STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday 7 January

[54anickel]

Friday January 7, 2005

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 4 YEARS, 13 DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 4 YEARS, 27 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 3 YEARS, 81 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1142
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 2
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

---

U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES

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AT THE CLOSING BELL ON January 6, 2005

Dow... 10,622.88 +25.05 (+0.24%)
Nasdaq... 2,090.00 -1.24 (-0.06%)
S&P 500... 1,187.89 +4.15 (+0.35%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.27% -0.01 (-0.12%)
Gold future... 421.60 -5.70 (-1.35%)





GOLD, EURO, YEN, Dollars and Loonie

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PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

---

[UpInArms]

1. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DXY0

Last trade 82.82 Change -0.33 (-0.40%)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000101&sid=a0ez8n3f.nhY&refer=japan

BOJ's Fukui Says Easing Will Continue Until Deflation Defeated

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui said the central bank will keep pumping money into the world's second-largest economy until price increases are sustained.

``We have a very firm commitment to the market and to the general public'' to maintain the policy of expanding Japan's money supply, Fukui said in a speech to the Japan Society in New York. ``Until the core CPI index comes up above zero percent in a stable manner, we'll keep this monetary stance.''

The central bank projected in October that Japan's core consumer prices will rise 0.1 percent next fiscal year, which would be the first gain in eight years, after falling a projected 0.2 percent this year. In December, the bank held interest rates near zero and agreed to keep monthly purchases of government bonds from lenders at 1.2 trillion yen ($11 billion). The bank kept its reserves target at 35 trillion yen.

The bank's goal is ``to end deflation entirely,'' Fukui said. ``We are still uncertain when we can expect positive consumer price index readings on a sustained basis.''

<snip>>

Fukui declined to comment on the possibility of official intervention into the foreign exchange markets, saying that's the responsibility of the Ministry of Finance.

The yen has risen 5.9 percent against the U.S. dollar over the past three months. Japan, which sold a record 32.9 trillion yen ($314 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 31 to stem the yen's gains, hasn't sold its currency this fiscal year.

``I don't deny some possibility that some developments in the foreign exchange market could throw the Japanese economy off course,'' he said. Therefore the central bank is monitoring develops in the currency markets ``very carefully,'' he said.

...more at link...

Today's reports will set the tone.

Great 'toon 54anickel!

Have a Great Day Marketeers!

[54anickel]

27. Dollar Declines; Faster U.S. Growth Not Enough to Extend Rally

:eyes:


http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=a5LxtPbpCd50&refer=top_world_news

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The dollar fell for the first day in six against the euro on concern that evidence of faster U.S. growth is insufficient to extend the currency's longest daily winning streak in more than a year.

The U.S. currency is up 2.4 percent since the year began, on speculation growth will outpace the euro region for a fourth year, spurring a wider interest-rate gap. The Institute for Supply Management said on Jan. 3 manufacturing accelerated last month. The Labor Department may say today U.S. job growth is quickening, the median forecast in a Bloomberg survey shows.

``Sentiment is still in the direction of extended dollar depreciation,'' said Marvin Barth, global currency economist at Citigroup Inc. in London, who used to work at the Federal Reserve. Job growth would have to reach 300,000 in December to spur Citigroup to reassess its expectations, he said. The median prediction is for a gain of 175,000.

snip>

``This rally is losing momentum,'' said Steve Pearson, head of currency strategy at HBOS Plc in London. ``To get the dollar moving upwards you'd need something above 200,000'' for December job growth, he said.

snip to the laughable>

``The Fed is likely to be more aggressive in raising rates and the stronger labor market is going to help support the dollar,'' said Hans Guenter Redeker, head of currency strategy at BNP Paribas SA in London. The dollar may gain to $1.28 per euro, the strongest since November, by the end of March, he said.

more...

[RawMaterials]

2. Investors await jobs report

U.S. stock futures were pointing to a mixed open ahead of the 8:30 a.m. ET report, with Nasdaq 100 futures pointing higher while S&P 500 futures were little changed. But that could all change after the employment report.

Economists surveyed by Briefing.com forecast the closely watched report will show a net increase of 175,000 jobs by employers in the month, up from the disappointing November report that showed only 112,000 new jobs. The unemployment rate is forecast to stay unchanged at 5.4 percent
...snip...

The major Asian markets closed lower ahead of the jobs report Friday, as the dollar turned lower against both the euro and the yen following its recent rally. Major European markets were mixed in early trading.


http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/07/markets/stockswatch/index.htm

[Tempest]

38. Jobs report: 157,000

Hardly enough to keep up with the adult population increase.

[RawMaterials]

3. Market Update 8:28 EST

8:01AM: S&P futures vs fair value: +0.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +1.5. Futures market versus fair value suggesting a flat to slightly higher open for the cash market as investors wait for December employment data... Reports suggest that Pfizer (PFE) is developing a new test which may detect Parkinson's early, that AMD has unveiled a new chip to rival Intel's (INTC) Centrino brand and that General Motors (GM) will sink millions of dollars into its Saturn effort

6:29AM: S&P futures vs fair value: +0.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +3.0.

6:29AM: FTSE...4851.60...+27.30...+0.6%. DAX...4302.60...+1.66...+0.0%.

6:29AM: Nikkei...11433.24...-59.02...-0.5%....

http://finance.yahoo.com/mo

[UpInArms]

4. Today's Reports:

Jan 7 8:30 AM
Average Workweek Dec
report -
briefing.com 33.8
market 33.8
last report 33.7
revised -

Jan 7 8:30 AM
Hourly Earnings Dec
report -
briefing.com 0.2%
market 0.2%
last report 0.1%
revised -

Jan 7 8:30 AM
Nonfarm Payrolls Dec
report -
briefing.com 160K
market 175K
last report 112K
revised -

Jan 7 8:30 AM
Unemployment Rate Dec
report -
briefing.com 5.4%
market 5.4%
last report 5.4%
revised -

Jan 7 3:00 PM
Consumer Credit Nov
report -
briefing.com $4.0B
market $6.0B
last report $7.7B
revised -

[UpInArms]

5. U.S. Dec. nonfarm payrolls up 157,000

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?guid={E92351E9-10B6-4D69-9FC2-E2B4C1D2B2A6}&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - U.S. nonfarm payrolls grew by a seasonally adjusted 157,000 in December while the unemployment rate remained steady at 5.4 percent, the Labor Department said Friday. With upward revisions of 34,000 to previous months, payroll growth was close to expectations of 178,000. For all of 2004, 2.231 million jobs were added, the best since 1999. Average hourly earnings rose by 2 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $15.86 in December, less than the 0.2 percent expected by economists surveyed by CBS MarketWatch. The average workweek added back a tenth of an hour to 33.8 hours in December. The total number of hours worked in the economy grew by 0.4 percent.

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. AGGREGATE HOURS WORKED UP 0.4%

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. 2004 AVERAGE HOURLY WAGES UP 2.7%

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. 2004 NONFARM PAYROLLS RISE 2.23 MILLION

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE 66.0%

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. RETAIL JOBS DOWN 20,000

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. MANUFACTURING JOBS UP 3,000

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. OCT., NOV. NONFARM PAYROLLS REVISED UP 34,000

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. AVERAGE WORKWEEK 33.8 HRS AS EXPECTED

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. AVERAGE HOURLY WAGES 0.1% VS. 0.2% EXPECTED

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. JOBLESS RATE 5.4% AS EXPECTED

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. Dec. nonfarm payrolls up 157,000 - Rex Nutting

8:30am 01/07/05 U.S. DEC. NONFARM PAYROLLS 157,000 VS.178,000 EXPECTED

[RawMaterials]

7. Let the games begin,

Will everyone do the happy happy joy joy dance with these numbers?

[54anickel]

14. Whoopsie! And last night they were touting 186K - 200K. But will the

markets once again ignore the reports? I don't think so, and if they do, you know we're in deep trouble.

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?column=Currencies&siteid=mktw&dist=

snip>

The market's attention is shifting to higher U.S. rates and away from the U.S. twin deficits, but traders refrained from making significant bets ahead of the key jobs report, said Fukui.

U.S. payroll figures due out Friday are forecast to have expanded by 186,000 in December, according to the average of a survey by CBS MarketWatch. This would be well ahead of the prior month's 112,000-job gain. See Economic Preview.

Speculation among those buying the dollar late this week was for a December payrolls figure closer to 200,000, traders said.

Higher U.S. rates could draw more foreign capital to U.S. markets. Last year, the Fed raised federal funds rates five times to 2.25 percent.

[RawMaterials]

16. futures look like there going up

I guess we have to wait and see, it will probably go up then trade down right before lunch. I'm thinking flat to slightly down for the day.

[UpInArms]

20. 36,000 of those jobs were government - not private sector -

U.S. jobs report is soft, economist says

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38359.3741709838-830743897&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- U.S. job growth remains soft, despite an "OK" payroll report for December, said Ian Shepherdson, chief U.S. economist for High Frequency Economics. Shepherdson notes that the 157,000 rise in December payrolls was "flattered" by very favorable seasonal adjustment factors and the addition of 36,000 state and local government jobs. "Overall looks OK but core job gains are softer than headlines and wage gains are still worryingly soft," he said. Wages grew just 0.1 percent in December.

[RawMaterials]

26. maybe 36000 mercenaries for Iraq n/m

[54anickel]

30. HA! Seems the gains are in gov't jobs quite often - I thought Repubs were

all about smaller gov't. Wasn't there a month last year where a HUGE majority of the jobs created were gov't?

[54anickel]

33. Sounds like next month's report will be interesting to read - lot's of

changes being made.

http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

snip>

The Employment Situation for January 2005 is scheduled to be released on
Friday, February 4, at 8:30 A.M. (EST).

----------------------------------------------------------------
| Revisions in the Establishment Survey Data |
| |
| With the release of January data on February 4, BLS will |
| introduce revisions to the nonfarm payroll employment, hours, |
| and earnings data to reflect the annual benchmark adjustments |
| for March 2004 and updated seasonal adjustment factors. Un- |
| adjusted data since April 2003 and seasonally adjusted data |
| since January 2000 are subject to revision. |
| |
| Also with the publication of January data, BLS will in- |
| clude separate employment series for motor vehicle and parts |
| manufacturing and health care in table B-1 of this release. |
| In addition, within construction, four new series will be |
| added: residential specialty trade contractors, nonresidential |
| specialty trade contractors, residential building contractors, |
| and nonresidential building contractors. More information on |
| the addition of these new series is available on the BLS Web |
| site at http://www.bls.gov/ces/cesnewseries.htm. |
----------------------------------------------------------------

----------------------------------------------------------------
| Planned Changes in the Household Survey Data |
| |
| Effective with the release of data for January 2005, revi- |
| sions will be introduced into the population controls for the |
| household survey. These changes reflect the routine annual |
| updating of intercensal population estimates by the U.S. |
| Census Bureau. |
----------------------------------------------------------------

- 5 -

Revision of Seasonally Adjusted Household Survey Data

At the end of each calendar year, BLS routinely updates the seasonal adjustment factors for the labor force series derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), or household survey, to incorporate the data for that year. This year, seasonally adjusted data for January 2000-December 2004 were subject to revision. (Seasonally adjusted establishment data will be revised next month, concurrent with the introduction of annual benchmark adjustments.)

more...

[RawMaterials]

6. Stock Futures Flat; Jobs Data on Tap

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures were flat on Friday before the monthly U.S. employment report that will likely set the mood on Wall Street as investors seek clues into the strength of the U.S. economy and future interest rate policy

..snip..

S&P 500 stock futures rose 0.5 of a point, about even with fair value accounting for dividends, interest rates and time to expiration on the contract.

Dow Jones industrial index futures were up 7 points, while Nasdaq 100 futures edged up 1.5 points.

"There isn't much going on ahead of the payroll figures. It's very quiet," said Will Armitage, senior quoting dealer at spread betting firm IG Index. "We've traded sideways for two days in a row now. People are just sitting on their hands waiting for the jobs numbers to come out."

[RawMaterials]

8. December Job Gains Less Than Expected

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A smaller-than-expected 157,000 new jobs were added to U.S. payrolls in December as retailers surprisingly shed employees during the holiday shopping season, the Labor Department (news - web sites) reported on Friday.

snip...

Despite the fact that December came in below Wall Street economists' forecasts for 175,000 new jobs, it followed upwardly revised totals of 137,000 jobs in November and 312,000 in October. Previously, the government said 112,000 jobs were created in November and 303,000 in October.

snip..

The job gains were fairly broad-based in December, with the striking exception of retail trade where 19,600 jobs were lost. Analysts had said before the report was issued that retailers were using fewer seasonal workers to handle the Thanksgiving-through-Christmas holiday sales season

.. I quess no happy happy joy joy dance

[RawMaterials]

9. December Hiring Helps Fuel Job Growth

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1203&e=1&u=/ap/20050107/ap_on_bi_go_ec_fi/economy&sid=95609868

The Labor Department (news - web sites) reported Friday that the 2.2 million new jobs created in 2004 were the most in any year since 1999, when employers added 3.2 million positions, based on a government survey of businesses.

In 2003, there was a net 61,000 reduction in payroll jobs.

But ultimately, the economy wasn't enough of a concern to deny Bush a second term. (I beg to differ, but thats for a nother group)

Looking ahead, the Bush administration predicts the economy will create another 2.1 million jobs in 2005 — a figure that private economists said would be respectable. Still, that's a much lower estimate than a previous administration forecast of 3.6 million new jobs this year.

[RawMaterials]

10. Is this newspeak going on

First its bad than its good, I quess its just like...

WAR IS PEACE,
FREEDOM IS SLAVERY,
IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH

:)

[54anickel]

11. Today's WrapUp by Martin Goldberg 01.06.2005 (lookin' ugly)

MARKET CHANGING CHARACTER
"It's Time to Wake Up!"

Leaders such as Internet stocks are suddenly lagging. Yahoo lives below its 50-day moving average, while Google fails in its IBD cup-with-handle breakout, and Amazon makes a textbook bearish island reversal. There is technical failure in the Generals that finance (Electric and Motors). Formerly leading transportation companies are starting to break down. With heavy volume, homebuilders give up a big chunk of their December vertical rally. There are three Investors Business Daily (IBD) distribution days for the Nasdaq with legions of IBD disciples waiting for its hot guru to give the “sell” signal. Countless numbers of short-term performance chasing hedge fund managers are looking to agilely move from the bull to bear side at “just the right time”. Extremely high daily volume suggests that something is afoot in the stock market. Is it time to panic? Maybe not yet, but it is surely time to wake up, forget the stock market wives tales, and smell the realities of fundamentals. Tonight I’ll show you with charts why it is time to look out.

big snip>

Bonds

It is not easy to lose focus on what’s happening with bonds, given the periodic yet short-lived rallies. A look at the 2-year weekly chart of the 10-year note seems to clarify the long-term direction of bonds, which is price down, interest rates up.



At this point, it seems as if the only thing that moves the bond market to the upside is negative economic data. So to summarize, the fed is raising interest rates, bonds are going down, and interest rates are going up in an economy that is extremely leveraged. All that helps the bond market is dismal economic data, and stocks are historically rich in valuations, while trading volumes are at or near all time highs. Speculative leadership stocks, some with triple-digit P/E’s and trading every few days on average, are breaking down, along with the transports and General Motors. Is there cause for concern? Of course not…. this year ends in a “5”!

Wives Tales, and Once Upon a Time

Having listened to some financial broadcasting over the holidays, it seems as if there is yet one more topic that has surpassed valuations as worthy of airtime discussion – stock market wives tales used to predict market direction. I’ve heard wives tales about January performance reflecting the entire year, and bullish performance occurring because the year ends in a “5”. I’ve heard nothing about a market’s propensity to top around New Year's, though. Yet once upon a time, one of the most famous bubbles bursting market tops occurred on the very first trading day of a New Year – Japan’s Nikkei 225 in 1990. Similar to what we have seen this year, the closing high was on the last day of the previous year (1989), and the all time high on an inter-day basis occurred on the first trading day of 1990. Who would have thought at that time that 15 years later, the Japanese Nikkei would be trading at about 25% its 1990 New Year’s high? Is there anything to be gleaned from the New Year's top that is relevant to our current market? Of course not. Just as there is nothing to the “year that ends in a 5” wives tale.

snip>

Tomorrow’s action is likely to center on the release of unemployment statistics by the government. If the statistics are good (unemployment down), that will hurt the bond market; if they are bad that would boost the bond market. Technically, considering the action in the bond market last month shown below, you can see the importance of this government statistic release.

more...

[RawMaterials]

12. Stock Futures Higher After Jobs Data

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&ncid=1196&e=1&u=/nm/bs_nm/markets_stocks_dc&sid=95609877

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock futures rose on Friday, pointing to a higher market open, after U.S. employment data came in slightly lower than expected.

[54anickel]

18. "SLIGHTLY lower than expected" and this after Initial claims came in

slightly higher than expected, not to mention the not so great ISM data. God, they really are falling for this "year ending in 5" BS, aren't they?

[54anickel]

13. Damn it! What the hell is gold doing UP?...n/t

[RawMaterials]

15. Its probably on the way up because on NPR this morning

they were talking about deficits and the dropping Dollar. plus how you should invest in other country's if you want to get any real gains, so everyone who listens to NPR comes into work then starts to buy gold. bam its up 3.50

[54anickel]

43. The Bullion Desk - Gold sees weaker start, silver holding $6.40

http://www.thebulliondesk.com/Content/Reports/Jimmy/Jimmy.htm

7th January 2005
Gold fell further yesterday as continued fund liquidation forced the metal through support at the 100-day MA $424.05 despite an unexpected rise in weekly jobless claims which allowed the Euro to hold technical support around the 1.3140 level.

The day started with gold drifting gradually lower during Asian and European trade, slipping from Wednesday’s close of $426.25 to touch $425 as disappointing European business confidence data added further pressure to the Euro. Gold opened in the US at $425.20 but found fresh support in early trade as US weekly jobless claims came in at 364k, well above the forecast 331k, prompting light dollar profit taking. Despite the supported Euro fund profit taking eventually returned across the balance of the session, eventually pressuring gold through the 100-day MA $424.05 and after triggering some light stops fell to a low of $420.25. Gold closed slightly firmer at $420.75 and has worked back to $423 overnight as further dollar profit taking has been seen.

Today’s focus is firmly set on December’s non-farm payroll’s data, which has the potential to change near-term market sentiment, triggering further liquidation which could push gold back towards $418/414 with technical support below seen at $409. Looking beyond that our longer-term view is still positive provided gold holds $409; with the continued US trade/current account deficits and the prospect of further middle-east violence ahead the Presidential election’s in Iraq at the end of the month, increasing the ‘safe-haven’ interest in gold.

Despite silver giving back Wednesday’s gains during European trade, slipping back from $6.50 to $6.40 by the US open traders remained on the bid, quickly lifting the metal back to $6.50. Silver stayed in a mixed mood across the rest of the session, trading $6.40-50, and closing the day on the lows at $6.40.

Silver has tracked gold slightly higher this morning, working back to $6.45 but as with gold further direction will depend largely on the dollars reaction to today’s payroll’s data with support below the $6.40 level is seen at $6.25 while resistance is pegged at $6.60.

more...

[54anickel]

63. The dollar rallies

http://www.kitco.com/weekly/paulvaneeden/jan072005.html

Gold is down more than thirty dollars an ounce over the past thirty days as the dollar rallied against other currencies. A stronger dollar makes everything that is bought on international markets, and priced in dollars, less expensive -- including gold.

So what’s in store for 2005?

The big picture has not changed much from 2004. The United States is still running huge budget and trade deficits, the War on Terrorism is likely to heat up, not simmer down, and the US economy is still anemic.

Of course, there are many who would argue that the US economy is in fine shape, and that the dual deficits are nothing to worry about. Just this week, the Wall Street Journal published a survey of fifty-six economists that showed the US economy is expected to grow about 3.6% this year. Not too fast to fuel inflation and strong enough to create many new jobs. Apparently the corporate sector will be the powerhouse behind the growth.

What happened to the US consumer? Why isn’t the stalwart of US economic growth, the Consumer, going to be driving the US economy this year? Could the higher energy prices, higher interest rates and too much debt take a toll on the US Consumer?

If consumers are tapped out, what’s going to drive the corporate expansion? Corporations, by and large, produce goods and services that are bought by consumers. If consumption isn’t going to drive the economic recovery, how is the corporate sector going to grow?

more...

[UpInArms]

17. 54anickel, did you see this thread?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1129454

White House paid commentator to promote law

By Greg Toppo, USA TODAY

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.

The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that aired during the show in 2004.

Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical, but "I wanted to do it because it's something I believe in."

The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers' money" that is "probably illegal." He said he will ask his Republican counterpart to join him in requesting an investigation
(snip/...)

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2005-01-06-williams-whitehouse_x.htm

Is it possible that some/all/any of these freakin' economic cheerleaders are on our payroll too?

I would like to see some of them come and deny or let us know who the hell is paying them to say/make up the shit that they do. I am sick to death of "surprised economists" since I am not one and I am not "surprised".

[54anickel]

21. Had just finished reading it a few minutes ago. "Friggenbelievable" in

BeezleBush's world though. Perhaps we should call these cheerleaders out! They are attempting to draw new blood in. Keep the markets lookin' good to promote the SS privatization scheme. That's why * is in such a freakin' hurry with that plan. Can't keep the bubble going forever without some foreign investors in there as well. Keep playing up the "year ending in 5" BS, that gives him 12 months to work in, if he's lucky. Would imagine that's why they are playing down the effects of expensing options and not mentioning the effects of a declining dollar and the tax-break for multinationals to repatriate their bucks in '05. When you think about it, it truly is a brilliant scheme. This is even more conniving than the Medicare scam.

[UpInArms]

23. Maybe we should start having the "daily naming game"

of "surprised" economists and "cheerleaders" and keep their names on the "starter" post?

It might force a few of them out of their darkened caves :evilgrin:

[54anickel]

24. Hmmm, I like that idea. Perhaps a section call "Sheep Callers"...n/t

[UpInArms]

25. here's another example of the propaganda from the WH

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1129548#1129593

Bush's Drug Videos Broke Law, Accountability Office Decides

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/07/national/07drug.html

January 7, 2005

Bush's Drug Videos Broke Law, Accountability Office Decides
By JOHN FILES

WASHINGTON, Jan. 6 - The Government Accountability Office, an investigative arm of Congress, said on Thursday that the Bush administration violated federal law by producing and distributing television news segments about the effects of drug use among young people.

The accountability office said the videos "constitute covert propaganda" because the government was not identified as the source of the materials, which were distributed by the Office of National Drug Control Policy. They were broadcast by nearly 300 television stations and reached 22 million households, the office said.

The accountability office does not have law enforcement powers, but its decisions on federal spending are usually considered authoritative.

In May the office found that the Bush administration had violated the same law by producing television news segments that portrayed the new Medicare law as a boon to the elderly. .....

This is totalitarianism at its finest! Reminds me of the Russia takeover http://mars.acnet.wnec.edu/~grempel/courses/stalin/

[RawMaterials]

28. We need to get a media outlet that isn't on the take

one that really and truly is independent, but i guess the only hope of that is a deregulated Internet, and satellite radio. who knows how long that will last.

"Those who control the present control the past, those
who control the past control the future." George Orwell "1984"

[54anickel]

29. Perhaps these articles should make it to DU's home page somehow.

Seems the MSM has been hanging out here quite a bit lately. Makes you think that BeezleBush's propaganda machine is feeling a bit threatened by DU, don't it? :evilgrin:

[54anickel]

68. Here's yet another

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1130314

Bush team scolded for disguised TV report

WASHINGTON -- Shortly before last year's Super Bowl, local news stations across the country aired a story by Mike Morris describing plans for a new White House ad campaign on the dangers of drug abuse.

ADVERTISEMENT

What viewers did not know was that Morris is not a journalist and his ''report" was produced by the government, actions which constituted illegal ''covert propaganda," according to an investigation by the Government Accountability Office.

In the second ruling of its kind, the investigative arm of Congress this week scolded the Bush administration for distributing phony prepackaged news reports that include a ''suggested live intro" for anchors to read, interviews with Washington officials, and a closing that mimics a typical broadcast news sign-off.

Although television stations knew the materials were produced by the Office of National Drug Control Policy, there was nothing in the two-minute, prepackaged reports that would indicate to viewers that they came from the government or that Morris, a former journalist, was working under contract for the government.

''You think you are getting a news story but what you are getting is a paid announcement," said Susan Poling, managing associate general counsel at the Government Accountability Office. ''What is objectionable about these is the fact the viewer has no idea their tax dollars are being used to write and produce this video segment."

more...

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/01/07/bush_team_scolded_for_disguised_tv_report/

[UpInArms]

71. Totalitarianism definition

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is any political system in which a citizen is totally subject to a governing authority in all aspects of day-to-day life. It goes well beyond dictatorship or typical police state measurers, and even beyond those measures required to sustain total war between states. It involves constant indoctrination achieved by propaganda to erase any potential for dissent, by anyone, including most especially the agents of government.

Political scientists generally see totalitarianism as the extreme form of dictatorship.

Benito Mussolini originally applied the term to his own regime (1922–1943) in Italy; Italian fascism became fully totalitarian by 1940. Leon Trotsky applied the term to both fascism and stalinism as "symmetrical phenomena" in his 1936 book Revolution Betrayed. Hannah Arendt (1906–1975) popularized the use of the term totalitarianism (notably in her 1951 book The Origins of Totalitarianism) in order to illustrate the commonalities between Nazism and Stalinism as theories of civics. Some people also dub all extreme nationalist, imperialist, fascist and communist regimes as totalitarian — though some fascist regimes, such as Franco's Spain and Mussolini's Italy before World War II, some communist regimes, such as Yugoslavia under Tito, the People's Republic of China under Deng Xiaoping, and Cuba under Fidel Castro, and others, such as Taiwan under Chiang Kai-shek and Indonesia under Suharto, have authoritarian rather than totalitarian characteristics. Many commentators consider the post-Stalin Soviet Union as a post-totalitarian society.

(Great imbedded links in this definition)

See Propaganda:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Propaganda

Propaganda is a specific type of message presentation aimed at serving an agenda. Even if the message conveys true information, it may be partisan and fail to paint a complete and balanced picture. The primary use of the term is in political contexts, and generally refers to efforts sponsored by governments and political parties.

The goal of propaganda is to garner either support or disapproval of a certain position, rather than to simply present the position. The primary target of propaganda is people's opinions rather than their knowledge. Therefore, the information conveyed is often presented in an emotionally loaded way and with other means of affecting the opinions of people.

In English, the word "propaganda" often carries strong negative (as well as political) connotations, despite being accepted as a general meaning of "advertising" on rare occasions. This is not necessarily so in other languages, and usage of the term may lead to misunderstanding in communications with non-native English speakers. For example, in Brazil and some Spanish language speaking countries, particularly in the Southern Cone, the word "propaganda" usually means the most common manipulation of information—"advertising."

(more great links there)

[54anickel]

74. Someone please stop this merry-go-round from hell. I'm all done now and

want to get off!!!

[UpInArms]

35. here you go

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38359.4095837153-830746339&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

Bush names Connie Mack, John Breaux to head tax panel By Corbett B. Daly
WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- President Bush named a pair of former senators, Florida Republican Connie Mack and Louisiana Democrat John Breaux, to head his new created panel on overhauling the U.S. tax code. "These are distinguished citizens of our country and I am proud you are here," Bush said with the two senators at his side in the Oval Office.

9:47am 01/07/05 BUSH NAMES CONNIE MACK, JOHN BREAUX TO HEAD TAX PANEL

9:48am 01/07/05 BUSH: JOBS DATA 'POSITIVE NEWS' FOR THE U.S. ECONOMY

[UpInArms]

19. from the 2 + 2 = 7 department: U.S. payrolls in line with expectations, ec

U.S. payrolls in line with expectations, economist says

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38359.3693169907-830743665&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- U.S. December nonfarm payroll growth of 157,000 was largely in line with expectations of 178,000 after considering upward revisions to prior months, said Joshua Shapiro, chief economist for MFR. "No suprises here," Shapiro said of Friday's report. "Underlying job growth appears to be in the +175K-200K per month range. Next month is a tough one to project, as seasonal adjustment is huge, adding about 2.8 million to the non-seasonally adjusted change as holiday employees are let go."

Now these freaks of nature that can't freakin' add are going to try to tell me my math is off?

Hahahahahahahahahahahaha!

[54anickel]

22. Here's a link to Papau's thread on the DOL numbers...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x1129495

[RawMaterials]

31. Treasuries fall as data support rate rise forecasts

US Treasury bond prices wobbled violently around the release of monthly US employment data but settled down to trade weaker as investors concluded the firm rise in job creation would allow the Federal Reserve to continue raising interest rates.

Non-farm payrolls rose by 157,000 in December, slightly less than economists had forecast, but the figure was boosted by upwards revisions, worth 34,000 jobs, to the previously stated October and November readings.

http://news.ft.com/cms/s/80248492-609f-11d9-af5a-00000e2511c8.html

[54anickel]

32. U.S. 2-Year Treasury Declines After Economy Adds 157,000 Jobs

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000087&sid=arQSENRbXzlM&refer=top_world_news

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- The benchmark two-year U.S. Treasury note fell for the fourth day in five after a government report showed job growth accelerated last month.

The Labor Department data bolstered speculation that the Federal Reserve won't slow the pace of interest-rate increases this year. Treasuries lagged behind every major government debt market last year as the central bank raised its target rate at five consecutive meetings.

``This is enough of a fig leaf for the Fed to continue to raise rates,'' said David Boberski, an interest rate strategist at Bear Stearns & Co. in New York ``It's not robust growth by any means but it's growth.''

The 3 percent note maturing in December 2006 declined 3/32, or 94 cents per $1,000 face amount, to 99 19/32 as of 8:56 a.m. in New York, according to bond broker Cantor Fitzgerald LP. The yield rose 5 basis points to 3.21 percent. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point. The 4 1/4 percent note due in November 2014 fell 1/8 at 99 25/32 for a yield of 4.27 percent.

``For people expecting to break above 4.50 percent, it will take a minimum of two strong payroll reports to get us there,'' Boberski said of the 10-year note.

snip>

Big Moves

``This is a number that allows the Fed to raise rates without fear of derailing a fragile economy. It means the two- year note probably goes up in rate, and the 10-year note shouldn't move at all till we have some news about increased inflation,'' said Ralph Axel, interest-rate strategist at HSBC Securities USA Inc. in New York.

more...

[54anickel]

34. Refunding Bonuses for Restated Earnings

At Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Conseco, Nortel, Computer Associates, and elsewhere, attempts to ''claw back'' compensation are part of a growing trend.

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/3551989/c_3552005?f=home_todayinfinance

Now that Fannie Mae is undertaking a $9 billion restatement at the direction of the Securities and Exchange Commission, one legislator wants its former top executives to return bonuses that were based on the bogus profits.

In a letter to Armando Falcon Jr. — director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which regulates Fannie Mae — Rep. Richard H. Baker (R-La.) requested that the OFHEO "take action to recapture all bonus payments from executives that were awarded based upon the faulty and deeply flawed earnings statements of the enterprise," according to The Washington Post.

snip>

Shareholders, too, are increasingly seeking to "recoup funds, enforce accountability, and bring about reforms in this area of governance" when they feel that "executives are being paid millions of dollars in undeserved bonuses," according to a recent report by the Investor Responsibility Research Center.

Last year, on the other hand, more than three-quarters of Computer Associates International Inc. shareholders voted against a resolution by an Amalgamated Bank investment fund calling for the company to recoup compensation paid to executives who have been implicated in the software giant's accounting scandal.

more...

[54anickel]

36. 2005 shaping up as a year of big deals

Economic climate makes mergers and acquisitions desireable again

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6789402/

Remember the urge to merge? Quelled since 2000, it's coming back. In the last quarter of 2004, deals for U.S. companies came at a trillion-dollar-a-year pace — and more are in store. Companies are looking to mergers again to cut costs, boost efficiency, and extend their reach.

Although mergers dropped off starting in 2001 — a victim of recession, corporate scandals, and a sluggish stock market — the animal spirits have returned. The past month alone saw deals for Sprint to combine with Nextel for $39 billion, Johnson & Johnson to pay $25 billion for device maker Guidant, and Exelon to acquire Public Service Enterprise Group for $12 billion. And on Dec. 28, Blockbuster Inc., backed by financier Carl Icahn, threatened a hostile tender offer for No. 2 video-rental chain Hollywood Entertainment Corp.

Deal grease
Behind the comeback: A robust economy and soaring corporate profits have boosted stock prices and cash. In other words, there's plenty of “deal grease” around. Other factors are at play, too. The weak dollar makes U.S. assets more inviting to foreigners. Stricter governance standards are forcing poorly performing CEOs and boards to entertain unwanted offers. And in a repeat of the 1990s, deals are spawning more deals as companies scramble to keep up in consolidating industries. While it's a good bet that at least some acquirers will overpay or make bad choices, few are holding back.

snip>

There's plenty of money for deals. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index companies, including financial companies, have a record $2 trillion in cash and other short-term assets, according to S&P Compustat. Close to 60 percent of the U.S. deals in 2004 were paid for with cash, vs. around 35 percent in 2000, estimates Stefan M. Selig, vice-chairman of Banc of America Securities, the investment banking arm of Bank of America Corp.

Not all the cash is coming from corporate coffers, though. Hedge funds, which traditionally focused on short-term speculation, are getting into the act. Buyout shops are putting to work about $100 billion they raised in the late 1990s. And private investment funds such as Edward S. Lampert's $9 billion ESL Investments Inc. are picking up marquee companies. In November, Kmart Holding Corp., which was 53 percent owned by ESL, said it would buy Sears, Roebuck & Co. for $11 billion.

more...

[54anickel]

37. Blame for Scandals Entering the Boardroom

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A54735-2005Jan6.html

Most of the punishment from the recent wave of business scandals has fallen on corporate executives and in some cases the accountants and other professionals who advised them.

But corporate board members, who are directly responsible for protecting shareholder interests, have largely escaped untouched. Now that may be changing.

A handful of recent developments, highlighted by the tentative agreement of 10 former WorldCom Inc. outside directors to pay $18 million of their own money as part of a $54 million settlement of a shareholder lawsuit, suggests that board members at scandal-ridden companies may indeed wind up paying a significant price for failing to stop alleged misdeeds.

snip>

What was once a gilded position offering hefty compensation for minimal work is becoming a more challenging job fraught with the risk of significant financial liability. "All of this will make directors begin to take their jobs far more seriously than they do now," said Laura G. Thatcher, an attorney and corporate governance expert at the law firm Alston & Bird LLP.

The legal landscape surrounding corporate board members is clearly shifting.

In addition to the WorldCom settlement, directors at Walt Disney Co. are being sued in Delaware over their approval of a $140 million severance package given to Michael S. Ovitz, who spent a disastrous 14 months as Disney's president. Experts said that before the rash of scandals, such a case would likely never have made it to court.

more...

[RawMaterials]

39. Bush Math, or When Is 4 Percent Really 32 Percent?

The Bush Administration is twisting numbers and misstating history to sell Social Security privatization. By Michael Coblenz

(Michael Coblenz is a writer and attorney from Lexington, Kentucky. He served in the United States Air Force from 1983 to 1990. To send Michael your comments, send an email to [e-mail])

The Bush Administration is gearing up for their sale of “Social Security Reform,” and if the early leaked reports are any indication, it will not be a model of honesty and clarity. The earliest reported blurb is a brief and thoroughly muddled bit of numerical trickery. According to published reports, the Administration is suggesting the diversion of 4 percentage points of the 12.4 percent federal payroll tax to private savings accounts.

That makes it sound like only a trivial amount of money would go into the private accounts, and implies that the amount is so small that it won’t have much impact on payments to current retirees or the federal deficit. But that’s wrong; 4 percentage points of 12.4 percent is 32 percent. Therefore, 32 percent of the workers’ total contribution would be earmarked for private investment.

Now, under the guise of “reform,” they are attempting to destroy the program. They ignore the purpose of its creation by suggesting that it is a retirement system, and say that it could make more money for beneficiaries by investing in public equities in the stock market. But again this ignores the very purpose of the system.

We shouldn’t be surprised that Bush and his Republican allies are willing to twist numbers and misstate history to get their way. We’ve seen them do it in the past, most notably with weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. Then dissenting voices were shouted down. Many people couldn’t believe their own government would be so blatant with misstatements and half truths. Bush got away with it, but the results have been terrible. We can’t afford to let him get away with it again.



http://www.interventionmag.com/cms/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=970

[54anickel]

49. Interesting article and site. I've bookmarked it to read some of the

other articles there. Thanks.

[54anickel]

40. 10:16 EST Numbers, blather and buck

Dow 10,631.89 +9.01 (+0.08%)
Nasdaq 2,093.07 +3.07 (+0.15%)
S&P 500 1,188.77 +0.88 (+0.07%)
10-yr Bond 4.242% -0.03
30-yr Bond 4.807% -0.047
NYSE Volume 255,411,000
Nasdaq Volume 455,167,000

10:00AM: Equities now trade in split fashion as the indices bounce around the flat line... Airline (+1.0%) has rebounded, recovering some of the 13% it has lost so far this week while virtually every other sector has shown relative strength in the early going... Energy, however, has been under pressure as crude oil prices ($45.20/bbl -$0.36) have relinquished some of the 5% gained yesterday while relative weakness has also been felt in networking, transportation and retail...NYSE Adv/Dec 1601/810, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1372/1045
9:40AM: Market opens higher following employment data that came in near expectations... Even though Dec non-farm payrolls of 157K were a bit weaker than the 175K economists expected, the pace of hiring has picked up, as an upward revision of 25K to the Nov gain (to 137K) has left the total increase over the last two months at 182K and near original forecasts...

Meanwhile, with the unemployment rate holding steady at 5.4% and the rest of the Dec data consistent with a decent employment trend, investors have viewed the data as encouraging, especially now that fears of aggressive Fed tightening have been lessened...


And the buck:

Last trade 82.74 Change -0.41 (-0.49%)

Settle 83.15 Settle Time 23:37

Open 82.94 Previous Close 83.15

High 83.14 Low 82.61

[UpInArms]

42. 10:26 EST and all red

Dow 10,608.68 -14.20 (-0.13%)
Nasdaq 2,087.40 -2.60 (-0.12%)
S&P 500 1,186.22 -1.67 (-0.14%)
10-Yr Bond 42.51 -0.21 (-0.49%)

NYSE Volume 296,667,000
Nasdaq Volume 512,647,000

[UpInArms]

44. 10:41 EST (red) numbers, blather and the buck

Dow 10,574.25 -48.63 (-0.46%)
Nasdaq 2,078.83 -11.17 (-0.53%)
S&P 500 1,182.35 -5.54 (-0.47%)
10-Yr Bond 4.251 -0.21 (-0.49%)

NYSE Volume 379,273,000
Nasdaq Volume 650,029,000

10:30AM: A renewed wave of selling interest pushes the indices to their worst levels of the morning... While the nonfarm payrolls numbers has been viewed as generally positive for stocks, the dollar has lost ground against the euro (1.3104) and the yen (104.43) in volatile trading... Weakness in the greenback, however, has been a plus for gold ($423.30/oz +$1.80), as the precious metal attempts to shrug off a week of weakness...

Meanwhile, treasuries, which initially rallied on the employment data to push yields substantially lower before falling back to trade unchanged, have traded slightly higher, as the 10-year is up 2 ticks to yield 4.25%...NYSE Adv/Dec 1497/1332, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1168/1469

Last trade 82.96 Change -0.19 (-0.23%)

Settle 83.15 Settle Time 23:37

Open 82.94 Previous Close 83.15

High 83.14 Low 82.61

Last tick: 2005-01-07 10:11:29 ET
30-min delayed quote.

[54anickel]

47. Sumptin's fishy?

[54anickel]

45. Strange, the buck got a big boost to 83.14 at 10:00 am...n/t

[UpInArms]

41. SnowJob is fluffing the blankets again

(anyone else smelling it?)

10:21am 01/07/05 SNOW ON FOREX: 'WHAT REALLY COUNTS IS THE FUNDAMENTALS'

10:19am 01/07/05 SNOW: 'WE SUPPORT THE STRONG DOLLAR'

10:16am 01/07/05 SNOW ON CNBC: TAX REFORM PANEL TO REPORT BY JULY

[54anickel]

46. Huh? The fundamentals point to a lower buck, so what's he trying to say?

[UpInArms]

48. it was

a loud stinky fart :evilgrin:

[54anickel]

51. *SNARF*......

:cleaningcoffeeoffmonitor:

[54anickel]

50. Holy Cow? Who's the wind beneath the buck's wings? 83.23!!!

Last trade 83.23 Change +0.08 (+0.10%)

Settle 83.15 Settle Time 23:37

Open 82.94 Previous Close 83.15

High 83.23 Low 82.61

Last tick: 2005-01-07 10:23:21 ET
30-min delayed quote.

[UpInArms]

52. check out the spikes on all of these charts

[54anickel]

55. WTF? That sort of looks self-induced to me! - NAH - would he?

[UpInArms]

54. Euro reverses on Snow comment, triggers sell orders (HUH?)

(was there a "code" in that fart?)

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38359.4552502893-830748892&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

CHICAGO (CBS.MW) -- The euro reversed earlier gains against the dollar to trade sharply lower, a move initiated in part by a repeat of a strong-dollar preference by U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow and the triggering of sell orders that waited at the six-week euro-dollar lows reached earlier this week,currency traders said. Traders said a round of euro-yen selling also took the common currency lower against its other major counterparts, particularly the dollar. The euro was down 1 percent from where it stood late Thursday, at $1.3054. The dollar remained marginally lower at 104.74 yen.

[54anickel]

53. Unocal Takeover Too Costly for CNOOC, Say Investors

http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aUB7Xw77h_EY&refer=news_index

Jan. 7 (Bloomberg) -- CNOOC Ltd., China's biggest offshore oil and gas company, may find a full takeover of Unocal Corp. too expensive and limit any acquisition to Asian assets to meet soaring fuel demand in China, investors and analysts said.

Unocal's shares yesterday had their biggest gain in almost six years after the Financial Times said CNOOC may bid more than $13 billion for the U.S. company, citing unidentified people. CNOOC's shares fell 1.2 percent in Hong Kong today. Both companies declined to comment.

``Paying $13 billion for Unocal is too expensive,'' Gordon Kwan, director of China oil and gas at Credit Lyonnais SA in Hong Kong said in a note to clients today. ``CNOOC's market cap is only $21 billion. We speculate CNOOC is more likely to purchase individual projects in Asia from Unocal.''

Chinese oil companies are buying into overseas oil fields as the country's growing economy led to increased consumption of fuels amid dwindling local output. Imports have risen over the past decade from zero to 40 percent of local oil consumption, as demand more than doubled to over 6 million barrels a day.

Xiao Zongwei, director of investor relations at CNOOC, declined to comment on the FT report. CNOOC Chief Financial Officer Yang Hua declined to comment on ``market speculation'' when reached on his mobile phone. Unocal spokesman Barry Lane yesterday declined to comment.

more...

[cosmicdot]

144. CNOOC ... is that where Henry K is a trustee or advisor?

took on-board right after ** made that intitial visit to China ... what was it, in 2001?

http://english.people.com.cn/english/200110/29/eng20011029_83454.html

[54anickel]

145. Ugh, I didn't realize that. Thanks for the info. Why anyone would

want him is beyond me. Wonder how much input he had in the decision to try to take over Unocal to begin with? When UIA first posted the article stating China was looking to buy out Unocal I wondered why would China want to get involved with that mess (thinking of the pipeline in Afghanistan). :shrug:

[JNelson6563]

56. A kick back to page 1

and an update:

11:51

Dow 10,623.54 +0.66 (+0.01%)
Nasdaq 2,091.60 +1.60 (+0.08%)
S&P 500 1,188.78 +0.89 (+0.07%)
10-Yr Bond 4.263% -0.009

Money into treasuries today.

What an info packed thread today BTW! I just read it all and my head is spinning. Marketeers, this thread is such a clearinghouse of info! I salute your efforts!

:toast:

Julie

[UpInArms]

58. hi Julie!

thanks for the :kick:

had to step away for a while but have returned to my spot (checking for snews)

[UpInArms]

57. 11:55 EST numbers, blather and the buck

Dow 10,620.88 -2.00 (-0.02%)
Nasdaq 2,091.49 +1.49 (+0.07%)
S&P 500 1,188.59 +0.70 (+0.06%)
10-Yr Bond 4.257 -0.15 (-0.35%)

NYSE Volume 657,115,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,079,504,000

11:30AM: Market bounces off its lows, as stocks pare their losses and lift the indices back into positive territory... On the Dow, however, only 11 components have sustained buying interest in recent trading... Intel (INTC 22.84 +0.38), which reports Q4 (Dec) earnings next Tuesday has surged, despite reports indicating rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 19.87 +0.15) has unveiled a new chip which will compete against Intel's Centrino technology...

AA (30.70 +0.32) SBC (25.33 +0.18) and MMM (82.22 +0.76) have also seen modest gains, but declines of roughly 1.0% from UTX, HD, GM and XOM have so far spoiled any attempt at a rally...NYSE Adv/Dec 1179/1837, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 940/1881

11:00AM: Selling intensifies as the market averages extend their reach into negative territory and market breadth turns bearish... Advancers, which held a convincing advantage over decliners about an hour ago, have reversed course... Decliners on the NYSE now outpace advancers by a 17 to 11 margin while declining issues on the Nasdaq now hold a more than 2 to 1 edge over advancing issues...

Both the Nasdaq Comp and the S&P 500 have failed to maintain support near 2102 and 1192, respectively, as the Nasdaq has recently fallen below yesterday's low (2088) and now hovers above a secondary floor of support near the 2072 level... NYSE Adv/Dec 1170/1749, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 826/1917

Last trade 83.52 Change +0.37 (+0.44%)

Settle 83.15 Settle Time 23:37

Open 82.94 Previous Close 83.15

High 83.61 Low 82.61

Last tick: 2005-01-07 10:50:35 ET
30-min delayed quote.

[RawMaterials]

59. I feel like peucking

a co worker of mine is on the phone talking about trying to refi to a 2/1 arm to pay of his debt. he says his house was appraised at 235 2 years ago and now thinks he can get it appraised at 265.

wtf

what a jackass

[54anickel]

61. Heh-heh, was that a * supporter? If so, hope he/she gets what's comin'

[RawMaterials]

75. Ya that made me feal sick too

he came to work on the 2nd, and was like "strait Repub, ticket easy as one pull"

[54anickel]

79. I have a few friends like that as well. I don't like being so mean and

callous as to say I hope they get what's coming to them, but I'm tired of their BS. When you try to have an intelligent conversation on the issues, they just laugh and spout some stupid RW mantra of the day, so I've given up. I do what's needed to take care of my friends and loved ones as best I can in preparation for this ride in a handbasket.

[RawMaterials]

81. well and you can just tell them what you know

and hope some of it sinks in, but i really don't want to be like I told you so while I'm opening up my apartment so they can get out of the cold weather.

[UpInArms]

60. Taser: SEC probing safety statements

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B4BA73180%2D1E8C%2D46FF%2D8D17%2DB8A648F92F00%7D&siteid=mktw

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS.MW) -- Taser International shares slumped as much as 23 percent in early trade Friday, after the company said it's cooperating in an informal U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry of its safety statements and sales to a distributor.

Shares of Taser, which makes electric "stun" guns, were last down 15.4 percent at $23.40, having earlier touched a low of $21.29.

The inquiry was disclosed by the Scottsdale, Ariz.-based maker of the weapon, which is widely used in U.S. law enforcement and military agencies.

Questions about the weapon's safety -- and studies used to support safety claims -- were raised last fall, when the New York Times reported that a U.S. Air Force laboratory study concluded the weapons could be dangerous, and in November, after police in Florida used the device on children.

Taser (TASR: news, chart, profile) had claimed tests showed the weapon was safe to use on children

...more...

This type of "tool" is not fit for use on anything - these electrical cattle prods are not even suitable for use on cattle, much less human beings.

That the stock is only under pressure from the SEC is an abomination.

:grr:

[54anickel]

62. Another A$$croft tool for martial law, coming soon to a neighborhood near

you.

[54anickel]

64. Gold falls back as dollar turns mixed

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&dist=moreover&guid={0173129E-3B65-41BB-931E-7D66F72209C8}

snip>

"The gold/dollar correlation continues," said Amaury Conti, equity trader at Austin Calvert-Flavin, an investment adviser in San Antonio, Texas.

U.S. December payrolls logged a smaller-than-expected gain of 157,000, but including upward revisions of 34,000 to previous months, December payroll growth was close to expectations of 178,000. See Economic Report. The mixed news sent the dollar lower against the yen but pulled the greenback higher against the euro. See Currencies.

snip>

Buy opportunity

In all, the U.S. economy added 2.2 million workers in 2004, but of those, fully 76,000 jobs were actually involved in manufacturing, said Ned Schmidt, editor of the Value View Gold Report.

"The remaining 2.1-plus million are shuffling papers, playing on the Internet or involved in the housing bubble," he said, pointing out that this "type of meaningless job creation does not support a world-class currency."

more...

[UpInArms]

65. Cripps: Jobs data confirms economy is growing

(economic doubleplusgoodspeak?)

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38359.5218652083-830752666&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) - U.S. employment data released Friday is a signal to Wall Street that the economy is growing, providing some relief, said Richard Cripps, chief market strategist at Legg Mason. Cripps also said the "market was ripe for a correction," but that he does not weigh a whole year of performance on a few days.

[54anickel]

67. Sheep Caller!

[54anickel]

66. 12:35 EST and pumpin' it up over the lunchbreak

Dow 10,641.94 +19.06 (+0.18%)
Nasdaq 2,100.69 +10.69 (+0.51%)
S&P 500 1,191.00 +3.11 (+0.26%)
10-yr Bond 4.273% +0.001
30-yr Bond 4.851% -0.003
NYSE Volume 768,591,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,245,555,000

12:30PM : Indices continue to recover from earlier levels as buyers return from the sidelines... Notable movers on the day following positive analyst comments have been Phelps Dodge (PD 97.87 +5.66), after Prudential raised their price target on the copper producer to $170 (from $156) to reflect higher molybdenum prices and gains...
Apple Computer (AAPL 68.70 +4.15) has also surged after First Albany raised earning estimates due to strong iPod sales while Symantec (SYMC 23.65 +0.47) has also trade higher after JP Morgan upgraded its rating on the software provider to Overweight from Neutral based on valuation...NYSE Adv/Dec 1405/1705, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1165/1736

12:00PM : Stocks open higher on the heels of encouraging employment data, but choppy trading has kept investors somewhat divided in the early going... December non-farm payrolls of 157K came slightly below the expectations of 175K, but an upward revision to the November figures to 137K has resulted in a two-month average that was very close to expectations, stabilizing the trend in payrolls... The data has also mitigated concerns about the Fed raising rates at a faster pace at its upcoming FOMC meeting in February...

But further consolidation and technical breakdowns on the broader averages have prompted occasional reversals, as there have been no notable earnings reports and little corporate news to digest... Semiconductor (+1.7%) has been strong, led in part by bellwether Intel (INTC 22.79 +0.33), while airline (+0.8%) has shrugged off a week of double-digit declines... Biotech, materials, health care, financial and utility have also seen modest gains but have bounced in and out of negative territory... Showing weakness all morning has been energy, as crude oil remains below $46/bbl while networking, transportation and retail have also been weak...

Meanwhile, the dollar continues to sell off against the euro (1.3100) and the yen (104.90) in volatile trading as the 10-year note has hovered around the unchanged mark, now off 1 tick to yield 4.26%... NYSE Adv/Dec 1422/1657, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1096/1786

11:30AM : Market bounces off its lows, as stocks pare their losses and lift the indices back into positive territory... On the Dow, however, only 11 components have sustained buying interest in recent trading... Intel (INTC 22.84 +0.38), which reports Q4 (Dec) earnings next Tuesday has surged, despite reports indicating rival Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 19.87 +0.15) has unveiled a new chip which will compete against Intel's Centrino technology...

AA (30.70 +0.32) SBC (25.33 +0.18) and MMM (82.22 +0.76) have also seen modest gains, but declines of roughly 1.0% from UTX, HD, GM and XOM have so far spoiled any attempt at a rally...NYSE Adv/Dec 1179/1837, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 940/1881

Advances & Declines
NYSE Nasdaq
Advances 1428 (43%) 1172 (37%)
Declines 1685 (51%) 1753 (56%)
Unchanged 180 (5%) 162 (5%)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up Vol* 325 (45%) 651 (55%)
Down Vol* 371 (51%) 495 (42%)
Unch. Vol* 19 (2%) 24 (2%)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

New Hi's 42 42
New Lo's 10 20



And the buck:

Last trade 83.60 Change +0.45 (+0.54%)

Settle 83.15 Settle Time 23:37

Open 82.94 Previous Close 83.15

High 83.67 Low 82.61

[UpInArms]

69. SnowJob continues the mouthfarting

12:48pm 01/07/05 SNOW: 'CONFIDENT' THAT U.S. ECONOMY WILL GROW THIS YEAR

12:46pm 01/07/05 SNOW ON CNN: WE'LL SEE CONTINUED JOB GROWTH THIS YEAR

12:44pm 01/07/05 SNOW ON CNN: EXPECTS TAX REFORM PROPOSALS BY YEAR END

[54anickel]

70. I'd like to say he's ly-y-y-y-y-y-ing, but there's probably some truth

there - seeing as how he's left out any details...How much economic growth, where we'll see job growth, and hell, I'll bet we see a LOT of tax reform proposals.

[UpInArms]

72. George "Hoover" Bush

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BF94E98A5%2D1D07%2D47CC%2DB9FE%2D4CEEE1E409E8%7D&siteid=mktw

excerpt:

"Although the administration claims the tax cuts are working, the actual job growth we've seen is far less than was expected with no tax cuts," said Lawrence Mishel, president of the Economic Policy Institute.

When the tax cut was passed in June 2003, the White House projected job growth of 5.5 million by the end of 2004. Instead, payrolls grew by 2.4 million.

After years of overoptimistic job projects, the White House last month lowered its forecasts for employment growth over the next five years by 3.5 million. Instead of job growth of about 275,000 per month over the next five years, as it predicted last year, the White House is now forecasting growth of about 185,000 per month.

While payroll growth has been essentially flat during Bush's term, the adult civilian population has grown by 11.75 million. As a result, the percentage of adults who are in the labor force has fallen from 67.2 percent to 66 percent, the first significant and persistent decline since the early 1960s.

If the participation rate had remained at 67.2 percent, 3.2 million more Americans would be working.

Most recent American presidents have presided over healthy job growth, even when recession cut their career short. The economy created 9.4 million jobs under Richard Nixon, 2.1 million under Gerald Ford, 10.3 million under Jimmy Carter, 16.1 million under Ronald Reagan, 2.6 million under George Herbert Walker Bush, and 22.7 million under Bill Clinton.

...more at link...

if you just look at the numbers in the last paragraph - the Dems definitely understand how to create jobs - the repukes only know how to destroy them.

[54anickel]

73. 185,000 per month? That's the stinkin' goal now? That's barely

enough to keep up with new entrants to the workforce each month! How long will it take, at that pace, to employ the numerous unemployed/under-employed since the spawn of satan took the WH?

[54anickel]

76. Heh-heh, thinkg forward to what history would say, I sort of hope he ends

up with a job gain at this point. What would look worse in the history books:

** presided over a job lose of 25,000 ... OR

** created 25,000 jobs in his first term in office.


See....one would say, well that's a pretty small lose...OR

WTF, what a worthless POS, all those tax cuts, incentives and low rates and all he could come up with was a measly 25,000 jobs in his first term, most of which were gov't and service industry related. What a looser!!!

[54anickel]

77. U.S. stocks edge higher; investors divided on jobs data (Reaching)

http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm-top/050107/158279a863b3dc8abfcf42d40754b2c0_1.html

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) -- U.S. stocks edged higher Friday in choppy trading as December's employment report showing solid job growth left investors divided about its impact on Federal Reserve policymakers' thinking about future interest-rate hikes.

snip>

"The problem is that we're getting job growth that is good, but not great," said Peter Boockvar, equity strategist at Miller Tabak. "But it's good enough to continue inflation pressures building and the Fed still raising interest rates."

He added: "There was some hope with the rally this morning that maybe we would bounce from the weakness this week, but the lack of any follow-through scared the bulls and brought out immediate selling."

Other market strategists took a more positive view of the employment data.

"Today's jobs report, when you look at all the moving parts, was pretty much in line with expectations, "said Michael Sheldon, chief market strategist at Spencer Clarke.

'Should be supportive'
"If anything, it should be mildly supportive for the stock market because it takes some of the pressure off the to raise rates aggressively over the next three to six months," Sheldon said.

more...

[RawMaterials]

78. The wage crunch

The labor market may not be roaring ahead, but it is finally creating jobs at a respectable pace -- that much is clear from the government's December employment report.

So the next question is whether people's paychecks growing, and here the news is not quite so rosy.

When it comes to wages, the key number in the jobs report is average earnings, which rose 2 cents to $15.86 an hour last month, a gain of just 0.1 percent. Measured over the past year, earnings rose 2.7 percent, an improvement from earlier in the year when the number was running closer to 2 percent.


But with headline inflation running at better than 3 percent year-over-year, that 2.7 percent may not purchase much for most families.

...If you believe that is the correct number for inflation.

http://money.cnn.com/2005/01/07/commentary/column_hays/hays/index.htm

[RawMaterials]

80. 2:00 EST Market update

2:00PM: The indices continue to drift sideways, holding their own at improved levels... Gold ($418.90/oz), however, has remained negative much of the afternoon, hitting an 11-week low as the dollar has strengthened against the major currencies, touching a 6-week high against the euro... NYSE Adv/Dec 1546/1644, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1290/1711

1:30PM: Stocks cling to modest gains as the Nasdaq leads the blue chip averages to the upside... The technology laden Composite, which has lagged the Dow (-1.4%) and S&P (-1.8%) in 2005, has regained some of the 3.6% it has lost so far this year... Strength in semiconductor has so far paced the turnaround and lifted the index to within reach of its 50-day moving average near 2102, as gains have been realized in all 19 of the Philadelphia Semiconductor Index (SOX +1.7%) components... Leading the charge have been BRCM (+5.0%), TER (+4.9%), MRVL (+4.7%) and KLAC (+2.6%)...NYSE Adv/Dec 1670/1496, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1363/1597

1:00PM: More of the same as the major averages continue to vacillate in roughly the same ranges near session highs... Interest-sensitive stocks, like homebuilding and REITs, however, have recently succumbed to some selling pressure as bond yields have risen... Even though trading in treasuries has somewhat stabilized, after early volatile action sent bond prices soaring and yields in the opposite direction, bonds have traded a bit lower... The benchmark 10-year note is off 2 ticks yielding 4.27%...NYSE Adv/Dec 1617/1521, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1369/1574

http://finance.yahoo.com/mo

[JNelson6563]

83. 2:09 snapshot

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dow 10,626.87 +3.99 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,099.39 +9.39 (+0.45%)
S&P 500 1,190.07 +2.18 (+0.18%)
10-Yr Bond 4.273% +0.001


There had been some good movement in treasuries last I saw but looks like it's gone and now we lose ground.

Julie

[54anickel]

86. JINX!!! .....

[54anickel]

84. 2:09 numbers - man that Nasdaq really wants 2,100

Dow 10,626.65 +3.77 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,099.39 +9.39 (+0.45%)
S&P 500 1,189.91 +2.02 (+0.17%)
10-yr Bond 4.271% -0.001
30-yr Bond 4.845% -0.009
NYSE Volume 995,710,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,583,433,000

[RawMaterials]

82. So maybe this is that blue light special on gold N/M

[54anickel]

85. Yep, this is the start. I'm holding out for a bit of a deeper discount,

sort of like those last minute Christmas shoppers. But then again, the last time I did that I missed the boat! I'm always looking for the best bargain, sometimes that ends up costing me an opportunity.

[RawMaterials]

87. 418 gona look real good

after it goes over 500 and then down the road at 1000

[54anickel]

88. Yes, it will. And the big B little argains don't last too long any more.

I think reality will start setting back in for the currency markets next week already. It's always such a small window of opportunity.

edit to add:

Need to see if the currency market trend is changing.

From INO:

The March Dollar was lower overnight and is working on a possible inside day as it consolidates some of this week's short covering rally. Thursday's high spiked above resistance marked by December's high crossing at 83.33. Closes above 83.33 are needed to confirm that a short- term trend change has taken place while opening the door for a test of the 25% retracement level of the May-December decline crossing at 83.71 later this month. Stochastics and the RSI are bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near-term.


Last trade 83.58 Change +0.43 (+0.52%)

Settle 83.15 Settle Time 23:37

Open 82.94 Previous Close 83.15

High 83.79 Low 82.61

[54anickel]

89. 2:35 and starting to sink

Dow 10,607.65 -15.23 (-0.14%)
Nasdaq 2,094.91 +4.91 (+0.23%)
S&P 500 1,187.40 -0.49 (-0.04%)
10-yr Bond 42.80 +0.08 (+0.19%)
30-yr Bond 48.50 -0.04 (-0.08%)
NYSE Volume 1,073,675,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,684,699,000

[54anickel]

90. Splash o' blather

2:30PM: Little change since the last update as stocks continue to fluctuate around the unchanged mark... Meanwhile, further consolidation in small cap stocks has kept the Russell 2000 Index (-0.3%), which is off roughly 5.4% in 2005, and the S&P 600 SmallCap Index, which is off about 5.0% so far this year, in negative terrritory most of the session...Separately, this week's last piece of economic data will be released at 15:00 ET, when investors find out if consumers added $6 bln in debt during November...NYSE Adv/Dec 1592/1629, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1366/1641

[RawMaterials]

91. 3:00 EST Market Update

3:00PM: Buyers remain a bit hesitant heading into the last hour of trading as equities now trade in mixed fashion... Energy (-0.8%), which was off as much as 1.6% in early trading when oil was as low as $44.75/bbl, had recovered some ground intraday... The commodity had hit a high of $46.10/bbl after OPEC commented about possible output cuts at it upcoming January 30 meeting... But before the sector could turn positive, crude oil close down $0.31 at $45.25/bbl...NYSE Adv/Dec 1506/1741, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1296/1732

http://finance.yahoo.com/mo

looks like my prediction at the begging of the day might be close

[UpInArms]

92. Snow Touts Social Security Overhaul

http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=544&e=3&u=/ap/20050107/ap_on_go_pr_wh/social_security

WASHINGTON - Touting President Bush (news - web sites)'s proposal to substantially overhaul Social Security (news - web sites) by creating private investment accounts, Treasury Secretary John Snow on Friday vowed to "take the case to the American people."

"We won't get good success ... in the Congress until the issue is well understood abroad in the land," said Snow, talking to reporters after a White House meeting on a separate initiative to simplify the U.S. tax code.

Snow said there would be town hall meetings, presidential speeches — including the topic being a major piece of Bush's inaugural and State of the Union addresses — and travel by administration officials. Bush's plan has encountered opposition from Democrats, the AARP and even some in his own party.

Snow also said that he is going to Wall Street next week, for instance. The administration has been dispatching officials to New York to address concerns in the financial industry about borrowing $1 trillion or more to help fund the overhaul to make way for personal investment accounts.

"As we get those fundamental facts understood, we'll build broad-based support for the changes that are called for," Snow said.

...more...

translation: once the propaganda mills get this so churned up with lies and disinformation the sheeple will never know what hit 'em.

[54anickel]

95. HA! Now I can say with confidence, "He's ly-y-y-y-y-ing!"...n/t

[54anickel]

93. U.S. stocks trade mixed; on course for weekly loss

http://biz.yahoo.com/cbsm-top/050107/05e3271a5d18967afa28e96ad2063db0_1.html

NEW YORK (CBS.MW) - U.S. stocks traded mixed Friday as December's employment report showing solid job growth left investors divided about its impact on Federal Reserve policymakers' thinking about future interest-rate hikes.

The market remains on course to open the year with a weekly loss.

snip>

Historical trends offer investors little in the way of guidance as to the future behavior of a market which kicks off a year on a down note, as this one will likely do.

Of the 20 down First Five Days since 1950, 10 were followed by full-year gains and 10 by full-year losses, according to the Stock Trader's Almanac.

And in six of the last 13 post-election years, full-year losses averaged 11.1 percent.

:evilgrin: There's that 50/50 chance again

Friday's employment report left investors pondering the future course of U.S. interest rates.

more...

[UpInArms]

94. U.S. Nov. consumer credit falls by record $8.7 bln

http://cbs.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38359.6251301157-830758042&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

WASHINGTON (CBS.MW) -- U.S. consumer credit fell for the first time in a year and by the largest dollar amount on record, the Federal Reserve said Friday. U.S. consumer credit fell by $8.7 billion, or a 5 percent annual rate, in November to a seasonally adjusted $2.085 trillion. Revolving credit, such as credit cards, fell by a record $7.2 billion, or 11 percent. Nonrevolving credit, such as auto loans, fell by $1.5 billion, or 1.4 percent. Consumer credit rose by $9.5 billion in October, revised from the Fed's earlier estimate that credit rose by $7.7 billion. Economists polled by CBS MarketWatch had forecast an increase of $6.5 billion in November.

3:00pm 01/07/05 U.S. NOV. CONSUMER CREDIT DOWN 5%, OR $8.7 BLN

3:00pm 01/07/05 U.S. NOV. CONSUMER CREDIT DROP IS FIRST SINCE NOV. 2003

3:00pm 01/07/05 U.S. NOV. CONSUMER CREDIT DECLINE IS LARGEST ON RECORD

[54anickel]

96. Eww, that's way off expectations. More "surprised economists"? Hey, it's

a smart move if people are cutting back but where's our consumerism going to come from to hold up our 70% of the GDP? Seems it may be waning. Is corporate America ready to finally take the baton and do some capital spending? Don't think so....

[UpInArms]

97. pay no attention to those numbers! the cheerleaders shout

3:37 EST

Dow 10,618.66 -4.22 (-0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,096.13 +6.13 (+0.29%)
S&P 500 1,187.98 +0.09 (+0.01%)
10-Yr Bond 42.85 +0.13 (+0.30%)

NYSE Volume 1,274,590,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,950,295,000

3:30PM: Not much conviction on either the bullish or bearish side of the aisle, as the market shows little direction going into the close... Meanwhile, November consumer credit fell to a record -$8.7 bln (consensus +$6.0 bln), the first decline in a year... However, since the report is released well after every other consumer spending indicator, the market has basically ignored the Fed's release...

With regards to Monday, Dow component Alcoa (AA 30.89 +0.51) will unofficially kick off earnings season with results after the bell while a Q4 (Dec) earnings report will also be released from Genentech (DNA 54.20 +0.60)... The only economic report will be the Commerce Dept's November Wholesales Inventories (consensus +0.8%)...NYSE Adv/Dec 1564/1698, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1299/1737

[54anickel]

99. Cripes, the market has basically ignored every freaking indicator

that's come out this week. These freaks deserve the fleecing they are about to get! They must all think they can make it out before the dung hits the fan. Calling all sheep, calling all sheep! There's a huge sale on alfalfa pellets over on Wall Street.

[RawMaterials]

100. well duh Thats how pyramid scam are supposed to work

the real fleecing will start when the majority of the work force starts retirement, and moves there investments out of stocks and bonds and into such safe havens as cash, CD, money markets(not safe from inflation mow ha ha)

[loudsue]

112. That's GREAT news!! Cummon, everybody! Pay off those Credit Cards!

:bounce: I'm really glad to see progressives are making a dent in the corporate coffers by pulling back support!! That's one good way to get advertiser's attention!! :bounce:

:hi::toast::beer: Yea us!! :toast::beer::hi:

:kick::kick:

[cosmicdot]

143. or does it mean that consumer credit is running out?

or both?

I don't know.

[cosmicdot]

146. as an associate on another forum wonders ... "are consumers ..

... even capable in the aggregate of paying down $8.7
billion in a month?"

[54anickel]

98. 2004 Job Creation Is Best in Five Years (Sheep call!)

This article just makes me want to :puke:

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/050107/economy_17.html

WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. employers added 157,000 workers overall to their payrolls in December, bringing the year-end total of new jobs to 2.2 million, the best showing in five years. The unemployment rate held steady at 5.4 percent.

The Labor Department reported Friday that the 2.2 million new jobs created in 2004 were the most in any year since 1999, when employers added 3.2 million positions, based on a government survey of businesses.

In 2003, there was a net 61,000 reduction in payroll jobs.

President Bush called it "a very positive set of numbers" that are proof the economy is growing. "That's positive news," he said at the end of a meeting with the leaders of a bipartisan panel he's tasked with recommending reforms to the tax code.

snip>

The figures capped a presidential election year in which job creation was a big concern to many voters, and a potential liability to Bush. Job growth had been slow since the 2001 recession, puzzling economists and policy-makers expecting the labor market to bounce back more quickly. Democrats seized on the weak performance, claiming the president's economic policies were not working.

But ultimately, the economy wasn't enough of a concern to deny Bush a second term.

With Friday's report, Bush is close to closing the gap in job creation that has plagued him since taking office in 2001. There are now just 122,000 fewer jobs.

more of the same...blah, blah, blah

[RawMaterials]

101. are the sheeple that stupid , that they don't see that

number as being really bad, And then they say its the best number since W's bin in the WH, its really funny how blind everyone is.

[UpInArms]

102. stupid MFs that don't understand that not one freakin' private

sector job has materialized under this mal-administration's plan to destroy our country.

11 million workers added but idled to the adult work force -

:ispitonthesepigs:

[54anickel]

103. They tout him as some saviour, ya know. Things would have been

even worse if it weren't for BeezleBush. Why, why, why he saved us from a depression!!! :eyes:

While the other little piggies were at the market, this one stole our country!

[UpInArms]

117. OUCH! MY EYES! MY EYES!

lol!

[FreeStateDemocrat]

116. Best since 1999 reported on NBC Washington, DC local evening news.....

Some Wall Street columnist from the Washington Post reported it exactly that way and he was surprised that the Dow Industrial tanked despite the fact that “the economy was recovering so well.” I am unsophisticated financially but even I couldn’t believe this obvious spin from a WP reporter. I was waiting to hear the weather and the only thing they covered was all the dandy items coming out of the White House including the *idiots* daily pronouncement (on video) about how well things are going in Iraqnam. Even the local news shows are in complete denial of reality and pushing official indoctrination
newspeak.

[54anickel]

104. Oh look, somebody flushed!...n/t

[DoBotherMe]

105. Closing numbers and blather

Dow 10,603.96 -18.92 (-0.18%)
Nasdaq 2,088.61 -1.39 (-0.07%)
S&P 500 1,186.19 -1.70 (-0.14%)
10-Yr Bond 4.285% +0.013

NYSE Volume 1,475,831,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,180,483,000

Close: The market embraced promising payrolls data and bid stocks higher at the open, but equities traded with caution throughout the session before late-day trading ended the week on a lower note... While non-farm payrolls for the month of December came of 157K, a bit below the forecasts of 175K, an upward revision to November's 112K reading (to 137K) ended in a two-month average that was relatively in line expectations, stabilizing the trend in payrolls... The unemployment rate also held steady at 5.4% while the average workweek bounced back to 33.8 hours as expected...
More importantly, the data lessened fears about the Fed raising rates at a faster pace (i.e. 50 bp vs 25 bp) at its upcoming FOMC meeting... But ongoing consolidation, technical breakdowns and lack of conviction on the part of buyers was too much to prevent the broader averages from selling off at the end as there was little in the way of any other market moving news to keep sellers on the sidelines... Energy (-0.8%), which was off as much as 1.6% in early trading when oil was as low as $44.75/bbl, never fully recovered despite crude oil closing $0.31 lower at $45.25/bbl...

Higher bond yields, after volatile trading in treasuries finally stabilized, prevented homebuilding and utility from catching a bid, as the benchmark 10-year note closed off 4 ticks to yield 4.27%... Also showing weakness was transportation, financial and telecom services... Gains in the semiconductor space (+1.4%) offset weakness in networking and disk drive but it was not enough to keep the Nasdaq from closing down 4.0% for the week... Materials, biotech and consumer staples also showed relative strength...

[54anickel]

106. This ought to be rich! I can't wait to see what those blather author's

dream up to explain this day!!! Funny, they're usually PDQ with the blather on Fridays. See how long it takes up to come up with today's tale.

[DoBotherMe]

107. Nothing yet

54, what's going to happen to the stock market this year? I got out in March of '04 after taking a HUGE hit in '02. D ; )

[RawMaterials]

108. 4:25 EST Market Update

Close: The market embraced promising payrolls data and bid stocks higher at the open, but equities traded with caution throughout the session before late-day trading ended the week on a lower note... While non-farm payrolls for the month of December came of 157K, a bit below the forecasts of 175K, an upward revision to November's 112K reading (to 137K) ended in a two-month average that was relatively in line expectations, stabilizing the trend in payrolls... The unemployment rate also held steady at 5.4% while the average workweek bounced back to 33.8 hours as expected...

More importantly, the data lessened fears about the Fed raising rates at a faster pace (i.e. 50 bp vs 25 bp) at its upcoming FOMC meeting... But ongoing consolidation, technical breakdowns and lack of conviction on the part of buyers was too much to prevent the broader averages from selling off at the end as there was little in the way of any other market moving news to keep sellers on the sidelines... Energy (-0.8%), which was off as much as 1.6% in early trading when oil was as low as $44.75/bbl, never fully recovered despite crude oil closing $0.31 lower at $45.25/bbl...

Higher bond yields, after volatile trading in treasuries finally stabilized, prevented homebuilding and utility from catching a bid, as the benchmark 10-year note closed off 4 ticks to yield 4.27%... Also showing weakness was transportation, financial and telecom services... Gains in the semiconductor space (+1.4%) offset weakness in networking and disk drive but it was not enough to keep the Nasdaq from closing down 4.0% for the week... Materials, biotech and consumer staples also showed relative strength...

[54anickel]

110. Bit more to that blather...

Meanwhile, gold ($419.50/oz), which initially took advantage of weakness in the greenback in early trading, closed lower, touching lows not seen since mid October, as the dollar continued to rally to a 6-week high against the euro (1.3053)... Separately, November consumer credit fell to a record -$8.7 bln (consensus +$6.0 bln), but investors needed much more than a lagging indicator to sway the market's overall sentiment after a week filled with uncertainty...DJTA -0.8, DJUA -0.4, NYSE Adv/Dec 1362/1933, Nasdaq Adv/Dec 1189/1888

[54anickel]

109. Ah, if I knew the answer to that I'd be rich!!! Well, you certainly

didn't loose much by pulling out when you did. If it wasn't for that little post-election rally, the market would have been pretty flat for the year.

There's so much coming down the pipe this year that can effect the markets beyond the fact that they are over-priced based on P/E fundamentals - but then those haven't counted for much lately - have they.

It will be an interesting year. You'd think the options expensing kicking in in the summer would tend to bring them down - but the pundits claim the markets will ignore that. Then there's the big tax break (like 30% or something) for 2005 only being offered for those overseas companies that repatriate their bucks which should tend to bring the markets up with increased profits. Get the same from a falling dollar - increase in profits. But it's all smoke and mirrors, based on currency exchange rates rather than true earnings. That was a big part of the trigger for Black Monday in '87. But, they've created the PPT since then. Like I said, it's anybodies guess. There's that 50/50 chance. Fundamentals don't look good, but BeezleBush and Greenspin are stacking the deck as they walk a very thin line. And none of that takes into account any surprises whether it be terrorism or mother nature.

To sum it all up - I got absolutely no friggen clue!

[spotbird]

111. Maybe the fall of the dollar has stopped.

I did move some of my 401k into an international fund after all.

What do you think?

[54anickel]

113. I don't think so. It's just taking another pause along the way...

edit to add:

We may have a repeat of last year where it will level off for most of the summer into a tight channel. Though last year it was the BoJ that helped it to level off from Jan-March (for their year end). For a decline in the US$ to do much good it has to drop against the Yuan, not just the Yen and Euro. We'll be in for it again soon. First the reality of the fundamentals will kick back in, then later whenever it's most convenient for China. They'll want to get as much bang out of revaluing the Yuan as possible.

Take a look at the max chart at INO:

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DXY0&v=dmax

[spotbird]

114. Why?

The consumer debt number should slow the fall, right?

[54anickel]

115. I just edited that first response with some of the reasoning. As for the

consumer debt figure - one month doesn't make a trend. We'll have to see where that leads and what really made up those numbers. I was going to start looking for some analysis of that report later tonight. I don't think a reduction in consumer debt alone will slow the fall of the dollar though. On the individual side, what we need more of is an increase in savings. It's more the deficit spending of the mal-administration that's driving the dollar down. JMHO

[spotbird]

118. Thanks.

I'm starting to believe all investment is just a racket to drain the small investor. I'm looking at a new mattress.

[DoBotherMe]

119. I agree

I'm concentrating on the expense side and doing what I can to reduce my cost of living--gonna sell the family home and pay cash for something small and cheap. Is that a good move?

[RawMaterials]

120. selling the home to down size

would kind of be like selling all your .com stocks back in 99-00.

If anyone is looking for advice i would say go try and find someone who lived during the first depression, ask them how they got threw it I know a lot of people (grandparents parents and Friends) that were farmers but lost there farms to the banks.

I think the key thing to get a grasp on is what is truly valuable, is it the paper in your pocket or the Numbers in your bank account or is it such things like trees , land, forest, water, clean air and your home.

get rid of any debt or liability's and you can handle anything that comes your way.

[spotbird]

121. Unless you're in an area that isn't going to crash

when the real estate bubble pops (in an area that didn't take off) it might even to be better to rent and buy after the crash.

If you have flexibility a Federally Insured account will at least preserve the basis. If the max is exceeded use separate banks.

[54anickel]

122. Heh-heh! Be sure to wrap them up in ziplocks before putting them in

there. :evilgrin:

[spotbird]

125. Shoot, there isn't a way to protect oneself.

There could be a tornado that blows it all away!

Or termites!

[54anickel]

123. A bit more detail on that Consumer Credit report

http://www.portervillerecorder.com/articles/2005/01/07/ap/business/d87fi0ug0.txt

snip>

Consumer credit dropped by $8.7 billion in November from the previous month, marking the largest over-the-month decrease since the Fed began keeping records in 1943. The cutback represented a 5 percent decline at a seasonally adjusted annual rate.

The last time consumers trimmed their borrowing was in November 2003.

Economists, surprised by the magnitude of the cutback, cited a number of possible reasons for the more cautious approach to borrowing.

Consumers put off stocking up on holiday merchandise _ which normally shows up on credit card bills _ waiting instead for deeper discounts, economists said.

snip>

Some analysts noted that the consumer credit figure can swing widely from month to month, and they cautioned against reading too much into the steep one-month drop. Still, they said the credit figures bear watching and may raise questions about consumers' appetite for spending in the months ahead.

more...

[spotbird]

124. So they're all maxed out

or opting to buy bread instead of a new plasma.

Credit card debt reminds me of the old company store for the migrant workers. I honestly can't think of a difference beyond the deception.

[trogdor]

126. 5% in one month?

That's a lot of paydown, folks. It represents some amount of effort on the part of lots of people to make a 5% dent in the national figures in a single month.

My guess is, Bush got "reelected," so people started getting their financial house of cards in order.

[UpInArms]

127. look for more surprised economists

in the near future:

Some consumers may have opted to pay off some debts that mounted over the summer, which also could have contributed to a decline in borrowing, some analysts said. The lingering toll of high energy costs and a still-recovering job market also may have curbed some consumers' appetite to take on more debt, economists said.

and

Demand for revolving credit plunged in November from the previous month at a 11 percent annual rate or by $7.2 billion _ the largest drop since the Fed began keeping records on this type of credit in 1968. That compared with a $2.4 billion increase in revolving credit in October, or a 3.7 percent growth rate.

The next "Consumer Sentiment" report is due on 1/21 - we'll see how this year is panning out for folks.

[ashmanonar]

128. this info on the stock market is all well and good

but what effect does it have on the common worker, and why is the economy prediction based on stock market? what does it matter, if people can't afford to participate? i don't have a job, don't have a car, (in college living in the dorms) and my savings are dwindling...(i'm thinking about putting some money in a cd, but the way the market is right now, would that be a good idea?)

so what is the big deal on how much the gold market is, or how much the dollar is against the euro? if i (and i'm assuming a lot of people in america) don't have money to put in the market, what's teh bloody point?

(sorry, just despairing after thinking about the crap bush is doing)

[UpInArms]

129. the Stock Market Watch

is our way of keeping an eye on those that have the money - and a pulse on what is going to trickle down on the rest of us (and it won't be $$$ or even $$ or even $).

I think that all of know the following facts:

Five percent of Americans own 59 percent of all wealth; the top 20 percent own 83 percent of all wealth. The bottom 20 percent have zero wealth. Excluding owner-occupied housing, the inequality is worse: 1 percent of families hold half of all non-home wealth.


Ten percent of families own 85 percent of financial securities and 90 percent of all business assets.


The average African American family has 60 percent of the income of the average white family. But the average African American family has only 18 percent of the wealth of the average white family.


In the U.S., 1 percent of American families own 38 percent of all wealth. In Great Britain, it's 22 or 23 percent. Until the early '70s, we had less wealth inequality than Britain.


More than 34 million Americans are officially "poor," a class including nearly 25 percent of all African Americans and more than 20 percent of all Latinos.


The minimum wage has fallen by about 35 percent in real terms since its peak in 1968.

http://www.villagevoice.com/news/0501,harkavy,59767,2.html

[ashmanonar]

130. well, i don't doubt the value of watching the stock market

but what does that really tell us except who is getting richer in our country?...it doesn't represent the bottom 60% of america, except in seeing what companies might go under and make all those people lose their jobs.

[mojavekid]

131. That would be it!

Follow the money....

I read this thread every day - and as you can see I mostly lurk, it is an education. Best of luck with yours!!

[54anickel]

133. Good morning Mojavekid!

Glad you stopped by (and nice to see I'm not the only one awake at this "ungodly" hour). Yes, follow the money...that's the name of the game! Nice "reading" you. Always love it when lurkers stop by. :hi:

[mojavekid]

134. And Good Morning to you 54anickel!

It IS early (I don't even know why I am still awake), and you must be coming up on a straight 24, (or woke early - I can be so Geocentric sometimes...) with getting up to start the thread yesterday. Thanks for that!!!!!!, it was Chock full of great stuff!!!

Enjoy the weekend!

[54anickel]

132. Not to sound rude or harsh, but your defeatist sounding attitude is

exactly what the ubber rich "plutocracy" want. As long as the bottom "60% of America" stay focused on their own issues and remain "ignorant" of the real game the game can continue. If more people paid attention and were on to what they are doing with OUR money and OUR government, there would be unrest, "rioting in the streets" as they say.

Getting people informed and waking up to the game has become more important than ever in the last couple of decades. And it has never before reached the heights that it will in the coming years as they move forward to privatize SS. They continually NEED more $$$ in the markets (stocks, bonds, treasuries and currency markets). They get that by offering "bones". It's like the pharohs opening up the grain bins to stop the coming uprising of the poor. First it was IRA's - here have a taste of tax-sheltered money, then it was 401Ks followed by the 529s and then ROTH IRAs. Now it's privatizing SS - not only an attempt to "kill the beast" but also to get more $$$ into the markets as foreign investors flee. And they are fleeing!

Aside from the Central Banks (especially Asian) purchasing our Treasuries in an attempt to keep their currencies low, foreign investment in the US treasury and stock markets has plummeted. Those central banks will only continue until they can build up their own base of consumers to replace the US consumer they are currently supporting with these purchases. Private foreign flow to our markets has become inconsequential and needs to be replaced. That's where your "60% of Americans" come in.

Sorry, I've babbled long enough...another case of insomnia is coming to an end. Good night (or should I say good morning) Ashmanonar. Have a pleasant weekend and thanks for stopping by the SMW thread. :hi:

[ashmanonar]

135. if i had the money, i'd probably have some squirreled away somewhere...

and once i do, i'll look into what i should do...but until then, thinking about this stuff is just depressing...

i do understand that privatizing SS would be disastrous, but i think that any problems the SS might have, it's probably linked to the greater economic problems (economy down the shitter) and just the general downfall of the dollar.
again i must say, as i've said on other threads, treat the disease, not the symptoms! (which would lead right back to bush, i imagine)

[loudsue]

136. Ashmanonar, I don't have any money, either!

But I read the Stock Market Watch threads every day, and I have learned a great deal about what is happening globally -- politically, since all politics these days seems to be global, AND financially driven.

The more you read these Stock Market Watch threads, the more you'll learn about the bush mafia, and how the uber rich in the world are causing ALL of us to become poorer and poorer -- and you'll learn what you can DO about it, in your own way.

These days, it looks like the best thing to do is stockpile food and water!!! The smoke & mirrors that goes on on Wall Street can't keep going, and the more you read, the more you see that it is a disaster.

That's what makes the bush administration so much more transparent to us "liberals" than it is to the fundies, who haven't a clue what's really going on in our government, and the positions our government is taking on the world stage.

Stick around! You'll learn a lot! If it's too depressing for you to learn all about it, then just don't read the thread!! I find myself having to stay away from threads about killing Iraqi citizens, and our poor soldiers in Iraq, because it's too depressing for me. The war and killing is SOOOOO unnecessary, and is only stirring up a wasps nest in the mideast.

The neocons are frikkin' idiots!!! And unfortunately, the rest of the politicians in D.C. are along for the ride. The stock market threads help you to see WHY they're going to war....and why they'll keep on going to war, until the United States is completely broke.

People who are desperately poor will do most anything to get to eat: that's a place where the uber rich WANT people to be. They resent being told by us hard working scum how they're going to have to run their companies: 8-hour work days, HA! Paid vacation, HA! Health care benefits, HA! Worker's rights, HA! Stop Polluting, HA HA HA! They broke the unions for a REASON -- because the Unions of workers made demands on those who control the capital, and by acting in unison, the owners of capital had to give in, or they wouldn't have anyone to do the work.

NOW, they've managed to move overseas, where people are too poor right now to care about the niceties of benefits and working conditions....they just want TO EAT!! The uber rich LOVE that, and are treating workers overseas like Americans were treated prior to the Labor movement in the late 1800's and early 1900's.

Studying the global economy, as it applies to daily politics, makes the actions of politicians all the more transparent.

:kick::kick::kick:

[54anickel]

138. Well said, Loudsue!...n/t

[loudsue]

142. Thanks, 54anickel!!

You guys on Market Watch have done a LOT for us all here! This thread is really important to help tie it all together, and provides a big picture by exposing all the interrelated pieces.

:hi: And we thank you!! :hi:

Keep up the good work!

:kick::kick::kick:

[ashmanonar]

140. ok, i understand where you're coming from.

and you're right, i should just stay away if it depresses me...but damnit, i'm a glutton for punishment! :spank:

that's one thing i really need to catch up on, is the economic side of things...i've got a fairly good command of history politically and militarily, but economically does throw me off sometimes.

[54anickel]

137. Ahh, and there, my friend, have you hit upon the million dollar question -

IS BeezleBush really the disease, or yet another symptom of what has happened to our democracy? :shrug:

IMHO, one diagnostic tool would be to "follow the money". That is what we try to do in this thread everyday. And yes, it can get quite depressing.

Best to you and yours. :hi:

[ashmanonar]

139. true

it's not that i think the stock market is unimportant, i simply have a tough time understanding why it's thought of as the indicator of economy...isn't a better indicator how much people save, or what consumers are buying and how much they spend on their consumer items?
or perhaps more accurately, are people being free with their money, or are they hoarding it? (or is that just ownership society kicking in again?)

sorry, i'm not all that up on economic issues...

[JNelson6563]

141. You ask a good question

Why is the stock market considered a good economic indicator? This is because people have been conditioned to see it as such.

Out of the $3.4 trillion in stocks and treasuries out there, the top 1% ownes $2.9. That leaves $500 billion in investments that the other 99% of us hold. Not a whole lot when you get right down to it.

Julie