STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, January 26, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, January 26, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON January 25, 2011

Dow 11,977.19 -3.33 (-0.03%)
Nasdaq 2,719.25 +1.70 (+0.06%)
S&P 500 1,291.18 +0.34 (+0.03%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.35 -0.05
30-Year Bond 4.50 -0.05

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

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

[aquart]

1. Got anything on the crashing Egyptian market?

Twitter says foreign money is pulling out. Any idea where it's going?

[tclambert]

3. Mubarak's son and family reportedly fled to Britain due to the rioting.

Taking money with them? I would expect investors to cash out and wait a bit before they re-invest. If Egypt settles down, they might send their money right back there, snapping up bargains. Or, traditionally, in times of unrest, much money goes into gold. A safe bet always is that the money goes into the pockets of the rich.

If rioting in Egypt turns into revolution, we could see some very interesting times.

"Turning and turning in the widening gyre,
The falcon cannot hear the falconer.
Things break down. The center cannot hold.
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world."

[bread_and_roses]

6. Haunting, haunting poem - and a total off-topic aside on it

One of the few I can quote the entire poem, I've read it so often. Nonetheless, reading your quote made me want to read it entire again, and in looking for it online I accidentally clicked on an article in which someone is tearing apart the poem.


Anyway, here's what's hilarious: the author proclaims that the last two lines:

"And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?"

- that these two lines, surely two of the most powerful written in the entire 20th century - should be re-written thus:

"“And what rough beast’s babe, its time come at last, / Is in transport to Bethlehem to be born?”

Read more at Suite101: W. B. Yeats' Rough Beast: The Second Coming http://www.suite101.com/content/w-b-yeats-rough-beast-a57748#ixzz1C8wOCfU0

"In transport to Bethlehem" - now there's a line for the ages!
:rofl:

(sorry, all - I'm an incurable generalist - SMW takes me down odd paths, as does everything else)

[Tansy_Gold]

20. Odd paths -- me, too.

But it's amazing what we can learn on those ramblings.

:hi:

Tansy Gold, who thinks the SMW and WEE are one of the greatest sources of knowledge - directly and through links -- on the whole tubally interwebby thingamajig net whatever.

[DoBotherMe]

55. What is WEE?

Thanks! Dana ; )

[CatholicEdHead]

59. WeekEnd Economist thread

It is in the Editorial section starting later Friday evenings through Sunday.

[DoBotherMe]

61. I'll be sure the read it from now on

Rarely go to Editorial. Thanks! Dana ; )

[Warpy]

65. Any path that leads to Yeats is a good one to be on

and I always flash on those last two lines, myself.

We're being kept like mushrooms in the US, kept in the dark and fed a diet of horse shit. There have been protests and riots all over the Middle East if my friends there are telling the truth about it. It's just not being mentioned in the good puppy corporate press unless corporate glass has been broken and corporate manager families are packing to flee.

A 6% drop in local stocks is not really a huge drop, considering the strength of the protests and riots in Egypt. That probably represents the emergency fund in gold that nervous wealthy people always seem to require during civil unrest, like they're going to be able to exchange it for food at the local bazaar if the shit really hits the fan.

We are not going to like what takes the place of iron fisted dictators in the Middle East. They will likely wear robes and spout the fundamentalist line. Perhaps that will be what it will take to cleanse themselves of colonialism forever before they can move on into modernity. The worst the west can do is treat them like we've treated Iran, which is probably why the west will do it and remain self defeating.

Days that have me mumbling Yeats always have me in deepest cynicism.

[Ghost Dog]

79. And vanished in the brightening air.

I went out to the hazelwood
Because a fire was in my head
Cut and peeled a hazel wand
And hooked a berry to a thread

And when white moths were on the wing
And moth-like stars were flickering out
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
And gone to blow the fire aflame
Something rustled on the floor
And someone called me by my name.

It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossoms in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And vanished in the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands
I will find out where she has gone
And kiss her lips and take her hand

And walk through long green dappled grass
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon
The golden apples of the sun.

[tclambert]

102. I was afraid you were heading for a Sarah Palin joke.

And maybe you did. "Rough beast's babe?" That could describe John McCain's running mate.

As a general rule, I think all post-modernist analyses are hilarious. I think they should all rewrite the narrative of the Law of Gravity, and then jump off a tall building.

[Po_d Mainiac]

19. Couple days before they fled, several shipments of "inedible"

PM's were confiscated at the airport.

Whether or not is was for Mubarak's retirement, or the holding of someone else has yet to be determined.

[Demeter]

23. And another dictator falls!

And the banksters brought all this instability down upon themselves.

I hope they lose their shirts.

[fasttense]

4. Good question. n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

12. Egypt Index Drops Most Since May After Protests Against Mubarak Government

Egyptian stocks tumbled the most since May after thousands took to the streets of Cairo and other cities yesterday in protests against the government of President Hosni Mubarak.

The benchmark EGX30 index fell 4 percent, the most since May 25, to 6,455.07 at 10:33 a.m. in Cairo, extending its decline this year to 9.6 percent. Egypt’s market was shut for a holiday yesterday.

The protests, rare in their size in Egypt, were inspired by a popular revolt that forced Tunisia’s President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali into exile on Jan. 14. A policeman and two protesters died in clashes yesterday, state-run Nile TV reported, citing an unnamed interior ministry official.

Analysts at Barclays Capital said this month that the risk of Tunisia’s unrest spreading to other countries in the region “is not negligible.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-26/egypt-index-drops-most-since-may-after-protests-against-mubarak-government.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

13. Egypt stock market tumbles over 5 pct on protests

But Egyptians, weary of seeing their pay increases eclipsed by almost immediate hikes in food and commodity costs, argue that there has been little trickle down effect from the reforms launched in 2005 and largely guided by Mubarak's younger son, Gamal, who is seen as a likely successor to his father. Roughly 40 percent of the country's 80 million people live on or below the World Bank delineated poverty marker of $2 per day.

With presidential elections months away, Mubarak, who has yet to say whether he will run for a sixth term, has stressed recently that his administration was focusing its sights on improving the economic situation for the country's neediest citizens.

Officials, however, have grown concerned that Tunisia uprising would have a ripple effect in the region, panicking investors who would see parallels with Egypt — another Arab country ruled for decades by the same man where freedoms have been trumped by a desire from the regime to stay in power. Egypt's industry and commerce minister, Rachid Mohammed Rachid, who also currently oversees the investment ministry portfolio, said Sunday that the situation in Egypt is different than in Tunisia. But he conceded that concerns about Tunisia could affect investor interest in his nation.

The drop in the market Tuesday, however, offered indications that foreign investors were yet to be frightened off.

Hanafi, the broker, said most of the selling was on the part of Egyptians while foreign investors were seen bargain hunting.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iH6Q6Enb4D279SI_jQEsajiuDcvw?docId=af84b137ce354298a55675e15a643a5c

For what it's worth.

[Ghost Dog]

16. Scavengers beginning to circle, sure. n/t

[aquart]

112. Thanks. That's interesting.

They think Mubarak will stay, then?

[Tansy_Gold]

21. "A thousand words" Xpost from TBF

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x276536





Tansy's comment:

This is the evidence that the US is not -- not YET -- a third world country. When you see protests like this in New York and Chicago and Houston and Philadelphia, Wichita and Kenosha and Wheeling and Louisville, Phoenix and Reno and Boise and Miami, Atlanta and Tacoma and Denver and Akron.

We may be headed in that direction. Certainly we are not moving toward greater economic equality and security, so one assumes we are declining. But the safety net built into the huge "middle class" of America between ~1940 and ~1980 has not yet been dismantled. It is torn but not yet tattered.

We will take to the streets only when there is nowhere else to go, and we can't just watch it on the TV.



TG, TT

[Loge23]

51. Contagion

We can be happy for that fact (not yet Third world), even as we watch the simmering volcano of unrest belching ominous smoke signals from afar. It may be comforting somewhat that it's "just" Tunisia and Egypt so far, but let's not forget the European protests that, IMO, may not be over yet. If the EU breaks up, as many believe is inevitable, we may indeed see a surge of nationalistic uprisings by those who are left behind - and that's a lot of folks, here also.
I think we're still too splintered in this country to mount any significant civil disobedience, but we shall see. You're right though, we're not getting any better as a whole.

[AnneD]

56. Why do you think....

they are beefing up HS, TSA, and the VIPR units. They are building all those large detention compounds and doing all of that tactical crowd control research.

They are trying to make us an obedient population, but I know it will back fire in their faces. I base this on history, Native American history, and the philosophical thoughts and ramblings of Russell Means among others.

No, I am not being paranoid but I here to tell you, "Welcome to the American Reservation Brother".

[DemReadingDU]

76. and implementing rules concerning withdrawals from financial accounts

There will come a time when people are going to want to withdraw their money form their financial accounts, whether it be savings accounts, money market mutual funds, IRAs/401Ks, pensions, whatever. But there have been rules implemented (January 2010) that says accounts can be frozen indefinitely and withdrawals may not be allowed. Although, IMO, I think there will be limits to the amount that will be able to be withdrawn. Do these financial institutions want to see 7 billion global people stampeding against the banksters with guns, pitchforks and ropes?


edit to add zerohedge postings

1/3/10 This Is The Government: Your Legal Right To Redeem Your Money Market Account Has Been Denied
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/government-your-legal-right-redeem-your-money-market-account-has-been-denied

1/27/10 Suspending Money Market Redemptions Is Now Legal; SEC Approves New Money Market Regulation In 4-1 Vote
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/suspending-money-market-redemptions-now-legel-sec-approves-new-money-market-regulation-4-1-v

[AnneD]

91. An honest banker....

government, etc would not need to pull that bull shit. That is what regimes do when they know their time is short and they are beginning to lose control. My friend that left Iran told me all kinds of stories about their leaving and all the things that went on with the banks and gold and silver. I see way to many parallels for it to be a coinky dink.

Mugambo better watch out, I am looking for his bunker.... Say we haven't heard from him in a while.

[AnneD]

98. Mugambo speaks.....

<snip>
So, since I was snowed in, I had a lot of time on my hands to think about, you know, things.

One of them was the realization that this is the year I turn 64, which reminded me of the Beatles tune that had the line "Will you still need me, will you still feed me, when I'm 64?"

For a moment, everything seeming so warm and cozy, and the thought crossed my mind to do some of that touchy-feely "bonding" crap that families "do" these days, based on, as far as I can tell, some whacko academic theorists and self-promoting hucksters I never heard of, based loosely on statistics that actually prove my point: Mean-spirited, hateful children are obviously spawn of the devil who deliberately make their fathers so crazy that the continual familial dysfunction finally results in barely-controlled rage and a secret thirst for revenge. QED, damn it! QED!

I mean, it's always something with kids! Always wanting me to go bankrupt by giving them money, instead of my using all of our money to buy as much gold, silver and oil as we can, as protection against the inevitable roaring inflation in prices that is guaranteed by the Federal Reserve creating so much excess money so that the federal government can borrow it and spend it to sustain an idiotic, bankrupted, suicidally-dysfunctional, cancerous, government-centric economy financed by the triple evils of a massively over-produced fiat currency, insane levels of fractional-reserve banking, and a federal government continually deficit-spending.

And if it is not "the money thing" with these kids, then it is them whining for me to drive them somewhere so that they can visit their stupid friends, or take them to some stupid after-school function, or to the mall, or go to some expensive emergency room complaining of some ailment that probably would have gone away in a few days or weeks by itself anyway, or maybe they would have just gotten used to it after a few months.

I say to them, in my defense, "I mean, consider that our incomes as not going up, but prices are, so something has to give!"

<snip>

more....

http://www.safehaven.com/article/19776/new-world-order-food-price-inflation-house-price-deflation

OK, I went over the limit....but should a sentence be considered a paragraph. I am giving him full credit here-it's not like I am GWB cribbing my autobiography. I mean if he really read that list of books they said he did-why was he as dense as tapioca... Oh but wait, he did get his Master's in business and banckrupted evey company /country he ever ran.

[Festivito]

2. Debt: 01/24/2011 14,062,239,904,820.69 (UP 2,102,945,354.18) (Mon, DOWN a little.)

(Good day.)
Another new containment.
(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)
= 9,415,046,930,068.41 + 4,647,192,974,752.28
DOWN 181,687,031.14 + UP 2,284,632,385.32

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 $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,213.23 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.64, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,213,792 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 $45,185.14.
A family of three owes $135,555.43. (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 9,337,838,772.19.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,536,487,140.53.
The average for the last 31 days would be 6,325,632,716.65.
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$/day.
There were 79 reports in 116 days of FY2011 averaging 6.34B$ per report, 4.32B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 727 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 18.7T$.
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)
01/24/2011 14,062,239,904,820.69 BHO (UP 3,435,362,855,907.61 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 +0,500,616,873,928.90 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,575,216,887,793.52 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/03/2011 -005,396,108,430.64 -- Mon
01/04/2011 -000,085,302,113.98 ----
01/05/2011 -000,029,576,179.10 ----
01/06/2011 -001,749,774,139.62 --
01/07/2011 +000,022,074,863.06 ------------*******
01/10/2011 -000,254,217,892.29 --- Mon
01/11/2011 +000,490,152,520.38 ------------********
01/12/2011 -000,273,054,954.79 ---
01/13/2011 -005,996,045,152.69 --
01/14/2011 +000,146,255,477.48 ------------********
01/18/2011 +038,613,327,669.01 ------------********** Tue
01/19/2011 +000,009,950,983.18 ------------******
01/20/2011 -000,687,286,291.06 ---
01/21/2011 -000,057,867,302.74 ----
01/24/2011 -000,181,687,031.14 --- Mon

24,570,842,025.06 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=4709558&mesg_id=4710259

[Festivito]

90. Debt: 01/25/2011 14,067,472,135,118.65 (UP 5,232,230,297.96) (Tue, UP a little.)

(Good day.)
Found bill on due date, off to pay, today.
(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)
= 9,415,106,119,260.54 + 4,652,366,015,858.11
UP 59,189,192.13 + UP 5,173,041,105.83

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,213.15 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.64, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,220,992 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 $45,200.91.
A family of three owes $135,602.73. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 9,151,220,205.18.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,710,894,817.13.
The average for the last 32 days would be 6,291,463,891.06.
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$/day.
There were 80 reports in 117 days of FY2011 averaging 6.32B$ per report, 4.32B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 726 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 18.6T$.
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)
01/25/2011 14,067,472,135,118.65 BHO (UP 3,440,595,086,205.57 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 +0,505,849,104,226.90 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,578,076,265,323.24 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/04/2011 -000,085,302,113.98 ----
01/05/2011 -000,029,576,179.10 ----
01/06/2011 -001,749,774,139.62 --
01/07/2011 +000,022,074,863.06 ------------*******
01/10/2011 -000,254,217,892.29 --- Mon
01/11/2011 +000,490,152,520.38 ------------********
01/12/2011 -000,273,054,954.79 ---
01/13/2011 -005,996,045,152.69 --
01/14/2011 +000,146,255,477.48 ------------********
01/18/2011 +038,613,327,669.01 ------------********** Tue
01/19/2011 +000,009,950,983.18 ------------******
01/20/2011 -000,687,286,291.06 ---
01/21/2011 -000,057,867,302.74 ----
01/24/2011 -000,181,687,031.14 --- Mon
01/25/2011 +000,059,189,192.13 ------------*******

30,026,139,647.83 Total of 15 above reports.

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

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

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4710918&mesg_id=4710929

[xchrom]

5. glad to see you back, pbd.

:hi:

[bentley]

7. delete

[bentley]

9. delete

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. Today's Reports - one awful one already in.

Jan 26 07:00 MBA Mortgage Purchase Index 01/21 -12.9% NA NA +5%
Jan 26 10:00 New Home Sales Dec 280K 300K 290K
Jan 26 10:30 Crude Inventories 01/22 NA NA 2.62M
Jan 26 14:15 FOMC Rate Decision Jan 0.25% 0.25% 0.25%

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm#ixzz1C8zMsEvs

[Pale Blue Dot]

10. Oil consolidates losses near $87 a barrel in Asia

BANGKOK – Oil prices hovered near $87 a barrel Wednesday in Asia, consolidating losses after falling more than 4 percent in less than a week on mixed economic news and the possibility of increased OPEC production.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was up 41 cents at $86.60 a barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.68 to settle at $86.19 on Tuesday.

Oil hasn't been below $87 since Dec.1. It has fallen more than 4 percent since Thursday, when it was approaching $92 a barrel. About half of the drop happened in the last two days.

One of the main reasons for the decline this week is comments on Monday by the Saudi oil minister, which many analysts and investors took to mean that Saudi Arabia, the world's biggest oil producer, thought oil had gotten too expensive and could threaten global economic growth. He seemed to imply that the Saudis and other members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries could raise production to bring down the price of oil.

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

I'm sure these price reductions will be passed to the pump real soon! :sarcasm:

[Pale Blue Dot]

11. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance Ahead of Fed Policy Statement

Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures rose, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may advance for a fourth day, on speculation the Federal Reserve will continue to support the recovery even as economic growth accelerates.

Keynote Systems Inc. surged after reporting earnings almost twice as high as analysts estimated. Juniper Networks Inc., the second-largest U.S. maker of networking equipment, climbed 2.9 percent in Germany after saying profitability will improve this year. Yahoo! Inc. dropped 1.6 percent after forecasting first- quarter revenue that missed projections.

March contracts on the S&P 500 gained 0.4 percent to 1,293 at 10:35 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures rose 0.3 percent to 11,954, while Nasdaq-100 Index futures climbed 0.3 percent to 2,309.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his fellow policy makers conclude a two-day meeting in Washington today, having given no indication of scaling back their plans to inject $600 billion of stimulus into the financial system.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aZojCqORxi24

[bentley]

14. Financial Crisis Was Avoidable, Inquiry Finds

WASHINGTON — The 2008 financial crisis was an “avoidable” disaster caused by widespread failures in government regulation, corporate mismanagement and heedless risk-taking by Wall Street, according to the conclusions of a federal inquiry.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/26/business/economy/26inquiry.html?_r=1&smid=tw-nytimesbusiness

[DemReadingDU]

15. Of course!

In hindsight, it is all so obvious.


and welcome to the SMW!
:hi:

[Tansy_Gold]

18. Not just in hindsight, of course, but the scary part is

that those of us -- on SMW as well as those voices out in the real world -- who predicted the collapse are saying the same thing again.

Of course it was avoidable. So is the next one. But it won't be avoided, and then, when it's too late, someone will scream "NO ONE COULD POSSIBLY HAVE IMAGINED!" and the stupids will believe it.



Tansy Gold, losing her optimism

[bentley]

33. Thanks..

I have been lurking for years. Thanks to SMW and WEE It was so obvious. I appreciate all of you for sharing your time and knowledge..:)

[rfranklin]

17. Oh, puuleeezh, it was those lazy welfare queens beating up on the bankers...

and making them write sub prime mortgages by the millions. Everyone knows that!

[Po_d Mainiac]

24. And the Billions they spent on K Street n/t

[AnneD]

92. No, really.....

those teachers working summer jobs and all those policemen working second and third jobs were a smoke screen. They made the bankers write the mortgages so they could sock away all that money in those plush union pensions. We'll show them-let's take away their pension.

[Po_d Mainiac]

22. more

Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission Slams Greenspan, Bernanke, Geithner, Paulson, Summers, SEC, Rating Agencies and Big Banks for Causing Crisis

http://www.washingtonsblog.com/

[Tansy_Gold]

25. + a brazillion n/t

[xchrom]

26. +1 -- the real 'news' -- both parties are to blame.

dems should take responsibility for themselves.

not gonna happen but they should.

[Po_d Mainiac]

52. Both have been bought n/t

[Fuddnik]

46. So, which peon do we drag out for the show trial?

Probably the temp clerk in the foreclosure fraud attorney's office. A real criminal mastermind.

[Po_d Mainiac]

50. What a Phoolish statement

It will never get past the mail room!

[AnneD]

57. Sssshhhhh.....

let sleeping dogs lie. The less said the better. Most long timers figured that out from the opening statement.

[Ghost Dog]

78. I suggest we shoot the bloggers

who blabbed.

Should be a great photo-session.

For the real culprits? Reclusion. Re-education. Eventual possible rehabilitation.

[Fuddnik]

82. Ah yes. The old Assange offensive.

Shoot the messenger, not the criminal.

Al Capone would be proud.

[SpiralHawk]

31. "Smirk." - xCommander AWOL & RepubiCronies

[Ghost Dog]

105. FlabberGormenghasted.

MK: This report if pretty good. It names names and states flatly that greed and ineptitude caused the crisis (that is still ongoing). Here’s the big question of the day; why are virtually none of the greedy and inept mentioned out of a job? What about revisiting all those instances of “not admitting guilt,” but paying a fine anyway be reopened and examined for remedies owed the public who have been robbed blind of hundreds of billions? Or how about those Wall St. bonuses? If it was all greed and ineptitude, surely no one should be getting a bonus for that? Or how about a disclaimer whenever Greenspan or Bernanke open their mouth explaining to the public that these guys have been found to be greedy and inept. But no, none of that is going to happen. Now consider that this crisis is a global crisis that has another key plank in its creation not mentioned in the report: globalization. And what’s left of what used to be called the ‘anti-globalization’ movement before 9/11 reframed the debate is now taking matters against these banks – into their own hands – in Reykjavik, Dublin, Athens, Tunise and Cairo. The people chartered these banks. And the people can disenfranchise them if they want.

/.. http://maxkeiser.com/2011/01/26/you-mean-it-wasnt-all-unpredictable-market-forces/

[Demeter]

27. Reforming Fannie and Freddie: A $6 Trillion Problem

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Issues/The-Economy/2011/01/23/Reforming-Fannie-and-Freddie-a-6-Trillion-Dollar-Problem.aspx

A
s the Obama administration struggles to draft a report to Congress on how best to overhaul Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, industry and public interest groups are promoting plans of their own for the two mortgage giants.

The proposals range from replacing Fannie and Freddie with new, chartered private firms to gradually shrinking and privatizing them. After the housing bubble burst, leading to the worst recession since the Depression, the government stepped in to secure the companies’ $6 trillion worth of U.S. mortgages in order to avoid an even worse financial calamity.

The Treasury faces a Jan. 31 deadline under the Dodd-Frank law to make recommendations on the future of Fannie and Freddie, although the Fiscal Times reported last week that they may miss the deadline because of sharp divisions within the administration. The stakes are high: Economic growth, return of private capital to the housing market, resilience in the event of future crises and continued consumer access to 30-year fixed-rate mortgages all hinge on the right strategy.

Most interested parties agree on the basic outline of a new structure that would divide the functions of Fannie and Freddie between government and the private sector in order to shift the mortgage securities market back to private investors while ensuring Americans' access to affordable housing and credit...

[tclambert]

106. That reminds me, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac stock shot up yesterday, and plummeted today.

Fannie (FNMA.OB) went from 0.47 to 0.62 (+32%), then down to 0.51.
Freddie (FMCC.OB) went from 0.50 to 0.67 (+34%), then down to 0.56.

Weird. No idea why.

[Demeter]

28. The Competition Myth By PAUL KRUGMAN MUST READ

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/24/opinion/24krugman.html?_r=2&hp

Meet the new buzzword, same as the old buzzword. In advance of the State of the Union, President Obama has telegraphed his main theme: competitiveness. The President’s Economic Recovery Advisory Board has been renamed the President’s Council on Jobs and Competitiveness. And in his Saturday radio address, the president declared that “We can out-compete any other nation on Earth.”

This may be smart politics. Arguably, Mr. Obama has enlisted an old cliché on behalf of a good cause, as a way to sell a much-needed increase in public investment to a public thoroughly indoctrinated in the view that government spending is a bad thing.

But let’s not kid ourselves: talking about “competitiveness” as a goal is fundamentally misleading. At best, it’s a misdiagnosis of our problems. At worst, it could lead to policies based on the false idea that what’s good for corporations is good for America.

About that misdiagnosis: What sense does it make to view our current woes as stemming from lack of competitiveness?

NONE WHATSOEVER, I'M AFRAID, DR. KRUGMAN!

[Demeter]

30. SOTU Obama: Muscular Defense of Social Security, Aligns with Wall St. on Exporting Jobs

http://www.alternet.org/story/149675/sotu%3A_obama_makes_a_muscular_defense_of_social_security%2C_but_aligns_with_wall_st._on_exporting_our_jobs

The president outlined more stimulus spending but also sent mixed signals about defending Medicare and Medicaid...Explicitly acknowledging disagreement with key recommendations made by his own bipartisan Fiscal Commission, Obama told the assembled members of Congress that it was necessary to "find a bipartisan solution to strengthen Social Security for future generations. And we must do it without putting at risk current retirees, the most vulnerable, or people with disabilities; without slashing benefits for future generations; and without subjecting Americans’ guaranteed retirement income to the whims of the stock market."

Obama's defenses of Social Security – along his willingness to outline plans for at least some new stimulus spending -- represents a victory of sorts for progressives who campaigned ardently in recent weeks to avert a sharp turn to the right by a president who was shaken by November, 2010, election setbacks for Democrats.

But, while Obama was strong on Social Security, and more supportive of public investment to create jobs than some had been anticipated, he sent such mixed signals about defending Medicare and Medicaid that the speech drew a rebuke from the American Association of Retired People...

[Demeter]

35. Real State of the Union -- the One President Obama Won't Speak to Tonight

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/448552/watch%3A_this_is_the_real_state_of_the_union_--_the_one_president_obama_won%27t_speak_to_tonight/#paragraph2

VIDEO EXPOSE AT LINK

[Demeter]

37. My Dark Twisted Fantasy: State of the Union Speech Channels “America: Violent to the Bone”

http://blogs.alternet.org/speakeasy/2011/01/25/my-dark-twisted-fantasy-barack-obamas-state-of-the-union-channels-america-violent-to-the-bone/

Does President Obama understand that if you continually stand in the center of the road you are going to inevitably get hit?

In lieu of writing a post that would fall down the Barack Obama State of the Union media rabbit hole, I offer the speech that I wish the President had given...The following is a dream…my dream and maybe yours. If President Obama gave a version of the following promo from Glen Ford and the Black Agenda Report it would be both high comedy and tragedy. The collective pundit classes would die of a stroke. And the Tea Party GOP and Democrats would have a moment of bipartisan unity as they grab the torches and run Obama out of town.

Either way, the result would be grand sport and entertainment.

Listen to America: Violent to the Bone or read it at your leisure SEE LINK

[Demeter]

63. Obama lays down challenge to business

Barack Obama challenged US business to sacrifice tax loopholes in exchange for the first reduction in the corporate tax rate in 25 years.

The president agreed to a revamp of the corporate tax structure to boost US competitiveness “without adding a dime to the deficit” in his annual State of the Union address.

Mr Obama believes the US must rise to the challenge of increasing global competition – including a China that now boasts the fastest computer in the world – in the same way the nation aimed for the moon under President John Kennedy.

“This is our generation’s Sputnik moment,” Mr Obama said in prepared remarks.

BS MOMENT, IS MORE LIKE IT

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/4RNQTT/72L320/Z87P0/HDVKQ9/EWH759/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=25

[Demeter]

77. Let's Face It, Obama Is NOT an Instrument of Change

He's a Hoover, not a Roosevelt. Mr. Status Quo will be ranked pretty low in the history books--if history books are still being printed in ten years....

[Demeter]

97. Hogwash, Mr. President By Robert Scheer

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27347.htm

...I had expected Barack Obama to be his eloquent self, appealing to our better nature, but instead he was mealy-mouthed in avoiding the tough choices that a leader should delineate in a time of trouble. He embraced clean air and a faster Internet while ignoring the depth of our economic pain and the Wall Street scoundrels who were responsible-understandably so, since they so prominently populate the highest reaches of his administration. He had the effrontery to condemn "a parade of lobbyists" for rigging government after he appointed the top Washington representative of JPMorgan Chase to be his new chief of staff.

The speech was a distraction from what seriously ails us: an unabated mortgage crisis, stubbornly high unemployment and a debt that spiraled out of control while the government wasted trillions making the bankers whole. Instead the president conveyed the insular optimism of his fat-cat associates: "We are poised for progress. Two years after the worst recession most of us have ever known, the stock market has come roaring back. Corporate profits are up. The economy is growing again." How convenient to ignore the fact that this bubble of prosperity, which has failed the tens of millions losing their homes and jobs, was floated by enormous government indebtedness now forcing deep cuts in social services including state financial aid for those better-educated students the president claims to be so concerned about.

His references to education provided a convenient scapegoat for the failure of the economy, rather than to blame the actions of the Wall Street hustlers to whom Obama is now sucking up. Yes, it is an obvious good to have better-educated students to compete with other economies, but that is hardly the issue of the moment when all of the world's economies are suffering grievous harm resulting from the irresponsible behavior of the best and the brightest here at home. It wasn't the students struggling at community colleges who came up with the financial gimmicks that produced the Great Recession, but rather the super-whiz-kid graduates of the top business and law schools.

What nonsense to insist that low public school test scores hobbled our economy when it was the highest-achieving graduates of our elite colleges who designed and sold the financial gimmicks that created this crisis. Indeed, some of the folks who once designed the phony mathematical formulas underwriting subprime mortgage-based derivatives won Nobel prizes for their effort. A pioneer in the securitization of mortgage debt, as well as exporting jobs abroad, was one Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of GE, whom Obama recently appointed to head his new job creation panel...

[Demeter]

103. Bill Bonner: Dreaming of a Balanced Budget

Well, the president gave a bum speech. Full of empty phrases. Hollow words. It was deep space for real ideas; there was nothing there...

And yet, he gave it so sincerely...you almost felt sorry for him. He would have made such a good college president or undertaker. Sad to see him waste his talents in politics.

We were disappointed, too, that he didn't use any of our ideas. Don't expect a balanced budget for this year...or any year of this president's administration. Instead, he'll add 75% to the nation's official national debt - three times more than all the presidents who came before him put together.

Now, that's an achievement. Something to be proud of. Something he can put on his tombstone.

Here Lies Barack H. Obama. America's 44th president.
He bankrupted the US government.


BONNER WANTS THE GOLD STANDARD BACK---$1500/OUNCE

[Tansy_Gold]

110. Everytime I see "SOTU" I think it's

STFU -- which is what it probably should be.



TG, TT

[Demeter]

111. You Took the Acronym Right Outta My Mouth

Except my version is "STFUO"!

[Demeter]

32. MORE KRUGMAN: Rich, but Poorer Than the Richest

http://www.truth-out.org/rich-poorer-than-richest67132

It seems that objectively rich people in the United States are feeling poor these days.

In an article published online on Jan. 11, Catherine Rampell, an economics editor at The New York Times, analyzed why Americans at or above the 90th percentile of income distribution do not feel particularly rich; many people in this group consider themselves to be, in fact, middle class. Ms. Rampell looked at data from the Tax Policy Center and found that for 95 percent of Americans, income distribution was relatively flat throughout 2010. At the top of the income scale, however, the inequality was much steeper.

Ms. Rampell’s answer as to why so many people in the top 10 percent don’t feel very wealthy: “Any Americans who are richer than this cohort are so much richer.”

....

Either way, the gap between the rich and the superrich in the United States has grown dramatically.

The net result is a society of winners as whiners. People who are not only doing fine but doing much better relative to the median nonetheless feel left behind...

[Hugin]

39. I keep tellin' ya it's because they're...

HOARDERS!

[tclambert]

109. Competition is at the core of our problems--the fact that there is no real competition.

Monopolies and cartels rule the corporate world. We need to break up the Too Big To Fails to allow real competition to work its magic.

But that's probably not what Obama means.

[Demeter]

29. A BIT OF HUMOR:

[Hugin]

38. and... There's THIS!ii!!one!

Hahaha! :rofl:

Ayn Rand Collected Social Security!

Honestly, this makes my decade! LOL!

(Thanks to lame54 for the X-post from GD.)

[Demeter]

41. She was a Greedy, Crazy Elitist---Not Stupid

[Hugin]

44. The hypocrisy is breathtaking.

Don't you think?

[Ghost Dog]

83. Hypocrisy is for nobodies.

Not for superhumans.

:(

[Demeter]

40. QUOTES

"Once a government is committed to the principle of silencing the voice of opposition, it has only one way to go, and that is down the path of increasingly repressive measures, until it becomes a source of terror to all its citizens and creates a country where everyone lives in fear."


-- Harry S. Truman - (1884-1972), 33rd US President

AND MIGHT I ADD: THE VOICES OF REASON, THE REALITY-BASED CROWD?

[Fuddnik]

42. Memories from winters past. THE LEGEND!

His Royal Fuddliness. The black one was Stoli.

[AnneD]

58. The ghost....

of pets past. How long has it been since the passing. And where in the heck was it snowing friend.

[Fuddnik]

81. He went in Oct. 2009.

Stoli has been gone almost 3 years.

All of that snow was in my yard in Cleveland, probably around 2000 some time.

[AnneD]

95. Funny what you remember.....

seems like yesterday. I still remember mine vividly too.

My little Rascal is really showing his age this year. Might not be with us much longer. I can't keep weight on him, I know he has become blind in one eye, lost a few teeth and is sleeping more. He is a Chihuahua mix and he has not fussed to get out of his sweater this year, even though it has not been too cold here. The Westie and my NOLA cat are fine though.

[Demeter]

34. Peter Peterson's Budget Ball DEAN BAKER

http://www.truth-out.org/peter-petersons-budget-ball67095

O.K. folks, it looks like the whole country is now playing Peter Peterson's budget ball. For those not familiar with him, Peterson is a Wall Street investment banker. He has made billions of dollars through his dealings and government subsidies, and now he is using much of this money to accomplish a lifelong quest, gutting Social Security and Medicare.

Toward this end, he has set up a fake news service (the "Fiscal Times"); he's funded scary, anti-Social Security documentaries; sponsored a set of rigged public forums (America Speaks) and even paid for the construction of a high school curriculum to indoctrinate school children. According to some accounts, he is now the largest employer in the DC area after the Pentagon.

The way Peterson's budget game works is that you get some deficit or debt target. This is against a backdrop where the baseline projections show the deficits going through the roof in 10-20 years. The reason for the exploding deficit is the projection of exploding health care costs. The US would be looking at massive budget surpluses if it had the same per person health care costs as any other wealthy country.

Under the rules of Peterson's budget ball, you are not allowed to do anything about rising health care costs. In fact, reform of the private health care system was explicitly ruled out as an option at the Peterson-funded America Speaks forums....

[xchrom]

43. +1

[Demeter]

36. We Can't Let the Banksters Walk Away from Their Crimes

http://www.alternet.org/story/149670/we_can%27t_let_the_banksters_walk_away_from_their_crimes

Although the financial crisis that swept the world may have started on Wall Street, it has brought down governments and shredded economic security worldwide...resulting in the loss of millions of jobs and homes as businesses collapse, foreclosures grow, credit tightens and communities are devastated.

Estimates of the damage run into the trillions.

The Pew Economic Policy Group reports the average U.S. household lost $66,000 in stock holdings and $30,000 in real estate values from June 2008 through March 2009 due to the upheaval in world markets. This brings us close to $100,000 per family...

[Fuddnik]

45. We can and we will.

Sorry for the pessimism. On second thought, no I'm not. That's the reality.

They might find a couple of low level scapegoats for a perp walk and a show trial, but in the end, it will be a Martha Stewart rerun.

The sorry truth is that the really big crooks are sitting in high positions of power. They're not going to investigate or prosecute themselves. We don't go after the Cheney's, Rumsfelds, or the Ashcrofts. We go after the Bradley Mannings and the Martha Stewarts.

[DemReadingDU]

48. +++

[Demeter]

73. I can see things getting to the point where they can't walk away

nor even run---but it won't be an organized, legal kind of retribution.

[alterfurz]

108. same as it ever was

Laws are like spiders' webs which, if anything small and weak falls into them they ensnare it, but the large and powerful break through and escape. -- Solon, ca. 600 B.C.E.

[Demeter]

93. BofA's Countrywide sued, accused of massive fraud

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70O7X820110125

Bank of America Corp's Countrywide mortgage unit has been sued by investors claiming they were victimized in a "massive fraud" when they bought mortgage-backed securities.

The lawsuit was filed on Monday in a New York state court by 12 plaintiffs including the TIAA-CREF fund family, New York Life Insurance Co and Dexia Holdings Inc.

According to the complaint, the investors bought hundreds of millions of dollars of Countrywide securities from 2005 to 2007 that they thought were "conservative, low-risk investments."

The investors said Countrywide misrepresented the securities' safety in offering documents and elsewhere, and compromised their investments by ignoring its underwriting guidelines.

As a result, the complaint said, most of the securities now carry "junk" credit ratings rather than the "triple-A" ratings they once had, resulting in "significant losses."

The plaintiffs want compensatory and punitive damages.

Bank of America spokeswoman Shirley Norton said in a statement that the lender would review the lawsuit, "but on first glance these sound like large, sophisticated investors who now want to blame someone for the fact that the declining economy caused their investment to lose value."!

[DemReadingDU]

47. Neil Barofsky says future bailouts appear more likely

1/25/11 Watchdog says future bailouts appear more likely

A government official says the financial overhaul enacted last summer won't deliver on its promise to end bailouts. Special Inspector General Neil Barofsky says in a report released Tuesday that recent comments made by Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner and other top regulators suggest the government would rescue banks if one of them threatened the broader financial system. Barofsky, who has authority to oversee the government's $700 billion rescue of banks after the last crisis, is scheduled to testify Wednesday before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform. Barofsky says the Treasury Department might recoup all of the bailout money disbursed since 2008. But he criticized the agency's efforts to help Americans avoid foreclosure. Those mortgage-relief programs were funded through the bailout.

http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9KVKIVO1.htm

1/25/11 “too big to fail” has not yet been solved

In a new quarterly report to Congress, bailout watchdog Neil Barofsky warns that the problem of “too big to fail” has not yet been solved, even with the Wall Street reform law signed last summer. “The continued existence of institutions that are “too big to fail” — an undeniable byproduct of former Secretary Paulson and Secretary Geithner’s use of TARP to assure the markets that during a time of crisis that they would not let such institutions fail — is a recipe for disaster,” Barofsky says. “These institutions and their leaders are incentivized to engage in precisely the sort of behavior that could trigger the next financial crisis, thus perpetuating a doomsday cycle of booms, busts, and bailouts.”
more...
http://blogs.abcnews.com/thenote/2011/01/bailout-watchdog-barofsky-sounds-too-big-to-fail-warning.html

[DemReadingDU]

49. Gap Between Rich And Poor Named 8th Wonder Of The World

From The Onion


PARIS—At a press conference Tuesday, the World Heritage Committee officially recognized the Gap Between Rich and Poor as the "Eighth Wonder of the World," describing the global wealth divide as the "most colossal and enduring of mankind's creations."

"Of all the epic structures the human race has devised, none is more staggering or imposing than the Gap Between Rich and Poor," committee chairman Henri Jean-Baptiste said. "It is a tremendous, millennia-old expanse that fills us with both wonder and humility."

"And thanks to careful maintenance through the ages, this massive relic survives intact, instilling in each new generation a sense of awe," Jean- Baptiste added.

The vast chasm of wealth, which stretches across most of the inhabited world, attracts millions of stunned observers each year, many of whom have found its immensity too overwhelming even to contemplate. By far the largest man-made structure on Earth, it is readily visible from locations as far-flung as Eastern Europe, China, Africa, and Brazil, as well as all 50 U.S. states.

"The original Seven Wonders of the World pale in comparison to this," said World Heritage Committee member Edwin MacAlister, standing in front of a striking photograph of the Gap Between Rich and Poor taken from above Mexico City. "It is an astounding feat of human engineering that eclipses the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids of Giza, and perhaps even the Great Racial Divide."

more...
http://www.theonion.com/articles/gap-between-rich-and-poor-named-8th-wonder-of-the,18914/

[Ghost Dog]

84. Too cool. w/t

http://www.economist.com/printedition/

The Economist dixit:

... The debate about inequality is an old one. But in the wake of a financial crisis that is widely blamed on Wall Street fat cats, from which the richest have rebounded fastest, and ahead of public-spending cuts that will hit the poor hardest, its tone has changed. For much of the past two decades the prevailing view among the world’s policy elite—call it the Davos consensus—was that inequality itself was less important than ensuring that those at the bottom were becoming better-off. Tony Blair, a Labour predecessor of Mr Cameron’s, embodied that attitude. His New Labour party was famously said to be “intensely relaxed” about the millions earned by David Beckham (a footballer) provided that child poverty fell.

Now the focus is on inequality itself, and its supposedly pernicious consequences. One strand of argument, epitomised by “The Spirit Level”, a book that caused a stir in Britain, suggests that countries with greater disparities of income fare worse on all manner of social indicators, from higher murder rates to lower life expectancy. A second thread revisits the macroeconomic consequences of income disparities. Several prominent economists now reckon that inequality was a root cause of the financial crisis: politicians tried to counter the growing gap between rich and poor by encouraging poorer folk to take on more credit (see article). A third argument is that inequality perverts politics, with Wall Street’s influence in Washington often cited as exhibit A of the unhealthy clout of a plutocratic elite.

If these arguments are right, there might be a case for some fairly radical responses, especially a greater focus on redistribution. In fact, much of the recent hand-wringing about widening inequality is based on sloppy thinking. The old Davos consensus of boosting growth and combating poverty is still a better guide to good policy. Rather than a sweeping assault on inequality itself, policymakers would do better to take on the market distortions that often lie behind the most galling income gaps, and which also impede economic growth.

/... http://www.economist.com/node/17959590?story_id=17959590

:smoke:

[Roland99]

53. Euro woes threat to world growth: Roubini

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/euro-woes-still-threat-to-world-growth-roubini-2011-01-26

DAVOS, Switzerland (MarketWatch) — The euro zone’s ongoing sovereign-debt crisis remains a major threat to the global economy, but overall risks are balanced as emerging markets continue to lead growth, economist Nouriel Roubini told an audience at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting on Wednesday.

In the same panel discussion, Zhu Min, special adviser to the International Monetary Fund and former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said he worried that U.S. stimulus measures focused on demand ran the risk of pushing the world back to the “old normal” of the United States serving as the world’s consumer, hampering efforts to shift China’s economy from a model focused on exports to a model that incorporates more domestic consumption.

... euro zone’s problems, along with high U.S. unemployment and concerns about the finances of U.S. states and localities and the municipal bond market, are among risks backing the “half-empty" label, he said.

Food and commodity price inflation, which is a negative for consumption, particularly in emerging economies, is another concern, he said.

[DemReadingDU]

54. Paul Farrell: The Super Rich at Davos: 40 years of disaster

1/25/11 The Super Rich at Davos: 40 years of disaster Paul Farrell
Commentary: Income gap peaking; crash, revolution dead ahead

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — Davos. Swiss Alps. Annual meeting of the notorious World Economic Forum. Invitation-only club for the Super Rich and friends since 1971. Feel-good mantra: “Committed to improving the state of the world.”

But they’re failing. In 40 years the Haves got richer. Have-nots got shafted. Something’s terribly wrong. When it comes to global economics, Davos is a disaster.

Why? Inside Davos is a secret society, a Conspiracy of the Super Rich, more than half the 2,500 attending the event. They’ve got trillions. And it’s not enough. Right now, many are cruising to Davos at 50,000 feet, enjoying caviar, foie gras, filet mignon and Dom Perignon in the comfort of their tax-exempt Gulfstream 5 jets.

For them a Davos invitation is not just a status symbol, not just proof of their power. An invitation confirms the illusion that their Conspiracy of the Super Rich is the main engine driving global economic progress the past 40 years … so they think they deserve all the wealth they’ve accumulated, including their $60 million jets.

Now step into a parallel reality: You’re flying coach to Davos. Can’t sleep. Watch an iPad movie. Old favorite: “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” James Bond is also flying to the Blofeld Institute high in the Alps. Blofeld, publicly known for cutting-edge research. But behind-the-scenes, a diabolical plot is hatching.

At night, after a formal dinner, Bond discovers Blofeld is secretly brainwashing 10 beautiful ladies, Angels of Death, to deliver a deadly toxin across the world on his command, a biological WMD. His strategy: Hold the world hostage, demanding more fame, fortune and absolute power.

Yes folks, at some deep level the Davos Conspiracy of the Super Rich parallels Blofeld’s attempt to take over the world. Both symbols of a dying capitalism.

more...
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-super-rich-at-davos-40-years-of-disaster-2011-01-25

[Demeter]

60. +1M

[Hotler]

62. k&r n/t

[Demeter]

64. Gorman defends M Stanley bonus deferrals

James Gorman has defended his decision to defer a larger portion of bonuses for Morgan Stanley employees than ever before, telling staff the bank had to strike a balance between their interests and those of shareholders.

“These are tough, competitive, demanding jobs – you work incredibly hard, you need a lot of skills to get into a place like this, and we want you to be successful,” the bank’s chief executive said, according to a person who attended a companywide quarterly forum at the bank’s New York headquarters on Monday.
Read more >>

http://link.ft.com/r/0QSDPP/S3D4PX/204L2/PRWJU5/A7UV2R/N9/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=25

SOUNDS LIKE THE TROOPS ARE AFRAID MORGAN STANLEY WILL GO BELLY UP BEFORE THEY COLLECT....

[Demeter]

66. NOT EVEN PEANUTS--POCKET LINT!

Merrill Lynch to settle SEC trading probe
The bank agrees to pay $10m to settle allegations that its proprietary traders misused client information for their own strategies

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/C58HIK/Z87P0/UUIPOP/FXB5PU/SN/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=26

[Demeter]

67. Banks win victory over US loan book proposals

Banks have won an unexpected victory after the US accounting standards setter backtracked on proposals to force them to value their loan books according to market prices

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/C58HIK/Z87P0/UUIPOP/72N0QF/SN/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=26

EVERYBODY ELSE LOSES, THOUGH

[Demeter]

68. BlackRock doubles profits with asset growth

The world’s largest money manager more than doubled earnings in the fourth quarter as rallying markets lifted assets under management

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/C58HIK/Z87P0/UUIPOP/269BKI/SN/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=26

WE HAVE A WINNER IN THE QE2 RISING TIDE SWEEPSTAKES!

[Demeter]

69. US house prices fall for fifth month

US home prices fell for the fifth consecutive month in November, dropping to the lowest level since June 2009 and raising fears that a double dip in the housing market could deal a blow to the economic recovery

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/8P1R88/JIA038/A5Q0X/C58ME7/WLKPI1/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=26

GETCHER DOUBLE DIPS HERE!

[Roland99]

72. New-home sales rise to 329,000 in December

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-new-home-sales-reach-329000-rate-in-december-2011-01-26

Sales of new single-family homes rose in December to an annual rate of 329,000, the highest level seen since April, when a federal tax credit gave the housing market a temporary boost, government data showed Wednesday.

...

By region, about 85% of the new homes sales in December took place in the South and the West.

Despite the increase last month, sales of new homes were still 7.6% lower compared to December 2009. And for the full year, new-home sales came in more than 14% lower compared to 2009 — 321,000 vs. 375,000, according to the government data.

[Demeter]

70. SEC’s $500m office expansion plan probed

The US Securities and Exchange Commission’s inspector general has launched an investigation into the agency’s estimated $500m in new office leases in Washington to determine if the expenses are justified

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/QM42II/YHSXZO/FDFZE/6VU83V/QF7YK8/28/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=25

MAKES ONE GO HMMM....FOR THE NEW LADY FROM GOLDMAN SACHS 5TH AVENUE?

[Roland99]

71. 12:10 - Is that a PIL in your pocket or are you just glad to see me?

Dow 11,989 +12 +0.10%
Nasdaq 2,737 +18 +0.65%
S&P 500 1,296 +5 +0.41%
GlobalDow 2,165 +7 +0.30%
Gold 1,327 -5 -0.41%
Oil 86.86 +0.67 +0.78%

flirting with 12K.

[Demeter]

74. VIDEO STORE SELECTIONS

The American economy in the 1990s described itself as "Goldilocks" - just the right size - when in fact is was "Tinkerbelle," and one day the clapping stops.

Are We Headed for a Soviet-Style Collapse? - Dmitry Orlov

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27320.htm

Why We're At War? : George Bush Is Not The Problem John Perkins

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article15830.htm

[Demeter]

75. Is America Too Corrupt to Keep Up? By David Sirota

WE'RE #1! WE'RE #1!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27321.htm

A sovereign nation investing its wealth in its domestic economy seems like a no-brainer, especially during a global recession. But in this crazy age of American politics, even that has become a controversial notion.

This is the subtext of a dispute that simmered beneath the pomp and circumstance of this week’s U.S.-China summit. As The New York Times previously reported, the Obama administration is calling on the World Trade Organization to use its power to halt the Chinese government’s wind-energy fund specifically because the money is “contingent on … manufacturers using parts made in China rather than foreign-made components.” The program, along with the Chinese regime’s broader domestic procurement requirements for wind farms, have helped the Chinese wind industry capture almost half of the global market for turbines.

Setting aside the bilateral wrangling over WTO arcana, China’s industrial policy success carries a basic lesson: When a nation couples public spending with incentives that encourage domestic corporate investment, an economy tends to grow its own wealth-building industries. That’s simple enough to understand, right?

[Roland99]

80. As Bankers Kill Off Mark-To-Market For Good, Former FDIC Chairman Gloats

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/bankers-kill-mark-market-good-former-fdic-chairman-gloats

By now everyone is aware that following tremendous pressure by the banker lobby, which knows too well the Ponzi jig will be immediately up if Quantitative Easing's TBTF Madoffs are forced to disclose the true value of their worthless assets (yes, true value comes from asset cash flow generation, not from diluting money), the FASB decided to stop its push for a return to MTM. From the WSJ: "Accounting rule makers, bowing to an intense lobbying campaign, took a key step Tuesday to reverse a controversial proposal that would have required banks to use market prices rather than cost in order to value the loans they hold on their balance sheets." Transparency? What moron would propose that in an economy that is so obviously healthy and surging. After all, the only way to validate a surging stock market, er, economic recovery, is through bullshit numbers pulled out of the ass. That way they can pretend to tell us the truth, we can pretend to believe them, and everyone will frontrun the Fed who pretends not to be buying stocks. And it would have been great if it ended there. Alas no. Following the announcement, none other than Bill Isaac, current Chairman of LECG, but far more importantly, former Chairman of the FDIC under Ronald Reagan decided to send out a gloating email to his entire address book explaining what a moral victory it is to kill the MTM monster that is the sole reason for the near collapse of capitalism in 2008, and how truly wonderful it is for everyone to live in perpetual lack of knowledge of what the true value of any company's assets really is. Unfortunately, this just goes to show what the existing, extremely bribed, leaders of the nation's most vital organizations really think.

And before we present Isaac's note, here is some more on how the banker lobby scored one more over the US peasantry, from the WSJ:

The Financial Accounting Standards Board preliminary vote would allow banks to continue valuing many of their loans at amortized cost, an adjusted version of their original cost, as they do now. That backtracks on an FASB proposal last May to expand fair value to bank loans. The reversal is a victory for the banking industry, which says it would have hurt lending and unfairly reduce banks' book value. Supporters of the FASB fair-value proposal say it would have improved transparency and unmasked potential weakness at banks.

The FASB indicated the overwhelmingly negative reaction to its proposal from companies and investors played a large role in prompting the board to change its mind. The board received more than 2,800 comment letters on its fair-value proposal, most of them opposed to the move.

FASB changed direction on how to value loans because of "strong signals from the board's constituents," FASB Chairman Leslie Seidman said during a webcast Tuesday. She also noted that some loans—including those that banks trade actively instead of retaining in order to collect the payments on them—will have to be valued at market prices.

[DemReadingDU]

89. FDIC deficit of $8 billion backing more than $5.4 trillion in insured bank deposits

Uh oh


1/26/11

And then there is the current state of the Deposit Insurance Fund — which as of the end of the third quarter had a deficit of $8 billion backing more than $5.4 trillion in insured bank deposits. It seems to me that from a systemic risk standpoint, if anyone should be getting the benefit of excess capital/earnings in the banking sector it should first be the FDIC.

more...
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-banking-system-needs-more-capital-now-2011-01-26

[Roland99]

94. but..but...but...Fannie and Freddie and Dodd and Frank and all that....

[TalkingDog]

85. JPMorgan Chase demanded lender repurchase bad mortgages while resisting calls to buy back loans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-25/jpmorgan-refused-mortgage-repurchases-it-also-sought-ambac-filing-claims.html

Mortgage-bond investors and other insurers, including Allstate Corp., Pacific Investment Management Co. and MBIA Inc., have accused loan sellers or bond underwriters of sometimes misrepresenting the quality of the underlying debt enough to trigger contractual or legal provisions requiring repurchases. So-called mortgage putbacks may cost banks and lenders as much as $90 billion, JPMorgan bond analysts said in an October report.

Bear Stearns sought on March 11, 2008 -- just weeks before the collapsing company agreed to be bought by JPMorgan -- to have a lender buy back mortgages in bonds insured by Syncora Guarantee Inc., according to the filing. Bear Stearns said the mortgages failed to meet promised standards of quality.

At the same time, Bear Stearns was denying demands from Syncora that it repurchase the loans, even though the insurer cited the same flaws, according to the filing. Bear Stearns had bought the loans and packaged them into bonds to sell to investors.

[TalkingDog]

86. E-mails Suggest Bear Stearns Cheated Clients Out of Billions: selling them "a sack of shit"

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/01/e-mails-suggest-bear-stearns-cheated-clients-out-of-billions/70128/


Former Bear Stearns mortgage executives who now run mortgage divisions of Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, and Ally Financial have been accused of cheating and defrauding investors through the mortgage securities they created and sold while at Bear. According to e-mails and internal audits, JPMorgan had known about this fraud since the spring of 2008, but hid it from the public eye through legal maneuvering. Last week a lawsuit filed in 2008 by mortgage insurer Ambac Assurance Corp against Bear Stearns and JPMorgan was unsealed. The lawsuit's supporting e-mails, going back as far as 2005, highlight Bear traders telling their superiors they were selling investors like Ambac a "sack of shit."



News of internal whistleblowers coming forward from Bear's mortgage servicing division, EMC, was first reported by The Atlantic in May of last year. Ex-EMC analysts admitted they were sometimes told to falsify loan-level performance data provided to the ratings agencies who blessed Bear's billion-dollar deals. But according to depositions and documents in the Ambac lawsuit, Bear's misdeeds went even deeper. They say senior traders under Tom Marano, who was a Senior Managing Director and Global Head of Mortgages for Bear and is now CEO of Ally's mortgage operations, were pocketing cash that should have gone to securities holders after Bear had already sold them bonds and moved the loans off its books.

[TalkingDog]

87. Bank of England chief Mervyn King: standard of living to plunge at fastest rate since 1920s

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8282354/Bank-of-England-chief-Mervyn-King-standard-of-living-to-plunge-at-fastest-rate-since-1920s.html

But there were fears that the country was poised to slip back into recession, defined as two successive quarters of negative growth. Economists said the situation was “an absolute disaster”.

The economic gloom deepened this morning as figures showed that mortgage lending by the major banks dived to an 11-and-a-half-year low during December.

[Ghost Dog]

88. Inflation to soar and wages to fall: Mervyn King's message of economic gloom

Bank of England Governor Mervyn King warned that grim GDP figures are a stark reminder that Britain has a tough year ahead.

He said inflation would rise to between 4% and 5% over the next few months, concluding a gloomy day in which it was revealed that the economy shrank unexpectedly in the fourth quarter.

King warned that rising unemployment and declines in real earnings will hit spending in the private sector, with the public sector hammered by government spending cuts.

/... http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard-business/article-23917411-inflation-to-soar-and-wages-to-fall-mervyn-kings-message-of-gloom.do

... whither UK, thither US?

[TalkingDog]

101. UK US

Probably.

We might lag, but no doubt we are tethered together.

[Roland99]

96. CBO: Social Security to run permanent deficits

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110126/ap_on_re_us/us_social_security

WASHINGTON – New congressional projections show Social Security running permanent annual deficits unless lawmakers act to shore up the massive retirement and disability program.

The Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday that Social Security will pay out $45 billion more in benefits this year than it will collect in payroll taxes, further straining the nation's finances. The deficits will continue until the Social Security trust funds are eventually drained, in about 2037.

Previously, CBO said Social Security would start running permanent deficits in 2016. In the short term, Social Security is suffering from a weak economy that has payroll taxes lagging and applications for benefits rising. In the long term, Social Security will be strained by the growing number of baby boomers retiring and applying for benefits.

[Fuddnik]

107. Good time for a payroll tax holiday, huh?

[Demeter]

99. EXPOSE: NGOs in Haiti: "The Handmaidens of Imperial Domination"

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27351.htm

...Today, there are still over 810,000 people, essentially quake refugees, trapped in 1,150 tent camps in and around Port-au-Prince. Only 15 percent of the promised transitional housing has been built. Astonishingly only 5 percent of the rubble has been removed. And there has been next to no reconstruction...

The international NGOs' record is almost as abysmal. To be clear, some have done invaluable work, especially Partners in Health. But on the whole, the NGOs have failed the Haitian people. The NGOs have not spent the enormous sums of money they collected. The Red Cross, for instance, garnered $479 million in donations for Haiti, but has only spent or committed $245 million to projects. The NGOs do not coordinate their relief efforts. They are engaged in capitalist competition with one another for funds and are pre-occupied with branding their separate efforts so that they can advertise their "successes" to their donors. As a result, the NGOs provide at best provide a chaotic jumble of services to quake victims. At worst, they are sitting on piles of cash...They are part and parcel of what Naomi Klein has called disaster capitalism. International NGOs are really businesses and big ones at that. There are about 50,000 international NGOs that compete for about $10 billion in funding from the International Financial Institutions, the imperial powers, and local governments. Just like corporations, they have chief executive officers, boards made up of mainly capitalists, a middle class professional staff, and then down at the bottom poorly paid laborers in their countries of operation.

...Today, Haiti is a neocolony of the United States. The U.S. has effective state power through the UN occupation. It controls its economy through IHRC. It dominates almost every aspect of civil society through its NGO raj. For all these reasons former OAS representative Ricardo Seitenfus said the UN was "transforming the Haitians into prisoners on their own island."

[Demeter]

100. American Lose Faith in Pretty Much All Big Organizations, Especially Banks and Corporations

GEE, I WONDER WHY?


http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/01/american-lose-faith-in-pretty-much-all-big-organizations-especially-banks-and-corporations.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

The Financial Times reports on an international poll by the consulting firm Edelman to be presented at Davos on Wednesday on public trust in various types of institutions. The interesting finding is that Americans are becoming less confident in all types of organizations, which is contrary to the trend in most other nations, where perceptions are rising.

And perhaps most important, the poll was of people most likely to have a favorable view of the current power structure, namely, 5000 well schooled, wealthy and “well informed” participants (does “well informed” mean they read the oracles of orthodox opinion, like the Economist and the New York Times?). If the people who are likely to be beneficiaries of the status quo aren’t too happy with it, imagine what the average Joe thinks.

[Demeter]

104. Federal Reserve makes cautious growth upgrade

The Federal Reserve made a cautious upgrade to its growth outlook and kept its asset purchase programme at $600bn after its first unanimous vote since 2009.

The most important change to its statement was a reference to rising commodity prices. “Although commodity prices have risen, longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable, and measures of underlying inflation have been trending downward,” said the rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee.


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/0QSDPP/72LU80/OFBYP/3O3CV3/V1KTXI/50/t?a1=2011&a2=1&a3=26