STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday November 5

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday November 5, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON November 4, 2010

Dow 11,434.84 +219.71 (+1.92%)
Nasdaq 2,577.34 +37.07 (+1.44%)
S&P 500 1,221.06 +23.10 (+1.89%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.49 -.00 (-0.08%)
30-Year Bond 4.06 -.00 (-0.03%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

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

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 Nonfarm Payrolls Oct
Briefing.com 25K
Consensus 60K
Prior -95K

08:30 Nonfarm Payrolls - Private Oct
Briefing.com 50K
Consensus 60K
Prior 64K

08:30 Unemployment Rate Oct
Briefing.com 9.7%
Consensus 9.6%
Prior 9.6%

08:30 Hourly Earnings Oct
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.0%

08:30 Average Workweek Oct
Briefing.com 34.2
Consensus 34.2
Prior 34.2

10:00 Pending Home Sales Sep
Briefing.com 2.0%
Consensus 2.5%
Prior 4.3%

15:00 Consumer Credit Sep
Briefing.com -$3.0B
Consensus -$3.5B
Prior -$3.3B

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

[Roland99]

18. Payrolls grow by 151,000 in October

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/payrolls-grow-by-151000-in-october-2010-11-05?dist=beforebell

Nonfarm payrolls rose by 151,000 in October, higher than the 70,000 increase expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch

Adding to the sense of strength in the report, the payrolls count in August and September was revised higher by a cumulative 110,000. Payrolls fell a revised 1,000 in August and by 41,000 in September.

Excluding government workers, the economy added 159,000 jobs in October, the highest since April.

...

Manufacturing employment fell 7,000 in October.

[Hugin]

22. So, uh...

Were these hires poll workers by any chance?

[Tansy_Gold]

29. Private sector, so not poll workers

But campaign-related workers? Possibly, at least some of 'em. Everything from more pizzas delivered to more signs printed.

[Hugin]

40. True, but, if it's the traditional gearing up for the Holiday Season.

It's awfully anemic compared to the Ghost of Christmas Past. :/

Oh, I know much of what we're reading right now is the fading bleats of triumph from the dumbasses "victors" of the latest election fraud and their coming claims of "Look... See... Everything is better now." Just like their anemic "victory", all I see is a whole lot of rumbling in a very small teapot.

Which leaves me with the word for today: Anemic

[Tansy_Gold]

56. But wouldn't a "seasonally adjusted" number reflect

like an adjustment for the seasonal jobs? (Words do have meanings, sort of, after all, don't they?)

Or is this just a raw, unadjusted number?

:shrug: bthoom.



TG

[snot]

66. Anyone know total spent on campaigns by third parties as well as candidates? Then

divide by average wages . . .

[tclambert]

28. But the unemployment number stayed at 9.6%

Did the employable population grow by 151K, also? What an exact coincidence.

I can't help thinking that if that job growth number had come a month or two earlier, it might have changed the election outcome.

[Tansy_Gold]

43. Economy needs 100,000 new jobs per month to keep pace

with population growth of new workers entering, 200,000 per month to begin chipping away at 15,000,000 unemployed.

(taken from post down thread)



TG

[Demeter]

69. According to Whose Model?

It's not like they actually counted...

[ozymandius]

2. Oil above $87 in Asia, at highest since early May

BANGKOK – Oil jumped above $87 a barrel Friday in Asia, reaching its highest since early May, as the Federal Reserve's plan to buy $600 billion of Treasury bonds to stimulate the U.S. economy continued to send a tide of cash into stocks and commodities.


The strength of the dollar and the price of oil are closely linked. The dollar has been getting weaker against other currencies for weeks, ahead of the Fed decision and will probably fall further as more dollars pour into the economy.

Oil is priced in dollars and becomes cheaper for holders of foreign currency when the dollar falls. Europeans, for example, get more dollars for their euros and can buy more oil for fewer euros. Since oil is cheaper for them, they buy more, sending up the dollar price of oil.

In other Nymex trading in December contracts, heating oil added 1 cent to $2.38 a gallon, gasoline gained 4 cents to $2.18 a gallon and natural gas was flat at $3.86 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[ozymandius]

3. US stimulus rings Asian alarm bells

HONG KONG (AFP) – China on Friday led an Asian backlash against measures by the United States to kickstart economy recovery, which have stoked concerns that a flood of loose money could destabilise regional economies.

The Federal Reserve said Wednesday it would pump 600 billion dollars into the economy through debt purchases -- effectively printing money -- to boost employment and growth.

But Asian nations fear the effects of extra cash pumping through the financial system -- as traders seek a better return on their dollar than they would get in the West.

more

Bernanke's plan to save the American economy is causing horrendous ocean swells and gales in emerging economies. Asian bank managers are not stupid, They have seen what effect Japan's attempt to inflate itself out of "lost decade." These banks will be wise to continue to maintain flexible policy when naming the amount of reserves banks must keep.

[ozymandius]

7. Fed’s Bernanke ‘Doesn’t Understand’ Economics, Jim Rogers Says

Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s decision to pump a further $600 billion into the economy shows his grasp of economics is weak, said investor Jim Rogers, chairman of Rogers Holdings.

“Dr. Bernanke unfortunately does not understand economics, he does not understand currencies, he does not understand finance,” Rogers, 68, said in a lecture at Oxford University’s Balliol College yesterday. “All he understands is printing money.”

Rogers, who predicted the start of the global commodities rally in 1999, said investors should put money into “real” assets such as metals and agricultural products. He told students to scrap career plans for Wall Street or the City, London’s financial district, and to study agriculture and mining instead.

more

I admire Rogers at least for his flair for the dramatic.

[Po_d Mainiac]

15. That whole concept of feeding the top and

believing the 'trickled on' will respond, has worked how many times? :grr:

[tclambert]

30. That would be zero to as many decimal places as you like.

0.000...000%

[tclambert]

31. Unless you count George W. Bush.

Trickle down worked for him, from his father, grandfather and their wealthy friends. So revising my calculations, that's one time in 300 million = 0.0000003%.

[Po_d Mainiac]

44. You were right the first time ...zero.zilch

The Walker's were members of the trickle class elites ...I used to fish off Walker's Point. The Mansion dates to around the turn of the last century.

[Ghost Dog]

34. A “tale of two worlds”

... Relieved that the U.S. shift didn’t spark a surge in the yen, the Bank of Japan today said it will buy real-estate investment trusts rated AA or higher, providing new information on a 5 trillion-yen ($62 billion) fund unveiled last month. It kept its overnight call rate between zero and 0.1 percent, while maintaining a 30 trillion-yen program to encourage bank lending.

...

The Bank of England kept its emergency aid program unchanged at 200 billion pounds as the strongest two consecutive quarters of growth in a decade and inflation above their target persuaded Governor Mervyn King and colleagues to hold fire a month after they shifted toward doing more. They now await the effect of the biggest tightening of U.K. budget policy since World War II and the loss of 490,000 public jobs.

...

At the ECB, President Jean-Claude Trichet was resolute in signaling his bank intends to outline possible steps to withdraw aid next month as its economy recovers and some policy makers warn easy monetary policy risks triggering inflation. The ECB is committed to handing banks unlimited liquidity in its weekly, monthly and three-month refinancing operations until the end of the year.

...

Central banks in emerging or commodity-rich nations are already withdrawing support for their economies. The Reserve Bank of Australia cited medium-term inflation risks for an unexpected decision to raise its benchmark rate a quarter point to 4.75 percent, while India’s central bank boosted its key rate for a sixth time this year to reach 6.25 percent.

Such decisions reflect what Gerard Lyons, chief economist at Standard Chartered Bank, calls a “tale of two worlds” in which emerging markets account for a third of the global economy, yet two thirds of its growth. Keen to maintain that advantage, officials from Asia to Latin America prepared for stronger currencies and asset-price inflation as they criticized the Fed’s policy for pushing a flood of capital into their already robust economies.

/... http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aukrnZ1uo.I0&pos=3

[ozymandius]

4. Weak employment report expected Friday

Economists expect the Labor Department to report that employers added just 60,000 jobs in October, fewer than the 100,000 needed to keep pace with population growth — and far fewer than the 200,000 needed to start returning the 15 million unemployed Americans to work.

Many economists think lawmakers will extend the 2001 and 2003 tax cuts, which are scheduled to expire at the end of this year. Obama had favored letting the tax cuts lapse for the highest-earning 2 percent of taxpayers. But Republicans have pushed to make them permanent for everyone.

But the Fed's efforts likely won't do much to reduce unemployment anytime soon, economists said. That's partly because many Americans are reducing their debts — and will use the new lower interest rates toward that effort — and don't want to take out more loans. Or they don't qualify.

more

For that part in bold print, I ask, "Why?" We have seen nine years of this policy fail to perform even one letter of its original intent: to boost economic activity. Nearly a decade has passed and yet many have not figured it out that supply-side economic ideas do not work.

[ozymandius]

6. Joblessness Probably Held Near 10%, Highlighting Fed Concern

The jobless rate was 9.6 percent for a third month, according to the median of 80 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. Unemployment has been at 9.5 percent or higher since August 2009, a record stretch of such elevated readings since monthly data began six decades ago. Payrolls likely rose by 60,000, the first gain since May, economists also predicted.

A pool of 14.8 million out-of-work Americans is enabling employers to hold down wages, contributing to a slowdown in household spending that in turn is depressing inflation. Fed policy makers this week announced a second round of large-scale asset purchases to lower borrowing costs, revive growth and prevent a protracted drop in prices.

Today’s report will be the first this year in which changes in temporary government staffing for the decennial census play almost no role. About 6,000 workers remained on the federal payroll as the population count wound down in the September employment survey week, down from a peak of 586,000 in May.

more

I wonder how our economic situation would change if we were to take that $1.7 Trillion and use it to put those currently employed on early Social Security retirement at age 62 and offer enrollment in Medicare.

Here are some points that come to mind at the moment:

• Those who are 62 and over would receive a guaranteed income;
• Full time positions in public and private business would become available;
• More money would flow into the Social Security fund and general tax receipt fund;
• Enrolling more people into the Medicare system would avail more money for "discretionary spending" that fuels 70% of GDP.

I would love to see how this would factor through an economic model with Clinton-era tax rates.

[tclambert]

9. The Republicans have made their politics into a religion.

So it doesn't matter how much "proof" comes out that their policies don't work. That's just a test of their faith. A true believer will not waver in the face of incontrovertible facts. They'll just pray harder.

I've been slower to criticize Obama than many on this thread, but since I heard he's "willing to discuss" extending tax cuts for the rich, I'm quite angry with him. "Willing to discuss" of course means he has already given up on that issue and he is willing to yield more. Apparently, he got exactly the wrong message from this election. It was one of the dirtiest, nastiest, least intellectual election campaigns in memory. And that strategy worked. But President Obama thinks the way to go is to try to be even nicer to the Republicans.

[ozymandius]

10. I wholly agree.

But I will admit that I have been much quicker to anger than you have been.

I believed during the early months of his presidency that Obama was such a damned genius that his niceties were some three-dimensional chess game in which he was leading the Republican party into a box canyon to trample them in a populist stampede. Boy - was I idealistic. Being nice is pure folly to reptiles whose first impulse is to destroy either what they do not understand or anything anathema to their "religion."

[Tansy_Gold]

20. Correct: They let religion into their politics and then had no choice

It goes back to that old question: You're confronted with a particularly senseless, heinous crime, like Andrea Yates drowning her children, and one of the first reactions is how could anyone in their right mind do such a thing? The answer, of course, is they aren't in their right mind. Something has gone wrong, either momentarily or permanently. That kind of mind just doesn't work the same as ours and therefore it's virtually impossible to communicate on a rational level with it.

There was a headline on yahoo this morning, probably from AP, that Obama is now saying voters "didn't get his message." I silently screamed over and over: It's not about the message any more! You're not campaigning now, you're supposed to be governing!

I don't think he understands the difference. I truly don't. And I'm not sure there's any way to reach him and explain to him that the teabagger GOP is not the same as a classroom of constitutional law student or even the same as a neighborhood organization already committed to changing something.

I don't think he's capable of figuring it out. And that's very very very scary.

When I posted the stuff the other day about the conversation I'd had with the BF regarding Obama's decision to run in '08 even though he wasn't (whether he knew it or not) ready to govern, I'd forgotten one important point, and I think it bears on some comments that were made in another thread.

My argument was that -- just my opinion now -- Obama looked at the political weather in '08 and decided he'd take a chance. Hillary was the easy front runner and no one else had a chance, so he couldn't do any worse than lose in the early primaries and be done. I think he may have considered putting himself in a position to be the VP nominee and use a potential eight years of a Clinton/Obama administration to consolidate his own apparatus and gain some experience. But I also think he discarded that idea for a couple of reasons and chose to go for the whole enchilada.

First of all, he had no idea who the puke ticket would be or how easily Clinton could defeat their ticket. I still think, given the mood of the country at the time, a Clinton/Obama ticket would have wiped the floor with ANYONE they put up.

But second, I think he realized -- or his backers did -- that in a Clinton/Obama administration, the real VP would be Bill. And I think -- yeah, I know I'm usin' that a lot but I want to make clear this is only my personal opinion -- Obama and his people knew he would never get either the experience or the media attention he would need for a 2016 run. He had to, in other words, take his best shot in 08 and see what happened.

Another poster on another thread suggested that the appointments of so many Clinton-era people -- from Rahm to Timmeh to Hillary herself -- was the result of a gun-to-the-head political deal to avoid a floor fight at the '08 convention. I responded by saying that I didn't think that painted a very good picture of Obama: He's so afraid of the Clintons that he let them blackmail him??? I don't think so. Rather, he had little infrastructure of his own and, given the crises of the fall of '08 (pun obviously intended), he grabbed one that was readily available and that could be touted as coming from the "successful" Clinton era.

But why Rahm Emanuel? I don't know, unless it was because of ties to Illinois as well as to the Clintons. Did Rahm insinuate himself into the Obama camp? Don't know. Was he a mole sent to bring down an Obama administration to avenge Hillary's defeat? :shrug: Don't know that one either. Rahm's sudden departure virtually on the eve of the election does look rather suspicious, but I doubt it really came as a surprise to the administration.

The point being, however, that tc's claim of puke politics being a religion is absolutely correct, and reason has a difficult time dealing with faith in terms of debating on equal terms. THERE IS NO DEBATE WITH RELIGION.

It's rather like the market scene in Raiders of the Lost Ark, where Indiana Jones is about to duel with the guy with the sword using his handy bullwhip, but then opts for expediency and just shoots the guy. What's happened over the past generation or so is that the American electorate has been dumbed down, and the Democrats have colluded with this, to the point that religious-like certainty has been drummed into far too many heads. And you can't combat that with reason. You have to combat it with the same "weapon" religion uses: EMOTION.

I've said this time and time and time again, and more and more often, my silly little theories crop up coming out of far more credentialed mouths. Put it in story form. The writers of the Bible knew that! Ayn Rand knew it! Tim LaHaye knew it!

Barack Obama don't know nothin'.

It's not about whether or not the voters got his "message." Gag me with a fuckin' spoon, honey. He was the one who never got the voters' messages (plural) over the past two years. He hasn't got out of campaign mode, he hasn't got out of professor mode. It's a whole different ball game, dude. You don't get to stand at the plate and take ball after ball after ball after ball until you get just the perfect pitch so you can hit it out over the center field fence. Sometimes you gotta go after the sloppy pitch, or drop a bunt down the third base line, or take the walk and steal second, which used to be known as an Aparicio double, to put yourself in scoring position. You may think you're still at bat, waitin' for that high fast one, but honey, they called you out and you're stuck in the batting cage.

I don't think it's necessary for the Dems to sink to fear tactics the way the pukes do, but I think they can use the fears the pukes have developed and turn them around. It ain't gonna be easy, and I'm not sure many of 'em are really up to it, but IMHO, it can be done. It just remains to be seen if they can. . . . and who will do it.

Sorry for blathering on. The day job calls, I don't wanta do it, and I'm behind on everything else. DU, however, has kept me sane.

Thank you all.


TG, NTY

[DemReadingDU]

26. People have been dumbed down

They can't think for themselves anymore, when they listen to RW talk radio and TV.

Here in Ohio, it is said that the Dems lost because of the lack of jobs. Well, it will be interesting to see if the Repubs create any jobs for these same people.

[Tansy_Gold]

32. That's very much a part of it.

And that's a result of rightwing popular culture helping the rightwing ideology in gaining the ascendancy.

When my kids -- now in their mid-30s -- were in school, it was illegal to teach your kid at home unless you were a certified teacher. Home schooling was simply not done. Charter schools were extremely rare.

But it was public education that gave us an informed electorate.

And this is where I fault Obama AND the Democratic party leadership for not establishing at least some essentials on a platform -- saving universal public education, fighting for universal health care, bringing back a sensible American economy.

All these things are tangled together and fixing one at a time is actually much more difficult than fixing 'em all at once.

If Obama had had a plan, he could've gone out there every week and told the public here's what we're tryin' to do, here's what we've accomplished, here's where we've run into problems. Instead, he's kept changing the agenda, short-changing the American people, and not making US a part of the process.

Am I making any sense?


TG

[tclambert]

47. He's not a very motivating speaker. He doesn't use the "bully pulpit" to full advantage.

He's too reasonable, too calm. He doesn't inspire the outrage you sometimes need to move public opinion. You were right in saying we need to fight with emotion. That's what all of DemocraticUnderground loved about Alan Grayson. I always wanted to hear President Obama say during the health care maneuverings, "While we dither here, while we negotiate and try to make sweetheart deals for special interests, PEOPLE ARE DYING! Tens of thousands, perhaps a hundred thousand American die each year because of inadequate medical insurance. This is literally a life and death matter. Those who are opposing and delaying health care reform are killing American citizens."

[Tansy_Gold]

50. +1000!!

Yes, damn it, Obama, we need some PASSION. Some FIRE. Some simple human FEELING.





Tansy Gold needs to chill out

[tclambert]

33. The things I learn on this thread!

Now I know what an Aparicio double is. Being a Tigers fan, I hadn't heard that one before. We're all in mourning for Sparky Anderson now.

[DemReadingDU]

36. Sparky big news in SW Ohio too

The Big Red Machine

[tclambert]

39. Oh, yeah, Johnny Bench and Tom Terrific

With me, it's the 1984 Tigers. They started out 35-5, and increased their lead after that.

[Po_d Mainiac]

41. I'm w8ing for the term to be re-phrased

The Wall Street Double, only backasswards...They steal the home and just walk away

[florida08]

46. dead on correct

Obama's next day press broadcast was so disappointing. Looked like a beaten Ranger. He hasn't a clue still what happened. He doesn't get that the independents who supported him were so disillusioned and confused that they voted emotionally against the democrats. The democrats were so angry they didn't vote much at all. Instead of saying he would fight harder for progressives he caved to the goppers. When you castigate your base you lose them. When you capitulate to the enemy you become one.

I'm afraid we haven't had a true governing president since Jack Kennedy. The mafia/bankers run the government. POTUS is just a figurehead now. His handlers tell him what to say and do while the cronies run everything. Jack had the courage to go against them..but only once..and they took Bobby out before he could get in. They tried to use Jack's faith against him. Remember the issues of the Pope running the country. They've done the same to Obama. But Barrack is no Jack.

When Clinton lost the Congress he capitualted. We got the repeal of Glass Steagall and Nafta. Scares me to think what we'll get now, but Obama will probably be a one hit wonder if he doesn't find his balls and I don't think he will. The GOP has been running things since he took office from the sidelines. Investigations will now shut down any progressive governing. Perhaps the country will take notice by 2012. The democrats want someone else and so do I.

[Tansy_Gold]

51. You make a superb point

"The democrats want someone else and so do I."

I think democrats still want a democrat and for the most part they're willing to take a less than perfect one -- goopers still insist on perfection -- but Obama is really disheartening even to a lot of the stalwarts.

[tclambert]

52. Yeah, I was thinking about when Kennedy called out US Steel

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWNhWANkq0Q

Now, that was how to use the bully pulpit. The steel companies rescinded their price increases, not in response to legislation or regulation, but in response to a speech by an angry President.

[florida08]

55. had forgotten that..so thanks

this is my favorite http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhZk8ronces

[snot]

68. I like

your "When you castigate your base you lose them. When you capitulate to the enemy you become one."

I.m.h.o., Dem losses are attributable mainly to their failure to beat back conservatives re-

1. Election integrity (both electronic voting and campaign finance, including corporate money);
2. Media integrity (the destruction of restrictions on consolidated ownership and the Fairness Doctrine); and
3. Public education (destruction begun long ago and continuing under Obama appointee Arne Duncan's enthusiastic leadership).

Americans are not stupid; they're miseducated and brainwashed. "A modern economic system demands mass production of students who are not educated and have been rendered incapable of thinking."– U.N.E.F. Strasbourg, On the Poverty of Student Life (1966).

And it's not that Dems can't message; it's that they've lost control of their own message, because it's either distorted or not reported by the media. Reality is now almost wholly overshadowed by emotional manipulation and spectacle created by a media largely controlled by the right.

Remember this from 2004 re- the term, "Reality-Based Community":

"The source of the term is a quotation in an October 17, 2004, The New York Times Magazine article by writer Ron Suskind, quoting an unnamed aide to George W. Bush (later attributed to Karl Rove): The aide said that guys like me were 'in what we call the reality-based community,' which he defined as people who 'believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality. . . . That's not the way the world really works anymore,' he continued . . . ."

(Wikipedia; footnotes deleted.)

[Demeter]

71. Obama STILL Hasn't Gotten OUR Message

so there's nothing left to say but "goodbye".

[Tansy_Gold]

83. Indiana Olbermann and the Raiders of Journalistic Integrity

Fox News and Rupert Murdoch have no integrity, donate millions, literally, to the pukes.

Comcast and Anschutz (sp?), new owners of MSNBC, donate big bucks to the pukes.

Keith Olbermann donates $7,200 to three Dems and singlehandedly destroyed journalistic integrity.



In the usual reality of Dems vs. pukes, Keith Olbermann will apologize, will do proper penance, and be humbled when he returns to Countdown.


In "Raiders," however, Indiana Olbermann says, "Fuck you," and talks Warren Buffet, George Soros, and Bill Gates (yeah, right, I'm dreamin') into funding a blatantly progressive news network.



Tansy Gold, now even further behind on her day job

[some guy]

75. Thank you.

I've been thinking about this for a few hours, and I do believe you're correct.

I don't think it applies to all Republicans, but applying it to a whole lot of people I know, their views suddenly make sense to me.

Not that they make sense, but the unexamined certainty, and irrelevance of facts to alter their thinking.

Stunning.

I've known for a long time to not bother discussing certain social issues with these people, but thought I could discuss other things with them. I've seen the same intransigence, but didn't recognize its basis.

So thanks much. I'll stop beating my head against their ignorance hoping to find a little common ground.

[Tansy_Gold]

81. Welcome to SMW, some guy!

:hi:

If you haven't already, read Bob Altemeyer's "The Authoritarians," available as a free PDF at

http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~altemey/

Easy reading for the non-sociology or psychology major, but it lays out very clearly why you can't reason with the steadfastly right wing. Not necessarily by political affiliation, so they could be Independents as well as pukes and there are even a few who get into the left wing. But for the most part, the more intransigent they are, the more likely they are to be right wing, far right wing, off the charts radical looney right wing.

Maybe we all need to flood the white house email with links to "The Authoritarians"????


TG, way way way behind schedule today

[some guy]

84. thanks for the welcome.

I've posted here a couple times before, but mostly I'm a semi-regular lurker. I'll read every thread for a few weeks, then none for a month or more.

The Authoritarians - ohhh, okayyyy. I'll give it a try. I've been to the web site several times, but resisted downloading / reading. Mostly I'm not keen on the idea of reading a whole book online.

But now I've read the first chapter. :)

Hey, since I'm replying to you, hat does NTY mean? Not Through yet? Not There Yet (where)?

[Tansy_Gold]

86. It means

Not Tombstoned Yet.



TG, NTY

[some guy]

87. oh.

then it should mean something like Never Tombstone You - I like the questions you ask, and the way you make some topics seem very clear.

[Tansy_Gold]

88. Thank you!

Maybe I should change NTY to TMAYOR. . . . . :evilgrin:

[some guy]

89. err . . .

maybe, but people like me who are bad at acronyms might think you'd declared yourself Mayor of the SMW. :shrug:

and Mods might be more tempted. "Let's see just how risky this is . . ."

So, I finished The Authoritarians (I skipped all the end-of-chapter notes.)

It was good, and worth reading, and helpful, but really it was tclambert's "turned their politics into a religion" that was the proverbial penny dropping. I've been able to "see" that for a long while, but it never had a label, and apparently badly needed one for me.

My awareness and learning trudges along and trudges along, and every once-in-a-while takes an unexpected leap.

[xchrom]

5. recommend

[ozymandius]

8. In U.S., 14% Rely on Food Stamps

Food stamp recipients ticked up in August, children consumed millions of free lunches and nearly five million low-income mothers tapped into a government nutrition program for women and young children.

Some 42,389,619 Americans received food stamps in August, a 17% rise from the same time a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which tracks the data. That number is up 58.5% from August 2007, before the recession began.

Even during the summer children returned to schools to take advantage of free lunch programs where they were available. Nearly 195 million lunches were dished out in August and 58.9% of them were free. Another 8.4% were available at reduced prices. That number will surge when the fall data are released because children will be back in school. Last September, for example, more than 590 million lunches were served, nearly 64% of which were free or reduced price.

more

There is a table at the link with state-by-state data over different time periods. In Georgia, where I live, the figure is a bit higher than the national average. The number receiving foods stamps is now at 17% (or roughly, slightly less than one-in-five people). Food stamps have indeed replaced the public face of poverty and hunger since the Great Depression as a modern version of the soup kitchen.

[tclambert]

13. Food stamps create $1.73 in economic stimulus for every dollar spent on the program.

I believe that number came from a Moody's study, but I don't have a link. Sorry. I know this is the one thread on the Internet that prefers all claims be backed up by references.

If that number is close to right, then the food stamp program is actually a pretty good economic stimulus program. The reason? Ecomonic stimulus = increasing everyday consumer spending. When you give poor people more money, they spend it. Instant stimulus. When you give rich people more money, they hang onto it. They can afford to sit on huge piles of cash, like $2 trillion, waiting for a good investment opportunity. And when they do spend it, not much goes to normal comsumer spending, the kind that drives the economy. It mostly goes to various investment plans (stocks, options, bonds, derivatives, art, vacation ranches with no cattle), trying to make more money off financial deals that don't involve manufacturing anything or adding jobs.

The stats I saw said for every dollar of tax cuts to the rich, we only get $0.31 in economic stimulus. That's a worse return than when I invested in Cincinnati Milacron.

[rfranklin]

14. Much better than tax breaks for business, according to the study...

In findings echoed by other economists and studies, he said the study shows the fastest way to infuse money into the economy is through expanding the food-stamp program. For every dollar spent on that program $1.73 is generated throughout the economy, he said.

....Finally, Moody's report says business incentives such as tax breaks for buying new equipment - so-called accelerated depreciation - would give the least bang for the buck and potentially provide the slowest infusion of money. A dollar spent there would generate only 33 cents in the economy because, Zandi said, it takes longer for businesses to implement any benefit received.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/01/29/news/economy/stimulus_analysis/index.htm

[tclambert]

37. Thank you so much for that link.

Bookmarked! In return, please enjoy this one: http://www.epi.org/economic_snapshots/entry/snapshot_20090527/

[rfranklin]

53. Thanks

Good info.

[snot]

67. I'd be curious to know the % on food stamps that actually HAVE jobs--w/ inadequate pay.

[ozymandius]

11. G'bye folks.

:donut: Work calls.

:hi:

[Festivito]

12. Debt: 11/03/2010 13,718,711,829,904.32 (DOWN 5,262,230,954.90) (Wed)

(Down a little. But, wait! That's not a chainsaw, Mr. Republican. Those tax cuts are going to increase the deficit. Oh, let me guess. By the time a Republican increase of the deficit is reported, deficits will not matter again. That's how it worked last time. As commercial thinking would have me to say: Thanks Republicans! Thanks main stream media! Argh... Well, for the rest of us though, good day.)
Needed underwear and socks.
(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)
= 9,133,542,345,619.01 + 4,585,169,484,285.31
DOWN 42,244,820.71 + DOWN 5,219,986,134.19

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 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,219.33 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,623,392 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,165.1.
A family of three owes $132,495.29. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 33 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,689,749,743.23.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,595,474,803.14.
The average for the last 33 days would be 3,268,613,457.40.
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$/day.
There were 274 reports in 399 days of FY2011 averaging 6.60B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 809 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 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)
11/03/2010 13,718,711,829,904.32 BHO (UP 3,091,834,780,991.24 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 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,157,088,799,012.60 ------------* * * BHO
Endof11 +17,732,494,705,697.10 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
10/14/2010 -003,450,466,367.69 --
10/15/2010 +053,297,374,376.50 ------------**********
10/18/2010 +000,841,690,317.23 ------------******** Mon
10/19/2010 +000,443,038,294.93 ------------********
10/20/2010 +001,330,613,152.94 ------------*********
10/21/2010 -003,241,964,507.19 --
10/22/2010 -000,039,023,333.21 ----
10/25/2010 +000,057,456,608.35 ------------******* Mon
10/26/2010 +000,564,111,327.93 ------------********
10/27/2010 +000,111,394,550.30 ------------********
10/28/2010 -000,237,760,056.32 ---
10/29/2010 +010,778,095,157.00 ------------**********
11/01/2010 +063,143,305,537.83 ------------********** Mon
11/02/2010 +000,562,237,098.37 ------------********
11/03/2010 -000,042,244,820.71 ----

124,117,857,336.26 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=4598395&mesg_id=4599752

[Festivito]

90. Debt: 11/04/2010 13,723,439,668,440.18 (UP 4,727,838,535.86) (Thu)

(Up some. Good day.)
Tried e-cigarette.
(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)
= 9,135,679,189,836.64 + 4,587,760,478,603.54
UP 2,136,844,217.63 + UP 2,590,994,318.23

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 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,219.26 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,630,592 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,179.29.
A family of three owes $132,537.88. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,616,700,525.40.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,539,470,402.80.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,425,293,938.20.
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$/day.
There were 275 reports in 400 days of FY2011 averaging 6.59B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 808 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 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)
11/04/2010 13,723,439,668,440.18 BHO (UP 3,096,562,619,527.10 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 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,161,816,637,548.40 ------------* * * * BHO
Endof11 +17,225,851,999,820.00 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
10/15/2010 +053,297,374,376.50 ------------**********
10/18/2010 +000,841,690,317.23 ------------******** Mon
10/19/2010 +000,443,038,294.93 ------------********
10/20/2010 +001,330,613,152.94 ------------*********
10/21/2010 -003,241,964,507.19 --
10/22/2010 -000,039,023,333.21 ----
10/25/2010 +000,057,456,608.35 ------------******* Mon
10/26/2010 +000,564,111,327.93 ------------********
10/27/2010 +000,111,394,550.30 ------------********
10/28/2010 -000,237,760,056.32 ---
10/29/2010 +010,778,095,157.00 ------------**********
11/01/2010 +063,143,305,537.83 ------------********** Mon
11/02/2010 +000,562,237,098.37 ------------********
11/03/2010 -000,042,244,820.71 ----
11/04/2010 +002,136,844,217.63 ------------*********

129,705,167,921.58 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=4601575&mesg_id=4601609

[Po_d Mainiac]

16. Although futures are lower at 8am

The swing back down of the U$D may be fast enough to turn the open back to flat or perhaps even a bit of a plus.

Dated home sales numbers come out at 10:30. With all the current news about foreclosuregate. it should be a boring event.

Ag has closed the pricing gap with Au (was 64:1 now 53:1) in 8 or so trading sessions. Might be a slight drop in both, but the $1385/$26.35 levels will foretell the late PM sticksave.

fuel pump and grocery checkout numbers will not see any relief
YMMV

[Roland99]

19. Back in Black

S&P 500 1,220 +1.80 +0.15%
DOW 11,402 +15.00 +0.13%
NASDAQ 2,186 +1.75 +0.08%

[Po_d Mainiac]

23. That didn't take long

It's that commodity gravity concept doing it's thing.

Grain prices are looking to close in on the panic prices of Summer 08. We all remember how much fun that was.

:headscratch: Something happened early-June of that year Hmmm

[florida08]

25. the foreclosure fraudsters

might have to repay the homeowners they swindled. Black is calling for B of A to be placed into receivership. I wish.

The article "Bank of America Resists Rebuying Bad Loans" shows that Bank of America's potential loss exposure to Fannie and Freddie is staggering: " said it sold $1.2 trillion in loans to the government-controlled housing giants from 2004 to 2008 and has thus far received $18 billion in repurchase claims on those loans."

The company is fighting the groups that are demanding that it repurchase the toxic mortgages....

As argued in a recent article by Jonathon Weil, the bank is nearing a "tipping point" as markets recognize it is "cooking the books,"


We found out that Wells Fargo sold ours to Fannie Mae in '06. We're trying very hard to get it paid off in the next few years. Yet these teasters never talk about such things. They're as corrupt as the banks imho.



http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com/2010/11/lets-set-record-straight-on-bank-of.html

[Po_d Mainiac]

35. At some point the the whole fraud behind the

creation of the housing bubble could become a court case. Now wouldn't that be a hoot! This wouldn't be just the banks having to make bondholders whole, but also the individual homeowners that bought during the ramp-up.

Basically every home purchased between 02 and 06 could fall within a major class action :popcorn:

:sigh: I just woke up from a pleasant dream, to who owns all branches of Government

[florida08]

57. would love to see both of those

:-)

[DemReadingDU]

38. More William Black interviews

at this link, page forward
http://neweconomicperspectives.blogspot.com/


Obama should appoint William Black and Randall Wray to investigate the fraud at the banks.

[fasttense]

17. Our rich oligarchy was very pleased with what their money purchased

in the elections. Continue to vote for their welfare, the RepubliCONS will.

[DemReadingDU]

21. Most did very well for the money

but when people realize that Repubs won't create jobs, the Dems will be voted in 2012

[Roland99]

24. Well, look, the Repukes can already claim they added 151,000 jobs!

:puke:

[DemReadingDU]

27. Where?

The unemployed are still jobless.

[Robbien]

45. A big chunk of the job gains in October was at temporary-help firms

Mining and healthcare services also gained a bit.

Unemployment rate didn't change. Perhaps the underemployed picked up second and third jobs. Who needs sleep.

[DemReadingDU]

49. Thanks

Every little bit helps, wish the manufacturing jobs that were off-shored, could be brought back.

[Robbien]

54. His first comments on this morning's good jobs report Obama's talking about tax cuts

for business (small businesses, specifically) and opening up markets abroad.

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-comments-on-october-jobs-report-2010-11

Obama has always been in favor of free trade and privatization.

I am afraid it will be decades before we get leadership who believes that Americans should be put to work in good jobs. Our current elite believe that "some" people are born to be slaves.

[florida08]

64. :sigh:

I did not vote for Bush III..but that's what I got

[snot]

John Pilger nailed it early: B.O. as corporate marketing creation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfVULT8vdUk&feature=player_embedded

[florida08]

76. that was very provactive

I liked what he said "what matters above all is the class that one serves." Did not know about Obama's connection to Business International Corporation. I just now heard on Thom Hartmann that Obama has many businessmen with him on Air Force 1 on his trip to India and Korea including 2 Wal-Mart execs who want to overturn Korean law to put stores there.

Looks like Obama is a corporate shill after all. That won't create jobs in America. India only allows 2 Wal-Marts in there entire country because that's all Indian law allows. Thanks for the info.

[MilesColtrane]

65. Yeah, Keith Olbermann's new closing tag is sooner or later going to work against him.

If only for the mere fact that the economy will continue to improve and add jobs. (Not helped by the Republicans of course.)

[DemReadingDU]

42. ECB Rejects Request for Greek Swap Files, Citing `Acute' Risks

11/5/10 ECB Rejects Request for Greek Swap Files, Citing `Acute' Risks

The European Central Bank refused to disclose internal documents showing how Greece used derivatives to hide its government debt because of the “acute” risk of roiling markets, President Jean-Claude Trichet said.

The ECB turned down a request and an appeal by Bloomberg News to release two briefing documents officials drafted for the central bank’s six-member Executive Board in Frankfurt this year. The notes outline how Greece used the swaps to hide its borrowings, according to a March 3 note attached to the papers and obtained by Bloomberg News.

“The information contained in the two documents would undermine the public confidence as regards the effective conduct of economic policy,” Trichet wrote in an Oct. 21 letter in which he rejected the appeal. Disclosure “bears, in the current very vulnerable market environment, the substantial and acute risk of adding to volatility and instability.”


“As citizens of the EU have every right to know how their taxes are being used to bail out secret financial deals between a government and its bankers, we are considering legal options in the pursuit of transparency and the public interest that may take us to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg,” Bloomberg News Editor-in-Chief Matthew Winkler said.

more...
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-05/ecb-rejects-request-for-files-on-greek-derivative-use-cites-acute-risks.html

[Po_d Mainiac]

48. Be sure to tune into the WEE for a guaranteed no lose investment n/t

[Demeter]

72. snore......Huh?

What was that?

I watched "Seabiscuit" (well, parts of it, whenever the Kid would stop talking or pushing the buttons). It was a work of art, a Depression-era feel-good movie. And before that, we watched "Chicago" (why is it always Chicago?), the most degraded story of the most degraded era, the Roaring 20's.

If it weren't beating a dead economy, I'd go for another week of Depression reminiscing. The gloating has totally turned me off commemorating the electoral process. If there was anything that epitomized WTF, that would be my choice.

So, it's "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy", folks. I think that would be the most appropriate way to celebrate this week. (Besides, I just love Alan Rickman's voice, even when he's a whiny, depressed android...)

[Po_d Mainiac]

77. 42

[Dr.Phool]

78. I just read that.

It came pre-packed on my reader.

[yella_dawg]

58. Massive selloff in land transport today.

Led by CSX. See also Union Pacific, Norfolk Southern, and Canadian National Railway Company. Massive volume, particularly CSX. Reminiscent of 911. Interesting day ahead?

[Po_d Mainiac]

60. Looks like it might have been a flash crash...:popcorn:

[florida08]

59. Have you seen the Wal-Monster

The Emma Maersk, part of a Danish shipping line


This monster transports goods across the Pacific in just 5 days. This is one of three ships presently in service, with another two ships commissioned to be completed in 2012. Commissioned by Wal-Mart to get all their goods and stuff from China . They hold an incredible 15,000 cartons and have a 207 foot deck beam. The full crew is just 13 people on a ship longer than a US Aircraft Carrier (which has a crew of 5,000) With it's 207' beam it is too big to fit through the Panama or Suez Canals. It is strictly transpacific. Cruise speed: 31 knots.

The command bridge is higher than a 10-story building and has 11 cargo crane rigs that can operate simultaneously unloading the entire ship in less than two hours.

A recent documentary in late March, 2010 on the History Channel noted that all of these containers are shipped back to China empty. Yep, that's right. We send nothing back on these ships. That tells you about the current financial state of this country. America loves it's imported goods.

[Po_d Mainiac]

61. China's bulkiest containerized import from the US is

Scrap Paper

[florida08]

63. shredded paper probably

and the steel from ground zero..

[Demeter]

73. And when does the rising cost of oil shut it down?

That's the number I'm interested in.

[Po_d Mainiac]

85. The price of oil has not changed

The value of the U$D has changed...World of difference.

The Chinese have the luxury of picking any currency they want off their shelf, to exchange for imports. Just because the U$D is the the 'petro dollar' does not mean the transaction is in U$D. Just the exchange is based on the 4X rate.

They may be using PM's also.

[Robbien]

62. Want to Earn $10-12 an Hour? Be a ‘Foreclosure Department Supervisor.’

For years, banks and others handling foreclosures have turned to cheap labor to process the growing volume of foreclosures. At JPMorgan Chase, they were called “Burger King kids”—walk-in workers hired to handle foreclosure proceedings. Many barely knew what a mortgage was and had only high-school educations.

Prompted by a Financial Times article about banks hiring foreclosure experts, we went on a few job sites to browse the listings ourselves, just to see if the qualifications for new hires have changed since the foreclosure document scandal first surfaced.

What we found is that it varies, depending on the company hiring. Requirements for many foreclosure jobs—often advertised by staffing or temp agencies—still offer low pay and require little education. Some of the brand-name banks include in their job listings some language about “compliance with procedures” and regulations. Most didn’t post pay.

<snip>

Another staffing agency seeks college grads for “IMMEDIATE ENTRY LEVEL Foreclosure Processing opportunities with an outstanding company in the Baltimore region,” promising $12 to $13 an hour. The position requires no experience, but:

Extraordinarily FAST and ACCURATE typing is a MUST!
Ability to be WILDLY PRODUCTIVE in a fast paced DYNAMIC envionment is a MUST!
Outstanding MULTI-TASKING ability is a must!

http://www.propublica.org/blog/item/want-to-earn-10-12-an-hour-be-a-foreclosure-department-supervisor

Doesn't appear banksters are making any changes in the way they are going forward with foreclosure mills.

[StarburstClock]

70. Unemployment Down and Up in Doublespeak-land

I'll be a little positive today and say that there are millions of honest people out there that are just trying to make it a better world for everyone. It's those people that actually get things done. When the former USSR collapsed 70% of it's economy was black market for the same reason, people go on living their lives despite all the doublespeak and corruption. The U.S. is quickly headed there. With 2 more years of pure BS to flow from the House of Corporate Representatives and and a POTUS and Senate that won't hold the worst American war criminals in history accountable -- not to mention the financial criminals -- people will simply take their lives into their own hands and just about completely separate themselves from the government that supposedly represents them.

Yesterday I removed myself from every email list like MoveOn and Fair because I've lost confidence in any possibility of a corrupt government ever accomplishing a single thing. That's not to say that some new form of government won't work, it's just that the current one has proven itself incapable. Until then, everyone is on their own with some a lot more able to thrive than others. For those lucky enough to have something to "invest", I suggest removing anything "learned" about economics that we've been supposedly been educated about. This is a new economy with no safeguards, no enforceable regulations, no recourse for those swindled. Normal "economics" are not at play here, as in "supply and demand". Just look at oil prices, demand has gone down steadily and yet manipulated prices keep going up which in turn causes food and everything else to go up. Of course, very few people have any money to pay more as prices go up so people just do without. There are no supply problems and no demand supporting prices, it's all BS. So, as someone asked the other day, what is there to "invest" in?

My simple answer is this: something that isn't a steaming load of criminal crap, something that involves actual people who hold themselves accountable.

[Demeter]

74. Black Market, Yes

Would you believe that someone decided that election workers ($10/hour, 14 hour day, 1 to 4 days a year) had to have taxes withheld from their stipends this year? All those little old ladies were tax cheats, you betcha.

And the people wiping bottoms and washing dishes for the disabled, ditto? Even if it's for your own family member. Even if providing that care prevents you from more gainful employment?

Ain't this a lovely country?

[tclambert]

79. Well, poor people don't get any loopholes. The rich get 5,000 pages of loopholes.

That's how the tax code works.

[jtuck004]

80. If anyone would like a good video of why having great wealth

incorporated into the hands of a few hundred, the first video in this story is of the meat market in Port Harcourt Nigeria. The video is incorporated in an article called "Working Man's Death" which takes a stab at the question "In today's technological age - is heavy manual labour disappearing or is it just becoming invisible?"

Upon further reflection, this may represent the ideal for the conservative who wishes no regulation. I seem to
recall one of the crop of new candidates this year calling for an end to the FDA as well as other regulating
agencies. This one's for you, brother...

People should consider where all that money comes from for their stock market activities, mostly provided for you by the people who do real work, whether you have worked all your life or not.

WARNING Oh, yeah, this ain't for the faint of stomach. WARNING

There are English subtitles...

Courtesy of the Al Jazeera Network, here.

"The combination of a huge pool of unemployed youth who can easily be recruited as political thugs, and the presence of thousands of millionaire politicians who use them, is a lethal combination. "
Does Rand Paul know about this place? here...

[jtuck004]

82. The goat, in the third video, the miners, steals the show in the kitchen. n/t

[Joe Chi Minh]

91. Another terrific DEMENTED cartoon in today's Mail on Sunday supplement,

by Jacky Fleming.

Woman with wide eyes and incredulous expression says to a man looking mystified and thoughtful(!):

"If you sell HEALTH for PROFIT, you might find it's better VALUE FOR MONEY to let some patients DIE!

He replies:

"And your point is....".

I just wish you could see the extraordinarily skilful portrayal of them both with just a few pencil-lines.