STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, October 13, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, October 13, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 12, 2011

Dow 11,518.85 +102.55 (+0.89%)
Nasdaq 2,604.73 +21.70 (+0.83%)
S&P 500 1,207.25 +11.71 (+0.97%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.18 -0.03 (-1.36%)
30-Year Bond 3.17 -0.03 (-0.97%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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    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 = 12

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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

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Today's Reports

Oct 13 08:30 Initial Claims 10/08 400K 406K 401K
Oct 13 08:30 Continuing Claims 10/01 3700K 3700K 3700K
Oct 13 08:30 Trade Balance Aug -$45.5B -$46.1B -$44.8B
Oct 13 11:00 Crude Inventories 10/08 NA NA -4.679M
Oct 13 14:00 Treasury Budget Sep -$64.0B -$67.0B -$34.6B

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/10/10-14/#ixzz1aevvBY2Q

[xchrom]

2. still gloomy here -- my phone app tells me it's going to thunderstorm.

:donut:

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. Oil hovers above $85 amid demand forecast cuts

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered above $85 a barrel Thursday in Asia after the International Energy Agency joined OPEC in cutting its forecasts for crude oil demand amid a slowing global economy.

Benchmark crude for November delivery was down 20 cents at $85.37 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 24 cents to settle at $85.57 in New York on Wednesday.

Brent crude was down 15 cents at $111.21 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

The IEA on Wednesday followed OPEC in trimming its forecasts for crude oil demand this year and 2012. The Paris-based IEA still expects world demand to hit a record this year, but more slowly than previously expected. The IEA's outlook followed a similar one from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries on Tuesday.

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. European Stocks Drop, U.S. Futures Decline

European stocks fell from a two- month high as China’s export growth slowed and Carrefour SA (CA) cut its full-year profit forecast for the second time in three months. U.S. futures declined, while Asian shares advanced.

Carrefour retreated 5 percent after saying its profit may fall as much as 20 percent this year. Roche Holding AG (ROG) slid 3.4 percent after posting third-quarter revenue that missed analysts’ estimates. Alcatel-Lucent surged 5.9 percent after the Financial Times reported that France’s biggest telecommunications equipment maker will sell its corporate call- center business.

The benchmark Stoxx Europe 600 Index dropped 0.8 percent to 237.34 at 11:59 a.m. in London. The gauge rose 1.7 percent yesterday for its biggest six-day rally since January 2009, surging 10 percent. The Stoxx 600 has tumbled 18 percent from its high on Feb. 17 amid concern that the sovereign debt crisis in Europe will spread from Greece to the larger economies of Italy and Spain.

“It’s too early to conclude that the euro-zone problems will be solved,” said Henrik Drusebjerg, a senior strategist at Nordea Bank AB in Copenhagen. “It’s not the first time European politicians have pledged to handle the problem once and for all.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-13/european-u-s-stock-index-futures-slide-as-carrefour-cuts-profit-forecast.html

[Rhiannon12866]

5. Excellent post and terrific cartoon!

:applause:

[Fuddnik]

6. About time you got out of bed!

Raining here. So the hounds don't get to go to the park this morning.

[wobblie]

7. NEARLY TWO MILLION AT RISK OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CUT-OFFS IN JANUARY ALONE

National Employment Law Project

For Immediate Release: October 11, 2011

Contact: Tim Bradley, 314-440-9936

REPORT: NEARLY TWO MILLION AT RISK OF UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE CUT-OFFS IN JANUARY ALONE, UNLESS CONGRESS ACTS

AS SENATE DEBATES PRESIDENT’S JOBS BILL, NELP CALLS FOR RENEWAL OF FEDERAL UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE THROUGH 2012

Washington, DC - Nearly two million out-of-work Americans will be cut off from federal unemployment insurance in January alone if Congress fails to renew the programs before they expire on December 31st, according to a new analysis<http://www.nelp.org/page/-/UI/2011/NELP_UI_Extension_Report_2011.pdf?nocdn=1> issued today by the National Employment Law Project. Millions more will face the same fate in subsequent months if the program is not reauthorized by Congress.

NELP’s report, “Hanging on by a Thread<http://www.nelp.org/page/-/UI/2011/NELP_UI_Extension_Report_2011.pdf?nocdn=1>,” warns that a lapse or cut in the federal unemployment insurance programs would deal devastating blows to jobless workers, struggling businesses, and the fragile U.S. economy.

“For millions of out-of-work Americans hanging on by a thread, unemployment insurance is the only thing preventing a free-fall into destitution and despair,” said Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project. “For struggling businesses and the halting economy, unemployment insurance is what’s preserving consumer spending at a moment we need it most. Withdrawing this crucial stimulus would likely tip the nation back into recession.”

The NELP report finds that in January 2012 alone, 1.8 million workers in need of federal aid will be cut off if Congress fails to act. This includes nearly 1.4 million unemployed workers already receiving federal unemployment insurance, as well as more than 430,000 unemployed workers laid off as recently as July who will exhaust their state unemployment benefits in January. Without these expiring federal programs-called Emergency Unemployment Compensation and Extended Benefits-newly unemployed workers in many states will only be able to access, at most, 26 weeks of benefits through state unemployment insurance programs.

California, Florida, New York, Texas, and New Jersey top the list of states facing premature cut‐offs, according to the report’s state‐by‐state breakdowns.

The unemployment rate, currently at 9.1 percent, has remained near or above 9 percent for almost two-and-a-half straight years. And for almost two years, nearly 45 percent of the unemployed-more than six million people-have been out of work for six months or longer.

“We are mired in a national crisis of long-term unemployment. Not since the Great Depression have so many people been out of work for so long. This is not the time to cut back on federal unemployment insurance,” said Owens.

Congress has never cut back on federally-funded unemployment insurance when unemployment was anywhere near this high for this long. The highest unemployment rate when federal benefits were cut by Congress was in 1985, at 7.2 percent.

Nearly seven million Americans are currently surviving on modest unemployment insurance benefits. Dawn Deane, a 49-year-old mother of two from Philadelphia, was laid off from her job as an HR manager for an education nonprofit in June. Deane says unemployment insurance has allowed her to support her children and not lose her modest home as she continues her job search.

“The unemployment insurance is helping me manage and maintain my mortgage, utilities, and car payments-helping us just barely stay above water,” says Deane. “Without it, I’d just have nothing while I look for new work-not even heat, electricity, or a phone. And if it got cut off, I would fall behind on my mortgage, probably face foreclosure, have my car repossessed, and end up applying for welfare.”
The report points out that in 2010, due largely to the federal extension, unemployment insurance kept 3.2 million people (including nearly one million children) from falling into poverty. Were it not for unemployment insurance, the number of people falling into poverty would have more than doubled in 2010.


According to the NELP report, the federal unemployment insurance programs have saved or created millions of jobs since first enacted in July 2008, including more than 1.1 million jobs in the fourth quarter of 2009 alone. Over the past three years, more than 17 million unemployed Americans have received federal unemployment insurance, pumping $180 billion back into local communities and economies hit hard by severe unemployment.

“With our economy so fragile, long-term unemployment so high, and the job market so weak, the stakes could not be greater or the consequences of inaction more severe,” Owens said. “Congress must step up and pass the President’s proposal to reauthorize federal unemployment insurance programs through 2012, as part of the broader jobs bill initiative being debated in the Senate this week."


The National Employment Law Project is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization that conducts research and advocates on issues affecting low-wage and unemployed workers. For more about NELP, visit www.nelp.org<http://www.nelp.org>.

[DemReadingDU]

11. Welcome to the Stock Market Watch!

:hi:

[xchrom]

8. europe: Most Spanish banks would fail proposed EU solvency rules

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Most/Spanish/banks/would/fail/proposed/EU/solvency/rules/elpepueng/20111011elpeng_9/Ten

The European Banking Authority (EBA), the European Union's supervisor for the sector, is considering raising the minimum solvency level lenders require under scenarios of recession, a new demand that would cause most of the banks in Spain to fail the stress tests drawn up under such a premise.

Citing banking and regulatory sources, Reuters reported Tuesday that the EBA wants banks to have minimum Tier 1 core capital of seven percent under a recessionary scenario, up from the five percent that was used in stress tests conducted on 90 European banks in July, which were considered to have been insufficiently rigorous.

On that basis, 17 of the 24 banks subjected to the probe would require more capital. The recapitalization exercise for European banks would amount to around 100 billion euros, Reuters reported. "A significant number of banks are expected to fail the stress tests," Reuters quoted one source as saying. In the case of Spain, the number of failing banks will be reduced to 16 due to the merger of Banco Popular and Banco Pastor, one of the banks that failed in July.

[xchrom]

10. Putin defies stagnation

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/MJ14Ag01.html

The crucial economic signal for Russia last week was the price slide for the Urals oil blend below the US$100 per barrel level, which is not only a symbolic watershed but also an inflection mark on which the Russian budget goes into red.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin boldly dismissed this minor dip, asserting that oil prices remain at "acceptable levels" so that the real question for his government was how to distribute the surplus revenues. Speaking at an investment forum, he took the argument one step further, insisting that Russia was "emerging from the crisis" and not sinking into a new one while also offering reassurance that "Russia is prepared to deal with any scenario better than in 2008".

This pep talk departs radically from the south-bound direction of


all key economic indicators, particularly from the panicky stock exchange, which has lost nearly half its value in the last six months. What is even more striking about Putin's positive thinking is that in recent weeks troubles have spread to the businesses in which he takes keen personal interest.

Perhaps the most irritating were the surprise raids on Gazprom's offices in 10 European Union countries ordered by the European Commission in connection with an antitrust probe. Putin could have shrugged it off as petty vindictiveness by Brussels bureaucrats, but the "hostile" investigation is centered on Gazprom's ties with German companies, first of all E.ON, which have become seriously strained.

[xchrom]

14. German banker: need more than Greek debt writeoffs

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_EUROPE_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-13-06-44-16

BERLIN (AP) -- It may be necessary to write off some of Greece's debt, but that it is not an overall solution to the country's economic problems, the head of Germany's central bank has said.

Bundesbank President Jens Weidmann told Bild newspaper Thursday that the need for a Greek "haircut" - in which the country's government pays back less than what it owes to bondholers - could not be ruled out.

"But that will not solve the cause of the problems. Greece must get a grip on its state sector and make its economy competitive - a debt forgiveness must not become an attractive way out of self-inflicted problems."

Weidmann was also critical of the European Central Bank's recent purchases of bonds from troubled countries, saying "we're at best buying time, taking risks, but not solving the real problem."

[xchrom]

15. Deutsche could need 9 billion euros to pass new EU test

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/13/uk-deutschebank-idUKTRE79C1MD20111013


(Reuters) - Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) would need 9 billion euros (8 billion pounds) in fresh equity if new EU stress tests imposed a 9 percent core tier 1 capital ratio, two people with direct knowledge of the bank's finances said on Thursday.

The bank would pass the latest European Banking Authority test if a 7 percent ratio were to be required, the sources told Reuters.

Deutsche Bank declined to comment, but in separate remarks the bank's chief executive said it would do all it could to avoid a forced recapitalisation.

Josef Ackermann said the bank had enough funds of its own to cope with a crisis and added that writedowns of sovereign debt, or haircuts, combined with demands to boost bank capital could lead to a credit crunch in the real economy.



*** 9 billion euro for deutche bank?!?!

[xchrom]

25. GLOBAL MARKETS-Italian debt sold, China hits equities

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/13/markets-global-idUKL5E7LD0P620111013

Oct 13 (Reuters) - Italy's sale of 6.2 billion euros in bonds on Thursday eased investors' immediate concerns about its funding in the euro zone debt crisis, but stock markets were hit by weaker Chinese trade data.

European shares fell 0.9 percent after recent gains and Wall Street looked set to open lower following data showing China's trade surplus narrowed for a second straight month in September, with both imports and exports lower than expected.

It reflected global economic weakness, which along with the euro zone debt crisis has kept investors avoiding aggressive risk taking over the past months.

[Ghost Dog]

30. Oh shit. Busted!

(but the good ones are still good).

Ok, so, let's have a look at the real value of all that unsold new-build housing stock they still have on their books,

and see house prices fall another 30% or so, as they should.

That might stimulate what needs to be stimulated here in the real world, somewhat.

:rofl:

[xchrom]

32. France says EFSF should be turned into a bank

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/10/13/uk-eurozone-efsf-idUKTRE79C24620111013

(Reuters) - France believes the euro zone's EFSF rescue fund should be turned into a bank to leverage its firepower and Greek bondholders will have to accept losses higher than 21 percent, a finance ministry source said on Thursday.

"We think that obviously the most solid way (of leveraging the EFSF) is for the fund to become a bank so that, in collaboration with the ECB, it could leverage itself," said the source.

"This hypothesis is uncertain because the ECB has already issued a negative opinion on it. We continue to talk: that is what would work best."

Many analysts agree the most effective way to give the 440 billion euros (385 billion pounds) European Financial Stability Facility more muscle would be to treat it as a bank, making it eligible to borrow at the European Central Bank's regular funding operations.

[Pale Blue Dot]

9. Sharp rise in foreclosures as banks move in

More U.S. homes are entering the foreclosure process, but they're taking ever longer to get sold or repossessed by lenders.

The number of U.S. homes that received a first-time default notice during the July to September quarter increased 14 percent compared to the second quarter of the year, RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.

That increase signals banks are moving more aggressively now against borrowers who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments than they have since industrywide foreclosure processing problems emerged last fall. Those problems resulted in a sharp drop in foreclosure activity this year.

The surge in default notices means homeowners who haven't kept up their mortgage payments could now end up on the foreclosure path sooner.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44885991/ns/business-real_estate/#.TpbI0XLYGSo

[xchrom]

12. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. profit falls 4%

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-chase-co-profit-falls-4-2011-10-13?dist=beforebell

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. /quotes/zigman/272085/quotes/nls/jpm JPM -0.60% said Thursday its third-quarter profit fell 4% to $4.26 billion, or $1.02 a share, from $4.42 billion, or $1.01 a share, in the year-ago period. Reported revenue remained about flat at $23.8 billion, while revenue on a managed basis totaled $24.4 billion in the latest quarter, up from $24.3 billion. Wall Street analysts expected the financial firm to earn 91 cents a share on revenue of $23.3 billion, according to a survey by FactSet Research. During the quarter, the New York-based component of the 30-stock Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/zigman/627449/delayed DJIA +0.90% booked a one-time gain of 29 cents a share from a debit valuation adjustment in its investment bank unit that resulted from widening of the firm's credit spreads. Its private equity unit reported a loss of 9 cents a share. The bank took 15 cents a share in litigation expenses related to mortgage matters. The bank said it faced a challenging banking and capital markets program, but held on to its number one ranking in global investment banking fees so far in 2011.

[Pale Blue Dot]

55. J.P. Morgan cutting 1,000 investment bank jobs

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Jamie Dimon, the chief executive of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. JPM -4.91% said on Thursday that the bank plans to cut 1,000 jobs from its investment bank as business weakens across the sector. Dimon made the revelation on a conference call following the company's third-quarter earnings report.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/jp-morgan-cutting-1000-investment-bank-jobs-2011-10-13?link=MW_home_latest_news

[xchrom]

13. Political motives seen in Wal-Mart's China trouble

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_WAL_MART?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-10-13-06-49-01

BEIJING (AP) -- Wal-Mart is getting another public bludgeoning in China as popular anger over food safety makes the retail giant an easy target for political point scoring ahead of a central government leadership shuffle.

Authorities in the city of Chongqing have arrested two employees, closed 13 Wal-Mart stores for two weeks and fined the company 2.7 million yuan ($421,000).

Even though Wal-Mart has developed a reputation for lax quality control in China, analysts said the penalties seem harsh in light of the violation: passing off regular pork as higher-priced organic meat.

"It seems very excessive. I could see if they were ordered to stop selling pork or to shut down their fresh meat cases," said Torsten Stocker, Hong Kong-based head of the consumer goods practice at U.S. consulting firm Monitor Group. "But why close down the entire store? It seems a very strong reaction."

[fasttense]

33. A little over $400,000 in fines is excessive?

Really? For Wal-Mart? But the real rub is shutting down their stores. That's where they make easily over $400,000 in a day.

But if they are selling fraudulent organic pork, they are probably selling other fraudulent products. You can bet on it.

[Demeter]

34. And if they do it in China, why not here?

It's called a "business plan".

[Demeter]

16. Morning All! I Finally Did It

I joined a credit union, and I'm in the process of reorganizing everything (ugh). I was using a large regional bank holding company bank, but they are trying to do a BofA fee schedule....

Finished the papers at 6:30 and started housework...trying to get the place tolerable for the guy who is going to finally put the faucet in my sink. I decided it was time to hire some help. There's only so much one woman can do...and I'm way over quota.

But I'm feeling optimistic about making progress this fall and winter.

Somebody call the ambulance...and the guys in white coats. Time for the Funny Farm.

[Demeter]

18. DILBERT Explains what it's like on my condo board.

[xchrom]

46. Love that! Nt

[Fuddnik]

20. I've got a big butterfly net.

But, my wife needs it for me.

[Demeter]

24. You are so sweet to offer

I can always find the best help on this thread.

[DemReadingDU]

22. That reorganizing takes time

That's why I haven't started to consolidate. We have 3 banks and a credit union. Ugh. But if there came a time that withdrawal limits are put on the financial institutions, then we could withdraw from 4 institutions.

[Demeter]

27. I don't have enough to make that worth the exercise

I'm just planning on staying out of debt and living miserly. And a small reserve of gold for the big ones.

[DemReadingDU]

38. Old habits are hard to break

We really don't have that much either. But,

Years ago, I worked at one bank and that's where the checking account is for utility bills.
(and that bank has now morphed twice into a regional bank)

Then we bought a house, and the best rate was at the local savings&loan, so that's there the savings account is. But now it is used for health insurance premiums.
(and that S&L has now morphed into a different regional bank)

Then we moved to a village that had no regional banks, only its own local bank. So we signed up so we didn't have to drive 15 miles to the other banks.
(and that local bank has now morphed into a 3rd regional bank)

Then we signed up at the credit union to stash the meager proceeds from selling a few stocks and to deposit spouse's SS checks.

So there are valid reasons and purposes for having four institutions. We just haven't had the time, or the initiative, to consolidate with everything else going on.

[Roland99]

43. Woo hoo!!!!

Congrats!

I love my credit unions!


If I could just get my mortgage refi'd (anyone notice how 10-year bond yields have jumped .5% since I app'd for my refi?? What great timing! ARGH!) then I'd be able to totally kiss Chase goodbye.

[DemReadingDU]

17. Geithner to Press Europe to Move Faster on Crisis

10/13/11 Geithner to Press Europe to Move Faster on Crisis

Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner will increase pressure this week on his European counterparts to act forcefully amid U.S. concern that the continent’s debt crisis is hurting the global economy.

“The consequences of delay are growing,” Lael Brainard, Treasury undersecretary for international affairs, said in a press briefing in Washington yesterday. “Against a backdrop of elevated risks to the recovery, the United States will intensify our call for resolute action.”

Geithner, 50, will attend the Group of 20 finance ministers meeting starting tomorrow in Paris. The crisis has pushed Greece to the brink of default, shaken world markets and fueled speculation the 17-nation euro currency might not survive in its current form.

Geithner told Bloomberg Television Oct. 11 that “the Europeans recognize that they have to put in place a much more substantial, much more powerful response if they’re going to achieve their objectives, which is helping countries reform.”

This will be Geithner’s third trip to Europe in five weeks to consult his counterparts. He has not publicly specified any plan for the euro area.

Europe “presents the most serious risk to the global recovery,” Brainard, the department’s top-ranking international official, said during yesterday’s briefing. “We in the United States have a very significant stake. Europe’s strength and stability matter greatly to the confidence of our own consumers and financial markets, and to our recovery.”

more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-13/geithner-in-paris-will-tell-european-counterparts-to-move-fast.html

[Demeter]

19. What an Idiot He Is

His little sock puppet is toast. He ought to be thinking of fixing his own legacy, before OWS manages to bring charges....

[DemReadingDU]

26. What's Geithner in such a hurry for?

Is Europe (Euro) going to implode.
:eyes:

[Demeter]

29. The Election

Come 2012, he's out of a job. If Europe doesn't save the world and Timmy's ass, he's going on unemployment, because there won't be nobody giving him a sweetheart deal.

[Ghost Dog]

31. Nope. The dollar is.

:smoke:

[Demeter]

35. There's too many things on the verge of implosion

We could have a horse race as to win, place and show...with dates for a pool.

[Po_d Mainiac]

28. Mr Privateize Gains - Socialize Losses, needs to STFU n/t

[amandabeech]

70. I think that the take-home here is that the U.S. financial institutions

are on the losing end of a huge amount of credit default swaps that will go completely bad when Greece, and others, inevitably defaults.

This will make the AIG bailout look like peanuts.

For Timmie, everything else is just details.

[Demeter]

21. Economic "Experts" Got Crisis All Wrong by: Paul Krugman

http://www.truth-out.org/economic-experts-got-crisis-all-wrong/1317921967

It took bad thinking and bad policy by many players to get us into the state we’re in; rarely in the course of human events have so many worked so hard to do so much damage. But if I had to identify the players who really let us down the most, I think I’d point to European institutions that lent totally spurious intellectual credibility to the Pain Caucus. Specifically:

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, which a year ago demanded both fiscal austerity and a sharp rise in interest rates in the United States, because, well, just because. Recently the O.E.C.D. surveyed Britain and concluded that inflation is likely to decline, unemployment to rise, and that the nation should therefore … continue with fiscal austerity and raise rates. As a correspondent wrote, “What planet are they living on? What planet am I living on?”
The European Central Bank, which completely bought into the doctrine of expansionary austerity, despite overwhelming evidence that it was false, and proceeded to raise rates in the face of a deeply depressed economy — which is possibly the straw that will break the euro’s back.
The Bank for International Settlements, which called for tighter monetary policy from central banks just three months ago, to fight a nonexistent inflationary threat. Did I mention that inflation expectations, as measured by the difference between yields on ordinary and index bonds, have been plunging like a stone?

I haven’t developed a full theory of the sociology going on here. But these organizations should be doing some agonized soul-searching, asking how they got it so wrong while posing as high priests of economic expertise.

Freudian Headlines

Maybe (probably) I’m reading too much into this, but I was struck by a recent headline in The Financial Times: “I.M.F. Warning Over Stimulus Policies.” Because if you actually read the story, the International Monetary Fund is actually warning about austerity policies. As Alan Beattie, an editor at The Financial Times, reported on Sept 20: “Escalating risks to the global economic recovery mean the U.S. and other major economies should not sharply tighten short-term fiscal policy, the International Monetary Fund has warned.”

I suspect that the headline is the result of a Freudian slip; whether it is or not, there’s no question that last year austerity fever swept through the ranks of Very Serious People like a dance craze, and that both policy makers and the media are having a hard time returning to reality. Part of the problem is that they stuck their necks out so far on behalf of magical thinking, in which fiscal contraction is actually expansionary. Now it’s difficult to back down without in effect conceding that they have no idea what they’re talking about, which happens to be the simple truth.

[Tansy_Gold]

66. Dr. Krugman needs to look in a mirror. n/t

[Po_d Mainiac]

23. Why China is afwaid to fwoat their kuwency

http://gcaptain.com/luxury-boat-launched-sinks-immediately?32479

[Fuddnik]

36. A word of advice. Don't ever, ever book a flight on Delta.

You've probably seen the Southwest Airlines commercial, "No $200 booking change fees from us".

I had my flight to DC booked on Delta. When I had to cancel the flight and drive to SC instead, the charged me a $200 "change fee". The total flight, round trip, only cost $287. So they generously gave me a credit for the other $87 to use within one year.

I'll consider booking on Delta again, just after Hell freezes over and the Browns win the Super Bowl.

[Roland99]

44. They've got fliers by the short ones. Have you seen the price of refundable/full-fare coach?

Might as well fly first-class (domestically) or business-class (internationally)

[Fuddnik]

52. Yeah, they're insane.

I sent the "customer service this little comment.

I booked a flight with Delta from Tampa to Washington DC for Oct 5th with a return trip Oct 11th. The ticket cost $289.

On Oct 4th I got a call saying my 82 year old father was hospitalized with a possible stroke in Loris, South Carolina. Needless to say I had to immediately cancel the Washington trip and drive up to SC.

Your airline slapped me with a $200 "change" fee. For no good reason, other than you can. You then generously gave me a credit for my remaining $89 that I can feel free to use in the next year.

Are you people deluded enough to even entertain the thought that I would EVER even consider booking a flight on Delta again? I don't think I need to tell you where you can stick that remaining $89.

Yeah, I'll fly Delta again. Right after Hell freezes over and the Cleveland Browns win the Super Bowl.

And I will strongly discourage anyone I come in contact with to avoid any dealings with you in the future.

Sincerely,

[Ghost Dog]

45. To which I would add: Do your best to avoid Madrid's airport, "Barajas".

'Nough said.

[Demeter]

37. Chinese trade growth slows significantly

Growth in Chinese trade slowed significantly last month as the world’s second-largest economy began to feel the effects of the economic turmoil hitting its most important trading partners in Europe and the US.

Overall Chinese exports increased 17.1 per cent in September from a year earlier, down from a 24.5 per cent increase in August and well below most forecasts, according to data released by Chinese customs on Thursday.

Imports also decelerated, rising 20.9 per cent from a year earlier, compared with August’s 30.2 per cent rise.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/XH0RCU/9MEOW/MSSNF3/8ZWLKK/MQ/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=13

[Demeter]

39. Chinese reveal size of copper inventory

Chinese copper inventories stood at 1.9m tonnes at the end of 2010, more than the US consumes in a year. The estimate is significantly higher than the 1.0m-1.5m tonnes range foreign executives had assumed and may indicate lower demand than thought.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/XYEWFF/082RTM/WH2F8/2OOMB3/MS3CEQ/PJ/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=12

[Demeter]

40. Chinese reveal size of copper inventory

Chinese copper inventories stood at 1.9m tonnes at the end of 2010, more than the US consumes in a year. The estimate is significantly higher than the 1.0m-1.5m tonnes range foreign executives had assumed and may indicate lower demand than thought.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/XYEWFF/082RTM/WH2F8/2OOMB3/MS3CEQ/PJ/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=12

[Demeter]

41. EU banks could shrink to hit capital rules

Leading European banks say they would rather sell assets than raise expensive new capital to meet compulsory demands from the European Union for higher capital ratios, threatening a further contraction of credit to the enfeebled eurozone economy

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/AMDB04/3CWTA/8ZZDCT/EXETMQ/B7/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=12

[Demeter]

42. The A-List: George Soros - A route through the eurozone minefield

Europe's banking system needs to be guaranteed first and recapitalised later. National governments cannot afford to recapitalise the banks now.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/19JYUU/4CMLKZ/87I64/L99FR3/R3TXGP/YT/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=13

[xchrom]

47. Tipping the scales The fight against crooked trading gathers pace

http://www.economist.com/node/21532280

AMERICA’S Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) prosecuted insider trading for the first time in 1961, after a company employee tipped his broker that the firm would be cutting its dividend. Before the news became public the broker sold the stock for his wife and clients. His punishment was a $3,000 fine and suspension for 20 days from the New York Stock Exchange. According to industry lore, the case was good for business. Clients after a broker with an edge lined up to hire him.

The costs now are rather higher. In May a jury found Raj Rajaratnam, the former boss of Galleon, a now-defunct hedge fund, guilty of 14 counts of insider trading and conspiracy. The Galleon case has ensnared people at big-name firms outside finance, including McKinsey & Company, IBM and Intel. But Mr Rajaratnam is the biggest fish netted so far in a two-year drive by American regulators to catch crooked traders. Mr Rajaratnam was awaiting sentencing as The Economist went to press; prosecutors were hoping to see him spend more than 20 years in prison.

America has long been the most active policeman in this area, and the one that inflicts the toughest penalties (see table). In fiscal year 2010 the SEC brought 53 cases against 138 individuals and entities, a jump of more than 40% on the year before. The regulators are also employing tools typically used to fight drugs and gang violence: investigators used wiretaps for the first time in the Galleon case.

[Demeter]

67. So Imagine What It's Like in Other Markets, Other Lands

The game is rigged.

[xchrom]

48. south asia: Pak to grant MFN status to India: Khar

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Pak-to-grant-MFN-status-to-India-Khar/articleshow/10337898.cms

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided in principle to grant the Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India, foreign minister Hina Rabbani Khar has said, citing a number of achievements in bilateral ties.

Khar made the remarks while speaking during question hour in the national assembly or lower house of parliament on Wednesday evening. She did not provide details as to when the matter would be finalised. India bestowed MFN status on Pakistan in 1996.

Pakistani commerce minister Makhdoom Amin Fahim, who led a high-level business delegation to India last month, had said in Mumbai that there was a strong opinion in his country that India should be given the Most Favoured Nation status. Khar said the India-Pakistan dialogue process had been resumed after a gap of two years. "We want progress on not just one but a number of issues with India on permanent basis besides normalization of overall bilateral relations," she added.

[xchrom]

49. Nifty ends at 5077; auto, capital goods down

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/stocks/market-news/nifty-ends-at-5077-auto-capital-goods-down/articleshow/10340985.cms

MUMBAI: The 50-share National Stock Exchange benchmark Nifty ended in the negative territory as profit booking emerged after a rally in previous session. Weak cues from European peers also weighed sentiments.

The markets had opened on a positive note and moved higher taking cues from Asian peers. However, the bulls ran out of steam and benchmarks failed to breach important resistance levels.

According to analysts, the benchmarks are likely to consolidate in the near term and take cues from corporate earnings, domestic and global economic factors for direction.

Meanwhile, India's food inflation for the week ended October 1 declined marginally to 9.32 per cent against 9.41 per cent a week ago. The street now awaits Friday's WPI inflation data for cues on Reserve Bank of India's policy action on interest rates later this month. The central bank has made it clear that its top priority at the moment is to tame inflation which is above 9 per cent.

[xchrom]

50. India's gold ETF demand likely to explode: WGC

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/indias-gold-etf-demand-likely-to-explode-wgc/articleshow/10340946.cms

MUMBAI: Demand for gold exchange traded funds (ETF) in India is likely to "explode" as investors get accustomed to "click-and-park" mode of investing, shying away from sagging stock markets and as high inflation eats into bank savings, a trade body head told Reuters on Thursday.

"Clearly people are seeing convenience in the form of ETF, going through the same broker which he has for equities," said Ajay Mitra, managing director - India and the Middle East, World Gold Council (WGC).

In the last four years, volumes in gold ETFs have grown over 164 per cent.

Mitra said another reason for the attractiveness of paper gold is that unlike in jewellery there is no intermediate costs.

[xchrom]

51. Gold, silver decline on profit selling

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/markets/commodities/gold-silver-decline-on-profit-selling/articleshow/10341864.cms

MUMBAI: Gold and silver prices declined at the domestic bullion market here on Thursday on moderate profit- taking by investors amid sluggish demand at current levels.

Standard gold (99.5 purity) slipped by Rs 130 per 10 grams to end at Rs 26,630 from Wednesday's close of Rs 26,760.

Pure gold (99.9 purity) also dropped by a similar margin of Rs 130 per 10 grams to settle at Rs 26,755 from Rs 26,885 yesterday.

Silver ready (.999 fineness) slid by Rs 885 per kg to finish at Rs 53,820 as compared to Rs 54,705 previously.

[Fuddnik]

64. I'd trust a gold ETF about as much Mortgage Backed Security.

Paper, Paper, Paper.

[xchrom]

53. asia: IMF says China has scope to respond to global risks

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/imf-says-china-has-scope-to-respond-to-global-risks/articleshow/10337712.cms

TOKYO: China has the scope to respond if global economic risks materialise, and the country's response could partially but not entirely offset the impact of a global crisis, the International Monetary Fund's Asia and Pacific director said on Thursday.

Anoop Singh, director of the IMF's Asia and Pacific department, added that the yen's current level did not pose an immediate risk to Japan's economic recovery and that recent data reinforced the Bank of Japan's view that the economic recovery was taking hold.

Worries have mounted in Japan that yen strength would damage the country's export-reliant economy.

Singh was speaking at a briefing on the IMF's regional economic outlook report for the Asia-Pacific region, which warned that an escalating European debt crisis and US slowdown could bring severe spillover effects into Asia.

[xchrom]

54. China business group to rethink US investments after FX bill

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international-business/china-business-group-to-rethink-us-investments-after-fx-bill/articleshow/10342002.cms

BEIJING: China's largest business group said on Thursday that it would rethink the investment environment in the United States after the US Senate approved a controversial bill aimed at making Beijing lift the value of the yuan.

The comments by the China Chamber of International Commerce, which represents over 70,000 Chinese large trade firms and investors, echo the angry diatribe from other Chinese government bodies on Wednesday after the bill was passed.

China has urged the Obama administration to stymie the bill, labelling it "protectionist".

"We have always supported our members to invest in the United States...but the bill has forced us to reconsider the investment environment in the United States," the business group said in a statement.

[Tansy_Gold]

56. Happy Birthday to ME! K&R

[bread_and_roses]

57. Happy Birthday to YOU!

and many happy returns of the day!

[raouldukelives]

58. Happy Birthday!! nt

[Demeter]

59. And Many More!

[AnneD]

60. Many happy returns ....

to my favorite running mate.:party:

[DemReadingDU]

61. Happy Birthday!

[AnneD]

62. What????

no ice cream and ponies.

Tansy, you have been gipped! :spray:

[Fuddnik]

63. Happy birthday to you!

How many 39's is this?

[hamerfan]

65. HBD, TG!

:yourock:
:party:

[amandabeech]

71. Happy birthday from West Michigan!

Your long time fan, Amandabeech.

[InkAddict]

72. Hope you had a great B-day, Tansy-Gold n/t

[Hugin]

73. Yay!

:party:

[Demeter]

68. Rajaratnam sentenced to 11 years in prison

Raj Rajaratnam, the billionaire hedge fund manager, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, in one of the longest terms in recent times for insider trading, transforming him from an immigrant success story to the modern face of corporate greed

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/AMDO9N/OFBYP/IIITYN/GD90OL/KI/t?a1=2011&a2=10&a3=13

[Hotler]

69. Woo hoo! Free Trade Agreements signed.

And you all thought Washington was dysfunctional. Everyone can relax now jobs are coming. I apologize for being hard on president Obama and our elected Representatives in the past. I was wrong and it was rude of me. They do know what is best for us and I trust them here on out. Never again will I cast stones. I now have hope. I do see a future. I offer up a toast to the fine men and women in Washington that have hepled turn this country around. I now understand the chess game.
:toast: :bounce: