STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday August 30

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday August 30, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON August 27, 2010

Dow 10,150.65 +164.84 (+1.62%)
Nasdaq 2,153.63 +34.94 (+1.62%)
S&P 500 1,064.59 +17.37 (+1.63%)
Gold future... 1,240 +2.10 (+0.17%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.65 +0.17 (+0.16%)
30-Year Bond 3.69 +0.17 (+0.06%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
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Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
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Handy Links - Government Issues:
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Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Reports

08:30 Personal Income Jul
Briefing.com 0.2%
Consensus 0.2%
Prior 0.0%

08:30 Personal Spending Jul
Briefing.com 0.2%
Consensus 0.3%
Prior 0.1%

08:30 PCE Prices - Core Jul
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.0%

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

[UpInArms]

17. 8:30 reports:

8:30a July PCE core inflation up 0.1%, up 1.4% yr-on-yr

8:30a July consumer spending up 0.4%

8:30a U.S. July personal income up 0.2%

[ozymandius]

2. Oil hovers near $75 as global stocks rally

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered near $75 a barrel Monday in Asia, buoyed by rallying global stock markets and improving investor sentiment.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said Friday the central bank was ready to step in if the U.S. economy showed further signs of weakening. Bernanke's comments sparked a stock market rally, with the Dow Jones industrial average jumping 1.7 percent Friday.

Some analysts remain concerned about the U.S. economy, which grew 1.6 percent in the second quarter, down from 3.7 percent growth in the first.

In other Nymex trading in September contracts, heating oil fell 0.67 cent to $2.038 a gallon and gasoline added 0.31 cent to $1.951 a gallon. Natural gas for October delivery was steady at $3.704 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[Demeter]

18. Okay, Analysts, Make the Connection

Oil up, economy down....

[ozymandius]

3. BOJ eases policy to fight yen rise but impact seen slim

TOKYO (Reuters) – The Bank of Japan expanded its cheap loan scheme on Monday, heeding government calls for action to curb a rise in the yen that threatens a fragile economic recovery and leaving the door open to more policy easing.

The yen surged more than 1 percent against the dollar after the central bank beefed up the supply of fixed-rate loans to banks, a move investors saw as a symbolic gesture that will do little to halt a climb in the currency that hurts exports and may prolong deflation.

The decision at an emergency meeting called a week ahead of a scheduled policy review follows weeks of efforts by Tokyo's policymakers to talk down the yen, which intensified after the yen hit a 15-year high of 83.58 yen against the dollar last week.

Japan will probably have to intervene alone if it were to step in to curb yen gains, as its Group of Seven counterparts, happy with the benefits to exports from their weak currencies, are in no mood for coordinated intervention.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100830/bs_nm/us_japan_economy

[Festivito]

4. Debt: 08/26/2010 13,376,189,739,693.61 (UP 14,835,297,445.66) (Thu)

(Up a lot. Good day.)
Too much going on for TEMs. Weekend ended swimmingly.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 8,849,513,131,006.47 + 4,526,676,608,687.14
UP 15,329,518,146.29 + DOWN 494,220,700.63

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.23 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,226.23 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.68, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 13 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 309,958,885 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 04/09/2010 15:49 -> 309,034,742
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,154.72.
A family of three owes $129,464.17. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 24 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 24 reports is 5,173,318,652.48.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,138,654,921.99.
The average for the last 31 days would be 4,005,149,924.50.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 227 reports in 330 days of FY2010 averaging 6.46B$ per report, 4.44B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 878 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.6 and 17.9T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
08/26/2010 13,376,189,739,693.61 BHO (UP 2,749,312,690,780.53 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,466,360,736,181.90 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,621,883,844,564.83 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/06/2010 +000,053,282,619.67 ------------*******
08/09/2010 -000,264,966,096.92 --- Mon
08/10/2010 +001,721,061,315.43 ------------*********
08/11/2010 +000,095,029,920.46 ------------*******
08/12/2010 +008,430,031,924.23 ------------*********
08/13/2010 -000,288,829,216.29 ---
08/16/2010 +038,527,213,023.81 ------------********** Mon
08/17/2010 +000,086,946,367.61 ------------*******
08/18/2010 +000,214,319,067.84 ------------********
08/19/2010 +008,231,027,173.23 ------------*********
08/20/2010 -000,497,978,282.78 ---
08/23/2010 -000,107,792,107.60 --- Mon
08/24/2010 +000,493,029,883.18 ------------********
08/25/2010 +000,455,932,262.67 ------------********
08/26/2010 +015,329,518,146.29 ------------**********

72,477,826,000.83 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4519132&mesg_id=4519140

[Festivito]

56. Debt: 08/27/2010 13,375,222,710,985.08 (DOWN 967,028,708.53) (Fri)

(Up a little. Good day.)
The wrong Y when it comes to Flint.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 8,849,570,008,347.77 + 4,525,652,702,637.31
UP 56,877,341.30 + DOWN 1,023,906,049.83

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.23 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,226.17 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.68, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 13 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 309,965,531 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 04/09/2010 15:49 -> 309,034,742
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,150.68.
A family of three owes $129,452.03. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 24 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 24 reports is 4,872,608,596.23.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,898,086,876.98.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,772,342,139.01.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 228 reports in 331 days of FY2010 averaging 6.43B$ per report, 4.43B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 877 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.6 and 17.9T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
08/27/2010 13,375,222,710,985.08 BHO (UP 2,748,345,662,072.00 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,465,393,707,473.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,615,917,532,410.14 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/09/2010 -000,264,966,096.92 --- Mon
08/10/2010 +001,721,061,315.43 ------------*********
08/11/2010 +000,095,029,920.46 ------------*******
08/12/2010 +008,430,031,924.23 ------------*********
08/13/2010 -000,288,829,216.29 ---
08/16/2010 +038,527,213,023.81 ------------********** Mon
08/17/2010 +000,086,946,367.61 ------------*******
08/18/2010 +000,214,319,067.84 ------------********
08/19/2010 +008,231,027,173.23 ------------*********
08/20/2010 -000,497,978,282.78 ---
08/23/2010 -000,107,792,107.60 --- Mon
08/24/2010 +000,493,029,883.18 ------------********
08/25/2010 +000,455,932,262.67 ------------********
08/26/2010 +015,329,518,146.29 ------------**********
08/27/2010 +000,056,877,341.30 ------------*******

72,481,420,722.46 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4522159&mesg_id=4522165

[ozymandius]

5. Jobs data to show severity of malaise

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The patient clearly looks ill, but is there at least a steady pulse?

August U.S. payrolls and other data this week will provide critical evidence on whether the U.S. economy is slipping into a coma of barely perceptible growth, as some economists fear.

Economists polled by Reuters forecast an August drop of 99,000 non-farm jobs after a fall of 131,000 in July. The unemployment rate is expected to tick higher, to 9.6 percent from 9.5 percent.

Institute for Supply Management data on Wednesday will also show whether the slowdown has spread to the manufacturing sector. A key metric will be whether the new orders index falls below 50 in August after a drop in durable goods orders in July.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100829/bs_nm/us_global_economy_weekahead

---

There will be a load of data large enough this week to increase significantly the markets' volatility. Stay tuned...

[ozymandius]

6. Wall Street awaits US jobs report

NEW YORK (AFP) – Wall Street may be in for another rocky week, as traders brace for negative data topped by an expected rise in the US unemployment rate that could dampen economic recovery prospects.

All eyes will turn to the release of the monthly employment data next Friday, with most analysts forecasting non-farm payrolls to fall by 118,000 in August and unemployment to edge up to 9.6 percent from the current 9.5 percent rate.

On Wednesday, analysts expect to see the monthly Institute of Supply Management (ISM) manufacturing index decline to 53.3 percent from 55.5 percent, signaling a further slowdown in manufacturing, a key pillar of the US economy.

Despite next week's expected negative data, analysts do not predict a sharp drop in stock prices, even as Wall Street enters what is traditionally seen as a difficult month for shares.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100828/bs_afp/stocksusweekly

[Demeter]

19. It's Dead, Jim

And that cartoon is positively obscene.

[ozymandius]

7. Paris, Frankfurt exchanges gain in early deals

PARIS (AFP) – Share prices in Paris and Frankfurt were showing modest gains in early trading Monday but analysts said investors were cautious ahead of key economic data to be released later in the week.

The CAC 40 in Paris was up 0.08 percent by mid-morning at 3,510.22 points while in Frankfurt the DAX had risen 0.16 percent to 5,960.11.

On the currency market the euro weakened against the dollar, trading at 1.2724 against 1.2751 on Friday, while the yen strengthened.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100830/bs_afp/stockseurope

[ozymandius]

8. Sell Signal on 36% Profit Gain Has Analysts in Denial (Update1)

Aug. 30 (Bloomberg) -- Meyer Shields says earnings at Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. will increase the most since 2006 this year. He’s also telling investors to sell the shares because the economic recovery is weakening.

The Stifel Nicolaus & Co. analyst has plenty of company. For the first time since at least 1997, fewer than 29 percent of ratings for stocks covered by brokerages worldwide are “buys,” according to 159,919 recommendations compiled by Bloomberg. Analysts are turning more pessimistic even as they push up estimates for profit growth among Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies to 36 percent, the highest since 1988.

While pessimism is increasing, analysts say profits for companies in the MSCI World Index of 24 developed nations will gain 28 percent in the next year. The MSCI index trades at 11.5 times forecast earnings, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Except for the six months starting October 2008, the index has never traded below 12.5 times reported earnings.

The benchmark gauge for U.S. equities is down 4.5 percent in 2010 after Europe’s debt crisis wiped out an increase of as much as 9.2 percent. Citigroup’s Economic Surprise Index showing how much U.S. economic data is differing from forecasts fell to minus 64 on Aug. 25, the lowest since January 2009.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=atAHMd3u1AEo&pos=10

[ozymandius]

9. G'morning.

:donut: :donut: :donut: I gotta go. Work calls early. :hi:

[Dr.Phool]

11. G'mornin' folks.

Finally up and running again. I decided to rebuild the computer this week-end. New case, MoBo, more memory, Win7, etc. Kept the same cpu, a 3.73ghz Pentium 5 thats still faster than anything out there.

After tearing the other one apart, and setting up the new one (almost), I ran into a problem with the power supply cables being too short. I rigged it up so I could at least test it, and it gave me the old "Lost in Space" error message. "Does Not Compute".

So I got to rip it all apart, and re-install everything as my old system, while I wait for some power supply cable extensions to arrive this week. Then I can do it all again. Oh goody!

And the guy who designed the heatsink attachment mechanism for Socket 775 processors should be sent to Turkish prison, then Singapore for flogging, then a vacation at Abu Gharib, and then the grand prize of a FRSP after spending quality playtime with a starving pack of Rottweilers.

'Nuff said.

[Roland99]

14. I'm champing at the bit to build a new i5 or i7-based HTPC

guess i'll make that my Christmas present to myself in a few months.


Glad to be back at work. After a weekend of pushing that electric mower (beats paying the YMCA to use their weight equipment!), washing and waxing both cars, putting up chair rail in the girls' room (it's actually about 6.5-7ft up and then crown molding will go up top tonight or tomorrow) and about a dozen games of dodgeball with the neighbors yesterday, my old bones are ready for 8 hrs of sitting here working on the web app. :)

[TalkingDog]

35. In our household we've coined a term for that...

Agri-Fitness.

We figure if we market it just right we can have Hollywood celebs out here paying us for the privilege of pulling weeds and toting manure.

We have plans to float the IPO in the next fiscal year...... (not)

[ozymandius]

10. Almost forgot this one -

How Unequal Are We?

Inequality Index

· Percentage of U.S. total income in 1976 that went to the top 1% of American households: 8.9.
· Percentage in 2007: 23.5.
· Only other year since 1913 that the top 1 percent’s share was that high: 1928.
· Combined net worth of the Forbes 400 wealthiest Americans in 2007: $1.5 trillion.
· Combined net worth of the poorest 50% of American households: $1.6 trillion.
· U.S. minimum wage, per hour: $7.25.
· Hourly pay of Chesapeake Energy CEO Aubrey McClendon, for an 80-hour week: $27,034.74.
· Average hourly wage in 1972, adjusted for inflation: $20.06.
· In 2008: $18.52.

For example, data from tax returns show that the top 1% of households received 8.9% of all pre-tax income in 1976. In 2007, the top 1% share had more than doubled to 23.5%.

There is reason to suspect that this level of income inequality is dangerous to our economy. The only other year since 1913 that the wealthy claimed such a large share of national income was 1928, when the top 1% share was 23.9%. The following year, the stock market crashed, which led to the Great Depression. After peaking again in 2007, the U.S. stock market crashed in 2008, leading to what some are now calling the “Great Recession.”

Between 1979 and 2008, the top 5% of American families saw their real incomes increase 73%, according to Census data. Over the same period, the lowest-income fifth saw a decrease in real income of 4.1%.

http://extremeinequality.org/?page_id=8

[Roland99]

15. Yet another example of why this thread is so great and the "liberal' media sucks

and sucks badly.


See ol' Arne Duncan on ABC yesterday? It was either before he came on or just before that show, one of the morning news shows was putting up a graphic of where the U.S. was re: education level, esp. science. We were 35th in the world. Behind even Estonia and Azerbaijan.

But, hey, at least our wealthiest citizens are disgustingly wealthy! yay us!

[DemReadingDU]

12. Houston's Harris County Borrows $205 Million as Sales Lowest in Two Years

8/30/10 Houston's Harris County Borrows $205 Million as Sales Lowest in Two Years

Harris County Flood Control District, which includes Houston, leads issuers this week with states and municipalities poised to borrow $2.5 billion, the least in almost two years.

Harris, the nation’s third most-populous county, plans to issue $205 million in tax-exempt general obligations backed by a lien on property-tax revenue, according to preliminary offering documents. The debt carries a top credit score from Standard & Poor’s and Fitch Ratings.

Thirty-day visible supply fell 31 percent to $4.6 billion on Aug. 27, almost $6 billion below the daily average in 2010, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Scheduled issuance this week is the lowest for a full trading week since the $1.7 billion sold in the period ended Dec. 19, 2008, Bloomberg data show.

“It’s just seasonality,” said Alan Schankel, director of fixed-income research for Janney Montgomery Scott LLC, a Philadelphia-based money-management firm with $7.3 billion in tax-free bond assets. “Everything just kind of grinds to a halt, but it’ll pick up again after Labor Day.”

Reduced supply coupled with concern that the U.S. recovery is slowing has driven investors to Treasury and municipal debt, sending yields, which move inversely to prices, to historic lows last week.

Yields on top-rated tax-exempts due in 10 years rose Aug. 27 for the first time in 10 weeks, climbing 3 basis points to 2.61 percent from 2.58 percent, the lowest ever, according to data from Concord, Massachusetts-based Municipal Market Advisors dating to January 2001. A basis point is 0.01 percentage point.

more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-30/houston-s-harris-county-borrows-205-million-as-sales-lowest-in-two-years.html

[AnneD]

38. I don't know if this made the news here on DU....

but we had a nasty fire on Friday and it was at the Houston County Warehouse District. They put it out but not before they had to pull 3 alarms and it threatened a nearby pet shelter and elementary school. They put it out but it totally burned all Harris Counties voting machines (over $35 million dollars worth of damage). Since this city is another blue oasis in Texas (outside the very blue Austin), everyone is worrying how/if we are going to handle the upcoming elections. So if we go overwhelmingly red in November, it is safe to say there was some monkey business going on. I love Texas, never a dull moment.

Hope we had insurance- I think we should have learned after the let the insurance lapse on the Governor's mansion and it caught fire. Perry is being put up in an ultra exclusive digs at taxpayer expense-I don't think he will be there after November. Houston should overwhelmingly go for Bill White...but then there is that voting machine issue???????????

[DemReadingDU]

39. I read that somewhere

It sure does seem suspicious, maybe they'll let you vote the old fashioned way, with paper ballots. But then they would need to hire people to count the ballots. Let us know what is going to happen on voting day. This should be interesting.

[AnneD]

41. Frankly,

I don't credit Perry with enough smarts to think of that-he has probably killed most of his brain cells inhaling his hair grooming products.:spray:

[DemReadingDU]

13. Robert McHugh: An Update on the Hindenburg Omen

8/29/10 An Update on the Hindenburg Omen of August 2010 by Robert McHugh

You are not going to believe this, but on Friday, August 27th, we got both a fifth official Hindenburg Omen observation and a 90 percent up day. Completely bizarre combination, which is the point. It is this sort of confrontational confusion inside markets which is the basis and background for all of the stock market crashes over the past 25 years. This does not mean we are definitely going to get a stock market crash, but it does mean the odds of getting one are far greater than the normal less than one-tenth of one percent on any given day. Because this set-up is rare, only 27 such set-ups over the past 25 years, it throws the market into a unique and infrequent population of only 27 occurrences, and within that unique 27 occurrence set-ups, we have seen a market rattling stock market crash 8 times, or 30 percent of the time this unique set-up occurred. The time span for this set-up is 120 days, 120 days of high risk. The market lacks uniformity, lacks certainty, lacks its normal stability. There were no instances over the past 25 years when a stock market crash occurred without an official Hindenburg Omen being on the clock. We now have a five observation Hindenburg Omen cluster.

more...
http://www.safehaven.com/article/17994/an-update-on-the-hindenburg-omen-of-august-2010

[Roland99]

16. Futures down because incomes and spending are up.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-pare-drop-after-economic-data-2010-08-30

U.S. stock futures cut Monday losses after the government reported personal income and spending rose in July. Down 27 points ahead of the data, futures for the Dow Jones Industrial Average were lately off 6 points at 10,135. S&P 500 futures were fractionally up at 1,064. Nasdaq 100 futures held steady at 1,789.25





uhhhhh... ???

[Demeter]

24. DIVE! DIVE! DIVE!

Unlike the markets, I had a great weekend, and may recover from it by Wednesday.

On Sunday, we had a BBQ/Green Party, with our roofing company showing us the Detroit Edison proposal to solarize our place with PV arrays for rooftops, energy audits and the like. they brought the food, and brought 5X what we could eat. So we have the next 4 BBQs already--if they get scheduled. Note to self...

And my friend and neighbor got her new refrigerator into the house with 5 minutes of help from several of the big strong guys (and my plywood ramp) after the party, so she's got food again. And she inspired me to clean out my frige....at least part of it! It would have taken all day to do it all.

I had an excellent idea for next weekend, but didn't write it down, but it's Labor Day, so that will be automatic. nd I hope by the week after that to have remembered what I had thought to do...

[Po_d Mainiac]

48. The spending exceeded wage growth

Hmmmm.....Where/when has that happened before? Anyone recall what happened?

It just sounds so damn deja vu all over again

Maybe it's just the voice messing with me again :shrug:

[Demeter]

20. 1,000 Companies Attacked -> 1,200,000 Jobs Destroyed

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2009/10/2/789055/-1,000-Companies-Attacked1,200,000-Jobs-Destroyed

Bloomberg got an Emmy nomination in 2007 for explaining the mechanics of these "hedge fund" attacks. Vid is HERE:

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=4490541725797746038#

"Phantom Stock" runs 25:10.

Criminal attacks combine corrupt MSM lie campaigns with market dumps of "naked shorts" that become counterfeit "phantom stock."

-- Depress a stock's price --> Make millions on short-side positions

-- Do as much damage as possible and laugh at SEC and DoJ/FBI

The human damage is primary jobs. Permanent jobs with companies that make products or provide specialized services. The likes of bio-tech, finance and engineering, and computer systems.

Statistical sampling and employment data for the largest 1,000 attacked companies show they suffered 1,200,000 excess layoffs.

Throw on a macroeconomic multiplier effect... adding secondary jobs gets past 3,000,000 jobs dropped overall.

RICO-eligible criminal "hedge funds" and CNBC and TheStreet.com and financial MSM and paid bloggers (e.g., Tom Sykes, a pseudonym for Gary Weiss, at DKOS) -- may have screwed up America as much as the credit crunch.

[Demeter]

22. BERNANKE: Clearing the air

http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2010/08/federal_reserve

A LITTLE while ago Ben Bernanke, the Federal Reserve chairman, called the economic outlook “unusually uncertain”. The Fed has lately been a source of a lot of that uncertainty. Its officials maintained an upbeat outlook for the economy as the news in recent months went from bad to worse, then on August 10 they seemed to abruptly embrace the opposite view by announcing new steps to stimulate the economy. Matters have not been helped by the public airing of divergent views from officials.

Mr Bernanke cleared up a lot of the confusion with a long speech to the Kansas City Fed’s annual symposium in Jackson Hole, Wyoming today. In a nutshell, Mr Bernanke said the economy has, indeed, underperformed, but it will get better. And if it doesn’t, the Fed will do more unconventional things.

The same morning Mr Bernanke spoke, the Commerce Department was reporting that the economy grew at a miserable 1.6% annual rate in the second quarter, down from its initial estimate of 2.4%. The betting is that the current quarter won’t be much better.

Mr Bernanke admits this is unexpected and disappointing, but it’s not a double dip. The economy will “continue to expand in the second half of this year, albeit at a relatively modest pace the preconditions for a pickup in growth in 2011 appear to remain in place.” Though puzzled that consumption has been so weak, Mr Bernanke notes several developments that bode well for a pickup: the household saving rate was recently revised up to 6% from 4%, suggesting households have made brisk progress in deleveraging, setting the stage for more robust consumption (if only employment and incomes can pick up). Second, financial markets are loosening up, especially since European policy makers got their sovereign debt crisis under control...

MORE RETICENT BRITISH PICKING APART OF THE LUDICRACY THAT IS US ECONOMIC POLICY.

YES, I KNOW THAT ISN'T A WORD--YET. BUT IT SHOULD BE.

[Demeter]

23. Bernanke "Manages Expectations" for Fed Role

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/30/business/economy/30fed.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

The Fed chairman, Ben S. Bernanke, who has assiduously avoided taking sides in fiscal debates, said on Friday that the central bank stood ready to use a variety of tools to forestall deflation, a broad decline in prices. But he made it clear that the Fed could not simply conjure up a recovery by manipulating interest rates and the money supply.

“Central bankers alone cannot solve the world’s economic problems,” Mr. Bernanke said in what became a theme of the annual Fed policy symposium here, organized by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City.

Mr. Bernanke has told Congress that some additional fiscal stimulus could be helpful in supporting the recovery, as long as it was accompanied by a credible plan to gradually bring deficits under control and stabilize the ratio of debt to gross domestic product, the broadest measure of economic output.

He has not weighed in on specifics — like the Obama administration’s proposal to spur lending to small businesses, or the call by some Republicans to extend all of the Bush-era tax cuts — but has instead expressed hope that a bipartisan fiscal commission appointed by Mr. Obama will deliver specific and meaningful proposals.

But the commission is not scheduled to deliver its report until December, and the likelihood of additional Congressional action to support the economy before the midterm elections in November seems to be shrinking by the day....

NOT THAT IT MATTERS, AS THEY ARE SURE TO SUGGEST ONLY USELESS OR ACTUALLY HARMFUL POLICIES....

[DemReadingDU]

21. Documentary - Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis

8/29/10
A documentary on the financial crisis which premiered in May, Overdose: The Next Financial Crisis, is now posted on YouTube. Based on Swedish writer Johan Norberg’s book Financial Fiasco, the film features insights from Peter Schiff, Gerald Celente, and others on the various factors that helped bring about the Great Unraveling, including the Federal Reserve's disastrous monetary policies, as well as the mistakes that are still being made. Although the material is probably old hat for many Financial Armageddon readers, it makes for interesting viewing, nonetheless.

click to find links to watch 3 YouTube videos
http://www.financialarmageddon.com/2010/08/interesting-viewing.html

[Demeter]

25. IMF's Lipsky: Need to Consider New IMF Liquidity Facility

http://imarketnews.com/node/18419

A top International Monetary Fund official suggested Saturday that the IMF needs to play an increasing role as a provider of liquidity in crisis situations. John Lipsky, first deputy managing director of the IMF, also suggested an increased role for Special Drawing Rights, the Fund's basket-currency unit as he addressed the Kansas City Federal Reserve Bank's annual symposium.

Lamenting large global financial imbalances and the shortage of dollar liquidity during the mortgage crisis and the more recent sovereign debt crisis, Lipsky said "it may be appropriate to have a standing IMF liquidity facility with well known access rules." He said a "systemic crisis prevention mechanism may be appropriate" as well.

An IMF liquidity facility would make credit readily available to all IMF members, rather than loans having to be arranged on an emergency, ad hoc basis, he said. Lipsky maintained that "the ongoing rapid growth of international reserves to some extent reflects the failure of international monetary system to resolve" liquidity needs....

But if countries are going to accumulate massive reserves, Lipsky recommended an "increase in the role of the SDR" -- a basket currency unit created by the IMF.

[Demeter]

26. The Dangers of Germany's Dependence on China

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,713478,00.html

Germany largely has China to thank for its current economic upswing, given the Asian powerhouse's demand for German machine tools and other such products. But many German industrialists are asking themselves how long the symbiotic relationship can go on, given Beijing's ambition to become a high-tech economy itself...

GIVEN CHINA'S PROPENSITY TO REVERSE ENGINEER, VIOLATE COPYRIGHT, AND OTHERWISE PIRATE WHAT THEY CAN, THIS IS A REAL CONCERN...

[Demeter]

27. Small businesses win bigger share of federal contracts

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-smallbiz-contracts-20100830,0,4922226.story

I SUSPECT SOME OF THIS MIGHT BE BECAUSE BIG COMPANIES ARE SHRINKING INTO THE "SMALL BUSINESS" CATEGORY...BUT THAT IS JUST A SUSPICION.

AND THE REST IS CRONY PORK FOR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES.

[Demeter]

28. Obama says U.S. economy not growing fast enough

DO TELL!

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN2913784220100830

President Barack Obama said on Sunday the U.S. economy was expanding, but not quickly enough, and there was no "magic bullet" that will fix its problems.

Obama said in an NBC interview that the batch of grim economic data over the past few weeks was something his administration had anticipated.

Gloomy reports on gross domestic product and housing have raised fears the fragile economy could slip back into a recession or face a lengthy period of growth that is too slow to make much of a dent in the 9.5 percent unemployment rate.

"The economy is still growing, but it's not growing as fast as it needs to," Obama told NBC in the interview in New Orleans, where he stopped after a vacation on the Massachusetts island of Martha's Vineyard...

ON VACATION, BARACK? ISN'T THAT A BIT INSENSITIVE ON YOUR PART?

I THINK WE COULD SUGGEST A FEW ECONOMIC SILVER BULLETS, RIGHT GANG?

END WARS, EXTEND UNEMPLOYMENT BENEFITS, UNCAP SOCIAL SECURITY, UNIVERSAL SINGLE PAYER HEALTH CARE, ALL THAT STUFF THAT OBAMA RAN ON...

[AnneD]

40. And why might that be?????

could it be that Main Street will finally get the attention and serious help it deserves and you stop listening to to those pudknockers you surround yourself with.....NAH.

[Demeter]

29. Jackson Hole Debate on Recession Risk Shows Challenge for Central Bankers

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-08-29/jackson-hole-debate-on-recession-risk-shows-bernanke-challenge.html

Central bankers and economists at a Federal Reserve symposium clashed over how to best contain asset-price bubbles three years after a crash in U.S. housing prices led to the worst global recession since World War II.

Bank of England Deputy Governor Charles Bean told the meeting in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, yesterday that regulatory tools would be most efficient at deflating a boom without inflicting broad economic damage. Stanford University Professor John Taylor, creator of an interest-rate-setting formula used by central banks, said the tools are “unproven” and using them may cause central bankers to lose focus on adjusting rates properly....

SO, GLASS-STEAGAL IS "UNPROVEN"? ONLY IF YOU ARE A REPUBLICAN!

[Demeter]

30. SCHAUDENFREUDE: Axa cuts Goldman stake by half

Goldman Sachs’ largest investor slashed its stake by more than half in the last quarter as the bank contended with civil fraud charges by US securities regulators and brutal market conditions that crimped its results

Read more >>

http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/PR0TE6/MJTKN/LQ8ACZ/267Q0T/50/t?a1=2010&a2=8&a3=30

[Demeter]

31. Google plans pay-per-view films

Google’s YouTube video site is in negotiations with Hollywood’s leading movie studios to launch a global pay-per-view video service by the end of 2010, putting it head-to-head with Apple in the race to dominate the digital distribution of film and television content.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/BLH300/YH4VGQ/06MUC/9ZRLEU/BMIPOW/D5/t?a1=2010&a2=8&a3=29

[skoalyman]

50. thats all and good but if you don't have the extra funds torrents

work just as good :hide:

[Demeter]

32. The teabagger business model

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/8/30/896995/-The-teabagger-business-model?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+dailykos%2Findex+%28Daily+Kos%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

articles)

http://www.wfmj.com/Global/story.asp?S=13047933

An Ohio-based shopper loyalty program aimed at tea party supporters has been sold to a conservative group that plans to take it national.

Washington-based Unite in Action says it bought the name, concept and online site of the Tea Party Exchange for an undisclosed amount. The exchange in Dayton suspended operations last week after some controversies, including with merchants who said customers complained..

The short-lived Tea Party Exchange was supposed to be a loyalty program for customers who wanted to shop in teabagger-supporting businesses and see their money donated to teabagger causes.

Except that at least in Dayton, Ohio, advertising as a teabagger business didn't exactly bring in the customers. Quite the opposite. So the Exchange was forced to shut down. Turns out the businesses who had paid $150 to participate in the Exchange were instead losing customers. Some even received threats. One business owner reported being called a Nazi. The founder, Donald Hutchinson, was forced to refund the $150 to the business owners who had bought into the exchange, only to back out when their customers disappeared.

So since that worked out so well, obviously it's time to take the Exchange national. Sure, it'll drive away customers, but if you register now, you can get a free key chain. And isn't that what the free market is all about?

[MARALE]

45. I thougth that would happen

At least I hoped it would. We need to start pointing out that these tea-baggers are crazy, because people that don't really pay attention to politics as much as we do, may start taking them seriously.
Or maybe we can let them tear the votes apart in the republican party and help destroy it from within. I think that they are letting this fester and it will grow out of control and ruin them.

[ozymandius]

52. Keychain? How about a free dirt clod in the eye?

The plan and the enticements make as much sense.

[TalkingDog]

33. No safe haven....not even for goldbugs

http://mindonmoney.wordpress.com/2010/08/28/correlation-curse/


So, when a panic downturn comes in any big market, you can bet short odds and win if you bet that at least some domestic financials are holding large chunks of that market, and they are holding it with borrowed money. Throw in the fact that virtually every financial uses swaps these days to make all their liabilities into short-term debt, and you have frequent rollovers or resets. Every time that rate resets or that debt rolls over, there’s another opportunity for the holders of that debt to look at the balance sheet, and the assets the financial company holds. That’s when the financials will be selling assets – any assets.

Welcome to the world of correlation that doesn’t show in the bull market, but can kill you in the bear.


/snip

[Po_d Mainiac]

54. Since the author had to get input from a coin collector "friend"

and there was no distinction made between paper Au/Ag, "collectible" coins, and bullion....I'd have to rate this article as mostly garbage.

Holders of "hard" are well aware of the stock and bond bubbles.

[TalkingDog]

34. The Cost of Keeping Up with the Joneses.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=faking-it&page=2

In one study, the scientists recruited a large sample of young women and had them wear pricey Chloé sunglasses. The glasses were the real thing, but half the women thought they were wearing knockoffs. The researchers wanted to see if wearing counterfeit shades—a form of dishonesty—might make the women act dishonestly in other ways.

They asked the women to perform a couple of tasks that presented opportunities for lying and cheating. In one, the women worked on a complicated set of mathematical puzzles—a task they could not possibly complete in the time allowed. When their allotted time was up, the women were told to score themselves on the honor system—and to take money for each correct score. Unbeknownst to them, the scientists were monitoring both their work and their scoring.

And guess what? The women who thought they were wearing the fake Chloé shades cheated more—considerably more. Fully 70 percent inflated their performance when they thought nobody was checking on them—and, in effect, stole cash from the coffer. By comparison, “only” 30 percent of the group who knew they wore authentic Chloés cheated.

To double-check this distressing result, the scientists put the women through a different drill, asking them to indicate whether there were more dots on the right or left side of their screen. Choosing “left” earned them half a cent, and choosing “right” earned them five cents, regardless of whether the answer was correct. In other words, the task forced a choice between a correct answer and the more profitable answer. And again the women wearing what they believed to be knockoffs pocketed the petty cash much more often than did their peers who knew they wore the authentic shades.


So the Enron Scandal, the Tech Bubble, Bernie (Ponzi-Scheme) Madoff, and the torturous machinations of the shady bundled loan deals can all be traced back to the advent of the fake Rolex.... swear to god....

[Roland99]

36. 12:30ish - heading south

Dow 10,090 -61 -0.60%
Nasdaq 2,138 -16 -0.73%
S&P 500 1,057 -7 -0.68%
GlobalDow 1,791 -2 -0.14%
Oil 74.41 -0.76 -1.01%
Gold 1,239 +1 +0.05%

[Demeter]

37. Heck of a Job, Managing Those Expectations, Guys!

Watch that baby fall!

Got a little gem from Dave Barry's Mr. Language Person Column:

http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/29/1737689/give-em-ell.html

TODAY'S LANGUAGE TIP: To add impact to dry business reports, try to personalize your message for your specific reader:

WRONG: "Market stabilization should ameliorate short-term growth."
RIGHT: "Market stabilization should ameliorate short-term growth, you zit-brain."

GOT A QUESTION FOR MISTER LANGUAGE PERSON?

He does not care.

Read more: http://www.miamiherald.com/2010/08/29/1737689/give-em-ell.html#ixzz0y72QkGTG

[TalkingDog]

42. ooooo.....suspense.....will it break below 10K before the close? n/t

[OnlinePoker]

46. Not today, but we'll see if TPTB manufacture support for 10k tomorrow. n/t

[Po_d Mainiac]

49. The E/S 1050 broke......look for 1042 to fold if tomorrows data sucks

9980 is the next resistance for the Dow 30...BUT..the Dow is just the end of the tail, the S&P is the canine.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

43. 26!

[TalkingDog]

44. Nice. Subtle too....n/t

[Demeter]

51. I Don't Get It

i thought it was 46.

[DemReadingDU]

53. 26? 46?

I don't get either number, obviously I'm not a gambler.

[Demeter]

55. 46 is Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

or at least, I think it is.

I'm sorry, it's 42. Google is my constant friend. And Wiki is my bible.

[TalkingDog]

57. 26 called as the winner, but there is no money on 26......

Nobody wins.....

[DemReadingDU]

58. uh, Got it!

[Roland99]

47. At the close: *just* enough ballast to hold 10k

Dow 10,010 -141 -1.39%
Nasdaq 2,120 -34 -1.56%
S&P 500 1,049 -16 -1.47%
GlobalDow 1,784 -10 -0.54%
Oil 74.24 -0.93 -1.24%
Gold 1,239 +1 +0.08%