STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday November 16

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday November 16, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON November 15, 2010

Dow 11,201.97 +9.39 (+0.08%)
Nasdaq 2,513.82 -4.39 (-0.17%)
S&P 500 1,197.75 -1.46 (-0.12%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.91 -0.05 (-1.79%)
30-Year Bond 4.38 -0.04 (-0.86%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Government Issues:
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Handy Links - Videos:
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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 PPI Oct
Briefing.com 1.0%
Consensus 0.8%
Prior 0.4%

08:30 Core PPI Oct
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.1%

09:00 Total Net TIC Flows Sep
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior $38.9B

09:15 Industrial Production Oct
Briefing.com 0.2%
Consensus 0.3%
Prior -0.2%

09:15 Capacity Utilization Oct
Briefing.com 75.0%
Consensus 74.9%
Prior 74.7%

10:00 NAHB Market Housing Index Nov
Briefing.com 16.0
Consensus 15.0
Prior 16.0

07:00 MBA Mortgage Applications 11/12
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior +5.8%

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

[ozymandius]

2. Oil falls to near $84 before crude supply reports

SINGAPORE – Oil prices fell to near $84 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as traders looked to the latest U.S. crude supply reports for clues about the strength of consumer demand for fuel.

Crude inventories likely rose 1.2 million barrels last week, according to analysts surveyed by Platts, the energy information arm of McGraw-Hill Cos. The American Petroleum Institute plans to announce its inventory numbers later Tuesday while the Energy Department's Energy Information Administration reports its weekly supply data Wednesday.

A plunge in Asian stock markets Tuesday hurt crude trader optimism. China's benchmark index in Shanghai fell 4.0 percent and Hong Kong's Hang Seng index was down 1.4 percent.

In other Nymex trading in December contracts, heating oil fell 1.5 cents to $2.36 a gallon and gasoline slipped 0.4 cent to $2.19 a gallon. Natural gas held at $3.855 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[Demeter]

69. Is This Why the Market Is Dropping Like a Stone?

Or are both in response to the Forex?

Things seem very unstable. I think the jig is up.

[xchrom]

3. recommend

[ozymandius]

4. Fed's Dudley: QE2 exit could take years

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – A top U.S. Federal Reserve official defended the Fed's controversial bond-buying program on Tuesday, saying it could be years before pulling back easy money policies is warranted.

Dudley cautioned that it will take months of adding 200,000 to 300,000 jobs to foster a meaningful recovery, and said the Fed's program to buy $600 billion in longer-term Treasuries is unlikely to generate a spurt of growth.

Fed Vice Chairwoman Janet Yellen, in another unusual on-the-record interview in the Wall Street Journal, said the easing program is not intended to push down the dollar, but to address unusually high unemployment and sluggish growth.

more

Again, more on-the-record defense of Fed policy. This verbal blizzard from usually quiet Fed board members is highly extraordinary.

[ozymandius]

5. Fed's Yellen says not seeking to push dollar down: report

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Reserve is not trying to push down the value of the U.S. dollar or boost inflation above 2 percent, the central bank's vice chairwoman said, defending its program of massive new bond purchases.

In an interview published on Monday in the Wall Street Journal, Janet Yellen defended the Fed's decision this month to purchase $600 billion more of U.S. Treasury bonds in a bid to strengthen economic growth.

Yellen, who said she was not happy to see the Fed "caught up in a political debate," said the central bank decided to take the controversial measures because of extremely high unemployment, which could last a long time. Inflation, she said, would stay at "very low levels" for some time.

more

I do not see why Fed officials are so upset about the politicization of its policies. The Fed has operated in the political sphere for decades since it has been recognized that its governors' policies and actions can move elections.

[TheWatcher]

17. Translation: "Do not believe anything until we deny it. Then plan accordingly."

[ozymandius]

6. GOP economists criticize Fed's bond-purchase plan

NEW YORK – Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's plan to rejuvenate the economy by having the Fed buy $600 billion in Treasury bonds is coming under renewed attack — this time from fellow Republican economists.

They argue that pumping many more dollars into the economy could eventually trigger inflation and weaken the dollar too much. The economists are making their case in a letter to Bernanke and in ads to run this week in the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times.

The Treasury bond purchases "risk currency debasement and inflation, and we do not think they will achieve the Fed's objective of promoting employment," the economists wrote in their letter.

The letter from the 23 economists represents a new front in the attack on the Fed's bond-purchase plan. The economists who signed it include Douglas Holtz-Eakin, who served as a top policy adviser for 2008 Republican presidential candidate John McCain; John Taylor, a top Treasury Department official in the Bush administration; and Michael Boskin, chief economist to Bush's father, President George H.W. Bush.

more

This yelling and finger pointing is beginning to look like a circular firing squad.

[tclambert]

14. If GOP economists are against it, I begin to suspect it might be good for the economy.

If they are freshwater, Chicago school economists, you know they're wrong.

[TheWatcher]

15. Translation: "Our Football Team Is Not In Control Of FrankenPonzi, therefore we are "Upset""

Of course, during the Bush years, the GOP would have fellated this policy, and told us how it was making the Economy "Robust", and "Strong, and Getting Stronger".

[TheWatcher]

16. Translation: "We Will Do Anything to Keep FrankenPonzi Alive, no matter what it destroys, as long

as our bottom lines are protected. You Proles are disposable Cattle, a crop to be harvested, so please, no complaints, as you are irrelevant, and we don't listen to you anyway."

[DemReadingDU]

18. QE2 is another bailout for the banks

another method to keep the status quo for the wealthy

[Demeter]

25. GET THIS! THEY'RE CALLING IN REINFORCEMENTS

Israeli central bank chief defends QE2

Stanley Fischer, respected among bankers, has defended the US Federal Reserve's planned $600bn stimulus, dismissing criticism of the move as “fundamentally misplaced”

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/72QMB1/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

IS THAT THE BEST THEY CAN DO?

[Dr.Phool]

30. They must be really low on ammo.

[Demeter]

34. My thought too

Unless they want to take on the "Jewish Banker" slander as truth.

[Ghost Dog]

55. If it's anything like the regular UN votes against the US embargo against Cuba,

they might be able to line up some Pacific Ocean microstate (but not, for example, Albania these days) also.

(With apologies to, for example, Albanians).

[truedelphi]

103. So what' s Dudley's history with Goldman Sachs?

How close is he to that behemoth?

I need to know before I add him to my list of "Naughty" which so far includes: Bernanke, Paulson, Kashkari, and Geithner.

[ozymandius]

7. Stock index futures fall; Wal-Mart eyed

(Reuters) – Stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Wall Street on Tuesday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.44 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.59 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures down 0.67 percent at 1010 GMT (5:10 a.m. ET).

Investors eagerly awaited quarterly results from Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N), the world's biggest retailer.

Economic data on Tuesday includes the producer price index for October, industrial production for October and the National Association of Home Builders survey for November, while apart from Wal-Mart, companies expected to report quarterly results include Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N) and Home Depot (HD.N).

more

[ozymandius]

8. World stocks lower as Asia moves to cool inflation

BANGKOK – World stocks tumbled Tuesday as an interest rate hike in South Korea and measures to control inflation in China underlined that Asia's robust growth, a powerful force in the global recovery, is now facing strong headwinds.

Chinese shares led the sell-off with the Shanghai benchmark sliding 4 percent. Oil fell to near $84 a barrel before the release of U.S. crude supply reports that will give a reading on the strength of demand for fuel.

Sentiment in global markets was dented after the Bank of Korea raised its key interest rate for the second time in four months after inflation burst above 4 percent in October.

In early European trade, Britain's FTSE 100 was off 0.9 percent at 5,766.22 and France's CAC 40 dropped 1.3 percent to 3,818.52. Germany's DAX slipped 0.5 percent to 6,757.10.

more

[ozymandius]

9. Where Are You Politically?

I found this at The Big Picture. Here is a ten question test that you can take to see where you are on the political map.

Here is where the test placed me:

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_dfbI8SIJWek/TOJoVlrSmuI/AAAAAAAAAJs/UFCVYkEHb5Y/s640/political+chart.jpg

[Dr.Phool]

10. You're two blocks to the right of me, you fascist!

I will report to my re-education camp tomorrow.

[ozymandius]

12. That goes double for all you New Dealers!

Hippie Commie Pinko!

[Dr.Phool]

13. !

:hippie: :smoke: :hippie:

[AnneD]

11. Morning Marketeers...

:donut: and Lurkers. J am shocked, shocked to find out I am a flaming liberal.

Let me make you aware of the "health care reform" that just occurred. Readers hear will not be shocked, but Mom was taken aback. My step dad was t-boned and ended up in a trauma center. Mom is undergoing chemo and a bit weak. Now Ron, despite his age was until last week and active man, climbing roofs, pruning trees, etc. Well, they are trying to get Humana to transfer him to a local rehab. They are wanting him to go to a Nursing home and eventually palm him off on Medicare, instead. They say that they need a doc to say that he needs intensive therapy and declined to transfer him on Friday. Mom said if he wasn't transfered yesterday she was contacting a lawyer. She said there is ample evidence of his condition and if they deny him, she will sue, and if it causes any problems, she will sue for wrongful death. Guess I will be up in Az. this Christmas helping out. Heath care reform my ass. It is still take the premium and deny the claim. The only reform is there is a bigger pool of victims.

Happy Hunting and watch out for the bears.

[Demeter]

19. What She Said

[ret5hd]

40. to be a 100% liberal I have to agree to corporate welfare???

I disagree.

[florida08]

52. pissed off is where I am..you're almost a libert

[TalkingDog]

63. I took the longer version on Political Compass a couple of years ago

I ended up a Liberal Libertarian. Snuggled right between the Dali Lama and Nelson Mandela.

On this one I'm on par with Ozy.

I think it might be too short to give accurate feedback.

http://www.politicalcompass.org/

Try the longer version and see if you remain the same.

[ozymandius]

65. my stats

Economic Left/Right: -7.75
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.56

[CatholicEdHead]

92. Mine

Economic Left/Right: -7.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -5.33

[Tansy_Gold]

98. mine

Economic -8.75
Social -7.95

But there were some questions I was a bit squishy on because I didn't like the way they were worded.

Still, it puts me down in the far lower left corner where I'm quite comfortable.



TG, NTY

[Ghost Dog]

78. Bonaparte's Retreat

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNigFpaBBf8

Maybe, just a thought, a "Napoleonic World-Order" might not have been so bad, after all, by now, compared with, for example, what we're faced with these days?

(I know where I stand without taking any tests: open-minded).

[Demeter]

20. Galleon Score – 14 Down, 9 to Go

http://blogs.forbes.com/walterpavlo/2010/11/16/galleon-score-%E2%80%93-14-down-9-to-go/?partner=yahoofpapp

The Wall Street Journal’s Chad Bray reported that Mssrs. Tudor and Lanexa, better known as #13 and #14 to plead guilty in the Galleon case, began talking to authorities about their experience with one Raj Rajaratnam. In all, 23 people have been caught up in this investigation. Raj, who must be one of the loneliest men on the planet, was once the head of the hedge-fund Galleon Group but is currently facing the bet of his life….that he can convince a jury he is not guilty of insider trading.

These white-collar cases always start out the same with the defendants saying, “They got nothing on me.” Truth is, these cases are extremely difficult to prosecute because of their complexity. However, the picture of the crime becomes clearer when you have someone on the inside that points the finger at someone else. And it always happens. An FBI agent may not know the intricacies of stock trading, but they do take good notes from someone who does. White-collar guys typically make a big mistake by bringing too many people into the crime and believing that nobody will ever say a thing. The feds offer a lot of incentive to people to help them on a case…more time at home with the family. Prison sentences are usually stepped downward in progression for the people who cooperate the earliest.

So why doesn’t Raj come forward and cop a deal with authorities? Chances are there have been discussions already, but when you’re the King Pin there is little mercy when you fess up. Raj would probably be offered 25+ years in prison for a confession, so why not take the chance of going to court and gaining freedom or “only” getting 30 years.

So that leaves all of the others to come forward and save their own skin by turning on Raj...

[Demeter]

21. GM to raise IPO price to $33 a share

GM is aiming to price its initial public offering as high as $33 a share, exceeding expectations and tempting the US Treasury to sell a bigger proportion of its stake

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/S35KYI/204L2/LQCD6Y/BMRXCQ/OS/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

THE STING IS SET.

THE BIG MONEY (CHINA) HAS FLASHED HIS WAD AND SHOWN A REAL INTEREST.

SO SOAK THE BASTARD GOOD! OUR LOCAL GRIFTERS THINK.

THING IS, CHINA IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THEM.

I THINK CHINA INTENDS TO KILL GM DEAD AND GUT IT FOR PATENTS AND TECHNOLOGY.

[Demeter]

22. Dubai Holding thrown $2bn lifeline

The Dubai government is willing to put more capital into the lossmaking conglomerate that once symbolised the Gulf emirate’s extravagant development

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/PROPDV/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16


THE COST OF BEING TRIBAL AND FAMILY-SUPPORTIVE...AND NEEDING THE GOOD-WILL OF BANKERS TO SURVIVE.

[Demeter]

23. EU! WHAT'S THAT SMELL?

Portugal warns on bail-out risk

Contagion across markets over fears the eurozone debt crisis will spread means there is a high risk that Portugal will have to seek emergency aid, says the finance minister

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/72QMBN/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

Greece pledges to hit deficit reduction goal

Papandreou is to adhere to deficit-cutting plans but fears German insistence on a future mechanism for banks and bond markets could put some EU economies at risk

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/5CIZTJ/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

EU faces budget freeze as talks stall

The European Union is facing a budget freeze next year as last-ditch negotiations aimed at reaching a compromise between member states and the European parliament foundered

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/PROPD7/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

European employers predict muted growth

Forecasts show continuing schism between healthy ‘core’ economies of the eurozone and the struggling ‘peripheral’ group and GDP of 1.4% expected for the bloc in 2011

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/26KVUE/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

[Demeter]

27. Abu Dhabi fund eyes Europe deals worth up to €2bn

The Abu Dhabi investment vehicle sells its stake in Banco Santander’s Brazilian unit, as it seeks new investments in Europe

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/H60H77/TP4WPK/7ZY85/KE05B9/D4N5VY/82/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=15

THE GREAT UNWINDING IS IN FULL SWING

[Demeter]

24. China to open airspace to civilian aircraft

China plans to open its airspace below 4,000 metres to civilian aircraft in a decision that is likely to unlock one of the world’s largest untapped markets for private aviation

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/BM1H16/GYN7Q/18QT4L/LQBR4A/6C/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=16

[Demeter]

26. Lloyds to spin off buy-out arm

The private equity arm of Lloyds Banking Group has for the first time outlined plans for the UK’s most prolific buy-out investor to spin off from its banking parent

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/H60H77/TP4WPK/7ZY85/KE05B9/LQBEWJ/82/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=15

SO THAT'S HOW LLOYD'S GOT INTO TROUBLE...

[Demeter]

28. Casual dining appetites revive

US consumers are dining out at full-service restaurants with a consistency not seen since the housing market began its long decline four years ago


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/H60H77/TP4WPK/7ZY85/KE05B9/HD1K7G/82/t?a1=2010&a2=11&a3=15


YIPPEE.

[AnneD]

85. Funny contraians, hubby and I.....

We tried on purpose to eat out during 2007 to date and have been extra generous with a tips, but we are now in the cut back mode.

It is more important to have cash now and further reduce our debts.

[Demeter]

29. The Kid Is Watching "LUTHER", the Story of the Reformation's Great Leader

I had to explain the whole theory of Indulgences, that great con scheme of the Catholic Church, to raise funds for her wars and luxuries by selling "Get into Heaven" tickets.

"If the Pope could empty Purgatory, why would he not do it out of love, instead of for money?"

Thank goddess I don't have to explain the economy to her!

WHERE IS OUR MARTIN LUTHER OF ECONOMICS?

[Dr.Phool]

32. Anybody who nails a dog to a wall is on my shit list.

[Demeter]

33. WHAT??!!

I think you mean Dogma, not dog!

[Dr.Phool]

47. I'll have to dig it up, but,

I read where Martin Luther nailed a dog to the wall to prove that the dog didn't feel pain, and that Satan was so powerful that he made the dog scream to make it look as though the dog felt pain, so as to deceive us.

[Demeter]

50. This is the only reference I found on the World Wide Web

http://www.theskepticalreview.com/tsrmag/984mail.html

As the people on this site seem to be a generous assortment of people crushed by religion, I have my doubts as to the veracity of the information...

[TalkingDog]

59. Pretty much.....

A lack of reference does not bode well.

[TalkingDog]

58. From the Skeptical Review

Martin Luther may very well have noted that the Devil was allowed to enter serpents, but then Martin Luther also believed that only humans have souls, a fact he demonstrated by nailing a dog to a wall and saying that "even though only we have souls and can feel pain, God is so merciful and gracious that he has allowed this dog without a soul to show the semblance of feeling pain, even though he is not. Isn't God wonderful?" I don't trust Martin Luther somehow.

http://www.theskepticalreview.com/tsrmag/984mail.html

but, since I'm a skeptic of the classical sort (not the debunker sort)

Martin Luther certainly believed animals went to heaven "Be thou comforted, little dog," he said. "Thou too in Resurrection shall have a little golden tail." (Note that Martin thought animals had 'immortal' souls - so did my aunt.

http://www.eclipse.co.uk/thoughts/animalsouls.htm
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/cathleen-falsani/do-all-dogs-go-to-heaven_b_649083.html

Although I can find no original resources for either incident, I'll just say I can't know.

[Dr.Phool]

68. I subscribed to SR for several years,

And used to debate fundies on their biblical inerrancy web forum. Farrell Till, the founder, a former preacher and English Professor, was cantankerous guy with a lot of sarcastic wit usually had some pretty good sources. And his articles were usually pretty well foot noted.

We used to have a lot of fun with the fundies who tried to twist meanings and interpretations of of the bible. We also had a Hebrew linguist professor on the board who made mince-meat out of their old testament interpretations.

edit:Debating fundies on biblical inerrancy was like debating supply side economics with a tea-bagger. Especially when you can point out direct contradictions and mathmatical impossibilities.

[AnneD]

43. IT was his The FECES he nailed to the door....

that's why everyone got so upset...oh...


Thesis...Never Mind, she said in her best Emily Latell impersonation.

[Demeter]

44. You are all going to burn in Hell

at least the company will be good.

On second thought, all those banksters and crony politicians...RECANT!

[Ghost Dog]

61. I'd always thought that the great innovation in Protestantism

is that each Protestant gets to create his/her own individual hell.

... And, in this life.

:shrug: Sorry, I must have been corrupted by all the ostensible Catholics around here, already. <g>

[TalkingDog]

62. The main difference (from my limited experiences)

is that backsliding (as we call it here in the south) doesn't really require a lot of guilt; just repentance. The Spousal Unit is a recovering Catholic. I got field tested in a lot of different protestant sects. None of them stuck.

For me, it always boiled down to:
Catholics have to confess to be forgiven "properly".
Protestants just have to tell Jeebus Yahweh they are sorry for their sins and it never has to pass beyond those two parties.

Of course, if you are heathen like me, you wake up late on Sunday morning and wonder what all the fuss is about.

[Ghost Dog]

66. Heathens and pagans are closest

to

what is natural, of course. :hi:

Edit: Hmmm. "Backsliding". Now there's an interesting concept, or set of concepts. Let me meditate on that one for a while...

[Demeter]

71. I like the music--and the art

What can I say? I eat the leavings of the wealthy elite...crumbs at the table.

[TalkingDog]

88. That is an interesting take on it. Patronage created all those lovely baubles for the wealthy.

The rest of us are victims of "cultural colonization".

[Demeter]

70. That would certainly describe the religious of the world, IMO

Pagan atheist and proud of it.

I would have picked a Polish earth mother, had I known any at the time of registration on this site....there are several which no one but a few modern cultists have ever heard of...

[Ghost Dog]

86. Earth-spirits of the Polish fields

and that very ancient forest, then, Demeter?

[AnneD]

97. If you offer...

perogies as communion-count me in- I'll convert!!!!

[Demeter]

102. Deal!

Sis and I made pierogi once, using a press for potstickers...talk about multicultural...

[AnneD]

105. That is how....

I make my pierogi, empanadas, baracas (Cuban) and fried pies (baked actually), Can't beat it for simplicity and ease of use.

[Tansy_Gold]

106. There's a press for pot stickers? Do tell!!!! n/t

[ozymandius]

49. I thought he spattered the door with his master's feces.

Of course, I could be wrong.

[Demeter]

51. Et Tu, Ozy?

I'm sorry I ever brought it up.

[ozymandius]

57. I have a specialist degree in Scatology.

I will spare you the details in how that was awarded to me.

[AnneD]

56. That was ...

GWB that spattered the door with his master's feces...

Monkeys with car keys :evilgrin:

[Demeter]

31. When Fascism Masquerades as Populism By Charles Sullivan

IN CASE ANY QUESTIONS IT--FASCISM IS AN ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION AT ITS HEART...

AS IS POPULISM!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26829.htm

With its reliance on corporate money and financial contributions by the wealthy, the U.S. electoral system provides movement in only one direction: to the right. Traditional liberals lack the financial wherewithal to compete against free market fundamentalists. Corporations do not fund candidates who would regulate them and hold them accountable to the people. The electoral system is useless as a tool for the expression of traditional liberalism or progressive reform.

Capitalism does not empower people; it gives primacy to capital. Like the corporation, money is a legal fiction that allows bankers and financial institutions to create phantom wealth from nothing. It gives rise to privatized banking cartels and to the Federal Reserve which controls the money supply and loans it at interest to the government and to people. In effect, this gives bankers control of the government and our cultural institutions.

Free market fundamentalism was elevated to the status of religion decades ago by Milton Friedman and his disciples at the Chicago School of Economics. Its adherents regard the market as a holy oracle that takes precedence over man and nature, the diviner of social and economic status, a force more primal than the laws that govern the motion of planetary bodies and the formation of distant nebulae.

But like the phantom wealth it engenders, the existence of free markets is utter fiction. Not only are the precepts of market fundamentalism contradicted by nature; they are restrained by her. With a hunger for god-like power, capitalism and free market fundamentalism are, in fact, puny forces that are dwarfed by those of nature to which they will ultimately succumb.

Due in part to its infatuation with a particularly virulent form of capitalism, the U.S. has been descending toward fascism for decades....Every social program that does not promote the religion of market fundamentalism is under siege: social security, pensions, public education, unemployment benefits, the minimum wage, Medicare and Medicaid, as well as the public infrastructure, are in danger of eradication or privatization.

[Festivito]

35. Debt: 11/12/2010 13,721,979,465,685.32 (UP 2,431,781,938.83) (Fri)

(Up some. Good day.)
A quiet day at the office then a bad sleep, then a good sleep, too good.
(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)
= 9,137,994,773,432.55 + 4,583,984,692,252.77
UP 1,236,686,699.48 + UP 1,195,095,239.35

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 $3,218.66 makes 1T$.
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 310,688,192 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 $44,166.4.
A family of three owes $132,499.2. (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 4,752,814,483.06.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,643,824,437.01.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,526,281,713.24.
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$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 30 reports in 43 days of FY2011 averaging 5.35B$ per report, 3.73B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 800 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)
11/12/2010 13,721,979,465,685.32 BHO (UP 3,095,102,416,772.24 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 +0,160,356,434,793.60 ------------* * * * BHO
Endof11 +14,021,042,325,434.90 ------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | per 1B Too much to predict at this time.

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*********
11/05/2010 -000,209,791,147.70 ---
11/08/2010 -000,059,969,255.93 ---- Mon
11/09/2010 -000,005,858,868.46 -----
11/10/2010 +001,354,516,168.52 ------------*********
11/12/2010 +001,236,686,699.48 ------------*********

79,349,999,883.08 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=4615036&mesg_id=4615044

[Festivito]

91. Debt: 11/15/2010 13,789,013,561,493.72 (UP 67,034,095,808.40) (Mon)

(Up a lot. Finally fixed projection. Good day.)
All day in bed, better now.
(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)
= 9,203,788,917,732.66 + 4,585,224,643,761.06
UP 65,794,144,300.11 + UP 1,239,951,508.29

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 $3,218.44 makes 1T$.
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 310,709,792 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 $44,379.08.
A family of three owes $133,137.23. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 5,861,281,820.85.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,102,897,274.59.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,970,545,749.61.
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$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 31 reports in 46 days of FY2011 averaging 7.34B$ per report, 4.94B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 797 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.9 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)
11/15/2010 13,789,013,561,493.72 BHO (UP 3,162,136,512,580.64 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 +0,227,390,530,602.00 ------------* * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,804,294,427,602.83 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*********
11/05/2010 -000,209,791,147.70 ---
11/08/2010 -000,059,969,255.93 ---- Mon
11/09/2010 -000,005,858,868.46 -----
11/10/2010 +001,354,516,168.52 ------------*********
11/12/2010 +001,236,686,699.48 ------------*********
11/15/2010 +065,794,144,300.11 ------------********** Mon

145,183,167,516.40 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=4616107&mesg_id=4616225

[muriel_volestrangler]

36. EU Council president: Eurozone facing 'survival crisis'

The European Union is in a "survival crisis" over eurozone debt problems, the EU Council president has warned.

Speaking hours before eurozone ministers meet to address threats to the bloc's economic stability, Herman Van Rompuy said that if the euro failed, so too would the EU.

Members such as the Republic of Ireland and Portugal are under fresh scrutiny.

Questions have been raised over whether they can manage their debt without help from EU funds.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-11762500

[muriel_volestrangler]

37. Ireland Said in Talks to Get Funds for Government, Banks

Ireland is in talks with European and International Monetary Fund officials about a bailout that would shore up the state’s finances as well as enable it to inject capital into the country’s banks, said a European official with direct knowledge of the talks.

The two-part funding package would mean Ireland wouldn’t have to tap the bond market for an extended period as it tries to cut the budget deficit, said the person, who spoke on condition of anonymity. It would also give the government capital to help banks if necessary. Ireland says it’s fully funded into mid-2011.

Negotiations are continuing and no decision has been reached, the person said. European finance ministers are meeting in Brussels today at 5 p.m.

Irish officials have held talks with the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF in the past days, the person said. Irish assessments of banking losses held up to scrutiny in those discussions, the person said. Still, markets haven’t been persuaded, the person said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-16/ireland-said-to-be-in-talks-to-receive-bailout-funds-for-government-banks.html

[Demeter]

39. SINK THE BANKS BEFORE THEY SINK US ALL

I cannot fathom WHY the politicians think that destroying their people is a good idea. Do they think they shall be exempt from the crash?

[Ghost Dog]

64. Not sink, nationalise, with serious management change.

And tax the greedy gamblers, heavily, incarcerating those who can be proven to have committed fraud and confiscating all their ill-gotten gains.

[Demeter]

72. Okay, I can go along with that

But only if we get a different set of governmental employees and elected officials, first.

I wouldn't trust this bunch to hang a dog.....sorry, Doc!

[Robbien]

81. ZeroHedge is saying Ireland is not bending over for banksters--US media is lying

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/stubborn-ireland-refuses-yield-european-banking-interests-and-exchange-senior-note-recoverie

Contrary to CNBC's interpretations of Irish PM Cowen's speech that the leader may have opened a door, or is "clearing the political space" for a bailout, the Irish Times has a completely opposite take on the speech, one that confirms that no matter how hard Ireland is pushed by Europe and Fed interests to exchange par recoveries to the bankers for austerity, it has so far refused to bend. To wit: "Speaking in the Dail Mr Cowen reiterated that Ireland had made no application for external support and said there had been some “ill-informed and inaccurate” speculation about the Government seeking a bailout in recent days." Which of course is not to say that lack of liquidity will not end up crushing the mostly foreign banks domiciled in Ireland (which has enough funds to hold it through next summer, by which time Portugal, Italy and possibly core countries will have long been bailed out). Nonetheless, we can certainly hope that Ireland stays the course and refuses to betray its public in exchange for a few more years of debt-induced slavery, something which our own monetary authority has no problems doing.


---------

[Ghost Dog]

83. Yes, that sounds accurate enough, from what I gather.

Ireland is safely-financed until well-into next year, at the moment, and is not (yet) requesting assistance. But the EU Commission Council (of national governments) is negotiating, ie. pushing?

Today's El País for example:

...De momento, el primer ministro Cowen, que ha vuelto a insistir en que el precio que debe pagar por financiarse es demasiado alto, ha anunciado en el Parlamento irlandés que su Gobierno presentará la próxima semana un acuerdo cerrado para reducir gastos y rebajar el déficit para los próximos cuatro años. Su ministro de Economía, Brian Leniham, ha añadido, también, que la voluntad del Ejecutivo es seguir haciendo frente a las dificultades en el mercado con la ayuda de Bruselas, por lo que mantienen las negociaciones con la UE sin que, hasta la fecha, se hayan decidido por activar el plan de rescate.

Los ministros de finanzas de la zona euro se reúnen hoy en Bruselas con esta nueva opción sobre la mesa para evitar que la crisis se extienda a otros países en una situación delicada como Portugal y, si continúan las turbulencias, a España o Italia. La cita, en palabras del presidente del Consejo Europeo, es vital, ya que la eurozona y la propia UE se juegan su "supervivencia", ha afirmado Herman Van Rompuy antes del inicio de la reunión.

/... http://www.elpais.com/articulo/economia/UE/busca/ayudar/Irlanda/rescate/solo/banca/elpepueco/20101116elpepueco_2/Tes

[Ghost Dog]

82. Yeah yeah. Agree.

We have a problem with management, not with workers.

[Dr.Phool]

99. Grrrrrr

[TalkingDog]

89. Kill the Banks (a frenchman's impeccible logic)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Uop5R7E314

A less bloody solution than the guillotine.

[Ghost Dog]

94. Voyons! C'est le debacle. n/t

Allons-y.

C'est pas compliqué.

[TalkingDog]

95. Even with my minimal French, I got most of that. n/t

[Demeter]

38. The Coming Sell-Out to the Super Rich and What It Means for the Rest of Us By MICHAEL HUDSON

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26827.htm


...Thanks largely to the $13 trillion Wall Street bailout – while keeping the debt overhead in place for America’s “bottom 98 per cent” – this happy 2 per cent of the population now receives an estimated three quarters (~75 per cent) of the returns to wealth (interest, dividends, rent and capital gains). This is nearly double what it received a generation ago. The rest of the population is being squeezed, and foreclosures are rising....It’s all junk economics. Running a budget deficit is how modern governments inject the credit and purchasing power needed by economies to grow. When governments run surpluses, as they did under Bill Clinton (1993-2000), credit must be created by banks. And the problem with bank credit is that most is lent, at interest, against collateral already in place. The effect is to inflate real estate and stock market prices. This creates capital gains – which the “original” 1913 U.S. income tax treated as normal income, but which today are taxed at only 15 per cent (when they are collected at all, which is rarely in the case of commercial real estate). So today’s tax system subsidizes the inflation of debt-leveraged financial and real estate bubbles....

....The argument is made that “The rich create jobs.” After all, somebody has to build the yachts. What is missing is the more general principle: Wealth and income inequality destroy job creation. This is because beyond the wealthy soon reach a limit on how much they can consume. They spend their money buying financial securities – mainly bonds, which end up indebting the economy. And the debt overhead is what is pushing today’s economy into deepening depression...Critics of the Obama-Bush agenda recall how America’s Gilded Age of the late 19th century was an era of economic polarization and class war. At that time the Democratic leader William Jennings Bryan accused Wall Street and Eastern creditors of crucifying the American economy on a cross of gold. Restoration of gold at its pre-Civil War price led to a financial war in the form of debt deflation as falling prices and incomes received by farmers and wage labor made the burden of paying their mortgage debts heavier. The Income Tax law of 1913 sought to rectify this by only falling on the wealthiest 1 per cent of the population – the only ones obliged to file tax returns. Capital gains were taxed at normal rates. Most of the tax burden therefore felon finance, insurance and real estate (FIRE) sector

The vested interests have spent a century fighting back. They now see victory within reach, by perpetuating the Bush tax cuts for the wealthiest 2 per cent, phasing out of the estate tax on wealth, the tax shift off property onto labor income and consumer sales, and slashing public spending on anything except more bailouts and subsidies for the emerging financial oligarchy that has become Obama’s “bipartisan” constituency....

....What we need is a Futures Commission to forecast just what will the rich do with the victory they have won. As administered by President Obama and his designated appointees Tim Geithner and Ben Bernanke, their policy is financially and fiscally unsustainable. Providing tax incentives for debt leveraging – for most of the population to go into debt to the rich, whose taxes are all but abolished – is shrinking the economy. This will lead to even deeper financial crises, employer defaults and fiscal insolvency at the state, local and federal levels. Future presidents will call for new bailouts, using a strategy much like going to military war. A financial war requires an emergency to rush through Congress, as occurred in 2008-09. Obama’s appointees are turning the U.S. economy into a Permanent Emergency, a Perpetual Ponzi Scheme requiring injections of more and more Quantitative Easing to to rescue “the economy” (Obama’s euphemism for creditors at the top of the economic pyramid) from being pushed into insolvency. Bernanke’s helicopter flies only over Wall Street. It does not drop monetary relief on the population at large.

[Demeter]

41. China to the US: Stop With the Monopoly Money By Eric Margolis

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article26831.htm

...
Washington is flooding financial markets with $600 billion of worthless dollars, hoping a rising tide of Monopoly money will somehow lift America out of recession. The Fed's first QE effort was a fizzle.

The US government is stoking worldwide inflation in order to lower its outstanding debt by repaying creditors with depreciated dollars. The rest of the world is boiling angry at Washington.

Just before last week's G20 economic summit in South Korea, China's state credit agency publicly downgraded America's credit rating and questioned US leadership of the world's economy. In an unprecedented, stinging rebuke, China scolded Washington for "deteriorating debt repayment capability," and predicted quantitative easing would lead to "fundamentally lowering the national solvency."

Wow! This was a real slap in the face heard around the globe. China is the largest holder of US government debt. I remember the day when New York financiers used to sneer at iffy stock or bond issues as, "Chinese paper." Now, it's "American paper." How the world has turned.

Washington has been blasting China for manipulating its currency to keep the value low - which is quite true. Embarrassingly, Germany and Brazil just accused the US of being as big a currency manipulator as China - which is also quite true...

[Demeter]

42. What are the odds that the 99'ers will be starved out?

Has this nation descended to this barbarity already? If so, is revolution not years, but months ahead....

As holiday spending gears up, people on unemployment face big cut

http://businessjournalism.org/2010/11/15/as-holiday-spending-gears-up-people-on-unemployment-face-big-cut/

...To extend or not extend unemployment benefits past Nov. 30 – that is the question facing Congress and the results are anything but certain, given a certain amount of benefits-fatigue that already existed and the fight over extending Bush tax cuts thrown into the mix...

One faction that definitely thinks two years is not enough is the 99-ers – those who have hit or soon will hit the absolute maximum of 99 weeks of benefits. An extension by Congress won’t help these folks; only a change in the law to add a fifth tier of benefits that jobless can tap when they’ve reached their limit in existing programs. As the jobs market continues to stagnate, the ranks of the 99ers will grow...

NOVEMBER 30. MARK THAT DATE. EITHER WE STAGGER ON, OR THE WHOLE PONZI SCHEME COLLAPSES IN FLAMES. SOMEBODY (EVERYBODY) IN DC HAS A DEATH WISH.

[Demeter]

48. Poverty In Suburbs Increasing Rapidly During Economic Downturn

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/17/poverty-suburbs-economy_n_765714.html

The American suburb is no longer a refuge from poverty in cities.

A pair of analyses by the nonprofit Brookings Institution paints a bleak economic picture for the 100 largest metropolitan areas over the past decade and in coming years, and finds that suburbs now are home to one-third of the nation's poor, and rising.

The study of census data finds that since 2000, the number of poor people in the suburbs jumped by 37.4 percent to 13.7 million. The growth rate of suburban poverty is more than double that of cities and higher than the national rate of 26.5 percent.

At the same time, social service providers are spread thin in many suburban areas, according to a detailed Brookings survey of groups in representative metropolitan areas of Chicago, Los Angeles and the District of Columbia. That has forced providers to turn away many poor people due to scarce aid that typically goes to cities first....

ALL THOSE SMUG REPUBLICAN SUBURBS...ALWAYS TURNING THEIR NOSES UP AT THE CITY AND ITS POOR....KARMA IS SUCH A BITCH.

[Demeter]

45. Current Mortgages Turning Delinquent Rises for First Time in a Year

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/current-mortgages-turning-delinquent-rises-for-first-time-in-year-2010-11-09

more good news. how can i bear it?

[Demeter]

46. Fed's ability to influence market could be over

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40182444/ns/business-personal_finance/

The Fed Rally is over.

The Federal Reserve took the first step in a $600 billion plan to boost the economy Friday. The same day, the Standard & Poor's 500 index tumbled to its worst weekly loss in three months. It wasn't just a coincidence.

Stock markets are forward looking. Once the Fed began signaling in late August that it had a stimulus plan in the works, investors started to push stock prices higher. But over the past five days, ominous signs emerged about the global economy:

* Concerned deepened that Ireland's debt crisis would require a bailout by the European Union.
* European and Asian countries attacked the Fed policy because it is resulting in a falling dollar that will help U.S. exports at their expense. Fears of a global trade war increased when President Barack Obama and U.S. negotiators failed to reach a new trade agreement with South Korea.
* Technology giant Cisco Systems Inc. cut its revenue forecast for the rest of the year. Cisco is the world's No. 1 maker of computer networking equipment and a bellwether for the technology industry.

"Everybody was focused on the doctor without looking at the patient," said David Rosenberg, chief economist at Gluskin Sheff in Toronto, likening the Fed to a doctor and the economy to its patient. "The patient may be out of the operating room, but it's still in the sick bay."


IN OTHER WORDS, QE2 HIT AN ICEBERG, AND SANK WITH ALL HANDS ON BOARD

[Ghost Dog]

74. This is very significant,

psychologically.

[Demeter]

53. CIA paid Liverpool buyout tycoon millions...to use his jet for 'torture' flights

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1321244/CIA-paid-Liverpool-buyout-tycoons-millions--use-jet-torture-flights.html

YOUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK

IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN CHEAPER, AND HELPED UNEMPLOYMENT, TO BUY NEW PLANES, AND THEN CRASH OR GIVE THEM AWAY AFTER...OR EVEN DURING RENDITION FLIGHTS.

[Demeter]

54. Quantitative Easing Explained

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTUY16CkS-k&feature=player_embedded

[TalkingDog]

60. Ah, The Ben Bernank n/t

[Ghost Dog]

87. You're shitting me. n/t

:)

[truedelphi]

104. Am glad to see that someone here knew about this film

And to think we now need cartoon bears to help us - our politicians are just too busy telling us
how it is "all working out great and the economy is improving!" to let us know what is really happening.

[florida08]

67. It's beginning to look a lot more riskless

http://www.youtube.com/user/versusplus#p/u/3/GzA9xaQaYEA

[Demeter]

73. Chavez Creates `Socialist' Bourse With `High Yields'

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-15/hugo-chavez-creates-socialist-bourse-in-venezuela-promises-high-yields.html

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said he is creating a “socialist” state-run Public Bond Market that will offer local investors high yields to stimulate saving and allow nationalized companies to seek financing.

The Public Bond Market, which will begin operations in December, will allow state-run companies to sell debt to finance operations and individuals to seek investment opportunities, Chavez said.

Chavez tightened his grip on the financial industry this year by closing more than a dozen banks and 40 brokerages that he said committed “fraud” and set artificial exchange rates. He said investors will have their investments guaranteed by the state. Caracas’s private stock exchange has seen trading plummet since 2007 after the nationalization of companies including Cemex SAB and Cia Anonima Nacional Telefonos de Venezuela, known as CANTV.

“The banking and brokerage crisis has allowed us to draft this law,” Chavez said yesterday on state television during his Alo Presidente program. “Don’t spend all your year-end bonuses, invest in the bourse, and the state will guarantee your money with good yields.”


I THINK I'VE FOUND FDR'S NEW INCARNATION....

[florida08]

75. how 'bout that

The Securities Regulator authorized state oil company Petroleos de Venezuela SA to sell $3 billion of bonds due in 2017. The bonds were sold Oct. 25 and will be traded in the secondary market through the Public Bond Market, according to a statement.

[Demeter]

76. A hybrid socialist/capitalist market

Such a crazy idea, it just might work!

[florida08]

77. yes and it's funded

with the State Oil. Imagine us telling Exxon to do such a thing.

[florida08]

79. bandaid anyone

11,005.95 -196.02 -1.75%

[Warpy]

80. Sic transit glorious money

Oh, well, it was nice while it lasted.

Down 211 now.

[Ghost Dog]

84. F*ck. And I cashed in all USD-denominated stock positions yesterday

(except a short on SPX) for €uros. And look, ok, SPX falling, but look where EURUSD is now!

Ah well, bad timing (or is it?) is a common curse.

At least, some of the hypothetical has become (almost) real. Ie. (locally-negotiable) cash.

[ozone_man]

90. From a contrarian point of view

when dollar pessimism is at an extreme, that's when it's likely to turn up. Maybe we're approaching the turning point where everything goes down except for the dollar, even with QE2.

[Ghost Dog]

93. Too right. I've seen that, temporary, reaction before.

Maybe I'm so contrarian I'm even contrary the contrarians, occasionally. :hi:

[TheWatcher]

96. If I remember correctly, the Dollar had a big rally during the Crash Of '08.

So it would make sense for it to happen again.

There seems to be a very odd correlation in the way the Dollar trades in relation to the Dow.

Dollar up, Dow Down.

Dollar Down, Dow up.

Not an exact science, but one cannot deny the correlation for at least the past two years.

[ozymandius]

100. Gold did not have the prominence then as it does now as a measure of stored value.

Gold is the safe haven -- less the $US. QE2 really feels like a prescription of witch doctor medicine. I admit to being flummoxed about which way this is heading. But then, if anyone can predict the way currencies will move then they are probably glued to their computer monitors right now, waiting to be the next Soros. Or the next damned fool to lose their hand and their hat.

To the original idea: gold is the safe haven for value these days. In the 2008 crisis, I seem to recall that gold was just shy of $900/oz. It has not looked back since then while the major currencies have been roller coaster riding.

[ozone_man]

101. Rinse and repeat for 2011.

The dollar will rise like a phoenix from the ashes to be king once again. :)

Seriously, I think it is as simple as liquidation of assets and flight to safety. As weak as it might appear to be, the dollar is still the world currency, for now. When it finally happens, the next leg down that is, the dollar will go up correspondingly, and gold and silver will tank. Sorry Ozy. :)