STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 27 November 2015 (half day)

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 27 November 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 25 November 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 25 November 2015
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Dow Jones 17,813.39 +1.20 (0.01%)
[font color=red]S&P 500 2,088.87 -0.27 (-0.01%)
[font color=green]Nasdaq 5,116.14 +13.33 (0.26%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.23% -0.01 (-0.45%)
[font color=black]30 Year 2.99% 0.00 (0.00%) [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)
Market Updates
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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
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.





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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]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. Oh, the irony, it burns!

I was going to post something about supporting small businesses this holiday shopping season.

Then I found out the whole #ShopSmall , "Small Business Saturday" program. . . is a creation of American Express.



Shop small and local anyway.

[Warpy]

3. The only place I've ever gone on Black Friday is a big craft show here in town

that draws artists from all over the west. Now that's shopping small.

I worked retail and I worked on Black Friday. That's why I won't go out to anything but that craft show.

[Demeter]

2. After years of never finding what I wanted at any price

I have satisfied my base desires for consumption goods earlier this year. This Thanksgiving shopping season is wasted on me. What I really need is a carpenter, plumber, electrician, and 24 hour daycare for the Kid...

[Fuddnik]

6. I wonder if I could find a good Psychiatrist on Black Friday.

[MattSh]

7. Sounds like my wife...

She always said she didn't find anything she liked. Part of the problem was she was shopping at "fashionista" stores, which are geared more toward a 20-something crowd, and a lot of their stuff don't fit older women. I found out (from the English-speaking community) about a place called Humana, which deals in 2nd hand and out of season clothing, and she's never been happier. Every month they get a new collection, and every week what remains decreases in price. So we often pay 75% or more off the original price. Seems a big part of not finding what she wanted had to do with price.

[Demeter]

4. Finland's depression is the final indictment of Europe's monetary union

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/12001895/Finlands-depression-is-the-final-indictment-of-Europes-monetary-union.html

Finland has lost a quarter of its industry since 2008 even though it is the poster-child of EMU competitiveness... Finland is sliding deeper into economic depression, a prime exhibit of currency failure and an even more unsettling saga for theoretical defenders of the euro than the crucifixion of Greece. A full six-and-a-half years into the current global expansion, Finland's GDP is 6pc below its previous peak. It is suffering a deeper and more protracted slump than the post-Soviet crash of the early 1990s, or the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Nobody can accuse Finland of being spendthrift, or undisciplined, or technologically backward, or corrupt, or captive of an entrenched oligarchy, the sort of accusations levelled against the Greco-Latins. The country's public debt is 62pc of GDP, lower than in Germany. Finland has long been held up as the EMU poster child of austerity, grit, and super-flexibility, the one member of the periphery that supposedly did its homework before joining monetary union and could therefore roll with the punches. Finland tops the EU in the World Economic Forum’s index of global competitiveness. It comes 1st in the entire world for primary schools, higher education and training, innovation, property rights, intellectual property protection, its legal framework and reliability, anti-monopoly policies, university R&D links, availability of latest technologies, as well as scientists and engineers.

Its near-perfect profile demolishes the central claim of the German finance ministry - through its mouthpiece in Brussels - that countries get into bad trouble in EMU only if they drag their feet on reform and spend too much. The country has obviously been hit by a series of asymmetric shocks: the collapse of its hi-tech champion Nokia, the slump in forestry and commodity prices, and the recession in Russia.

The relevant point is that it cannot now defend itself. Finland is trapped by a fixed exchange rate and by the fiscal straightjacket of the Stability Pact, a lawyers' construct that was never intended for such circumstances. The Pact is being enforced anyway because rules are rules and because leaders in the Teutonic bloc have an idee fixee that moral hazard will run rampant if any country in the EMU core sets a bad example. Finland's output shrank a further 0.6pc in the third quarter and the country's three-year long recession is turning into a fourth year. Industrial orders fell 31pc in September. "It's spooky," said Pasi Sorjonen from Nordea.

Sweden was able to navigate similar shocks by letting its currency take the strain at key moments over the last decade. Swedish GDP is now 8pc above its pre-Lehman level. The divergence between Finland and Sweden is staggering for two Nordic economies with so much in common, and it has rekindled Finland’s dormant anti-euro movement. The Finnish parliament is to hold ‘Fixit’ hearings next year on exit from monetary union and a return to the Markka, the currency that saved Finland in the early 1990s (once the ill-judged hard-Markka policy and the fixed ECU-peg was abandoned). Paavo Väyrynen, a Euro-MP and honorary chairman of the ruling Centre party, forced the euro hearings onto the parliamentary agenda after collecting 50,000 signatures. “The eurozone is not an optimal currency area and people are becoming aware of the real reasons for our crisis,” he said. “We are in a similar situation to Italy and have lost a quarter of our industry. Our labour costs are too high,” he said.

Voters in Sweden and Denmark stopped their governments abolishing their ancient currencies. Finnish voters were never given a referendum. The decision to join the euro was rammed through against widespread opposition, and was camouflaged as a national security issue. Mr Väyrynen said the pro-euro camp whipped up the Russian threat in the 1990s, claiming that Finland needed to lock itself as deeply as possible into all aspects of the EU system for added security, (though not join Nato, the more relevant body) “They played the foreign policy card. It was a trick,” he said.


The government has failed to secure a social contract with the labour unions so it is now trying to circumvent this by chipping away at collective-bargaining powers – the latest example of how the euro system erodes workers’ rights and is fundamentally incompatible with the political values of the Left. The unions launched the biggest strikes for two decades in September...Finland is digging itself into an ever deeper hole. The International Monetary Fund warned this week against austerity overkill and “pro-cyclical” cuts before the economy is strong enough to take it. The IMF spoke softly but the message was clear. Finland should not even be thinking of a “front-loaded” fiscal contraction or slashing investment at a time when its output gap is 3.2pc of GDP. The Finnish authorities admitted in their reply to the IMF's Article IV report that they had no choice because they had to comply with the Stability Pact. This is what European policy-making has come to.








The question has to be asked in any case: if the euro cannot be made to work for what is supposed to be the most competitive country in the EU, who can it work for?

[Demeter]

5. QE in the Eurozone Has Failed By Thomas Fazi

http://www.economonitor.com/blog/2015/11/qe-in-the-eurozone-has-failed/

Eight months have passed since the ECB started its own quantitative easing (QE) program, and almost everyone in Europe seems to agree with Mario Draghi that ‘QE has been a success’. But is such enthusiasm warranted? Let’s take a look at the data. The obvious starting place is the inflation rate. As is well known, the ECB’s mandate only foresees a single measurable objective – maintaining the inflation rate ‘below, but close to, 2 per cent’ – and it is thus logical to judge the central bank’s actions first and foremost according to this parameter (as narrow as it may be), especially since one of the stated aims of the ECB’s QE program is to bring the inflation rate back towards the 2 per cent target.

So how did the program fare in this respect? Not well: in September the inflation rate turned negative again (-0,1 per cent – coincidentally, the exact same level registered in March of this year, when the ECB launched its asset-buying program).



Focusing on whether the inflation rate is just above or below zero per cent is beyond the point, though: the fact of the matter is that the euro area’s average inflation rate – notwithstanding the huge inflation differentials between countries – has been below the ECB’s target of 2 per cent since late 2012, and below 1.5 per cent – which essentially amounts to deflation, according to a generally accepted guideline – since the beginning of 2013. That is, for almost three consecutive years.



If we look the GDP growth rate for the euro area, the conclusions are even more damning: as one can see in the following image, the growth rate actually starts to contract once again – putting an end to the slow climb commenced in 2014 – precisely a few months after the launch of the QE program, in March 2015.



MORE BAD NEWS AT LINK--MUCH MORE--ENDLESS, REALLY

[Demeter]

8. Black Friday crowds thin in subdued start to U.S. holiday shopping

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/27/us-usa-holidayshopping-idUSKBN0TG19S20151127?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

America's annual Black Friday shopping extravaganza was short on fireworks this year as U.S. retailers' discounts on electronics, clothing and other holiday gifts failed to draw big crowds to stores and shopping malls.

Major retail stocks including Best Buy and Wal-Mart closed lower while Target, picked out by one analyst for its promotion strategy, saw its shares tick up.

Bargain hunters found relatively little competition compared with previous years. Some had already shopped Thursday evening, reflecting a new normal of U.S. holiday shopping, where stores open up with deals on Thanksgiving itself, rather than waiting until Black Friday.

Retailers "have taken the sense of urgency out for consumers by spreading their promotions throughout the year and what we are seeing is a result of that," said Jeff Simpson, director of the retail practice at Deloitte. Traffic in stores was light on Friday, while Thursday missed his expectations, he said.

As much as 20 percent of holiday shopping is expected to be done over the Thanksgiving weekend this year, analysts said. But the four days are not considered a strong indicator for the entire season. A slow start last year led to deeper promotions and a shopping rush in the final ten days of December...

THEY ARE COMPETING LIKE MAD HERE, BUT THE WEATHER ISN'T CO-OPERATING...

[Fuddnik]

10. I drove past a Walmart about 9 this morning. The lot was about half full.

Not as much as a regular day. Very little traffic out this morning.

[Hotler]

9. A little music for the day.