STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday July 15

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday July 15, 2008

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 190
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2732 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2457 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2748
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.
$1 USD = EUR 1.06678
$1 USD = JPY 116.6200

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON July 14, 2008

Dow... 11,055.19 -45.35 (-0.41%)
Nasdaq... 2,212.87 -26.21 (-1.17%)
S&P 500... 1,228.30 -11.19 (-0.90%)
Gold future... 973.70 +13.10 (+1.35%)
30-Year Bond 4.47% -0.05 (-1.06%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.88% -0.06 (-1.52%)






GOLD,EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

---

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

---

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Market WrapUp: 50 Ways to Leave Your GSE

BY ROB KIRBY

First, let’s slip out the back, Jack, and try to wrap our heads around the unfolding situation. Last week, spooked investors, ‘got off the bus, Gus,’ sending the share prices of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac down more than 45% on the week and more than 75% on the year.

-charts-

Just last week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson sat before law makers and, without discussing much, in their most convincing and affirmative voices attempted to sooth financial markets.

“Appearing before the House Financial Services Committee on Thursday, both Bernanke and Paulson made a point of saying that the regulator of Fannie and Freddie has found that both companies are adequately capitalized.”

....

Then on Sunday, the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve outlined a comprehensive government plan to prop up Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

Here’s the New Plan, Stan

* Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said the Bush administration plans to ask Congress to enact legislation to temporarily increase the line of credit that the companies have with the Treasury. It would also allow the Treasury to buy stock in the companies.
* Paulson also said the Federal Reserve should be given a greater role supervising the finances of Fannie and Freddie.
* In addition, the Federal Reserve announced Sunday that the mortgage finance companies can turn to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York for funds. The move gives Fannie and Freddie the same access to the funds as commercial banks and Wall Street firms.

At issue are the following:

* Will the Fed and Treasury’s plans to bolster Fannie and Freddy’s balance sheets enough for them to maintain their credit ratings? The financing that these institutions provide is only possible so long as they have access to ‘cheap’ funding.
* Will the potential ‘draw’ at the discount window by these companies critically impair the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet ?
* If the Federal Reserve’s eroding financial position is seen to be “too dire” - how seriously could this impact the dollar and the U.S. Treasury Bond Market

Needless to say, folks, what must be at the forefront of both Paulson’s and Bernanke’s minds is whether or not Jane and Joe Sixpack continue to “drop off their keys – to get themselves free.”

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[ozymandius]

2. This picture is worth posting. Paulson shows some cracks.

[UpInArms]

25. Paulson should consider receivership for Fannie, Freddie: report

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080715/bs_nm/fannie_freddie_receivership_dc

(Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Secretary could make greater progress toward a safer financial system by putting Fannie Mae (FNM.N) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N) into federal receivership, the Wall Street Journal said on Tuesday.

If the current law doesn't give Henry Paulson that power, he should seek it from Congress, the newspaper said in an editorial on its website.

The Treasury Department and the Federal Reserve on Sunday offered massive aid to bolster confidence in the companies and head off a potential financial market meltdown.

Together, the country's two biggest mortgage firms finance about $5 trillion in U.S. home loans, or about half of the total, so are too big to fail, the Wall Street Journal said.

"The question has been how to manage and regulate these monsters in a way that minimizes risks to the larger financial system and taxpayer," the editorial said.

...more...

[soothsayer]

32. fannie's and freddie's debts are collateralized, so even if all the props

went into foreclosure, they could still sell the properties for what, a 20 pc loss? so it's not just a bunch of paper debt they hold; they have stuff that backs it.

[Tansy_Gold]

47. My understanding is that that's the problem

or at least part of it --

The mortgages are backed with real estate, but when the mortgage is for $400k and the property is only work $300k, Fannie or Freddie (or us, ultimately) is left holding the bag for the balance. As more subprime and alt-a and others default, not only is the money not coming in, but the value of what's held as collateral continues to fall further.

Did I get that much right, folks?

:D


Tansy Gold, in a not much better mood than yesterday.

[Demeter]

144. Some Years Are Like That, Tansy Gold

And this one is going to be our 500-Year year, I betcha.

[soothsayer]

33. fannie's and freddie's debts are collateralized, so even if all the props

went into foreclosure, they could still sell the properties for what, a 20 pc loss? so it's not just a bunch of paper debt they hold; they have stuff that backs it.

[Zenlitened]

101. Hmmm... the next song on my iPod playlist is...

...Slip Slidin' Away. :yoiks:

[ozymandius]

3. Today's Reports

08:30 NY Empire State Index Jul
Briefing.com -5.0
Consensus -8.0
Prior -8.7

08:30 Retail Sales Jun
Briefing.com 0.5%
Consensus 0.4%
Prior 1.0%

08:30 Retail Sales ex-auto Jun
Briefing.com 1.0%
Consensus 0.9%
Prior 1.2%

08:30 PPI Jun
Briefing.com 1.3%
Consensus 1.3%
Prior 1.4%

08:30 Core PPI Jun
Briefing.com 0.3%
Consensus 0.3%
Prior 0.2%

10:00 Business Inventories May
Briefing.com 0.5%
Consensus 0.5%
Prior 0.5%

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[UpInArms]

42. NY Fed manufacturing contracts again in July in at -4.92

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1546696320080715

NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - A gauge of manufacturing in New York State contracted in July for the third consecutive month, though the rate of decline was less severe than in June, the New York Federal Reserve said in a report on Tuesday.

The New York Fed's "Empire State" general business conditions index came in at minus 4.92 in July from minus 8.68 in June, while its gauges of inflation also posted increases.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected a July reading of minus 8.0. The 54 forecasts ranged from minus 15.0 to minus 0.10.

The survey of manufacturing plants in the state is one of the earliest monthly guideposts to U.S. factory conditions. July's contraction was the fifth negative reading in six months.

The gauge of prices paid rose to 77.89 in July from June's 66.28. That was the highest reading on prices paid since the survey began in 2001.

...more...

[UpInArms]

44. June retail sales fizzle despite stimulus - U.S. PPI up 9.2% in past year

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/june-retail-sales-fizzle-despite/story.aspx?guid=%7BEFCE441F%2D16FC%2D4D1A%2DA6E8%2DE5F592D3D930%7D&dist=msr_15

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. retail sales rose a disappointing 0.1% in June despite nearly $50 billion in stimulus checks for consumers, Commerce Department data released Tuesday revealed. Sales were boosted by higher prices for gasoline, food and other consumer goods. The figures are seasonally adjusted but are not adjusted for inflation. It was the weakest sales since February's 0.2% decline. Sales in June were held back by the biggest drop in auto sales in more than two years. By contrast, sales at the malls and shopping centers were relatively healthy, stimulated by the tax rebate checks, Excluding the 3.3% drop in auto sales, sales rose 0.8%, the slowest in three months.

21. U.S. April, May retail sales revised lower
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

22. U.S. June gas sales rise 4.6% on higher prices
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

23. U.S. June auto sales fall 3.3%, most in 2 years
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

24. U.S. June retail sales ex-gas down 0.5%
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

25. U.S. June retail sales ex-autos up 0.8% vs. 1.1% expected
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

27. U.S. June retail sales up 0.1% vs. 0.3% expected
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

28. Empire State index at negative 4.9 reading for July
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

29. Empire State index improves from June's negative 8.7
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

32. U.S. June crude energy PPI up 5.4%
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

33. U.S. PPI up 9.2% in past year
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

34. U.S. June food PPI up 1.5%
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

35. U.S. June energy PPI up 6%
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

36. U.S. June core PPI up 0.2% vs. 0.3% expected
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

37. U.S. June PPI up 1.8% vs. 1.4% expected
8:30 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

[Pale Blue Dot]

45. The numbers are really, really bad.

Retail sales .1% - I guess the stimulus bounce is over.
PPI - 1.8%

[ozymandius]

4. Oil holds above $145 a barrel in Asia

SINGAPORE - Oil held above $145 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as a series of threats to supply in a finely balanced market continues to keep a floor under prices.

"The oil market right now is fundamentally tight, which is why prices have been high and volatile," said David Moore, a commodity strategist with Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Sydney.

In late afternoon trading in Singapore, light, sweet crude for August delivery was up 18 cents at $145.36 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The contract rose 10 cents in Monday's floor session to $145.18 a barrel, just over a dime short of the all-time settlement high.

....

On Monday, U.S. President George W. Bush lifted an executive ban on offshore oil drilling. That alone is not expected to loosen global supplies in the short term since a Congressional prohibition remains in place and any new wells would take years to complete.

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

[UpInArms]

34. August crude up $1.32 to $146.50 a barrel on Globex

8:16 a.m.
August crude up $1.32 to $146.50 a barrel on Globex

[ozymandius]

176. Oil prices plummet $8 on spreading economic fears

NEW YORK - Oil prices plunged Tuesday as worries about the nation's economic health moved to the fore and OPEC warned that high pump prices are likely to erode global demand for crude.

Prices at one point dropped more than $10 a barrel from the day's high. By early afternoon, light, sweet crude was down $7.33 to $137.85 in an extremely volatile session.

The turnaround may not signal a lasting shift in sentiment — prices have swung violently in recent days as they flirted with record highs. But it does underscore investor uncertainty about the sustainability of sky-high prices and potentially long-lasting effects on the broader economy.

....

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told Congress that "numerous difficulties" are racking the economy of the world's largest oil consumer, and warned that rising prices for energy and food are heightening the risk of inflation accelerating.

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

[ozymandius]

5. Fannie-Freddie lifeline puts taxpayers on the hook

WASHINGTON - Now that the federal government has thrown a lifeline to mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers could be on the hook for billions more if the crisis of confidence spreads.

There were encouraging signs Monday for the rescue plan, but also signs of concern — notably on Wall Street, where shares of the two companies slumped further — that the plan won't be enough.

Other banks are already teetering: National City Corp. shares fell nearly 15 percent on rumors of financial trouble, even though it said it was experiencing no unusual depositor or creditor activity. And Washington Mutual Inc.'s shares fell 35 percent, to a paltry $3.23 amid worries about whether it had enough cash to handle the mortgage market downturn. WaMu said that it did.

....

Right now, the Treasury can extend up to $2.25 billion in loans each to Fannie and Freddie. Officials refused to discuss what the new limit might be but dismissed one report of a $300 billion limit as too high.

Treasury officials also said directly buying Fannie and Freddie stock would be a last resort.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_bi_ge/mortgage_giants_crisis

[ozymandius]

11. Bernanke Forecasts Foiled by Fannie-Freddie Rescue (Update1)

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- For Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, events keep getting in the way.

The chairman is seeing his efforts at using forecasts to map an anti-inflation strategy shoved aside by the need to contain immediate damage to the economy, Fed watchers say. Bernanke today delivers his semiannual testimony on the economy to Congress, where he will release the projections officials discussed at their June 24-25 meeting.

``Things are out of his control,'' said John Silvia, chief economist at Wachovia Corp. in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Silvia, who used to work as chief economist of the Senate Banking Committee, where Bernanke testifies today, predicted that lawmakers' questions will mostly focus on how the financial crisis that has now engulfed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will ``affect the downside for the economy.''

Traders, who last month foresaw an interest-rate increase as soon as August, now anticipate the Fed will hold off until October, with the chance of a move by year-end dropping to 59 percent from 100 percent, futures contracts show. The dollar dropped to a record low against the euro today.

The hearing is scheduled for 10 a.m. in Washington.

....

The Fed chairman's challenge today is to explain how the Fed will manage inflation risks without signaling that policy makers are preparing to raise rates, economists said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=afe1Zx3wpP64&refer=economy

[DemReadingDU]

15. Fannie Mae CEO compensation: $12.2 million

1/31/08
Fannie Mae CEO Daniel Mudd received $12.2 million in total compensation last year, down 15 percent from 2006, the government-sponsored enterprise said on Wednesday. Mudd's pay included his $990,000 salary, a $2.23 million bonus and a $9 million "long-term incentive" award, the company said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/bankingFinancial/idUSN3023856920080131

11/12/07
Freddie Mac signed an amendment to Syron's contract that entitles him to what the company calls a "special extension bonus" of $3.5 million if he stays through 2009. That would be on top of a $200,000 raise, retroactive to July 1, bringing his base salary to $1.3 million.
Next year, Syron will be entitled to an equity grant of up to $9.4 million, of which he is guaranteed to receive $8.8 million. In addition, Syron is eligible to receive a "special cash performance award" of up to $6 million through September 2009.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/11/AR2007111101364.html

__________

So why should taxpayers bail out Fannie and Freddie when their top execs earn multi-million dollars every year?

[Dr.Phool]

17. Good work if you can get it.

[MUAD_DIB]

46. I was listening to a radio pundit's financial guest last night saying that,

regardless of the anger or critical comments against the market and F Mae and Mac, just kept on reassuring that everything was fine. F Mae and Mac's CEO's, past and present, were somehow not to blame. Etc...ect...


We have never been at war with Eurasia, Winston.
We have always been at war with East Asia...always...

[Robbien]

35. Japan's bank stocks fall approx five percent due to Fannie/Freddie investments

Share of Japan's three biggest banks sagged after a report that they held roughly 4.7 trillion yen ($44.3 billion) in debt issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac , whose stocks have plummeted of late on fears about their solvency.

The country's biggest bank, Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group , slid 4.9% to 930 yen ($8.78) on a report in the Nikkei business daily that said it held 3.3 trillion yen ($31.2 billion) in bonds issued by Fannie and Freddie. Mizuho Financial Group , which the Nikkei said held 1.2 trillion yen ($11.3 billion) of Fannie and Freddie bonds, declined 4.3% to 515,000 yen ($4,862).

http://www.forbes.com/markets/2008/07/15/briefing-asia-midday-markets-equity-cx_jb_0715markets1.html

China, Taiwan and Australia all had the same problem with their bank stock prices.

[UpInArms]

37. Japan's Freddie, Fannie exposure totals $56 billion

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/japan-firms-fannie-freddie-exposure/story.aspx?guid=%7B669BF195%2DCFB1%2D43DD%2DAA6A%2DEFE5FA04B8B3%7D&dist=TNMostRead

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Japan's three megabanks and major insurance companies had nearly 9 trillion yen ($56 billion) in debt securities issued by U.S. lending giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as of March 31, according to a published report.

In light of the rapidly eroding market confidence in the U.S. financial giants, the Financial Services Agency -- Japan's financial watchdog -- will start looking into domestic financial institutions' exposure to debts issued by those firms, business daily Nikkei said in a report on its Web site Tuesday.

Most Japanese financial institutions say they plan to sit back and assess the situation for now, citing no need to immediately change investment strategies, the Nikkei added.

"Japan's exposure to the U.S. subprime was marginal, but the Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae story is different," wrote Marc Chandler, head of currency strategy at Brown Brothers Harriman, in a note to clients.

The report on Japan's likely exposure to Freddie and Fannie highlights the potentially global impact of the latest financial sector woes, he said.

"In addition to Japanese bank exposures, recall that numerous central banks have bought Agency bonds for reserves. The failure of these agencies would pose systemic risk not just to the U.S. financial system but the global system," according to Chandler.

...more...

[ozymandius]

6. General Motors to announce more cuts Tuesday

DETROIT - General Motors Corp. is expected to cut several thousand salaried jobs and further slash truck production in response to falling U.S. sales and Wall Street's demands for more action to stem its losses, according to two people briefed on the plan.

.....

The people briefed on the plan said GM will further reduce its truck production to focus more on small cars. Wagoner will announce that the company will further cut factory capacity at pickup and sport utility vehicle assembly plants, although no specific plant closures are expected to be announced, one of the people briefed on the plan said. GM also intends to make cuts at factories that supply truck plants, such as those that make engines, transmissions and parts, that person said.

.....

GM will announce several thousand salaried job cuts, although the people said a specific number wasn't available. The company is following the lead of its crosstown rival, Ford Motor Co., which announced earlier this summer it would cut 15 percent of its salaried work force costs, or around 2,000 employees, by Aug. 1. Critics have said GM still has too much fat in its middle management, despite shrinking white-collar employment to 32,000 last year from 44,000 in 2000. They also say the engineering, manufacturing and marketing costs are too high.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080714/ap_on_bi_ge/gm_restructuring

[UpInArms]

51. devil in the details- cuts salaries, retirement benefits, insurance and dividend

29 minutes ago GM to eliminate health coverage for U.S. salaried retirees - MarketWatch

30 minutes ago GM to cut $1.5 billion in planned capital spending - MarketWatch

32 minutes ago GM: Asset sales, other market action to raise $4 bln-$7 bln - MarketWatch

33 minutes ago GM plans over 20% cut in salaried employment costs - MarketWatch

[MaineDem]

64. Those retirees worked for these benefits

It's unconscionable to eliminate their benefits at this point. This should not be legal.

[Dr.Phool]

72. It's been happening with greater frequency.

Need to cut costs? Fuck the retirees. They can't retaliate like current employees can.

These companies should be pushing for single-payer. It would eliminate a major expense.

[Demeter]

146. Actually, They Are Starting To Do So

But seeing as how Detroit has no pull in DC these days, there's no traction.

Honestly, you'd think Michigan had seceeded from the Union, the way we are ignored and abused. Engler's revenge? Or the results of Dingell, Levin and Co. doing a piss-poor job for decades?

[MaineDem]

69. GM Spending Cuts to Add $15 Billion to Cash by 2009 (Update1)

GM is trying to raise $2 billion to $4 billion in additional liquidity with asset sales and $2 billion and $3 billion of new financing secured by assets such as foreign subsidiaries, brands and its stake in the GMAC LLC finance unit.

The Detroit-based automaker will reduce capital spending by $1.5 billion to about $7 billion next year, and will boost working capital by about $2 billion in North America and Europe by paring raw-material use and its inventory of unused parts.

GM also will cut health care for U.S. salaried employees older than 65 as of Jan. 1, 2009, with offsetting increases to pensions, eliminate cash bonuses for executives and make other changes. The cuts in benefits and the salaried headcount reduction will save about $1.5 billion in 2009, GM said.

The automaker will also delay $1.7 billion in payments to its union retiree health-care fund, Wagoner said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=ajFZyayPKeG4&refer=home

[Dr.Phool]

7. Real nasty in Asia last night.......again.

http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=asia

PPT probably suited up early today.

[ozymandius]

9. Asia, Europe stocks drop on credit woes (Europe hit too)

European shares were only bruised, not bloodied like they were in Asia.

LONDON - Asian and European stock markets fell Tuesday as investor confidence in the U.S. financial system eroded further despite a government-backed plan to help beleaguered mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

In morning trading in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 fell 1.27 percent to 5,233.10, Germany's DAX lost 1.80 percent at 6,088.40, and France's CAC-40 retreated 1.51 percent to 4,079.91.

In Asia, every major index suffered declines, with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index dropping more than 3.8 percent and Taiwan's benchmark losing over 4.5 percent. In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 index dropped nearly 2 percent to close at 12,754.56.

.....

Japanese traders were rattled by a local business newspaper report that the country's top three banks hold a combined 4.7 trillion yen ($44 billion) in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt. Another newspaper report unnerved Taiwan's market with news that at least two leading financial institutions have invested in the mortgage giants, and the country's central bank may also have purchased their bonds.

In China, rumors were circulating that the Chinese government had also invested in Fannie and Freddie bonds.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_bi_ge/world_markets

---

In Japan, banks and insurance issues got slammed.

[Dr.Phool]

12. It looks thats changing now. Everything down over 2%.

http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=europe

[ozymandius]

18. Germany's DAX Falls to 21-Month Low; Deutsche Bank, Henkel Drop (DAX at -3%)

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Germany's DAX Index fell to a 21- month low, led by financial shares, as investor concern deepened that credit-market losses will grow and the dollar fell to a record low against the euro.

Deutsche Bank AG slid to a five-year low. Investors in Germany's largest bank should sell the stock, Morgan Stanley analysts wrote in a report. Commerzbank AG, Germany's second- largest lender, and Hypo Real Estate Holding AG also declined.

The benchmark DAX Index declined 182.97, or 3 percent, to 6,017.28 as of 12:54 p.m. in Frankfurt, the lowest since October 2006. DAX futures expiring in September fell 2.9 percent. The HDAX Index of the country's 110 biggest companies dropped 3 percent.

.....

Deutsche Bank lost 2.82 euros, or 5.4 percent, to 49.40, the lowest since May 2003. Shareholders should sell the stock because the company is more reliant on investment banking than other European lenders and the earnings outlook is getting worse, Morgan Stanley said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=stocksonmove&refer=&sid=aE0Kw1heiEsY

[ozymandius]

8. SEC subpoenas over 50 hedge-fund advisers: report

(Reuters) - The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has sent subpoenas to more than 50 hedge-fund advisers as it investigates whether individuals spread false rumors to manipulate shares in two Wall Street firms, The Wall Street Journal said, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The subpoenas, sent as recently as Monday, are seeking trading and communications data related to short-selling and options trading in Bear Stearns Cos or Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LEH.N), the person told the paper.

Rumors have been blamed for the collapse of investment bank Bear Stearns and for the 40 percent slide in Lehman shares this month.

Some of the hedge-fund advisers have received subpoenas related to both probes, while others were contacted with respect to only one.

.....

Separately, NYSE Regulation Inc, the regulatory unit of stock-exchange parent NYSE Euronext (NYX.N), sent a letter Monday to a number of its "largest member firms" requesting details on how those securities firms monitor compliance with rules prohibiting circulation of false and misleading rumors that could roil stock prices, the paper said.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080715/bs_nm/hedgefunds_sec_dc

[Robbien]

19. The SEC should also subpoena Bernanke and Paulson

Didn't your previous post say they told Congress last week that Fannie and Freddie were fine, no problems. If that isn't a false and misleading rumor intended to falsely roil stock prices then nothing really qualifies, does it.

[ozymandius]

21. Their combined story turned around 180 degrees in just 24 hours.

If you gauge this upbeat, sentimental drivel with past comments designed to influence market performance then it's of grave concern how they have managed to avoid an SEC inquiry.

[Dr.Phool]

22. There's an SEC?

I thought that for the last 7 1/2 years, that was just a mythological being.

[ozymandius]

26. The new chairman is a tough guy.

His name: Christopher Cocks. You never, ever want to sit across from him at the table over Rock'em Sock'em Robots.

He was chosen by Bush to head the SEC for his reputation of lax enforcement of the law.

[Hugin]

59. I'm glad someone posted this story.

I read it this morning and two things leaped out at me...

1) Subpoenas are being issued AND responded to. (I guess what's good for the gander isn't good for the goose
in this Brave Neo-Con World.)

2) These SEC people are once again blaming the messenger. Thought control in action. If these institutions are so
feeble and vulnerable that a mere rumor can bring them tumbling down... Well, there was something wrong with them.
Hot Air balloons are nice and scenic and all of that... But, it's no way to run an economy. Pure scapegoatism. If
the Free Market were really a "Free Market" these companies should just "Take It" when they get clobbered. "It's
the way of the Market" or so they've been telling me for the last umpteethirty years. :eyes:

Edit: fixed the too to a to.

[UpInArms]

68. does anyone remember the brou-haha on Overstock.com?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overstock.com

<snip>

Naked short selling campaign

The company has received attention stemming from CEO Patrick Byrne's battle against alleged naked short selling of his company's shares. Beginning in 2005, Byrne has contended that a number of companies, including Overstock.com, have been the targets of this practice, which involves selling a stock short but without the usual step of initially borrowing or locating the shares. Byrne alleges that the practice circumvents safeguards of conventional shorting, and has been used in large schemes devised to profit from driving down the prices of companies' shares, in many cases leading to these companies' failure. With Overstock, Byrne contends that the company's longstanding appearance on the Regulation SHO Threshold Security list, an SEC-mandated list showing companies with a high number of "fails to deliver," along with high trading volumes that sometimes surpass 100% of the company's stock, establish that it has been targeted by this practice.<16> As of December 26, 2007, there were 4.92 million shares sold short, which is 30.2% of float.<17>

Byrne's campaign has been controversial, including criticism in the financial press that Byrne is seeking to divert attention from Overstock's share price declines and failure to turn a profit.<18> New York Times columnist Joseph Nocera has said in 2006 that, "Except for a few fellow-traveling Web sites, where Mr. Byrne is viewed as a heroic figure, most people who understand the issue or have looked into it think it's pretty bogus."<19> Others have suggested that the problem is real, but that the SEC acts to prevent it and that it does not happen on any scale such as Byrne suggests. SEC Chairman Christopher Cox called abusive naked short selling “a fraud that the commission is bound to prevent and to punish.”<20>

Lawsuits

Overstock filed a lawsuit against the hedge fund Rocker Partners in 2005, for libel, unfair business practices and tortious interference, saying it colluded with a research firm, Gradient Analytics, in short-selling the company while paying Gradient Analytics to publish negative reports about Overstock.com and supplying pre-publication copies to Rocker. Petitions for Review by Gradient Analytics and Rocker Partners to the California Supreme Court were rejected in September 2007, allowing the case to continue to trial. Naked short-selling was not alleged in that suit.<21> Rocker Partners, renamed Copper River Management, filed a counterclaim against Overstock in November 2007, alleging overstatement of profits, false projections, and misrepresentations about the company's ventures.<22> Copper River also alleges that Byrne tried to silence critics by suing them.<23><24><25><26>

In February 2007, Overstock.com launched a $3.5 billion lawsuit against Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs and other large Wall Street firms, alleging a "massive illegal stock market manipulation scheme" involving naked short selling. Among its allegations, Overstock stated that since at least January 2005, naked short selling has accounted for large portions of Overstock stock, in some cases exceding the 23.4 million total shares outstanding.<27> The lawsuit alleged that this had created "immense downward pressure" on share prices over time. Kerry Fields, associate professor of law and business ethics at the University of Southern California, said, "Byrne may be able to help set new law if he handles this right." Fields said, Byrne's "best approach now is probably to persuade the SEC, which continues to wander around the issue, or the government to serve subpoenas and let them decide whether or not his company was wronged."<28> However, Joseph Nocera criticized the lawsuit, while John Coffee, director of the Center on Corporate Governance at Columbia University Law School, described it as overly ambitious and "extremely unpromising."<29> Two members of the Overstock.com board of directors, John Fisher and Ray Groves, resigned in disagreement over the lawsuit.<30><31>

SEC involvement

The campaign has involved the Securities and Exchange Commission to varying extents. An SEC investigation of Gradient Analytics was initiated but then dropped in February 2007.<32><33> An SEC investigation of Overstock.com and Byrne,<34> seeking information as to the company's accounting policies, targets, projections, and estimates relating to its financial performance,<35> continued but was dropped in June 2008.<36>

In July 2007, two American Stock Exchange options market makers were fined and suspended for using Regulation SHO exemptions to "impermissibly engage in naked short selling" in trades involving options and stocks for their own account. Overstock shares were believed to be among the stocks traded. The market makers settled without admitting or denying the allegations. None of the defendants sued by Overstock were named in the decision, but the Dow Jones News Service said that the decision was likely to be used by Byrne in pursuing his case.<37><38><3[br />
...more...

[Hugin]

74. There's those "Naked Shorts" mentioned again. When was the last time those were an issue?

Hmm... When was it? It's on the tip of my tounge... Just a sec... Oh! Could it have been "Naked Shorts" were identified
as one of the leading causes of the Great Depression!

Yeah, that's it.

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

(Thank goodness I remembered to set Teh Googler to "Filter" before I did the search for "Naked Shorts". :) )

[Dr.Phool]

76. Heidi Klum is the stock picker. Not Heidi Fleiss.

Probably has a more interesting portfolio though.

[Hugin]

80. It's no fair talking about Heidi Klum with no...

Pictures to back it up. :lol:


:hi:

[TrogL]

156. in the 1990's

(having troubles getting a picture to display) - click the link

http://www.mindfully.org/Reform/2006/Naked-Guy-Martinez25may06.htm

In early 1992, then-sophomore Martinez began walking around Berkeley and attending classes wearing nothing but sandals. Following a report in The Daily Californian, Martinez gained national attention quickly with publicity in Newsweek and Time magazines and television interviews on CNN and a multitude of talk shows. He even appeared in a photo spread in Playgirl magazine.

In response, UC Berkeley and the city of Berkeley created policies banning public nudity, leading to Martinez's eventual expulsion and arrest. Martinez showed up to his disciplinary hearings on campus nude.

[ozymandius]

187. And when was the law banning mutual funds from short selling repealed?

1997

Thanks Republicans. But why did Clinton have to sign this piece of shit legislation?

[Hugin]

189. The VRWC pretty well had the Wurlitzer Noise Machine tuned up by then...

Pres. Clinton was doing the best he could in the circumstances.

But, it's one of those things going back to basically calling off the Iran/Contra investigation which have
snowballed into what we see today.

[ozymandius]

10. IndyMac Reopens, Halts Foreclosures on Its Loans

IndyMac Bancorp Inc., the failed thrift, reopened its doors under federal control Monday and promptly moved to toss ailing homeowners a lifeline by halting all foreclosures on the mortgages it owns.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. Chairman Sheila Bair, who has been one of the most outspoken officials calling for banks to ease up on struggling homeowners, said that the agency is "really focused" on keeping borrowers in their homes for both their sakes and to maximize IndyMac's value for taxpayers. "We will very aggressively pursue loan-modification strategies for unaffordable loans to make them affordable on a long-term, sustainable basis," Ms. Bair said in an interview Monday.

....

In its effort to halt foreclosures, the FDIC has much more flexibility to intervene with the roughly $15 billion of loans that were owned by IndyMac. But IndyMac also was handling another roughly $185 billion in mortgages in its servicing business. Ms. Bair said that FDIC officials also were looking at the troubled loans in the broader portfolio to see if there was a way to help borrowers avoid losing their homes.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121607890530252639.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

[Demeter]

148. That's One Path to Mortgage Reform

One bank at a time--take them over, straighten them out, refi the poor souls who got their ARMs twisted....

[Roland99]

13. 7:12am - The futures' so bleak....

DJIA INDEX 10,896.00 -139.00
S&P 500 1,212.30 -16.00
NASDAQ 100 1,781.00 -21.50

I might have been a bit long with my prediction...I think I'm about 10 days out still.

[ozymandius]

16. Just look at those charts.

Futures look as though they fell off the back of a truck. Now they're skittering to a halt.

[ozymandius]

14. U.S. Stock Futures Fall, Led by Wachovia, Banks; Intel Slips

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures dropped after Oppenheimer & Co.'s Meredith Whitney said bank stocks will keep falling and investors speculated Intel Corp.'s earnings and reports on manufacturing and producer prices will indicate the economy is slipping into a recession.

Wachovia Corp. slumped after Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc. would reduce its dividend this year, said prospects for its shareholders are ``bleak.'' Intel, the world's largest chipmaker, declined in Europe before the release of its second-quarter results. Freddie Mac retreated in Germany, suggesting it will add to its 2008 loss of 79 percent.

Futures indicated the Standard & Poor's 500 Index will extend a bear market slump that yesterday reached 22 percent. Europe's Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index retreated 2.7 percent today, while shares in Asia declined. Investors will also focus today on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke's semiannual testimony on the economy to Congress.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601084&sid=aI1oq7UEFGsU&refer=stocks

[ozymandius]

20. Meredith Whitney Cuts Wachovia on `Bleak' Prospects (Update1)

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- Oppenheimer & Co.'s Meredith Whitney, the analyst who correctly predicted Citigroup Inc. would reduce its dividend this year, said the earnings outlook for Wachovia Corp. has ``dramatically diminished'' and bank stocks will keep falling until asset prices ``get real.''

Mortgage-related assets are still priced too high on U.S. banks' balance sheets, Whitney wrote in a report today. For Wachovia, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank that's plunged 74 percent in New York trading in 2008, prospects for shareholders are ``bleak,'' she wrote.

.....

Whitney reduced her rating on Wachovia to ``underperform'' from ``perform.'' The company will report a loss of $1.35 a share this year and lose 35 cents a share in 2009, compared with prior profit estimates of $1.55 and $2.65, respectively, Whitney wrote.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=stocksonmove&refer=&sid=aV2s.XspUqUw

---

You can buy a share of Wachovia for a paltry $8.80. It's difficult to wrap my head around Ms. Whitney's point that no dividend is forecast at that price. This bank must be severely crippled.

[Dr.Phool]

24. It's a shame that people at the top are killing it.

I've been dealing with Wachovia for 6 years since I moved to Florida, and I can honestly say they're the first bank I've ever enjoyed doing business with.

[UpInArms]

23. dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 71.403 Change -0.546 (-0.76%)

Dollar Under Attack as EURUSD Hits Record High, GBPUSD at 2.00- Will Bernanke Save The Day?

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/topheadline/Dollar_Under_Attack_as_EURUSD_1216115634074.html

Both euro and pound broke the key barriers for the first time in three months as the assault on the dollar continued in early European trade. EURUSD hit a record high at 1.6039 and cable blasted through the 2.0000 level reaching 2.0162 in frenzied dealing as confidence in the greenback continued to plummet in the aftermath of investor reaction to the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac rescue packages.

On the economic front the news was mixed with German ZEW survey printing at its worst level ever coming at –63.9 versus -55 projected as higher euro higher energy costs and lower stock market depressed investor sentiment in the EZ largest economy. The ZEW reading was worse then even the one at the depth of the 1992 recession but the markets quickly shrugged off the news partly because the ZEW has little direct meaning to the overall economy but mostly because the focus in the currency market right now is strictly on the systemic risk in the US economy and EURUSD is trading purely as a safe haven alternative to the buck.

Meanwhile in UK the CPI numbers showed that price pressures continue to accelerate despite the general slowdown in economic activity printing at 3.8% versus 3.6% projected the highest reading in 11 years. The news suggests that BoE will have no choice but keep rates steady even if demand declines further as headline numbers could top 4% in coming months. Cable rallied all the way to 2.0165, but eased somewhat off the high in a bout of profit taking.

Another high yielder, the Aussie, broke through the .9800 figure after the RBA minutes indicated that the Australian central bank will not consider easing for the time being as well, as growth and price pressures continue to fuel the economy. The Australian dollar continues to find support as long as the market sees little evidence of slowdown in China and could make a run for the psychological 1.00 mark if the anti-dollar sentiment identifies.

The North American session is likely see only more turbulence, first with the release of the PPI data and then with the testimony of Chairman Bernanke. With dollar now at record lows, the Fed chief will no doubt be asked about his plans to support it and should his remarks strike a dovish tone (i.e. should he suggest that US rates may be kept low for the foreseeable future ) the run on the greenback will likely continue with no help in sight.

...more...

3 Things That Could Shake Up the Dollar on Tuesday

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/3_Things_That_Could_Shake_1216068533865.html

No US economic data was released this morning explaining the listless action in the US dollar. Traders are hesitant because they know that things could change dramatically with the 3 event risks tomorrow that could shake up the US dollar. The first is the retail sales report for the month of June. Despite a deteriorating labor market and rising food and energy prices, consumer spending should remain positive. Discounters like Wal-Mart, Costco and Target all reported stronger sales last month, indicating that even though consumers may be trading down, they are continuing to spend their tax rebates. As long as consumer spending does not collapse, there may still be some hope for the US economy. Both the ICSC and SpendingPulse reports also support stronger spending numbers. Excluding autos, SpendingPulse reported that sales rose by the largest amount in 7 months. A stronger retail sales report however may be eclipsed by Bernanke’s semiannual testimony on the economy and monetary policy. The Fed Chairman should remain hawkish on inflation, but he will be forced to address the latest problems in the financial sector. Expect Bernanke to come under significant pressure during the Question and Answer session for solutions to the latest financial market turmoil. It doesn’t help that going into the testimony, the Dow is trading near its 2 year lows. Unfortunately no one is convinced that the Fed’s offer for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to access the discount window or the Treasury’s attempt to seek Congressional Approval for an investment and larger credit line will be enough. The VIX, which is the CBOE’s volatility index hit a 3 month high today, indicating that the market is still nervous and skeptical about the effectiveness of the US government's latest announcements. They rightfully believe that the Fed is running out of magic bullets. In order to avert another panic, the Fed needs to shock the markets, just as they did last year with aggressive easing. The failure of mortgage lender IndyMac was also a big story today and with JPMorgan, Merrill Lynch and Citigroup reporting earnings at the end of the week, the health of the financial sector should continue to dominate the headlines. Finally, keep an eye on producer prices since inflation is the primary reason why the US central bank has given up on cutting interest rates.

...more...

[Roland99]

28. Wait a sec...is that a hint at stagflation in the UK, too?

[UpInArms]

84. did I just see a major dumping at 10:00 EST by Japan?

the charts say it is so

[UpInArms]

27. In bad economy, life is good for the repo man

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_bi_ge/repo_boom

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - In a bad economy, fun is often the first casualty.

<snip>

He spends his days scanning megayachts, sailboats and fishing skiffs as he steers his dinghy through a marina west of the city's skyscrapers, looking for a piece of the American dream.

This particular piece is a gleaming white, 65-foot Hatteras with two master bedrooms, two full bathrooms and a full galley kitchen with glossy teak cabinets. The owner is $35,000 past due on his $1.5 million boat loan.

Hedrick is an agent with National Liquidators, considered by industry experts to be the world's largest marine repo company. The Fort Lauderdale-based company has tripled its business in the past three years, and now takes possession of about 200 boats a month in Florida, Ohio and California. The company's competitors also say they've seen similar increases in business.

"They're going to hang on to the car, they're going to hang on to the house. But they're going to give up on the boat," said Hedrick, whose employer has doubled its staff in two years to 85 repo agents so they can meet demand from the banks and lenders.

It's not just boats: Repo agents say banks and lenders have been asking them to reclaim all-terrain vehicles, motorcycles, small planes, snowmobiles, semi-trucks and, of, course, cars. Vehicle repossessions were up 10 percent in 2007 over the previous year, said Tom Webb, an analyst for Atlanta-based Manheim, the largest car auction company in the nation.

...more...

[DemReadingDU]

29. National Century trial Columbus Ohio - Poulsen trial delayed

7/14/08 Poulsen trial delayed until October

The former CEO of National Century Financial Enterprises Inc. has successfully put off his trial on fraud-related charges by two months.

A federal judge ruled Friday that Lance Poulsen, the leader of the Dublin-based health-care financing company before it collapsed in 2002, will begin facing charges of securities fraud and conspiracy on Oct. 1 instead of Aug. 4. U.S. District Court Judge Algenon Marbley granted Poulsen's July 7 continuance request after Poulsen's attorneys argued they needed more time to review 40 boxes of documents the government is scheduled to make available between now and August.

"A two-month continuance will ensure that Poulsen has the time to obtain and review the documents that he plausibly claims are central to his theories of defense," Marbley wrote in his July 11 order.

Since Poulsen's trial is now set to begin Oct. 1, it pushes the trial of James K. Happ, another former National Century executive, to Dec. 1. Poulsen and Happ have both pleaded not guilty.

Poulsen, 65, co-founded National Century in 1991, building it into a major health-care financing company. It specialized in buying receivables from medical providers at a discount, which gave the health-care businesses the quick cash they needed. The receivables were then packaged as asset-backed bonds and sold to investors.

But National Century fell into Chapter 11 bankruptcy six years ago. The Justice Department alleged Poulsen and other executives ran a sophisticated Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of nearly $2 billion. Poulsen pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, wire fraud, money laundering conspiracy and concealment of money laundering.

Five other former National Century executives were found guilty in March of running a multiyear securities fraud at National Century. Poulsen was scheduled to go on trial with them, but his day in court on those charges was delayed because the government also accused him of trying to tamper with a witness.

Shortly after the March convictions of the five executives, Poulsen stood trial on the witness tampering charges. A jury found him and an associate, Karl Demmler, guilty of trying to bribe a government witness who is planning to testify against Poulsen in his securities fraud trial.

http://www.bizjournals.com/columbus/stories/2008/07/14/daily5.html

link backwards to previous articles...
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=3376277&mesg_id=3376331


Note: Still nothing on the whereabouts of fugitive Rebecca S. Parrett.

[UpInArms]

30. Lehman CEO mulls ways to take bank private: report

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSBNG27828420080715?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

(Reuters) - Lehman Brothers Chief Executive Richard Fuld is considering ways to take the Wall Street investment bank private, the New York Post reported on Tuesday.

Talks centering on privatizing Lehman have got serious after rumors and questions about the firm's solvency have caused the company's shares to significantly fall this year, the paper said, citing sources.

Details on how such a move might work were not clear, the paper said.

Lehman could not be immediately reached for comment.

The company's shares closed down more than 14 percent on Monday, reaching their lowest level since August 1999, amid a decline in U.S. financial stocks. Lehman's shares have fallen about 81 percent so far this year.

Fox-Pitt Kelton analyst David Trone said on Monday Lehman may be better off going private to shake off short sellers that are spreading bogus rumors about the bank.

...more...

[ozymandius]

38. Lehman claims to have sufficient capitalization.

If they have sufficient funds then a stock buyback should not be a problem.

[UpInArms]

31. Fed adopts plan to curb shady mortgage practices - cows out - barn door closing

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080715/ap_on_bi_ge/fed_mortgage_crisis

WASHINGTON - For Roxanna Evans, the Fed's new rules to crack down on abusive lending practices, approved Monday, came too late.

Evans is facing foreclosure on a home she bought in Ohio several years ago but moved out after finding it was in a neighborhood where drugs and prostitution were rampant.

In retrospect she contends that her mortgage lender, appraiser and real-estate agent were all working together to inflate the value of the home at her expense. "They all let me down," she said.

The Fed's new plan will curb shady lending practices that have figured prominently in the housing crisis and propelled foreclosures like Evans' to record highs.

Lax lending standards during the heady days of the housing boom ended up burning the riskiest "subprime" borrowers — people with tarnished credit or low incomes — because they got loans they couldn't afford or didn't understand.

"Rates of mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures have been increasing rapidly lately, imposing large costs on borrowers, their communities and the national economy," said Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.

...more...

[Dr.Phool]

39. When this was going on in Ohio several years ago,

Cleveland City Council tried to rein in the abuses and fraud, and all big banks were screaming bloody murder. It was their subprime divisions that were doing it. Council passed the legislation, and all the big boys cut off ALL mortgage lending in the city limits. Their names were, National City, Key, Huntington, Fifth Third,etc.

After about 60 days of this, City Council relented and repealed the legislation, and mortgages, and Equity lines could be had again in the city.

[Robbien]

40. One of the new rules

Lenders would be required to credit borrowers' payments on the day of receipt.
http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/asection/la-fi-fedbox15-2008jul15,0,4733711.story


What? Was the practice of lenders holding off on posting receipt of payments so prevalent that they had to make it a rule not to do it?

[Hugin]

70. They've been playing every game concievable...

Every game!

Churning... Jacking up fees and interest for no reason or a "RUMOR" a person is a "BAD RISK" according to
some podunk credit hack... etc. etc.

No ethics. No mercy. No conscience.

I wouldn't trust those clowns with one cent of my money.

What do you expect from a Nation who's laws see Corporations as Citizens and People as a commodity to be consumed.

Why else would Identity theft be such a problem.

[Demeter]

149. Excellent One-sentence Summary of the US, Prag

"A Nation whose laws see Corporations as Citizens and People as a commodity to be consumed".


Fixed your word choice.....

[Hugin]

163. Thanks, Demeter...

I wish it were original. But, it's the definition of Corporatism a.k.a Fascism.

Or Feudalism... or any sort of Authoritarian Regime.

[Robbien]

175. The new rules don't take effect until a YEAR and three months from now

Be prepared to wait to see any of the changes take effect; the Fed said that the majority of the new TILA regulations won’t go into effect until October of 2009 — and the escrow requirement won’t be active until October 2010. Which means that these aren’t short-term, help the market now sort of changes to lending terms.

The longer-term focus of the regulations had some questioning whether the changes would matter much, while others said wider provisions in the TILA revision lacked teeth.

. . .

Beyond the high-cost provisions in the TILA amendments, more general provisions prohibiting appraiser coercion on all loans and mandating the correct crediting of customers accounts by mortgage servicers are likely to have limited impact, industry sources said.

“These provisions are needed to wrap a safety net around portions of the industry, and to set a precedent that outlaws certain bad behavior — a la appraiser pressuring,” said HW’s source. “But they’re not game-changing right now, beyond potentially the banning of stated income and possible crossover into jumbo lending markets.”

Nonetheless, Fed chief Ben Bernanke used the rules to crow about getting tough on bad actors in the lending market.

http://www.housingwire.com/2008/07/14/fed-revamps-truth-in-lending-ysps-spared/

So it is all just a dog and pony show. The rights of corporations to consume the commodity called people is safeguarded.

[Demeter]

206. That's Absurd

It shouldn't take more than 6 weeks to change it, and if it can't be done for 1-2 years, why bother doing it at all? It will be too late then.

[radfringe]

36. Dow Futures: Dow Jones -118.00

Dow Jones -118.00 10917.00 7/15 8:05am

http://money.cnn.com/data/premarket/

[UpInArms]

41. a pic from April 1933 and one from yesterday

[Wednesdays]

65. This deserves its own thread!

:wow:

[End Of The Road]

43. Question about Fannie for you smart people

I used to keep up with Fannie, back in the days of the Franklin Raines scandal. I suspected that she was insolvent then, and that was, what, seven years ago?

So I've wondered since then if the whole sub-prime lending thing was a strategy to keep the cash coming in -- more mortgage-backed securities to sell to meet obligations -- with the hope that she could 1) turn things around before the bubble burst, or 2) steal more money before the bubble burst. Could this strategy have worked if the economy, otherwise, remained strong? Or am I totally off my rocker? (Please be gentle -- there's a whole lot of economics (most of it, frankly) that I don't understand.

[Tansy_Gold]

77. Not that I'm one of the smart ones, but I tend to agree with you

I think most of us would agree that there have been many conspiracies to make macro changes in the American way of life. We may call them "the civil rights movement" or "the gay rights movement," and we may totally support them and not consider them "conspiracies" at all, but those who are opposed to them have a different perspective. We hear all the time about the "gay agenda" as if it is some kind of conscious plan to do something horrendously evil.

Just looking at some of the google ads that appear with this thread suggests that there is a culture in this country that celebrates "making" a lot of money without working for it. "I made a billion dollars last year and you can too!" or something like that.

And certainly people like hedge fund managers and multi-millions-a-year CEOs didn't just accidentally get those paychecks: they had to have some kind of plan. Long-term that "plan" included such things as cutting taxes on capital gains, allowing banks and insurance companies and investment firms to merge, avoiding scrutiny of unregulating trading, etc. etc. etc. I mean, it's not like Phil Gramm just woke up one morning and said, "Hey, Wendy, I think it would be fun to overturn Glass-Steagal and see what happens!"

So I think the big question is whether they just intended to suck all the wealth out of these institutions out of just plain avarice or if there was an underlying intention to bring the institutions to collapse. Rather like the goose that laid the golden eggs: did they kill it because they thought they could get more golden eggs that way, or did they kill it so no one else could?

I'm not big on :tinfoilhat: theories. On 9/11/01I was roundly denounced in a Theory of Social Movements class for dismissing Henry Kissinger's comments that 9/11 was commited by a huge and wealthy organization. We were sitting in the class, watching CNN coverage of the attack, and I insisted, "They didn't need a big organization. You could do this with maybe twelve, fifteen people. Four or five to a plane, one to fly it the others to hold the crew and passengers hostage." And when my classmates and even professor said it couldn't be done without a trained pilot able to take off and land, I just shrugged and said, "He doesn't need to take off if he's going hijack a plane already in flight and he doesn't need to know how to land it if he's just going to crash it into a building. All he needs to know is how to steer." But of course Henry Kissinger and all the CNN bots know far more than Tansy Gold!!

I relate that because I think it's important to look at what the objective is and what it will take to accomplish the objective. A simple hijacking and suicide crash doesn't take a whole lot of preparation and it doesn't take the cooperation of a lot of people.

Someone posted just this morning an item about the $43 million boooosh gave to the Taliban in the months before 9/11/01, and I suppose that in the almost seven years since the event, there are at least some who will read that headline today and gasp at the "discovery" of this evidence of a conspiracy. But there were many of us, especially those who had been following even tangentially the rise of the Taliban and its policies toward women, who knew about the $43 million a long time ago. We know the act occurred, but we don't know the motives behind it or what the ultimate objective was. Was it to control the growing of opium poppies, or was it to arm the Taliban against another enemy or was it to help finance bin Laden to bring down the WTC as part of a plan to wage war on Iraq and grab all the oil?

The problem with big conspiracies is that they require lots and lots of co-conspirators. A single one who breaks ranks can destroy the whole plot. The bigger the conspiracy, the more chances for leaks. A conspiracy depends on secrecy, and it's really hard to keep EVERYONE from talking.

And yes, I drop the whole Ayn Rand thing in from time to time, and I do like the term "shruggers" applied to the people whose actions are destroying both the U.S. economy and the world's. I think people like Greenspan and Paulson and Bernanke do believe in a kind of Randian ethic of greed is good and greedy people are good because they're greedy. I think they've adopted Objectivism, as Rand called her philosophy, in much the same way as the faithful of any religion adopt its tenets. Not only do they trust in "the markets" but they believe that propping them up with supports that are in fact "anti-market" will enable to markets to recover to a point where the supports aren't necessary. I think they honestly believe this, even though those of us on the outside can see that it isn't working, won't work, and indeed can't work -- at least not in the sense of keeping "the markets" healthy and viable in the way Greenspan and Bernanke and their ilk tell us.

I think they've reached a point where they have believed their own message for so long that they just can't get their little heads around the fact of their error. And I further think they are so terrified of what would/will happen when they can no longer deny the error that they willingly continue the denial because not to do so is to embrace the catastrophe.

The other option, of course, is that they did it all deliberately like their "heroes" Dagny Taggart and Hank Rearden, with the conscious intention of destroying the economy and the peripheral institutions (including government) as a means to an end: re-establishing a wealth-based feudal aristocracy.

It's a tempting philosophy. It promises unlimited rewards not for hard work but for the mental maneuverings to acquire unearned wealth. It also utilizes language to disguise ulterior motives. "Greed is good" becomes a fundamental truth, and once it's accepted, all manner of nefarious behaviors become sanctioned. Rand resolutely insisted "A is A" with ferocious Aristotelian logic, but in fact her A was only sometimes A. Her version of Robin Hood was that he stole from the productive rich and gave to the undeserving poor and such a cultural memory had to be erased and replaced with a NEW Robin Hood who returned wealth to its rightful owners. The legend, of course, was that Robin Hood stole from the UNproductive rich and returned oppressive taxes to the working, productive poor from whom they had been extorted.

But in a culture like ours that puts so much emphasis on the sanctity of unearned wealth, it's easy for those who buy into that Randian picture to promote an economy in which the wealthy "earn" their right to be wealthy on the basis of how little they earn. I mean, wouldn't we all like to take home a billion dollars every year without having to work for it? Unfortunately, it means someone ELSE has to work for it and we just take it away from them. What happens when the feudal peasants just refuse to work? What happens when they no longer CAN work because of the machinations of the aristocrats?

The ultimate goal, of course, is the destruction of the economy, but whether this is an intended goal or "collateral damage" is the question I can't answer. I do indeed like to think they're all just evil shruggers, but maybe they aren't.


Tansy Gold, who has never trusted anyone named Hank

[llmart]

97. Terrific post and analysis......

I'm not a regular poster on this thread but I read it every day and when you claim you're not one of the "smart ones" - well, don't do that again! Give yourself some credit. Your post contains a lot of analytical thinking and we all know that's in short supply in America today.

We are a nation being run by old, white men stuck in the '50's mentality that they were brought up with. The Democratic Party was always considered the progressive party - thinking towards the future and advancement - not stuck in the past. As a good friend once said to me, "People think they can go back and relive the times which are really only nostalgia, but things ALWAYS move on and change."

I would love to see Democrats use the term "progressive" over and over again so we can get away from the word liberal which has been hijacked by the Republicans to be a bad word instead of what it used to mean.

[Dr.Phool]

112. I don't think it's the '50s mentality.

I call it the "Chickenhawk Government". My high school class was 1970. And about that time, a few years before, and a few years after, everyone I knew who could afford it, was running away to Kent State to avoid the draft.

Most of them majored in some shit called "Business". Although most of them came from union households in Cleveland, they went away and came back with all the tools to break unions, screw workers, maximize short term profits, and basically run businesses into the ground.

They eventually took over my company, and decided that new employees had to have at least 2 years of college to work there. Even though some employees with no education could work circles around them.

I managed to get 31 years in, and a good Railroad pension, before they ran the place out of business. The decisions they made, didn't make any sense unless you looked at it in the context that they were trying to run the place into the ground.

[llmart]

181. Well, there's that too....

I'm from NE Ohio also. Graduated high school 1967. I think Kent State and Cleveland State were both pretty liberal. Dennis Kucinich was at Cleveland State with my husband. It was and still is a very pro-union area. It was the Reaganites that started the anti-worker sentiment.

[End Of The Road]

131. I loved your reply, thanks, but

I wasn't really trying to suggest conspiracy here, though making tin-foil hats is my favorite hobby.

I was just wondering if the sub-prime lending program was a studied attempt to shore up an already insolvent Fannie Mae.

[Tansy_Gold]

142. The logical answer is "no."

At least IMHO.

**IF** they wanted to keep Fannie and Freddie solvent only for a short term, then the answer might be a hesitant "yes," but as a long-term fix, there was no way it could work.

As I've posted here before, in summer and early fall of 2002 I worked for a dept of one of the cities in the far west Phoenix suburbs, an area undergrowing horrendous development. The city was small and primarily lower-income. As developers came in and suckered these people into buying, my dept tried to put pressure on the city council to halt predatory lending. They refused, and ordered us NOT to counsel residents who feared being suckered. The city wanted the tax revenue. The long-term effects of foreclosures, delinquent taxes, vandalism, etc., were recognized but ignored, dismissed, denied, in preference for the short-term benefits.

For investors, there was likewise far more money to be made in the short term by making the mortgages, taking the money, and running and doing that via investment in the mortgage brokers and banks. Investment in the GSEs wouldn't have had the quick return the other vehicles did.

I think it's far more likely that the intent, if there was any, was to get the cash out of the subprimes and alt-a's, push them into the GSEs, then get the feds/taxpayers to bail out the GSEs and make a double killing, especially if FOREIGN investors could be brought in to shore up the GSEs with big bucks. I think that would be Kevin Phillips' analysis.

The fact, however, that one bubble follows another -- S&Ls, dot.com, housing, commodities, etc., etc., etc. -- suggests that there is an element of the citizenry that has full knowledge of how bubbles are formed and how to profit from them AND has the financial ability to do so. The faster the bubble is blown and then burst, the faster they are able to pull out their profit; there is more risk and less return in dragging out the bubble.

I probably still didn't answer your question, but my response is solely speculative anyway! ;-)

Tansy Gold

[End Of The Road]

158. Wow. Yes, this answers it for me

and you ARE one of the smart ones!

[Demeter]

151. I Share Your Viewpoints

It is hard for me to wrap my mind about any native son WANTING to destroy his motherland.

Historically, I can't think of any. The closest we come are the crazy Caesars: Nero, Caligula, etc. They were either mentally deformed puppets of the Praetorian Guard or the Senate, or outright tyrants. Nothing existed in the world outside of themselves, and they acted accordingly.

Shrub fits this to a T: he has the emotional development of a 2 year old, the mental stability of quicksand, and lots of people pulling strings behind him. It's a conspiracy of pirates. Our only recourse as a nation is some form of the French Revolution: to remove the "Aristos" and redistribute their loot. Nothing else will fix the problem.


Demeter is going to have to learn how to knit. But she refuses to go gray for the occasion.

[Tansy_Gold]

202. But I don't consider him a "native son"

I think that's one of the phenomena to come out of the post-WW2 economy -- a destruction of nationalism in favor of corporate loyalty. Hitler (and Mussolini)tried to weld nationalism and corporatism into a seamless whole, but it didn't work. In order for the corporation to triumph, it must be made superior to the state, so that the corporations control the states rather than the other way around.

Again, stepping into :tinfoilhat: territory, remember that Prescott Bush was forced by the government to divest himself of lucrative investments in Nazi Germany. The state impeded his ability to make money, which is the only "morality" of the monied right wing. So why not go in AFTER the war, rebuild the German (and the Japanese) economy, establish corporations that can operate regardless what political regime is in power. Eventually, the regimes become subservient to the corporations. The whole Iran-Contra episode was a similar scenario, with bunches of the same actors as we see in the current farce, and it may in fact have been a trial run to see if they could get away with it. They did. As a result, by 2008 the corporations -- InBev's takeover of Anheuser-Busch being a PERFECT example -- are immortal and supra-national to the point where nations, national identities, etc., no longer matter. ONLY the bottom line. ONLY.

I consider boooooosh to have reached the point where the nation comes a distant second to the corporation. He and his board of directors have been able to utilize rhetoric that appeals to the nation and nationalism, but the motives are solely corporate. Iraq and WMDs, Iraq and democracy, even Iraq and cheap oil for the masses -- it's ALL empty rhetoric. The whole thing is about grabbing the wealth and profits, establishing a new world order based on the morality of the dollar (or any monetary unit they choose, since eventually they will all be interchangeable/identical).

Remember, too, that there are those who would eagerly establish a government based on the principles defined in religious texts: Look at the Taliban in Afghanistan, the ayatollahs in Iran, al-Sadr in Iraq, even Israel. We've seen many many examples here in the U.S. of the right wing christians who want public education, public morality, etc., based on biblical principles. Is it, then, such a stretch to think there are people who have taken the philosophical, quasi-religious writings of Ayn Rand as their blueprint for world domination? She was an avowed atheist, yet her proposal for a new world order requires an apocalypse, an end times to sweep away the evil so the savior(s) can return and reign supreme.

And yes, it's very possible that unless/until there is a French- or Russian-style revolution, they will not be stopped.



Tansy Gold, who is beginning to think she is going off the deep end. . . . . .

[Demeter]

210. The Thing Is, Tansy, There's No Such Thing As Honor Among Corporations

Nor is there any corporate loyalty.

Bush is probably on the verge of being cut off at the **** by his "corporation", at which point he will find out just how many friends he DOESN'T have. His "corporation" may find that in the whirlwind it planted, it is the primary victim, either accidentally, or by deliberate intent of the anarchists his Corporation seeded and fertilized with the malice and cheating practiced every day.

[Tansy_Gold]

214. Oh, I agree. There CANNOT be any honor or loyalty, because

those are human qualities. There is nothing human about the corporations. They can demand loyalty from their minions -- and I believe boooosh will remain loyal to The Corporation -- they themselves have none.

And the whirlwind has indeed been planted. Only time will tell what kind of fruit it bears. I suspect it will not be edible.

Tansy Gold, who is not a very good gardener

[hamerfan]

48. OK, that's it!

I will keep my 403(b) going, as I can't afford the hit I would take by cashing it out early. But tis morning I'm going to my bank and pulling my savings out. I've been tempted for some time to do this, and today it's getting done. I have a couple of good places to keep the cash, and I will feel safer with it near me than in a bank. The interest it's making now is ridiculously small, so what the hey!
dumpbush

[Changenow]

49. Where will you put it?

In a matress?

[lse7581011]

52. I Did it Yesterday!

and slept well for the first time in a long time!

[hamerfan]

73. That's what I'm talking about!

+1 for this answer! A shame when taking your money out of the bank results in a greater feeling of security!
dumpbush

[DemReadingDU]

54. Be aware what that 403(b) contains

If mutual funds, check the prospectus and annual/semi-annual reports to verify the funds don't contain any toxic stuff.

I have similar tax concerns with my IRA.

And welcome to our Stock Market Watch thread!
:hi:

[Renew Deal]

66. If I was in Wahovia, Washington Mutual, or National City

I'd get out. Maybe Citibank too.

[ozymandius]

190. Corporate Swine dot Net

[Tansy_Gold]

219. BEST LAUGH ALL DAY. . . . . . but

You probably owe a few people new keyboards or at least some paper towels :spray:

[Doctor_J]

147. yes, go get your dollars while they're still worth $.50

it will only get worse.

[Pale Blue Dot]

50. Layoffs 7/15

Obviously GM is the biggie today. If I get more exact numbers late, I'll post them.

GM - nationwide - 20% cut in "employment costs"

DETROIT - General Motors Corp said on Tuesday it would cut salaried employment costs by 20 percent, sell up to $4 billion of assets and borrow at least $2 billion in a bid to bolster its liquidity by $15 billion through 2009.

GM also said it would suspend its common stock dividend in a restructuring driven by high fuel prices, a shift away from trucks and SUVs, and the lowest U.S. industrywide auto sales in a decade.

GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner discussed the changes at a news conference Tuesday morning.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25679520/

Portland Art Museum - Portland, OR - 8.5 jobs lost

We reported earlier this year on Brian Ferriso's attempts to steer the Portland Art Museum into calmer financial waters after a few years of internal upheaval caused by the renovation of the Mark Building.

Recently, the museum laid off 3.5 job positions and will not fill five other currently empty positions. Ferriso said the reason for the layoffs and the decision not to fill the empty jobs was budget related. He says the museum is trying to streamline its budget; right now, he says, the museum is as "lean" as it can be.

The employees laid off came from different departments: the library, Rental Sales Gallery, guest services and graphic design. The open slots that won't be filled are in marketing, guest services, gift shop services and education.

The museum's budget for fiscal year 2007 was $15.7 million. In 2008, it's $14.4 million. In 2009, it will be $13 million.
http://www.oregonlive.com/art/index.ssf/2008/07/layoffs_and_budget_tightening.html

Panasonic, Lifeline Armor - Knoxville, TN - 110 jobs total

Layoffs continue to mount in the Knoxville area, with Panasonic Electronic Devices Corporation of America filing notice with the state that it is laying off 33 employees at its Forks of the River Industrial Park plant.

And Lifeline Armor in Jacksboro, Tenn., said it will lay off 67 workers beginning July 31.

Panasonic and Lifeline have notified the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development’s Dislocated Worker Unit about the job cuts as required by the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act.

Panasonic, which makes audio components, capacitors and processed aluminum foil for the automotive and boat industries, often is affected by downturns in the auto and boat industries, which are seeing decreased sales because of the economy.
http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2008/jul/14/panasonic-lifeline-armor-announce-layoffs/

L.A. Times - Los Angeles, CA - 150 jobs lost

Turns out that the 150 or so newsroom staffers leaving the Los Angeles Times are a mix of buyout volunteers (who have to agree not to take another job until mid September) and employees tapped for layoffs. Both get the same deal. Monday was as emotionally brutal a day as Times veterans can remember as supervisors informed the layoff targets in glass offices or telephoned staffers at home. Some were given a week or two to finish up their business and pack up, others were dispatched more immediately.
http://www.laobserved.com/archive/2008/07/job_cuts_at_the_la_times.php

[UpInArms]

75. Pilgrim's Pride to consolidate plants, cut 634 jobs

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSWNAB073720080715

NEW YORK, July 15 (Reuters) - U.S. chicken producer Pilgrim's Pride Corp (PPC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said on Tuesday it plans to shut down the tray-pack chicken business at its facility in El Dorado, Arkansas, resulting in the elimination of 600 jobs, or about half the plant's work force.

That business will be done at six other facilities, the company said.

Pilgrim's Pride also said it plans to close its distribution center in El Paso, Texas, within the next 60 days, resulting in the loss of 34 jobs.

...more...

[Pale Blue Dot]

53. Whining US CEOs: Economy is "Dismal"

The whiny CEO's of America are so wrapped up in their mental recession, they don't see how great the economy is: CEOs Portray a Dismal Forecast for the U.S. (Buncha bitches!)

Here's what these damned Chief Executive Kvetchers had to say:

"With the economy overtaking Iraq as one of the main issues this election year, Chief Executive magazine conducted a survey among CEOs between June 13 and June 27 in an effort to gauge CEO sentiment on the direction of the U.S. economy.

CEOs were asked which policy position they think the U.S. should take to increase or maintain American competitiveness as well as questions on which countries will generate the highest number of jobs and where the top paying jobs will be in the future.

An overwhelming majority of American CEOs believe that in order to create the highest paying jobs and maintain the U.S.’ economic competitiveness, the government needs to reduce taxes and regulation, privatize education and remove restrictions on trade . . .

Frustrated with the current economic policy, another CEO said, “The formula for international competitiveness is quite simple: minimal trade restrictions, predictable regulation, competitive tax rates, strong educational system, trade balance (not deficit), predictable currency, low interest rates, responsible fiscal spending and low corruption. Unfortunately, under the Bush administration, we have failed on many of the factors, with corruption and macroeconomic incompetence being the most insidious.”
http://www.chiefexecutive.net/ME2/dirmod.asp?sid=&nm=&type=Publishing&mod=Publications%3A%3AArticle&mid=8F3A7027421841978F18BE895F87F791&tier=4&id=E0691436F8944E27B714516C707450D5

http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/2008/07/us-ceos-economy.html

[Tansy_Gold]

89. Ah, yes, privatize education

Dumb down the serfs even more. Only educate the elites.

Believe it or not, someone I know (and do not like) actually suggested a few days ago in casual conversation that we really ought not to have ANY public education. It's not fair to tax people who don't actually have kids.

Of course, when there are so few doctors that even the rich can't find one, when there are so few engineers to build their skyscrapers. . . . .

Oh don't even get me started!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!




Tansy Gold, who warned you all earlier that she wasn't in a very good mood!

[llmart]

100. Love the sarcasm:)

"Whiny CEO's" tee hee.

By the way, I watched the Rick Wagoner press conference on our local news here in Detroit and I kept waiting to hear him say "And I will not be taking any compensation for the next two years." Hmmmm..... that didn't happen. Surprise, surprise.

[Pale Blue Dot]

55. Heidi Klum: Supermodel, TV Star, Stock Picker?

I'm a big fan of Heidi's work. (Aren't we all?) But in all seriousness, a closer look at Heidi's, um, business portfolio suggests another talent -- stock picker. Target, Limited Brands and Procter & Gamble have all used Ms. Klum in very creative marketing campaigns. And as my guest James Altucher -- managing partner at Formula Capital, author and columnist -- points out, now is a great time to buy those stocks. Now if my pal James could only find someone to insure his fantastic legs.

http://finance.yahoo.com/tech-ticker/article/yftt_39192/Heidi-Klum:-Supermodel,-TV-Star,-Stock-Picker??tickers=ltd,tgt,pg

What the f---??

[burf]

56. They are announcing that

Bush, Paulson and Bernanke are having press conferences today. I wonder if they will sing in harmony.

[radfringe]

57. OMG, it's the Piehole-3 concert!!!

hang on tight...it's going to be a wild ride off that cliff

[Dr.Phool]

60. The Three Tenors, they're not.

Three Blind Mice, maybe.

[Theres-a]

81. The three Liars

:puke:

[Demeter]

153. The Three Amigos, Seguro!

Was there ever a better spinoff for an idea?

Which one is going to be played by whom?

Steve Martin as Lucky Day, the de facto leader of the Amigos--
Chevy Chase as Dusty Bottoms, the dimmest of the three Amigos, and a pianist--
Martin Short as Ned Nederlander, a former child star and a genuine quick-draw artist--

[Pale Blue Dot]

58. They are obviously panicking.

But will the markets be calmed or follow suit?

[radfringe]

61. my money is on following suits.... n/t

[Hugin]

63. Paulson and Bernanke are also supposed to appear before Congress...

Medium or Well Done?

[UpInArms]

88. Chopper Ben eats hair soup through mustache

01. FOMC raises forecast for headline inflation, growth in '08
10:02 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

03. Bernanke: Fed must be particularly alert to inflation
10:00 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

[UpInArms]

96. Chopper Ben gagging it up now

02. Fed says will take time for economy to recover from shocks
10:03 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

[Pale Blue Dot]

62. U.S. Bancorp income down 18% - below expectations

U.S. Bancorp posted an 18% drop in second-quarter net income, worse than analysts expected, as it tripled its provision for credit losses.

Chief Executive Richard K. Davis called the boost "prudent," citing "continued stress in the economy" and expectations for net charge-offs to increase in the coming quarter. But "despite this upward trend, credit costs are expected to be manageable for our company, as we continue to produce solid core operating results."

Shares of the company slid 4.6% in recent premarket trading to $22.25.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121612474563954327.html

[Renew Deal]

67. Down $101.20 in the first 5 minutes

:nuke:

[Wednesdays]

71. Fannie & Freddie already off more than 20% since the opening

It's gonna be an ugly day.

[UpInArms]

78. Freddie Mac falls 26% to $5.28

01. Freddie Mac falls 26% to $5.28
9:44 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

04. Fannie Mae shares down 18% at $8 in opening trade
9:33 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

05. Freddie Mac shares down 23% at $5.50
9:33 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

[NC_Nurse]

79. So who won the pool we had going about when the DOW would hit 11,000?

Just curious...

[Hugin]

85. The pool is on "The Great Reset"...

or when the Dow returns to the same number as the close on Duhbs first business day in office.

I think we need a new guess from you!

See AnneD about it.

But, the pool locks in when the Dow hits 10,700. So, jump to it! :)

[NC_Nurse]

106. I'm not sure I wanna look down! It's pretty a pretty scary abyss!

AnneD sure called it too!

[Pale Blue Dot]

86. Dow's now less than 300 pts. away from where it was when Bush took office. nt

[AnneD]

134. Because the PPT was propping it up.....

we lowered the cut off.You still have time to get a bid in. I was watching the stock market keep sinking while Bush had his press conference. The more he said our economy was strong-the lower it dropped. And then when he mentioned his magic wand....I just had to break and take a shower, I just had to wash the stupid off me.

[specimenfred1984]

157. In S&P 500 world, I won

I used S&P 500 data to make my guess and the S&P is now lower than when the war criminal was selected. I win a free ticket to Fascistworld, Disney's new theme park where you get spied on the whole time you're there, get your ID stolen, are ordered to chant "support the troops" and get your house taken from you.

[NC_Nurse]

161. Sounds like a great time!

Don't forget to have a few $200 cheeseburgers! :D

[UpInArms]

82. 10:00 EST Dow approaching PIL of 10,900

Dow 10,908.56 146.63 (1.32%)
Nasdaq 2,183.92 28.95 (1.31%)
S&P 500 1,210.31 17.99 (1.46%)
10-Yr Bond 3.823% 0.057

NYSE Volume 607,165,937.5
Nasdaq Volume 271,861,000

09:40 am : The major indices get off to a decidedly lower start to the trading day.

Once again the financial sector is in the limelight as market participants question the future prospects and current capital positions of financial institutions. The sector is down 3.1% after dropping 6.1% yesterday -- the largest one-day percent loss in eight years.

On the economic front, June PPI -- an inflation reading -- came in mixed. Total PPI rose above expectations as higher energy and food prices drove up costs, while core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by a lower than expected amount.

Separately, June retail sales rose 0.1%, but was short of the expected 0.4% increase.DJ30 -110.48 NASDAQ -20.33 SP500 -12.75

09:16 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -10.4. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -14.0. Stock futures pare a good portion of their losses going into the open.

[burf]

83. Its falling like a rock! n/t

[UpInArms]

87. 10:04 EST Katie bar the door!

Dow 10,860.76 194.43 (1.75%)
Nasdaq 2,172.55 40.32 (1.82%)
S&P 500 1,203.84 24.46 (1.99%)
10-Yr Bond 3.823% 0.057

NYSE Volume 700,636,062.5
Nasdaq Volume 315,581,937.5

[Pale Blue Dot]

91. Whatever Bernanke's saying, it ain't helping. nt

[Jersey Ginny]

103. The king's man can fix this. Too broken from years of greed and pillaging

Can't take away regulation and then have govt bailouts over and over and over.

[Mojorabbit]

133. Back down

10,929.24

[Roland99]

90. BULLETIN FED CHIEF BERNANKE: INFLATION IS THE BANK'S PRIMARY WORRY

no wonder the markets are dropping further. Chopper Ben is in complete denial.

[Robbien]

107. Dueling speeches, Bush and Bernanke

CNBC has a split screen up showing both men speaking but only the audio of Bernanke.

CNBC Text of Bush's comment: "Important people believe in our financial system."

[UpInArms]

110. GGAAAAAHHHHAAA!!!!! Bush: Banking system is basically sound

Bush: Banking system is basically sound

[Hugin]

113. Yes, I believe we have a financial system.

Guess that makes me Impotant! :beam:


( :rofl: )

[paparush]

140. Bush - Important that people have as much denial as I do.

[Ghost Dog]

124. Fed Chairman Bernanke Sounds Increasingly Bearish on Economy In Senate Testimony

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's semiannual testimony on monetary policy to the Senate revealed increasingly bearish views on the US economy, and mounting concerns about rising inflation pressures. Indeed, Mr. Bernanke noted the "considerable stress" that financial markets and institutions remain under and the concerns surrounding the health of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Nevertheless, the Federal Reserve appears ready to do whatever it needs to do, as Mr. Bernanke said that "healthy economic growth depends on well-functioning financial markets and "helping the financial markets to return to more normal functioning will continue to be a top priority of the Federal Reserve."

Focusing on the economy specifically, Mr. Bernanke mentioned the weakness in the labor markets, housing sector, stagnation in real earnings, tightening of credit conditions, and sharp drop in consumer sentiment, all of which is likely to restrain consumer spending "over coming quarters." Meanwhile, inflation remains of great concern, and according to Mr. Bernanke, "FOMC participants viewed the inflation outlook as unusually uncertain and cited the possibility that commodity prices will continue to rise as an important risk to the inflation forecast." The greatest concern, however, is that increasing prices "might lead the public to revise up its expectations for longer-term inflation."

Overall, instability in the financial sector and looming downside risks to the economy create perilous conditions for the US, and despite the threat of rising inflation, the Federal Reserve has little room to fight that threat with increases to the fed funds rate. Furthermore, with the economic slowdown likely to quell domestic demand, inflation pressures are likely to ease on their own over time. -- Terri Belkas, Currency Analyst for DailyFX.com

/. http://www.dailyfx.com/story/calendar_events/Fed_Chairman_Bernanke_Sounds_Increasingly_1216132523456.html?engine=rss&keyword=article

-----

Bernanke Warns Of "Significant Downside Risks" To Economic Growth

(RTTNews) - Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke offered a bleak economic outlook to Congress Tuesday, saying that downside risks to economic growth have increased while at the same time the upside risks to inflation have intensified since he last testified in February.

"The possibility of higher energy prices, tighter credit conditions, and a still-deeper contraction in housing markets all represent significant downside risks to the outlook for growth," the Fed Chairman said in prepared remarks before the Senate Banking Committee.

"At the same time, upside risks to the inflation outlook have intensified lately, as the rising prices of energy and some other commodities have led to a sharp pickup in inflation and some measures of inflation expectations have moved higher," he added.

/... http://www.nasdaq.com/aspxcontent/NewsStory.aspx?cpath=20080715\ACQRTT200807151036RTTRADERUSEQUITY_0689.htm

-----

Bernanke testimony in full

The U.S. economy and financial system have confronted some significant challenges thus far in 2008. The contraction in housing activity that began in 2006 and the associated deterioration in mortgage markets that became evident last year have led to sizable losses at financial institutions and a sharp tightening in overall credit conditions. The effects of the housing contraction and of the financial headwinds on spending and economic activity have been compounded by rapid increases in the prices of energy and other commodities, which have sapped household purchasing power even as they have boosted inflation. Against this backdrop, economic activity has advanced at a sluggish pace during the first half of this year, while inflation has remained elevated.

/Continues... http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c6d34fa2-5279-11dd-9ba7-000077b07658.html

[spinbaby]

92. Holy crash, Batman!

I'm just now tuning in--market's falling like a rock. Down 220 in about 40 minutes. Don't they shut down trading at a certain point?

[Hugin]

95. They changed the 'curbs' back in December...

So, I don't know what will happen now.

There's a post about that around here somewhere.

[MUAD_DIB]

108. I thought the shut off was at -500. Or was that the old shut off mark?

[uppityperson]

143. 10,827.71 low of the day so far. Have "fun" watching.

http://money.cnn.com/data/markets/dow/

[antigop]

93. WHOOPEE! State Street profits surge some 50%

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/15/news/companies/statestreeet_profit.ap/index.htm?postversion=2008071508

State Street Corp. said Tuesday its second-quarter profit rose by nearly half as the financial services firm grew both its fee-based and interest revenue streams.

For the three months ended June 30, the company earned $548 million, or $1.35 per share, compared with $366 million, or $1.07 per share, during the same period a year earlier.

The most recent quarter included $22 million of after-tax costs related to State Street's (STT, Fortune 500) acquisition of Investors Financial Services Corp.

Excluding those expenses, the company would have earned $1.40 per share.

[Zenlitened]

94. "The Fed has upgraded the outlook for unemployment"

Um... no. The Fed has DOWNGRADED the outlook for EMPLOYMENT.

:eyes:

When I grow up, I wanna be a ecomonist! Wheeeee!

[Pale Blue Dot]

98. That's doubleplus good!

:eyes:

[Theres-a]

99. Wow.

How Orwellian.

[Dr.Phool]

102. Can you get a DVD language course in "Greenspanish"?

[Hugin]

104. Might be available through...

Rosetta Stone(tm). They have most languages.

:lol:

[DemReadingDU]

105. Jim Rogers discusses Freddie, Fannie bailout

7/14/08 Jim Rogers Calls Fannie, Freddie Rescue Plan a `Disaster'
15 minutes

http://www.bloomberg.com/avp/avp.htm?N=av&T=Rogers%20Calls%20Fannie%2C%20Freddie%20Rescue%20Plan%20a%20%60Disaster%27&clipSRC=mms://media2.bloomberg.com/cache/vIQvD7yNni2I.asf
or
http://tinyurl.com/6zpo36

7/15/08 Don't Bail Out Fannie, Freddie: Jim Rogers
The Treasury and the Federal Reserve should not bail out Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac as this would increase the US public debt, investor Jim Rogers, CEO of Rogers Holdings, said Tuesday.
8 minutes

http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=793635578&play=1

[UpInArms]

109. PIEHOLE ALERT: Stupid falls out! Bush: Banking system is basically sound

08. Bush: Government should not bail out private companies
10:35 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

10. Bush: Banking system is basically sound
10:31 AM ET, Jul 15, 2008

"Basically"???????

EEEEEEEKKKKKSSSS!

Run for your lives!!!

[Doctor_J]

114. BASICALLY sound?

ruh-roh. Even Mr. Optimist is starting to see through his own bullshit.

[MUAD_DIB]

115. And the USA is basically screwn.

[Renew Deal]

117. Basically? WTF?

He said that? Run for the hills!

[MadrasT]

125. As if . . .

... we should believe a word that comes out of his mouth? :rofl:

[Doctor_J]

111. July 31, all. What should I do with my winnings?

I expect many of these

:toast:

Of course, if it sinks much lower, all I will "win" is a second job.

[Hugin]

116. Go forth and do good works...

for all! :thumbsup:


(Not quite there yet, tho. ;) )

[AnneD]

138. Don't count your chickens before they hatch.......

We just broached a PIN, that's all. And if you do win and have to take a second job......at least you have Karl to keep your pool clean. Just a warning-I wouldn't let him rub sunscreen on you-if you know what I mean...

[thewiseguy]

118. Why is the price of oil falling like crazy?

[Pale Blue Dot]

119. The stock market's almost in the black again, too.

:shrug:

[thewiseguy]

120. oil prices now down over 8 dollars! Why?

[thewiseguy]

121. Now the oil prices jumped up 2 dollars in less than a minute!

WTF?

[Hugin]

122. I think maybe Karl's 'overseas' destination has been located...

I imagine he's chatting-up some Oil Ministers.

Looks like Duhb finally played the, "You got me into this Karl, now get me OUT!" card.

[thewiseguy]

126. CNBC said the oil prices had something to do with banks liquidating their energy stocks

Banks seem to be under alot of pressure at this point.

[Pale Blue Dot]

128. So they all did it at once?

In an almost coordinated fashion?

Hmmm....

[thewiseguy]

130. They said it started this morning in an accelerated fashion

[Hugin]

129. Beats my guess...

Also, I will point out during a massive "sell" the Stock prices do actually go up a little. Unless it's an across the board
loss, which is very unlikely due to the fact (I know this is hard to believe) there are still some stocks out there with
value. But, they -need- this money right now to cover losses elsewhere.

[AntiFascist]

155. Could it be a sign that ....

we aren't going to war with Iran? :D

[Nickster]

162. Wha? Oil prices are strictly regulated by supply and demand! This can't be happening! /sarcasm

[Robbien]

127. CNN is saying it is because investors fear drop in consumer demand

Yeah right. There they go blaming you and me and the Chinaman again. Speculators have nothing to do with it. Don't you dare go looking at them.

[radfringe]

137. consumers have no money to demand anything

we is broke... and the bushies brokedded uz

[Doctor_J]

123. Maybe President Obama can offset the Bush Pie-hole effect

Seeing our next leader might inspire some hope for the future.

[AnneD]

132. Heat Wave In Progress: Pool Opens Early.......

Just a word of caution....this is an above ground pool, the seams are starting to buckle a bit and I can't keep it filled with as much. Enter with caution......


Guess the date the DJIA rolls back to the level it was when the chimp took office-10,578.24. You can revise your dates up until Labour Day (the working man's holiday)or the DJIA hits(IMPORTANT CHANGE) 10700 (got to have a cut off). Anyone can join, just give a date and your reasoning for that date. Not the change on the cut off. That should make for a good horse race. I will check the post date/time for last minute posters but those that guessed the date way in advance get extra points. The earlier posters are at the top in the cases of multiple guesses on the same day.

UIA.....7/15
Progressive Realist.....7/18
Alterfurz.....7/22
Northern Soul.....7/22
Karenina.....7/25
Roland99.....7/28
TOJ.....7/31 or the day after Bush or Israel invades Iran, some folks just have to have their floaties
Abelenkpe.....8/2
GhostDao.....8/5
Kineneb.....8/8
Inkaddict.....8/14
Talking Dog.....8/17
DWellwer.....8/19
Dr.Phool.....8/23
Muad dib.....8/22
Skoalyman.....8/29
Nadinebrezezinski.....9/1
Radfringe.....9/1
MattSh.....9/2
Tansy Gold.....9/2 Honoring me on my birthday. I guess I won't be getting cake and a pony if this date wins
Kineneb.....9/4 taking advantage of bet spreading
Prag.....9/5
MoJo Rabbit.....9/5
Kicksana.....9/8
JuneBourder.....9/4
MuleBoy(aka hiz honna da mayor).....9/11
Nickster.....9/12
Ozy.....9/19
AnneD..... 9/19 Like the triple witching thang.
Demeter.....9/21
Ozone man.....9/23
JuneBourder.....9/29
Birthmark....10/10
Demreading DU.....10/16
TansyGold.....10/13
Roland99.....10/17, you have 2 dates, are they correct?
AnneD....10/24
Neshanic.....10/24
MsLeopard.....10/31
Wordpix.....11/3
Passingfair.....11/4
Ship wrack.....11/5
Wednesdays.....1/16/2009 your optimism is so refreshing.



Remember-you can change the dates as we learn more. If your date isn't on the list, e-mail me and I'll add it the next time I post. I erased expired dates so you can guess again. I post about one a week-more often the closer we get to the number. The winner get the praise and admiration of those on the Stock Watch Thread. We have also kicked in for a years worth of bragging rights and Karl Rove as you own pool boy if we can find Speedos to fit. There is still time to place your bets.....And please-no Reggie bars in the pool.

[Ghost Dog]

164. Ghost Dog is content to be known in this pool as GhostDao

[AnneD]

180. You're such a

philosopher you are. Will the Dow be yin or yang, only our philosopher knows for sure.

[Ghost Dog]

204. The Way of the Dao

is inside you. :)

[Demeter]

208. And Here I Thought It Was Salmonella

[Pale Blue Dot]

135. I've got a new contest: Guess what they'll do at 3:00 today to prop up the markets.

Maybe Bernanke will say that he believes inflation can be controlled without raising interest rates?

Other suggestions?

[radfringe]

139. he'll hint that interest rates will be lowered in order to boost economy

and you get fries with another stimulus check

[KoKo]

174. I've been watching some of it and it seems Fed wants power to step in to help

the GSE's if they require it. From what I could tell (I've been in and out and CNBC keeps going for break when a Dem questions them) it seems the Fed wants to "quietly" be able to come in and prop up whatever bank is getting ready to fail. Dems were questioning whether Congress would be briefed on this and Paulson hesitated saying that it might not be possible in all instances for that to occur. Then Paulson started talking about how if the Treasury had been able to get through all their requests from Congress that this situation might not have happened. I wonder what Paulson wanted (Busholini requests) that Congress refused to give him. :eyes: Anyway, Paulson seems to want a "Fed/Treasury Czar" (another useless Commando type that Busholini's love) who will have the authority to coordinate rescues.
Dem Senator Reed (RI) seemed very suspicious of the whole thing...but he got cut off when CNBC went to a break so I couldn't hear more.

My sense (and it's hard to cut through Paulson and Bernanke's blather) is that they want the Fed to be BIGGER with a Czar that will "silently" help anyone who is in trouble...private or public. I can't say for sure that's what the total proposal is...probably some other hidden goodies but it seems Busholini's wanted the whole system in place to crash so they could rebuild it to their own liking before they head out the door in January. It's Naomi Klein's "Shock & Awe" because it seems there's one crisis after another with Busholini's and then "regulation" follows. But, it's never good regulation, it's something that causes another crisis down the road.

I wouldn't trust Paulson or Bernanke not to be doing everything to make sure the Milton Friedman theory continues to rule. But, who knows... I guess they have to try to keep total collapse from coming at this particular point and blame it on Congress for not giving them what they wanted in the beginning.

[Demeter]

209. That Ties In With Tansy Gold's Theory of Corporations

I say give the Fed nothing! Except rules that they cannot do things. Wring the graft and corruption and idiocy out of the system now--not 2 or 20 or 200 years from now.

No Czars, no secrecy, nothing unconstitutional or fascist. The line gets drawn here.

[Tansy_Gold]

216. Ugh, that's scary.

"Tansy Gold's Theory of Corporations."

Not sure whether to :scared: or :rofl:

Call me naive or stupid or whatever, but my field is sociology, which is a far from exact "science." And that's the foundation I use for my analyses, because I really don't know much about economic theory. What I see, however, is something that SUGGESTS some of these economist types have been trying to turn economics into a much more exact science -- closer to mathematics -- than maybe it should be. I mean, it's still all about people, and when you try to take people out of the equation -- but leave them in the reality -- the equation may not work.

Sociology, on the other hand, or at least the kind of sociology I studied, is more cognizant of the inexactness of trying to theorize about human beings. So it makes more sense to me to leave a lot of the math out of the equation and look more at the behavior of the people.

What I've seen has been a remarkable facility for large groups of people to latch onto notions that make them feel comfortable, that affirm whatever beliefs they already hold. (The whole god and guns thing made perfect sense to me, but so did the outrage over it.) Obviously, there's a kind of chicken or egg dilemma at work in determining where people get their beliefs, and it's also very possible for people to change their core beliefs. I did -- I got suckered into believing Ronald Reagan was right! All my sources of political information were staunch republican, and it wasn't until I got out of that environment that I was able to see the error of my ways.

Not everyone can do that. Robert Jay Lifton was on NPR I think a couple of years ago talking about the difficulty many military personnel have while they are in the miltary seeing that there are any problems within the military. But as we saw with a whole bunch of generals back in 2004, 2005, whenever, they spoke out about little things they saw wrong, that got them forcibly retired from the military, and once they were out of that milieu, they suddenly got a whole new perspective.

But then again, I think that's maybe what has happened with the whole corporate environment. It becomes its own worldview, doesn't it? And why shouldn't it therefore develop or adopt its own mythology, its own cosmology if you will? Doesn't it -- and, of course, the people in it -- have to do whatever it takes to maintain its existence? And since it is really only a state of mind, doesn't it need to come up with a psychological infrastructure that will keep it alive? I mean, we see people who have devout religious beliefs doing things that we consider utterly insane, self-destructive, dangerous to the rest of the world, all in the name of "god." Well, what if that "god" is "greed"? How is the rise of corporatism as a religion any different from, say, the rise of christianity or islam as a system of beliefs? :shrug: I don't know. I don't have the answer. But I do think it's a valid question.

So valid, in fact, that I'm sure someone far smarter and wiser and better educated than little ol' me has written a book on it somewhere.


Tansy Gold, thinking she needs to talk one of her friends into buying Rick Shenkman's book "Just How Stupid Are We?" so she can borrow it. . . . .

[KoKo]

217. Good Points to think about, Tansy. I think we've become a nation of "Bubble People" each of us in

our own little sphere not being able to see out the "Bubble Window" beyond what we are comfortable with according to our lifestyle, education...whatever we become accustomed to our feel comfortable with.

All our Media is so diversified that one can pick and chose and never ever have to see anything different...and in fact, these days, with Corporate McMedia there's really something for everyone...but nothing that "binds us together" or forces us to look outside our Bubble or Box.

I loved Sociology. I wish I had majored in it...but other things in life kind of got in the way.

You make good points and thanks.

[AnneD]

141. Keep an eye on your...

young caucasian women (MSM).

The current economic dive is proof that their plan is working-hey it worked in Iraq.

Your date was wiped off-want to have another guess?

[Hugin]

152. Apply tin-foil hats... Mission Accomplished!

Here's what I've been seeing over the past couple of weeks...

1) They've driven the Oil Price up via speculation and saber rattling over the last six months.

2) They then pressed for opening up various no-no drilling areas. They've been pushing hard for it, you must admit.

3) Threw in a few, "Blame the Dems" comments.

4) Yesterday Bush removes the Exec Order preventing off shore drilling.

5) Now! Lo-and-behold! The price of crude oil M-I-R-A-C-U-L-O-U-S-L-Y and dramatically falls! (But, the Dems are still
idle.)

6) Next we'll be hearing how Bush, The Neo-Cons, Supply-side theory, etc... SAVED US! Vote McCranky! Oh, and Duhb's
legacy is insured. ad nauseum.

Yep, look at it folks... Here's the "October Surprise in July."

Too bad they had to kill the Middle-class (Which they want to go away, anyhow) and a couple of Banks in the process.

:tinfoilhat:

[Demeter]

154. Bush Could Resign

But I doubt if that would buy more than a week's respite, even if Cheney did try to pull off an Iran event (which would move him right into the slammer, I suspect!)

[ozymandius]

191. An outright, broad-based stock purchase with monopoly money?

Stranger things have happened. Plus they (the FED, Treasury Dept) can print all the money they want.

[TalkingDog]

198. As Always: Fairydust

from this guy:

[Robbien]

136. Russians saying if you want to buy arms, they want currency other than the dollar

FARNBOROUGH, England, July 15--A senior official with Russian arms exporter Rosoboron export said on Tuesday it was open to doing business in "any currency" amid weakness in the US dollar.

Alexander Fomin, first deputy director of the state arms export company, said at a UK air show that the weak dollar has made life difficult for Russian exporters, who usually trade in the US currency.

"The Russian suppliers have for a long time been using the dollar. We're open to any currency -- we're flexible about the name of the currency," he said.

http://www.alalam.ir/english/en-NewsPage.asp?newsid=032100120080715190956

Uh oh.

[Doctor_J]

145. They're just whiners

in a mental recession

[TrogL]

150. Loonie Watch

(screwed up historical values)

Highlights

Current:



30-day and 90-day vs.greenback:



30-day vs. Euro, Yen, UK Pound and Swiss Franc




Currency Comparison: http://members.shaw.ca/trogl/looniewatch.html

Detailed analysis: http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD

Up-to-the-minute graph: http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=CME_CD.Y%24%24&v=s&w=5&t=l&a=1

Historical values http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/data30.html

2008-06-03 Tuesday, June 3 0.994926 USD
2008-06-04 Wednesday, June 4 0.985707 USD
2008-06-05 Thursday, June 5 0.980873 USD
2008-06-06 Friday, June 6 0.981643 USD
2008-06-09 Monday, June 9 0.978186 USD
2008-06-10 Tuesday, June 10 0.976467 USD
2008-06-11 Wednesday, June 11 0.983284 USD
2008-06-12 Thursday, June 12 0.977517 USD
2008-06-13 Friday, June 13 0.972573 USD
2008-06-16 Monday, June 16 0.979432 USD
2008-06-17 Tuesday, June 17 0.980296 USD
2008-06-18 Wednesday, June 18 0.98174 USD
2008-06-19 Thursday, June 19 0.987167 USD
2008-06-20 Friday, June 20 0.982994 USD
2008-06-23 Monday, June 23 0.984155 USD
2008-06-24 Tuesday, June 24 0.98668 USD
2008-06-25 Wednesday, June 25 0.986777 USD
2008-06-26 Thursday, June 26 0.988045 USD
2008-06-27 Friday, June 27 0.988142 USD
2008-06-30 Monday, June 30 0.981836 USD
2008-07-01 Tuesday, July 1 0.978474 USD
2008-07-02 Wednesday, July 2 0.987459 USD
2008-07-03 Thursday, July 3 0.980008 USD
2008-07-04 Friday, July 4 0.980008 USD
2008-07-07 Monday, July 7 0.982898 USD
2008-07-08 Tuesday, July 8 0.979912 USD
2008-07-09 Wednesday, July 9 0.989315 USD
2008-07-10 Thursday, July 10 0.989805 USD
2008-07-11 Friday, July 11 0.990786 USD
2008-07-14 Monday, July 14 0.994036 USD

Current values

http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

Market            Open   High    Low   Last  Change    Pct 
CD.Y$$ Cash     1.0021 1.0021 0.9999 1.0020 +0.0074 +0.74% 
CD.U08 Sep 2008 1.0004 1.0005 0.9970 0.9970 +0.0029 +0.29% 
CD.Z08 Dec 2008 0.9800 0.9800 0.9800 0.9934 +0.0044 +0.44% 
CD.H09 Mar 2009 0.9757 0.9757        0.9929 +0.0044 +0.44% 
CD.M09 Jun 2009 0.9880 0.9880 0.9880 0.9923 +0.0044 +0.44% 
CD.U09 Sep 2009 0.9865 0.9865 0.9865 0.9919 +0.0044 +0.44% 
CD.Z09 Dec 2009 0.9845 0.9845 0.9845 0.9915 +0.0044 +0.44%  

Other combinations: (http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?c=currencies)

Market          Open    High    Low     Last    Change   Pct 
AUSTRALIAN $/CANADIAN $ (CME:ACD)
ACD.U08 Sep 2008 0.9701 0.9701 0.9701 0.9701 +0.0036 +0.37%  
EURO/BRITISH POUND (NYBOT:GB)
GB.U08.E Sep 2008 (E) 0.7960 0.7972 0.7960 0.7972 -0.0022 -0.28%   
EURO/JAPANESE YEN (NYBOT:EJ)
EJ.U08.E Sep 2008 (E) 167.38 167.38 166.20 166.20 -1.50 -0.89%    
EURO/US$ (SMALL) (NYBOT:EO)
EO.U08.E Sep 2008 (E) 1.59430 1.59640 1.58590 1.58590 -0.00025 -0.02%   

Blather (from http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

The September Canadian Dollar was sharply higher overnight as it extends last week's rally and is trading above the 62% retracement level of the May-June decline crossing at 99.80. Stochastics and the RSI are bullish signaling that sideways to higher prices are possible near-term. If September extends the overnight rally, the 75% retracement level crossing at 100.44 is the next upside target. Closes below the 20-day moving average crossing at 98.53 would confirm that a short-term top has been posted. First resistance is the overnight high crossing at 100.14. Second resistance is the 75% retracement level crossing at 100.44. First support is the 10-day moving average crossing at 98.67. Second support is the 20-day moving average crossing at 98.53.

Analysis

It's frustrating. I know the loonie broke through par (c'mon, you know I just have to post a Loonie Watch when that happens) because the greenback took another tumble down the stairs, but I'd like to know how the loonie's comparing to other currencies. So here's what I've got from the other blathers (see above):

The September Dollar was sharply lower overnight and is breaking out below April's low crossing at 71.83.
The September Euro was higher overnight and has broken out above April's high crossing at 159.050.
The September British Pound was sharply higher overnight and has broken out above March's high crossing at 2.0000.
The September Swiss Franc was sharply higher overnight and is breakout out above the narrow trading range of the past two months.
The September Japanese Yen was sharply higher overnight and is trading above the previous reaction high crossing at .9565.

That doesn't give me much to go on other than we're doing better than the Swiss. Whoopeee!! :party: :popcorn:

Ahem.

So let's compare the last week with a few other currencies:

Date       Euro     Pound    Ozzie   Yen
2008-07-07 0.62821  0.499009 1.03127 105.711 
2008-07-08 0.626022 0.497796 1.02792 105.194 
2008-07-09 0.627611 0.500483 1.03215 105.975 
2008-07-10 0.627611 0.500483 1.02879 105.939 
2008-07-11 0.623214 0.498008 1.02418 105.162 
2008-07-14 0.62463  0.498889 1.02256 105.547 

...and you can see a general slide downwards against everything else.

And again, there's no particularly good reason. The US economy is NOT all the well tied to the Canadian economy anymore. When the loonie took off, that market dried up and we got and took our business elsewhere. We didn't have the same problems with sub-prime because our banking regulators took one look at it and said "you've GOT to be fucking kidding", so those few banks (and remember we've only GOT a few) that did get burned (CIBC comes to mind) the losses were in the millions, not billions and they shook it off and carried on with business as usual. You had to be a real economics junkie to even notice.

I'll post more when today's numbers are out (on the sites I frequent) and we see how the greenback survives the day.

[TrogL]

177. Central bank leaves interest rates at 3 per cent

(cross-posted from LBN)

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20080715/interest_rates_080715/20080715?hub=TopStories

The Bank of Canada left the overnight interest rate unchanged at three per cent on Tuesday, suggesting inflation in coming months could be worse than previously expected.

The bank decided on the measure despite fears of an economic slowdown that could have justified a slight rate cut. The decision was widely expected among members of the financial community.

...

It also reversed brighter predictions of Canada's economic growth, suggesting a mere one per cent gross domestic product increase this year and 2.3 per cent next year. In April the central bank had predicted 1.4 per cent growth this year and 2.4 per cent next year.

Three major developments are affecting the Canadian economy: the protracted weakness in the U.S. economy; ongoing turbulence in global financial markets; and sharp increases in many commodity prices," the bank said in a statement released Tuesday.

[TrogL]

207. Closing numbers and blather

Current values

http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

Market            Open   High    Low   Last  Change    Pct 
CD.Y$$ Cash     1.0021 1.0021 0.9976 0.9976 +0.0030 +0.30% 
CD.U08 Sep 2008 1.0004 1.0005 0.9960 0.9968 +0.0027 +0.27% 
CD.Z08 Dec 2008 0.9800 0.9800 0.9800 0.9961 +0.0027 +0.27% 
CD.H09 Mar 2009 0.9757 0.9757        0.9956 +0.0027 +0.27% 
CD.M09 Jun 2009 0.9880 0.9880 0.9880 0.9950 +0.0027 +0.27% 
CD.U09 Sep 2009 0.9865 0.9865 0.9865 0.9946 +0.0027 +0.27% 
CD.Z09 Dec 2009 0.9845 0.9845 0.9845 0.9942 +0.0027 +0.27%  

Blather

The September Canadian dollar closed up 29 points at .9970 today. Prices closed near mid-range today and did hit a fresh six-week high. Bulls have the near-term technical advantage.

[antigop]

159. Confessions of a subprime lender: 3 bad loans

http://money.cnn.com/2008/07/15/real_estate/annals_of_subprime_lending/index.htm?postversion=2008071512

- Richard Bitner opened his own mortgage shop in 2000, and had the good fortune to bail out of the business in 2005, before the housing crisis hit.

He saw the shoddy lending practices that got us into this crisis first hand, and has chronicled them in his book, "Confessions of a Subprime Lender." By the time he quit, said Bitner, "Lending practices had gone from borderline questionable to almost ludicrous."

He and his two partners ran Dallas-based Kellner Mortgage Investment, a small subprime lender that issued about $250 million in loans annually. The firm worked through independent mortgage brokers, and then sold the loans it closed to investors or to larger lenders, such as Countrywide Financial, which was recently bought by Bank of America (BAC, Fortune 500).

Bitner, like so many other subprime lenders, was drawn to the field by the fat profits it promised - these loans paid three to five times more than prime loans. But, says the 41 year-old married father of two, he also took pride in the idea that he was helping people with damaged credit become homeowners.

[antigop]

160. Day of Reckoning: Super Rich Tax Cheats Outed

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=5378080&page=1

Technician in Liechtenstein Turns Over Names of Americans With Secret Bank Accounts

Hundreds of super-rich American tax cheats have, in effect, turned themselves in to the IRS after a bank computer technician in the tiny European country of Liechtenstein came forward with the names of US citizens who had set up secret accounts there, according to Washington lawyers investigating the scheme.

The bank clerk, Heinrich Kieber, has been branded a thief by the government of Liechtenstein for violating the country's bank secrecy laws.

He is now in hiding but scheduled to testify to the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations Thursday via a video statement from a secret location, according to Congressional investigators.

Aides for committee chairman Carl Levin (D-MI) are scheduled to provide reporters with a background briefing later this morning in Washington on the committee's investigation of tax haven banks in Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

Aides say the hearing will also focus on the role of the giant Swiss bank UBS and its alleged efforts to help wealthy Americans hide their money from the IRS through shell companies in Liechtenstein.

Any guesses as to the names on the list? It says Italian tax authorities published the full list of names.

[Robbien]

167. What are the odds that the IRS will actually collect anything from these guys

Over the past five or six years, the IRS auditors have been targeting low and middle class tax returns for audit and doing very few upper income audits. It is hard to hope that with the current DC climate these rich guys are finally going to be made to pay their fair share.

[radfringe]

168. zero?

[Hugin]

172. Too high, radfringe.

The Government will pay them for the trouble, I'm sure.

It would be rude to treat them without the dignity their money buys them.

[Hugin]

169. They'll just draw off of another undisclosed account to pay off any revealed penalties...

Whining and complaining about how much they hate "taxes".

There will be no life altering consequences... Those are reserved for the rabble.

[antigop]

171. I would guess the odds are zero--but evidently the names have been published by Italian tax

authorities. Should be easy enough to get the list, no?

I expect our wonderful press will get a copy of the list and publish the names, won't they?

[Hugin]

173. I doubt it.

Unless there's some commie liberal dem supporter on there.

[Hugin]

178. It's interesting they used the cute word, "Cheats" in the headline instead of...

A stronger "Treasonous Terrorist Sympathizing Enablers Who Hate Freedom" as would be used if it had been
an article about any of the common folk.

[ozymandius]

165. 1:39 and everything's dandy

Dow 11,035.73 Down 19.46 (0.18%)
Nasdaq 2,221.32 Up 8.45 (0.38%)
S&P 500 1,223.00 Down 5.30 (0.43%)
10-Yr Bond 3.83% Down 0.05
NYSE Volume 3,632,920,500
Nasdaq Volume 1,740,999,000

1:00 pm : The stock market trades near its session high, just under yesterday's closing level. Five of the ten economic sectors are now in positive territory.

Treasury Secretary Paulson and SEC Chairman Cox are currently in a question and answer session with the Senate Banking Committee.

Struggling U.S. auto manufacturer General Motors (GM 9.92, +0.54) outlined its latest restructuring plan, giving its stock a nearly 6% boost. It is taking several measures to bolster its liquidity by $15 billion through 2009. Some of the provision include further reduction of salaried employees and a suspension of dividends on GM's common stock, effective immediately.DJ30 +12.67 NASDAQ +17.00 SP500 -0.34 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1164/1.33 bln/1656 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 776/851 mln/2345

12:35 pm : The major indices are trading at their best levels of the session. The Nasdaq is posting a decent-sized gain, the Dow is at the unchanged mark and the S&P 500 is posting only a slight loss.

Financials are leading the way with a gain of 1.7% with props from taxpayer money after staging an impressive afternoon turnaround from a loss of 5.7%. Within the sector, 55 of the 89 components are posting a gain, led by State Street (STT 62.09, +6.39), Wells Fargo (WFC 22.52, +0.96) and Washington Mutual (WM 4.41, +0.91). Of note, the two companies at the center of the recent turmoil -- Fannie Mae (FNM 8.04, -1.69) and Freddie Mac (FRE 5.91, -1.14) -- are still posting substantial declines.DJ30 +3.50 NASDAQ +13.53 SP500 -2.27 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1164/1.33 bln/1656 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 776/851 mln/2345

[Hugin]

166. We're well on our way to a Middle-classless recovery!

Three cheers for the Rich!

:eyes:

[Ghost Dog]

170. Europe stocks hit 3-yr closing low, oil caps losses

Tue Jul 15, 2008 1:03pm EDT

PARIS, July 15 (Reuters) - European stocks fell 2.1 percent on Tuesday to a three-year closing low, knocked by growing concerns over the financial services sector, but a steep fall in oil prices helped the market end above the session's lows.

U.S. crude oil futures CLc1 sank more than $7 to just over $137 a barrel, with Wall Street rattled after U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said a weakening housing market, tighter credit and rising oil prices threatened the economy.

In remarks to the U.S. Senate Banking Committee, Bernanke said financial markets and institutions remain under "considerable stress," adding to jitters over banking stocks.

Bucking the trend, Continental (CONG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) surged 11.6 percent after Schaeffler Group, a family-owned ball-bearing firm, launched an unsolicited 11.2 billion-euro ($17.9 billion) bid for the tyres-to-brakes maker.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index of top European shares ended 2.1 percent lower at 1,110.09 points, its lowest close since May 2005. The index, down 26 percent on the year, fell by more than 3 percent at one point in the session, before trimming its losses.

"The sell-off is extremely violent, it's a bloodbath, and I fear that it could last all summer," one Paris-based trader said.

Banks took another beating, with Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 7.1 percent, Allied Irish Banks (ALBK.I: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 9.9 percent, Natixis (CNAT.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 9.7 percent and UBS (UBSN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) down 6.3 percent.

Fortis (FOR.BR: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (FOR.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) tumbled 11 percent on worries the Belgian-Dutch financial services group might have to raise more funds and after the Dutch market regulator said it was looking into the company's funding plan. Fortis said it did not envisage any additional capital increase.

"We're back into the panic mode we experienced back in mid-March. The distrust is at a very high level, and it is totally justified," said Marie-Pierre Peillon, head of equity and credit research at Groupama Asset Management, in Paris.

...

JP Morgan (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Merrill Lynch (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) are due to report results on Thursday. Around Europe, Germany's DAX index .GDAXI ended down 1.9 percent, the UK's FTSE 100 index .FTSE fell 2.4 percent and France's CAC 40 .FCHI shed 2 percent.

Mining shares featured among the biggest losers, retreating along with metal prices. Rio Tinto (RIO.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) lost 4.3 percent, BHP Billiton (BLT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) fell 4.8 percent and Xstrata (XTA.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) dropped 4.1 percent.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idCAL156764520080715?rpc=44&sp=true

[Robbien]

179. SEC to Limit Short Sales of Fannie, Freddie, Brokers

July 15 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will take emergency action today to the limit the ability of traders to bet on a decline in the shares of Freddie Mac, Fannie Mae and brokerages, the agency's chairman said.

Christopher Cox told the Senate Banking Committee that the SEC will issue an order today imposing a ``preborrower requirement'' on short sales in the mortgage-financing companies and Wall Street firms. The requirement would prohibit the practice known as naked short selling, in which traders avoid the financial burden of borrowing shares when betting they'll fall.

``In addition to this emergency order, we will undertake a rulemaking to address the same issues across the entire market,'' Cox said in his remarks to the committee.

. . .

``I don't think the government should ban short-selling in anything as long as it's fully disclosed, as long as there's no manipulation,'' MFS Investment Management Chairman Robert Pozen said in an interview with Bloomberg News yesterday. ``Don't we want the market to work here?''

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a5pFHH4_r.jc&refer=home

Another rule that does nothing. SEC is just saying, keep doing what you were doing but now you just have to tell us about it. Probably no penalties if you don't disclose and of course no penalties if the disclosure reveals manipulation is happening.

[Hugin]

182. Thanks for tracking these reg changes, Robbien.

Not much here for us serfs.

Also, it's the standard supply-side "Voluntary Compliance" loophole.

[AnneD]

185. I don't know Prag

limiting the sales of shorts to Fannie, Freddie, and brokers.....especially after all the 'accidents' they've had this week (and it's just Tuesday) sounds cruel.

to borrow from Tansy...
AnneD, sleeping very soundly and kicking it old school (financially).

[Robbien]

193. Since it is GOPers talking about new regs

you just know that any changes they make mean trouble for anyone making less than $250,000/year and are money makers for those above.

Watching them is like experiencing financial water torture. I am glad there is a place like SMW to share and talk about the info, otherwise one could go insane silently watching all their corruption.

[ozymandius]

186. Chairman Cocks doesn't seem to understand that short selling is manipulation.

The market tends to act irrationally during high volume periods of shorts transactions.

[specimenfred1984]

200. "Free market" FED outlaws sellers and will buy stock now, nice...

No manipulation going on here, nothing fascist to see, move along. Your stocks are being manipulated for your own good!

[ozymandius]

183. Was someone trying to get a sucker rally going?

Doesn't seem to be working as numbers come off highs.

2:44
Dow 11,055.44 Up 0.25 (0.00%)
Nasdaq 2,231.40 Up 18.53 (0.84%)
S&P 500 1,225.93 Down 2.37 (0.19%)
10-Yr Bond 3.846% Down 0.034
NYSE Volume 4,266,071,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,029,315,125

2:30 pm : The major indices are trading in a range-bound manner as the Nasdaq sports a solid gain, while the S&P and Dow trade near the unchanged mark. Financials (-0.1%) have slipped into the red, although the sector's decline is modest.

Despite the recent recovery, market breadth continues to lean negative. On the NYSE decliners outpace advancers by 15-to-7 and by 7-to-6 on the Nasdaq. Volume is on the heavy side.DJ30 +7.00 NASDAQ +19.50 SP500 -2.15 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1331/1.88 bln/1561 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 997/1.19 bln/2142

2:00 pm : The Nasdaq continues to outperform, lifted by small-cap tech names. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 trades with a modest loss.

Kimberly-Clark (KMB 55.81, -2.99) is undeprforming with a 5.1% loss, although it has recovered from its session low when it was down 14.3%. The company reported preliminary second quaerter earnings that fell short of previous guidance and the company lowered its fiscal year 2008 outlook, citing higher input costs.DJ30 +11.97 NASDAQ +17.66 SP500 -2.01 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1335/1.79 bln/1549 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 895/1.14 bln/2237

[Hugin]

184. -beep- We're sorry the line you were calling has been disconnected or is no longer in service -beep-

Please re-dial or contact directory assistance.

Hmm... Maybe they need us rubes after-all.

Nah!

[ozymandius]

188. Suckers come to the trough.

3:05
Dow 11,107.63 Up 52.44 (0.47%)
Nasdaq 2,246.60 Up 33.73 (1.52%)
S&P 500 1,232.52 Up 4.22 (0.34%)
10-Yr Bond 3.846% Down 0.034
NYSE Volume 4,514,779,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,153,766,250

[ozymandius]

192. blather

3:00 pm : The S&P 500 joins the Dow and Nasdaq in positive territory. Six of the ten economic sectors are now posting a gain.

Shares of wireless provider Sprint Nextel (S 9.55, +1.29) rebounded to a 16% gain from a 2% loss on speculation that the company is a takeover target. CNBC reported that its sources say SK Telecom (SKM 20.85, -0.24) is in talks to acquire Sprint. The deal is not imminent and would be joined by private equity, according to the report.

The telecom sector spiked to a 1.8% gain on the news.DJ30 +36.40 NASDAQ +29.08 SP500 +1.98 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1406/2.04 bln/1458 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1054/1.30 bln/2128

[ozymandius]

194. Ow! That was fleeting.

3:31Dow 11,042.74 Down 12.45 (0.11%)
Nasdaq 2,230.25 Up 17.38 (0.79%)
S&P 500 1,224.35 Down 3.95 (0.32%)
10-Yr Bond 3.844% Down 0.036
NYSE Volume 4,896,445,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,337,814,250

[radfringe]

195. it's all in your head

you are suppose to be feeling psychologically better now that bush is pushing the offshore drilling for oil...

just ignore reality and put on a happy face...

meanwhile cops are doing crowd control at an encino indymac bank, threatening people with arrests... riots soon to follow?

[ozymandius]

197. I am certainly a fool.

Thanks for pointing out the up-side. Because in a perfect and just world this is how it should be. :sarcasm:

[Loge23]

203. No, you're just in mental recession

Geez, now we have psycho-wish therapy for the oil problem (no problem in Texas, I hear) to go with the now infamous "mental recession". Well, at least "we don't torture".
There is some hope though, we can buy Big Pharma stocks now:

"I don't understand anything," she said with decision, determined to preserve her incomprehension intact. "Nothing. Least of all," she continued in another tone "why you don't take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You'd forget all about them. And instead of feeling miserable, you'd be jolly. So jolly,"
Aldous Huxley - Brave New World

[ozymandius]

196. The Dow is tied to an anchor, tied to an anvil.

3:47
Dow 10,993.88 Down 61.31 (0.55%)
Nasdaq 2,220.72 Up 7.85 (0.35%)
S&P 500 1,218.73 Down 9.57 (0.78%)
10-Yr Bond 3.844% Down 0.036
NYSE Volume 5,243,625,500
Nasdaq Volume 2,505,407,000

3:30 pm : A modest increase in broad-based selling interest sends the S&P 500 back in negative territory. The Nasdaq is still sporting a solid gain thanks to strength in Microsoft (MSFT 26.30, +1.16), Intel (INTC 20.99, +0.51) and Gilead Sciences (GILD 55.33, +1.78).

Tuesday has marked an extremely busy session, and market participants won't get much of a breather on Wednesday. The market will be digesting earnings from Intel, Abbot Laboratories (ABT 57.59, +1.37), Wells Fargo (WFC 21.69, +0.12). Other events include the release of CPI, net foreign purchases, capacity utilization, weekly crude inventories and FOMC meeting minutes.DJ30 -7.38 NASDAQ +17.23 SP500 -3.18 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1453/2.33 bln/1430 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1134/1.48 bln/2062

[TalkingDog]

199. It's anchors all the way down..... n/t

yes, them's got some puns in there....

[AnneD]

201. It's not tied to an anchor....

but a magic wand. Betcha you need a shower right about now. :spray:

All I can hope for is that some of Bush's entitled friends got hosed, but I know many retirement funds are getting hammered too.

[dweller]

220. "when all you have is a hammer

everything looks like a nail"

and w/ that, i will pose a closing song for the day.

peace out ya'll, sing along...
dp

The Hammer Song
If I had a hammer
I'd hammer in the morning
I'd hammer in the evening
All over this land
I'd hammer out danger
I'd hammer out a warning
I'd hammer out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a bell
I'd ring it in the morning
I'd ring it in the evening
All over this land
I'd ring out danger
I'd ring out a warning
I'd ring out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

If I had a song
I'd sing it in the morning
I'd sing it in the evening
All over this land
I'd sing out danger
I'd sing out a warning
I'd sing out love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

Well I've got a hammer
And I've got a bell
And I've got a song to sing
All over this land
It's the hammer of justice
It's the bell of freedom
It's the song about love between my brothers and my sisters
All over this land

words and music by Lee Hays and Pete Seeger

[Hugin]

205. ~16:45 EDT: All mixed up...

I'm guessing they've settled on a close.

Index Last Change % change
• DJIA 10962.54 -92.65 -0.84%
• NASDAQ 2215.71 +2.84 +0.13%
• S&P 500 1214.91 -13.39 -1.09%

[ozymandius]

211. They've settled. NYSE volume increased to over 7 billion.

Dow 10,962.54 Down 92.65 (0.84%)
Nasdaq 2,215.71 Up 2.84 (0.13%)
S&P 500 1,214.91 Down 13.39 (1.09%)
10-Yr Bond 3.844% Down 0.036
NYSE Volume 7,433,513,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,807,562,250

4:25 pm : Tuesday was an extremely busy and volatile session as market participants digested testimony from Fed Chairman Bernanke, several economic and earnings reports, and a plunge in crude oil prices.

In heavy trading, the stock market fell 2.2% shortly after the open, rallied to a 0.5% gain in an afternoon surge and then settled with a loss of 1.1% following a late-session sell off.

Financials were at the forefront of this session's decline and volatile action. The sector slumped to a 5.7% loss shortly after the opening bell on continued concerns regarding Fannie Mae (FNM 7.03, -2.70) and Freddie Mac (FRE 5.29, -1.82), a tepid response to US Bancorp's (USB 22.70, -0.63) earnings and an Oppenheimer downgrade of Wachovia (WB 9.11, -0.73).

A plunge in crude prices and Washington Mutual (WM 3.48, +0.25) defending its capital position sparked a midday turnaround in the financial sector -- and the broader stock market. The sector climbed to a gain of as much as 2.3%. However, late-day selling interest sent the sector back in the red, to settle the day with a loss of 3.0%.

There did not appear to be a specific cause for the tumble in crude prices, which occurred during Bernanke's testimony. Oil prices settled the day down 4.5% at $138.62 (prices fell as much as 6.4% after being up 1.1% early in the session). The stock market responded positively to the drop in crude prices, although some enthusiasm faded late in the session.

Four sectors ended the session with a gain. Health care led the way with a 1.3% advance, aided by positive earnings and outlook from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 67.67, +1.26). The energy sector posted the largest decline of 4.2%, coming under selling pressure as crude prices sank.

With regard to Bernanke's testimony before the Senate Banking Committee, the Fed chairman mostly reiterated previous views that he or other Fed officials have already expressed. Bernanke noted significant risks to downside growth, and "intensified" inflation risks.

In turn, the Fed raised its 2008 inflation forecast. The Fed also raised its 2008 GDP growth outlook, noting better-than-expected economic data on consumer and business spending between the April and June FOMC meetings.

On the economic front, the June Producer Price Index (PPI) -- an inflation reading -- came in mixed. Total June PPI rose above expectations as higher energy and food prices drove up costs, while core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, increased by a lower than expected amount.

On a monthly basis, total PPI rose 1.8% (consensus +1.4%) and core PPI increased 0.2% (consensus +0.3%). On a yearly basis total PPI is up 9.2%, while core PPI is up a tamer 3.0%. The CPI reading will be released Wednesday morning, and market participants will closely watch to see if increased prices are being passed on to consumers.

June retail sales were disappointing, falling short of expectations. However, the results do not alter our view that real GDP should increase by at least 2.5% in the second quarter. Specifically, retail sales rose 0.1% (consensus +0.4%), retail sales ex-autos rose 0.8% (consensus +0.9%). A larger portion of the ex-autos number is due to the 4.6% increase in gasoline sales on an adjusted basis. Excluding gas, retail sales were down 0.5% from the prior month. DJ30 -92.65 NASDAQ +2.84 NQ100 +0.02% R2K -0.3% SP400 -0.9% SP500 -13.39 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1167/2.79 bln/1733 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 811/1.86 bln/2402

[Robbien]

212. Commodity Prices Boosted By Speculative Trading: Govt Report

Tokyo, July 15 (Jiji Press)--Speculative trading was behind recent price surges for crude oil, wheat and other commodities, the Japanese government said in an annual report on trade Tuesday.

As of May, corn prices were some 90 pct above the levels justified by the amounts of inventories, according to the report compiled by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry.

Similarly, prices were some 70 pct higher for crude oil, 50 pct higher for wheat and 30 pct higher for copper, the report said.



An analysis based on commodity futures prices and inventory data have found that the levels of market prices deemed justifiable in light of fluctuations in inventory levels are rising, the report said. But actual market prices are far higher, according to the report.

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews+articleid_2396919&title=Commodity_Prices_Boosted.html

So someone actually ran the numbers and published them. Finally.

The commodity market has always been based on future pricing of inventory due to supply and demand. The players all have programs to run the numbers before entering into hedging. So of course all the players know that the current stock market prices aren't following the standard supply and demand modeling. But to get them to admit it you'd have to threaten to cut off their left nut.

Watch how fast this Japanese report gets buried in the news.

[Hugin]

213. Wow... But, I'd say it's pretty accurate.

My personal private oil number is more along the lines of 120 pct. Which drives up a the rest of my numbers from
those reported, but, these numbers reported are believable.

Oh, I'd give it a half-life of about 500 milliseconds.

Nice of somebody out there to try to tell us the truth, tho. Thanks for that whoever you are.

[Dr.Phool]

215. Things appear to be off to a rosy start in Asia tonight.

Rosy, as in red....again.

http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=asia

I'm gonna pour a cocktail and see what Jon Stewart has to say about this.

See y'all in the mourning. I know.

[Demeter]

218. The Great Depression of 2008 By Marc McDonald

OpEdNews

Original Content at http://www.opednews.com/articles/The-Great-Depression-of-20-by-Marc-McDonald-080715-847.html


--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
July 15, 2008


Until last week, most economists were divided on whether the U.S. was in a recession or not. Now, with the ailing mortgage agencies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac on the ropes, it's clear that what's unfolding is far worse than any recession.

As Britain's normally staid The Telegraph newspaper notes, we could be on the verge of a new Great Depression. That might seem far-fetched until you consider that last month, the Dow suffered its worst June since 1930.

But The Telegraph is hardly alone in using such apocalyptic language these days. The "D" word is starting to be mentioned more and more in the business media, as well as by economic commentators. As David Bullock, managing director of investment fund Advent Capital Management, put it in a comment to The New York Times on Tuesday, "We are closer to the Depression scenario than not."

Yes, a real Depression, complete with tent cities now springing up in what once were prosperous suburbs.

This doom-and-gloom language in describing the U.S. economy first began to pick up steam after investment bank Bear Stearns had to be bailed out by the government in May. In describing the bailout, the Associated Press said that Bear Stearns was "On the verge of a collapse that could have shaken the very foundations of the U.S. financial system."

The current crisis with Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac is infinitely larger than Bear Stearns. The two companies either hold or guarantee a staggering $5.3 trillion worth of mortgages. Indeed, the investment magazine MoneyWeek has noted that the crisis is big enough to doom the dollar.

As MoneyWeek notes:

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac might have been deemed too big to fail---but who's big enough to bail out the US? When investors start seriously asking themselves that question, expect the dollar to plunge.

Make no mistake, a catastrophic U.S. economic collapse is on the way. Such is the inevitable fate of any Ponzi scheme economy that has been running on nothing more than smoke and mirrors (and oceans of foreign capital) now for many years.

Of course, those who are poor or working class know first-hand that the U.S. economy has been in increasingly serious trouble since around 1980. Wages have been steadily declining for everyone but the very rich. And working class people now toil more hours for less pay than their counterparts in any other First World nation. (They have to, as a 40-hour workweek no longer is enough to put groceries on the table).

But as long as America had a tiny elite of prosperous super wealthy, we could always point to them and try to convince ourselves that our economy couldn't be all bad. After all, we would note, there are some people out there making a fortune. All it takes is hard work and ambition, right?

Today, with the stock market in the toilet, and the Fed having to step in to bail out the financial sector, it should be clear to anyone that the U.S. economy is in crisis.

If the U.S. economy actually produced anything of value, this would be nothing more than just another typical downturn in the economic cycle.

The problem is, the U.S. economy no longer produces anything of value. Our economic activity basically consists of importing trillions of dollars from central banks in East Asia---which we then use to prop up our Ponzi scheme economy. The ocean of foreign capital that flows into our nation daily is used to pay for the shopping habits of U.S. consumers.

In fact, in recent years, the Great American Consumer has been hailed by U.S. economists as the "locomotive" of the world economy. There was only one problem: U.S. consumers had zero savings and were depending on foreign capital to finance their shopping binges.

Now, with the stock market crisis and the ongoing housing mortgage crisis, nobody is in much of a mood to do any spending these days. And with the dollar rapidly declining, it's only a matter of time before the East Asian central banks start to unload their depreciating greenbacks (which will accelerate the dollar's fall even further in a vicious cycle).

The frightening thing is that East Asian central banks haven't even begun seriously dumping their dollars and yet the dollar is already plunging.

And the dollar has already lost an astonishing 40 percent against an index of U.S. trading partners' currencies over the past seven years.

The key numbers which measure the current U.S. economic crisis are so far off the chart that it is difficult to even fathom them. As economics writer Eamonn Fingleton has noted, the U.S. current account deficit (the widest and most meaningful measure of our trade position) now represents an astounding 6.5 percent of our gross domestic product.

As Fingleton notes, only one other major nation has ever exceeded this figure: Italy in 1924. That was just before Benito Mussolini seized dictatorial power.



Authors Website: http://www.beggarscanbechoosers.com

Authors Bio: The creator of the progressive site, BeggarsCanBeChoosers.com, Marc McDonald is an award-winning journalist who worked for 15 years for several Texas newspapers, including the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, before he quit his day job and set up shop in cyberspace in 1995. McDonald's articles have appeared in a number of popular progressive Web sites, including OpEdNews.com, BuzzFlash.com, Crooks and Liars, Salon.com, Progressive Daily Beacon, The Neil Rogers Show and The Raw Story. McDonald's Web articles have also been featured and reviewed by various national and international media, including CNN Headline News, the BBC, the Washington Post, USA Today and many more.