STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday December 20

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday December 20, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON December 17, 2010

Dow 11,491.91 -7.34 (-0.06%)
Nasdaq 2,642.97 +5.66 (+0.21%)
S&P 500 1,243.91 +1.04 (+0.08%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.33 -0.01 (-0.30%)
30-Year Bond 4.43 -0.01 (-0.16%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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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

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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 hovers above $88 amid light holiday trading

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered above $88 a barrel Monday in Asia amid light trading volume ahead of the Christmas holiday.

Many oil traders are taking the next two weeks off amid the year-end holidays. Global crude markets are closed Friday for Christmas.

Analysts are mulling whether this year's strong global oil demand can carry over into 2011. Emerging markets, led by China, have accounted for most of the growth in oil consumption this year as the U.S. and Europe slowly recover from recession.

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

[ozymandius]

3. Regulators close banks in Ga., Fla., Ark., Minn.

WASHINGTON – Regulators on Friday shuttered three small banks in Georgia and one each in Florida, Arkansas and Minnesota, raising to 157 the number of U.S. banks brought down this year by the struggling economy and soured loans.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. took over the three Georgia banks: Appalachian Community Bank of McCaysville, with $68.2 million in assets; Chestatee State Bank, based in Dawsonville, with $244.4 million in assets; and Atlanta-based United Americas Bank, with $242.3 million in assets.

The FDIC also seized Bank of Miami, based in Coral Gables, Fla., with $448.2 million in assets; First Southern Bank of Batesville, Ark., with $191.8 million in assets; and Community National Bank of Lino Lakes, Minn., with $31.6 million in assets.

more

Until recently, Georgia had the top spot among states with shuttered banks.

[hamerfan]

5. Georgia still has banks?

:donut:
Morning, Ozy. Hope all is well with you and yours.

[ozymandius]

7. I was surprised by that too.

And good morning. :donut: :donut: :donut: I still bank with a local enterprise here in Georgia. They have managed to stay ahead of the FDIC despite making some crazy risky real estate development loans at the market's peak.

[ozymandius]

4. Obama looks on drearily after signing tax bill into law.

[ozymandius]

6. Tax law won't help people who used up jobless aid

The 99ers are not helped with this tax cut extension bill.

In the 24 states with unemployment rates of at least 8.5 percent, the unemployed can receive benefits for up to 99 weeks. In other states, they get less than 99 weeks — in some cases as few as 60 weeks, according to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities.

The new law restores, for 13 more months, the 99-week maximum. But it provides no further benefits to people who have reached the limit in their state. Those who have exhausted all benefits are sometimes known as "99ers," even though the duration of their benefits varies by state.

more

The Labor Department does not know how many people are going to drop off the unemployment rolls. There is data from individual states that gives us a sense of how many people will be affected from exhausted UE benefits. From the information supplied in this article, the number by year's end will reach over half a million people who have exhausted their assistance.

[Demeter]

14. The Govt. Plan for Reducing Unemployment

Let them drop off the rolls...

[Po_d Mainiac]

25. Wow!

"He looks like a post turtle"

[Demeter]

28. Dare I Ask?

Or is the term "post turtle" something I really don't need to know...

[Tansy_Gold]

34. Google it. It's safe. n/t

[Demeter]

35. That is a Classic!

Why have I never heard of it before now?

[Demeter]

40. You are absolutely right, that is the perfect description of the whole mess

[Demeter]

65. To Cover the Disgusting Taste of Tax Bill, Obama Kills DADT

Nothing like throwing a mostly symbolic tidbit to the Left after screwing over the entire nation...gay or straight.

[Zenlitened]

70. Um, I'd argue the ending of DADT is far more than "a mostly symbolic tidbit."

Just sayin'.

[Demeter]

72. Does it affect your daily life?

Or is it just a feel-good (or feel-bad) thing? It's emotional for all save those serving in the Armed Forces, and purely emotional for the majority of those in uniform, too. (and frankly, I have doubts as to whether it will truly ease the service of the non-hetero service members--we will have to see real enforcement).

HOWEVER, everybody gets to carry a rich person on his/her back, thanks to the tax bill.

[Tansy_Gold]

73. I would say that yes, DADT repeal does affect all our daily lives,

but I'm looking at it from a sociologist's standpoint, not an engineer's. And that's not meant as a slight, only to distinguish that different points of view have different, well, different views.

Bias and discrimination affect us all, sometimes directly and sometimes only subtly, but they do affect us.

You can go with the "For want of a nail. . . " philosophy, or with the starfish philosophy. Either way, whatever we do has ripples. Some of us are closer to the epicenter of the stone's plop and feel the ripples more strongly and/or more quickly, but eventually we all feel them.



TG, TT

(edit to fix typo)

[Demeter]

81. Symbols are Nice, Symbols are Good (or Bad)

but symbols don't pay the rent or the IRS,,,,

[Tansy_Gold]

83. No, not at all.

Repeal of DADT is a much more than symbolic action.

First of all, it monetarily affects the lives of those gay servicemembers who will be able to keep their jobs. It also affects their ability to serve and then retire with benefits.

It affects their families. Even if they are not "married" and eligible for the "normal" dependent benefits, partners of gay servicemembers still benefit, if only from having an employed partner.

It hastens awareness and maybe alters the attitude of other employers who might have chosen to dismiss a gay employee or treat a gay employee with less respect ($$ or otherwise).

Look at it this way -- HCR didn't affect me. I still don't have health insurance. I'm not paying for something I can't afford to use, because it hasn't been mandated yet. So my bank balance is not impacted.

Similarly, my tax burden won't be significantly impacted by the tax cuts. I will "save" less than $200/year on the FICA decrease (and that's if it even applies to the self-employed). I've already been impacted by the two years of no SS COLA increase.

In other words, I've just kind of muddled along the way I always have.

But indirectly and in myriad different small ways, these things affect all of us. So if it's only a matter of degree or dollar amounts or number of people directly affected, where do you draw the line? There ARE people directly affected by DADT, and for the overwhelming most part of them, it's a positive result. HCR, on the other hand, positively affected a few people but negatively affected many many more. Where's the negative affect of DADT repeal? Is there any? I can't see much, unless it's that some homophobe bigots now leave the military rather than serve alongside the same people they've been serving alongside all along.

What I think some of us have lost sight of is that DADT repeal, in the manner it was done, could have been accomplished 22 months ago. Stand alone bill, majorities in congress, over and done with. Let's move on to the next item on the agenda. Kinda like the Lily Ledbetter lefislation. It's something that needs to be done, let's do it.

And that's one of those more subtle but pervasive -- and negative -- effects of the DELAY in enacting a repeal of DADT.

Did it start up a good jobs program? No. Did it end the wars? No. Did it find a cure for cancer or end world poverty? No. But it was never supposed to do that.


TG, TT

[Demeter]

84. You have just proved my point, Tansy

Less than 10% of the total population is directly affected, best estimate. And that's ONLY if deeds follow the words. We've seen in our lifetime far too often how nice words produce no change.

A lot of otherwise unaffected people will go batshit, but that's their problem, until they start acting out, of course...we saw some of that before..Matthew Shepard, anyone?

And there was no reason this didn't happen DAY ONE, except they were saving it as a shiny distraction...for some truly heinous crimes. If it had happened DAY ONE, when the Momentum was strongest, it would have increased the momentum and put the pressure where it needed to be. It would have been a REWARD to the people who believed in change and the audacity of hope, not a sop to a populace ground down by two more years of economic disaster, neoliberal free-marketeers, and bank bailouts. But what do I know? I'm just a f---ing retard.


Yes, the repeal CAN change all our lives in ways we cannot predict--but that presumes that the Repeal is effective and sustained.

We won the logic battle long ago. We have the hard data. It will take another generation at least, maybe two, for this to be a dead issue (in all but the most retro of communities), but in the meanwhile, there will be no country, because of the economic policies that are ignored while everyone goes " Ooh, shiny!"


(It's another version of post #17...)

[Tansy_Gold]

85. Again, not at all.

Symbolic is, say, restoring Jim Thorpe's Olympic medals. No one's life is affected.

DADT does impact real lives.

http://www.webtree.ca/inspiration/thestarthrower.html


HCR in and of itself did affect some lives positively -- it granted insurance coverage to some who didn't have and couldn't get it. In doing so, however, it sustained the very system (for-profit insurance companies) that had caused most of the problem in the first place. Ditto with the tax package. Both of these major pieces of legislation MADE WORSE THE PROBLEM THEY WERE OSTENSIBLY CORRECTING.

That DADT repeal only affects a small percentage of the population shouldn't be a measure of its worth. Rather, we should be saying, "Is there a downside to this legislation and, if so, does it offset the benefits?" I don't see any downside to DADT repeal. And I do see very real impacts on the very real lives of very real people.

That DADT repeal was used by politicians should not be used as a reason to disparage or dismiss it or to deny the very real benefits of its passage. That's not the fault of the people affected by it, and they should not be ignored or their lives dismissed because of what the politicians did to them.


TG, TT

[Demeter]

86. I Agree With Your Argument As Far As It Goes

but I wait to see how far it will be ALLOWED to go...and I have no hope, no belief to sustain me in the interim. And if I were in the affected population, I wouldn't put any credence into it either, until I saw some real-honest-to-God results.

Fool me once...

I think we are talking different aspects. I am talking of the political theatre and the inherent dishonesty and the sleight of hand. You are talking of the ultimate outcome of an honest transaction.

I don't believe in honesty anymore. Not from Corporation, not from Government. Without habeas corpus, the Bill of Rights, the Rule of Law, we are all targets, and it doesn't matter why one is targetted, what pretext is used.

Abuse of power is unscrupulous on its face. It is also epidemic in this country.

[Tansy_Gold]

89. But that's two different things.

Remember -- El ojo que ves no es ojo porque tú lo veas; es ojo porque te ve.

The eye that you see is not an eye because you see it; it's an eye because it sees you.



Again, what the politicians do with DADT repeal, as reprehensible as their actions may be, does not detract from what it actually does to real people's lives. Should it have been done years ago? of course. Was it shamelessly used by disgusting loathesome greedy people for their own purposes? of course. None of which takes away from the real effect it has on real people's everyday lives.

I'm no great supporter of the Obama administration's handling of a lot of issues that affect real people's real lives. I think they've made a shambles of just about everything, including the DADT repeal. But again, that doesn't mean that DADT repeal won't have a significant impact on some lives. That's the only point I'm trying to make.

There was a TV show, I think it was an episode of Night Gallery, but not Twilight Zone, that kind of relates to this.

An actor, played by Martin Landau, is auditioning for a role in a play. He's on stage, with the director down in the seats, and the part he's auditioning for is an elderly man. He's made up to look like an old man, but it's clear, even to the director, that this is a young man acting the part of an old man. The director puts him through his paces, but in the end, he says "No, you can't do it. You're too young. You're not convincing as an old man. Next!" So Landau's character exits stage left, disappointed, and as he does so, his whole demeanor changes. He begins pulling off bits of make-up and theatrical appliances, a hairpiece maybe. And we see that he really is an old man.

[Zenlitened]

77. Yes, it does.

But perhaps we differ in how we measure effects, "emotional" and otherwise.

[JNelson6563]

78. Does something have to affect one personally to be good?

I am shocked at your comments on this topic.

Julie

[Demeter]

80. I Said NOTHING about GOOD

I said a lot about cheap, cast-off Symbolism vs. Real-Life, Daily Punishment.

Take off the blinders, people. Don't buy Snake Oil, no matter who is selling it.

I am truly amazed, after years and thousands of posts on this thread, that lurkers would still be mesmerized by the legerdemain, and not have the basic honesty to see what is done to them and their children, real economic hardships, all to support the Parasitical Economic Elite, aka the Obscenely Wealthy...and to be bought off with the slightest of policy changes (without any proof that the policy has changed, will change, or the change will be sustained).

Gullible. That's the word I was grasping for...

[Pale Blue Dot]

92. I understand what you're saying, and I thought about posting something similar a couple of times.

However, I didn't, because what I believe we both are upset about is the short memory of politics and DU. It did seem as though this weekend many were all too willing to forgive the President for the disastrous tax cut deal because we finally had an important legislative victory.

Having said that, it is an important legislative victory, one that the President said would and should happen. I think it may be unwise for those of us who do not support Obama's economic policies to throw DADT into the argument - even if the "other side" does. I don't think that that's a battle we can win. We should focus on the extreme wrongness of the tax compromise, and not attempt to minimize an issue that many progressives have fought for for years.

[JNelson6563]

98. So supporters of Obama are gullible?

Wow.

No wonder this thread has lost some followers.

Julie

[Pale Blue Dot]

100. I beleive that the regular followers of this thread have some justifiable anger,

that sometimes spills out in unpredictable ways.

After all, regular followers of this thread:

1. Correctly called the financial crisis long before it happened;

2. Correctly predicted that the bailout was not only morally bankrupt but would only serve to postpone greater problems later;

3. Recognized that President Obama filled his economic team with Wall Street insiders;

4. See the whole thing about to fall apart further - and we have data to back it up.

The reward for our insight was being called "Chicken Littles" and "doom and gloomers" elsewhere, usually with little or no evidence to back it up. I think then, for many, this thread has become a safe haven for those of us who have deep, deep misgivings about the economic direction this country is traveling in.

I won't pretend to speak for Demeter. In fact, as noted above, I think the DADT passage is meaningful and should be celebrated. However, I have seen people all over the blogoshpere and the "professional left" (including Rachel Maddow) claim that the DADT repeal is going to bring the base back to Obama. For those of us who sincerely believe that he is making horrible economic choices that must be stopped, this is very distressing news. Passage of one excellent piece of legislation does not undo the damage this President continues to do economically. If we stop putting pressure on him because we got one bone thrown at us, this country is headed for disaster; so we have a hard time accepting the praise being thrown the President's way. For some of us, the economic stakes are too high to give Obama the credit he sometimes deserves for other achievements.

As this thread changes hands, we should open up a conversation as to what we want it to be going forward. I look forward to your input.

[JNelson6563]

102. Yes, and I note some of the more heavy weights MIA

I was a regular poster to this thread as were others. Like from when it first started and for some years thereafter so spare me the feelings of "regular posters to this thread".

I think what is more telling is where else are some posters active. There is an echo chamber out there on the tubes where those who have immense dislike for all things Dem and Obama gather. Sadly, even tho' they hate DU and many DUers, they post here. Sadly that nastiness spills into the formerly somewhat neutral Stock thread. Now it reads like part of that echo chamber I mentioned and it seems those who used to have the most knowledge and info have either left or are leaving.


Julie--who has followed the stock thread since it's inception

[Festivito]

8. Debt: 12/16/2010 13,878,837,351,150.62 (DOWN 947,703,429.50) (Thu)

(Down some. Good day.)
Didn't even get caught up this weekend.
(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)
= 9,321,691,439,320.33 + 4,557,145,911,830.29
DOWN 2,942,603,716.29 + UP 1,994,900,286.79

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 $3,216.13 makes 1T$.
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 310,932,992 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 $44,636.1.
A family of three owes $133,908.31. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 3,804,665,464.19.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,790,088,007.07.

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$/day.
There were 53 reports in 77 days of FY2011 averaging 5.99B$ per report, 4.12B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 766 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)
12/16/2010 13,878,837,351,150.62 BHO (UP 3,251,960,302,237.54 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 +0,317,214,320,258.90 ------------* * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,503,678,271,357.13 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*******
12/13/2010 -000,140,409,571.73 --- Mon
12/14/2010 +000,270,507,131.41 ------------********
12/15/2010 +035,075,952,728.32 ------------**********
12/16/2010 -002,942,603,716.29 --

116,031,974,267.51 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=4662827&mesg_id=4662836

[Festivito]

101. Debt: 12/17/2010 13,883,400,070,159.87 (UP 4,562,719,009.25) (Fri)

(Up some. Good day.)
Carolled.
(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)
= 9,323,762,654,615.76 + 4,559,637,415,544.11
UP 2,071,215,295.43 + UP 2,491,503,713.82

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 $3,216.05 makes 1T$.
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 310,940,192 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 $44,649.74.
A family of three owes $133,949.23. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 4,278,234,111.69.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,137,371,681.91.

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$/day.
There were 54 reports in 78 days of FY2011 averaging 5.96B$ per report, 4.13B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 765 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)
12/17/2010 13,883,400,070,159.87 BHO (UP 3,256,523,021,246.79 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 +0,321,777,039,268.10 ------------* * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,505,751,529,908.42 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*******
12/13/2010 -000,140,409,571.73 --- Mon
12/14/2010 +000,270,507,131.41 ------------********
12/15/2010 +035,075,952,728.32 ------------**********
12/16/2010 -002,942,603,716.29 --
12/17/2010 +002,071,215,295.43 ------------*********

114,359,808,861.79 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=4666696&mesg_id=4666713

[DemReadingDU]

9. ZeroHedge: What’s Going on with Credit Unions?

This is about big banks buying credit unions.
:wtf:


12/19/10 What’s Going on with Credit Unions?

Last week saw a flurry of activity relating the nations credit unions. I’m not sure what it adds up to, but it is curious. For example, Congress passed a law on the subject:

111TH CONGRESS 2D SESSION
S. 4036
AN ACT To clarify the National Credit Union Administration authority to make stabilization fund expenditures without borrowing from the Treasury.


Just the heading of this scares guys like me. The purpose of the law is to avoid Treasury from forking out money to the NCUA? That would be a bailout. Everyone hates bailouts. But there is a large hole in the NCUA system that should be filled. If that bucket is not filled by Treasury then who will fill it?

I believe the plan for the empty bucket is to assess the individual credit unions for several years worth of insurance premiums. This is exactly what NCUA’s big sister, the FDIC, did last summer. The FDIC collected four years of premiums upfront to bolster their underwater insurance fund. In the case of banks, the prepayment shows up as an asset on the books, the expense is recognized over the four years, so there is no economic penalty for the banks to front the losses. The question then becomes, can the individual credit unions pay the premiums? That was addressed in the new law:

Any insured credit union that fails to make timely payment of the assessment or special premium is subject to the procedures and penalties described under 21 subsections (d), (e), and (f) of section 202.’’


Basically this means if they don’t/can’t pay, they are toast. How big is this issue? Consider the following:

As of November month end, 372 federally insured credit unions, with assets of $43.4 billion were designated as CAMEL code 4 or 5. In addition, there were 1,792 CAMEL 3 credit unions with assets of $158.2. Overall, 22.3 percent of all credit union assets are in CAMEL code 3, 4 or 5 credit unions.

The rest of the article is very interesting, especially the text in red...
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/what%E2%80%99s-going-credit-unions

edit to add the bold line

[Roland99]

48. In about 2-3 months, I'll be done with Chase (except for the mortgage)

Switching to 2-3 different CUs and possibly a fourth.

Two I can't see ever being bought up. The other two...guess it's possible but not probable.

Wonder if this is a way some banks are beefing up capital since people are perhaps shying away from the TBTF now?

[DemReadingDU]

52. This new ruling appears to permit the big banks to buy up smaller insolvent CUs

The big get bigger, and the small go extinct.

It's bothersome because there had been a line between banks and credit unions, and now that line has been crossed. And it's worrisome that the big banks might start putting the squeeze on all credit unions.

[Roland99]

61. Some CUs are doing it to themselves

Such as Fairwinds here in central FL. They're charging fees in much the same way as banks. TANSTAAFL is soon to become TANSTAFC (There Ain't No Such Thing As Free Checking)

[Demeter]

66. A century ago, this would have been called a Monopoly or Trust

and Trust-Busted by Teddy Roosevelt.

[ozymandius]

10. State unemployment rates in November, at a glance

This data in tabular form is a bit awkward to read. However, it does yield some surprising stats If you can muscle your way through the shoddily aligned numbers.

Unemployment rates rose in 21 states last month, the Labor Department said Friday. Rates fell in 15 states and were unchanged in 14. That was the weakest showing since August, when unemployment rates rose in 23 states. Below are the rates for each state, compared with the previous month and a year ago. Rates in percentages

            Nov. 2010    Oct. 2010    Nov. 2009
Florida 12    11.9    11.6
Georgia 10.1    9.8    10.2
California 12.4    12.4    12.3
New York 8.3    8.2    8.9

more

[ozymandius]

11. U.S. faces tough future without Build America Bonds

It often amazes me what good ideas are undone when making legislative sausage.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. state and local governments face a surge in borrowing costs after lawmakers refused to renew the federally subsidized Build America Bonds program used to fund infrastructure projects and create jobs.

Lawmakers had considered the $858 billion deal on the so-called Bush tax cuts the best vehicle for extending BABs, which expire with the stimulus plan at year end. The U.S. House of Representatives killed the possibility of an extension when it approved the deal late Thursday. President Barack Obama signed it into law on Friday.

With the end of BABs, the $2.8 trillion municipal bond market could see depressed prices and greater volatility. The bonds made up more than a quarter of all new municipal debt sold this year and have been largely attributed with restarting stalled municipal credit markets.

more

Beyond the risk of rising unemployment due to discontinued projects, the discontinuation of the BABs will move tax rates higher to cover essential infrastructure improvements.

[Demeter]

12. Morning, Ozy and All

The concert is over, I can have my life back...such as it is.

[ozymandius]

13. Good morning, Demeter.

:donut: I hope it went well.

[Demeter]

18. Well Enough for amateurs

Could have been better. Perhaps the haze of exhaustion is what sucked the joy out of me...very little sleep this weekend.

[Pale Blue Dot]

15. Consider this a job interview: I would like to take over the SMW.

I consider the Stock Market Watch thread to be an invaluable resource on DU. I read it (along with several of the economic blogs I was introduced to here) every day. It's become a necessary part of my day and education. It must continue. I would like to offer my services to do so.

I'll tell everyone right off the bat that I cannot possibly fill Ozy's shoes - all I can do is match his consistency and his passion. However, there are a few halfway decent reasons why I may be the best solution right now:

1. Like Ozy, I am a teacher. This means I'm up early enough to get the thread started.

2. I share his economic philosophy, so you won't see a major change in the direction of the thread.

3. I am passionate about the economy, believe that is is the most important issue facing us today, and have a strong desire to educate others about it - in as unemotional a way as possible.

I know that as of earlier this weekend, no one had formally expressed an interest in taking on the Ozy role. As the most important thing for me is to see this thread continue, I would happily let someone more qualified do it. Until then, however, consider this my job interview. Ask me anything you'd like and I'll answer as best I can. I will be teaching most of the day, but I'll be sure to answer all of your questions at some point during the day or evening.

Oh, and how much does this job pay?

[DemReadingDU]

16. PBD - that would be awesome!

Thank you so much for taking on this incredible opportunity. In appreciation, I will send you coffee and donuts!
:donut:

:applause: :applause: :applause:

[Demeter]

19. That Sounds Like a Plan

I really don't want to take on another long-term commitment...but I'll help any way I can.

[Uben]

20. The pay is good!

You get to take abuse from the rest of us at no charge! This could be worth up to a million dollars a year alone!

I check into this thread every morning. Thanks Ozy and thanks PBT for offering to take it over.

[ozymandius]

22. I say, "you're hired."

When I started this gig in the dark ages, I knew almost nothing about the subject. I just had instincts. You need not be well read in economics to understand what is important. The general rule is that if it seems important to you or someone you know then it probably matters a great deal to a whole lot more people. The gestalt of the thread is that it relates information from trustworthy news and opinion sources then adds context language and builds connections to other dynamics that touch people's lives.

Good to leave emotion out of it. That does not mean you check your personality at the door. If you present the information in the way that you feel is important then your reader will usually make the connection.

Thank you for stepping forward.

Marketeers, what say ye?

edit to add: Five years ago, I asked Skinner for a raise. He tripled my pay. The math was easy: 0x3=0. I asked if that might be prorated over the previous years. His response: you cannot divide by zero.

The intrinsic payment is without number.

[Demeter]

23. Aye!

[Hugin]

33. Aye!

As long as PBD doesn't sell me to Reuters... Like YOU did, Ozy! (That still stings a little bit.)

[ozymandius]

38. Sorry about that.

I was an unwitting participant in the handle trade.

[Hugin]

74. Ah, well... Water under the bridge, Ozy.

Thanks to Tansy_Gold and AnneD's "Couch Cushion Money" and a bit of shrewed investing of that capital in "High Thread Count Linen String Futures" by tclambert. (plus, throwing in a few unused car wash tokens) We were able to raise the money needed to pay the ransom funds necessary for me to remain here in the SMW.... No biggie. :|

Sorry to see you go, Ozy. :cry:

But, totally understandable. I'm happy to see someone of the caliber of PBD volunteer to take up the flag and continue the work of the SMW.

:patriot:

[ozymandius]

75. I still own derivatives on that deal.

I'm sure I have that contract scribbled down -probably on a gum wrapper- around here somewhere.

Thank you, Hugin. It's sad to call it quits after such a long time. But it's time to let someone else sit in the big chair. PBD will do a fine job. :toast:

[Roland99]

63. there's the ozy seal of approval!

Yea!

[Hawkowl]

76. Aye!

But Ozy you must promise to at least post once in a while so we know you are still there :)

[kgnu_fan]

79. I did not realize that you are stepping away ... Thank you for your service...

[UpInArms]

99. Aye!

PBD - may the wind be always at your back - and all your friends by your side.

http://www.njnnetwork.com/njn/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Hat+Tip+3.jpg

[Hugin]

32. All I've got to say is....

THE CARTOONS BETTER BE FUNNY... (or else) :7

Anyway, you get my 1/5 vote. :thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Tansy_Gold]

36. Ditto. n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

91. Well, here are the cartoons I like:

Hagar the Horrible
Mary Worth
Mallard Filmore.

I will pick daily from among those three. I hope you enjoy the new regime! :evilgrin:

[Hugin]

93. Oy vey!

Oh, my aching stars... Mallard Filmore!

Wouldn't you be more comfortable posting somewhere else? :crazy:

LOL!

It could be worse... I suppose. :/

You'll do... Don't forget to leave a sample with Security.

[Demeter]

96. omg A SADIST!

I'LL post the cartoons....

[hamerfan]

69. Can lurkers vote?

If so, AYE!
:hi:

[nc4bo]

94. Another lurker who says: Please do! nt

[Zenlitened]

71. I think you'd do an excellent job of it!

:applause:

[Demeter]

17. It’s Never Too Early to Predict the Future!

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/it%E2%80%99s-never-too-early-predict-future

..Think of it this way: If you come across a fire that is consuming a house from the inside and the firemen show up and spray water on the outside, then I will stand there and tell you that the house will still burn to the ground. However - I will also tell you that the house is going to be soaked in water. The two things are not mutually exclusive - just as a slow-moving economic collapse and a booming stock market are not mutually exclusive - especially if that collapse is the result of a transfer of wealth from the working class to the investing class (see the 1920s).

So the Fed and other Central Banks can print money to paper over a Global Economic melt-down and they can funnel Trillions of Dollars into the Global Banking system that still has a multi-Trillion Dollar hole to fill (see John Mauldin's comments this weekend) and we can have the ILLUSION of a growing economy through top-down inflation. Money is poured into the top through tax breaks to the wealthy (actually the extension of existing tax breaks that have already destabilized the economy so they now cost money but provide no new benefit), which includes Corporations who are already sitting on $2Tn in cash and not hiring - as well as the Fed injecting it directly into the banks in case the lack of taxation doesn't leave them with enough money to hide the gaping holes on their books.

This is, I believe, a tragically flawed policy as we are pouring water into a leaking pool without fixing the actual leak. Over time, that rots the foundations until one day, it suddenly collapses catastrophically and everyone stares at the damage all surprised saying no one could have ever predicted that. So I am pissed, I am outraged, I am fearful for our nation's future and I still believe that it will take the smallest of shoves to knock the entire global economy off the ledge it's perched on BUT THAT DOES NOT MEAN I'M BEARISH ON THE MARKETS!

[Demeter]

21. Predatory Lending – Tim Miller – “Love, Your Broken Home”

A little while back I listened to an interview on the radio involving predatory lending practices. On one side, they had a family on the verge of being homeless because of these predatory practices. On the other side, they interviewed a twenty something year old lender.

I know there are a lot of borrowers out there who were greedy and got burned because of it. This family, however, was not one of those borrowers.

Essentially, this family trusted the lender and was taken advantage of. The family was persuaded to "lock in" a variable rate loan because of its "favorable" terms. Because of the "favorable" terms, of course, the lender told the family they could borrow much more money than, in reality, the family should have.

The lender prospered by exploiting families like this - actually saying in the interview how he and buddies would fly to Vegas, go to the best clubs, etc. etc.

Not surprisingly, the family's home was foreclosed after their interest rate reset according to the terms of the loan.

The interview had a profound effect on me and inspired me to write a song about this American tragedy...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hm_W445bidA&feature=player_embedded#!

[Demeter]

24. Federal Government Cuts Off Recession Relief Money To States

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/16/government-ends-recession-relief-money_n_798055.html

Despite soaring unemployment and the 19 million Americans currently living in "deep poverty," federal funds for the Temporary Assistance For Needy Families (TANF) program have entirely dried up for the first time since 1996, leaving states with an average of 15 percent less federal funding for the coming year to help an ever-increasing number of needy families.

TANF, the federal program that replaced welfare under the Clinton Administration, provides a lifeline for families and workers who have exhausted all of their unemployment benefits. According to a new report by the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, "more homeless families will go without shelter, fewer low-wage workers will receive help with child care expenses, and fewer families involved with the child welfare system will receive preventive services" now that Congress has passed legislation that will end funding for the TANF Contingency Fund in 2011.

Congress also failed to reauthorize an emergency fund for a subsidized job program on September 30 that would have allowed states to provide emergency help to needy families and place low-income people in subsidized jobs.

In fiscal year 2011, every state except Wyoming will experience up to a 20 percent reduction in recession relief funds. The CBPP reports that many states have already drastically reduced their subsidized job programs after being cut off from federal funding, costing tens of thousands of people their jobs. Some states are also considering substantial cuts to programs for low-income families with children, including child care subsidies for working parents and programs that address substance abuse, caring for a disabled child, and other challenges...

[Demeter]

26. IN OTHER NEWS: House approves billions for wars without debate

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_DEFENSE_SPENDING?SECTION=HOME&SITE=AP&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

The House on Friday passed legislation that authorizes the Pentagon to spend nearly $160 billion on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan this budget year without major restrictions on the conduct of operations.

The 341-48 vote on the defense authorization bill came after House and Senate Democrats agreed to strip several provisions, including one that would have allowed gays to serve openly in the military and another that would have authorized abortions at overseas military facilities...The spending bill covers the 2011 budget year, which began Oct. 1. The Senate was expected to approve the measure as one of its final acts before adjourning this year...

[ozymandius]

31. Just plain wrong.

From the CIA website:

Afghanistan population: 29,121,286
Iraq population: 29,671,605 (July 2010 est.)
Total = 58,792,891

And we're fighting these wars to help these people?

Now let's calculate:
160 000 000 000 / 58 792 891 = $2,721.42 per person in both countries.

How much are we not spending to support 240K jobs here at home?

[Demeter]

27. White House Financial Advisers Get Rich Moving from Pennsylvania Avenue to Wall Street: It's Incestu

http://blog.buzzflash.com/node/12106

Obama's former budget director, Peter Orszag, is becoming Citigroup's vice chairman of global banking, at a salary speculated to be well in excess of one million dollars a year - and that doesn't include the "bonuses."

Orszag is just one in a long line of top-level Democratic and Republican economic advisers in D.C. who make seamless rides back and forth from Wall Street to Pennsylvania Avenue and Capitol Hill....

Goldman Sachs (which Bush Treasury Secretary Paulson headed at one time) just hired Theo Lubke, the head of the New York Federal Reserve Bank's efforts to regulate the derivatives market. Lubke - you know what's coming - will become Goldman Sach's "chief regulatory reform officer in the securities division to help navigate the impending overhaul of financial regulations in the derivatives market."

The relationship of government financial advisers and regulators and "banks too big to fail" is as toxic as methane gas in a coal mine...As a result, like the miners who aren't forewarned of the risks of a possible explosion due to the lax regulation of wealthy mine owners, we don't get a warning of financial collapse until it's too late.

[mrdmk]

82. They are in the business of finance, so as logic would dictate

these people know what they are doing!!!

Seriously, this country needs to get a grip on these so-called leaders for what they are...

[xchrom]

29. recommend

[Demeter]

30. Fannie and Freddie’s Regulator Opposes Reducing Mortgages for Struggling Homeowners

http://www.truth-out.org/fannie-and-freddies-regulator-opposes-reducing-mortgages-struggling-homeowners66066

The Obama administration has been pushing for banks and investors to cut mortgage balances for homeowners who owe more than their home is worth. But the regulator for the biggest investors of them all -- the government-controlled Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- won't let the two do it...

John Taylor, the head of the nonprofit National Community Reinvestment Coalition, says Fannie and Freddie could easily and quickly affect the overall housing market. "They have the greatest authority and portfolio to make an impact," said Taylor. There are tens of thousands of loans "they can take care of tomorrow," he said.

But data show that Fannie and Freddie don't reduce principal, even if it might save them money in the long term. The reason: Their regulator won't let them. (The regulator, the Federal Housing Finance Agency, declined to comment.)

Fannie and Freddie, the two Government Sponsored Entities, or GSEs in industry lingo, have been under government conservatorship since the summer of 2008, when they nearly collapsed in the housing crisis. Since then, Treasury has pumped over $150 billion into the agencies, adding more funds nearly every quarter. Fannie and Freddie stand to cost taxpayers more than the rest of the bailout combined...

I'D CLASSIFY THIS AS A 'MUST READ' FOR THOSE CONCERNED WITH THE SUBJECT

[Demeter]

37. When Zombies Win By PAUL KRUGMAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/20/opinion/20krugman.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1292850063-JO4naeGiOKPdu73vB1chmg

When historians look back at 2008-10, what will puzzle them most, I believe, is the strange triumph of failed ideas. Free-market fundamentalists have been wrong about everything — yet they now dominate the political scene more thoroughly than ever.

How did that happen? How, after runaway banks brought the economy to its knees, did we end up with Ron Paul, who says “I don’t think we need regulators,” about to take over a key House panel overseeing the Fed? How, after the experiences of the Clinton and Bush administrations — the first raised taxes and presided over spectacular job growth; the second cut taxes and presided over anemic growth even before the crisis — did we end up with bipartisan agreement on even more tax cuts?

...the Obama stimulus — which itself was almost 40 percent tax cuts — was far too cautious to turn the economy around. And that’s not 20-20 hindsight: many economists, myself included, warned from the beginning that the plan was grossly inadequate. Put it this way: A policy under which government employment actually fell, under which government spending on goods and services grew more slowly than during the Bush years, hardly constitutes a test of Keynesian economics.

...Part of the answer, surely, is that people who should have been trying to slay zombie ideas have tried to compromise with them instead. And this is especially, though not only, true of the president...Yes, politics is the art of the possible. We all understand the need to deal with one’s political enemies. But it’s one thing to make deals to advance your goals; it’s another to open the door to zombie ideas. When you do that, the zombies end up eating your brain — and quite possibly your economy too.

OH, I DON'T KNOW, MR. KRUGMAN, I THINK FUTURE HISTORIANS WILL POINT TO THE COMPLETE ABSENCE OF THE RULE OF LAW, AND HOW EVEN A COMPLETE CHANGE OF GOVERNMENT DID NOTHING TO RESTORE THE LEGAL SYSTEM, FROM HABEAS CORPUS ON DOWN TO PROPERTY CONTRACTS...AND COMPARE THE FAILED, EXTINCT NATION OF THE USA TO CHICAGO OF THE 1920'S...

[Demeter]

39. Get Your Daily Dose of Vitriol Here

http://www.regressiveantidote.net/Articles/The_Assassination_of_America_By_The_Coward_Barack_Obama.html

David Michael Green is inspired and livid and the tax bill set him off...

[Demeter]

41. And for dessert, a slap at Harry Reid

File this one under "W", for "Wow, who'd-a-thunk-it? Harry Reid a perpetual loser. Go figure."

The Nevada senator told a tale of being a youngster and playing games with an older boy — games, he says, that he kept losing because the senior lad continued to alter the rules. "I never won a single game," Reid said, "because he kept changing the rules. I was always the loser."

----Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid


SOUNDS LIKE FIZZBIN

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0SsR2y6Tgo

[ozymandius]

42. Ernst and Young: Oh Dear!

This is very reminiscent of Arthur Andersen's demise after overseeing the Enron fraud. ABC News:

Report: Ernst & Young May Face Civil Fraud Charges

Accounting firm Ernst & Young LLC may face civil fraud charges in New York for its alleged role in the demise of Lehman Brothers, according to a report.

The Wall Street Journal, citing anonymous sources, said in a Monday article that State Attorney General and New York governor-elect Andrew Cuomo may file the lawsuit this week, with the state possibly seeking fines and other penalties. The case alleges that Ernst & Young did not act in the appropriate manner while Lehman misled investors about its financial condition.

more

There exists the possibility that Ernst and Young could settle without charges being filed.

[ozymandius]

43. When will come the Santa Claus Rally?

This is the week for it. Futures are heading up a bit at the moment.

U.S. Stock Futures
Data as of 9:08am ET

S&P +4.70 / +0.38%
Level 1,243.10
Fair Value 1,239.09
Difference 4.01

Nasdaq +10.00 / +0.45%
Level 2,223.25
Fair Value 2,217.67
Difference 5.58

Dow +38.00 / +0.33%
Level 11,468.00

Investopedia provides the definition.

[Demeter]

45. I thought We Had It Already

or was that the election rally?

ON EDIT AFTER MARKET OPENS:

MARKET NAZI SAYS: "NO RALLY FOR YOU!"

[Demeter]

44. Human Trafficking As A (Non-) Metaphor For Our Times by David Michael Green

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2010/11/22-4

Next to genocide and war, human trafficking is about the most disgusting thing I can think of.

For those unfamiliar with the term, human trafficking refers to what is essentially slavery (and I think those who oppose such atrocities would be smart, from a marketing perspective, just to call it that), whether that refers to people trafficked as sexual objects, unpaid labor, or whatever other form of exploitation is involved.

Here we are in the twenty-first century, and this is what Wikipedia says about the extent of the problem: "Trafficking is a lucrative industry. It is now the fastest growing criminal industry in the world. Globally, it is tied with the illegal arms trade, as the second largest criminal activity, following the drug trade. Human trafficking usually affects women and children. The total annual revenue for trafficking in persons is estimated to be between USD$5 billion and $9 billion. The Council of Europe states, ‘People trafficking has reached epidemic proportions over the past decade, with a global annual market of about $42.5 billion.' The United Nations estimates nearly 2.5 million people from 127 different countries are being trafficked around the world."

How grim is that?

I'd be happy to write a column opposing the evils of human trafficking, except that it would be an awfully short piece. It's like arguing against, well, war or genocide. Who in their right mind hasn't already figured out the horrors of slavery? And for those who have not (and it's sickening to contemplate the number of people who must be involved - both as buyers and sellers - in order to support a $5-9 billion ‘industry' in slavery), what could one possibly say to change their minds (that is, to make them human), anyhow? ...Such psychologically unwell individuals find it unfathomable that others might want a life for their own purposes rather to fulfill someone else's extravagant cravings, and find it maximally irritating when any of the rest of us are rude enough to demand being treated accordingly. Free and independent human beings seeking their own modest happiness in life? What an annoyance. COULD HE BE REFERRING TO THE BANKSTERS?

[Demeter]

46. SURVEY QUESTION: What's in YOUR Spam?

90% of the spam I get is offering me drugs...since I have no interest in drugs, I am puzzled why I am targetted for this by the spammers.

Do you get the same ratio?

[ozymandius]

47. Me? Mainly mortgage related rubbish.

They want me to re-fi my apartment. I also get junk that says people from my high school want to reconnect with me on Facebook. Of course, these are people who do not ring the faintest bell in my memory.

[Roland99]

49. mine are now mostly credit-related (or Medicare/VA)

[Tansy_Gold]

50. Mainly drugs, and of a type that don't

uh, shall we say, fit my equipment. probably 50% are "male enhancement" drugs, 30% dating services, 10% credit card or other financial offers, 10% misplaced real mail.

[DemReadingDU]

58. we still have AOL whichis really good at filtering out the spam

Rarely does any spam enter the inbox. A few automatically go to the spambox and those that do are usually for drugs, or some kind of lottery winner.

[Demeter]

64. Hotmail throws it all into the spambucket

I had gone through a phase of opting out, which decreased it, and every time a big bust of spammers was announced, it would decline, but lately, it's growing phenomenally.

Why we endure this at all is the question...the druggers at least should be illegal.

[Demeter]

51. Senator Tester Slips Bill Calling for Mandatory Logging of Public Lands into Omnibus Spending Bill

http://www.alternet.org/story/149223/senator_tester_slips_bill_calling_for_mandatory_logging_of_public_lands_into_omnibus_spending_bill

AND THE BEAT GOES ON....

This sets a dangerous precedent for forest management, endangers wildlife and amounts to a $140 million gift to the timber industry courtesy of taxpayers...

IT'S A TRIFLE, HARDLY WORTH MENTIONING...NOT EVEN HALF A BILLION..

If you liked what President Barack Obama and his Secretary of Interior Ken Salazar did in the Gulf of Mexico: Leasing 53 million acres in the Gulf during Obama’s first year in office (more than any of his predecessors) and approving 5,106 oil drilling wells there, including 591 deepwater drilling rigs; all with no prior environmental analyses, no public participation, no environmental safeguards, and no restrictions or regulations; thereby creating the worst environmental disaster in the United States of America’s history — then, you’re going to love what Obama and his Secretary of Agriculture Thomas Vilsack have planned for the last surviving ecosystem in the U.S. outside of Alaska.

U.S. Senator Jon Tester (D-MT), strongly backed by Obama and Vilscak, has a bill that was written in secrecy by timber industry lawyers and timber industry lobbyists, a bill often referred to as the “Tester Wildlands Logging Bill,” that was unable to withstand scrutiny from the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee due to the financial and environmental costs of its Congressionally-mandated logging quotas, but has now somehow magically appeared on pages 893 to 942 of the 1,942-page $1.3 trillion Senate Omnibus Spending Bill...

[Demeter]

53. OH LOOK! A BUDGET! Earmarkers feast on pork one last time before diet

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIA7clYziCAesbcTZndrG7u4tOPw?docId=2fadf24da04142b4b283feca07c16d25

...In the waning days of the lame duck congressional session, Democrats controlling the Senate — in collaboration with a handful of old school Republicans — are pushing to wrap $1.27 trillion worth of unfinished budget work into a single “omnibus” appropriations bill.

Their 1,900-plus-page bill comes to the floor this week stuffed with provisions sought by lawmakers. It contains thousands of pet projects, known as earmarks, pushed by Democratic and GOP senators alike — despite a pledge by Republicans to give up such projects next year...The catchall bill is designed to bankroll the operations of every Cabinet agency for the budget year that started Oct. 1, as well as $158 billion to pay for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

It also challenges President Barack Obama. One administration-opposed provision would block the Pentagon from transferring Guantanamo Bay prisoners to the United States. Another would provide $450 million for a program to develop a second engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter despite a veto threat by the administration, which says it's a waste of money.

The architect of the measure, Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, has been working with senior Republicans on the panel — Thad Cochran of Mississippi, Robert Bennett of Utah and Kit Bond of Missouri, among others — to line up the 60 votes needed to repel a filibuster promised by GOP Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina and other conservatives...

[Demeter]

67. Senate Nears Deal on Funding Bill MORE SAUSAGE MAKING

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704138604576030372775510228.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

[ozymandius]

55. America for Sale

Most days, it really is difficult to tell who your friends are. Tester has tried to get this bill to the floor for two years and under six different names. Millions of acres of roadless forest would be subject to logging.

[Demeter]

54. GOP Kills Bonds Program: Secret Plan to Bankrupt States, Bust Public Employee Unions?

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2010/12/17/gop-kills-bonds-program-secret-plan-to-bankrupt-states-bust-public-employee-unions/

The tax deal that passed Congress doesn’t just cost the federal government $850 billion in lost revenues. It also pushes state governments closer to defaulting on loans by failing to extend a federal subsidy program for states that has allowed them to raise billions and avoid bankruptcy. Cash-strapped state such as California and Illinois could indeed default on their loans, which would also cause the vital market in municipal bonds to plummet, a trend already underway.

So with states across the country facing a $140 billion shortfall next year, some experts and union advocates also see the GOP opposition to extending the bonds subsidy –despite its support from even some Republican mayors and governors — as part of a broader scheme to bust public employee unions and wipe out pensions...

[Demeter]

56. South Korea Imposes Levy on Foreign Exchange Borrowings to Stop Outflows

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-19/south-korea-imposes-levy-on-foreign-exchange-borrowings-to-stop-outflows.html

NOW, WHY CAN'T WE GET SERVICE LIKE THAT?

[Demeter]

57. The Beginning of the End of Dollar Hegemony

http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424052970204804204576025452329864700.html?mod=djembdr_t

[Po_d Mainiac]

97. IMHO, way over optimistic..n/t

[Demeter]

59. America surrenders to China

http://www.economist.com/blogs/theworldin2011/2010/12/china_overtakes_america_first_all_manufacturing_0

CASSANDRA’s computer was made in China, and ditto an awful lot more of Cassandra’s belongings and those of hundreds of millions of other people in the world. So we should not perhaps be surprised that at some point in 2011 China will become the world’s biggest manufacturer, ending the 110-year supremacy of the United States.

But what about in 25 years’ time (to continue our theme of marking the 25th anniversary of The World In…)? The likelihood, according to Jim O’Neill, chairman of Goldman Sachs Asset Management, is that China’s overall economy (not just its manufacturing sector) will have overtaken America’s. Indeed, Mr O’Neill reckons that magic date might happen by 2027. That is a judgment to be respected, not least because it was Mr O’Neill who in 2001 came up with the emerging-market acronym of the BRICs. Interestingly, while America’s economic supremacy has spawned plenty of imitation of its methods and culture, Mr O’Neill does not assume the same will be true of China’s. Nor, for that matter, does he speculate on how America will react to being in second place. Cassandra’s expectation is that there will be much gnashing of metaphorical teeth, especially among the American punditocracy.

[Demeter]

60. Greece welcomes fresh tranche of IMF aid

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jso9eCNgpJvSKX1tHRnxwaOKomEg?docId=CNG.df8c0358f7c73808b9e1e198b40a2359.ce1

Greece welcomed Sunday the International Monetary Fund's decision to release a third tranche of emergency financial aid, and said it would push on with reforms to secure future support...The IMF on Friday approved the release of 2.5 billion euros of loans, part of a 110-billion-euro IMF/European Union package agreed in May when the debt-ridden country teetered on the brink of bankruptcy.

The IMF called on Greece to continue to accelerate structural reforms, and in its statement the ministry pledged that the government would continue to meet its obligations.

The IMF said Greece's economic growth would slow to a crippling minus three percent next year, worse than the minus 2.5 percent that had been forecast, while borrowing costs remain sky high.

[Demeter]

62. Spain Banks Face 2011 Revenue Drain on Funding Costs

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-16/spain-s-banks-face-revenue-drain-in-2011-on-higher-funding-costs.html

...Concern that Spain won’t be able to reduce the euro region’s third-highest budget deficit and avoid a European Union bailout has driven up financing costs for the banks. The nation’s Aa1 credit rating may be lowered, Moody’s Investors Service said on Dec. 15, blaming banking losses, regional public deficits and mounting borrowing costs as the government and lenders seek to refinance 260 billion euros ($345 billion) of debt.

The cost to insure the senior debt of Bankinter for five years has almost doubled since April, to about 330 basis points, data compiled by Bloomberg show. That’s almost twice the cost of insuring the debt of Belgium’s KBC Groep NV, which has the same A1 rating from Moody’s as Bankinter. Both have a negative outlook from the rating company. The Spanish bank is the fifth- worst performer in the 53-member Bloomberg Europe Banks and Financial Services Index this year after dropping 42 percent.

‘Squeezing’ Margins

Bad loans as a proportion of total loans in Spain climbed to 5.67 percent in October, the highest level since January 1996, from 5.50 percent in September and 4.99 percent a year ago, the Bank of Spain said today.

The cost of luring deposits also rose. The average rate paid on Spanish household deposits for as long as a year reached 2.61 percent in October, compared with 1.13 percent in Germany....


AND WHAT DO SAVERS "EARN" HERE? .01% ?

[Demeter]

68. French AAA Grade at Risk as Downgrades Sweep Europe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-12-20/france-s-aaa-grade-at-risk-as-rating-downgrades-sweep-europe-euro-credit.html

...Moody’s Investors Service said Dec. 15 it may lower Spain’s rating, citing “substantial funding requirements,” and slashed Ireland’s rating by five levels on Dec. 17. Standard & Poor’s is reviewing its assessments of Ireland, Portugal and Greece. Costs to insure French government debt rose to a record today with the country’s credit default swaps more expensive than lower-rated securities from the Czech Republic and Chile.

“Every sovereign may get penalized in the year ahead,” said Toby Nangle, who helps oversee $46 billion as director of asset allocation at Baring Asset Management in London. “It would be a big deal if France was to have its AAA rating stripped. I don’t think the likelihood of a downgrade is reflected in the market.” ...

[Demeter]

87. Off With Their Heads 2.0 By Gerald Celente

We warned it would happen and it happened as we warned. “Off with their heads! Off with their heads!” chanted the angry mob as they attacked the Royal Rolls Royce carrying Prince Charles and his wife Camilla.

“Off With Their Heads 2.0” read the headline of our Autumn Trends Journal (10 October 2010) predicting the outpouring of outrage that would accompany the harsh austerity measures inflicted upon the general public, while governments doled out generous bailouts and rescue packages for bankers and financiers...The spontaneous attack on the Royal couple was the first salvo in what promises to be a long war between the people and the ruling classes. Anyone questioning the intensity of the people’s seething anger is either out of touch or in denial, this was the worst show of violence directed towards the Royals since the days of Irish/English hostilities.

In this case, the Royals offered a convenient symbolic target for the young protestors, a new generation that has come face-to-face with a future of downward mobility. It wasn’t only that they would have to pay three times the tuition for a degree that no longer guaranteed them a decent job, it was rage against the machine – a rigged system that paved the way for the privileged and punished the prols...All the Kings and Queens of Commerce – along with Presidents, Prime Ministers, top level bureaucrats and elected officials – will soon be hearing the same chant of “Off with their heads!”

While the public was being punished with austerity measures, the “too big to fail” bankers, hedge fund hustlers and Wall Street high rollers, blamed for creating conditions necessitating austerity by making the biggest, most crooked and worst of financial gambles – were rewarded with a king’s ransom:


Read more: Off With Their Heads 2.0 http://dailyreckoning.com/off-with-their-heads-2-0/#ixzz18gRcBXuH

[Demeter]

88. SAY IT AIN'T SO, FORD! The Half-Truth and Nothing But the Half-Truth By Eric Fry

During the crisis of 2008-9, the Federal Reserve and Treasury operated as covertly as the CIA – doling out trillions of dollars in bailouts and guarantees to a handful of coddled corporations. Those financial “black ops” produced myriad deceptions in the financial markets...In addition to the Fed’s intended deception that insolvent financial firms are as fit as a fiddle, the Fed’s meddling also produced numerous knock-on deceptions like: the labor market is recovering, the housing market is bottoming out, the financial sector is reviving and Goldman Sachs never makes a trading loss.

The Fed’s secret meddling also produced a few very subtle deceptions – the kind that seem victimless…until you dig a little deeper...During the crisis of 2008-9, for example, Ford Motor Company borrowed as much as $7 billion from a lending facility of the Federal Reserve. But the details of these borrowings did not come to light until just three weeks ago. And even now, very few investors – or car-buyers – seem to realize that GM and Chrysler were not the only “Big 3” car companies to receive a helping hand from the government. Ford also cashed a few government checks.

On December 3, 2008, Ford Motor Co.’s CEO, Alan Mulally, applauded the assistance the federal government extended to General Motors and Chrysler, while also declaring, “Ford is in a different position. We do not face a near-term liquidity issue, and we are not seeking short-term financial assistance from the government.”

Two years after this pronouncement, Ford remains “the auto company that did not receive a government bailout.” So pervasive is this legend, that tourists in Dearborn, Michigan can be seen wearing T-shirts like these:




Read more: The Half-Truth and Nothing But the Half-Truth http://dailyreckoning.com/the-half-truth-and-nothing-but-the-half-truth/#ixzz18gSfFaq3

AND DON'T BOTHER LOOKING FOR THE GM WILLOW RUN TRANSMISSION PLANT..IT WILL BE SHUT DOWN THURSDAY. THE EQUIPMENT HAS BEEN AUCTIONED OFF

[Demeter]

90. Architect of the single currency dies

Former European Central Bank Executive Board member and Italian Economy Minister Tommaso Padoa-Schioppa, one of Italy’s most widely respected economic figures, died on Saturday evening of a heart attack

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/0QSDPP/0GS0SI/87I64/GK64O0/5C9YJM/SN/t?a1=2010&a2=12&a3=20

GIVEN RECENT EVENTS, I'M NOT SURPRISED...

[Tansy_Gold]

95. Oh, you're bad.

Talk about grave dancin'! :evilgrin:


TG, TT

[Ghost Dog]

103. I, for one, welcome our new Pale Blue Dot

overlord.

Hail :hi: