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Related: About this forumSTOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 8 May 2012
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 8 May 2012[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 7 May 2012
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 7 May 2012
[center][font color=red]
Dow Jones 13,008.53 -29.74 (-0.23%)
[font color=green]S&P 500 1,369.58 +0.48 (0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,957.76 +1.42 (0.05%)
[font color=red]10 Year 1.87% +0.01 (0.54%)
30 Year 3.06% +0.01 (0.33%) [font color=black]
[center][/font]
[HR width=85%]
[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
[center]
[/center]
[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]
[/center]
[center]
[/center]
[/center]
[HR width=95%]
[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
[center]
Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
[/center]
[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
[center]
The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
[/center]
[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
[center]
LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center][font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
[center]
Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
[/center]
[div]
Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
[HR width=95%]
[center]
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[font size=3][font color=red]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.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]
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STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 8 May 2012 (Original Post)
Tansy_Gold
May 2012
OP
And you think voting for a levy, that money is used for that purpose? Nope
DemReadingDU
May 2012
#22
How Wall Street Drives Up Gas Prices -- Ripping Us Off and Killing Jobs By Les Leopold
Demeter
May 2012
#7
Goldman Sachs Political Contributions Tainted by Money From Swindled Veterans and Other Misdeeds
Demeter
May 2012
#8
Answer Isn’t Socialism; It’s Capitalism that Spreads Benefits of Productivity Revolution By R REICH
Demeter
May 2012
#9
Greek Left Coalition Leaders Says Bailout Accord "Null And Void", Demands Greek Debt Moratorium
Roland99
May 2012
#23
The British Coalition Government Looks Likely To Collapse Before The Next Election
xchrom
May 2012
#24
Why don't they just put up a toll booth at every intersection and be done with it.
Fuddnik
May 2012
#36
Tansy_Gold
(17,851 posts)1. Regarding France's shit-canning, er, rejection of Sarkozy
was at least in part predicated on their actually having a choice between political stances.
Here we just have "pro-business, anti-citizen and generally clueless" vs. "REALLY pro-business, REALLY anti-citizen and REALLY clueless."
Allons, enfants. . . .
Po_d Mainiac
(4,183 posts)25. The fringe parties that have grown on the Continent
shall make for some interesting viewing. 
Demeter
(85,373 posts)2. Got to get all my posting done tonight
Tomorrow is school board election...they want a millage to buy electronic equipment: computers, etc...
The state has been taking the ax to school funding. Under state law, public school is mainly supported by the state, not local property taxes...
REFLECTIONS ON PROPOSAL A
Proposal A was a landmark event in Michigan school finance. To understand the event, you must recall the setting for the 1994 ballot initiative and citizen vote.
In the 1963 State Constitutional Convention, Michigan decided to continue its tradition of local control and local financing of school operations. Power for school decisions was based in a locally elected school board and the financial support of school districts was built on local elections to set the millage rate for property tax.
The 80’s and early 90’s saw the eruption of the “Tax Revolt” and the emerging popularity of citizen initiatives to limit taxation. Citizens were reeling under high taxation levels and were joining the Reagan Revolution against “Big Government”. California led the way with “ Prop 13” which dramatically changed the level of support for their state schools.
At this same time, a number of states were seeing their school funding formulas overturned in the courts. The courts were finding that several state school funding systems were guilty of delivering dramatically different funding levels to individual districts and schools based on their location within the State and their ability to generate sufficient local resources for their schools. This resulted in systemic discrimination in educational opportunity for many children. The courts ruled these funding formulas fundamentally flawed and ordered the involved states to create new funding systems for their states.
Michigan was not under court review of their school funding structure, but Michigan’s system of locally voted millage rates and local property taxes created a system where vast differences in funding and educational program were available to children based solely on their geographic location. Michigan’s system also resulted in state property owners paying property taxes that were about 35% above the national level. At the same time, our local school districts were being funded at dramatically different levels. Some of our poorest school districts were funding their schools with only about $3,400 per child while some of the state’s richest areas were spending over $10,000 per child.
The time was right for changing Michigan’s financial structure for school funding. Both the political support and the policy need were coming together. The question was now how to design, pass and implement the necessary changes.
Before the final crafting of the ballot initiative that was to become Proposal A, legislators, school officials and private citizens had invested years in searching for the language that would win support from Michigan’s electorate. In the 25 years before Proposal A, voters had rejected 12 ballot initiatives designed to reform school funding in Michigan.
The Political climate around this issue was very volatile. In the 70’s and 80’s both Democratic and Republican governors had developed a series of ballot initiatives designed to lower the property tax burden for Michigan families and to address the inequity of our state funding system. In 1990, a new player entered the scene. Governor John Engler was elected at least in part to his pledge to reduce property taxes. In the first two years of his administration, he succeeded in placing language on the ballot to cut property taxes. Education groups and others opposed both of his proposals, and the voters defeated both of them.
In the summer of 1994, the topic was again consuming legislators’ time and efforts. State Senator Stabenow proposed that the legislature begin by abolishing local property tax as a means to fund public schools in the state. Engler urged support and both state houses approved.
Faced with the crisis of no funding for education in the state, the Legislators had to design a new funding plan for public K-12 education within the state. They finally agreed to present the voters with two options: Proposal A (see ballot language above) and a “statutory alternative” that would automatically be put into place if the voters rejected Proposal A. The voters went to the polls in March of 1994 and gave their support to the implementation of Proposal A. (69-31 percent margin)
TEN-YEAR PERSPECTIVE
Proposal A must be credited with at least partially achieving its goals. Property taxes in our state are now at about the national level, and the average Michigan property owner is now paying about $2,000 less than she would have been paying without Proposal A. The inequality in funding between school districts has also diminished. The gap before Proposal A was almost 3 to 1 between the highest and lowest spending district. While still significant, this spending gap has been reduced to about 2 to 1. Your political perspective will decide whether the third dramatic effect of Proposal A was intentional or coincidental. A major effect of the Proposal has been the switch from local control of policy, program and operational spending in Michigan’s schools, to a major role in the control of local school operation for state level players.
At the same time, the flaws of Proposal A are now emerging as major issues for the state. The first and most obvious problem is the inadequate level of funding to support the schools inherent in the language of Proposal A. The state has been transferring approximately $500,000 per year from the general fund to school aid funding to make up for systemic flows in revenue collection in the structure of Proposal A. Obviously, this cannot continue. “At this writing, the school aid fund is larger than the entire state General Fund, the fund that pays for the operation of nearly all of the rest of state government.” (Public Sector Consultants, 2002-02)
The structural issues of the mismatch between revenue and costs, stability and predictability of funding sources, and funding for capital expenditures go beyond the current budget crisis and must be addressed in the legislature. The legislature must take action to acknowledge the real cost differences of educating different students with different needs. A plan must also be implemented to provide transitional support for districts faced with declining enrollment.
Proposal A has addressed some of the concerns that spurred its passage, but the real issues of adequate funding, equity in funding, and predictability in funding still remain major issues for our state’s elected leaders 10 years after the passage of Proposal A.
Proposal A was a landmark event in Michigan school finance. To understand the event, you must recall the setting for the 1994 ballot initiative and citizen vote.
In the 1963 State Constitutional Convention, Michigan decided to continue its tradition of local control and local financing of school operations. Power for school decisions was based in a locally elected school board and the financial support of school districts was built on local elections to set the millage rate for property tax.
The 80’s and early 90’s saw the eruption of the “Tax Revolt” and the emerging popularity of citizen initiatives to limit taxation. Citizens were reeling under high taxation levels and were joining the Reagan Revolution against “Big Government”. California led the way with “ Prop 13” which dramatically changed the level of support for their state schools.
At this same time, a number of states were seeing their school funding formulas overturned in the courts. The courts were finding that several state school funding systems were guilty of delivering dramatically different funding levels to individual districts and schools based on their location within the State and their ability to generate sufficient local resources for their schools. This resulted in systemic discrimination in educational opportunity for many children. The courts ruled these funding formulas fundamentally flawed and ordered the involved states to create new funding systems for their states.
Michigan was not under court review of their school funding structure, but Michigan’s system of locally voted millage rates and local property taxes created a system where vast differences in funding and educational program were available to children based solely on their geographic location. Michigan’s system also resulted in state property owners paying property taxes that were about 35% above the national level. At the same time, our local school districts were being funded at dramatically different levels. Some of our poorest school districts were funding their schools with only about $3,400 per child while some of the state’s richest areas were spending over $10,000 per child.
The time was right for changing Michigan’s financial structure for school funding. Both the political support and the policy need were coming together. The question was now how to design, pass and implement the necessary changes.
Before the final crafting of the ballot initiative that was to become Proposal A, legislators, school officials and private citizens had invested years in searching for the language that would win support from Michigan’s electorate. In the 25 years before Proposal A, voters had rejected 12 ballot initiatives designed to reform school funding in Michigan.
The Political climate around this issue was very volatile. In the 70’s and 80’s both Democratic and Republican governors had developed a series of ballot initiatives designed to lower the property tax burden for Michigan families and to address the inequity of our state funding system. In 1990, a new player entered the scene. Governor John Engler was elected at least in part to his pledge to reduce property taxes. In the first two years of his administration, he succeeded in placing language on the ballot to cut property taxes. Education groups and others opposed both of his proposals, and the voters defeated both of them.
In the summer of 1994, the topic was again consuming legislators’ time and efforts. State Senator Stabenow proposed that the legislature begin by abolishing local property tax as a means to fund public schools in the state. Engler urged support and both state houses approved.
Faced with the crisis of no funding for education in the state, the Legislators had to design a new funding plan for public K-12 education within the state. They finally agreed to present the voters with two options: Proposal A (see ballot language above) and a “statutory alternative” that would automatically be put into place if the voters rejected Proposal A. The voters went to the polls in March of 1994 and gave their support to the implementation of Proposal A. (69-31 percent margin)
TEN-YEAR PERSPECTIVE
Proposal A must be credited with at least partially achieving its goals. Property taxes in our state are now at about the national level, and the average Michigan property owner is now paying about $2,000 less than she would have been paying without Proposal A. The inequality in funding between school districts has also diminished. The gap before Proposal A was almost 3 to 1 between the highest and lowest spending district. While still significant, this spending gap has been reduced to about 2 to 1. Your political perspective will decide whether the third dramatic effect of Proposal A was intentional or coincidental. A major effect of the Proposal has been the switch from local control of policy, program and operational spending in Michigan’s schools, to a major role in the control of local school operation for state level players.
At the same time, the flaws of Proposal A are now emerging as major issues for the state. The first and most obvious problem is the inadequate level of funding to support the schools inherent in the language of Proposal A. The state has been transferring approximately $500,000 per year from the general fund to school aid funding to make up for systemic flows in revenue collection in the structure of Proposal A. Obviously, this cannot continue. “At this writing, the school aid fund is larger than the entire state General Fund, the fund that pays for the operation of nearly all of the rest of state government.” (Public Sector Consultants, 2002-02)
The structural issues of the mismatch between revenue and costs, stability and predictability of funding sources, and funding for capital expenditures go beyond the current budget crisis and must be addressed in the legislature. The legislature must take action to acknowledge the real cost differences of educating different students with different needs. A plan must also be implemented to provide transitional support for districts faced with declining enrollment.
Proposal A has addressed some of the concerns that spurred its passage, but the real issues of adequate funding, equity in funding, and predictability in funding still remain major issues for our state’s elected leaders 10 years after the passage of Proposal A.
http://www.educ.msu.edu/epfp/meet/01-26-04propa.htm
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)19. We used to vote for all the levies. not any more
If people really paid attention to how their tax dollars were being spent, I doubt if anything would ever get passed.
And I thought donating to a specific candidate that money would go for that campaign. Nope, the money can be passed elsewhere to other candidates.
5/7/12 Local politicians divert most campaign cash to other Ohio candidates
Local residents who donated cash to their state lawmakers in the past two years ended up helping candidates elsewhere in the state more than they helped the politicians who received the check, state campaign finance data shows.
In the past two years, Ohio politicians have funneled dramatically more of the contributions they receive to the state Republican and Democratic parties than politicians in any other state have, according to the National Institute on Money in State Politics.
The data shows that the lack of competitive statehouse races helps create a system where incumbents can send extra money to tighter districts where it can help swing an election. But it also means donors who contribute because they like a particular candidate end up helping candidates they may know nothing about.
more...
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/local-politicians-divert-most-campaign-cash-to-other-ohio-candidates-1371469.html
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)22. And you think voting for a levy, that money is used for that purpose? Nope
1/5/12 Funds meant for libraries, parks to pay for roadwork
Millions of taxpayer dollars generated by levies that would have gone to local libraries, parks and human services will instead help pay for roadwork and infrastructure improvements near Miami Valley Hospital South.
The city’s decision to use tax increment financing (TIF) to divert funds from multiple levies has become a point of contention for community agency leaders, who say they were surprised by the move.
“Local resources are squeezed, but failing to communicate and cannibalizing each other’s incomes compromises the spirit of community cooperation and collaboration and does a disservice to us all,” Washington-Centerville Public Library Director Kim Paras said.
In December, Centerville Council approved a TIF that will divert property taxes from construction and development around MVHS. The money will go toward the widening and improvement of Wilmington Pike, the bridge and ramps at Wilmington and Interstate 675, as well as related roadwork and infrastructure.
more...
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/funds-meant-for-libraries-parks-to-pay-for-roadwork-1308453.html
Demeter
(85,373 posts)3. Cameron vows ‘no going back’ on deficit
David Cameron will invoke Margaret Thatcher’s “not for turning” rhetoric on Tuesday, promising the coalition will stick to its “long and hard” deficit reduction programme in spite of the electoral backlash against austerity in France and Greece
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/7AU2C7/GYN7Q/5VYKIF/NJML8P/QR/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=7
BYE-BYE, CAMERON. HERE'S YOUR HAT, WHAT'S YOUR HURRY?
Demeter
(85,373 posts)4. Iran accepts renminbi for crude oil
Iran is accepting renminbi for some of the crude oil it supplies to China, industry executives in Beijing and Kuwait and Dubai-based bankers said, partly as a consequence of US sanctions aimed at limiting Tehran’s nuclear programme
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/ZE9K33/FK6XOC/OFBYP/U12CA5/DW89JO/KI/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=7
Demeter
(85,373 posts)5. Ships slow down in pirate waters to save fuel
Violent confrontations between Somali pirates and merchant ships’ armed guards could become more common as some shipping companies have reduced ship speeds through the highest-risk area to save on fuel, maritime experts have warned
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/AMT71R/PNGIU/HYU31H/L9ZU1I/D5/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=7
Demeter
(85,373 posts)6. We must move beyond growth versus austerity
French and Greek voters have rejected Europe’s current macroeconomic framework. The headlines cry that voters demand growth rather than austerity. Yet growth is not a policy but an outcome. A vote rejecting the incumbents does not define the policy alternatives, writes Jeffrey Sachs.
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/4CN02X/IEP5S/C4RSFN/4C3445/50/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=7
Demeter
(85,373 posts)7. How Wall Street Drives Up Gas Prices -- Ripping Us Off and Killing Jobs By Les Leopold
http://www.alternet.org/story/155193/how_wall_street_drives_up_gas_prices_--_ripping_us_off_and_killing_jobs?akid=8724.227380.iU2Mwi&rd=1&t=20
Next time you fill up your tank, remember that $10 to $25 is going right from your pocket to the financial sector...Gasoline prices have been falling in recent weeks, but they're still close to their five-year high after climbing steeply for three years. For every penny increase at the pump, $1.4 billion per year leaves our collective pockets, creating a drag on the sluggish “recovery.” Where does it go and what caused the price explosion at the pump? It's a common belief that oil prices are set on the world market by supply and demand. Less supply and/or more demand causes prices to rise. Oil is getting harder to find; OPEC is holding back supply; China and India are guzzling it up; Iran is threatening to blow it up. And regulations are getting in the way of drill, baby, drill -- end of story.
But this fixation on blind market forces ignores the fact that Wall Street is financializing the commodities markets – especially oil – as it seeks new ways to pick our pockets. The same greedy swindlers who puffed up the housing bubble and then milked it dry are now hard at work doing the same with gasoline.
What is financialization and why is it coming to the oil industry?
Here’s a chilling definition provided by economist Thomas I. Palley:
In short, we’re talking about the spread and growing supremacy of financial gambling – the ability to bet on the prices of goods produced in the real economy without actually owning those goods. The vital activities of manufacturing, resource extraction and agriculture are turned into financial instruments that can be rapidly bought and sold. More to the point, financialization allows financial gamblers to extract profits from the real economy to enrich themselves without producing any real economic value for our economy. When markets are financialized, they offer a myriad of ways for Wall Street firms to bend or break laws to manipulate markets and haul in enormous profits. In effect, financialization extracts a hidden tax from the real economy which is then passed onto us in the form of higher prices, economic hardship and then government bailouts when it all comes crashing down.
The oil markets have become just another profitable Wall Street casino. Why? Because, as the infamous outlaw Willie Sutton said, “That’s where the money is.” Oil markets as well as other commodity markets require a certain number of speculators. Oil producers and end users go to these markets in order to lock in prices for the products they use or sell. From refiners to shippers to airlines, oil markets provide a way to obtain price certainty for a specified period of time. To make these markets function, speculators are needed to take the other side of those trades. For more than a century about 30 percent of these commodity markets involved speculators and 70 percent of the participants in terms of volume were real producers, distributors and users. That’s what a healthy commodities market looks like. But once financialization metastasized, the proportions flipped. Now 70 percent of the action comes from speculators, while only 30 percent comes from those who really produce, distribute and use the actual commodities. The casino has taken over. This speculative invasion is why gasoline prices are climbing rapidly. The only question remaining is how much of the price rise is due to excess speculation. Here’s what the experts say:
The St. Louis Federal Reserve (not exactly a Marxist institution) claims that 15 percent of the rise in gasoline prices is due to Wall Street speculation (PDF).
A report from the House Committee on Government Oversight claims that up to 30 percent of the rise may be due to speculators.
Even experts at Goldman Sachs, of all places, say that “excessive speculation is causing oil prices to spike by up to 40%.”
And Saudi Arabia, ”the largest exporter of oil in the world, told the Bush administration back in 2008, during the last major spike in oil prices, that speculation was responsible for about $40 of a barrel of oil.”
THERE'S MUCH MORE...READ IT AND WEEP, AND STUFF IT IN THE FACE OF ANYONE CLAIMING THERE IS NO SPECULATION....
Next time you fill up your tank, remember that $10 to $25 is going right from your pocket to the financial sector...Gasoline prices have been falling in recent weeks, but they're still close to their five-year high after climbing steeply for three years. For every penny increase at the pump, $1.4 billion per year leaves our collective pockets, creating a drag on the sluggish “recovery.” Where does it go and what caused the price explosion at the pump? It's a common belief that oil prices are set on the world market by supply and demand. Less supply and/or more demand causes prices to rise. Oil is getting harder to find; OPEC is holding back supply; China and India are guzzling it up; Iran is threatening to blow it up. And regulations are getting in the way of drill, baby, drill -- end of story.
But this fixation on blind market forces ignores the fact that Wall Street is financializing the commodities markets – especially oil – as it seeks new ways to pick our pockets. The same greedy swindlers who puffed up the housing bubble and then milked it dry are now hard at work doing the same with gasoline.
What is financialization and why is it coming to the oil industry?
Here’s a chilling definition provided by economist Thomas I. Palley:
Financialization is a process whereby financial markets, financial institutions, and financial elites gain greater influence over economic policy and economic outcomes…..Its principal impacts are to (1) elevate the significance of the financial sector relative to the real sector, (2) transfer income from the real sector to the financial sector, and (3) increase income inequality and contribute to wage stagnation.
In short, we’re talking about the spread and growing supremacy of financial gambling – the ability to bet on the prices of goods produced in the real economy without actually owning those goods. The vital activities of manufacturing, resource extraction and agriculture are turned into financial instruments that can be rapidly bought and sold. More to the point, financialization allows financial gamblers to extract profits from the real economy to enrich themselves without producing any real economic value for our economy. When markets are financialized, they offer a myriad of ways for Wall Street firms to bend or break laws to manipulate markets and haul in enormous profits. In effect, financialization extracts a hidden tax from the real economy which is then passed onto us in the form of higher prices, economic hardship and then government bailouts when it all comes crashing down.
The oil markets have become just another profitable Wall Street casino. Why? Because, as the infamous outlaw Willie Sutton said, “That’s where the money is.” Oil markets as well as other commodity markets require a certain number of speculators. Oil producers and end users go to these markets in order to lock in prices for the products they use or sell. From refiners to shippers to airlines, oil markets provide a way to obtain price certainty for a specified period of time. To make these markets function, speculators are needed to take the other side of those trades. For more than a century about 30 percent of these commodity markets involved speculators and 70 percent of the participants in terms of volume were real producers, distributors and users. That’s what a healthy commodities market looks like. But once financialization metastasized, the proportions flipped. Now 70 percent of the action comes from speculators, while only 30 percent comes from those who really produce, distribute and use the actual commodities. The casino has taken over. This speculative invasion is why gasoline prices are climbing rapidly. The only question remaining is how much of the price rise is due to excess speculation. Here’s what the experts say:
THERE'S MUCH MORE...READ IT AND WEEP, AND STUFF IT IN THE FACE OF ANYONE CLAIMING THERE IS NO SPECULATION....
Demeter
(85,373 posts)8. Goldman Sachs Political Contributions Tainted by Money From Swindled Veterans and Other Misdeeds
http://truth-out.org/news/item/8885-goldman-sachs-political-contributions-tainted-by-money-from-swindled-veterans-and-other-misdeeds
For-profit colleges have been aggressively targeting and recruiting veterans as they chase post-9/11 GI benefits as a lucrative source of revenue not subject to the Department of Education's 90/10 rule, which ensures at least 10 percent of their revenue comes from somewhere other than federal student aid. Dropout rates for veterans at these diploma mills are as high as 68 percent, meaning while the schools keep the money, the veterans are left with neither degree nor GI benefits.
The problem has gotten so bad, President Obama recently issued an executive order curtailing certain practices; several bills related to this are pending in Congress; Holly Petraeus, assistant director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and wife of the retired Gen. David Petraeus) has publicly warned veterans about these predatory colleges; and the advocacy group Student Veterans of America (SVA) revoked charters from its chapters at 26 for-profit colleges operating sham chapters.
Fourteen of the revoked SVA charters were at campuses owned by EDMC, which is currently the defendant in an $11 billion false claims suit alleging they fraudulently obtained money from the federal government. EDMC is 40 percent owned by Goldman Sachs and the Chairman of the Board is John McKernan, former governor of Maine and husband of Sen. Olympia Snowe.
According to opensecrets.org, as of April 2012, Goldman Sachs had contributed $1.97 million to over 250 candidates running for office in 2012. Unfortunately, Goldman's contributions are tainted by money from activities which include sex trafficking, allegations of exploiting veterans and defrauding the government, insider trading and defrauding investors by knowingly selling them junk products. While Goldman has apparently sold its interest in backpage.com, it appears it did so only after having been "outed" by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times. Politicians who knowingly accept campaign contributions from Goldman are accomplices in the scamming of veterans and the other misdeeds. These politicians are also participants in a de facto kickback scheme, whereby Goldman obtains revenues from the government through EDMC and then kicks back some of this money to elected officials in the form of campaign contributions...What follows is a partial list of those who have accepted campaign contributions of at least $10,000 from Goldman Sachs as of April 2012, according to opensecrets.org. Seventy-five percent of all Goldman contributions have gone to Republicans...
SEE LINK FOR LIST AND CONCLUSIONS
For-profit colleges have been aggressively targeting and recruiting veterans as they chase post-9/11 GI benefits as a lucrative source of revenue not subject to the Department of Education's 90/10 rule, which ensures at least 10 percent of their revenue comes from somewhere other than federal student aid. Dropout rates for veterans at these diploma mills are as high as 68 percent, meaning while the schools keep the money, the veterans are left with neither degree nor GI benefits.
The problem has gotten so bad, President Obama recently issued an executive order curtailing certain practices; several bills related to this are pending in Congress; Holly Petraeus, assistant director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (and wife of the retired Gen. David Petraeus) has publicly warned veterans about these predatory colleges; and the advocacy group Student Veterans of America (SVA) revoked charters from its chapters at 26 for-profit colleges operating sham chapters.
Fourteen of the revoked SVA charters were at campuses owned by EDMC, which is currently the defendant in an $11 billion false claims suit alleging they fraudulently obtained money from the federal government. EDMC is 40 percent owned by Goldman Sachs and the Chairman of the Board is John McKernan, former governor of Maine and husband of Sen. Olympia Snowe.
According to opensecrets.org, as of April 2012, Goldman Sachs had contributed $1.97 million to over 250 candidates running for office in 2012. Unfortunately, Goldman's contributions are tainted by money from activities which include sex trafficking, allegations of exploiting veterans and defrauding the government, insider trading and defrauding investors by knowingly selling them junk products. While Goldman has apparently sold its interest in backpage.com, it appears it did so only after having been "outed" by Nicholas Kristof of The New York Times. Politicians who knowingly accept campaign contributions from Goldman are accomplices in the scamming of veterans and the other misdeeds. These politicians are also participants in a de facto kickback scheme, whereby Goldman obtains revenues from the government through EDMC and then kicks back some of this money to elected officials in the form of campaign contributions...What follows is a partial list of those who have accepted campaign contributions of at least $10,000 from Goldman Sachs as of April 2012, according to opensecrets.org. Seventy-five percent of all Goldman contributions have gone to Republicans...
SEE LINK FOR LIST AND CONCLUSIONS
Po_d Mainiac
(4,183 posts)30. No one is paying attention to this locally
I'm looking forward to the shit/snowe storm.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)9. Answer Isn’t Socialism; It’s Capitalism that Spreads Benefits of Productivity Revolution By R REICH
http://www.nationofchange.org/answer-isn-t-socialism-it-s-capitalism-better-spreads-benefits-productivity-revolution-1336396195
TO GET THE FULL EFFECT OF THE ARGUMENT, YOU SHOULD READ THE WHOLE THING, BUT IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY, HERE IS THE GIST:
...The world’s productivity revolution is outpacing the political will of rich societies to fairly distribute its benefits. The result is widening inequality coupled with slow growth and stubbornly high unemployment. In the United States, almost all the gains from productivity growth have been going to the top 1 percent, and the percent of the working-age population with jobs is now lower than it’s been in more than thirty years (before the vast majority of women moved into paid work)....The problem is not that the productivity revolution has caused unemployment or under-employment. The problem is its fruits haven’t been widely shared. Less work isn’t a bad thing. Most people prefer leisure. A productivity revolution such as we are experiencing should enable people to spend less time at work and have more time to do whatever they’d rather do...The problem comes in the distribution of the benefits of the productivity revolution. A large portion of the population no longer earns the money it needs to live nearly as well as the productivity revolution would otherwise allow. It can’t afford the “leisure” its now experiencing involuntarily....And this is why a second Obama administration, should there be one, must focus its attention on more broadly distributing the gains from growth. This doesn’t mean “redistributing” from rich to poor, as in a zero-sum game. It doesn’t mean socialism. The rich will do far better with a smaller share of a robust, growing economy than they’re doing with a large share of an economy that’s barely moving forward.
This will require real tax reform – not just a “Buffet” minimal tax but substantially higher marginal rates and more brackets at the top, with a capital gains rate matching the income-tax rate. It also means a larger Earned Income Tax Credit, whose benefits extend high into the middle class. That will enable many Americans to move to a 35-hour workweek without losing ground – thereby making room for more jobs. It means Medicare for all rather than an absurdly-costly system that relies on private for-profit insurers and providers.
It will require limiting executive salaries and empowering workers to get a larger share of corporate profits. The Employee Free Choice Act should be an explicit part of the second-term agenda. It will require strict limits on the voracious, irresponsible behavior of Wall Street, from which we’ve all suffered. The Glass-Steagall Act must be resurrected (the so-called Volcker Rule is more ridden with holes than cheese), and the big banks broken up. And it will necessitate a public educational system – including early child education – second to none, and available to all our young people.
We don’t need socialism. We need a capitalism that works for the vast majority. The productivity revolution should be making our lives better — not poorer and more insecure. And it will do that when we have the political will to spread its benefits.
UH, BOB? MAY I CALL YOU BOB?
THAT'S SOCIALISM, BOB. THAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL POINT OF SOCIALISM, NOT THE STATE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING OR ANYTHING, BUT THE SHARING OF THE FRUITS OF OUR COLLECTIVE LABOR.
LABOR KNOWS IT, THE ELITES KNOW IT, AND FRANKLY, YOU KNOW IT.
TO GET THE FULL EFFECT OF THE ARGUMENT, YOU SHOULD READ THE WHOLE THING, BUT IF YOU ARE IN A HURRY, HERE IS THE GIST:
...The world’s productivity revolution is outpacing the political will of rich societies to fairly distribute its benefits. The result is widening inequality coupled with slow growth and stubbornly high unemployment. In the United States, almost all the gains from productivity growth have been going to the top 1 percent, and the percent of the working-age population with jobs is now lower than it’s been in more than thirty years (before the vast majority of women moved into paid work)....The problem is not that the productivity revolution has caused unemployment or under-employment. The problem is its fruits haven’t been widely shared. Less work isn’t a bad thing. Most people prefer leisure. A productivity revolution such as we are experiencing should enable people to spend less time at work and have more time to do whatever they’d rather do...The problem comes in the distribution of the benefits of the productivity revolution. A large portion of the population no longer earns the money it needs to live nearly as well as the productivity revolution would otherwise allow. It can’t afford the “leisure” its now experiencing involuntarily....And this is why a second Obama administration, should there be one, must focus its attention on more broadly distributing the gains from growth. This doesn’t mean “redistributing” from rich to poor, as in a zero-sum game. It doesn’t mean socialism. The rich will do far better with a smaller share of a robust, growing economy than they’re doing with a large share of an economy that’s barely moving forward.
This will require real tax reform – not just a “Buffet” minimal tax but substantially higher marginal rates and more brackets at the top, with a capital gains rate matching the income-tax rate. It also means a larger Earned Income Tax Credit, whose benefits extend high into the middle class. That will enable many Americans to move to a 35-hour workweek without losing ground – thereby making room for more jobs. It means Medicare for all rather than an absurdly-costly system that relies on private for-profit insurers and providers.
It will require limiting executive salaries and empowering workers to get a larger share of corporate profits. The Employee Free Choice Act should be an explicit part of the second-term agenda. It will require strict limits on the voracious, irresponsible behavior of Wall Street, from which we’ve all suffered. The Glass-Steagall Act must be resurrected (the so-called Volcker Rule is more ridden with holes than cheese), and the big banks broken up. And it will necessitate a public educational system – including early child education – second to none, and available to all our young people.
We don’t need socialism. We need a capitalism that works for the vast majority. The productivity revolution should be making our lives better — not poorer and more insecure. And it will do that when we have the political will to spread its benefits.
UH, BOB? MAY I CALL YOU BOB?
THAT'S SOCIALISM, BOB. THAT IS THE FUNDAMENTAL POINT OF SOCIALISM, NOT THE STATE CONTROL OF EVERYTHING OR ANYTHING, BUT THE SHARING OF THE FRUITS OF OUR COLLECTIVE LABOR.
LABOR KNOWS IT, THE ELITES KNOW IT, AND FRANKLY, YOU KNOW IT.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)11. Why America’s Rich People Are Better Than Everyone Else’s By Paul Buchheit
http://www.nationofchange.org/why-america-s-rich-people-are-better-everyone-else-s-1336397033
A remarkable story appeared in Newsweek recently, a celebration by author Daniel Gross of America's re-emergence as the strongest economy and best darn nation in the world. An underlying theme in the article, implicit in the grandiose descriptions of our post-recession growth, is that all American lives must be improving because of the magic of our "resilient and nimble private sector." The Newsweek reader might have been reminded of the wisdom of Goldman Sachs chairman Lloyd Blankfein: "Everybody should be, frankly, happy...the financial system led us into the crisis and it will lead us out."
It sure is nice to feel good about ourselves. But it's more important to be thorough with the facts. Only a small percentage of Americans have benefited from the economic resurgence. The people with money are congratulating themselves while remaining disdainfully isolated from the real world all around them...The article starts with the prideful assertion that "The stock market has doubled since March 2009, while corporate profits and exports have surged to records." That's all good for about 1% of us. The Americans in this elite group captured a stunning 93% of the income gains in the first year of recovery. The 'recovery' itself is largely a resumption of the pattern seen over the past twenty years, during which the richest 5% of Americans have steadily increased their already sizable (70% of the total) stock market holdings.
And how about those corporate profits? Something to be proud of? Here are the disturbing facts. While profits have doubled to $1.9 trillion in less than ten years, the corporate income tax rate, which for thirty years hovered around the 20-25% level, suddenly dropped to 10% after the recession. It has remained there for three years. At a time when our country is in desperate need for revenue for education and jobs, an annual $300 billion tax payment - about a quarter of the deficit - has been avoided by the very people who have made almost all the money.
The article next gushes that productivity rose 5.4 percent in 2009. Well sure, American productivity is stronger than ever. But average workers have received virtually none of the productivity gains since 1980. As U.S. production has become vastly more efficient, worker pay has stopped growing. Worse yet, this efficiency has had the perverse effect of decimating the job market. Years of increasing productivity have, ironically, diminished the need for the very people who once made the products. Young adults have been hardest hit. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the youth employment rate is at its lowest level in 60 years, with only half of Americans aged 18 to 24 able to find a job....As if to taunt us while we're down, the author notes with a hint of admiration that corporations are adept at shucking their responsibilities through bankruptcy, a redemptive technique unavailable to the millions of homeowners with unmanageable loans. That allows resourceful companies to look beyond the damage done to employees and customers and creditors while establishing "new, profitable business models."
In conclusion we are offered this lofty insight: "When the definitive history of this period is written, it is possible - no, likely - that this post-bust era will go down not as a time of economic decline, but as one of regeneration."Regeneration? More likely we'll be remembered for "divergence," as our country's wealth gap threatens to become the largest in the industrialized world.
A remarkable story appeared in Newsweek recently, a celebration by author Daniel Gross of America's re-emergence as the strongest economy and best darn nation in the world. An underlying theme in the article, implicit in the grandiose descriptions of our post-recession growth, is that all American lives must be improving because of the magic of our "resilient and nimble private sector." The Newsweek reader might have been reminded of the wisdom of Goldman Sachs chairman Lloyd Blankfein: "Everybody should be, frankly, happy...the financial system led us into the crisis and it will lead us out."
It sure is nice to feel good about ourselves. But it's more important to be thorough with the facts. Only a small percentage of Americans have benefited from the economic resurgence. The people with money are congratulating themselves while remaining disdainfully isolated from the real world all around them...The article starts with the prideful assertion that "The stock market has doubled since March 2009, while corporate profits and exports have surged to records." That's all good for about 1% of us. The Americans in this elite group captured a stunning 93% of the income gains in the first year of recovery. The 'recovery' itself is largely a resumption of the pattern seen over the past twenty years, during which the richest 5% of Americans have steadily increased their already sizable (70% of the total) stock market holdings.
And how about those corporate profits? Something to be proud of? Here are the disturbing facts. While profits have doubled to $1.9 trillion in less than ten years, the corporate income tax rate, which for thirty years hovered around the 20-25% level, suddenly dropped to 10% after the recession. It has remained there for three years. At a time when our country is in desperate need for revenue for education and jobs, an annual $300 billion tax payment - about a quarter of the deficit - has been avoided by the very people who have made almost all the money.
The article next gushes that productivity rose 5.4 percent in 2009. Well sure, American productivity is stronger than ever. But average workers have received virtually none of the productivity gains since 1980. As U.S. production has become vastly more efficient, worker pay has stopped growing. Worse yet, this efficiency has had the perverse effect of decimating the job market. Years of increasing productivity have, ironically, diminished the need for the very people who once made the products. Young adults have been hardest hit. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the youth employment rate is at its lowest level in 60 years, with only half of Americans aged 18 to 24 able to find a job....As if to taunt us while we're down, the author notes with a hint of admiration that corporations are adept at shucking their responsibilities through bankruptcy, a redemptive technique unavailable to the millions of homeowners with unmanageable loans. That allows resourceful companies to look beyond the damage done to employees and customers and creditors while establishing "new, profitable business models."
In conclusion we are offered this lofty insight: "When the definitive history of this period is written, it is possible - no, likely - that this post-bust era will go down not as a time of economic decline, but as one of regeneration."Regeneration? More likely we'll be remembered for "divergence," as our country's wealth gap threatens to become the largest in the industrialized world.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)10. Left gets historic chance to pull Greece out of limbo
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/05/07/us-greece-idUSBRE8440DG20120507?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
Greece's Left Coalition party will get an historic chance on Tuesday to form a government opposed to the country's EU/IMF bailout, after the mainstream conservatives failed to cobble together a coalition following a shock inconclusive election. Alexis Tsipras, whose party was catapulted into second place by voters angry with austerity, will take on the tough task of wooing small groups into forming the first leftist government in Greece's modern history.
Greeks plunged their country into political limbo in Sunday's election, angry with the harsh cuts dictated by the bailout deal which is keeping Greece afloat but has also brought the worst unemployment and recession in decades. By spurning the two main parties, voters shrugged off the risk of bankruptcy and the threat to Greece's future in the euro as officials warned that cash was running out fast.
On Monday, President Karolos Papoulias gave a three-day mandate to form a coalition to Antonis Samaras, whose conservative New Democracy party won the biggest share of the vote. But Samaras admitted defeat within the day after rejections from several party leaders. Tsipras, who believes the bailout is leading Greece to bankruptcy rather than averting it, is next in line and will receive the presidential mandate on Tuesday to try to rally the fragmented groups of the left.
A splinter group from the traditional Communist Party, the Left Coalition wants Greece to stay in the euro but rejects the 130 billion euro bailout, saying the country can survive without it. The Communists have already rejected any proposal to cooperate and the other anti-bailout parties of the left cannot bring enough parliamentary seats to produce a majority with the Left Coalition. This means Tsipras has a very slim chance of clinching a deal unless major parties offer support....
Greece's Left Coalition party will get an historic chance on Tuesday to form a government opposed to the country's EU/IMF bailout, after the mainstream conservatives failed to cobble together a coalition following a shock inconclusive election. Alexis Tsipras, whose party was catapulted into second place by voters angry with austerity, will take on the tough task of wooing small groups into forming the first leftist government in Greece's modern history.
Greeks plunged their country into political limbo in Sunday's election, angry with the harsh cuts dictated by the bailout deal which is keeping Greece afloat but has also brought the worst unemployment and recession in decades. By spurning the two main parties, voters shrugged off the risk of bankruptcy and the threat to Greece's future in the euro as officials warned that cash was running out fast.
On Monday, President Karolos Papoulias gave a three-day mandate to form a coalition to Antonis Samaras, whose conservative New Democracy party won the biggest share of the vote. But Samaras admitted defeat within the day after rejections from several party leaders. Tsipras, who believes the bailout is leading Greece to bankruptcy rather than averting it, is next in line and will receive the presidential mandate on Tuesday to try to rally the fragmented groups of the left.
"We want to create a government of leftist forces in order to escape the bailout leading us to bankruptcy," said Tsipras, the country's youngest political leader at 37, after rejecting an offer to cooperate from Samaras. "We're not going to let in through the window what Greek people kicked out the door."
A splinter group from the traditional Communist Party, the Left Coalition wants Greece to stay in the euro but rejects the 130 billion euro bailout, saying the country can survive without it. The Communists have already rejected any proposal to cooperate and the other anti-bailout parties of the left cannot bring enough parliamentary seats to produce a majority with the Left Coalition. This means Tsipras has a very slim chance of clinching a deal unless major parties offer support....
Demeter
(85,373 posts)12. Food Stamp Foolishness By Jim Hightower
http://www.nationofchange.org/food-stamp-foolishness-1336397310
Maybe you thought the lowest possible point of Republican miserliness was reached when Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Agriculture proposed that ketchup be counted as a vegetable in the school lunch program. If so, you've not taken a peek at the GOP's astoundingly penurious budget proposal recently pasted together in a fit of ideological extremism by the party's budget guru, Rep. Paul Ryan.
Of all things, GOP lawmakers hacked $8 billion from next year's food stamp funds — a well-run, widely popular, and effective program that helps millions of hard-hit American families stave off some of the pain of poverty. Maybe so, concede Ryan & Company, but the program is out of control, having added some 13 million people in the last three years. Well, gosh, Paul, welcome to the real America — where joblessness is rampant, wages are down, and the middle class is tumbling into poverty. Food stamp use is supposed to increase in such times. It means the program is working.
Still, retorts a Ryan henchman, everyone must sacrifice to lower the deficit, so these cuts are merely "reflecting the budgetary times we're in." Really? Then why does your budget give an average of $265,000 a year in more tax benefits to millionaires? And why, in your demand for severe austerity in government, do you not cut a dime from the Pentagon's bloated budget — even handing it an increase?
Finally, Ryan asserts that his food stamp cuts are for poor people's own good. Citing his Catholic religion's doctrine of "social magisterium," Paul the Pious says he's preventing poor families from the moral horror of being "dependent on government." Just imagine their gratitude! And imagine Ryan's embarrassment that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops dared to contradict his divine rationalization, bluntly calling the cuts "unjustified and wrong."
Maybe you thought the lowest possible point of Republican miserliness was reached when Ronald Reagan's Secretary of Agriculture proposed that ketchup be counted as a vegetable in the school lunch program. If so, you've not taken a peek at the GOP's astoundingly penurious budget proposal recently pasted together in a fit of ideological extremism by the party's budget guru, Rep. Paul Ryan.
Of all things, GOP lawmakers hacked $8 billion from next year's food stamp funds — a well-run, widely popular, and effective program that helps millions of hard-hit American families stave off some of the pain of poverty. Maybe so, concede Ryan & Company, but the program is out of control, having added some 13 million people in the last three years. Well, gosh, Paul, welcome to the real America — where joblessness is rampant, wages are down, and the middle class is tumbling into poverty. Food stamp use is supposed to increase in such times. It means the program is working.
Still, retorts a Ryan henchman, everyone must sacrifice to lower the deficit, so these cuts are merely "reflecting the budgetary times we're in." Really? Then why does your budget give an average of $265,000 a year in more tax benefits to millionaires? And why, in your demand for severe austerity in government, do you not cut a dime from the Pentagon's bloated budget — even handing it an increase?
Finally, Ryan asserts that his food stamp cuts are for poor people's own good. Citing his Catholic religion's doctrine of "social magisterium," Paul the Pious says he's preventing poor families from the moral horror of being "dependent on government." Just imagine their gratitude! And imagine Ryan's embarrassment that the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops dared to contradict his divine rationalization, bluntly calling the cuts "unjustified and wrong."
Demeter
(85,373 posts)13. After just this short list of losers
I throw in the towel...
Irony is dead. Sarcasm is dying. Reality is unreal. And they are all batshit crazy.
If I get a chance while counting the 100 or so votes that will come out tomorrow, I'll check in on the thread, see how the fairies are doing. But for now, I just can't take it anymore.
I guess that's what happens when one gets a little vacation time and enjoys it. The normal, real world becomes unbearable.
Tansy_Gold
(17,851 posts)14. This is precisely why THEY
don't want us to have such luxuries as vacations or education. The comparison would show us how fucked up things are and we might want to change "things."
AnneD
(15,774 posts)32. I always harbored a fear ......
that if I ever went overseas, I might never come back. I came back, but I was a changed person and at times this is not my home anymore.
I discovered that there was more than one way to peel the banana and our way was not the only way. Nothing makes for a more intelligent tolerant human than travel in a foreign country. Even better if you do not speak the language.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)15. morning...
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)17. Hmmm......Pancakes.
Best idea I've seen this morning. Maybe I'll step out and get a few before I start turning yard waste into compost again this morning.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)18. great idea!
i love composting -- if only my dogs would allow it.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)16. Hollande’s victory changes the game in Europe
http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/press-review/1940771-hollande-s-victory-changes-game-europe
Most European newspapers are hailing the victory of the socialist candidate in the French presidential elections but stress that, among the challenges ahead, foremost will be relations with Germany and Hollande’s attitude towards the fiscal pact pushed by his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The change France needs... President Hollande has a rare opportunity to reshape the political landscape.... ”. For the London daily, the Socialist candidate “has won a stunning victory, not just for himself... nor for France, but for the left in Europe, too,” writes The Guardian.
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 11th European leader to fall since the banking crisis broke, and this result is more than just a shot across the bows for the former Sarkozy loyalists in Ms Merkel or David Cameron. France's new direction is a mortal blow to the austerity compact which has been Europe's anchor response to the crisis.
"Frau Merkel, I have arrived", leads Frankfurt daily, Frankfurter Rundschau. Following his speech, the president-elect announced that his first foreign visit would be to the German Chancellor, who is expected to accommodate this new partner despite their ideological differences:
Merkel would not be Merkel if she were not capable of quickly changing course. She has no ideological problems with the Social Democrats [with whom she governed from 2005 to 2009], even if they do call themselves socialists. Hollande will not proclaim a revolution. He must learn to adapt, as Merkel did during the Greek crisis.
Most European newspapers are hailing the victory of the socialist candidate in the French presidential elections but stress that, among the challenges ahead, foremost will be relations with Germany and Hollande’s attitude towards the fiscal pact pushed by his predecessor Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
“The change France needs... President Hollande has a rare opportunity to reshape the political landscape.... ”. For the London daily, the Socialist candidate “has won a stunning victory, not just for himself... nor for France, but for the left in Europe, too,” writes The Guardian.
Nicolas Sarkozy is the 11th European leader to fall since the banking crisis broke, and this result is more than just a shot across the bows for the former Sarkozy loyalists in Ms Merkel or David Cameron. France's new direction is a mortal blow to the austerity compact which has been Europe's anchor response to the crisis.
"Frau Merkel, I have arrived", leads Frankfurt daily, Frankfurter Rundschau. Following his speech, the president-elect announced that his first foreign visit would be to the German Chancellor, who is expected to accommodate this new partner despite their ideological differences:
Merkel would not be Merkel if she were not capable of quickly changing course. She has no ideological problems with the Social Democrats [with whom she governed from 2005 to 2009], even if they do call themselves socialists. Hollande will not proclaim a revolution. He must learn to adapt, as Merkel did during the Greek crisis.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)20. Ugly start shaping up for US markets
[font color="red"]S&P 500 1,359.75 -6.00 -0.44%
DOW 12,891 -68.00 -0.52%
NASDAQ 2,621 -15.25 -0.58% [/font]
Also, EURUSD at 1.3000, US 10-yr yield down to 1.86%.
DOW 12,891 -68.00 -0.52%
NASDAQ 2,621 -15.25 -0.58% [/font]
Also, EURUSD at 1.3000, US 10-yr yield down to 1.86%.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)21. Greece Is Trading Like A Zero
http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-trading-like-a-zero-2012-5
After yesterday's big 6%+ down day, Greek stocks are off another 2.5% today.
Greek banks are getting creamed worse.
Without too much exaggeration, we'd say that Greece is trading like it's going to zero.
After the conservatives failed to form a government yesterday, it looks very much like there will be new elections in a few weeks, and it's likely that the hand of the anti-austerity/anti-bailout faction will be strengthened even more.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-trading-like-a-zero-2012-5#ixzz1uHVaf8CA
After yesterday's big 6%+ down day, Greek stocks are off another 2.5% today.
Greek banks are getting creamed worse.
Without too much exaggeration, we'd say that Greece is trading like it's going to zero.
After the conservatives failed to form a government yesterday, it looks very much like there will be new elections in a few weeks, and it's likely that the hand of the anti-austerity/anti-bailout faction will be strengthened even more.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/greece-is-trading-like-a-zero-2012-5#ixzz1uHVaf8CA
Roland99
(53,342 posts)23. Greek Left Coalition Leaders Says Bailout Accord "Null And Void", Demands Greek Debt Moratorium
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/greek-left-coalition-leaders-says-bailout-accord-null-and-void
Hardly a surprise to anyone, but here it is black on white - Greece officially makes the odds for a Euro departure well over 50%:
And here it comes
Remember Odious Debt?
EURUSD and all other risk assets, so carefully bought by US traders as they walked in this morning, are now sliding.
Hardly a surprise to anyone, but here it is black on white - Greece officially makes the odds for a Euro departure well over 50%:
TSIPRAS SAYS GREEK RESULTS MAKES BAILOUT ACCORD NULL AND VOID
TSIPRAS SAYS GREEKS HAVE VOTED AGAINST BARBARIC BAILOUT
TSIPRAS SAYS WON'T JOIN A GOVT OF NATIONAL SALVATION FOR LOAN
TSIPRAS SAYS GREEKS HAVE ENDED PLANS FOR ADDITIONAL AUSTERITY
TSIPRAS SAYS TO REDISTRIBUTE TAX BURDEN, DEVELOP GROWTH PLANS
TSIPRAS SAYS WILL STICK TO PRE-ELECTION PLEDGES
TSIPRAS ASKS VENIZELOS, SAMARAS TO RENEGE PLEDGES IN WRITING
TSIPRAS SAYS GREEKS HAVE VOTED AGAINST BARBARIC BAILOUT
TSIPRAS SAYS WON'T JOIN A GOVT OF NATIONAL SALVATION FOR LOAN
TSIPRAS SAYS GREEKS HAVE ENDED PLANS FOR ADDITIONAL AUSTERITY
TSIPRAS SAYS TO REDISTRIBUTE TAX BURDEN, DEVELOP GROWTH PLANS
TSIPRAS SAYS WILL STICK TO PRE-ELECTION PLEDGES
TSIPRAS ASKS VENIZELOS, SAMARAS TO RENEGE PLEDGES IN WRITING
And here it comes
GREECE'S TSIPRAS SAYS WANTS INTERNATIONAL COMMISSION TO INVESTIGATE IF GREECE'S DEBT IS LEGAL
TSIPRAS SAYS MUST BE MORATORIUM ON GREEK DEBT PAYMENTS
TSIPRAS SAYS MUST BE MORATORIUM ON GREEK DEBT PAYMENTS
Remember Odious Debt?
EURUSD and all other risk assets, so carefully bought by US traders as they walked in this morning, are now sliding.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)24. The British Coalition Government Looks Likely To Collapse Before The Next Election
http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-coalition-government-clegg-cameron-2012-5
The British coalition government is looking increasingly unlikely to last until the next election in 2015, according to new reports in the Times of London.
It looks like Liberal Democrats, the junior partners in the coalition, are emasculated by their lack of power in the government, and are worried that their terrible results in last week's local elections are only a sign of worse to come — the end of the party.
The Times of London discovered that Senior Lib Dem members are now calling for the party to leave the coalition before the 2015 election in a bid to regain popularity before the election.
The paper also reports that Conservatives are apparently all too aware of how weak the coalition is, and Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron turned down a request from his own party to attack Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems last week.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-coalition-government-clegg-cameron-2012-5#ixzz1uHYFwJBR
The British coalition government is looking increasingly unlikely to last until the next election in 2015, according to new reports in the Times of London.
It looks like Liberal Democrats, the junior partners in the coalition, are emasculated by their lack of power in the government, and are worried that their terrible results in last week's local elections are only a sign of worse to come — the end of the party.
The Times of London discovered that Senior Lib Dem members are now calling for the party to leave the coalition before the 2015 election in a bid to regain popularity before the election.
The paper also reports that Conservatives are apparently all too aware of how weak the coalition is, and Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron turned down a request from his own party to attack Nick Clegg, leader of the Lib Dems last week.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-coalition-government-clegg-cameron-2012-5#ixzz1uHYFwJBR
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)26. Good. Make it a clean sweep. Get rid of Merkel too.
I just wish we had a choice.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)27. i feel ya, brother
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)28. December, 1963 (Oh What A Night) - Frankie Valli & the Four Seasons
Heard a segment on the radio this morning, and can't get rid of the tune in my ears, lol
an older more classic version
DemReadingDU
(16,000 posts)29. Legal battle brewing over camera tickets, towing
5/8/12 Legal battle brewing over camera tickets, towing
Dayton’s recent move to begin towing cars to enforce unpaid tickets triggered by red-light cameras has ignited rumblings from local attorneys who want to challenge the cameras in court.
Whether such a challenge would be successful remains to be seen. The Ohio Supreme Court in 2008 issued a unanimous landmark ruling in favor of red-light and speed cameras. “It’s clear that it’s established by the Supreme Court that photo enforcement is legal in Ohio,” said Dayton Law Director John Danish.
But attorneys told the Dayton Daily News that the Ohio Supreme Court didn’t weigh in on all of the legal questions the cameras raise, including due process concerns.
Tickets from the cameras are civil summons, and not criminal citations like normal traffic tickets. That means, among other things, people who receive the citations and want them dismissed must prove they are innocent, instead of the other way around like in criminal court.
Thomas Hagel, a law professor for the University of Dayton, said towing to enforce unpaid camera citations cuts legal corners to try to collect money for the city. “Is the collection of that money so important that we’re willing to seize people’s property without full-blown due process procedures? I think most people would say that’s too extreme,” Hagel said.
Dayton last month began towing vehicles of owners with two or more unpaid red light citations in an attempt to collect millions in unpaid citations. That resulted in an increase in ticket collections — people paid 6,184 camera-generated tickets worth about $566,000, according to the Dayton Municipal Court clerk’s office. Of that, Dayton will receive around $370,000, more than twice the highest amount the city has collected in one month in camera-generated tickets, according to city records. The rest of the money will go to RedFlex, the company that owns and operates the cameras.
But the program has also resulted in a flood of complaints to City Hall. At least one law firm, Dyer, Garofalo, Mann & Schultz, is researching a possible lawsuit against the city over the towing program, said Mike Dyer, a partner with that firm.
more...
http://www.daytondailynews.com/news/dayton-news/legal-battle-brewing-over-camera-tickets-towing-1372053.html
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)36. Why don't they just put up a toll booth at every intersection and be done with it.
Their intention is to soak as many people, for as much as they can.
With toll booths, they can get everybody.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)31. Billion-Dollar Traders Quit Wall Street for Hedge Funds
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-07/billion-dollar-traders-quit-wall-street-for-hedge-funds.html
In the five years that John Silvetz made about $700 million for Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) by trading corporate bonds and credit derivatives, the amount of his annual bonus paid in cash dropped to 20 percent from almost 70 percent.
The rest, earned by betting on companies from American International Group Inc. to MBIA Inc., was locked up in deferred stock and euros, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because they’re not authorized to discuss compensation. In September, Silvetz, 37, jumped to hedge fund BlueCrest Capital Management LLP. He was the last of a trio of New York debt traders who departed after making $1 billion for the German lender in two years, the people said.
Wall Street’s biggest banks have lost almost two dozen of their most-profitable credit traders in the past 13 months as regulators limit the kind of risk-taking that amplified the housing crisis four years ago. As banks slash or defer pay and reduce the amount they’re willing to wager, the traders are seeing better opportunities at hedge funds and investment firms that seek to profit in markets lenders are retreating from.
“People who were contributing quite a bit to the overall profitability of the firms are forced to move on,” said Doug Shaener, managing partner at Quest Group, a New York-based executive search consulting firm that specializes in financial services. “You’re seeing individuals looking to go to places where they obviously aren’t as regulated, where they don’t have as many restrictions in terms of their trading.”
In the five years that John Silvetz made about $700 million for Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) by trading corporate bonds and credit derivatives, the amount of his annual bonus paid in cash dropped to 20 percent from almost 70 percent.
The rest, earned by betting on companies from American International Group Inc. to MBIA Inc., was locked up in deferred stock and euros, according to people familiar with the matter, who declined to be identified because they’re not authorized to discuss compensation. In September, Silvetz, 37, jumped to hedge fund BlueCrest Capital Management LLP. He was the last of a trio of New York debt traders who departed after making $1 billion for the German lender in two years, the people said.
Wall Street’s biggest banks have lost almost two dozen of their most-profitable credit traders in the past 13 months as regulators limit the kind of risk-taking that amplified the housing crisis four years ago. As banks slash or defer pay and reduce the amount they’re willing to wager, the traders are seeing better opportunities at hedge funds and investment firms that seek to profit in markets lenders are retreating from.
“People who were contributing quite a bit to the overall profitability of the firms are forced to move on,” said Doug Shaener, managing partner at Quest Group, a New York-based executive search consulting firm that specializes in financial services. “You’re seeing individuals looking to go to places where they obviously aren’t as regulated, where they don’t have as many restrictions in terms of their trading.”
AnneD
(15,774 posts)34. And the down side for me is...
what...these guys continue their high stakes 3 card monti and Ponzi scam else where. With any luck they will go bankrupt and the next time I hear from them, they will be asking me if I want fries with that.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)33. Liquidation sale today
[font color="red"]Dow 12,870 -138 -1.06%
Nasdaq 2,917 -41 -1.37%
S&P 500 1,354 -16 -1.16%
GlobalDow 1,867 -21 -1.11%
Gold 1,604 -35 -2.12%
Oil 96.47 -1.47 -1.50% [/font]
Worst day in months for gold.
China building gold reserves
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/uncivilized-china-quietly-building-gold-reserves-gold-imports-hk-soar-587-first-quarter
Oil keeps this up, we'll see the nationwide average below $3.50/gal quite soon.
Saw $3.59/gal on the way into work today.
Nasdaq 2,917 -41 -1.37%
S&P 500 1,354 -16 -1.16%
GlobalDow 1,867 -21 -1.11%
Gold 1,604 -35 -2.12%
Oil 96.47 -1.47 -1.50% [/font]
Worst day in months for gold.
China building gold reserves
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/uncivilized-china-quietly-building-gold-reserves-gold-imports-hk-soar-587-first-quarter
Oil keeps this up, we'll see the nationwide average below $3.50/gal quite soon.
Saw $3.59/gal on the way into work today.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)35. Ooops......Nobody saw that coming.
Roland99
(53,342 posts)39. Might end up a fire sale before long. Markets down 1.5% and dropping. Gold under $1,600/oz
[font color="red"]Dow 12,814 -195 -1.50%
Nasdaq 2,902 -56 -1.90%
S&P 500 1,348 -21 -1.55%
GlobalDow 1,860 -27 -1.46%
Gold 1,598 -41 -2.52%
Oil 95.69 -2.25 -2.30% [/font]
Nasdaq 2,902 -56 -1.90%
S&P 500 1,348 -21 -1.55%
GlobalDow 1,860 -27 -1.46%
Gold 1,598 -41 -2.52%
Oil 95.69 -2.25 -2.30% [/font]
xchrom
(108,903 posts)37. Merkel letter to Francois Hollande urges co-operation
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17989966
German leader Angela Merkel has written to the newly elected French President saying "necessary decisions" must be taken to resolve the debt crisis.
Mrs Merkel said she was sure the co-operation between the two countries would "continue to strengthen".
She has resisted calls from Francois Hollande to renegotiate a European pact requiring government budget cuts.
A meeting of EU leaders has also been scheduled to discuss the pro-growth reforms preferred by Mr Hollande.
German leader Angela Merkel has written to the newly elected French President saying "necessary decisions" must be taken to resolve the debt crisis.
Mrs Merkel said she was sure the co-operation between the two countries would "continue to strengthen".
She has resisted calls from Francois Hollande to renegotiate a European pact requiring government budget cuts.
A meeting of EU leaders has also been scheduled to discuss the pro-growth reforms preferred by Mr Hollande.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)38. Well, I guess that settles that.
I was going to do some more yard work, but as soon as I pushed the chipper-shredder out of the shed, Queen Sara started yelling at me, as if to say, "You're not going to start that shit again, are you?"
There's always Plan B, as in bar. For lunch and medicinal purposes only. I want to get all this crap done before the week-end. I have a birthday coming up Monday, and it has a "0" in it. So, the week-end is going to be a blast.
Fuddnik
(8,846 posts)40. It's about friggin' time somebody called Romney on his shit.
Political ads are already running hot in Florida. Romney, Americans for Prosperity, and other assorted Super PACs have been running a lot of anti-Obama ads lately.
Finally the Obama campaign called them on it, and closed the ad with, "But what do you expect from a guy with a Swiss bank account?" We all know I'm no big fan, but somebody...anybody, needs to drive this lying, superficial, clueless, hypocrite straight into the ground.
They're being polite, compared to what I'd do with him if I had a ad budget.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)41. German industrial production surges in March
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-17989960
German industry recorded a surprise surge in output in March.
The total volume of output from the country's factories, power stations and building sites rose a seasonally-adjusted 2.8% in the month, according to official data.
That was well ahead of economists' expectations for a 0.8% rise.
Rising demand for consumer goods, as well as a significant rebound in activity in the construction sector, lay behind the strong result.
German industry recorded a surprise surge in output in March.
The total volume of output from the country's factories, power stations and building sites rose a seasonally-adjusted 2.8% in the month, according to official data.
That was well ahead of economists' expectations for a 0.8% rise.
Rising demand for consumer goods, as well as a significant rebound in activity in the construction sector, lay behind the strong result.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)42. COMEDY FRESH FROM ENGLAND: Stop beating up on Bernanke
Poor Ben Bernanke! He has gone further than any other central banker in recent times to try to stimulate the economy through monetary policy. He has cut interest rates to the bone. He has adopted innovative new methods of monetary easing such as quantitative easing. Again and again he has repeated that while inflation is contained, his main concern is the high level of US unemployment. And yet he is chastised by progressive economists for not doing enough.
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/16J0EV/06MUC/XH77RK/5VPY9E/PJ/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8
THOSE BRITS! TONGUE FIRMLY IN CHEEK....WHAT? HE'S SERIOUS? AW GO ON!Demeter
(85,373 posts)43. Jury delivers split Oracle-Google verdict
The search group was found to have copied parts of the Java programming language when creating its Android mobile operating system
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/B5H4XC/XBAN6/DWFX0Y/L9ZU5K/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8
I HATE TO BREAK IT TO THEM, BUT IT'S LIKE A MAP...HOW MANY DIFFERENT WAYS CAN YOU MAP A ROAD SYSTEM? AND FURTHERMORE, IF THERE'S A BEST WAY TO DO IT, HOW CAN ANYONE "OWN" IT?
Demeter
(85,373 posts)44. HERE WE GO AGAIN: Spain to spend billions on bank rescue
Spain working on bail-out for Bankia, the country’s third-largest lender, as executive chairman Rodrigo Rato announces his resignation
Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/B5H4XC/XBAN6/DWFX0Y/OR5TKR/YT/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=8
WHERE HAVE ALL THE BANKSTERS GONE?
Demeter
(85,373 posts)45. AND SPEAKING OF BANKSTERS
Are there any private jets leaving for parts unknown yet?
Honestly, I can't go away for a day without the world coming unstuck? Gold, oil, I'm surprised the stocks are holding up as well as they are...Ben must be busting a gut.
Well, I have to return to doing nothing....see you at dinner maybe.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)46. US jobs numbers in tune with weak recovery
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/may/04/us-jobs-non-farm-payrolls
The US jobs figures were a curate's egg - good in parts.
On the upside, the world's biggest economy is still creating jobs and the unemployment rate - which peaked at just over 10% - is coming down.
The bad news is that the pace of hiring has slowed since early 2012 and the drop in the jobless rate is the result not of stronger demand for jobs but of discouraged workers leaving the labour market.
In truth, the increases in non-farm payrolls of 200,000-plus seen at the turn of the year were flattered by the unusually warm winter, which resulted in fewer seasonal layoffs in sectors such as construction. In the past couple of months, the pace of jobs growth has slowed to a level more in keeping with an economy that is growing at an annual rate of 2% - extremely modest for a recovery period in the US
The US jobs figures were a curate's egg - good in parts.
On the upside, the world's biggest economy is still creating jobs and the unemployment rate - which peaked at just over 10% - is coming down.
The bad news is that the pace of hiring has slowed since early 2012 and the drop in the jobless rate is the result not of stronger demand for jobs but of discouraged workers leaving the labour market.
In truth, the increases in non-farm payrolls of 200,000-plus seen at the turn of the year were flattered by the unusually warm winter, which resulted in fewer seasonal layoffs in sectors such as construction. In the past couple of months, the pace of jobs growth has slowed to a level more in keeping with an economy that is growing at an annual rate of 2% - extremely modest for a recovery period in the US
