STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, October 28, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, October 28, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 27, 2011

Dow 12,208.55 +339.51 (+2.78%)
Nasdaq 2,738.63 +87.96 (+3.21%)
S&P 500 1,284.59 +42.59 (+3.32%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.40 -0.01 (-0.29%)
30-Year Bond 3.46 +0.00 (+0.09%)

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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    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    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 = 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

[xchrom]

1. good morning

:donut:

[xchrom]

2. Rally fed by European debt deal begins to slow

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-07-06-16

PARIS (AP) -- The euphoric rally in share prices fed by a European deal to cut Greece's debt and prevent larger countries from falling down the same hole slowed on Friday, as investors began to recognize the significant challenges that still face the continent.

In the weeks before Thursday's agreement, markets had seesawed between hope that Europe would find a way to stop the crisis' march and despair that their response would be too cautious. After several delays and half-measures, the deal to greatly increase the firepower of the continent's bailout fund and to knock euro100 billion ($140 billion) off of what Greece owes hit the right notes, and stocks rocketed up on Thursday.

But analysts immediately raised questions about the lack of detail in the plan, and the euro and oil prices began pulling back on Friday.

"The best we can say is that the EU have engineered a temporary reprieve but there is no guarantee of a final resolution to the crisis," said Neil MacKinnon of VTB Capital.

[rfranklin]

3. My prediction...fools rush in...market tanks...Goldman scores big profits ...

Whaddya think?

[xchrom]

4. Hey - the Big Boys make money either way - I would say

You're right!

[Po_d Mainiac]

8. Buy the rumor, sell on the news.

Lemmings never lead YMMV

[Demeter]

5. It's Known as Buyers' Remorse

Buy on rumor, sell on news?

[Po_d Mainiac]

12. I hadn't seen your comment.....hmmmm

Or a massive short squeeze.

[xchrom]

11. US stock futures lower after week of big gains

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WALL_STREET?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-28-08-09-16

U.S. stock futures are falling after a rally that left the Standard & Poor's 500 index on track for its best month since 1974.

Markets had rallied Thursday after European leaders unveiled a deal aimed at defusing the Greek debt crisis. They agreed to expand a regional bailout fund. Banks agreed to forgive half of Greece's debt.

Shares of appliance maker Whirlpool Corp. fell 14 percent in premarket trading Friday after the company said it will cut 5,000 jobs, citing weak demand and higher costs for materials.

Dow Jones industrial average futures are down 63 points, or 0.5 percent, at 12,105 in early trading. S&P 500 futures are down 8, or 0.6 percent, at 1,275. Nasdaq 100 futures are down 14, or 0.6 percent, at 2,380.

[Warpy]

27. Wait until they read all the fine print

There will be an equally dramatic market dump.

[DetlefK]

6. On the Toon: The tiny fishes could take that huge predator out pretty easily.

Avoid his teeth. Go for the gills. Rip them out and suffocate him.

[Demeter]

7. Madoff Family May Keep $82 Million Under Ruling

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-27/madoff-family-may-keep-82m-under-mets-ruling.html

Bernard L. Madoff’s family would keep about $82 million of “other investors’ money” under a ruling that limited a bankruptcy trustee to claiming from the owners of the New York Mets only two years of withdrawals from the Ponzi scheme, according to a court filing.

The confidence man’s family took out $141 million in the six years before Madoff’s firm went bankrupt in 2008, of which less than $59 million was taken in the two years before the bankruptcy, trustee Irving Picard said in a filing. Many other investors are trying to hang onto “stolen” money from fictitious trading that belongs to customers who took losses in the fraud, he said.

Picard wrote about the Madoff family in court papers filed after U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff told him to explain why another investor, James Greiff, shouldn’t keep money he says he took “in good faith” from the Ponzi scheme. Rakoff’s Madoff caseload includes Picard’s suits against the Mets owners and Greiff.

The trustee’s argument “is good for two reasons,” said Nancy Rapoport, a bankruptcy-law professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, in an e-mail. “It puts the amount of money at risk front-and-center, and it explains how easy it would be for people to hide behind fake securities transactions to circumvent bankruptcy law.”

YOU HAVE TO READ THE REST...AND THEN WEEP

[tclambert]

50. A guy robbed a bodega for $248, got shot at by the owner, chased down the road by the police,

crashed his car, got chased on foot by the police, who fired shotguns at him, finally got caught and is now doing hard time in state prison. Somehow it seems like a different justice system for him.

[xchrom]

9. MF Global Fights to Stay Afloat After Two Credit Downgrades

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/mf-global-shares-continue-plunge-after-fitch-downgrade/

MF Global, the commodities and derivatives brokerage house, was in a fight for its life Thursday night after the firm drew down its main credit line and two major credit ratings agencies cut their ratings on the firm to junk.

MF Global is scrambling to sell some or all of itself. The firm has enough assets to survive for at least the next few days, said a person outside the firm who was briefed on its condition.

The pressure on MF Global is mounting even as a deal over Greece’s debt has provided market relief to other American financial institutions. Investors have grown increasingly worried about MF Global’s capital position given its exposure to $6.3 billion in debt from Italy, Spain, Belgium, Ireland and Portugal.

But during the market day on Thursday, Fitch Ratings cut its credit rating on the firm to junk status, and shares of MF Global tumbled nearly 16 percent, even as other financial stocks surged.

[xchrom]

10. A Litigator Known as Columbo With a Law Degree

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/10/27/a-litigator-known-as-columbo-with-a-law-degree/

Among the close-knit fraternity of defense lawyers, federal judges and government prosecutors in white-collar law, Gary P. Naftalis is an elder statesman.

In his more than 40-year career, Mr. Naftalis has been called on to defend embattled chieftains, troubled multibillion-dollar banks and even the former owner of the New York disco Studio 54. He is now representing Rajat K. Gupta, the former director of Goldman Sachs and Procter & Gamble who is accused of leaking company secrets to a billionaire hedge fund manager.

With his disheveled appearance and affable demeanor, the 69-year-old Mr. Naftalis, a partner at Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel, is a practitioner of handling the corporate scandal.

[Roland99]

13. German Constitutional Court Halts Special Euro Panel

http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,794578,00.html

Germany's Federal Constitutional Court on Friday expressed doubts about the legality of a new panel of lawmakers set up by the German parliament to reach quick decisions on the release of funds from the euro bailout mechanism, the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF). The court issued a temporary injunction banning the nine-person committee in the Bundestag from taking any decisions on the deployment by EFSF of German taxpayer money.

The special committee was recently created in order to be able to provide a quick green light for EFSF aid in especially urgent situations in which it wouldn't be feasible to put the issue up for a vote before full parliament. The decision from the court, located in Karlsruhe, could also slow down Bundestag approval of the further application of German credit guarantees within the scope of the euro backstop fund.

...

The committee had been scheduled to convene its very first meeting on Friday. In September, Germany's highest court ruled that the Bundestag must be given a greater say in euro bailout decisions given the degree to which the common currency rescue could impose on parliament's right to create Germany's budget. In response, the Bundestag on Wednesday moved to include provisions for parliamentary co-determination of positions taken by Germany on the euro bailout at European Union summits in Brussels. Under the multilevel process, depending on the importance, the urgency and confidentiality, decisions can either be approved by the entire 620-member Bundestag, by the 41-person budget committee or by the nine-member special panel.

'The Bundestag Cannot Be Replaced'

But the SPD members are contesting the law. "The Bundestag cannot be replaced by a nine-member committee on such important issues," Schulz told SPIEGEL ONLINE. Schulz argues that, at a minimum, the Bundestag's budget committee should be included in all decisions.

[PATRICK]

15. "Super Committee" scheme catching on?

America's leadership on the financial crisis may have provided disastrous example to already conservative Euro leaders. If it had gone the other way, accountability, regulation and stimulus, we might be seeing more of that instead?

Just wondering, but it seems the responses are trapped in a twilight zone of being neither fish nor foul enough for anything but a prolonging of danger and agony. Austerity for the population is a substitute disaster that will eventually cause a reaction as bad as the disease- which will still be there for the double bite. The mere lack of regulation for phony money creation guarantees that austerity is merely a reinforcement of a continuing black hole.

[Roland99]

18. and now France is looking into further austerity measures to retain their AAA rating.

[Hotler]

21. BRAVO! BRAVO!

:applause:

[Roland99]

17. Europe rescue fund chief plays down China role

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/europe-rescue-fund-chief-plays-down-china-role-2011-10-28

[Roland99]

37. Merkel: Must prevent others from seeking hair cuts... (yeah...good luck with that!!)

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/us-eurozone-germany-merkel-idUSTRE79R3NL20111028

Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Friday it was important to prevent others from seeking debt reductions after European Union leaders struck a deal with private banks to accept a nominal 50 percent cut on their Greek government debt holdings.

"In Europe it must be prevented that others come seeking a haircut," she said.

Speaking in the Bavarian town of Deggendorf, Merkel also said that it was important to put restraints of speculative financial elements and show banks with better regulations.

Merkel also told a meeting of her conservative party that it will take many years to overcome the sovereign debt crisis, noting that it was affecting not only Europe but also the United States and Japan as well.

[Demeter]

44. Delusional

Angela, Angela, it is unseemly for a woman who repulsed W to get on her knees to service a bunch of banksters....

[mnhtnbb]

14. That's a great cartoon, this a.m.

[bread_and_roses]

16. Glad to see everyone!

Unless I was blind, we had no SMW yesterday - I missed everyone's take on the irrational exuberance manifested. PBD, very glad to see you back and hope all is well with you. K&R

[Tansy_Gold]

19. It was there, but had the habit of sliding down the page

:hi:

[Demeter]

20. My fault--too many Dr. Appts

Just got one today, in 30 minutes....so gotta go!

[Hotler]

23. SMW slides down the page because....

many do not want to read/see the truth. Also, the Obama can do no wrong crowd thinks we are silly.

[Demeter]

22. Weather Report

Hard frost and 29F this morning in Ann Arbor, not even up to 40F at 10:15. Color peaked this week (only the oaks and maples--everything else is bare or green, very weird). Winter is icumen in...


Ancient Music by Ezra Pound, a Parody

Winter is icummen in,
Lhude sing Goddamm.
Raineth drop and staineth slop,
And how the wind doth ramm!
Sing: Goddamm.

Skiddeth bus and sloppeth us,
An ague hath my ham.
Freezeth river, turneth liver,
Damn you, sing: Goddamm.

Goddamm, Goddamm, 'tis why I am, Goddamm,
So 'gainst the winter's balm.

Sing goddamm, damm, sing Goddamm.
Sing goddamm, sing goddamm, DAMM.

A parody of the Anglo-Saxon poem, Cuckoo Song

http://www.bachlund.org/Ancient_Music.htm

[Hotler]

24. k&r Thank you everyone for SMW.

This is the only place I feel safe anymore. My attitude my suck, but at least I can feel safe.

[DemReadingDU]

25. Me too

[AnneD]

46. The more we learn here...

the more all of our attitudes suck.

And if you have to suck, suck on some suds with your friends here.:toast: :beer:

[Hotler]

49. Oop's, I spelled "may" wrong.

[xchrom]

26. europe: China May Impose Conditions for Helping Euro Zone

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,794575,00.html

It didn't take long for French President Nicolas Sarkozy to begin looking for investors in the newly designed euro backstop fund. Just hours after euro-zone leaders announced that they had agreed on a plan to boost the impact of the European Financial Stability Fund (EFSF) to €1 trillion ($1.4 trillion) on Thursday morning, Sarkozy telephoned with Chinese President Hu Jintao to discuss his country's involvement.

While nothing concrete resulted from the chat, there are indications on Friday that any Chinese involvement could come at a price. According to a front-page story in the Financial Times, China would not only require water-tight guarantees on its investment, but Europe might have to pay a political price as well.

As a condition for its involvement, Beijing could ask European leaders to cease criticizing China's policy of keeping its currency, the renminbi, artificially undervalued, Li Daokui, a member of China's central bank monetary policy committee, told the paper. It is an issue that has repeatedly strained China's relations with Europe, but especially with the United States. Were Europe to agree to such a demand, it could drive a wedge between Washington and Brussels.

"It is in China's long-term and intrinsic interest to help Europe because they are our biggest trading partner," Li told the Financial Times. "But ... the last thing China wants to do is throw away the country's wealth and be seen as just a source of dumb money."




*** as a friend said: there is no china, there is no america, there is no europe -- the is group of very wealthy people playing a game & propping each other up.

[xchrom]

28. Euro fund head - no quick China deal

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/uk-eurozone-idUKTRE79I0J920111028

(Reuters) - The head of Europe's bailout fund sought financial support from China on Friday to help resolve the bloc's debt crisis, saying that while no quick deal was in sight he was still confident Beijing would keep buying bonds issued by his fund.

Klaus Regling, chief executive of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), was in Beijing for talks with Chinese officials a day after euro zone leaders struck a hard-fought accord on the two-year crisis that nonetheless left major economies Italy and Spain under financial market pressure.

After the European summit in Brussels reached agreement in the early hours of Thursday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy immediately got on the phone to China to seek financial help, saying Beijing had "a major role to play".

But despite a characteristically bullish sales pitch, the French leader did not appear to have received any specific commitments.

[xchrom]

32. Small firms' loan rejections quadrupled over crisis

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/uk-britain-lending-smes-idUKTRE79R2KG20111028

(Reuters) - The proportion of small British firms which were turned down for bank loans quadrupled between 2007 and 2010 and was higher than in other major European economies, data published by the Office for National Statistics on Friday showed.

The findings will add to the pressure on the government to boost lending to smaller companies as the lack of financing is seen as a major obstacle to more investment and job creation.

A survey of 19 of the 27 European Union states conducted by Eurostat and the Office for National Statistics, showed that 20.8 percent of loan applications by small and medium-sized businesses were unsuccessful in 2010, the sixth-highest of the group and up from 5.6 percent in 2007.

The financial crisis of 2007 and 2008 tipped some of Britain's largest lenders to the brink of bankruptcy, forcing the government to stump of tens of billions of pounds to save them from collapse.

[Tansy_Gold]

33. Your friend is astute. . . . and correct n/t

[xchrom]

35. Unemployment rises to almost five million

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Unemployment/rises/to/almost/five/million/elpepueng/20111028elpeng_2/Ten

The jobless rate in Spain in the third quarter of this year rose to its highest level in 15 years and the number of people out of work almost touched five million as the economic recovery appeared to come to a halt.

According to the National Statistics Institute's (INE) latest Active Population Survey (EPA) released Friday, the unemployment rate climbed by over six-tenths of a point to 21.5 percent as the ranks of the unemployed swelled by 144,700 to 4.978 million.

The figures were particularly bleak in light of the fact that hiring normally picks up in the third quarter for the peak tourist season in the summer.

"This forebodes a very negative macroeconomic scenario for the second half of the year," Bloomberg quoted José Luis Martínez, a strategist for Spain at Citibank in Madrid as saying. "The poor performance of jobs in the services sector and of part-time contracts is particularly striking given the tourist season."

[Demeter]

45. Until the Long Knives Come Out

and one of them gets more than greedy.

[xchrom]

29. GLOBAL MARKETS-Stocks, euro fall on profit-taking, Italy

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/markets-global-idUKN1E79R0JN20111028

NEW YORK, Oct 28 (Reuters) - U.S. and European stocks fell and the euro eased on Friday as investors booked profits after the prior session's strong rally and a disappointing Italian debt auction showed investor confidence in Europe remained shaky despite the latest rescue deal.

Losses in stock markets boosted prices of safe-haven Treasuries, while oil prices declined more than 1 percent on uncertainties over the details of Europe's plan to tackle its debt woes.

In Italy's debt auction on Friday, the country's 10-year borrowing costs topped 6 percent for the first time since the launch of the euro more than a decade ago. It was the first euro zone bond auction after policymakers struck a long-awaited agreement to slash Greece's debt burden and strengthen the European Financial Stability Facility, the region's rescue fund. See

"The big news of the week was yesterday, and today we're seeing typical price action after that kind of move. We may see a consolidation over the next week, but then a sustained rally after that," said Wayne Kaufman, chief market analyst at John Thomas Financial in New York.

[xchrom]

30. asia: Nikkei hits 2-mth closing high, some results beat expectations

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/markets-japan-stocks-idUKL4E7LS0IO20111028

TOKYO, Oct 28 (Reuters) - The Nikkei stock average rose more
than 1 percent to mark a two-month closing high above 9,000,
extending gains scored the previous day on the European debt
deal with some stocks rising after revisions to profit outlooks
were not as bad as feared.

Softbank , a domestic telecommunications firm
insulated from the impact of the yen, shot higher on record
half-year results, while consumer electronics firm Sharp
and construction machinery maker Komatsu Ltd
jumped despite cutting their outlooks.

"There was buying today on the perception that the worst of
the bad news is out of the way for some companies," said
Fumiyuki Nakanishi, strategist at SMBC Friend Securities.

"The strong yen has a clearly negative impact on profits,
but it's been strong for so long that it's factored into most
investors' expectations by now," he said.

[xchrom]

34. Noda to make global pledge to hike sales tax at G-20 summit

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nn20111028a8.html

At the Group of 20 summit in early November, Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda will pledge to hike the consumption tax to 10 percent from the current 5 percent in stages by around 2015, government sources said Thursday.

The pledge will be included in a document to be adopted by the G-20 leaders at the end of the summit in the French resort of Cannes on Nov. 3 and 4, the sources said.

With the eurozone sovereign debt crisis rocking the world economy, Noda will make an international pledge to raise Japan's sales tax to underline Tokyo's determination to achieve fiscal discipline.

Given the country's snowballing public debt, the highest among major economies, Noda will stress his resolve to halve the ratio of the primary deficit — total expenditures in excess of total revenues, excluding interest payments on debt — to gross domestic product by fiscal 2015.

[xchrom]

31. PRECIOUS-Gold eases after EU debt deal spurs risk rally

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/28/markets-precious-idUKL5E7LS15Y20111028

LONDON, Oct 28 (Reuters) - Gold eased on Friday but was still on course for its biggest weekly rise in two months after the euro zone's last-minute deal on containing debt crisis buoyed commodities and equities in the previous session.

Spot gold retreated from a one-month high of $1,751.99 to $1,736.69 an ounce by 0917 GMT, down 0.4 percent from the previous close, but still on course for a gain of around 6 percent from a week earlier, the biggest one-week rise in two months, according to Reuters graphics.

"It's underperforming ... right now, which is not surprising us at all ... although we wouldn't rule out further consolidation at the current level, we still firmly believe that the risks in the system longer term justify even higher prices," Commerzbank analyst Eugen Weinberg said.

The precious metals rose on Thursday, boosted by gains in equities and commodities as the dollar dropped after a euro zone agreement to boost the region's bailout fund and slash Greece's debt.

[Hotler]

36. kicking. n/t

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

38. Best October EVER!

:woohoo:

[Roland99]

43. Trick or Treat!

[Demeter]

47. It's not over yet

[hamerfan]

39. Happy Birthday To... ME!

:party: :toast:

And hi to all the regulars (and not so regulars). :hi:

hamerfan

[xchrom]

40. happy birthday!

:party: :toast: :party:

[Tansy_Gold]

41. Happy Birthday!!

Good excuse for a kick! :evilgrin:

[Roland99]

42. woo hoo!!

Happy Birthday!

[AnneD]

48. It's hamer time...

can't touch that.......

[hamerfan]

51. And for my 1,000 post

I can't think of a better subject. Thank you, AnneD!

[plumbob]

52. Was there no SMW today (Halloween)?

I've been looking, but not finding.

[Hotler]

53. Might be snowed in with the power out in the Northeast and

I'm too stupid to figure out how to get SMW started. I hope everyone back east is ok. Dow down 270 and change today the 31st. Just a blip. It will roar back up tomorrow. I have no hope. I see no future.

[plumbob]

54. Of course! Thanks, and I'm the dummy. I forget other places have weather.

It was 66 last night and 80 today here.

I do hope everyone is okay!