STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday December 13, 2007

[Hugin]

Source: DeeEwe

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday December 13, 2007

DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 405 LONG DAYS

DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2522 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2244 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2205
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

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




AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON December 12, 2007

• DJIA 13473.90 +41.13 +0.31%
• NASDAQ 2671.14 +18.79 +0.71%
• S&P 500 1486.59 +8.94 +0.61%













GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver




*********************** Funny Comic Here *******************************



Read more: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3100633

---

Prag Inc. once again brings you a cheap knock off of the World Famous SMW.
(Warning: May contain lead.)

[Nickster]

1. U.S. November Producer Prices Rise 3.2%; Core Up 0.4%

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=amE28ME5k4b8&refer=home

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Prices paid to U.S. producers climbed at the fastest pace in 34 years in November, pushed up by surging costs for fuel. Excluding food and energy, prices rose the most since February.

The 3.2 percent gain, twice as much as economists had forecast, follows a 0.1 percent increase in October, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Core prices, which exclude food and energy, jumped 0.4 percent after no change the prior month.

The rising prices highlight the Federal Reserve's concern that energy and commodity costs may feed inflation at the consumer level. The Fed this week cut its benchmark rate for a third time in four months and said it would ``continue to monitor inflation developments.''

``Inflation isn't in complete remission yet,'' Chris Rupkey, senior financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. in New York, said before the report. ``It looks as if the Fed was right to keep its eye on inflation and say the risks of inflation are still out there.''

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. "Inflation isn't in complete remission yet"? INFLATION ISN'T IN COMPLETE REMISSION YET???!!

This guy might as well do a self-prostate exam while he's got his head so far up his butt.

[zabet]

4. He might end up

poking a finger
in his eye doing
that.
;)

[Roland99]

12. .

:spray:

[Demeter]

21. I Blame It on the Writers' Strike

The idiots have to write their own material now.

[Nickster]

3. U.S. November Retail Sales Rise More Than Forecast

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aSR56sr4ds4w&refer=home

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Retail sales in the U.S. increased twice as much as forecast in November, easing concern near- record fuel prices and falling home values would trip up consumers.

The 1.2 percent increase, the biggest since May, followed a 0.2 percent gain the prior month, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles jumped 1.8 percent, the most since January 2006.

More jobs and higher incomes may cushion the damage from $3-a-gallon gasoline and declining home prices, preventing a collapse in demand, economists said. The increase bears out the Federal Reserve's decision this week to reduce the benchmark interest rate by just a quarter point. Policy makers took additional steps yesterday to spur bank lending.

``The numbers should help put to rest some of the fears of the economy sliding into recession,'' said Mark Vitner, a senior economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina. ``This validates not just the quarter-point move by the Fed, but the stance that the Fed has taken.

[Nickster]

5. Bush Fraud Probes Jail Corporate Criminals Less Than Two Years

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=awztp90u5kEo&refer=home

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Sixty-one percent of defendants sentenced in the Bush administration's crackdown on corporate fraud spent no more than two years in jail, escaping the stiff penalties given WorldCom Inc. and Enron Corp. executives.

In the past five years, 28 percent of those sentenced got no prison time and 6 percent received 10 years or more, according to a review of 1,236 white-collar convictions. Former WorldCom Chief Executive Officer Bernard Ebbers is serving 25 years and ex-Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling 24.

``Sentencing white-collar defendants to two years or less does not send a strong deterrent message,'' says Joshua Hochberg, who ran the U.S. Justice Department's criminal fraud section from 1998 to 2005. ``On the other hand, convicting a lot of defendants sends the message that you will be caught and there are consequences.''

[DemReadingDU]

6. Federal Reserve to give banks new way to get cash - auction

Martin Crutsinger and Jeannine Aversa | The Associated Press
December 13, 2007

The Federal Reserve announced a novel approach Wednesday for injecting money into the banking system as it struggles to combat a severe credit crunch that threatens to drag the country into a recession.

It's the Fed's biggest concentrated effort to inject liquidity into the banking system since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York and Washington, D.C. The hope is that the extra funds will spur increased lending by banks and offset the credit crunch, which has made it harder for many businesses and consumers to obtain loans.

Here are some details about what the Fed is doing.

Question: How does the Fed's plan help?

Answer: At the heart of the Fed's plan is the creation of a Temporary Auction Facility to provide banks with up to $40 billion in emergency loans. The Fed is trying to shore up the finances of the banking system.

Q: How does the core of the plan work?

A: The Fed's facility will lend $40 billion in emergency funds to banks through two auctions next week, on Monday and on Dec. 20. Banks that need cash and are judged to be in "generally sound financial condition" by their local Federal Reserve bank can participate in the auction. Banks place bids to get a slice of the money. The loans are expected to be at rates lower than the 4.75 percent the Fed currently charges banks for direct loans through its discount window. To secure the short-term, 28-day loans, banks can pledge the same type of collateral -- such as corporate bonds, real-estate loans, agricultural loans and collateralized mortgage obligations-- allowed if they borrowed through the discount window. Two more auctions are scheduled for Jan. 14 and Jan. 28; the Fed has not yet determined how much money would be available then. If the new facility proves popular, the Fed may consider making it permanent.

Q: Why set up this new, temporary facility if cash-strapped banks already have the option of going to the Fed's discount window for an emergency loan?

A: Tapping the Fed's discount window can place a stigma on a bank if word gets out. Analysts say it is akin to getting branded with a financial scarlet letter. Since the credit crisis intensified in August, the Fed has been working hard to remove that blot. But banks remain fearful that market watchers will find out if they get a loan through the window, which could undermine customers' confidence in the institution's soundness. (The Fed does not reveal the identity of banks using the discount window and said it won't reveal which banks tap the new auction facility.) Banks using the discount window also pay a higher, penalty rate -- currently 4.75 percent -- on those loans. That compares with the 4.25 percent federal funds rate that banks now charge each other on overnight loans. The Fed sliced both rates Tuesday by a moderate one-quarter percentage point.

Q: What else is in the Fed plan?

A: The Fed also set up lines of credit with the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank. It said that this temporary arrangement would supply as much as $20 billion in reserves to the Europeans' central bank and up to $4 billion to the Swiss central bank.

Q: How long was this plan in the works?

A: The Fed has been negotiating with other central banks since August, when the credit crisis worsened. When the situation took yet another bad turn during the past couple of weeks, the negotiations intensified. It had become clear that inter-bank lending markets had deteriorated. One of the problems that has plagued the global financial system since the summer has been a high London Interbank Offered Rate, known as the LIBOR, which reflected banks' unwillingness to lend to each other. The rate also is popular for making adjustments to adjustable-rate mortgages. The Fed's announcement Wednesday was part of a globally coordinated response involving the Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank and the Swiss National Bank.

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-fed1307dec13,0,4336708.story

[spinbaby]

7. How is this a good idea?

It seems to me that borrowing is largely what got us into this mess. Why encourage more borrowing?

[DemReadingDU]

8. It has to do with banks lending money to each other

From what I was reading, banks are scared that if they lend money to other banks, they might not get repaid. So the Fed has this 'great' plan to auction money.

:shrug:

[DemReadingDU]

13. The Fed's money auction will be anonymous

snippet

During the credit crisis, few banks have voluntarily borrowed at the discount rate because it was seen as a sign of weakness. Policy makers say they will be releasing auction results so that the participants know only which Federal Reserve bank made the loans, not which commercial bank borrowed the money. Based on the results of its first two auctions, the Fed plans two more auctions of an unspecified size in January.

http://iht.com/articles/2007/12/13/business/13fed.php?page=2

[kickysnana]

20. Whoohoo! DU national Bank. Bet we can do better! n/t.

[Zynx]

23. Banks can't survive if they don't have access to credit.

They borrow very heavily to keep themselves liquid. They wouldn't make very much money if they lent money only equal to deposits.

[DemReadingDU]

9. Euribor Rate Unchanged, Signaling Money-Market Freeze Persists

Euribor Rate Unchanged, Signaling Money-Market Freeze Persists By Gavin Finch

Dec. 13 (Bloomberg) -- The cost of borrowing euros was unchanged, signaling a Federal-Reserve-led plan to ease the credit squeeze is failing to persuade commercial banks to lend to each other.

The three-month euro interbank offered rate, the amount banks charge each other for such loans, stayed at 4.95 percent, its highest level since December 2000, according to prices from the European Banking Federation today. That's 95 basis points more than the European Central Bank's benchmark interest rate.

The euro levels suggest that money-market rates for the dollar and pound, which will be set by the British Bankers' Association later, won't decline enough to ease a credit squeeze that threatens to derail economic growth.

``It's a very disturbing sign,'' said Christoph Rieger, a fixed-income strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort in Frankfurt. ``I'm alarmed by the impact this is having, which underscores that the funding difficulties out there are enormous,''

The Fed said yesterday it will make $24 billion available to the ECB and Swiss National Bank to increase the supply of dollars into Europe to revive interbank lending. Lower borrowing costs from policy makers in the U.S., U.K. and Canada have failed to free-up cash, as financial institutions reported from more than $66 billion in losses linked to defaulted U.S. subprime mortgages.

The U.S. central bank also plans four auctions that will add as much as $40 billion. The Bank of England said it would widen the range of collateral it will accept on three-month loans.

The Euribor rate is based on a 360-day counting method for the year. The EBF represents the interests of 4,500 banks in 24 member states of the European Union and in Iceland, Norway and Switzerland.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ah9wSE9ZD3Nw&refer=home

[Hugin]

10. "Living the Nightmare of Hamiltonian Economics" -- The Mogambo Guru

"We have finally overruled the Jeffersonian Republic that made America into the world power that it became, in favor of that Hamiltonian nightmare of a huge, powerful, dictatorial, fascist federal government…"


http://www.dailyreckoning.com/Writers/Mogambo/DREssays/MG121107.html


And here is a great spot for my X-mas gift to SMW:

A link to Richard "Mogambo Guru" Daughty's (nearly up to date) Archive...

http://www.dailyreckoning.com/Writers/MogamboGuru.html

Now, Mogambo and I don't always see 'eye-to-eye' (I've heard it's dangerous to look someone like Mogambo
in the eye :scared: ) but, he's always amusing with the obscure truths and over-the-top commentary.

And, well... Isn't the sharing of view points what freedom is all about? :)

Happy Holidays.

[KoKo]

22. Mogambo's rants are a treat....just when he goes after

"welfare bums" ...I have a problem. But, he is very funny and makes many good points...:D

thanks..

[DemReadingDU]

11. Goldman CEO may break bonus record

12/13/07 Lloyd Blankfein is set for a 30% pay hike that will bring his payout to about $70 million this year, according to a report.

LONDON (CNNMoney.com) -- Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein could take home as much as $70 million this year, according to a published report.

The Financial Times, citing company insiders, said Blankfein is in line for a 30 percent pay hike. Last year, Blankfein was awarded a $54 million payout, a record for a Wall Street CEO.

Bankers at Goldman (Charts, Fortune 500), which has weathered the credit crisis better than its Wall Street rivals, are also set to benefit this year, the newspaper said.

The bank's compensation pot - or the money used to pay employee salaries and bonuses - is estimated at $20 billion, the report said. Based on Goldman's 29,000 full-time staff members, that would come to about $360,000 per person, the FT said.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/12/13/news/companies/goldman_bonuses/index.htm?postversion=2007121304

[Hugin]

14. So, in this one year what he did was worth more than what 2000 average people did this year...

or the efforts of 191,000 workers at slave wages in developing countries?

I ain't buying it.

[jdog]

15. Jim Willie

never minces any words!

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/willie/willie121307.html

[AnneD]

16. Morning Marketeers.....

:donut: Thanks to Prag Inc for the thread. I am very busy screening kids this week so it is catch as catch can.
Since we don't have cartoons-I'll do some fun fact about bears (of course)
1) a Grizzly bear can run as fast as your average horse. It true, I have seen it and the only thing that saved us was our days salmon catch.

2) a male bear is called a boar and a female a sow.

3) a new born panda weights 4 oz at birth (the old stick of butter) and has a diet of 99% bamboo.

4) the only preditors polar bears have are man

5) Bears have a keen sense of smell. Polar bears can smell seals who are 20 miles away.

6) Bears see in colour and have good vision, similar to humans.

7)Polar bears are excellent swimmers. They have been known to swim more than 60 miles without a rest.

8)Not all polar bears hibernate; only pregnant females polar bears do.

9)In the last 30 years, only seven people have been killed by a polar bear in Canada.

10)If you spray an antiseptic spray on a polar bear, its fur will turn purple.(I
don't even want to know how the discovered this fact)_

11)Female and male black bears cannot tolerate being around each other except when they breed. Not only are male bears promiscuous, but females often have more than one sexual partner.(True in many other species:rofl: )

12)All polar bears are left handed.(I always knew there was something sinister about them)

13)Though the bear stands on its back legs to fight, it uses its front paws to strike, not to grab. This blow is one of the most deadly in the animal kingdom. With all the weight of the bear behind the swat, in addition to it's sharp claws, its victim is usually killed.

Know the difference between Black Bears and Grizzles-it will save your life:

1)Black Bears are generally less aggressive than Grizzlies.

2)Black Bears' excellent tree climbing ability is often used to escape predators and other bears; threatened mothers send cubs climbing.

3)Grizzlies are not good tree climbers (a mother grizzly will aggressively defend her cubs on the ground)

4)Standing up on its hind legs allows a bear to get more information from its senses of smell, sight, and hearing. It is a sign of curiosity, not aggression.

5) Walk away from the cute cub. If it is round and cuddly-it is not an orphan and mom is very close by-if you scare it and it starts squalling-you will end up as bear poop on the forest floor.

Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[Hugin]

18. Mor... er... Afternoon AnneD...

:hangover:

Thanks for the bear facts.

I guess the thaw hasn't quite happened to those areas in the ice.

I shall continue my vigil.

[AnneD]

19. I find myself ......

busy with screenings today. Maybe we all need more jo....I did the bear facts at lunch....

[Hugin]

25. Oh, and today is my 3 year DU anniversary!

:party:

[DemReadingDU]

26. Mine too!

Party time!

:party:

:toast:


And thanks for kicking off the SMW thread again today!

[Hugin]

17. ~12:30 ET: The big meh...

Dow -71.86 -0.53% 13,402.04
NASDAQ -23.77 -0.89% 2,647.37
S&P -12.61 -0.85% 1,473.98
Gold -17.90 -2.19% 800.90


10yr Note +0.5700 +0.140% 4.133%

[Hugin]

24. ~16:00 ET: Mixed meh...

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 13517.96 +44.06 +0.33%
• NASDAQ 2668.49 -2.65 -0.10%
• S&P 500 1488.41 +1.82 +0.12%

10yr Note +0.9400 +0.231% 4.170%

Gold -14.80 -1.81% 804.00

[TalkingDog]

27. Cannot resist: Are you suggesting Mixed Meh-sages? n/t

My Favorite Master Artist: Karen Parker GhostWoman Studios