much money as they put in. Initially, the full commission agreed and approved that approach in early 2009, according to the two people briefed on the discussions.

Mr. Becker joined the commission in February that year. By spring, he began meeting with lawyers for Madoff customers seeking a different formula. They wanted to let longer-term investors keep more money than those who had money with Mr. Madoff for shorter periods. Mr. Becker apparently dismissed arguments that investors were entitled to the amounts Mr. Madoff had listed on their final statements.

In the summer of 2009, Mr. Becker did reverse the commission’s earlier decision, however. His legal staff came up with a new proposal to reflect the length of time the money was invested, and the commissioners approved it at the end of the year. Some at the agency who worked with SIPC expressed dissent about the change, according to the people briefed on the deliberations.

Stephen P. Harbeck, the chief executive of SIPC, confirmed that his investor protection unit and the S.E.C. had initially agreed that victims should be able to keep only the money they had originally put into the Madoff firm. “Then they refined their opinion,” he said on Monday, referring to the S.E.C. He said that he did not know who had pushed for the change.

The S.E.C.’s definition, Mr. Harbeck said, would benefit anyone who withdrew more money from their Madoff accounts than they had put in. Mr. Becker’s family would be among them."


TO THE LAMPPOSTS WITH ALL THE SEC!

[Demeter]

30. EU assembly backs euro zone bank transaction tax

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/03/08/eu-banks-tax-idUKLDE7260LI20110308

European Union lawmakers overwhelmingly backed a call to tax financial transactions on Tuesday and make banks pay up to 200 billion euros ($278.3 billion) for damage they caused to the economy.

The 529-to-127 vote is non-binding but its call for legislation will be hard for the EU's executive Commission to ignore...

[xchrom]

33. that's interesting. nt

[Ghost Dog]

53. Yup.

Now, how to convince the Anglos? Gordon Brown had been in favor.

[Demeter]

32. Manpower projects more jobs in the second quarter

http://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/news.aspx?id=182378


The U.S. job market could be yielding more openings going into the second quarter compared with a year ago, according to Manpower Inc.

The Milwaukee-based employment firm’s quarterly Employment Outlook Survey —based on more than 18,000 interviews with U.S. employers — shows a seasonally-adjusted 8 percent expect to expand their payrolls in the second quarter, up from 6 percent in the year-earlier period, but just even with the survey’s first quarter results.

Another 74 percent said they expect to retain current employment levels.

Results for the Midwest nearly matched the national outlook, with 8 percent of respondents anticipating payroll expansion and 75 percent predicting no change. Leisure and hospitality, durable goods manufacturing and transportation and utilities were projected to be the biggest growth industries in the region.

Anne Edmunds, Manpower regional director for metropolitan Illinois, said there are continuing signs of job recovery, albeit at a seemingly glacial pace.

“We’ve had six straight quarters of employment growth. Although it is slow and incremental, it’s still growth,” Edmunds said in an interview. “Companies are coming back and they need to rebuild.”

WHATEVER

[Demeter]

34. WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING

ANOTHER AGGREGATION SITE--

http://www.cityam.com/news-and-analysis/what-the-other-papers-say-morning-432

[Demeter]

35. Scottish Widows Places $900 Million Bet on U.S. High-Yield Debt

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-08/scottish-widows-places-900-million-bet-on-u-s-high-yield-debt.html

Scottish Widows Investment Partnership, Edinburgh’s second-biggest fund manager, is putting $900 million into U.S. high-yield bonds, which almost doubled investors’ money during the past two years.

Scottish Widows will move Neil Murray, head of credit, to New York next month as part of a plan to manage money in the U.S. in June, Mark Connolly, director of fixed income, said in an interview at the company’s headquarters.

U.S. non-investment grade, or junk, bonds returned 3.7 percent this year, adding to annual gains of 15 percent and 58 percent in the previous two years, according to the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. High Yield Master II Index. The measure is up 90 percent since March 4, 2009. Investors have added cash to junk bond funds for the 12th straight week, the longest streak since October 2009, EPFR Global data show.

“As our clients ask us to diversify portfolios, we want to be able to manage assets derived from the largest capital market in the world,” said Connolly, who is in charge of teams managing about 68 billion pounds ($110 billion) of assets. The high-yield market is first because “we can see a very strong economic and client driver for it,” he said.

WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD

[Demeter]

36. BOA: Bank Chief Rejects Idea of Reducing Home Loans

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/business/09bank.html?_r=1&src=busln

Showing resistance for the first time against government pressure to write off tens of billions worth of mortgage debt, Bank of America executives said on Tuesday that the idea was unworkable and warned that it would be unfair to borrowers who had managed to stay current on their loans.

“There’s a core problem that if you start to help certain people and don’t help other people, it’s going to be very hard to explain the difference,” said Brian T. Moynihan, the chief executive of Bank of America. “Our duty is to have a fair modification process.”

All 50 state attorneys general, as well as a host of federal agencies, are pushing for a settlement over investigations into foreclosure abuses by major mortgage servicers that could cost the industry $20 billion or more. Much of that money would be earmarked to reduce principal owed by homeowners facing foreclosure.

But picking just who to help is among the thorniest questions facing government regulators, as well as the banks themselves. Even the most outspoken attorney general on the issue, Tom Miller of Iowa, acknowledged on Monday that too generous a program might encourage homeowners to walk away from properties where the value of the loan exceeded how much the underlying property was worth.

Indeed, industry experts estimate that nearly a trillion dollars worth of mortgage debt is “underwater,” a result of house prices having fallen since the original loans were made. Federal officials hope a settlement with the servicers will help individual borrowers and provide a cushion for the weak housing market...



UNFAIR TO THE NEIGHBORS, WHO WOULD RATHER HAVE THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR OCCUPIED BY CARING OWNERS WHO PAY TAXES, THAN BOARDED UP, STRIPPED OR DETERIORATING, OR SQUATTED IN? OR UNFAIR TO THE GREEDY FRAUDS?

[xchrom]

41. We all bailed their asses out - now they're 'concerned'

Over helping this one out but not that one.

The irony glass over floweth.

[Demeter]

42. I Think the Concern Is Over Setting Precedent

If they have to adjust for some of the victims of this scam, they will have to adjust for ALL of them, and that could take the next 20 years of profits. If not take them down entirely, which should have happened, anyway.

[xchrom]

45. should have taken them down indeed. nt

[Demeter]

37. Rewriting Pension History

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703662804576188843415326976.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Some big companies are changing how they account for their pension plans in a way that could make their earnings look better in coming years.

AT&T Inc., Verizon Communications Inc. and Honeywell International Inc. recently ended a longstanding practice in which they "smooth" large gains and losses generated by pension assets into their financial results over a period of years. From now on, these companies will count all such gains and losses in the same year they are incurred.

While the moves might seem like arcane accounting steps, they have important implications for investors. The companies say the changes will make their earnings reporting more transparent, but they also sweep away tens of billions in past pension losses the companies have yet to smooth into—and hurt—their results. By charging them against their earnings from 2008, when the losses were incurred, they are taking lumps for years that many investors may no longer care about.

"They'll put the bad news behind them" said David Zion, an accounting analyst with Credit Suisse...

[ret5hd]

51. My bet is they start "smoothing" again in a year or two.

[Demeter]

38. Taxpayers caught in the middle of costly Fannie lawsuit

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/03/08/AR2011030805698.html

What could be worse than taxpayers paying more than $100 million to defend a shareholder-owned company and its former executives in a private lawsuit?

Losing that lawsuit.

When the government seized Fannie Mae during the financial crisis, it was clear it was taking control of a big, deeply troubled mortgage company that was hemorrhaging money on bad loans made during the housing bubble.

But it wasn't as obvious at the time that the government was also becoming a key actor in a soap opera of alleged corporate mismanagement, shareholder feuds and eye-popping legal bills.

Now that uncomfortable role is coming into focus.

Investors who say they suffered massive losses because of an accounting fraud at Fannie are demanding billions of dollars in compensation.

At the same time, Fannie is spending tens of millions of dollars to defend itself and its former executives, leading lawmakers to question the firm and its federal regulator about why they are not containing costs.

Stuck in the middle are U.S. taxpayers...

[Fuddnik]

39. Obama found handcuffed to radiator in Maryland.

Source. Onion News Network on IFC.

Seems he's been held for two years, and an imposter took his place in the White House.

Spokesman says that explains the difference in his campaign and presidency. In his first acts since resuming the presidency, Obama signed Executive orders legalizing gay marriage and closing Gitmo.

[Demeter]

44. Why Maryland?

That would mean---Biden's behind it! oh, wait, was he from Delaware? Well, it could be a clever ruse...

[Fuddnik]

48. I wish they had a link on their website.

It was funny, with updates.

[jtuck004]

54. Or it could be that Biden just hasn't figured it out yet...

He's a nice guy, suffered some horrendous tragedies, yet...

Joe Biden, in Milwaukee: “There’s no possibility to restore 8 million jobs lost in the Great Recession.”

...and he speaks for the Administration. great.

[Demeter]

47. The Market Looks Like I Feel

and no chocolate in the house...except in the rawest, inedible form...

[Fuddnik]

49. Cold again?

I worked my ass off all day yesterday, digging out more gardening space. I carried about 20 bags of fresh dirt into the back yard, and filled two new garden boxes, giving me a total of six now. Today I put the weed fabric down and plant.

I couldn't find any habanero plants anywhere. Hopefully, i'll have fresh tomatoes before my birthday in May.

[Roland99]

50. OT: shuttle Discovery has landed. Picture perfect landing

Heard the sonic boom this time.

[Demeter]

56. The End of An Era

God knows if we will ever get off this planet again.

[Roland99]

61. Still have Endeavor and Atlantis scheduled

http://www.nasa.gov/missions/highlights/schedule.html

I hope to get close(r) to at least one of them.

[Demeter]

57. Showdown in America is a national bank accountability campaign (email)

Yesterday, community leaders have done what regulators and politicians have so far refused to do: take action against big banks.

You can see video of the National People's Action conference, with 600 people shutting down the Bank of America branch at 1501 Pennsylvania Ave. in Washington, DC.

http://makewallstreetpay.org/news.html#bofa

While the 50 state Attorneys General met at a hotel to talk about a settlement with the banks over mortgage fraud, NPA leaders demanded aggressive prosecution of bank executives from the sidewalk outside. And NPA occupied the offices of congressional leaders Boehner and McConnell with one clear message: Make Wall Street Pay.

We need your help to bring the fight to the banks. Big banks spend hundreds of millions of dollars on lobbyists to guard their profits. They know money is power, and we need our own money and power to fight back.

More big actions are coming in the next 100 days, and your $100 will help put people in the streets to hold banks accountable. Give online today.

We know where the money is to solve the revenue crisis currently affecting every level of government. It's on Wall Street, and your support can help us take it back for the people.

Thank you.

Showdown in America


Showdown in America is a national bank accountability campaign coordinated by National People's Action - a Network of community power organizations from across the country that work to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda.

National People's Action
810 N. Milwaukee Ave.
Chicago, IL 60642
United States

[Demeter]

58. Underwater mortgages rise as home prices fall

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_underwater_mortgages;_ylt=AnEZCb0qaOY7dLvxIEOM9fpH2ocA;_ylu=X3oDMTNiNXBwZG52BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMzA4L3VzX3VuZGVyd2F0ZXJfbW9ydGdhZ2VzBGNjb2RlA21wX2VjXzhfMTAEY3BvcwMyBHBvcwMyBHNlYwN5bl90b3Bfc3RvcmllcwRzbGsDdW5kZXJ3YXRlcm1v

Well, Duh!

The number of Americans who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth rose at the end of last year, preventing many people from selling their homes in an already weak housing market.

About 11.1 million households, or 23.1 percent of all mortgaged homes, were underwater in the October-December quarter, according to report released Tuesday by housing data firm CoreLogic. That's up from 22.5 percent, or 10.8 million households, in the July-September quarter.

The number of underwater mortgages had fallen in the previous three quarters. But that was mostly because more homes had fallen into foreclosure...

[Demeter]

59. Time for that Seasonal Polka:

Who Ate the Pączki?(burp)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P%C4%85czki

Next year I'm going to Hamtramck; these Canadian ones weren't that great.

[AnneD]

64. Curse you Demeter....

Now you have me craving something I can't even pronounce. We have more Czechs than Pole here so I am SOL. I need a care package....STAT.

[tclambert]

67. Have a jelly-filled donut (it's close enough).

I've been resisting the poonchkeys by repeating to myself, "400 to 700 calories each. 400 to 700 calories each."

[Demeter]

70. Funny Story About That

I put half in the freezer, and went to UPS and FedEx.

They wanted $62 to ship 5 overnight to my Dad, who probably shouldn't eat them, anyway.

So I called my Sis and told her that they weren't coming--they weren't good enough for that much money (I could buy enough gas to deliver them in person for $62, even at today's inflated rates, and while I was there, we could make them from scratch, and maybe even some pierogi....).

I need to get out of town once in a while, right?

[DemReadingDU]

74. wow, much better to just go for the vist!

I remember about 8 years ago when my daughter was living in San Francisco. She was missing eating at Skyline chili, a favorite restaurant of many who live near its hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. So I decided to mail 6 16-oz cans. If I recall, it cost appx $20 first class and $22 for priority mail. So the 6 pound box was sent via priority, and daughter was elated when the chili arrived.

[Demeter]

60. Foreclosure King David Stern Shuttering His Law Firm

http://motherjones.com/2011/03/foreclosure-david-stern-shutters-law-firm-florida

A caricature of David J. Stern, the once-mighty foreclosure attorney, that he printed on T-shirts used to woo potential investors.

By the end of the month, the Law Offices of David J. Stern, the once-mighty foreclosure mill in southeastern Florida, will be no more. According to a terse, two-sentence filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, the firm—the subject of a Mother Jones investigation published last August—"will be ceasing the practice of law with respect to all pending foreclosure matters in the State of Florida" by March 31.

The reversal of fortune for David Stern and his law firm has been swift and breathtaking. A little over a year ago, the Stern's operation reigned king in the foreclosure business. Its clients included Wall Street powerhouses such as JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, and Citgroup; the firm was also cozy with government housing corporations Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, which hand-picked Stern's firm operation to process foreclosure cases for them. In 2009, the firm handled 70,000 foreclosure cases, and employed more than 1,000 people—paralegals, attorneys, paper-pushers, secretaries, and more. From 2006 to 2008, revenue generated by the non-legal, foreclosure-related parts of Stern's operations spiked from $40 million to $200 million. But the big payoff didn't come until January 2010, when Stern spun off those lucrative non-legal operations into a separate, publicly-traded company, netting him $58.5 million.

Advertise on MotherJones.com

Through the staggering success of his businesses, Stern amassed great personal wealth. Over the years he purchased many multi-million-dollar waterfront properties in southeastern Florida, including a beachfront condo in the Ritz Carlton Fort Lauderdale. He bought Italian-made, jet-powered yachts and plenty of sports cars: at the time I published my story, he owned four Ferraris, four Porsches, a pair of Mercedes-Benzes, and a Bugatti. While secretive in his personal and professional life, Stern's wealth was conspicuous enough that Fort Lauderdale's Water Taxi boat captains made sure to point out his $15 million, 16,000-square-foot mansion on the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway.

But last fall, the business empire that allowed Stern to live like a king began to crumble. Days after Mother Jones published my investigation into Stern and the world of foreclosure mills, the Florida attorney general announced a probe into Stern's firm and two others to determine whether "improper documentation may have been created and filed with Florida courts to speed up foreclosure processes, potentially without the knowledge or consent of the homeowners involved." It's all been downhill since then for Stern: Fannie and Freddie dropped him from their "designated counsel" program, and many big banks and mortgage servicing companies stopped hiring his firm. Citing MoJo's reporting, members of Congress demanded investigations into why Fannie and Freddie ever did business with Stern's firm and others like it. Soon, no one, it seemed, wanted to do business with the Law Offices of David J. Stern.

[Fuddnik]

62. Collapse of David J. Stern law firm throws foreclosure courts into disarray

By Susan Taylor Martin, Times Senior Correspondent
In Print: Wednesday, March 9, 2011

http://www.tampabay.com/news/courts/civil/article1156011.ece

As many as 20,000 foreclosure cases in the Tampa Bay area have been left in limbo by the virtual collapse of the David J. Stern Law Firm, once Florida's most prolific foreclosure "mill.''

The firm's implosion gives many borrowers at least a temporary reprieve from foreclosure and means that thousands of cases could be dismissed unless lenders quickly hire other attorneys.

"It's a mess,'' Pinellas-Pasco Chief Judge Thomas McGrady said Tuesday.

In a letter dated March 4, Stern notified McGrady and other chief judges that as of March 31 the firm will end its involvement in all 100,000 foreclosure cases statewide in which it is still listed as attorney of record. Bank of America and other Stern clients jettisoned the firm last year because of its allegedly sloppy, fraudulent practices, but in many cases have yet to hire anyone to replace him.

(snip)

[wordpix]

73. love it, about time these high rollers start to take the hits they've caused others. Karma

[Pale Blue Dot]

65. Wow. TONS of layoff announcements and business closings over the past 2 days.

Sorry I haven't been around much - I've been extremely busy at school. Anyway, the list is long over the past two days. It's like death via a million paper cuts.

Check it out here: www.dailyjobcuts.com

[jtuck004]

66. If you want a wider sense of the real day-to-day economy your neighbors are living with

and a chance to do some interesting volunteer work that most people appreciate...

take a cheap tax class, or read a manual, then sign up for AARP, take their training, and help do taxes for people.

More experienced volunteers will help with stuff that is new to you, you will enhance your skills at preparation,
and you will make a technical and somewhat scary thing a little better for some of your neighbors.

There are a LOT of people making less than they used to, and a lot of people without very much in the way of resources.