STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, September 16, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday May 16, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON May 15, 2011

Dow 11,433.18 +186.45 (+1.63%)
Nasdaq 2,607.07 +34.52 (+1.32%)
S&P 500 1,209.11 +20.43 (+1.69%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.09 +0.01 (+0.53%)
30-Year Bond 3.35 -0.01 (-0.24%)

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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
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 = 12

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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

Sep 16 09:00 Net Long-Term TIC Flows Jul NA NA $3.7B
Sep 16 09:55 Mich Sentiment Sep 53.0 56.3 55.7

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/09/12-16/#ixzz1Y6yG0WsT

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Crude hovers above $89 on optimism over Europe

HONG KONG – Oil hovered above $89 a barrel on Friday on continued optimism that European leaders would be able to get the continent's sovereign debt crisis under control.

Five central banks on Thursday gave their banks far greater access to U.S. dollars in a move aimed at shoring up confidence in Europe's financial system.

The move will buy some time for banks holding large amounts of debt issued by Greece and other financially troubled European countries. Some of these banks have had trouble paying for daily operations because other banks have refused to lend to them any more.

Global financial markets had been roiled earlier in the week on fears that Greece was sliding rapidly toward a chaotic default on its debts and a possible exit from the eurozone. Such a scenario would have cause widespread economic turmoil and led to a drop in energy consumption. But European leaders calmed those fears by pledging they would work to keep Greece in the eurozone.

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

This is insanity.

[Po_d Mainiac]

5. Yesterday's rumor mill was at a near record

only 32 Greek bailout announcements

[Demeter]

26. The Definition of It

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. Stock futures point to lower start for Wall Street

nt

[Po_d Mainiac]

4. e/s is at hard resistance top

:donut: Good Morning

[xchrom]

6. morning & it's the weekend!

:donut:

[Demeter]

32. I think we need some frivolity this Weekend

at least, I 'm sure I do.

[xchrom]

37. well -- i am nothing if not Frivolous!

i hope this weekend is a good one for you!

:toast:

[xchrom]

7. europe: Stocks Rise in Europe as Debt Insurance Declines; Euro, U.S. Futures Drop

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/asia-stocks-rise-as-gold-drops-a-third-day-credit-risk-falls-as-ecb-acts.html

European stocks gained for a fourth day and the cost of insuring banks against default fell after central banks acted to provide dollar funding. The euro weakened and U.S. index futures fell as finance ministers gathered in Poland to tackle the region’s debt crisis.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index added 0.9 percent at 7:45 a.m. in New York. The Markit iTraxx Financial Index of credit-default swaps on the senior debt of 25 banks and insurers slid 14 basis points to a two-week low of 247. The euro depreciated 0.6 percent to $1.3797, while the Dollar Index advanced. Futures on the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index dropped 0.5 percent, paring earlier declines of as much as 0.8 percent.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said yesterday policy makers need to “constantly be ahead of the curve” and show the same unity of purpose as central banks displayed in providing extra dollars to European banks. Ministers began meeting in Wroclaw, Poland, to discuss ways of shoring up Europe’s most-indebted nations, with U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also in attendance.

[xchrom]

8. German Stocks Advance for Fourth Day; Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank Increase

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/deutsche-telekom-bayer-ag-may-move-german-equities-preview.html

German stocks rose for a fourth day, extending the biggest weekly rally in two years, as speculation mounted that policy makers will provide more support to contain the region’s debt crisis.

Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) and Commerzbank AG (CBK), the country’s largest lenders, advanced more than 3 percent. EON AG climbed 4.3 percent after JPMorgan Chase & Co. advised buying the shares of Germany’s biggest utility.

The benchmark DAX Index (DAX) climbed 60.67, or 1.1 percent, to 5,568.91 at 2 p.m. in Frankfurt. The gauge has surged 7.3 percent this week, its largest jump since July 2009. The measure has still plunged 26 percent from this year’s peak in May as the debt crisis spread from Greece to the larger economies of Italy, Spain and France. The broader HDAX gained 1 percent today.

[xchrom]

10. Euro Ministers Spar on Collateral for Loans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/euro-ministers-spar-on-collateral-from-greece-as-geithner-calls-for-action.html

Europe’s challenges in stemming the debt crisis were underscored by snags over collateral to underpin Greece’s rescue loans and German objections to altering European treaties.

European finance officials are unlikely to reach a collateral deal today in their monthly meeting to clear the way for Greece’s next 109 billion-euro ($151 billion) package, Finnish Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen said.

“We’re going to negotiate about it, but unfortunately I don’t see that we can find a solution” today, Urpilainen told reporters before the meeting in Wroclaw, Poland.

After a call to action last night by European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet, the 17 euro finance ministers were braced for a dressing-down from U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, invited to the gathering by the host Polish government.




***well -- i can only hope Mykonos goes to somebody Fun.

[xchrom]

24. Eurozone divisions over Greek debt catastrophic: Geithner

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/eurozone-divisions-over-greek-debt-catastrophic-geithner/articleshow/10007879.cms

WROCLAW: US Teasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned on Friday that deepening eurozone divisions over the Greek debt crisis posed a "catastrophic risk," in a closed address to bankers meeting in Poland, Dow Jones Newswires reported on Friday.

"What's very damaging is not just seeing the divisiveness in the debate over strategy in Europe but the ongoing conflict between countries and the central bank," he said, warning that "governments and central banks need to take out the catastrophic risk to markets."

Eurozone leaders made last-ditch efforts to contain the Greek debt crisis, saying they would rule on new aid next month, as US Treasury chief Timothy Geithner joined them for crunch talks.

Speaking after a meeting of the 17-nation eurozone's finance ministers and central bankers, the Eurogroup's chief Jean-Claude Juncker told reporters they had delayed until October a decision on eight billion euros ($11.0 billion) of rescue loans blocked during an audit of promised Greek reforms.

[Festivito]

9. Debt: 09/14/2011 14,683,910,471,705.99 (DOWN 33,957,586,640.21) (Wed, UP a little.)

(UNDER the new 2011 debt limit of 14.694-trillion dollars by 389.910-billion dollars. Good day.)
Quiet and cold.
(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)
= 10,067,922,521,846.90 + 4,615,987,949,859.08
UP 269,185,032.20 + DOWN 34,226,771,672.41

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 313-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,196.00 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.59, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,891,392 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 $46,929.74.
A family of three owes $140,789.21. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 33 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,205,113,099.27.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,223,920,042.78.
The average for the last 33 days would be 2,930,836,402.52.
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$/day.
There were 237 reports in 349 days of FY2011 averaging 4.74B$ per report, 3.22B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 494 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.4 and 17.2T$.
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)
09/14/2011 14,683,910,471,705.99 BHO (UP 4,057,033,422,792.90 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 +1,122,287,440,814.20 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,173,739,014,032.04 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/24/2011 +000,495,517,849.57 ------------********
08/25/2011 +015,444,082,130.78 ------------**********
08/26/2011 +001,003,663,200.19 ------------*********
08/29/2011 -000,073,220,970.90 ---- Mon
08/30/2011 +000,152,580,275.78 ------------********
08/31/2011 +034,126,581,560.14 ------------**********
09/01/2011 +034,131,323,630.30 ------------**********
09/02/2011 +000,182,220,803.10 ------------********
09/06/2011 -000,290,117,782.20 --- Tue
09/07/2011 +015,583,261,687.60 ------------**********
09/08/2011 -006,211,008,386.30 --
09/09/2011 +000,079,600,651.10 ------------*******
09/12/2011 -000,033,661,156.40 ---- Mon
09/13/2011 -000,041,637,039.50 ----
09/14/2011 +000,269,185,032.20 ------------********

94,818,371,485.46 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=4995249&mesg_id=4995584

[Festivito]

46. Debt: 09/15/2011 14,696,963,569,782.73 (UP 13,053,098,076.67) (Thu, UP a lot.)

(UNDER the new 2011 debt limit of 14.694-trillion dollars by 402.964-billion dollars. Good day.)
The food is starting. Spaghetti, I think.
(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)
= 10,079,888,378,192.40 + 4,617,075,191,590.25
UP 11,965,856,345.50 + UP 1,087,241,731.17

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 313-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,195.92 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.59, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,898,592 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 $46,970.37.
A family of three owes $140,911.12. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 3,538,966,155.61.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,713,207,385.97.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,625,684,567.06.
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$/day.
There were 238 reports in 350 days of FY2011 averaging 4.77B$ per report, 3.24B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 493 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.4 and 17.2T$.
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)
09/15/2011 14,696,963,569,782.73 BHO (UP 4,070,086,520,869.57 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 +1,135,340,538,891.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,183,997,990,557.76 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/25/2011 +015,444,082,130.78 ------------**********
08/26/2011 +001,003,663,200.19 ------------*********
08/29/2011 -000,073,220,970.90 ---- Mon
08/30/2011 +000,152,580,275.78 ------------********
08/31/2011 +034,126,581,560.14 ------------**********
09/01/2011 +034,131,323,630.30 ------------**********
09/02/2011 +000,182,220,803.10 ------------********
09/06/2011 -000,290,117,782.20 --- Tue
09/07/2011 +015,583,261,687.60 ------------**********
09/08/2011 -006,211,008,386.30 --
09/09/2011 +000,079,600,651.10 ------------*******
09/12/2011 -000,033,661,156.40 ---- Mon
09/13/2011 -000,041,637,039.50 ----
09/14/2011 +000,269,185,032.20 ------------********
09/15/2011 +011,965,856,345.50 ------------**********

106,288,709,981.39 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=4996291&mesg_id=4996338

[xchrom]

11. south asia: India Raises Rates, Breaks Ranks With BRICs

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/india-raises-benchmark-rate-as-subbarao-breaks-ranks-with-bric-economies.html

India’s central bank raised interest rates for the 12th time since the start of March 2010, breaking ranks among the so-called BRIC nations that have either cut or held borrowing costs as the global recovery falters.

The Reserve Bank of India increased the repurchase rate to 8.25 percent from 8 percent, it said in a statement today. Fourteen of 17 economists in a Bloomberg News survey predicted the decision and three expected no change.

Governor Duvvuri Subbarao’s move contrasts with Brazil and Russia, which cut borrowing costs in the past month, while China has paused rate increases since early July. Higher food and fuel prices and weakness in the rupee may keep inflation above 9 percent, a level exceeded in each of the last nine months.

“The decision clearly points out that the RBI’s top priority is curbing inflation despite concerns about global turmoil,” said Indranil Sen Gupta, Mumbai-based emerging Asia economist at Bank of America Corp. “There will be pressure on inflation after last evening’s petrol-price increases and the rupee’s depreciation.”

[xchrom]

12. Palm Oil to Climb on Soybean Oil Supply Cut, Demand, Mistry Says

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/palm-oil-to-climb-on-soybean-oil-supply-cut-demand-mistry-says.html

Palm oil may rally next year as demand for biofuels cuts soybean oil supply and a potential reversal in monetary policy in China and India boosts demand, according to Dorab Mistry, director of Godrej International Ltd.

Prices in Malaysia will see a gradual recovery after November to reach 4,000 ringgit ($1,296) a metric ton by the second quarter of 2012, Mistry said, maintaining a forecast he made on July 28. Futures may “bottom out” at about 2,800 ringgit a ton this month, he said. The commodity last traded below 2,800 ringgit in October 2010 and ended at 3,078 ringgit yesterday. The market is closed today.

“Both China and India have been raising interest rates and tightening money supply in order to fight food inflation in their domestic markets, and yet we have seen these high prices,” Mistry told a conference organized by Goldman Sachs Group Inc. in Singapore today, according to an advance copy of his remarks. “What will happen when the central banks of China and India take a more normal approach and let interest rates fall? That is why I remain optimistic about prices of grains, oilseeds and vegetable oil for 2012.”

[xchrom]

27. Nifty ends below 5100;power, realty, auto gain

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/market-news/nifty-ends-below-5100power-realty-auto-gain/articleshow/10007423.cms

MUMBAI: Benchmarks ended volatile session in the positive terrain as the Reserve Bank of India's move to hike key policy rates failed to lift sentiments. Power, realty and auto stocks led the gainers pack while FMCG and technology stocks ended in the red.

The central bank has hiked repo rarte and reverse repo rate by 25 basis points each. According to experts, though the central bank decision to hike repo rate and reverse repo rate was in line with expectations, the hawkish tone and concerns of further rate hikes acted as a dampener.

RBI in its mid-quarter review of the monetary policy said that a premature change in the policy stance could harden inflationary expectations, thereby diluting the impact of past policy actions. It is, therefore, imperative to persist with the current anti-inflationary stance.

"The 25 bps hike in repo rates was widely expected a majority of market players. The accompanying statement maintains its hawkish stance by saying it is premature to change its stance.

[xchrom]

30. Gold down by Rs 550, silver slips by Rs 900 on weak global cues

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/gold-down-by-rs-550-silver-slips-by-rs-900-on-weak-global-cues/articleshow/10006194.cms

NEW DELHI: Extending major losses, gold tumbled by Rs 550 and silver lost Rs 900 in the national capital today on sustained sell-offs by stockists triggered by weak global cues.

While gold tumbled by Rs 550 to Rs 27,740 per 10 grams, silver lost Rs 900 to Rs 63,300 per kg on reduced offtake by industrial units amid a weak trend overseas.

Selling pressure in the precious metals gathered momentum as gold declined in global markets after the European Central Bank and policymakers coordinated to lend dollars to eurozone financial institutions, curbing the demand for gold and silver as alternate investment options.

Gold in global markets, which normally sets the price trend on the domestic front, fell by 1.5 per cent to USD 1,762.68 an ounce, the lowest level since August 26.

[xchrom]

13. HP Bulls Bet Strategy Shift Will Spur 53% Stock Rebound: Options

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-14/hp-bulls-bet-strategy-shift-will-spur-53-stock-rebound-options.html

Hewlett-Packard Co. (HPQ) options traders are the most bullish in two years amid optimism the company’s shift away from personal computers will prove successful, even after disappointing earnings erased $20 billion from the stock.

The ratio of calls to buy shares versus puts to sell has climbed 7.3 percent in the past month to 1.6, the highest level since August 2009, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. January $35 calls, priced 53 percent above the shares, have the largest open interest among Hewlett-Packard options, accounting for 6.5 percent of 1.28 million outstanding contracts. The stock plunged 27 percent since Aug. 17 to $22.93 yesterday.

Options traders are speculating the 72-year-old company in Palo Alto, California, is undervalued after falling to a record low 5.04 times profit. They’re betting Chief Executive Officer Leo Apotheker, 57, will succeed with his expansion in software and other products that help clients build data centers.

[xchrom]

14. asia: Sino-Forest Short Seller Carson Block Says China Consumption ‘Overblown’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-15/short-seller-muddy-waters-block-says-chinese-consumer-demand-overstated.html

Carson Block, the short seller who runs research firm Muddy Waters LLC, said U.S. investors are too eager to put their money into China where consumer demand is overstated.

“The idea of the Chinese consumer has always been somewhat overblown,” Block said yesterday on a panel at a Bloomberg Link Conference in New York. “Part of the reason for that is that you have luxury-goods manufacturers such as Louis Vuitton that report outstanding sales in China.” Muddy Waters research alleging Sino-Forest Corp. (TRE) had overstated timber holdings prompted a 67 percent slump in the company’s shares. Sino-Forest has denied the allegations.

Businesses are turning to China to bolster sales as rising unemployment and government indebtedness damp confidence in developed nations. Foreign direct investment in China climbed 11.1 percent in August from a year earlier, a government report showed yesterday, as the nation’s growth encourages companies from Volkswagen AG to Caterpillar Inc. to expand.

[xchrom]

15. China’s Stocks Rise as European Debt Concerns Ease, Trimming Weekly Drop

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-16/china-stocks-rise-as-foreign-investment-jumps-ecb-coordinates-bank-loans.html

China’s benchmark stock index rose, trimming a weekly loss, after foreign direct investment climbed and the European Central Bank and international policy makers coordinated to lend dollars to banks to tame the credit crisis.

China Minsheng Banking Corp. rose 0.9 percent after Shanghai Securities News reported the regulator may allow lenders to conduct asset securitization to ease liquidity. Southwest Securities Co. advanced 1.4 percent after saying it will buy a stake in a fund management firm. Poly Real Estate Group Co., China’s second-largest developer by market value, fell for the first time in five days on a newspaper report Shanghai’s new-home inventories reached a record.

“The risk of a short-term default in the euro region looks low after cash injections from global central banks,” said Dai Ming, fund manager at Shanghai Kingsun Investment Management & Consulting Co. “The magnitude of the rebound may be limited as you see no signs of policy loosening in China.”

[xchrom]

17. Suntory to sell blue roses overseas

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110916a5.html

The world's first blue roses will hit stores in the United States and Canada in early November, with the aim of selling 300,000 of them in 2012, said its developer, Suntory Flowers Ltd.

The flowers will be sold under the brand name "Applause" by selected florists in North America. They first hit stores in Tokyo in 2009 for ¥2,000 to ¥3,000 each and became popular gifts, the subsidiary of beverage maker Suntory Holdings Ltd. said.

After selling 50,000 of the roses in 2010, the firm expanded sales across Japan, except for Okinawa Prefecture, last January, it said.

[xchrom]

22. China's green economist stirring a shift away from GDP

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/16/china-green-economist-gdp

Of all the efforts to improve China's environment, there are probably none as arcane and potentially important as the statistical re-evaluation being pioneered by Niu Wenyuan.

This senior economist and government adviser is trying to clean up his polluted country one data set at a time and, in the process, wean political leaders off their obsession with GDP growth. It is an uphill task. Eight years ago, Niu tried and failed to introduce a "green GDP", which would have factored environmental costs into measurements of China's economic progress.

That proposal was killed off by provincial leaders who feared their GDP achievements – and promotion prospects – would be undermined by a full accounting of the damage being done to the environment. Undaunted, Niu has returned to the fray with a new "GDP quality index" that measures the economy not just by size, but by sustainability, social equality and ecological impact.

Launched this summer, the index is currently more of an academic exercise than an indication of government priorities. But it has provoked a fierce debate because of the influential position of Niu, who is adviser to the state council (China's cabinet), chief scientist at the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Chinese Ecological Economics Society.

[xchrom]

28. Hong Kong shares end up 1.4%, cyclicals lead in thin turnover

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/global-markets/hong-kong-shares-end-up-1-4-cyclicals-lead-in-thin-turnover/articleshow/10005326.cms

HONG KONG: Hong Kong shares finished higher on Friday, led by cyclicals, in anticipation of more concerted action in Europe to address the debt crisis, but the uptick came in lacklustre turnover that has characterised moves for much of this week.

The Hang Seng Index closed up 1.43 per cent on the day but down 2.07 per cent on the week at 19,455.31. The China Enterprises Index traded up 1.97 per cent on the day but down 2.09 per cent on the week at 10,249.2.

The Shanghai Composite Index ended up 0.13 per cent at 2,482.34, led by financial and energy names that were the biggest drags in the previous session. The Shanghai benchmark ended down 0.6 per cent on the week.

[xchrom]

36. China's biggest bank sets up shop in India

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Chinas-biggest-bank-sets-up-shop-in-India/articleshow/10000381.cms

MUMBAI: Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)-the world's most valuable lender-has become the first bank from mainland China to set up shop in India. The bank plans to start with an investment of $100 million and aims to lend to corporates and cover sectors where Chinese companies have a presence such as power, telecom and infrastructure.

With market capitalization of $234 billion, ICBC is the world's largest bank. It's m-cap is more than nine times that of India's largest bank, State Bank of India ($25 billion). Besides being the largest in m-cap, ICBC is also the world's biggest in terms of profits and customer deposits. The Chinese bank's entry comes almost a year after SBI was allowed to deal in Yuan through its branch in China. The bank has set up an office in the Bandra-Kurla business district in central Mumbai and has appointed Sun Xiang as CEO for India.

ICBC president Yang Kaisheng said that trade between the two countries amounted to around $60 billion which was a 40% growth year-on-year. He said India and China have not been significantly impacted by the global financial crisis. ICBC would initially look at wholesale banking business and later move into personal and private banking. Yang said that although ICBC has been expanding its international business-which has grown to $14 billion-it was still only 4% of the total assets of the bank. The bank aimed at increasing the share of international to 10%.

[xchrom]

16. How Change Is Going to Come in the Food System

http://www.thenation.com/article/163399/how-change-going-come-food-system

In the forty years since the publication of Frances Moore Lappé’s Diet for a Small Planet, a movement dedicated to the reform of the food system has taken root in America. Lappé’s groundbreaking book connected the dots between something as ordinary and all-American as a hamburger and the environmental crisis, as well as world hunger. Along with Wendell Berry and Barry Commoner, Lappé taught us how to think ecologically about the implications of our everyday food choices. You can now find that way of thinking, so radical at the time, just about everywhere—from the pages of Time magazine to the menu at any number of local restaurants.

To date, however, the food movement can claim more success in changing popular consciousness than in shifting, in any fundamental way, the political and economic forces shaping the food system or, for that matter, in changing the “standard American diet”—which has only gotten worse since the 1970s. Recently there have been some political accomplishments: food movement activists played a role in shaping the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act and the Child Nutrition Reauthorization Act, both passed in the last Congress, and the last couple of farm bills have thrown some significant crumbs in the direction of sustainable agriculture and healthy food. But the food movement cannot yet point to legislative achievements on the order of the Clean Air Act or the Clean Water Act or the establishment of the Environmental Protection Administration. Its greatest victories have come in the media, which could scarcely be friendlier to it, and in the food marketplace, rather than in the halls of Congress, where the power of agribusiness has scarcely been disturbed.

The marked split between the movement’s gains in the soft power of cultural influence and its comparative weakness in conventional political terms is faithfully mirrored in the White House. While Michelle Obama has had notable success raising awareness of the child obesity problem and linking it to the food system (as well as in pushing the industry to change some of its most egregious practices), her husband, after raising expectations on the campaign trail, has done comparatively little to push a reform agenda. Promising anti-trust initiatives to counter food industry concentration, which puts farmers and ranchers at the mercy of a small handful of processors, appear to be languishing. Efforts to reform crop subsidies during the last farm bill debate were halfhearted and got nowhere. And a USDA plan to place new restrictions on genetically modified crops (in order to protect organic farms from contamination) was reportedly overruled by the White House.

[AnneD]

21. As long as...

Monsanto and ADM continue to grow and consolidate their power, we will not have reform.:banghead:

[DemReadingDU]

18. No such thing as a “rogue trader”

9/16/11 A “Rogue Trader” of Convenience

It was news that Mr. Kweku Adoboli, a trader at Swiss banking giant, UBS, had racked up a USD$2 billion “rogue trading” loss for the bank.

the bigger story is the coincidence of Mr. Adoboli’s alleged crime and the central bank intervention occurring on the same day. OK, let’s just say it: it’s not a coincidence…


The banks are in trouble. But the authorities don’t want you focusing on it. So, on queue comes the diversion… Mr. Adoboli.

But that’s not the only coincidence. When looking for a fall guy, it’s important they pick on a guy based in Europe. This is because white collar fraud typically attracts softer sentences than U.S. white collar fraud.


Think about it. Who really understands what the central banks have done… not the average man in the street… and we’ll guess the hot-shots on Wall Street or Collins Street don’t get it either. All the market needs to know is the central banks are doing something. But they don’t want the market knowing too much.

Hence the convenient appearance of a rogue trading “beard”. The fact is we can’t get a claim paid for a $2 newspaper without our office manager boxing us about the ears asking for a receipt! So to expect us to believe that a trader at one of the world’s biggest financial institutions could trade billions of losses without the deficit appearing on a profit and loss, or position statement somewhere… well, put it this way, it’s not likely.

more...
http://www.moneymorning.com.au/20110916/a-rogue-trader-of-convenience.html

[Hotler]

40. In other words,

even the corrupt U.S. banks have more sense than to lend money to Europe’s zombie banks. It proves that things must be bad

So, three years after the financial world almost collapsed… the financial world is still almost collapsing.

Any more I don't know whether to laugh or cry it's so fucked up.

[DemReadingDU]

42. It's all a big game

And apparently all the TBTF banks are playing. They can't stop. And it takes more and more of our money to keep their games going. I think a black swan event will put an abrupt end to their games that will affect us around the world for many years to come. It's so f'd up, I can't laugh or cry, I'm just numb.
:(

[AnneD]

19. Who's playing...

with the gold. I swear someone is tinkering with the market.

[xchrom]

20. Foreigners make record buys in Canada money market

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/9850010

* Foreigners buy C$11.8 bln in Canadian securities
* Resume 1-1/2 year string of purchases, broken in June
* C$7.3 bln purchases on Canadian money market is record
* Foreigners attracted by Canadian economy, fiscal stance (Adds details)
OTTAWA, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Foreigners bought a record amount of Canadian treasury bills in July as they resumed large overall purchases of Canadian securities, apparently eyeing the country's sound economy and fiscal state.
Statistics Canada said on Friday foreigners purchased a record C$7.3 billion ($7.4 billion) in money market paper, the highest since C$5.8 billion in March 2009. The bulk of the July acquisitions was a record C$5.9 billion in treasury bills.

[DemReadingDU]

23. Greece Purposefully Inflated Its Deficit Numbers To Get EU/IMF Assistance

From ZeroHedge

9/16/11 Greece Purposefully Inflated Its Deficit Numbers To Get EU/IMF Assistance

In news that will likely not surprise many, Greek newspaper Eleftherotypia reports that according to a just terminated member of the Greek Statistical Authority, Greece artificially misrepresented its 2009 15.4% deficit number to Eurostat in order to obtain aid from the EU and IMF. Per professor Zoe Georgantas "The deficit was artificially inflated in 2009 to show that the country had the largest deficit across Europe, including that of Ireland was 14% in order to justify all these severe measures against the country. And we presented in the Eurostat 15,4%."

While there appears to be a substantial political back story here, and we would be careful at taking these claims at face value, the last thing Europe needs is for its people to realize that they have been duped (and continue to be so), by the PIIGS countries, which as we pointed out before on several occasions, have figured out that the balance of power in capital extraction is entirely in their favor, and paradoxically see their position strengthened, the weaker they are, as the Eurozone has no alternatives but to keep ploughing ever more capital into these bankrupt nation. As such it would not be surprising if Italy's official deficit has also, like in Greece, been substantially misrepresented in an adverse light recently,after being shown to be far better than reality for years, simply to have a stronger political case for demanding more EU and IMF funding.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/greece-purposefully-inflated-its-deficit-numbers-get-euimf-assistance

[xchrom]

25. +1

[Demeter]

29. Book: Treasury Secretary Ignored Obama Directive

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/15/140523321/book-treasury-secretary-ignored-obama-directive?ft=1&f=1001

A new book offering an insider's account of the White House's response to the financial crisis says that U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner ignored an order from President Barack Obama calling for reconstruction of major banks. According to Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Suskind, the incident is just one of several in which Obama struggled with a divided group of advisers, some of whom he didn't initially consider for their high-profile roles. Suskind interviewed more than 200 people, including Obama, Geithner and other top officials for Confidence Men: Wall Street, Washington, and The Education of A President, which will be released Sept. 20. The Associated Press purchased a copy on Thursday.

The book states Geithner and the Treasury Department ignored a March 2009 order to consider dissolving banking giant Citigroup while continuing stress tests on banks, which were burdened with toxic mortgage assets. In the book, Obama does not deny Suskind's account, but does not reveal what he told Geithner when he found out. "Agitated may be too strong a word," Suskind quotes Obama as saying. Obama says later in the book that he was trying to be decisive but "the speed with which the bureaucracy could exercise my decision was slower than I wanted."

Geithner says in the book that he did not recall that Obama was mad at him about the Citigroup decision and rejected allegations contained in White House documents that his department had been slow to enact the president's plans. "I don't slow walk the president on anything," Geithner told Suskind.

"The Citbank incident, and others like it, reflected a more pernicious and personal dilemma emerging from inside the administration: that the young president's authority was being systematically undermined or hedged by his seasoned advisers," Suskind writes...

WE ARE SO SCREWED--BUT WE KNEW THAT. YOUR CUE, HOTLER!

[Hotler]

38. I have no hope. I see no future.

Obama says later in the book that he was trying to be decisive but "the speed with which the bureaucracy could exercise my decision was slower than I wanted."

"I don't slow walk the president on anything," Geithner told Suskind.

Barry, Timmy, one of you fuckers are lying. Which one of you is it? I'm going to go out and cut me a switch and when I come back............

[Po_d Mainiac]

43. Yo Oboner...why didn't you fire their sorry asses then? wasf is right n/t

[Demeter]

31. A Raging Case of Bailout Fatigue By Doug Hornig

http://dailyreckoning.com/a-raging-case-of-bailout-fatigue/

I’ve used the term “outrage fatigue” on numerous occasions as a way of explaining why there has been such a muted outcry from the general population, as the tally of financial atrocities committed against American citizens has exploded....August 22 was just another average day with another average headline that could easily have been ripped from some radical economic watchdog website (liberal or conservative, either one): Wall Street Aristocracy Got $1.2 Trillion from Fed. But the line wasn’t the work of someone out there on the anti-capitalist or anti-government fringe. It was attached to an article from the very mainstream Bloomberg News.

Bloomberg has been engaged in a long, frustrating FOIA litigation battle with the Federal Reserve over that entity’s reluctance publicly to reveal what it has been doing with our money. Slowly, the stone wall has been coming down. And looking at what’s behind it, it’s pretty obvious why the Fed would have preferred to keep its deeds locked away from all prying eyes. Thus the above headline. And here’s an ugly truth that goes along with it: It’s a near certainty that the vast majority of those who saw it — probably not too many in number, since the story got scant coverage on the network news — said to themselves, Yeah, we already knew that. Ho hum.

Call it “bailout fatigue.”

Because, guess what? This is not a recycled story from last year. This is news that we didn’t know before the 22nd. This money is not a part of the $16.1 trillion in emergency loans the Fed handed to US and foreign financial institutions between Dec. 1, 2007 and July 21, 2010, according to figures produced by the first-ever, one-time-only GAO audit of the central bank ordered by Dodd-Frank. Nor is it part of the $2 trillion quantitative easing program. Nor is TARP’s $700 billion in there, either. Read that again. This $1.2 trillion — and perhaps we also have trillion fatigue, because that’s a lot of money — is separate from all that other stuff. It’s another hitherto secret funding program that we never would have heard of if Bloomberg hadn’t torn it from the Fed’s mouth like a rotten tooth.

The list of who got the bucks is a basic guide to the American banking industry. $107 billion to Morgan Stanley. $99 billion to Citigroup. $91 billion to Bank of America. Over $75 billion to State Street and just under that to Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase. And the list goes on. And on. And on. Even the disgraced Countrywide Financial got in on the act, claiming about $12.5 billion....In addition, as the Fed was bailing the leaky American boat, it must have asked itself, Why stop here? There are foreigners out there who need our help just as much. So, almost half of the Fed’s top 30 borrowers were European firms. They included the Royal Bank of Scotland, which was propped up to the tune of $84.5 billion, the most of any non-US lender, and Zurich-based UBS, which got $77.2 billion. The big foreign borrowers also included Dexia, Belgium’s biggest bank by assets, the French Société Générale, Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and Crédit Suisse. “These are all whopping numbers,” says Robert Litan, a former Justice Department official who investigated the savings and loan crisis in the 1990s. “You’re talking about the aristocracy of American finance going down the tubes without the federal money.”

So much for the free market, where failed business ventures…well, fail. But not to worry, the Fed did it all for us.

Read MUCH more: A Raging Case of Bailout Fatigue http://dailyreckoning.com/a-raging-case-of-bailout-fatigue/#ixzz1Y7cVo4KB

[Demeter]

33. Anne Sibert: The damaged ECB legitimacy

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/09/anne-siebert-the-damaged-ecb-legitimacy.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

TEARING THE VEIL OFF THE EUROPEAN COMMON MARKET BANKING MESS

[Demeter]

34. Defaults and Downgrades Backpack Across Europe

http://dailyreckoning.com/defaults-and-downgrades-backpack-across-europe/

[Demeter]

35. Morgan Stanley Chairman John Mack To Retire

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/15/140515035/morgan-stanley-chairman-john-mack-to-retire?ft=1&f=1001

[Hotler]

39. French razor for this guy. eom.

[Hotler]

41. k&r n/t

[Demeter]

44. Catastrophe Insurance By Bill Bonner

http://dailyreckoning.com/catastrophe-insurance/

In an expansion, well…everything expands. Why make it complicated? In a contraction…everything contracts. What do you expect? That’s what it’s all about. That’s how it works. And when you have a consumer economy, what contracts most? Consumer spending, of course. Simple, huh? And when consumer spending contracts, business sales go down. Eventually profits go down. And eventually investors realize that holding stocks is not going to be profitable. Then, stocks go down too.

And here’s another Bloomberg headline:

Wholesale Prices in US Are Little Changed as Energy, Vehicle Costs Drop

Surprise, surprise! The feds pump in trillions in cash and credit. Still, they can’t get prices to go up significantly. Contractions are deflationary. That’s why we don’t expect the price of gold to rise...And now that Germany and France have gotten together with China and all have agreed that they aren’t going to throw poor little Greece off the Euro-Bus…gold has nothing to do but go down. No crises on the horizon. No inflation either.

So who needs gold? Well…. We all will. But maybe not just yet…“Gold fulfills the functions for which money is used better than any other type of money,” wrote Lord Rees-Mogg in his introduction to “The Case for Gold” — a three volume tome rehearsing the history of the yellow metal. But if gold is the best money, how come we don’t use it rather than dollars? Lord Rees-Mogg explains: “The problem for gold is not that it doesn’t work, but that it works too well…it imposes limits on human behaviour, and those limits can be resented and rejected. Indeed, it can become impossible for a government to maintain the discipline of gold…”

Ah yes….

Limits. There are always limits. You can ignore limits. You can reject limits. You can pretend they don’t exist. But you can’t ignore the consequences of ignoring the limits. Right now, the economy is in a major contraction. As long as this phase continues, you only need gold as insurance against a catastrophe. But what would cause a catastrophe? The feds, of course. In a contraction, the market itself imposes limits. It forces asset prices down. It undermines businesses. And it drives debtors and creditors into bankruptcy...The feds don’t like limits. And they don’t like contractions. Especially not when an election is coming up. Maybe they’ll keep their nerve. Maybe they won’t. They could do something reckless and desperate…in an effort to overcome natural limits. That’s when the merde will really hit the fan… That’s when you’ll need your gold.

Read more: Catastrophe Insurance http://dailyreckoning.com/catastrophe-insurance/#ixzz1Y8IaIl5W

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

45. Damn straight!

[hamerfan]

47. K&R!

For a stupendous cartoon!
Happy Days!