STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, November 11, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, November 11, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON November 10, 2011

Dow 11,893.79 +112.85 (+0.95%)
Nasdaq 2,625.15 +3.50 (+0.13%)
S&P 500 1,239.70 +10.60 (+0.86%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.06 -0.01 (-0.29%)
30-Year Bond 3.11 +0.00 (+0.10%)

---

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

---

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

---

---

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 Report

Nov 11 09:55 Mich Sentiment Nov 60.0 61.3 60.9

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/11/07-11/#ixzz1dOiJhdHj

[Roland99]

40. November UMich consumer sentiment rises to 64.2 (Markets erupt)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/november-umich-consumer-sentiment-rises-to-642-2011-11-11

[Demeter]

48. I wonder how much that PR stunt cost US

Unemployment is down because most of the unemployed have fallen off the lists...and now the Iraqi veterans are returning....

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil above $98 as Greece, Italy change leaders

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose to a three-month high above $98 a barrel Friday in Asia amid hopes that political leadership changes this week in Greece and Italy will help Europe contain its debt crisis.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was up 29 cents at $98.07 a barrel, the highest since late July, at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.04 to settle at $97.78 in New York on Thursday.

Brent crude was down 15 cents to $113.56 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

Greece and Italy have turned to economists to lead them out of their debt crises. Greece chose Lucas Papademos as prime minister. In Italy, Mario Monti received increasing support to replace outgoing Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi.

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. U.S. Stock Futures Advance as Concern on Italy, France Debt Yields Eases

U.S. stock futures rose, signaling the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will gain for a second day, as borrowing costs dropped in Italy and France, tempering concern about the euro area’s debt crisis.

Bank of America Corp. (BAC), the second-largest U.S. lender, climbed 1.7 percent in early New York trading. Nvidia Corp. (NVDA) jumped 4.4 percent after posting earnings that topped analysts’ estimates.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December rose 0.6 percent to 1,244.8 at 6:47 a.m. in New York, indicating that the benchmark measure will extend its rebound from the 3.7 percent slump on Nov. 9. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures expiring the same month gained 60 points, or 0.5 percent, to 11,915 today.

“The fact that Italian bond yields have continued to recede has helped ease investor concerns over an immediate escalation in the debt crisis,” said Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index in London. “It could be folly to read today’s gains as investment sentiment changing with still so much at risk in the euro zone. As such, gains remain fragile.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-11/u-s-index-futures-rise-as-decline-in-france-italy-yields-eases-concern.html

[DemReadingDU]

4. Writing on the Wall: Banks bigger issue than Italy

11/10/11 Writing on the Wall: Banks bigger issue than Italy By David Weidner

Silvio Berlusconi isn't the problem. Italy's spending isn't the problem. It's not unions or benefits. The euro zone isn't the problem. Neither are Greece, Jose Manuel Barroso, Nicolas Sarkozy or Angela Merkel. The problem is the banks.

For more than two years of crisis in Europe, the blame game has shifted from politicians to workers to central bankers and rating agencies. Round and round we go, like a Fiat on the Champs Élysees roundabout.

Banks, on the other hand, have endured some criticism, but they are largely unacknowledged in the notion that the mess makes the responsible nations of Europe (Germany, France and those fastidious Finns) vulnerable to the unrepentant spenders of Greece, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland.

But when you get right down to it, the problem and its solution ultimately fall on the global banking industry. Banks created a bubble through irresponsible lending that swelled government treasuries and facilitated spending. Banks now hold much of the debt those nations issued. The banks would suffer most should Italy and Greece default-or a bailout prove insufficient.

Unfortunately, we've found out the hard way that we live in a world where when one bank fails, it crushes a nation's economy, a continent's and even the world's.

more...
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/writing-on-the-wall-banks-bigger-issue-than-italy-2011-11-10

[Demeter]

27. "we live in a world where when 1 bank fails, it crushes a nation's economy, a continent's, world's"

I posit that is not true. A bank failure may temporarily inconvenience the bond markets, but it was Paulson's finagling that froze up the world. He refused to do what was required so he could save his bankster buddies' banks. THAT'S what crushed everybody else, and does to this day.

[xchrom]

5. a happy 11-11-11 morning to all

:donut:

[rfranklin]

14. Handsome Johnny...

Hey, look yonder, tell me what's that you see
Marching to the fields of Concord?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with a musket in his hand,
Marching to the Concord war, hey marching to the Concord war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Gettysburg?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with a flintlock in his hand,
Marching to the Gettysburg war, hey marching to the Gettysburg war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what's that you see
Marching to the fields of Dunkirk?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with a carbine in his hand,
Marching to the Dunkirk war, hey marching to the Dunkirk war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Korea?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M1 in his hand,
Marching to the Korean war, hey marching to the Korean war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Vietnam?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with an M15,
Marching to the Vietnam war, hey marching to the Vietnam war.


Hey, look yonder, tell me what you see
Marching to the fields of Birmingham?
It looks like Handsome Johnny with his hand rolled in a fist,
Marching to the Birmingham war, hey marching to the Birmingham war.


Hey, it's a long hard road, it's a long hard road,
It's a long hard road, before we'll be free

Hey, what's the use of singing this song, some of you are not even listening.
Tell me what it is we've got to do: wait for our fields to start glistening,
Wait for the bullets to start whistling.
Here comes a hydrogen bomb, here comes a guided missile,
Here comes a hydrogen bomb: I can almost hear its whistle.

Richie Havens

[xchrom]

15. +1

[Po_d Mainiac]

22. +++++++++++++++

[Po_d Mainiac]

23. +++++++++++++++

[DemReadingDU]

18. a palindrome

A palindrome is a word, phrase, number, or other sequence of units that can be read the same way in either direction,
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palindrome

[CatholicEdHead]

51. And a

"SarahPalinDrome" is a random sequence of words with no coherent thought whatsoever. ;)

[Tansy_Gold]

29. I was going to post, again, Buffy, but I can't do it

As too many commenters have written on the various videos of "The Universal Soldier," the song is all about personal responsibility. If there are no soldiers, there can be no war.

But this morning it's about, imho, another war, and that war is being fought here, without guns. It's the war against honor and integrity all in the name of WINNING.

I am not a pacifist to the point that I think it's honorable to do nothing in defense when attacked. I believe deadly force is even justified in defense.

But I am absolutely sickened at this Penn State horror even while I look at it as just -- JUST -- another symptom of a society gone insane with greed. The insane greed to win win win at all costs. A society that has complete demonized "the other" in virtually every situation. Herman Cain seems to see all women as "the other" and ripe for his conquest. Police departments everywhere see OWS as just a bunch of targets. Ditto with the drones. "They're brown people." "They're black people." "They're Indians (choose which continent)." "They're women." "They're poor." "They're not like us."

Joe Paterno is 84 years old. He should have happily retired years ago and enjoyed his life. Instead, as far as I can see, everything to him was about winning. WINNING. Defeating someone else, even in a game. And it looks like the whole game got out of control. Penn State administrators lost sight of their mission because it was all about winning. All about getting tv contracts and the money that comes to winners. WIN = $$$, and the more wins, the more $$$, and no matter what you have to do win, do it. So they asked Paterno to retire at one point and he growled at them and refused and they backed down. And they knew Sandusky was a pedophile but they didn't really do much to stop him because they wanted to win and maybe revealing what was going on with Sandusky might cost them $$$ or make them lose. Mike McQueary played with Sandusky's kids and worked for Paterno and was so brainwashed apparently into a culture of authoritarianism that this massive former quarterback DID NOTHING -- NOTHING to stop what he suspected was the rape of a 10 year old boy. Instead, like the good little soldier in the war to win, McQueary called his daddy. And they waited until the next day to tell Paterno and when nothing happened to Sandusky, McQueary said nothing more. He has hidden for almost a decade behind the shield of "required notification" that he did the absolute minimum that was required of him and therefore he's absolved.

Jon Corzine claims to be a Democrat, and yet he appears to have presided over a massive theft of his clients' money. Jon Corzine is a winner, a rich man, a former governor who survived a horrendous car crash that should have killed him. He's a fucking thief, and we will never know how many lives he and his soul-brothers Bernie Madoff and Andy Fastow and Alan Stanford and John Thain and the ongoing list of Wall Street mobsters have destroyed. Because Barack Obama wanted us all to look forward, not back, and so the forward we looked into when the boooshies and the traders and the Joe Cassanos and the Bernankes and the Norquists and all the rest of em got off with not even a scolding was a future just like the past only worse.

I've always considered 11 to be a kind of lucky number for me, though I'm not particularly superstitious. Today, though, it seems kind of a bummer. From that hopeful Armistice Day when the war to end all wars was ended, things haven't always gotten better. There are still wars, the Handsome Johnnys are still dying, still coming home maimed and psychologically impaired, and they're coming home to a home deteriorating before their eyes.

And I don't know what to do about it.



Tansy Gold

[Loge23]

33. Scenes from the end of the world as we know it.

You aptly described the current signs of devastation and despair - examples of which are, sadly, being repeated over and over in God knows how many other places even now.
I have been trying to watch the History Channel's current series, Vietnam in HD, as if the enhanced clarity of the pictures could somehow sharpen the muddled pictures of death and mayhem that still linger in my mind from the 60's (I was not there). They do not. The body counts are staggering compared to today's atrocities, even if the "purpose" or lack thereof, is similarly vague and pointless.
The thieves of commerce have effectively destroyed the free-market economy.
The voices of Buffy St. Marie, Joan Baez, the late, great Phil Ochs and many more now echo as painful reminders of warnings unheeded.
It's Veteran's Day, how sad.

[DoBotherMe]

45. RIGHT ON!

Thank you for that stream of consciousness. I had dreams last night that my son had been molested as a child (he's 29 now). That's how much the act and the cover-up has affected me. Dana ; )

[Demeter]

46. What to do?

1. Talk: Educate, Keep the cultural memory alive. Plan for a hundred years and 3 generations.

2. Refuse to go along. Whenever possible, throw the monkey wrench into the system. Make a pill of yourself, a bitter one that nobody can swallow.

3. Work for real change. That's our only hope.

4. Create a supportive community. GLBT would be nowhere without reaching out. Any minority can become a majority with community support.

5. Never give up. Never surrender! (Galaxy Quest)

[DemReadingDU]

55. Yes, all good things to do

And routinely I am doing all those. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get very far with others when so many of them still have their eyes and ears closed, who continue to refuse to hear what I say or see what I do. They have other priorities, at this time, and just do not attach any importance to what I feel are important for the future.

[xchrom]

6. 9 Wall Street Execs Who Cashed in on the Boom—and the Bust

http://www.alternet.org/story/153016/9_wall_street_execs_who_cashed_in_on_the_boom%E2%80%94and_the_bust/

The "pay cap" the Obama administration put on seven bailed-out companies was largely symbolic. Here are the unaffected players still making bank off the bubble and the bailout.

After Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, and Morgan Stanley announced hefty profits in the fall of 2009, the Obama administration's pay czar said that he'd cap pay at Citigroup, Bank of America, and five other bailed-out companies. The move was largely symbolic: It capped salaries for only 25 executives, kept big stock bonuses in place, and did nothing to address the culture of rewarding folks who sowed our economic destruction. Below, some of the players who made out like bandits during the bubble and the bailout.

Joseph Cassano, AIG Financial Products Executive, 1987-2008

CLAIM TO FAME: Mr. Credit-Default Swap. In 2008, his unit cost AIG $99 billion. (AIG then paid $1.5 billion in bonuses and awards.)

[xchrom]

7. Turkey Earthquake Shows That Corruption and Crony Capitalism Kill. Is California next?

http://www.alternet.org/economy/152998/turkey_earthquake_shows_that_corruption_and_crony_capitalism_kill._is_california_next

The recent Turkish earthquake, as with its modern predecessors, has shown that the witch's brew that crony capitalism produces is a leading cause of death and severe injury.

The phenomenon of "control fraud," the use of a seemingly legitimate entity by those that control it to commit fraud, exists in all three major sectors – private, public, and non-profit. Crony capitalism typically involves the interaction of public and private sector control fraud. I have written primarily about accounting control frauds, which are property crimes of mass destruction. Anti-customer, anti-public, and anti-employee control frauds can all cause mass casualties. Earthquakes and the tsunamis they produce can kill hundreds of thousands of people. Government programs have been exceptionally successful in reducing the loss of life from natural disasters. Early warnings, evacuation routes, barriers, and training can greatly reduce the losses caused by tsunamis. Seismic building codes, if properly enforced, can reduce direct deaths from earthquakes to exceptionally low levels even in severe seismic events. The saying is: earthquakes don't kill people; collapsing structures do.

[Po_d Mainiac]

24. Collapsing infra-structures kill a nation..n/t

[xchrom]

31. a sad but true statement. nt

[bread_and_roses]

8. So what's this all about?

stolen from a post in LBN by dipsydoodle

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060227/Eurozone-crisis-Obama-orders-European-leaders-dramatic-action.html

Late night warning: Obama reads riot act to European leaders and orders them to take more dramatic action

* U.S. Treasury Secretary: 'The crisis in Europe remains the central challenge to global growth. It is crucial that Europe move quickly to put in place a strong plan to restore financial stability'

By Daily Mail Reporter

Last updated at 11:53 AM on 11th November 2011

Late night calls: Barack Obama made contact with several European leaders to demand faster action

Barack Obama has read the riot act to the leaders of several European countries - saying more dramatic action is needed to avert a eurozone meltdown.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2060227/Eurozone-crisis-Obama-orders-European-leaders-dramatic-action.html#ixzz1dOtK6W45

[xchrom]

10. who knows -- but i can't really imagine him reading the riot act to any body. nt

[Po_d Mainiac]

44. He's just obeying his handlers.

Either the squid or the Morque ordered him to. :grr:

[Demeter]

49. Predator Drones

or maybe, breaking the Swiss bank secrecy...

[bread_and_roses]

9. PBD, can you give me a link to that cartoon? (n/t)

[rfranklin]

12. here...

Right Click on image, click on properties, copy http address

[bread_and_roses]

16. Thanks! (n/t)

[xchrom]

11. europe: EU sees Spain stuck on verge of recession until 2013

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/EU/sees/Spain/stuck/on/verge/of/recession/until/2013/elpepueng/20111110elpeng_8/Ten

The European Commission on Thursday slashed its own projections for growth in Spain to 0.7 percent of GDP this year and again in 2012 from its prior predictions of 0.8 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively. Published in a report released Thursday, the new figures from Brussels are now much more in line with what other international organizations expect for the Spanish economy.

The report predicts that "real GDP will gather some pace in 2013."

Spain's economy is burdened by a debt crisis, sharp adjustments in public financing and the money problems facing families and businesses. Unemployment stands at almost five million, according to last month's population survey.

"A weakening external environment and heightened uncertainty compared with spring have led to a downward revision of projected economic growth in 2011 and 2012," says the European Economic Forecast for autumn. "Net exports should continue to support growth, with domestic demand becoming less of a drag over the forecast horizon and gaining strength from 2013 onwards."

[xchrom]

17. Is Spain the next domino to fall if Italy goes? No, it will be the whole world

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Is/Spain/the/next/domino/to/fall/if/Italy/goes/it/will/elpepueng/20111110elpeng_11/Ten

"It is the end of a nightmare," says the writer Umberto Eco about Silvio Berlusconi's departure. But it is not the only solution to the Italian problem. In fact, it could be the beginning of a worse nightmare.

Why did Italy reach the point of no return? Didn't the European Union have a definitive solution? Who will be next? Will the euro disappear forever?

In other words, what is happening?

"Spaghetti Western." The markets have made it clear: if Berlusconi did not go, there would be disaster. His vague resignation is not the real answer either, but at least it gives the Italians some breathing room to look for better solutions. Despite what was said at the last EU summit, there isn't enough money now in the European rescue plan for a Roman bailout. Only the ECB, using its power and flexing some muscle, can help prevent Italy from going bankrupt if things don't calm down by the departure of Berlusconi. The contagion effects of an Italian crisis would be 15 times more catastrophic than Lehman Brothers' bankruptcy.

Size does matter. Italy is the seventh largest economy in the world and the third biggest in Europe. It is also the third largest public debt market with some 2 billion euros held by nervous investors. If Italy goes ? with its 10-year bonds financed at 7 percent ? the next to fall would be the world economy. The global financial system is incapable of resisting this Spaghetti Western with such a dramatic ending. And it appears that the fuse has already been lit. Only a few days ago, MF Global announced that it was declaring bankruptcy mainly because of the European debt crisis. Another gigantic fund, Jefferies, announced that it was getting rid of half of its euro-zone bonds. The markets have already begun to vaccinate themselves to prevent contagion: euro zone debt has been stigmatized.

[Demeter]

28. Every Goldman Sachs Satrap Gets His Own Nation

Bah, humbug. Madame La Guillotine will put an end to that foolishness.

[xchrom]

21. RBS, IAG, Rolls-Royce drive gains for FTSE 100

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-iag-rolls-royce-drive-gains-for-ftse-100-2011-11-11

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Stocks in London gained ground Friday, led by banking stocks such as Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC, while International Airlines Group PLC and Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC both rose after company updates.

The FTSE 100 index /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX +0.96% added 0.7% to 5,482.19, more than erasing a decline of around 0.3% in the prior session.

Markets rose on the Continent as 10-year Italian bond yields eased and markets appeared to breathe a bit easier with new leaders announced or soon to be announced in Greece and Italy.

Among the top gainers in London was Schroders PLC /quotes/zigman/257601 UK:SDR +7.21% , shares of which rose 4.7%. Deutsche Bank analysts upgraded the fund manager to hold from sell, saying a tougher environment for the group has now been priced into shares.

[xchrom]

34. Spain registers zero growth in the third quarter

http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32657.shtml

The number comes from the National Statistics Institute.

The Spanish economy has ground to a halt and showed zero GDP growth between the months of July and September this year. The data comes from the National Statistics Institute.

The institute says growth in the third quarter was zero, and the annual growth is at 0.8%. They say the quarter was marked by increased external demand, which partially compensated for a fall in national demand.

The zero growth comes after six previous quarters all showing growth.

On Thursday the European Commission had warned Spain that growth here was slowing down, and they made a call for the country to make more adjustments. The Bank of Spain has warned that it thinks the economy will continue to weaken.



Read more: http://www.typicallyspanish.com/news/publish/article_32657.shtml#ixzz1dPNmG3B7

[xchrom]

37. Ahead of New Rules, Europe’s Banks Go on a Selling Spree

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/ahead-of-new-rules-europes-banks-go-on-a-selling-spree/

LONDON — Europe’s banking sector is ready for a shake-up as its largest financial institutions try to slim down their operations in response to the sovereign debt crisis.

Banco Santander, Deutsche Bank and others are trying to sell assets and loan portfolios to reduce their exposure to worrisome private and sovereign debt as part of a broad strategy to refocus on their home markets and comply with new regulatory requirements.

It is an extraordinary fire sale.

Europe’s financial sector is expected to sell or write down more than $1.8 trillion in loan assets in the next decade, according to the consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. That compares with just $97 billion from 2003 to 2010.

[DemReadingDU]

13. A Beginner’s Guide to the European Debt Crisis

11/10/11 A Beginner’s Guide to the European Debt Crisis by Gonzalo Lira

For ordinary, non-specialist people just tuning in to the horror-show which is the European crisis, the whole mess can seem daunting and almost hermetic—almost like a secret language, or a really complicated code.

Euro-this and euro-that and euro-the-other—that’s all everyone seems to be talking about. That, and words like troika, haircuts, bailouts, yields, not to mention an alphabet-soup’s worth of acronyms like EC, ECB (they’re different), EFSF, PIIGS, IMF, EMU—
—OMFG!

For us dweebs neck deep in this stuff, it’s all mother’s milk. At my Strategic Planning Group, we’ve been game-playing what do when the eurozone breaks up since May—but for people who’ve just realized, “Hey! Something’s going on over there in Europe!”, it can be a bit much, like tuning in to a soap opera five minutes before the end of the episode: Everything seems terribly portentous and important and shocking . . . but basically incomprehensible.

Which wouldn’t matter if this was a soap-opera—but this is real life. This European crisis will affect your financial future, no matter if it’s happening on another continent. This is major—

—which is why so many ordinary people are confused and frightened: Because it seems terribly complicated.

But like all things which seem complicated at first glance, when you break it down, it’s simple.

This is what happened:

In 1999, the Europeans implemented a common currency, the euro. They did it in order to improve trade between the eurozone nations, and thus bind the European countries closer together.

This new currency was centrally managed—that is, there was a single issuer of this new currency. Which of course makes sense: In the United States, you don’t have 50 states issuing currency—you just have the Federal Reserve, issuing dollars for the entire country.

Same with Europe: Thus the eurozone—the zone of countries that had the euro as their currency. This new currency was managed by the European Central Bank—the ECB—out in Frankfurt, Germany. The ECB’s primary concern—like all central banks—was making sure that the currency it was supervising did not lose value. That is, it made sure that inflation stayed below 2% per year.

However, just like in the U.S., though there was a central bank—in this case the ECB—each of the member states of this European Money Union (from where we get the acronym “EMU”)—could issue its own debt.

So far, so good: The euro was printed and managed by the ECB in Frankfurt. The individual countries—Spain, France, Germany, Holland—could each issue their own debt, and of course manage their own government budgets.

Now, the strongest economy in Europe is Germany’s. For our purposes, the reasons why of this don’t matter. What matters is, Germany’s cost of borrowing was the lowest of the eurozone.

This makes sense: If I make a million bucks a year, and borrow $10,000 for expenses and stuff, I’m going to get a pretty good interest rate from my credit card company or my bank. You know how lenders are: They lend you an umbrella when it’s sunny, then take it away when it rains. Since I don’t need to borrow the ten grand, all the lenders will trip over themselves to lend me money at extremely low rates, because they know I’m good for it. I won’t default on the debt.

Same with nations—and same with Germany: German debt was always cheap, in the 1%–3% range, because Germany was good for it. After all, it’s the fifth largest economy in the world, and the biggest within the eurozone, racking trade- and fiscal budget surpluses year after year. So who wouldn’t feel comfortable lending money to the Germans? Nobody—‘cause see the Germans? They pay up—always.

But here comes the problem: Banks felt very comfortable lending money cheaply to Germany. Germany was a member of the eurozone. Therefore, lenders assumed that the other countries in the eurozone were going to be as good a credit risk as Germany.

So the banks lent money to the other, weaker countries in the eurozone at the same rates of interest as they lent to Germany.

Yeah, I know: !!!

Imagine you have a great credit rating—so the bank gives your kid a $100,000 consumer line of credit, just because he happens to live in the same house as you do. The bank lends your kid the money because it says there’s a “tacit promise” that if your kid doesn’t pay back the money, you will.

Crazy, right? Right—but that is the core problem: Countries like Portugal, Italy, Ireland, Greece and Spain—countries whose initials spell out the acronym “PIIGS”—could go into debt at the same rates of interest as Germany, just because they shared the euro as a currency.

The economies of the PIIGS were not as sound as Germany’s—but the lenders treated them as if they were. Not only that, the lenders assumed that, if any country got into trouble—i.e., if any one of the PIIGS couldn’t pay back their loans—the eurozone as a whole would be good for the debt.

This was great for the PIIGS. Because it meant cheap and plentiful loans, with which they could go out and buy stuff.

So they did: The PIIGS went into debt—too much debt—while the banks gave them all the slack they needed. Which makes complete sense: If before 1999, these countries were borrowing at (say) 6% or more, and all of a sudden their cost of borrowing drops in half, what will they do? Go into debt!

Which is what they did—massively.

And what did these countries do with the debt? Create a false sense of prosperity!

This in a nutshell is what happened between 1999 and 2010, when the Greek crisis first erupted: During those “boom” years (which were really no more than junior going crazy with the credit card), the various countries of the eurozone went into massive debt, in order to both fund a social safety net, and cut taxes on their citizens.

In other words, something for nothing, bought and paid for with cheap debt. Kind of like America . . . —but that’s for another time.

Though they now don’t want to admit it, the Germans encouraged this over-indebtedness, by the way—as did the French. Why? Because with this false sense of prosperity, the over-indebted nations bought German and French goods and services. German and French banks were at the forefront of lending money to the PIIGS—which essentially made the whole scheme nothing more than vendor financing on a massive scale: I lend you money so that you can buy my products.

Just like a junkie setting up an addict, or a predatory credit card company giving you teaser rates, the Germans and the French—via their banks and government institutions—gave the weaker economies all the incentive in the world to go into massive debt, and then go out and buy German and French products.

It was bound to end in tears. As is happening now. It all goes to the issue that all these countries are over-indebted. And that overindebtedness is being reflected in the sovereign bond markets.

lots, lots more...
http://gonzalolira.blogspot.com/2011/11/beginners-guide-to-european-debt-crisis.html

[xchrom]

19. Can gold miners offer a safe haven?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/can-gold-miners-offer-a-safe-haven-2011-11-11?dist=beforebell

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — There’s no doubt that gold is perceived as a safe haven, but opportunity in gold-mining shares is screaming for attention — and the sector may be transforming into one of the best means of escape from the economic and financial chaos investors find themselves in today.

Considering the frequent bloodbaths in global stock markets, gold-mining stocks have held up well, generally trading higher for the month to date, with mostly double-digit percentage gains for the quarter so far.

“Gold mining stocks can be a safe haven in the current trading climate,” said Sean Brodrick, a natural-resource analyst for Uncommon Wisdom Daily. “While a market sell-off affects almost all stocks, miners — especially big miners — can go down less and rebound quickly.”

[DemReadingDU]

20. The Irishman Is Back, And Shares His Views On Wall Street: "Total Fucking Chaos"

11/11/11 The Irishman Is Back, And Shares His Views On Wall Street: "Total Fucking Chaos"

About a year ago, a rather outspoken Irishman told the world what he thinks about what then seemed like a groundbreaking event (and is now a daily occurence): the Irish bailout. A year later, the Financial News has caught up with the same gentleman, and we are delighted to share his latest somewhat politically incorrect thoughts on all aspects Wall Street, with our readers. The language in the video may resemble that encountered at a trading desk a little too vividly - you have been warned.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/irishman-back-and-shares-his-views-wall-street-total-fucking-chaos
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrUzKH_A2m8&feature=player_embedded


edit to add link to the original
12/9/10
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/irishman-speaks-his-mind
or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=koY6kXhQDQo&feature=player_embedded

[bread_and_roses]

25. OMFG - everyone watch - both - they're wonderful! (n/t)

[Tansy_Gold]

26. Wait, wait, they stole my title!! Thieves!!!

Wall Street Wankers.mp4.flv

:rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause::rofl: :applause:

Okay, now I'll go watch it.



TG

[xchrom]

35. 'piss off, sir -- i'm goin for a pint'

:loveya: i LOVE this guy.

[xchrom]

30. we are the 1%...and we stand with the 99%

http://www.nationofchange.org/we-are-1-and-we-stand-99-1320942128

I first re­al­ized that I came from wealth when I dis­cov­ered that not every­body’s fam­ily had more than one house.

It was a fur­ther rev­e­la­tion when, grow­ing up, it dawned on me that not every­body else went to the same kind of school I did. I began to un­der­stand that my ex­pe­ri­ence of el­e­men­tary and high school – going to nicely fur­nished schools with state-of-the-art fa­cil­i­ties in a safe neigh­bor­hood of West L.A., and with very lit­tle di­ver­sity and an ob­ses­sion with get­ting stu­dents into Ivy League col­leges—was not the ex­pe­ri­ence of the ma­jor­ity of other chil­dren my age. When you are sur­rounded by peers in the same fi­nan­cial bracket as your­self, it can take some time to rec­og­nize the bub­ble that sep­a­rates you from the rest of so­ci­ety. This bub­ble is what I even­tu­ally came to un­der­stand as priv­i­lege.

It was a long and bumpy jour­ney to come to terms with what this priv­i­lege of wealth meant, es­pe­cially in light of the glar­ing dif­fer­ences of ex­pe­ri­ence that I began to see all around me. By the time I made it to col­lege, and began to get in­volved with so­cial and en­vi­ron­men­tal ac­tivism, I would find my­self in the con­fus­ing po­si­tion of lis­ten­ing to angry in­sults and gen­er­al­ized stereo­types about “rich peo­ple.” My new friends—peo­ple I re­spected and ad­mired—were adamant about so­cial jus­tice but had a great amount of anger and re­sent­ment to­ward peo­ple with wealth. It was ex­tremely awk­ward for me, and I found my­self keep­ing my back­ground hid­den—even to close friends—and never out­ing my­self as some­one who came from wealth. I felt a tremen­dous amount of em­bar­rass­ment and shame around it. In­ter­est­ingly, I dis­cov­ered that many of my friends who also came from wealth felt the same way. It was ac­tu­ally very iso­lat­ing. It wasn’t cool to be a rich kid.

It wasn’t until I dis­cov­ered Re­source Gen­er­a­tion, an or­ga­ni­za­tion that works with young peo­ple to lever­age wealth and priv­i­lege for so­cial change, that I found a net­work of other young peo­ple with sim­i­lar back­grounds who wanted to talk about these taboo is­sues in order to make a dif­fer­ence in the world. At­tend­ing a con­fer­ence they put on and meet­ing other young folks who came from the upper class and who shared a pas­sion for so­cial and eco­nomic jus­tice was in­cred­i­bly mean­ing­ful. I re­al­ized that for most peo­ple today, money re­mains a taboo sub­ject that no one ever wants to talk about openly.

[xchrom]

32. asia: Machinery orders down; sign of slower exports {japan}

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/nb20111111a4.html

The nation's core machinery orders, a leading indicator for corporate capital spending, dropped a seasonally adjusted 8.2 percent in September from August to ¥738.6 billion, reflecting worries about the outlook for overseas economies and the strength of the yen, factors that could further slow Japanese exports.

The private-sector orders, which exclude those for ships and from utilities because of their volatility, declined for the first time in two months, the Cabinet Office said. Orders from manufacturers fell 17.5 percent to ¥306.1 billion while those from nonmanufacturers rose 8.5 percent to ¥446.6 billion.

Machinery orders in Japan are "seesawing," the office said, downwardly revising its basic assessment for the first time since November 2010. In August, it said the orders were "picking up as a trend."

The core result was almost in line with forecasts by economists, who had expected a fall in the orders in reaction to a strong gain of 11.0 percent in the previous month.

[xchrom]

36. Sinopec Takes $5.2 Billion Stake in Brazil

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/11/sinopec-takes-5-2-billion-stake-in-brazil/

LONDON — Sinopec has agreed to invest almost $5.2 billion in the Brazilian operations of Portuguese energy company Galp Energia, the latest move in a global expansion by China’s largest oil refiner.

Under the terms of the deal, state-owned Sinopec will invest $4.8 billion for a 30 percent stake in Petrogal Brasil, a subsidiary of Galp Energia in the fast-growing South American country. The Chinese company will make an additional loan to the Brazilian-based business for $390 million.

Galp Energia will retain the remaining 70 percent share of Petrogal Brasil. The deal values the company’s Brazilian assets at $12.5 billion.

[xchrom]

43. China Signals Credit Easing With Jump in Loans as Wen ‘Fine-Tunes’ Policy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-11/china-signals-credit-easing-with-jump-in-loans-as-wen-fine-tunes-policy.html

China’s lending jumped by more than analysts forecast in October, signaling that the government may be loosening credit quotas to support growth in the world’s second-biggest economy as Europe’s debt crisis deepens.

Local-currency lending was 586.8 billion yuan ($92.5 billion), the People’s Bank of China said in a statement on its website yesterday. That was the most since June, exceeding the previous month’s 470 billion yuan and all 18 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. M2, the broad measure of money supply, rose 12.9 percent.

Chinese officials aim to sustain the nation’s expansion as the property market cools and Europe’s slowdown hits exports. Daiwa Capital Markets sees a rebound in lending through this quarter after Premier Wen Jiabao said economic policies may be “fine-tuned” and pledged support for smaller companies. In China, the government guides lending levels.

“This is a meaningful pickup in new loans which suggests selective easing has already started,” said Qu Hongbin, a Hong Kong-based economist with HSBC Holdings Plc. “This should help stabilize growth with small and medium-sized enterprises and increase credit support for ongoing infrastructure projects. China has no risk of a hard landing.”




*** china has no risk of a hard landing?:eyes: the set up for official proclamations of SURPRISE.

[xchrom]

38. Consumer Groups Question Capital One’s HSBC Deal

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/10/consumer-groups-question-capital-ones-hsbc-deal/

Consumer groups want regulators to deepen their scrutiny of Capital One’s planned takeover of HSBC‘s American credit card business, one of two major deals that Capital One struck this year.

The other deal, Capital One’s $9 billion bid for the ING Group’s online banking unit in the United States, likewise faces opposition from consumer groups who say the bank is becoming too big to fail. The groups, chiefly the National Community Reinvestment Coalition, also contend that Capital One is an aggressive subprime credit card lender.

[Hotler]

39. Rant.

If you are already unemployed do not apply.
If you are unemployed and in your 50's tough luck.
And now congress is giving businesses a tax break to hire veterans.
So now I am being penalized because I am not a vet.
I have no fucking hope. I see no fucking future.

[Tansy_Gold]

41. You are not alone

and you have friends, even if we are only cyberfriends.

We are your hope, Hotler, as we are each other's hope.

We are your future, because we are our own future.



Tansy Gold, babbling platitudes

[xchrom]

42. i'm with you Miss Tansy & hotler. nt

[Demeter]

47. All for One and One for All

The wheels of justice grind slowly, but they grind exceedingly fine.

The US elite is going to be the grist in those wheels--but We the People can come out of it, I think, in a better place, if we continue to grow the community that OWS started and work the plans that they started.

[xchrom]

50. +1

[bread_and_roses]

52. ++! (n/t)

[DemReadingDU]

54. +++

[DemReadingDU]

56. What Tansy and Demeter said

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

53. Who has the champagne?

:woohoo:

:patriot:

[InkAddict]

57. May I substitute home-made crab apple wine or a quick and

dirty shot of back-hills moonshine? I'm in for a toast to see it through to the Weekend Edition!