STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 10 September 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, 10 September 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 9 September 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 9 September 2014
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Dow Jones 17,013.87 -97.55 (-0.57%)
S&P 500 1,988.44 -13.10 (-0.65%)
Nasdaq 4,552.29 -40.00 (-0.87%)


[font color=black]10 Year 2.50% 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]30 Year 3.23% -0.02 (-0.62%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
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
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts







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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]

[Crewleader]

1. HOME DEPOT BREACH

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2. The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-important-things-in-the-world-right-now-september-10-2014-2014-9

1. Apple introduced the iPhone 6 (in two sizes) and the Apple Watch on Tuesday. The new iPhone is awesome.

2. President Barack Obama will deliver a televised address Wednesday night, laying out the White House strategy to fight Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.

3. Hundreds have been killed in Pakistan and India as the two regions face the worst floods in more than half a century.

4. With less than 10 days to go before the Scottish Independence Referendum, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney tore into Alex Salmond's plan to keep the pound if Scotland goes independent.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-important-things-in-the-world-right-now-september-10-2014-2014-9#ixzz3CtvbBAfk

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3. Gundlach Doesn't Think Yellen Wants To Raise Rates

http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-gundlach-webcast-september-9-2014-9

Jeffrey Gundlach of DoubleLine just wrapped his latest webcast about the markets and the economy.
Gundlach talked a bit about the rally in bonds this year, and wondered why market participants never ask if they should be buying the rally in bonds the way people ask about buying the rally in stocks.

Gundlach also addressed the labor market, which he noted Fed Chair Janet Yellen is singularly focused on, and says there is no real reason for the Fed to raise rates if the purchasing power of the bottom seven deciles of wage earners is declining year over year.

The Fed is also focused on inflation, and while headline inflation remains low, an outsized portion of these modest increases has come from housing, which Gundlach says impacts middle class wage earners, again giving the Fed no real incentive to raise interest rates.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/jeff-gundlach-webcast-september-9-2014-9#ixzz3Cu0vPai8

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4. Mark Carney warns Scotland over pound

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29133217

Bank of England governor Mark Carney has told trade unions that currency union in the event of Scottish independence would be "incompatible with sovereignty".

Mr Carney told the TUC conference that a currency required a centralised bank and shared banking regulations.

Common taxation and spending were also needed, he said.

The SNP said currency union was "in the best interests of both an independent Scotland and the rest of the UK".

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5. Italy's economic growth will be 'around zero', says PM Renzi

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29135170

Italy's Prime Minister has said that Europe's third largest economy will see growth of only "around zero" this year.

Matteo Renzi's forecast is lower than the government's previous prediction and comes as the economy tackles its third recession in a decade.

"I am not optimistic," Mr Renzi said in a pre-recorded interview to be aired later on Tuesday. It is the first time he has put a figure on likely growth.

Lacklustre growth will do little to help the eurozone's own economic woes.

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6. Ukraine crisis: EU adopts new sanctions on Russia

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29119885

European Union member states have formally adopted new sanctions on Russia over the Ukraine crisis.

The new measures include restrictions on large Russian state-owned oil companies raising money on European financial markets.

However, the new measures will come into effect "in the next few days", not on Tuesday as some had expected.

Russia denies accusations by Ukraine and the West that it has been sending troops to help pro-Russian rebels.

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7. UK industrial output sees biggest rise for six months

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-29122511

UK industrial output saw its biggest monthly rise in six months in July as electricity generation increased, official figures show.

Industrial output rose by 0.5% in July after a 0.3% rise in June, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics.

The increase was stronger than the 0.2% average rise forecast by economists.

Separate ONS figures showed the UK goods trade deficit hit its widest level for more than two years in July.

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8. GLOBAL STOCKS LOWER ON GROWTH WORRIES, FED JITTERS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-10-04-38-23

KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC-40 shed 0.4 percent to 4,436.64 and Germany's DAX lost 0.7 percent to 9,639.44. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.4 percent to 6,801.01. Wall Street looked set for more losses, with futures for the Dow Jones industrial average and the broader Standard & Poor's 500 both off 0.2 percent. On Tuesday, the Dow suffered its biggest one-day decline in a month.

THE FED: Investors are looking more closely at the U.S. Federal Reserve and whether it might raise its benchmark interest rate sooner than expected. In a paper this week, two San Francisco Fed economists said the public appears to expect a "more accommodative policy" than Fed board members. With the Fed's Open Market Committee due to meet next week, Mizuho Bank warned "markets may be overlooking the risks that the Fed raises its key rate earlier" than expected.

CHINA'S STRUGGLE: Growth is under pressure after manufacturing activity decelerated in August and imports unexpectedly shrank by 2.4 percent in a reflection of sluggish domestic demand. The top economic official, Premier Li Keqiang, said Tuesday that growth was still on track despite "short-term fluctuations," according to the official Xinhua News Agency.

THE QUOTE: "Global equities have retreated with the wall of worry across major economies sending investors into a cautious mode. There are a number of key issues plaguing sentiment at the moment, including a more hawkish Fed, a struggling China economy, the Scottish referendum and potential hiccups for the ECB's stimulus plans," said strategist Stan Shamu of IG Markets in a report.

ASIA'S DAY: China's Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.3 percent to 2,318.31 and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.6 percent to 5,574.30. India's Sensex shed 0.6 percent to 27,097.57. Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 1.9 percent to 24,705.36 and Southeast Asian markets also fell. Tokyo was the only major market to buck the trend, with its Nikkei 225 rising 0.3 percent to 15,788.78 as dollar hit a fresh six-year high against the yen.

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9. US JOB OPENINGS STAY NEAR 13-YEAR HIGH; HIRING UP

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_JOB_OPENINGS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-09-15-58-36

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The number of U.S. job openings remained near the highest level in 13 years in July, and companies also stepped up hiring that month to the fastest pace in nearly seven years, two signs the job market is slowly healing.

The tally of available jobs ticked down 2,000 to 4.673 million in July, from 4.675 million in June, the Labor Department said Tuesday. June's figure was the highest since February 2001.

The drop was led by a decline in government job postings. Businesses actually advertised slightly more jobs.

Total hiring, meanwhile, jumped 81,000 to 4.87 million, the highest level since December 2007, when the Great Recession began. That indicates companies are more likely to fill their open jobs. Still, that is below the pre-recession average of just over 5 million hires a month.

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10. CURRENCY QUESTION AT HEART OF SCOTTISH DEBATE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SCOTLAND_CURRENCY_OPTIONS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-10-05-45-17

LONDON (AP) -- In for a penny, in for a pound.

There'll be no going back if Scotland votes for independence from the United Kingdom on Sept. 18.

Opinion polls showing that may happen have prompted investors to sell off the British pound. If a knockout blow is dealt to Scotland's 307-year union with England, that selling could accelerate as the U.K. plunges into a constitutional crisis.

The fate of the pound, which is also known as sterling and is one of the most tangible links of the union, will be front and center in any separation proceedings, as it has been during the campaign.

The nationalists, led by Scotland's First Minister Alex Salmond, hope Scotland will still use the pound through a currency union with what's left of Britain - Wales, Northern Ireland and England. The main British political parties, notably the Conservatives and Labour, say that's not going to happen.

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11. LATE-PAYMENT RATE ON US AUTO LOANS ROSE IN 2Q

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_AUTO_LOANS_LATE_PAYMENTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-09-15-49-21

As U.S. sales of cars and trucks have grown this year, so has the late-payment rate on auto loans.

The rate of U.S. auto-loan payments late by 60 days or more rose to 0.95 percent in the second quarter from 0.87 percent a year earlier, credit reporting agency TransUnion said Tuesday.

The latest auto loan delinquency rate was down from 1 percent in the first three months of the year, however, and remains below the average for the April-June period going back to 2007, the firm said.

The increase compared with the second quarter a year ago follows strong growth in auto sales, which has fueled a rise in auto lending, including to borrowers with less-than-perfect credit.

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12. STALLED FRANCE TO MISS DEFICIT TARGET UNTIL 2017

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_FRANCE_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-10-03-37-39

PARIS (AP) -- France has revised down its growth forecasts and says it will miss its deficit target for another three years, confirmation that Europe's second-largest economy will emerge only slowly from its stagnation.

Finance Minister Michel Sapin said Wednesday the budget deficit would be around 4.3 percent of GDP in 2015 and would not dip under the 3 percent target for European Union countries until 2017, a decade after the last time France hit the target

He revised down the country's growth figures yet again to 0.4 percent this year and 1 percent for next year, down from initial projections of 1.7 percent.

France's economic troubles mirror a broader lack of growth in Europe. Sapin said "an economic reality that concerns all of us" needed to be taken into consideration, although he said France was not requesting a change in the budget rules. Hollande's government had earlier negotiated a delay in meeting the target until 2015.

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13. AMERICAN RECOVERY DRIVES THE DOLLAR SHARPLY HIGHER

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_STRONGER_DOLLAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-09-16-18-55

NEW YORK (AP) -- In the world of currencies, the dollar is starting to look like a safe home in a tough neighborhood.

A strengthening American economy, combined with a gloomy outlook for growth elsewhere, is pushing the U.S. currency sharply higher.

The dollar is up 6.4 percent against a group of major currencies since the start of May and has risen in three of the past four months. The U.S. currency climbed Tuesday to its highest level in six years against the Japanese yen, and it's trading at its highest level in 14 months against the euro.

A continued run-up could mean lower prices for imported cars and crude oil. On the other hand, it could also crimp profits for U.S. companies as their goods become pricier overseas.

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14. GERMAN STARTUP FACTORY ROCKET LAUNCHES IPO

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_ROCKET_INTERNET_IPO?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-09-10-04-29-45

BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's startup factory Rocket Internet AG says it plans a public listing on the Frankfurt stock exchange this year.

The privately held company has launched dozens of online businesses around the world, often copying successful rivals.

The announcement Wednesday comes a week after one of its main investments, fashion retailer Zalando, itself revealed plans for an IPO. Rocket Internet said the listing "is intended to take place later in 2014" but gave no specific date.

Rocket Internet says it plans to raise 750 million euros ($968 million) to help it become the largest Internet platform outside of the United States and China.

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15. Fed Weighs Change to Rate Guidance for Added Flexibility

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/fed-weighs-change-to-rate-guidance-for-added-flexibility.html

Federal Reserve officials are considering whether to alter their guidance on the likely path of interest rates to give them more flexibility to react to changes in the economy.

The Fed has said since March that its benchmark rate would stay low for a “considerable time” after it completes monthly bond buying intended to boost growth. With purchases set to end late this year and the Fed nearing its full-employment goal, that assurance will soon become obsolete.

The need for new guidance unites policy makers who want to keep rates low for longer, like Boston Fed President Eric Rosengren, with those who prefer to raise them sooner, such as Philadelphia’s Charles Plosser. Both want to move away from promising to keep rates low for some unspecified period of time toward tying the first increase to changes in inflation and the job market. One stumbling block: how to change the language without sparking an unwanted jump in bond yields that could threaten to stifle the expansion.

“That’s going to be hotly debated,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York and a former Fed Board researcher. “If they can find a way to replace that with something that will mollify the market’s reaction, you will see a change.”

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16. Sovereign Scotland Would See Investment Freeze: B&Q Chief

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/sovereign-scotland-would-see-investment-freeze-b-q-chief.html

Scotland will lose the pound and face a freeze on business investment if voters in next week’s referendum opt to leave the U.K., Kingfisher Plc (KGF) Chief Executive Officer Ian Cheshire said.

Should Scots vote for independence on Sept. 18, Kingfisher’s B&Q home-improvement chain would have to review investment plans there “because we don’t understand what environment we’re coming into,” Cheshire said today on Bloomberg Television’s “Countdown” with Manus Cranny.

“The reality is there are extra costs with a new country, there’s no way there’s going to be a currency union and there are real doubts about Europe,” Cheshire said on the day that he announced he is stepping down as Kingfisher CEO after seven years at the helm. “None of that to me as a business person looks very attractive and I think the current situation with effectively devolved arrangements is extremely attractive.”

Cheshire joins the likes of Bank of England Governor Mark Carney in warning about the consequences of Scottish devolution as polls show that the outcome of the referendum is on a knife edge. Leaders of the U.K.’s three main political parties canceled their planned appearances in Parliament today and are in Scotland pleading with voters to remain within the union.

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17. The Fed Wants Capital, Not Punishment

http://www.bloombergview.com/articles/2014-09-09/the-fed-wants-capital-not-punishment

Four years ago, Congress gave U.S. regulators powerful tools to reduce the threat that the country's largest banks present to the economy. Now the Federal Reserve, under Chair Janet Yellen, looks like it’s finally getting ready to use them.

This is a welcome development, the latest evidence for which came today. In testimony before the U.S. Senate, Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo said that the central bank plans to subject systemically important banks to an added capital buffer significantly greater than what international rules require. The purpose of the so-called surcharge, which could be as much as several percent of risk-weighted assets, is to discourage complexity and fragility. It will be larger, for example, for banks that depend heavily on short-term funding of the kind that proved unreliable during the 2008 crisis.

Tarullo's testimony comes just a month after the Fed expressed its exasperation with big banks' "living wills," in which they are supposed to describe how they could be dismantled through bankruptcy without causing panic or broader economic malaise. If banks can’t submit convincing plans by next July, the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-reform law allows regulators to require more capital or even break them up -- powers that Tarullo and Martin Gruenberg, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., told the Senate they are prepared to use.

The mood change is visible in other areas as well. The Fed, for example, is requiring that banks have extra capital to absorb the costs of operational failures, such as cybersecurity breaches and the civil and criminal transgressions that have cost tens of billions of dollars in recent years. In doing so, the central bank is effectively recognizing the risks inherent in managing giant organizations with myriad businesses around the world.

[Demeter]

21. Break them up? I'd pay good money to see that

and I'm sure that's part of the plan...

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18. Rupee Forecasts Top Peers as Modi Plan Wins Converts

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/rupee-forecasts-top-peers-as-modi-plan-wins-converts-currencies.html

Strategists are raising their forecasts for India’s rupee faster than for any other Asian currency as Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s economic policies attract international investors.

The median estimate in a Bloomberg survey puts the rupee at 61 per dollar by the end of 2015, up from a prediction of 62.3 on June 30 and compared with 61.024 at 9:42 a.m. in London. While that doesn’t indicate much change in India’s currency, it does show that forecasters no longer expect a reversal of its world-beating 4.6 percent gain of the past year.

India’s progress in cutting its trade deficit by curbing gold imports and scaling back debt sales is making the nation more resilient to the prospect of higher U.S. interest rates than its regional peers. International investors have pumped a record $7.8 billion into the country’s bonds this quarter.

“India is in a much better position to smooth currency volatility,” Khoon Goh, a senior foreign-exchange strategist at Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. in Singapore, said by e-mail on Sept. 4. “We look for the Modi government to progress with economic reforms, which will help maintain foreign-investor interest in Indian assets.”

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19. Shariah Gets Hotter as Kazakhs Revive Islamic Bank Plan

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/shariah-gets-hotter-as-kazakhs-revive-bank-plan-islamic-finance.html

Kazakhstan is reviving plans to develop Islamic finance, joining nations from South Africa to the U.K. in targeting an industry that’s forecast to reach $3.4 trillion during the next four years.

The majority Muslim central Asian nation is “fine-tuning” legislation for Shariah-compliant banking, central bank Chairman Kairat Kelimbetov said at an Islamic finance conference in Almaty last week. Some lenders are seeking to convert into Islamic banks, he said.

Borrowing costs for sellers of Islamic securities have tumbled this year as investors snap up debt from first-time issuers including Britain. South Africa, Luxembourg and Goldman Sachs Group Inc. are also preparing sales. The drive by Kazakhstan comes two years after its debut sukuk, which was denominated in Malaysian ringgit.

“The sovereign sukuk may not be quite ready, but there are other financial institutions who may be looking at issuing sukuk,” Rizwan Kanji, a Dubai-based partner at King & Spalding LLP law firm, said Sept. 9 in an e-mail following his first visit to Kazakhstan. They may use structures that appeal to Gulf Cooperation Council investors, he said.

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20. Scots Independence Genie Fires Separatist Dreams of EU Statehood

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-09/scots-independence-genie-fires-separatist-dreams-of-eu-statehood.html

A short walk from Edinburgh Castle, past tourist stores hawking kilts and tartan scarves, a church hall is about to become a patch of Barcelona for the day.

As Scotland votes next week on whether to break up the U.K. after more than three centuries, a group of about 100 Catalans will gather to watch the outcome unfold and ponder the implications for their own bid for freedom from Spain.

“I get goose bumps just thinking about it,” said Raquel Gella, 25, a Catalan marketing manager who has lived in Scotland for five years after arriving as a student. “Who has the chance to see history made in two countries?”

[Demeter]

22. It's a national pass-time

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23. Arrests Form Financial Bedrock Across St. Louis County Towns

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/arrests-form-financial-bedrock-across-st-louis-county-towns.html

The lifeblood of the tiny St. Louis suburb of Beverly Hills is lawbreakers, whose traffic fines account for more than half the annual revenue. In nearby St. Ann, 39 percent of the general-fund budget comes from court fines and fees.

In north St. Louis County, a predominantly black area where the U.S. Justice Department is investigating the Aug. 9 shooting of an unarmed teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, penance for crimes and misdemeanors pays to fix streets, pay workers’ salaries and pick up trash. In places once sustained by jobs at auto and aerospace factories, towns and cities that have been losing population rely on scofflaws for funds.

“It’s a reflection of the economy,” said Beverly Hills Mayor Myrtle Spann, whose town has dwindled to 570 residents. “It’s not a money grab -- this is a basis for us to stay abreast of what we need to do.”

An examination of annual financial reports and other sources showed four communities in northern St. Louis County drew at least 20 percent of their general-fund revenue from fines, while another four collected between 10 and 19 percent.

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24. Caesars’ Loveman Says Worst Is Over for Atlantic City

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-09/caesars-loveman-says-worst-is-over-for-atlantic-city.html

Caesars Entertainment Corp. (CZR) Chief Executive Officer Gary Loveman said the worst may be over for Atlantic City after five of the New Jersey town’s 12 casinos have closed or said they may shut this year.

The beach resort that once had a monopoly on East Coast gambling has taken a beating in recent years from expanded competition in neighboring states. Trump Entertainment Resorts Inc., the casino company founded by Donald Trump, filed for bankruptcy court protection yesterday, saying it may have to close its Trump Taj Mahal in November.

“Atlantic City has taken its worst blows,” Loveman said yesterday at a hearing in Albany, the New York capital. “I’m cautiously optimistic that a turn is coming.”

Loveman was pitching New York regulators on a casino he’s proposing in Woodbury. The Caesars project is one of 16 bids the state is considering after voters last year approved as many as four casinos upstate. New York’s Gaming Facility Location Board is expected to pick the winners by year-end.

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25. Former Obama Aide Summers Calls for End of Oil Export Ban

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-09-10/former-obama-aide-summers-calls-for-end-of-oil-export-ban.html

If the U.S. ban on oil exports is lifted, the only losers would be refiners that are now benefiting from crude prices cheaper than the global benchmark, said Larry Summers, President Barack Obama’s former economic adviser.

In an unconditional endorsement yesterday of ending the decades-long export ban, Summers said few public policy changes would hold such obvious benefits.

Allowing more exports would lower gasoline prices, according to an analysis by the Brookings Institution, a Washington-based research group that analyzes national public policy. Summers, a former U.S. Treasury secretary and now president emeritus of Harvard University, agreed drivers would pay less at the pump, and he said billions of dollars of additional investment would be added to the economy if the export ban ended.

“I don’t really understand who the losers are who are very important,” Summers said at a Brookings event in Washington.

His remarks and the report from Brookings add support for exports beyond the oil industry lobbyists who’ve argued removing the ban is the best way to ensure the U.S. energy renaissance continues. That probably won’t change the political dynamics immediately, said Jeff Navin, a former deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Energy Department.

[Demeter]

27. Larry Who?

[Fuddnik]

28. He's related to a couple of guys named Curley and Moe.

[Demeter]

29. Thanks, I needed that!

There's not much to laugh at anymore in the news. Even scoffing is hard to come by.

[Demeter]

26. STILL 1.4 Million Fewer Full-Time Jobs Than in 2008

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2014/09/still-1-4-million-fewer-full-time-jobs-2008.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Yves here. Despite his many faults, Bill Clinton at least recognized that the first responsibility of a Democratic president is to create jobs. Of course, Obama is a Democrat in name only, but until recently, just as the nobility understood its duty was to protect the peasants, the powers that be understood that providing for enough employment at at least adequate wages was one of their major responsibilities. Sadly, the idea of having responsibilities is sorely absent among today’s elites.

By Lee Adler of the Wall Street Examiner

Let’s cut to the chase: There were 1,446,000 fewer people working full time in August 2014 than in August 2008, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics household survey (CPS).


Full Time Employment Measures

That’s after an increase of 210,000 full-time jobs in August. That’s the actual count, not the seasonally adjusted abstraction. So we have to compare that with past Augusts to get an idea if its any good or not. August is a swing month, sometimes up, sometimes down. The average change over the prior 10 years, which included a couple of ugly years in the recession, was -63,000. So this number wasn’t bad. It was slightly better than August of last year and 2012, but come on….

It’s still 1.4 million below 2008? In 2008, the economy was in full collapse mode. The Fed has expanded its balance sheet by $3.7 trillion since August 2008 and there are fewer full-time jobs now than then? Remind me again what that $3.7 trillion has bought!


QE Stimulates Stock Market Bubble

Since August 2009, near the bottom of the recession, the US economy has added 6.25 million full-time jobs, a 5.5% increase. That amounts to $588,000 in Fed QE per added full time job. But that’s ok. It’s been great for bankers, securities brokers, and hedge funds. While the number of full time jobs increased 5.5%, stock prices soared 175%. It’s all good!

Or not. I have argued for a long time that the Fed’s policies have rewarded financial engineering at the expense of job creation. The Fed has made it profitable for corporations to borrow free money to buy back the stock options that they issue to their executives rather than investing in expanding their businesses and creating jobs. The Fed’s policies have enabled corporate executives and their financial enablers to conduct a massive skimming of the US economy and wealth transfer at the expense of everybody else. By promoting this behavior, not only has Fed policy been ineffective in stimulating real growth, it has been a moral outrage, decimating the middle class and robbing the elderly of their life savings as they’re forced to consume principal.

The result has been that growth in full time jobs barely keeps pace with population growth. The ratio of full-time jobs to total population was 48.4% last month. That’s finally above the August 2009 reading of 48.2%. August 2009 was the bottom of the recession. At the bottom of the 2003 recession, before the housing bubble took off, this ratio was at 52%. In terms of a recovery in the number of jobs that might support a family, the Fed hasn’t supported recovery, it has suppressed it.