STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 28 October 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 28 October 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 27 October 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 27 October 2014
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Dow Jones 16,817.94 +12.53 (0.07%)
[font color=red]S&P 500 1,961.63 -2.95 (-0.15%)
[font color=green]Nasdaq 4,485.93 +2.22 (0.05%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.26% +0.01 (0.44%)
30 Year 3.04% +0.01 (0.33%)[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]

[spotbird]

1. What now?

For reasons that don't matter, I've been very out of circulation. Some personal predecline guesses proved wrong. On the other hand, overall, doing nothing for three years has been better than doing something mainstream would have been.

It's time to get back into life nest-egg protection strategy. What did I miss? There is a rumor Obama is still President. Gold is down, but you can't buy any. Real estate still sucks. Any good news?

[Demeter]

3. Only if you are a Putin supporter

[DemReadingDU]

40. Good news - eat more chocolate!

see Demeter's post #13 about chocolate

[Crewleader]

2. Halloween In A Election Year

[Demeter]

4. Hungarians stage Budapest protest against internet tax

BAD MOVE, HUNGARY

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-29783253

Thousands of protesters in the Hungarian capital Budapest have demanded a halt to a proposed law which would place a tax on internet use. Demonstrators held their mobile phones aloft outside the economy ministry and hurled old computer parts at the gates of the ruling Fidesz party. Campaigners say the legislation is "anti-democratic" and will hit the poor.

The draft law, proposed by the government of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, would levy a fee of 150 forints (£0.40; €0.50; $0.60) per gigabyte of data traffic...In response, the ruling Fidesz party said it would submit an amendment to the law ensuring that monthly payments of the tax were capped at 700 florints...Ministers have promised to place a cap on the tax.

But many of those who gathered in Budapest on Sunday are worried about the consequences. Rally organisers said the move "follows a wave of alarming anti-democratic measures by Orban that is pushing Hungary even further adrift from Europe".

Despite divisions within Fidesz, Mr Orban commands broad popularity in Hungary and the party has won three elections this year. But his opponents have decried what they see as his increasingly authoritarian style and his closeness to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

BUT, IS PUTIN CLOSE TO HIM? I DON'T THINK SO....

[Demeter]

5. Paul Krugman’s sloppy, wet kiss

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/19/thomas_frank_paul_krugmans_sloppy_wet_kiss/

Krugman's ode to Obama in Rolling Stone seems like the work of someone who hasn't read Krugman the last six years...Paul Krugman is easily the best newspaper columnist at work today; for years, he has been the only American columnist who matters. His relentless, one-man war on austerity, I believe, should have earned him a second Nobel Prize.

As Salon readers know, Krugman has for years been willing to criticize the Obama administration. However, in a much-discussed essay the economist published in Rolling Stone last week, he reverses himself and declares that Obama has won him over; that the president is “one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history.”

What makes Krugman’s article peculiar is that he now derides as irresponsible “Obama-bashing” some of the very criticisms of the administration that he himself has made over the years. In 2010, for example, he strongly hinted that bankers had been engaged in “white-collar looting”; in Rolling Stone he laughs at people who complain that “Wall Street hasn’t been punished.” The Krugman of today also, amazingly, distances himself from certain misguided souls who are upset because “income inequality remains so high”; amazing because this is a subject on which Krugman has written for decades—indeed, just a few months ago he penned a scorcher against people who deny the mushrooming problem of inequality.

Krugman tells us that his regard for the president was late to bloom. I myself moved in the opposite direction. I liked Obama a lot in 2008; in fact, I even voted for him during his ill-fated run for Congress in 2000. I anticipated great things from his presidency, in part because he wasn’t connected in any obvious way with the Clinton administration. And I have been increasingly disappointed by his performance as the years passed....Krugman’s approach in Rolling Stone is to take a look at these things and announce that the glass is half full, rather than half empty as his previous observations led him to believe. Based on this new and more accurate reading, he pronounces Obama to have earned Mount Rushmore status....

MORE BUYER'S REMORSE AT LINK

[Demeter]

6. THE OFFENDING ARTICLE: In Defense of Obama PAUL KRUGMAN

http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/in-defense-of-obama-20141008

When it comes to Barack Obama, I've always been out of sync. Back in 2008, when many liberals were wildly enthusiastic about his candidacy and his press was strongly favorable, I was skeptical. I worried that he was naive, that his talk about transcending the political divide was a dangerous illusion given the unyielding extremism of the modern American right. Furthermore, it seemed clear to me that, far from being the transformational figure his supporters imagined, he was rather conventional-minded: Even before taking office, he showed signs of paying far too much attention to what some of us would later take to calling Very Serious People, people who regarded cutting budget deficits and a willingness to slash Social Security as the very essence of political virtue.

And I wasn't wrong. Obama was indeed naive: He faced scorched-earth Republican opposition from Day One, and it took him years to start dealing with that opposition realistically. Furthermore, he came perilously close to doing terrible things to the U.S. safety net in pursuit of a budget Grand Bargain; we were saved from significant cuts to Social Security and a rise in the Medicare age only by Republican greed, the GOP's unwillingness to make even token concessions.

But now the shoe is on the other foot: Obama faces trash talk left, right and center – literally – and doesn't deserve it. Despite bitter opposition, despite having come close to self-inflicted disaster, Obama has emerged as one of the most consequential and, yes, successful presidents in American history. His health reform is imperfect but still a huge step forward – and it's working better than anyone expected. Financial reform fell far short of what should have happened, but it's much more effective than you'd think. Economic management has been half-crippled by Republican obstruction, but has nonetheless been much better than in other advanced countries. And environmental policy is starting to look like it could be a major legacy.

I'll go through those achievements shortly. First, however, let's take a moment to talk about the current wave of Obama-bashing. All Obama-bashing can be divided into three types.

One, a constant of his time in office, is the onslaught from the right, which has never stopped portraying him as an Islamic atheist Marxist Kenyan. Nothing has changed on that front, and nothing will.

There's a different story on the left, where you now find a significant number of critics decrying Obama as, to quote Cornel West, someone who ''posed as a progressive and turned out to be counterfeit.'' They're outraged that Wall Street hasn't been punished, that income inequality remains so high, that ''neoliberal'' economic policies are still in place. All of this seems to rest on the belief that if only Obama had put his eloquence behind a radical economic agenda, he could somehow have gotten that agenda past all the political barriers that have con- strained even his much more modest efforts. It's hard to take such claims seriously.

Finally, there's the constant belittling of Obama from mainstream pundits and talking heads. Turn on cable news (although I wouldn't advise it) and you'll hear endless talk about a rudderless, stalled administration, maybe even about a failed presidency. Such talk is often buttressed by polls showing that Obama does, indeed, have an approval rating that is very low by historical standards.

But this bashing is misguided even in its own terms – and in any case, it's focused on the wrong thing....

TO FIND THE RIGHT THING, SEE LINK

[bread_and_roses]

43. "They [He] didn’t even try." - and there's the crux of it

All the apologists around here can call up the boogyman of R obstructionism all they want - the reality is "They didn’t even try." Who knows what would have transpired if they had?

It was a betrayal I, for one, have never gotten over. It demolished any hope I ever had that electoral politics would ever make a difference to the ruling junta's depredations. And it has paved the way for the sort of heads-on-pikes outcomes that inevitably result in many of the wrong heads on pikes and the rise of repressive and brutal authoritarianism - a la the Russian revolution.

The consequences are simply incalculable.

[Demeter]

7. Trillions in Global Cash Await Call to Fix Crumbling U.S.

GEE! THE 1%ERS CAN'T WAIT TO LEND US BACK OUR QUANTITATIVE EASING...AT SUBPRIME INTEREST RATES! AND CHARGE US TOLLS FOR THE ROADS THEY DON'T FIX.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-15/crumbling-u-s-fix-seen-with-global-trillions-of-dollars.html

...“It’s an enduring irony that the U.S., allegedly the home of innovation, is absolutely block-headed and backwards in this one respect,” former Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels, now the president of Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana, said in an interview. “America needs the upgrade and modernization of our infrastructure, and I don’t think you’ll get there if you keep excluding, or at least discouraging, private capital.” ....

IT'S EVERY BIT THE NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET YOU EXPECT AT HALLOWEEN...SEE LINK!

[Demeter]

8. Police Pay Gap: Many of America's Finest Struggle on Poverty Wages

IT'S THAT RIGHT TO WORK FOR LESS, DAGNABIT! THE 'MURICAN WAY!

http://www.nbcnews.com/feature/in-plain-sight/police-pay-gap-many-americas-finest-struggle-poverty-wages-n232701

...Data obtained by NBC News from 24 municipal police departments in St. Louis County reveal a gulf between police officer pay in poor, majority African-American northern cities and wealthier, whiter cities further south. Average annual patrol officer pay ranges from $23,000 in Hillsdale to nearly $70,000 in Town and County and Des Peres.

The police pay gap in St. Louis County is mirrored in metropolitan areas and rural communities around the United States, with some officers earning a comfortable middle-class living and others scraping by on poverty and near poverty wages, forced to take second and third jobs to cover basic costs...

[Demeter]

9. Why income inequality is America’s biggest (and most difficult) problem Sean McElwee

SEE PREVIOUS POST!

http://www.salon.com/2014/10/26/why_income_inequality_is_americas_biggest_and_most_difficult_problem/


It's time to take take America's wealthiest down a peg — but how?

TAX THEM! TAX THEM AT 90% MARGINAL RATES! TAX THEM UNTIL THEY LEAVE THE COUNTRY, AND THEN CONFISCATE THEIR WEALTH AS THEY LEAVE! TAKE AWAY THEIR PASSPORTS, SO THE TAX CHEATS CAN NEVER COME BACK.

(I'M PRACTICING FOR A GRUMPY OLD AGE...HOW'M I DOING?)

...The rich make enough money to save; in contrast middle-class and low-income workers don’t have enough money to live, so they are increasingly burdened by debt. They can’t build up wealth, which means they are deprived of opportunity. This creates a self-perpetuating cycle of wealth on the top and debt on the bottom.

In a comedy bit on wealth, Chris Rock claims, “You can’t get rid of wealth.” The empirical research on the question largely supports his assertion. In “The Son Also Rises,” Gregory Clark finds that wealth remains in a family for 10-to-15 generations and notes,

Groups that seem to persist in low or high status, such as the black and the Jewish populations in the United States, are not exceptions to a general rule of higher intergenerational mobility. They are experiencing the same universal rates of slow intergenerational mobility as the rest of the population.

But, of course wealth and income inequality weren’t always as bad as they are today. What happened? In a word: cheating. Although many people try to explain rising inequality away by arguing we live in a winner-take-all economy or that inequality is the result of skill-biased technological change, these arguments are bunk. Inequality has been driven by public policy choices that favored the rich, the decline of unions and the rise of finance. As the chart below shows, tax rates on both income and inheritance were high during the relatively equal ’60s, ’70s and ’80s and then fell dramatically paving the way for the inequality we see today:



MORE AT LINK, AND YES, HE DOES ADVOCATE TAXING...

[Demeter]

10. States With The Widest Gap Between Rich And Poor: 24/7 Wall St.

http://247wallst.com/special-report/2014/10/22/states-with-the-widest-gap-between-rich-and-poor/

Income inequality has grown so severe in recent years that Federal Reserve Board Chair Janet Yellen described it as a source of great concern. In a speech earlier this month Yellen said, “The distribution of income and wealth in the United States has been widening more or less steadily for several decades, to a greater extent than in most advanced countries.”

In some parts of the U.S., the problem of income inequality is especially pronounced. Based on the Gini coefficient, which measures the degree to which incomes deviate from perfect equality, 24/7 Wall St. reviewed the states with the widest gap between the rich and the poor. Last year, New York was the most unequal state in the nation...

States With the Widest Gap Between Rich and Poor



10. New Jersey
> Gini coefficient: 0.4800
> Median household income: $70,165 (3rd highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 9.7% (the highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 11.4% (8th lowest)

9. Texas
> Gini coefficient: 0.4807
> Median household income: $51,704 (23rd highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 5.1% (14th highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 17.5% (13th highest)

8. Illinois
> Gini coefficient: 0.4824
> Median household income: $56,210 (17th highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 5.6% (10th highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 14.7% (25th lowest)

7. Massachusetts
> Gini coefficient: 0.4837 (tied-6th highest)
> Median household income: $66,768 (6th highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 8.3% (4th highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 11.9% (11th lowest)

6. Georgia
> Gini coefficient: 0.4837 (tied-6th highest)
> Median household income: $47,829 (18th lowest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 3.9% (tied-21st highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 19.0% (5th highest)

5. Florida
> Gini coefficient: 0.4843
> Median household income: $46,036 (12th lowest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 3.9% (tied-21st highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 17.0% (15th highest)

4. California
> Gini coefficient: 0.4903
> Median household income: $60,190 (10th highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 7.7% (6th highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 16.8% (16th highest)

3. Louisiana
> Gini coefficient: 0.4914
> Median household income: $44,164 (8th lowest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 3.6% (25th highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 19.8% (3rd highest)

2. Connecticut
> Gini coefficient: 0.4994
> Median household income: $67,098 (5th highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 9.3% (2nd highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 10.7% (4th lowest)

1. New York
> Gini coefficient: 0.5098
> Median household income: $57,369 (16th highest)
> Households earning $200,000+: 7.3% (7th highest)
> Population living below poverty line: 16.0% (20th highest)

DETAILS AT LINK

[Demeter]

11. The Fed Is Expected To Pull Its QE Punch Bowl This Week

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-federal-reserve-to-take-away-the-punch-bowl-2014-10

Unless it springs a major surprise, the U.S. Federal Reserve will call time this week on its program of government bond purchases, which at one point was pumping $85 billion a month into financial markets and the economy.

James Bullard, who heads the St. Louis Fed, has suggested that sticking with bond purchases for a few more months would give policymakers time to assess a deteriorating inflation outlook.

That helped markets to calm from a violent sell-off 10 days ago but economists expect the Fed to turn off its money taps on schedule on Wednesday, while giving accompanying assurances that it will respond if a global downturn threatens its economy.

"We remain optimistic that the recent upshift from 2 percent to 3 percent growth will be sustained," economists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a note.

It may well be that the Fed keeps U.S. interest rates virtually at zero for longer given tumbling energy prices and an absence of wage growth. Investors have already pushed expectations for an initial rate rise back several months to late next year...

MORE TEA LEAVES AT LINK

[Demeter]

45. UPDATE: They aren't stopping QE, they just aren't increasing it

Heard this on NPR....they will replace bonds in the Fed Reserve portfolio as they mature. They just aren't buying more and more and more....

So QE isn't going away. So much for that malarkey!

[Demeter]

12. Washington Is Defaming Putin: Vladimir Putin Is The Leader Of the Moral World By Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article40067.htm

...Washington long ago learned the dark art of silencing truth with defamation. Washington used defamation to overthrow Iran’s elected leader, Mossadegh in 1953, to overthrow Congo’s prime minister Patrice Lumumba in 1960, to overthrow Guatemala’s President Arbenz in 1954, to overthrow Venezuela’s President Hugo Chevez in 2002, a coup that was cancelled by the Venezuelan people and military who threw out Washington’s stooge replacement and reinstalled Chavez, to overthrow Ukraine’s elected President Yanukovych in 2013, to overthrow Honduras President Manuel Zelaya in 2009 , to overthrow in 2013 Mohamed Morsi, president of the first democratically elected government in Egypt’s history, to overthrow Gaddafi in Libya, Saddam Hussein in Iraq, in ongoing efforts to overthrow Assad in Syria and the government of Iran, and in failed attempts to overthrow Indonesia’s Sukarno, Ho Chi Minh in Vietnam, and Castro in Cuba.

Today Washington’s target is Vladimir Putin. This is the height of folly and hubris. Putin’s public support far exceeds that of any American president in history. Currently, the level of public support for the Obama regime and the US Congress is far too low to be compatible with a functioning democracy. If the US is actually a democracy, it is the most dysfunctional democracy in world history. Practically no one, except the powerful private interest groups who own Washington, supports the US government. Everyone else despises Washington.

As the result of 13 years of murderous destruction of life and property in the Middle East and Africa, a dysfunctional and collapsing US economy, and a display of unrivaled arrogance, Washington has destroyed America’s soft power. Abroad only the deluded few and those paid by US-financed NGOs still have a good opinion of the United States.

In all world polls, the US ranks as the greatest threat to world peace. Washington has made our country a despised nation, and we the people have done nothing about it. You would never know this from the US print or TV media or even from most of the UK and Western European media....

MORE HARD TRUTHS AT LINK

[Demeter]

13. Chocolate component reverses memory loss in older people, claims study

http://www.theguardian.com/science/2014/oct/27/chocolate-component-reverses-memory-loss-older-people-claims-study


Columbia University research indicates high-flavanol cocoa rejuvenates specific brain activity through increased blood flow...


THE ONLY PROBLEM IS, I HAVE TO HIDE IT FROM THE KID IN ORDER TO EAT ANY OF IT....AND I CAN'T REMEMBER WHERE I PUT IT!

[DemReadingDU]

38. Yum, more chocolate!

Best news yet!

[Demeter]

14. Under full capital rules, 36 EU banks would have failed test

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/27/us-eu-banks-capital-idUSKBN0IG1RK20141027?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

Europe's banking health check has shown countries and lenders are implementing global capital rules at vastly different speeds, and 36 companies would have failed if new capital rules were fully applied.

The euro zone is lagging behind countries outside the bloc in implementing the Basel III capital rules that are due to come into full force in 2019, potentially adding another challenge for the European Central Bank when it takes over supervision of euro zone lenders next month.

"On a fully loaded basis, many banks have only passed the stress test by very thin margins or could be challenged in meeting the requirements, so they will be expected to do more," said Carola Schuler, managing director for banking at ratings agency Moody's.

Some 25 European banks failed a health check of whether they could withstand a recession, and another 11 would have failed if the full Basel III rules had been applied, according to data from the European Banking Authority released on Sunday....

The divergence was substantial across countries.

Capital ratios for Greek banks were on average 7.8 percentage points lower under full Basel rules, and the difference for Irish banks was almost 7 percentage points. Ratios for Portuguese banks were 220 basis points lower on average and in Spain they were 100 bps lower.

On a full Basel III basis, five German banks, including HSH Nordbank and DZ Bank, would have failed, compared with just one - Muenchener Hypothekenbank - in the standard test.

But in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Britain, Poland and Hungary, there was almost no difference between the full Basel III rules and the transitional numbers, because national regulators have effectively fully implemented the rules already.

WONDER IF THEY WILL RELEASE THE NAMES OF THE BANKS THAT WOULD HAVE FAILED...

[Demeter]

15. 5 Ways To Keep Your Health And Your Wealth In Retirement

http://www.forbes.com/sites/nancyanderson/2014/10/27/5-ways-to-keep-your-health-and-your-wealth-in-retirement/

In the “Women, Money and Power” study by Allianz, almost half the women surveyed responded that they “often” or “sometimes” fear losing all their money and becoming homeless. This fear permeated all income levels — a third of respondents who make $200,000 or more per year still reported that they were afraid of becoming bag ladies.

The real worry, however, isn’t as extreme as losing everything and looking like an extra on “Les Mis.” It’s the slow and steady drip of increased health care expenses in retirement, which can leave you with all the time in the world but not the money to enjoy it.

When we think of what we’re going to spend our retirement savings on, we tend to think more about the fun stuff — spending our hard-earned cash on medical expenses feels like a kill-joy. I’d much rather rent a convertible and take a drive along Highway 1 in California or take a helicopter ride over the Grand Canyon than pay for Medicare Part D premiums and out-of-pocket medical expenses.

In order to do both, it’s important to plan ahead for health care expenses in retirement. Here are some ways to prepare:

SEE LINK---IT MIGHT HELP!

[Demeter]

16. READ THIS ARTICLE FOR LAUGHS-- 6 Unusual Retirement Lifestyles

http://www.forbes.com/pictures/fjkj45ehlk/seniors-want-to-leave-something-for-the-kids-2/


Keep On Truckin'

Retirees are getting their trucking licenses and hitting the road for long-haul drives. The appeal? Seeing the country and getting paid for it.

The Traveling Retirement Worker

So-called "workampers" travel around the country in their RVs and work in recreational centers like parks and campgrounds in exchange for wages that often supplement their retirement income. Workampers are sometimes offered free campsites to park their RVs.

Star Gazers' Delight

Retirees can kick back in Arizona's Sky Village, which caters to star lovers, in haciendas furnished with their own telescopes. This retirement community, co-founded by astro-photographer Jack Newtown, sits beside the Chiricahua Mountain range in southeast Arizona.

Living the High Life

Residents of Spruce Creek Fly-In community in Daytona Beach can taxi their planes into their own personal hangars. The community is built around 14 miles of taxi way and a 4,000 foot runway and is home to 5,000 residents.

Artists At Heart

Niche retirement communities are rising in popularity. Burbank Senior Artist Colony in downtown Burbank, Calif. caters to writers, musicians and actors alike, and features a performance theater and on-site art classes.

South of the Border

Central American countries like Panama and Nicaragua are rising in popularity among retirees looking to make a permanent move abroad. Financial planners say the cost of living there its proximity to the U.S. are big draws for retirees they work with.

[Demeter]

17. Bulk of Americans abroad want to give up citizenship

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102122343

A staggering number of Americans residing abroad are tempted to give up their U.S. passports in the wake of tougher asset-disclosure rules under the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act (FATCA), according to a new survey.

The survey by financial consultancy deVere Group asked expatriate Americans around the world "Would you consider voluntarily relinquishing your U.S. citizenship due to the impact of FATCA?"

Seventy-three percent of respondents answered that they had "actively considered it", "are thinking about it" or "have explored the options of it." On the other hand, 16 percent said they would not consider relinquishing their U.S. citizenship, and 11 percent did not know...

THINK OF THE FACE-SAVING YOU WOULD GET...NOT HAVING TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE GOVT.

[Demeter]

18. Rousseff pledges changes after narrow re-election win, markets fall

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/28/us-brazil-election-idUSKCN0IE03L20141028?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews

President Dilma Rousseff promised on Monday to make changes to her economic policies as she sought to build bridges with business leaders after narrowly winning re-election at the end of an acrimonious campaign.

Rousseff said in television interviews the changes would be announced next month after broad discussions with industrial and financial leaders, and that they would include reforming Brazil's onerous tax system.

"I will try to make the changes and reforms that the country needs," Rousseff said in an interview with TV Record. She also said she will soon pick a new finance minister but did not go into detail on the reforms or who she might choose.

Rousseff, 66, won a second term by a slim margin on Sunday, overcoming dissatisfaction with a sluggish economy and poor public services and dashing the hopes of investors who had bet on her centrist pro-business challenger, Aecio Neves.

The victory, driven by strong support among Brazil's poor, met with cold reality on Monday as Brazil's financial markets tumbled....

SO, SHE'S GOING TO BETRAY HER SUPPORTERS? NOT A SMART MOVE, M'AM.

[Demeter]

19. What Harvard's President Says About People Who Want To Skip College

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/10/27/harvard-president-college-value_n_6057532.html?utm_hp_ref=business&ir=Business

There's a growing skepticism in this country about whether college is really worth it. Last week, one of higher education’s heavy hitters weighed in on that national debate.

Harvard president Drew Faust kicked off the university’s campaign to make the case for college. Faust wrote an op-ed in the USA Today and then delivered a speech to high school students and teachers in Dallas.

On Campus caught up with President Faust shortly after her speech, and began the conversation by asking her why she finds it's necessary now to defend the value of college...

IT'S NOT A QUESTION OF WORTH--IT'S A QUESTION OF AFFORDABILITY!

[Demeter]

20. In other news

our little community had a coyote on the prowl last night, howling for a mate, most likely. It was spotted by two residents, at least. I heard it outside my windows, personally.

Since this is Ann Arbor, we have no options for removal.

Living the wild life,

Demeter

[Fuddnik]

21. Wanna borrow one of our gators?

[Fuddnik]

44. Here's a 10 footer that lives in the retention pond next to our Irish Pub.

We reserve that section for Steeler fan seating on Sundays.

[kickysnana]

22. Very local weekly notes a cat eating coyote in the area here.

First possums, cougars/pumas, now coyotes. Next thing you know we will have a moose, bears, boas and alligators...oh wait, we already did according to the TVnews.

[DemReadingDU]

41. I hear coyotes near our house on some evenings

Just started this video, and my 4 dogs started barking!

[Demeter]

23. Weather Underground is predicting snow for Halloween!

Oh, dear. I am really not ready for this. Two of the half dozen rose buds are starting to open, finally. I'll have to try to force them inside.

[xchrom]

24. Sweden Just Slashed Interest Rates To Zero In Fight To Get Out Of Deflation

http://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-just-slashed-interest-rates-to-zero-2014-10

Sweden's central bank, the Riksbank, just slashed its main interest rate to zero. That's zero as in nothing, nada, 0%.

It's a rare move for a central bank. Normally, central banks that want to boost their economies and fuel a bit of inflation like to keep their interest rate nominally above zero — at 0.25% or 0.5% — in order to maintain the fig leaf that they're not targeting a "no-interest" interest rate. Being just above zero still gives you one last weapon to use, in the form of a cut to zero, in case things get really bad.

But in Sweden, the figleaf has now been abandoned altogether. They're now looking at negative interest rate territory as the next place to go — a situation most people only hear about in theory in macroeconomic classes. The European Central Bank started flirting with that policy in June.

The country doesn't use the euro, but like the rest of the eurozone it is also mired in a low inflation and deflation scenario. The most recent inflation data for September recorded a 0.4% drop in prices compared to the same month last year.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/sweden-just-slashed-interest-rates-to-zero-2014-10#ixzz3HR2pVULW

[Demeter]

46. Sweden let the neoliberals into government, and everything was slashed

and this is the result.

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

Public, governmental Austerity is the path to the death spiral of an economy. Put the Austerians on the nearest lamppost, and be done with it!

[xchrom]

25. Markets Are Climbing

http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-oct-28-2014-2014-10

Here's the scorecard, so far:

France's CAC 40 is up 0.72%

Spain's IBEX is up 1.30%

Italy's FTSE MIB is up 1.58%

Britain's FTSE 100 is up 0.64%

Germany's DAX is up 1.46%

Asian markets closed mixed again. The Nikkei closed down 0.38%. The Hang Seng closed up 1.63%.

US futures are up, too. The S&P is up 10.50 points, and the Dow is up 79 points.

It's a quiet day for data from Europe, but there's a bundle from the US later on. At 7:30 a.m. ET, durable goods orders are out, with economists expecting a 0.5% boost in September. The Case-Shiller house price index is out at 10 a.m. ET, followed by consumer confidence an hour later.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-oct-28-2014-2014-10#ixzz3HR3LLRbB

[xchrom]

26. Lloyds Bank's Bill For Mis-Selling Insurance Just Topped $17 Billion; Layoffs Coming

http://www.businessinsider.com/r-lloyds-bill-for-mis-selling-insurance-rises-to-over-11-billion-pounds-2014-10

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's Lloyds Banking Group has taken another 900 million pound ($1.5 billion) charge to compensate customers mis-sold loan insurance, delivering a further blow to the bank which only narrowly passed a European health check.

The new charge on Tuesday took the bank's total cost to cover the mis-selling of payment protection insurance (PPI) to 11.3 billion pounds ($18.2 billion), more than any other bank and close to half of the total bill for the industry.

The policies were meant to cover repayments if customers fell ill or lost their jobs but were often sold to people who did not need them or would be ineligible to claim.

Analysts at Citi said they expected Lloyds to set aside another 1 billion pounds for PPI compensation next year and Lloyds Finance Director George Culmer told reporters on a conference call he could not rule out further increases.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-lloyds-bill-for-mis-selling-insurance-rises-to-over-11-billion-pounds-2014-10#ixzz3HR3nQ2Mc

[xchrom]

27. The US Dollar Plays The Villain In The Emerging Markets Horror Story

http://www.businessinsider.com/scary-story-for-emerging-markets-2014-10

The consequences of the coming bull market in the US dollar, which I’ve been predicting for a number of years, go far beyond suppression of commodity prices (which in general is a good thing for consumers – but could at some point threaten the US shale-oil boom). The all-too-predictable effects of a rising dollar on emerging markets that have been propped up by hot inflows and the dollar carry trade will spread far beyond the emerging markets themselves. This is another key aspect of the not-so-coincidental consequences that we will be exploring in our series on what I feel is a sea change in the global economic environment.

I’ve been wrapped up constantly in conferences and symposia the last four days and knew I would want to concentrate on the people and topics I would be exposed to, so I asked my able associate Worth Wray to write this week’s letter on a topic he is very passionate about: the potential train wreck in emerging markets. I’ll have a few comments at the end, but let’s jump right into Worth’s essay.

A Scary Story for Emerging Markets

By Worth Wray

“The experience of the [1990s] attests that international investors have considerable resources at their command in the search for high returns. While they are willing to commit capital to any national market in large volume, they are also capable of withdrawing that capital quickly.”
– Carmen & Vincent Reinhart

“Capital flows can turn on a dime, and when they do, they can bring the entire financial infrastructure [of a recipient country] crashing down.”
– Barry Eichengreen



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/scary-story-for-emerging-markets-2014-10#ixzz3HR8MxR8M

[xchrom]

28. Crashing Oil Prices Are Spilling Into Other Markets In A Bad Way

http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-adviser-insights-october-27-2014-10

Falling oil prices are having negative effects in other markets. Specifically, it has fueled the recent high-yield bond market sell-off.

"Despite the recent drop in high-yield bond prices — and accompanying higher yields — we're still cautious on high-yield bonds. We believe any further declines in oil prices could continue to put pressure on the high-yield market," writes Collin Martin.

Instead, Charles Schwab analysts recommend that investors who are reaching for yield should switch up to investment-grade corporate bonds.

There are two standards that govern financial advisors: suitability and fiduciary. Fiduciaries have a stricter duty, and legal obligations, and as a result advisers who operate under this standard must act in the interest of the client at all time.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/financial-adviser-insights-october-27-2014-10#ixzz3HRA3SX2d

[xchrom]

29. Wall Street Expects Already Fat Profit Margins To Expand Into 2015

http://www.businessinsider.com/profit-margins-expected-to-expand-2014-10

America's big companies have managed to generate healthy profit growth despite weak revenue growth. They've been pulling this off by improving operational efficiencies, which often means laying off workers and getting more out of the workers who stick around.

This story has been captured neatly by widening profit margins.

According to data from FactSet, Q3 earnings per share grew at a 5.6% rate while revenue climbed by just 3.7%. It's the same old story.

Margins are already near record highs. But analysts expect they'll actually go higher from here. Here's more from FactSet:

...For Q4 2014, Q1 2015, and Q2 2015, analysts are predicting earnings growth rates of 6.0%, 7.8%, and 9.0%, respectively. For all of 2014, the projected earnings growth rate is 6.1%. For all of 2015, the projected earnings growth rate is 10.5%.

...For Q4 2014, Q1 2015, and Q2 2015, analysts are predicting revenue growth rates of 2.8%, 3.5%, and 2.9%. For all of 2014, the projected revenue growth rate is 3.7%. For all of 2015, the projected revenue growth rate is 3.7%.

Given this divergence in expected earnings and revenue growth over the next few quarters, analysts are expecting profit margins to continue to expand into 2015. Using the bottom-up sales-per-share (SPS) and earnings-per-share (EPS) estimates for the S&P 500 as proxies for expected sales and earnings for the index over the next few quarters, profit margin estimates can be calculated by dividing the expected EPS by the expected SPS for each quarter. Using this methodology, the estimated net profit margins for Q4 2014, Q1 2015, and Q2 2015 are 10.3%, 10.4%, and 10.7%. These numbers are above the blended net profit margin for Q3 2014 (9.9%), and are also well above the average net profit margin of 9.3% recorded over the past four years.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/profit-margins-expected-to-expand-2014-10#ixzz3HRAqAeZK

[Demeter]

47. They are crazy--they have so few customers left, thanks to the layoffs

blood from a turnip time

[xchrom]

30. GLOBAL STOCKS MOSTLY HIGHER AS FED MEETING AWAITED

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-28-05-18-46

KEEPING SCORE: In morning trading, Germany's DAX jumped 1.4 percent to 9,023.80 and France's CAC-40 added 0.3 percent to 4,110.63. Britain's FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 6,389.96. European benchmarks had tumbled Monday after regulators warned some banks needed to raise extra capital. Wall Street looked set to rebound from Monday's small losses, with futures for the Standard & Poor's 500 up 0.5 percent. Dow Jones industrial average futures were up 0.4 percent.

FED WATCH: Investors looked ahead to Wednesday's monthly policy announcement by the Fed's Federal Open Market Committee, for signs about a possible timeline for interest rate hikes. The Fed is winding down its $4 trillion bond-buying program, known as quantitative easing. That is heightening concern about whether the U.S. economy is strong enough to sustain growth without that support.

THE QUOTE: "The main block of U.S. earnings season is now in its final week and Wednesday night's FOMC meeting looms large in the market's psyche," said strategist Evan Lucas of IG Markets in Melbourne, Australia. "With the end of the asset purchase program a foregone conclusion, speculation is once again mounting about the movement of interest rates."

ASIA'S DAY: China's Shanghai Composite Index rose 2.1 percent to 2,337.87 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng added 1.6 percent to 23,520.36. India's Sensex was up 0.4 percent to 26,867.02. Tokyo's Nikkei 225 bucked the trend, falling 0.4 percent to 15,329.91 despite strong retail sales data. Seoul and Sydney also declined.

JAPANESE CONSUMERS: Retail sales rose by a robust 2.7 percent in September after a 1.9 percent gain in August. That suggested spending was recovering from a slump that followed an increase to Japan's sales tax in April. Marcel Thieliant of Capital Economics warned wages have to grow faster to support a further rise in spending but said that was unlikely to happen.

[xchrom]

31. BP PROFITS HIT BY DROP IN OIL PRICES

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_EARNS_BP?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-28-07-02-40

LONDON (AP) -- British oil company BP says its earnings have fallen in the third quarter as the price of crude oil dropped globally.

The company says its replacement cost profit, a key gauge of earnings for oil companies, fell to $2.39 billion in the three months to September from $3.18 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Its earnings from upstream operations, in which it explores and extracts oil, were down, reflecting the drop in oil prices. The benchmark international contract for crude has fallen $28 in the past four months, to around $86 a barrel.

BP has a stake in Rosneft, the Russian state-controlled oil company. It said Tuesday, however, that sanctions by the U.S. and European Union on Russia "have had no material adverse impact."

[xchrom]

32. GM TO MOVE PRODUCTION OF VOLT PART TO US

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_GENERAL_MOTORS_PRODUCTION?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-10-28-00-04-19

DETROIT (AP) -- General Motors is moving production of a critical component in the Chevrolet Volt from Mexico to Michigan.

GM CEO Mary Barra is expected to announce the plan later Tuesday in a speech to the Detroit Economic Club.

The automaker will build the electric drive unit for the second-generation Volt at its Warren Transmission Plant in suburban Detroit. An electric drive unit powers the Volt's wheels.

GM won't hire any new workers to make the part. The part had been made at a plant in Ramos Arzipe, in the northern Mexico state of Coahuila.

GM has been making the plug-in hybrid Volt in Detroit since it went on sale in 2010. The second generation of the Volt is expected to go on sale sometime next year.

Barra is also expected to announce $300 million in investments in Michigan between now and the end of this year.

[xchrom]

33. Discount-Hunting Shoppers Threaten Stores’ Holiday Cheer

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-28/discount-hunting-shoppers-threaten-stores-holiday-cheer.html

Laura Pettee, a 45-year-old mother of four, would seem like an ideal customer for retail chains this holiday season.

She dropped $4,000 on Christmas gifts last year and plans to increase her spending this time around. But chasing Pettee’s money comes with a catch: She won’t buy anything at full price. The stay-at-home mom, who lives in Bronxville, New York, also skips Black Friday and won’t spend much time browsing in stores. She researches items online before she buys and expects to do about half her shopping on the Web.

Pettee represents the increasingly harsh reality for U.S. retailers. Though holiday spending is forecast to rise 4.1 percent this season, more of those dollars are shifting online and shoppers are demanding additional perks from brick-and-mortar chains. The trends -- years in the making -- have made it harder for retailers such as Target Corp. (TGT) and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. to shake off a sales slump.

Consumers frequently look for deep discounts before making a purchase, and they already know what they want ahead of time. That means they’re not as easily swayed by time-honored retailer tactics, such as luring customers with store displays and encouraging impulse buys. To get an edge, Target is offering free shipping on all orders for the first time. And Toys “R” Us Inc. sweetened its loyalty program, offering as much as $10 for every $125 that shoppers spend.

“I rarely pay retail, especially for Christmas things,” said Pettee, who keeps track of her spending for about 40 people on a spreadsheet. “And when you’re starting this far in advance, there’s no need to.”

[xchrom]

34. BP to Pay Higher Dividend as Profit Beats Estimates on Refining

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-28/bp-third-quarter-profit-falls-19-dividend-at-10-cents-a-share.html

BP Plc (BP/)’s quarterly profit beat estimates as underlying production increased and refining margins improved at Europe’s third-largest oil producer. The shares gained after the company announced a higher dividend.

Net income adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes fell 19 percent to $3 billion in the third quarter ended Sept. 30 from $3.7 billion a year earlier, the London-based company said today in a statement. That beat the $2.93 billion average of 14 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. BP will pay a dividend of 10 cents a share for the quarter, a 5.3 percent increase from a year earlier.

These are “good results from BP driven by better-than-expected capture of third-quarter downstream,” Sanford C. Bernstein & Co. said today in a note.

BP’s underlying oil and gas production, excluding Russia, rose 4.1 percent in the period, the company said. Reported production fell 2.7 percent as a concession in Abu Dhabi ended. The company’s refining marker margin, a generic measure of profitability, rose to $15.60 a barrel from $13.60 a barrel.

[xchrom]

35. Paul Ryan Poised to Seize Ways and Means Prize

http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2014-10-28/paul-ryan-moves-idea-factory-to-tax-panel-in-new-stage


Oct. 28 (Bloomberg) -- For most members of Congress, the chairmanship of the House Ways and Means Committee is the ultimate prize, a treasure trove of power and campaign cash cracked open after decades in the trenches.

Paul Ryan is about to get all that and more before he turns 45. The 2012 Republican vice presidential candidate is poised to take charge of the committee in January, giving him a chance to put his limited-government philosophy into practice and test his ability to forge compromises.

The committee will let Ryan advance his plans to cut tax rates, consolidate programs for low-income households and implement a more market-based approach to Medicare. He can bank the millions in donations that flow to the chairman and raise his national profile even higher as he contemplates a presidential campaign.


“Now, you’re actually talking about where the rubber meets the road,” said Bill Hoagland, a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington who was a Senate Republican staff member with Ryan in the 1990s. “He has a following out there, and if anything, it’s going to put pressure on him to produce, perform and actually govern.”

[xchrom]

36. Savannah Surges as Major Port for Imports on U.S. Growth

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-28/savannah-surges-as-major-port-for-imports-on-u-s-growth.html

Blueberries from Chile, Peru and Brazil may soon be heading toward U.S. tables via Savannah, Georgia, opening another shipping market in the city’s emergence as a major trade hub.

With a population of just 143,000, Savannah trails only New York City as an East Coast container port and ranks No. 4 nationally after Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, according to Datamyne and compiled by Bloomberg.

“Not only have we been the fastest-growing port in the U.S. for a decade now,” Curtis Foltz, executive director of the Georgia Ports Authority, said at the organization’s annual meeting in September. “But we’re now in a position to grow and become No. 1. Something that was unfathomable a decade ago is something that is at least within our sight.”

The city best known for its haunted-house tours and moss-draped trees has been the fastest-growing major U.S. harbor for most of the last decade with an average annual growth rate of 11 percent. Once a sleepy outpost for timber and white-clay exports, Savannah has leapfrogged Baltimore, Miami, Charleston, Norfolk and Philadelphia thanks to its transportation network and the economic expansion in the U.S. and southeast region.

[xchrom]

37. Detroit to Learn Fate of $7 Billion Debt Plan Nov. 7

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-10-28/detroit-to-learn-fate-of-7-billion-debt-plan-nov-7.html

Detroit will learn the fate of its $7 billion debt-cutting plan on Nov. 7, the judge overseeing the historic bankruptcy said after the last major creditors reached a settlement and the city made its final pitch for the proposal.

Investors that hold about $1 billion in pension-related debt announced yesterday that they had joined the last settlement in 15-month-old case, removing the only remaining organized opposition to the bankruptcy-exit plan.

The agreement was announced the same day an attorney for Detroit, Bruce Bennett of Jones Day, made the final legal argument in favor of the city’s plan. No other U.S. city or county has ever cut so much debt so quickly, he said.

“The end really is in sight,” he told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Steven Rhodes. “The city has settled with all the major economic players.”

[xchrom]

39. The Ur-Deli 170 53 57 How Katz’s stays in business against the odds.

http://www.slate.com/articles/business/continuously_operating/2014/10/katz_s_delicatessen_how_the_iconic_deli_stays_in_business_against_the_odds.html



When I sit down with Jake Dell, the 27-year-old heir to Katz’s Delicatessen, at a table toward the back of his family’s storied restaurant, he’s staring distractedly into his phone. His expression reads one part bewilderment, two parts resignation.

“Did you know there was a Beef magazine? Or a Cattle Network?” he asks. “I’m head first in cattle pricing—more than I’ve ever been.”

Katz’s is New York’s oldest surviving delicatessen. It is also, of course, the restaurant where Meg Ryan faked an orgasm in When Harry Met Sally (and has a sign inside to remind you). But far more importantly, it is the ur-deli, a place that, for a certain kind of American Jew, might trump the Western Wall in the hierarchy of Hebraic cultural heritage sites. While the current location, with its schmutzy wood paneling and walls covered with photos of celebrity diners, merely dates back to 1949, the restaurant has operated on the Lower East Side since 1888, serving up heaping, hand-sliced portions of its smoky, peppery, and unctuously fatty pastrami, along with house-cured corned beef, bocce-sized matzo balls, and other classics of the deli canon. To step inside its front door, under the pink neon signage and past the curtain of salamis hanging in its window, is to be enveloped by the thick, meaty aroma of history (as well as a throng of tourists, especially if you show up on a weekend).

But with a throwback menu comes a throwback business model, the downsides of which are especially apparent in these days of astronomical beef prices. That’s one reason why Dell—whose grandfather purchased Katz’s in 1988 and who in recent years has taken over most day-to-day oversight from his father and uncle—is fretting. If you want to fully appreciate why a place like Katz’s is special, you have to appreciate its odd economics, which pretty much ensure there will never be another deli quite like it.

[Fuddnik]

42. Demeter posted about a pretty orange sky the other morning.

Here's a shot taken the other morning of the sunrise over Ft. Sumter in Charleston Harbor.

It took me a few days to figure out how to transfer pics from my phone, and get them on Picaasa.

[Demeter]

48. Not being near water, I can't get a horizon view like that

but I'm grateful for any sunshine that comes this way.

Today was my first day on my new schedule, and it went well. But now I have to fix the Kid's Halloween costume for her party tomorrow...