STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday December 13

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday December 13, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON December 10, 2010

Dow 11,410.32 +40.26 (+0.35%)
Nasdaq 2,637.54 +20.87 (+0.79%)
S&P 500 1,240.40 +7.40 (+0.60%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.37 +0.04 (+1.29%)
30-Year Bond 4.43 -.00 (-0.02%)

---

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

---

Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

---

---

This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. no goobermental reports today n/t

[ozymandius]

2. Oil rises above $88 as OPEC leaves output stable

Ministers from the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said at a meeting in Quito, Ecuador on Saturday that a "fragile global economic recovery" and "fears of a second banking crisis in Europe" kept the cartel from raising oil production.

Many OPEC nations depend on oil sales for foreign currency reserves and government spending and are reluctant to take measures to undermine prices. However, a jump in crude prices would spark inflation and hurt global economic growth.

In other Nymex trading in January contracts, heating oil rose 1.6 cents to $2.47 a gallon, gasoline futures added 2.5 cents to $2.33 a gallon and natural gas jumped 5.9 cents to $4.48 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[Festivito]

3. Debt: 12/09/2010 13,846,494,847,569.86 (DOWN 1,389,285,539.75) (Thu)

(Up little. Good day.)
Shoveling boulders off the front drive.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,289,342,021,415.41 + 4,557,152,826,154.45
UP 426,018,289.04 + DOWN 1,815,303,828.79

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,216.65 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.65, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,882,592 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,539.31.
A family of three owes $133,617.92. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 5,683,211,834.82.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,978,248,284.38.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 48 reports in 70 days of FY2011 averaging 5.93B$ per report, 4.07B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 773 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.9 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
12/09/2010 13,846,494,847,569.86 BHO (UP 3,219,617,798,656.78 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,284,871,816,678.10 ------------* * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,485,403,044,107.24 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
11/18/2010 -002,271,166,541.35 --
11/19/2010 +002,392,756,046.31 ------------*********
11/22/2010 +000,068,056,529.55 ------------******* Mon
11/23/2010 -000,022,584,331.05 ----
11/24/2010 +000,282,063,227.86 ------------********
11/26/2010 +003,743,380,701.15 ------------*********
11/29/2010 +000,134,381,143.81 ------------******** Mon
11/30/2010 +065,487,463,946.10 ------------**********
12/01/2010 -005,680,380,232.98 --
12/02/2010 +000,827,003,518.64 ------------********
12/03/2010 -000,051,568,825.48 ----
12/06/2010 +000,077,038,802.53 ------------******* Mon
12/07/2010 +000,178,077,201.68 ------------********
12/08/2010 +018,541,141,818.10 ------------**********
12/09/2010 +000,426,018,289.04 ------------********

84,131,681,293.91 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4652487&mesg_id=4652512

[Festivito]

49. Debt: 12/10/2010 13,846,685,751,077.18 (UP 190,903,507.32) (Fri)

(Up little. Good day.)
Snow froze.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,289,427,992,748.62 + 4,557,257,758,328.56
UP 85,971,333.21 + UP 104,932,174.11

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,216.57 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.65, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,889,792 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,538.89.
A family of three owes $133,616.67. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 6,054,193,682.41.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,237,935,577.69.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 49 reports in 71 days of FY2011 averaging 5.82B$ per report, 4.01B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 772 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.9 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
12/10/2010 13,846,685,751,077.18 BHO (UP 3,219,808,702,164.10 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,285,062,720,185.40 ------------* * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,465,463,279,826.35 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
11/19/2010 +002,392,756,046.31 ------------*********
11/22/2010 +000,068,056,529.55 ------------******* Mon
11/23/2010 -000,022,584,331.05 ----
11/24/2010 +000,282,063,227.86 ------------********
11/26/2010 +003,743,380,701.15 ------------*********
11/29/2010 +000,134,381,143.81 ------------******** Mon
11/30/2010 +065,487,463,946.10 ------------**********
12/01/2010 -005,680,380,232.98 --
12/02/2010 +000,827,003,518.64 ------------********
12/03/2010 -000,051,568,825.48 ----
12/06/2010 +000,077,038,802.53 ------------******* Mon
12/07/2010 +000,178,077,201.68 ------------********
12/08/2010 +018,541,141,818.10 ------------**********
12/09/2010 +000,426,018,289.04 ------------********
12/10/2010 +000,085,971,333.21 ------------*******

86,488,819,168.47 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4656525&mesg_id=4656533

[ozymandius]

4. First Senate vote expected on Obama-GOP tax deal

At the insistence of Republicans, the plan includes a more generous estate tax provision: The first $5 million of a couple's estate could pass to heirs without taxation, and an additional $5 million for the spouse. The balance would be subject to a 35 percent tax rate.

That provision infuriated Democrats who are already unhappy with Obama for agreeing to extend tax cuts at incomes of more than $200,000 for individuals and $250,000 for couples, and who say the tax breaks will unnecessarily add to the rising federal deficit. In all, the package would cost about $855 billion, according to a preliminary congressional estimate.

more

Deficit hawks who vote for this bill have no justification for opening their mouths on the subject. Yet 'hypocrisy' is on the family crest for so many of these people.

[jtuck004]

34. An open letter from Wall Street concerning the tax cuts.

Would you people pass the stupid tax bill already? It is getting in the way of our business.

Can you not understand? You are all in a dither about what, $54, $58 billion? For cryin' out loud, we gave $20 billion in bonuses last year. We expect to give out $30 billion next year. Yes, that's billion, with a "b". Give this tax bill a few more years and we will be giving out more in bonuses that you do in unemployment. But by then you won't have to worry about your pathetic insurance any more,'cause we will have killed it by then. And your little Social Security too.

Let me see if I can explain it so you can understand. The most you pay in benefits is about $300 a week. Why, one lunch for 3 of our employees costs that. You wouldn't know because you can't eat in places like that. For that matter, you don't even live in the same world we do. Your kids won't ever see the inside of our private schools and forget going to our colleges, except maybe as a janitor. Ha ha. You can't even afford an aspirin from one of our doctors.

What brought this to a head was when one of my employees asked me for their bonuses this year to avoid having to pay a few thousand extra in tax. Apparently he was going to hire a maid for his second home, but with the uncertainty you people are creating he had to let her be deported. This is not like a factory where people make things. I pay people to create situations like creating and hiding derivatives of the credit markets, or upping the prices of commodities (you thought that was because of supply and demand, right? It's one of our proudest accomplishments to hear you say that). We pay people to bring us money, not deal with domestic issues like a consumer.

We had a sweet, sweet deal going these past few years, until a bunch of you quit paying on the mortgage bonds on which we had borrowed $40 for every $1 of value. (I really liked the part where we sold the same insurance policy a hundred times on the same bond without having the reserves to pay off, then blamed it on poor people. Didn't you?). Some fool pointed out that you could have solved your mortgage problems for about $1 trillion dollars. Talk like that is irresponsible and could cost us money. Why, for a time there we couldn't sell the AAA-quality mortgage bonds we held, and we paid good money for those ratings. So sure, we took $2 trillion from our friend Timmy, and we held the Treasury bonds to hold and "earn" (love that word) hundreds of billions of dollars. Why, there are deals you still haven't seen. Have you seen the stories about how it has nearly all been paid back? What a master stroke - none of the billions we made off of your T-bonds was borrowed! It was a good thing we had friends in the government, else we might have had to live like you people.

Look, it's really simple. Some of us would hardly notice the $50,000 we keep from the tax cuts. Just one of my cars costs more than that. But we want it all. I know this is twice as much as you make in a year. Why don't you just join us like other people have? We will help you stop caring (shudder) about other people. What a masterful idea, to get you people to add unemployment insurance to the tax bill, then convince your friends that you would be evil to stop the extension of benefits. The best part? Because of our tax breaks nearly every penny of that will wind up in your "national debt" and be paid for - by YOU. And during that whole time we are going to be packing up more jobs to send overseas so that when their unemployment runs out there will be even less jobs, and the companies that used to have them will be rich. Rich I tell you. But there may be some maid jobs open. Or maybe home health care. Someone's gotta watch nanna while the adults are making money.

Because that is what we do.

Do you think we haven't covered ourselves in this? We have people in the government, we own news organizations, we even stick our fingers into what your children learn in your leaky little school. Just sign the bill so you can get your little cut, and we can get back to our work. If you can call it that. Ha ha. Enjoy the holidays. Because you can bet we are going to..

Fondly,

Art "The Squid" Moneymaker

[unhappycamper]

5. Rec #1

I'm pleased when I can do that ozy. :hi:

[ozymandius]

6. Thank you very much!

That is very kind of you, unhappycamper.

:donut: :donut: :donut: Good morning. :hi:

[Demeter]

7. Wall Street's Sneaky New Way to Make Bank from Struggling Homeowners

http://www.alternet.org/story/149157/wall_street%27s_sneaky_new_way_to_make_bank_from_struggling_homeowners

When Florida retiree Gladys Walker fell behind in paying taxes on her modest Pompano Beach home, she had no idea one of America's biggest banks and a major Wall Street hedge fund engaged in frenzied bidding for the right to collect her debt--all $768.25 of it.

"I just couldn't come up with the money," said Walker, 67, a former hotel worker who makes do on a monthly Social Security check.

Barely more than a year after a taxpayer bailout of major financial institutions, Bank of America and the hedge fund, Fortress Investment Group, spotted a fresh money-making opportunity - collecting the tax debts of tens of thousands of people like Walker. The bank and hedge fund can add interest charges and fees, and they bundled the debts as securities for investors...

THIS IS JUST WRONG, STUPID, AND EVIL

[Demeter]

10. And a Perfect Illustration of the Cartoon in Practice

[ozymandius]

14. Jeebus! I despise these people.

In late May and early June, proxies for the two institutions quietly bought hundreds of millions of dollars in homeowners' property tax debts in Florida by bidding at a series of online auctions held by county tax collectors. They didn't use their names but donned multiple other identities, dominating the auctions and repeatedly bidding on the same parcels - in the case of Walker's small home, more than 8,000 times.

Then, in September, Bank of America's securities division packaged $301 million worth of the tax liens it and Fortress had acquired into bonds pitched privately to major investors. The anticipated return - estimated at between 7 to 10 percent - is possible because buyers of tax debts can assess a panoply of interest charges and other fees. When the debt goes unpaid long enough, the liens buyer can seize properties through foreclosure.

Because the bonds were sold privately, there's no public record indicating who purchased them, the prices paid, or the anticipated return. Moody Investment Services spokesman Tom Lemmon said the type of offering, known as a tax lien securitization trust, is fairly uncommon. Bank of America, he added, may make additional offerings in future years.

This shows a reflexive response to anything related to homeownership. The banks bid, bundle and sell.

So where does the money go if it ever gets paid? How much returns to the community that relies on tax receipts for public infrastructure support?

[AnneD]

26. Morning Marketeers...

:donut: I have seen them do this at the Harris County tax auctions. I can smell a lawyer a mile away. Some work for a big RE firm. They only lowball bid and back off if challenged most of the time but on some properties they really go up and blow small people like us out of the water. Hubby and I are small fish. We want to get ourselves a home. If it is occupied, we let the people stay as long as they are decent folks and pay their rents. If they can't pay we work with folks-better to have a house occupied by a good tenant that keeps it up than vacant waiting for a renter than may no come for months. We don't jack up the rent and we do the upkeep if needed. If we get a house that needs to be rehabed, we do it and rent them out at a reasonable rate.

We are looking for cash flow and reasonable good rate of return on our money. Because we are a small time investors, we don't charge rip off fees. We don't need big fees to survive. I would rather have the house occupied at a lower rate than empty waiting to rip of someone that I think can afford it. Not all investors are money grubbers.

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[Tansy_Gold]

30. I suspect it's like any other purchase of debt

The bidders pay the county, then turn around and try to make more money through interest, fees, and so on, including foreclosure.

What that kind of foreclosure does with the actual mortgage, I have no idea.



TG, TT

[DemReadingDU]

25. That is so evil

:mad:

[Demeter]

8. More Tax Cuts for the Rich Will Result in More American Jobs Going Overseas: Here's Why

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12072

"Obama: Bush Tax Cuts For The Rich Won't Create 'One Single Job'"

That's the headline on a ThinkProgress blog entry recounting an NPR interview with the president. ThinkProgress adds some important historical economic facts to bolster Obama's admission:

Of course, Obama is correct. As the Center for American Progress' Michael Linden and Michael Ettlinger noted, "The economy did not add a single new job" in the first three years after the Bush tax cuts were enacted. And as the Washington Post noted early this year, despite 9 years of Bush tax cuts, "There has been zero net job creation" over the past decade. "n jobs, on growth, on middle-class income, on investment," the Bush tax cuts "simply did not work," Linden and Ettlinger conclude.

But actually it's a lot worse than just not adding jobs. The tax cut "bonuses" for the wealthy will likely drain jobs from the US.

How can that be, you might ask? Because, as we've noted before on BuzzFlash, the wealthy are seeking more and more to invest abroad, not in the US. But there's a more important factor: an extended "bonus" tax break for the rich will probably further decrease the number of production jobs in the US...

[Demeter]

9. Free Trade Doesn't Work: Interview With Economist Ian Fletcher

http://www.truth-out.org/free-trade-doesnt-work-interview-with-economist-ian-fletcher65810

Free trade doesn't work, the global economy is a myth and the U.S. has been duped during trade negotiations for the past 40 years according to Ian Fletcher, an adjunct fellow with the U.S. Business and Industry Council and author of Free Trade Doesn't Work: What Should Replace It and Why, who relayed these concepts to me in an exclusive interview.

During our exchange I discovered that Mr. Fletcher certainly is not opposed to capitalism, underlined by his experience working for hedge funds and private equity firms as an economist, but what he is opposed to are bad economic policies that have led to an ever-burgeoning U.S. trade deficit well on its way to hitting $500 billion this year.

You argue that protectionism is more "American" than free trade. How would you respond to libertarian types who might see this as an assault on America's deeply-held capitalistic values?

IAN FLETCHER: Libertarians simply don't know their history. Take out a $10 bill and have a look at the portrait on it. Alexander Hamilton, founding father and intellectual architect of American capitalism, was a protectionist, and protectionism was American policy from Independence until after WWII. The reality is that a blend of government support for economic growth along with vigorous market-oriented competition has been the American tradition from the transcontinental railroad to the Internet. Entire industries like semiconductors and aircraft were effectively launched by Cold War military industrial policy. Is it an accident that nations, like China, that still do this sort of thing are cleaning our clock right now?

[ozymandius]

11. Payroll tax cut worries Social Security advocates

Per the norm: we are faced with yet another scheme to bribe people with their own money.

The plan is part of a package of tax cuts and extended unemployment benefits that Obama negotiated with Senate Republican leaders. It would cut workers' share of Social Security taxes by nearly one-third for 2011. Workers making $50,000 in wages would get a $1,000 tax cut; those making $100,000 would get a $2,000 tax cut.

The government would borrow about $112 billion to make Social Security whole. Advocates and some lawmakers worry that relying on borrowed money to fund Social Security could eventually force it to compete with other federal programs for scarce dollars, leading to cuts.

Social Security is funded by a 6.2 percent payroll tax on the first $106,800 earned by a worker. The tax is matched by employers. The package negotiated by Obama would reduce the tax paid by workers to 4.2 percent for 2011. Employer rates would stay unchanged.

more

This is the worst bone-headed scheme to emerge from this tax cut extension bill. It is unnecessary. It highlights the perceived weaknesses os Social Security funding. This ought to be a non-negotiable element of the social contract.

This breach of Social Security funding comes in exchange for the Making Work Pay tax credit that will be allowed to expire. This tax credit had a bigger bang for the buck particularly among the income $20K to $40K brackets since the payroll tax break is weighed as a percentage of income. The payroll tax holiday will put less money in the hands of people in this income bracket. This money is just as likely to be spent as the Making Work Pay deduction.

[Demeter]

13. The Unholy Alliance Between Business and Government Is Killing Us

and Obama is a true traitor to the people who elected him, the Constitution, the rule of law, everything.

I see no way out but violent revolution, if that is even possible. It's going to have to get a lot more worse before it gets better...unemployment, REAL unemployment, is going to have to exceed 50%.

[Demeter]

12. Reconsidering Japan and Reconsidering Paul Krugman

http://www.truth-out.org/reconsidering-japan-and-reconsidering-paul-krugman65796

The New York Times is doing a series on Japan, which the Times describes as an examination of "the effects on Japanese society of two decades of economic stagnation and declining prices." Reading the series is about as cheery a task as rubbernecking at a car wreck on I-95, but, unfortunately, the Times series simply repeats the "conventional wisdom" about Japan put out by the same economic experts who missed an $8 trillion housing bubble in the United States, and, in fact, have been wrong on most of the big economic issues over the past two decades.

Look at it this way: In the midst of the Great Recession, the United States is suffering through nearly 10 percent unemployment and 50 million people without health insurance. A new report has found over 14 percent of Americans living below the poverty line, including 20 percent of children and 23 percent of seniors, the highest numbers since President Lyndon Johnson's War on Poverty. That's in addition to declining prospects for the middle class and a general increase in economic insecurity.

How, then, should we regard a country that has 5 percent unemployment, health care for all of its people, the lowest income inequality and is one of the world's leading exporters? This country also scores high on life expectancy, low on infant mortality, at the top in literacy, and low on crime, incarceration, homicides, mental illness and drug abuse. It also has a low rate of carbon emissions and is doing its part to reduce global warming. In all of these categories, this particular country beats both the US and China by a country mile.

Doesn't that sound like a country from which Americans might learn a thing or two about how to get out of the mud hole in which we are stuck?

[Po_d Mainiac]

32. The last paragraph says it all

Her (German Chancellor Angela Merkel) finance minister, Wolfgang Schauble, was even more blunt. He described American policy as "clueless" and said the American growth model is stuck in a deep crisis. "The USA lived off credit for too long, inflated its financial sector massively and neglected its industrial base." Catch the irony: Germany - previously sneered at by US pundits for its "weak and sclerotic" economy - is lecturing America about how to grow our economy. Given Germany's 6.7 percent unemployment (compared to 9.6 percent in the US) and an impressive record at manufacturing things that the rest of the world wants to buy, the Obama administration, as well as Paul Krugman, should be listening attentively.

A simple fact, that seems to be lost on many, is that Japan financed it's debt from within. The US is (and has been) beholden to the rest of the world, and now that policy has failed. Japan didn't crash the rest of the world when the bubbles popped.

We are now at Plan C..Pass the debt off to the FED (after giving the primary dealers a nice cut) and try to print our way outa the mire.

This is doomed to fail as the cost of basic necessities rise and RE continues to deflate. Both put additional pressure on the consumer.
YMMV

[Demeter]

15. Bolivia lowers retirement age

http://english.aljazeera.net/news/americas/2010/12/2010121135142432606.html

Bucking a global trend which pushes workers to work longer and older, Bolivians can now retire at age 58, down from 65...

The law, which also nationalises the national pension system and extends coverage considerably to the poor, was passed on Friday.

Bolivia's current retirement age is 65 for men and 60 for women.

"We are fulfilling a promise with the Bolivian people. We are creating a pension system that includes everyone," President Evo Morales said at the signing ceremony, surrounded by members of the powerful Bolivian workers' federation, which helped to draft the law.

[xchrom]

16. recommend -- thank you ozy, festivito, and demeter. nt

[ozymandius]

17. Thank you, too, for your steady support. n/t

[Demeter]

36. Thanks for following the Decline and Fall of the US Empire

too bad I look terrible in black, I should wear perpetual mourning.

[ozymandius]

18. Crap Investment Ratings (Tentatively) Ruled to Be Protected Speech

Judge Richard Kramer has issued a tentative ruling in this lawsuit between Calpers and the major ratings agencies. Calpers invested large sums of the state employees retirement fund into securities that had received high ratings from agencies such as Fitch, Moody's and Standard and Poor's. The securities failed, blowing a $1.4 Billion hole in state retirement funds.

Bloomberg outlines the basic legal issues of the lawsuit:

Calpers sued the three bond-rating companies in July 2009 for losses it said were caused by their “wildly inaccurate” risk assessments on three structured investment vehicles. The so-called SIVs, after receiving the companies’ highest ratings in 2006, collapsed in 2007 and 2008, according the Calpers complaint.

Moody’s and the two other ratings companies are seeking to have the case dismissed under California’s anti-SLAPP statute. The 1992 law was passed in California in response to lawsuits filed by real estate developers and other businesses against people opposing their projects. SLAPP stands for “strategic lawsuits against public participation.”

The ruling doesn’t end the case, Kramer said. Calpers, the largest U.S. pension fund, can attempt to show that it’s likely to win on the merits of its lawsuit. In May he rejected the ratings companies’ request to dismiss the case, saying that the issuance of SIV ratings isn’t a matter of public concern but an “economic activity designed for the limited purpose of making money” that isn’t protected by the First Amendment.

more

Calpers still has option to pursue this case.

[Po_d Mainiac]

19. The date (year) in the OP is wrong

13Dec1984 wood be more appropriate :grr:

[Roland99]

20. A Secretive Banking Elite Rules Trading in Derivatives

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/12/business/12advantage.html?src=busln


this was probably posted over the weekend but, just in case.

On the third Wednesday of every month, the nine members of an elite Wall Street society gather in Midtown Manhattan.

The men share a common goal: to protect the interests of big banks in the vast market for derivatives, one of the most profitable — and controversial — fields in finance. They also share a common secret: The details of their meetings, even their identities, have been strictly confidential.

Drawn from giants like JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the bankers form a powerful committee that helps oversee trading in derivatives, instruments which, like insurance, are used to hedge risk.

...

The banks in this group, which is affiliated with a new derivatives clearinghouse, have fought to block other banks from entering the market, and they are also trying to thwart efforts to make full information on prices and fees freely available.

[Po_d Mainiac]

21. A&P shits the bed .....

snip

"Margin pressure imposed by declining operating cashflow has amplified the bottom line effects of the Debtors’ leveraged balance sheet and significant legacy costs....A&P, like many supermarket operators, continues to cope with the recent economic decline and reduced customer spending while running on narrow profit margins and facing intense competition."

snip

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/great-atlantic-and-pacific-supermarket-chain-files-chapter-11-cites-excess-leverage-and-marg

Margin pressure means wholesale prices are rising while pressure on retail does not allow mark-ups without losing market share. In udder words, inflation is here, contrary to what the bernank wants us to believe.

[MJJP21]

22. NOT FAIR!

I don't think its fair to bash scrooge this holiday season. Lets look at the facts.First off can anyone imagine Scrooge asking for a bailout? I can't. Would he even contemplate moving offshore? I don't think so. He keeps his only employee Cratchett gainfully employed year round. Scrooge lives within his means and warns about the dangers of Christmas and paying bills without money. He doesn't waste valuable resources and only keeps a small fire in his office and relies on a few candles for light at home. Does he overeat? No. At his favourite restaurant he is devouring the info in the newspapers not the local items on the menu. Lastly Scrooge teaches us that your never too old to learn or change your views.

[Po_d Mainiac]

24. Gotta agree

Cratchett wood be running the Securitization Dept. and trying to figure how to spend his multi-million $ bonus

[Roland99]

28. wow...pretty sad that even Ebenezeer Scrooge looks like a swell guy next to today's CEOs.

[Po_d Mainiac]

23. Ag at $29.42

Blythe Masters (Head commodity trader for JP Morgue) appears to be losing her grip. The CFTC bailouts are lasting just about as long as the CB interventions on the 4X

Current price puts Pre-65 90% silver small change melt/spot at 21X face value. A 1964 JFK 50 cent piece has $10.50 worth of silver.

[InkAddict]

27. So, the NA silver/lapis necklace will now attract WS muggers? n/t

Sweet! (Planning what to wear today).

[Po_d Mainiac]

29. Cooper/gold/silver...The JP Morgue wants it all n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

31. FWIW re silver

I ordered some sterling silver for jewelry making yesterday. Last time I purchased the same material, in May '09, it was $79. Same material, same quantity, Dec '10, $88.





TG, TT

[Po_d Mainiac]

33. That makes no cents/sense

Ag spot during May of 09 ranged between $12.10-$15.50

To get the label "Sterling" Ag content is supposed to be 92.5%.

Either you got ripped off in 09 or u'r getting a hellofa deal on the last order....With what I know about drawing wire, I'm inclined to think you got hosed last year.

[CatholicEdHead]

35. Another very timely cartoon Ozy

It is all about the rich and forget the poor nowadays. Tea Party economics is flow up thinking. Charles Dickens would be in amazement how far things have turned.

[Demeter]

37. Well, We had a Weekend at the Opera--and there was blood everywhere

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103x575153

and a storm blew in, leaving behind a couple of inches of crusty frozen snow and temperatures in the single digits, and it's still blowing, although the sun shines brightly (it always does that when it gets cold enough...)

I have no Christmas spirit. I wish I were a TeaBagger, smugly secure in my bigoted ignorance and the love of my fellow bigots and ignorami....this is one of those times when a little learning is a very dangerous thing.

[hamerfan]

38. To the moon!

At 1:30PM:
DOW... +49
NASDAQ... +3
S&P500... +5
Jeebus help us all.....

[TalkingDog]

39. Recesion lasting til 2018

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-12/recession-lasting-until-2018-worth-exploring-commentary-by-william-pesek.html

.... It comes from Eisuke Sakakibara, Japan’s former top currency official. He is known as “Mr. Yen” for his ability to move markets. Because Tokyo’s revolving-door politics often sends a new face to each Group of 20 meeting, he is one of the few Japanese constants in market circles. Traders may not know the latest finance minister’s name, but they know Sakakibara.

Japan is the master of muddling along, decade after decade, with little growth to show for it. And Sakakibara was a key player when Japan faced everything from the Asian crisis to Russia’s default to the onset of deflation to a banking collapse that saw the demise of Yamaichi Securities Co.

So, when an economist with Sakakibara’s background says “the world is set for a long-term structural slump reminiscent of the 1870s”.....

[kickysnana]

40. No it won't silly rabbit. The world ends Dec 12 2011 or 2012.

I read it on the internet so it must be true.
:sarcasm:

[TalkingDog]

42. If the street level economy gets much worse, I think some people might

wish the world to end.....

[Demeter]

44. Mark Madoff Sure Did

[Demeter]

41. Is Motherhood As We Know it Over? Wealthy Women Farming Out Birth and Childrearing to the Poor

http://www.alternet.org/story/149095/is_motherhood_as_we_know_it_over_wealthy_women_farming_out_birth_and_childrearing_to_the_poor?page=entire

also see:

Assembling the Global Baby

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703493504576007774155273928.html?mod=WSJ_myyahoo_module

[Demeter]

43. Fewer homes have negative equity

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fewer-homes-have-negative-equity-2010-12-13?siteid=YAHOOB

The number of U.S. homes with negative equity shrank during the third quarter, but price declines may threaten this improvement, real-estate data company CoreLogic Inc. said Monday.

CoreLogic reported that 10.8 million properties, or 22.5%, of all residences with mortgages were in negative equity at the end of the third quarter, down slightly from 11 million, or 23%, in the second quarter.

This was the third consecutive quarterly decline in negative equity for residential properties. In the first nine months of 2010, the number of borrowers in negative equity declined by more than 500,000, CoreLogic noted...

SEEMS STATISTICALLY INSIGNIFICANT, IF NOT MANUFACTURED, TO ME.

The recent decline in negative equity was mainly due to foreclosures of severely underwater homes, rather than an increase in house prices, CoreLogic noted.

AH, SO!

[Demeter]

45. Health-care law unconstitutional, judge says

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/health-care-law-unconstitutional-judge-says-2010-12-13?siteid=YAHOOB

Coverage mandate exceeds U.S. authority: Virginia judge

A federal district judge in Virginia on Monday found part of the health-care law signed by President Obama unconstitutional, ruling that the mandate to buy insurance or pay a fine goes beyond federal authority.

The Justice Department is expected to appeal the ruling, which was issued by Judge Henry Hudson of the Eastern District Court in Richmond, Va.

Hudson’s was the first ruling to strike down any part of the law.

The individual mandate, Hudson said, “would invite unbridled exercise of federal police powers.” ....


TANSY GOLD, MAY I BORROW YOUR STAMP HERE?

[Tansy_Gold]

48. You may

[Demeter]

46. Matt Taibbi's Great Squid Hunt

http://www.alternet.org/story/149161/matt_taibbi%27s_great_squid_hunt?page=entire

TAIBBI AND THE QUANTS

[Demeter]

47. Galbraith: Whose Side Is Obama on?

http://www.alternet.org/story/149140/galbraith%3A_whose_side_is_obama_on_

NOT OURS

...Recovery begins with realism and there is nothing to be gained by kidding ourselves. On the topics that I know most about, the administration is beyond being a disappointment. It’s beyond inept, unprepared, weak, and ineffective. Four and again two years ago, the people demanded change. As a candidate, the President promised change. In foreign policy and the core economic policies, he delivered continuity instead. That was true on Afghanistan and it was and is true in economic policy, especially in respect to the banks. What we got was George W. Bush’s policies without Bush’s toughness, without his in-your-face refusal to compromise prematurely. Without what he himself calls his understanding that you do not negotiate with yourself.

It’s a measure of where we are, I think, that at a meeting of Americans for Democratic Action, you find me comparing President Obama unfavorably to President George W. Bush...