STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, February 14, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday February 14, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON February 11, 2011

Dow 12,273.26 +43.97 (+0.36%)
Nasdaq 2,809.44 +18.99 (+0.68%)
S&P 500 1,329.15 +7.28 (+0.55%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.64 -.00 (-0.06%)
30-Year Bond 4.70 +0.00 (+0.02%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
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Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
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Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
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Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. No reports today. nt

[hamerfan]

8. No news is...

Good news!
Kicking it up a notch.
:kick:

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil hovers below $86 as traders eye inflation

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered below $86 a barrel Monday in Asia as traders eye inflation and consumer demand numbers for signs higher commodity prices could be undermining global economic growth.

Benchmark crude for March delivery was down 5 cents at $85.53 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $1.15 to settle at $85.58 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude gained 69 cents to $101.63 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Investors will be watching closely the latest figures on U.S. inflation and retail sales this week for signs that higher food and fuel prices could be hurting consumption. China, the world's second-largest economy, reports inflation data Tuesday.

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

[Roland99]

26. Gas prices ain't dropping accordingly, though.

Still over $3.00/gal here

[Demeter]

28. Gas Actually rose here with the latest declines in the spot market

[happyslug]

33. Delay in pricing, common in any economic field.

The General Rule when it comes to oil is any price Increase takes four weeks to go from the Oil field to your local Gasoline Station, but Eight weeks for any DECREASE to make the same trip. The rationale for this is simple, no one wants to take a loss. Thus if the cost of replacement is higher then what you have in stock, you raise the price to pay for the higher cost replacements. If the cost is lower, the tendency is to keep the price up so to cover the cost of whatever is being replaced.

Economists refer to this phenomena as "Price Stickiness".

For more on Price Stickiness see:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sticky_%28economics%29

[Roland99]

35. Except that, in practice, increases at the pump often show up within *hours*, not weeks.

[AnneD]

68. It is that hourly change.....

that makes me doubt the economic argument.

[Demeter]

45. Gas pump prices highest ever for this time of year

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Gas-pump-prices-highest-ever-apf-2969241295.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

U.S. gasoline prices have jumped to the highest levels ever for the middle of February. The national average hit $3.127 per gallon on Friday, about 50 cents above a year ago...The price is about 6 percent higher than on this date in 2008. The next day, pump prices began a string of 32 gains over 34 days. They rose 39 percent over five months, eventually hitting an all-time high of $4.11 per gallon in July.

Although gas prices are expected to rise, most experts aren't expecting a reprise of 2008, when the price spike forced many drivers to join car pools and trade in gas-guzzling SUVs for fuel-efficient cars. "It would be a mistake to think we're going to have that all over again," said OPIS chief oil analyst Tom Kloza. He says oil demand will slide in the U.S. by May, as refineries slow fuel production while they switch to summer blends of gas. World oil consumption also may not rise as much as expected.

And Kloza contends that oil traders are more cautious now, after getting burned when oil plunged to $33 per barrel in early 2009, just six months after hitting $147 per barrel. Even the most bullish traders no longer think they can chase commodity prices higher without risk, he says. Still, Kloza expects gas to reach $3.50 to $3.75 per gallon this spring because of the usual run-up in prices ahead of the summer driving season. That would mean an increase of 12 to 20 percent from the current level.

Gasoline climbed almost 10 percent since November as oil prices rose because of factors including stronger demand from China, a frigid winter in the U.S. and tension in Egypt, Kloza said.

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Fluctuate; Wal-Mart Falls, GE Advances

Feb. 14 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. stock-index futures fluctuated between gains and losses after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index and Dow Jones Industrial Average climbed to the highest levels since June 2008.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s biggest retailer, fell 1.4 percent in Europe after JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut its recommendation on the shares. General Electric Co. advanced after agreeing to buy the well-support division of John Wood Group Plc.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March slipped 0.1 percent to 1,326.4 at 10:05 a.m. in London. Dow average futures were little changed at 12,241 and futures on the Nasdaq-100 Index dropped less than 0.1 percent to 2,377.5.

The S&P 500 has advanced 5.7 percent this year as better- than-forecast economic data and company earnings boosted confidence in the global recovery, while the Federal Reserve continued its program of buying $600 billion in Treasuries.

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. Japan Economy Shrinks, First Contraction in 5 Quarters

apan's economy shrank slightly in the final quarter of 2010 but analysts expect a recovery this year as stronger exports to China and other parts of fast-growing Asia offset persistently weak domestic demand.

Gross domestic product (GDP) shrank 0.3 percent in October-December from the previous quarter, slightly less than a 0.5 percent fall expected by markets but still the first contraction in five quarters.

That translated into an annualised contraction of 1.1 percent, far worse than U.S. growth of 3.2 percent in the same quarter, although analysts blame the weakness mostly on a temporary hit to consumption after the September expiry of government incentives to buy low-emission cars.

"The data confirms that the economy entered a lull on a downturn in private consumption, but recent monthly economic indicators such as output and exports show it is unlikely that the lull will be prolonged," said Yoshiki Shinke, senior economist at Dai-ichi Life Research Institute.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/41567014

[xchrom]

5. greatest. -- Happy Valentines to every one! nt

[Roland99]

31. Happy Valentine's Day to you.

Had a great day yesterday w/my GF. Got to eat an omelette out with her (in the next phase of our diet and we can eat more food now...omg...CHEESE! how much I've missed CHEESE!)

Stopping by a store tonight to get some more charms for her bracelet that's she's been dying to have and has no clue I'm getting them for her. I think I know what mine is going to be due to an errant phone call that I got that was supposed to go to her but I'm playing dumb so I won't ruin the surprise. :)



Oh, btw...lost 24lbs since Jan. 9 and it's staying off! woo hooo!

[xchrom]

34. ...

:woohoo: good for you on those 24lbs!

it's really hard to do.

and excellent you do the charm bracelet and charms thing -- i think that's a very sweet thing for you to do.

[Demeter]

46. May Cupid Bring You All What You Most Want

and thanks to my secret admirers for the hearts!

[xchrom]

49. he did!

i have a craigslist hook-up tonight!

:rofl:

[Demeter]

52. Okay...Time for an Intervention, People!

[xchrom]

54. sometimes i think i am just too much Teh Gay for my own good.

:rofl:

[Tansy_Gold]

6. K & R and Happy Valentine's Day

I will have secret hearts to hand out . . . . . . eventually.




TG, TT

[Roland99]

37. As will I

Probably tomorrow...better late than never, eh? :)

[Tansy_Gold]

56. I will when

someone gets around to giving me hearts credit for the donation made last week.

Until then, I'm not even posting here any more.




TG, pissed

[Roland99]

59. ugh...gotta love bureaucracy.

[Tansy_Gold]

77. , , , , ,

Thank you for your donation!
From: Skinner
Date: Feb-08-11 06:27 AM
Dear Tansy_Gold,

Thank you so much for your donation to Democratic Underground. This is
a completely independent website, and we depend on the donations of
members like you to help cover our expenses.

Your donor star has been updated, and will appear next to your
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respond to this private message.

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David Allen
DU Administrator


Do you see "I donated to the first quarter fund drive" or whatever that blurb is next to my name? No, you don't. I have sent these people not one, not two, not three, but FIVE fucking emails to get my fucking hearts to give to my fucking friends.



TG. fucking mad

[Hugin]

53. I enjoy this holiday.

:)

[SarahB]

7. Happy Valentine's Day, PBD!

I love you with all my heart! :loveya:

[Fuddnik]

9. Happy VD to all.

That's Valentines Day, Tansy.

[AnneD]

70. And bologna breath...

and nose piercings to you too....well that's what I think of when puppies lick my face. :evilgrin:

[Fuddnik]

80. What about when they stick a cold nose up your butt

While you're having sex?

[AnneD]

81. LOL LOL LOL....

:spray: the children are not allowed in the bedroom at private moments.

[Demeter]

10. Paulson Denies Culpability in Crisis, Yet Even Bear Turned Down His Deals

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/paulson-denies-culpability-in-crisis-yet-even-bear-turned-down-his-deals.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

The release of the first batch of FCIC interview reveals interesting finger-pointing among some of the major players. We’ve argued (and in ECONNED, provided a considerable amount of supporting analysis) that the subprime shorts drove the demand for bad mortgages. There is no other explanation for the explosion of demand for “spready,” meaning bad, mortgages that started in the third quarter of 2005...many conventional analyses even now tend to miss the dramatic deterioration in underwriting standards. The use of low and no doc loans rose rapidly from 2004 onward, and these pools were particularly favored by the subprime shorts. Moreover, we now know how some aspects of the underwriting were abused, for instance, by the use of inflated appraisals, so analyzing historical data will not provide a full measure of the fall in underwriting standards.

Yet digging into the comfortable narrative of the subprime shorts as heros, or at least harmless, would reveal yet another viper’s nest of bad practices and abuses. The officialdom seems determined to push onward with its “look forward, not back” stance, which means the perps will be able to engage in similar types of looting when the opportunity next presents itself.

[Demeter]

11. GE to pay $2.8bn for John Wood unit

General Electric, the largest US industrial group by market capitalisation, will pay $2.8bn for the well-support division of John Wood Group, the UK oil services company, continuing its drive to expand in the energy industry by acquisition


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/GK2KIV/7ZY85/263C2I/72PBC9/7V/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=14

[plumbob]

92. That's amazing. The Wood Group turned the largest wellhead rebuilder

into nothing just a few years after buying them. They're now about 90% smaller and not turning a profit.

They were making about 70% after tax on gross sales before acquisition.

Oh, well, screw up, move up!

[Demeter]

12. US woos sovereign funds in AIG sale

Sovereign wealth funds are set to be enticed to buy a large portion of the authorities’ sale of up to $20bn-worth of shares in the insurer, according to people close to the situation

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/GK2KIV/7ZY85/263C2I/IY07KG/7V/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=14


ARE THE US AUTHORITIES OUT OF THEIR MINDS? EVIDENTLY THE REST OF THE WORLD ISN'T.

[Fuddnik]

19. They're already buying our turnpikes and parking meters.

Looking for a few water supplies, and sewage treatment facilities. What's a little old insurance company?

This is how an empire dies. It sells itself off to it's former subjects.

[Demeter]

21. I Suspect It's a WORTHLESS Insurance Company

Besides a city could ban parking meters, or a state build a new turnpike.

But NOBODY is going to keep funding a black hole once it's sent off to the greater fools.

[MattSh]

60. Hey, they have the jobs already!

Why not formalize the arrangement and own everything else too?

[Po_d Mainiac]

91. This is how an empire dies. It sells itself off to it's former subjects.

Ain't that the truth!!

[Demeter]

13. Eli Lilly funds aim to share research costs

The company is seeking to raise up to $750m through three funds that will share drug development costs and potential benefits with venture capitalists and external researchers

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/GK2KIV/7ZY85/263C2I/NSZXQ8/7V/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=14

WELL, THAT'S A NOVEL IDEA! PALM THE COSTS OFF ON GREATER FOOLS. I SEE GREAT ROOM FOR FRAUD, DECEIT AND CHEATING.

[Demeter]

14. GSK looks to academia for new drugs

The UK pharma group is cutting down on costly, yet often unproductive, in-house research to develop new medications

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/6NPSBB/72H2D2/4VXHZ/TPILM1/GK6AOJ/D5/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=14

[Demeter]

15. What do you want to bet that NO INNOVATION Occurs

until government funds go into basic research again, and the companies are allowed to profit from it by bringing publicly funded drugs to market, as before?

[Fuddnik]

22. The University of Florida used to have a large clinical trial program.

Mainly working with Wyeth. Then Pfizer bought Wyeth, and guess who doesn't do clinical trials anymore. Pfizer also discontinued a lot of Wyeth's products that didn't make astronomical profits, but were still essential. Things like coral snake anti-venin and such.

[xchrom]

24. +1

[DemReadingDU]

36. There really aren't any extra government funds

The budget is about $3.7 trillion and there is appx $2 trillion in taxes. Big gap.

U.S. Debt Clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/

We're speeding towards the brick wall, and there's no avoiding the crash.
:(

[AnneD]

71. Just wait til the dollar ....

is no longer the world currency. That is when we actually hit the wall.

[hamerfan]

82. This! n/t

[Demeter]

16. In Re Agard - Another MERS Defeat

http://www.foreclosurehamlet.org/profiles/blogs/in-re-agard-another-mers

Here is a link to an Opinion and Memorandum from the Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of New York which was originally posted on Matt Weidner's blog. The opinion is 37 pages and the judge painstakingly analyzes the arguments presented by MERS that is authorized to assign the mortgage. It should be noted that MERS opened itself up to this adverse ruling by interjecting itself in the bankruptcy proceeding. I doubt MERS will ever do that again. From the opinion:


The documentation provided to the Court in this case (and the Court has no reason to believe that any further documentation exists), is stunningly inconsistent
with what the parties define as the facts of this case.

However, even if MERS had assigned the Mortgage acting on behalf of the entity which held the Note at the time of the assignment, this Court finds that MERS did not have authority, as “nominee” or agent, to assign the Mortgage absent a showing that it was given specific written directions by its principal.


This Court finds that MERS’s theory that it can act as a “common agent” for undisclosed principals is not support by the law. The relationship between MERS and its lenders and its distortion of its alleged “nominee” status was appropriately described by the Supreme Court of Kansas as follows: “The parties appear to have defined the word in much the same way that the blind men of Indian legend described an elephant – their description depended on which part they were touching at any given time.” Landmark Nat’l Bank v. Kesler , 216 P.3d 158, 166-67 (Kan. 2010).

Conclusion

For all of the foregoing reasons, the Court finds that the Motion in this case should be granted. However, in all future cases which involve MERS, the moving party must show that it validly holds both the mortgage and the underlying note in order to prove standing before this Court.

SUPPORTING LINKS AT LINK

[Demeter]

17. Accountancy has forfeited its right to call itself a profession

http://www.qfinance.com/blogs/ian-fraser/2011/01/24/accountancy-sacrificed-its-right-to-call-itself-a-profession-long-ago

*

Accounting and fraud | Accountancy sacrificed its right to call itself a 'profession' long ago Ian Fraser

Stewart Hamilton, Professor Emeritus at the IMD business school in Lausanne, wrote a prescient article about the accountancy profession 22 years ago.

Writing towards the end of a decade that saw "Big Bang" and other deregulatory measures reshape the financial and corporate landscape on both sides of the Atlantic, Hamilton warned that the accountancy profession had embarked on a dangerous course.

In contrast to other professions such as medicine and the law, Hamilton pointed out that the accountancy profession lacked the touchstone of either service or duty to a "higher authority".

Writing in CA Student, published by the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland in December 1988, Hamilton warned that the absence of such a criterion meant the advent of greater competition between firms and other commercial pressures placed accountants at risk of becoming"little more than a skilled financial mechanics." I reproduce the bulk of Hamilton's original piece below: SEE LINK

[Demeter]

18. Andrew Jackson on Repealing a Central Bank

http://us1.institutionalriskanalytics.com/pub/IRAMain.asp

Below is an excerpt from the full text of the veto message to Congress of July 10, 1832 from President Andrew Jackson which effectively terminated the charter of the Second Bank of the United States. Taken from the Yale University Library, this declaration of independence from a government-sponsored central bank by America’s first popularly elected president is among the great libertarian statements in American history.

President Jackson's Veto Message
Regarding the Bank of the United States

WASHINGTON, July 10, 1832.

To the Senate.

The bill "to modify and continue" the act entitled "An act to incorporate the subscribers to the Bank of the United States " was presented to me on the 4th July instant. Having considered it with that solemn regard to the principles of the Constitution which the day was calculated to inspire, and come to the conclusion that it ought not to become a law, I herewith return it to the Senate, in which it originated, with my objections.

A bank of the United States is in many respects convenient for the Government and useful to the people. Entertaining this opinion, and deeply impressed with the belief that some of the powers and privileges possessed by the existing bank are unauthorized by the Constitution, subversive of the rights of the States, and dangerous to the liberties of the people, I felt it my duty at an early period of my Administration to call the attention of Congress to the practicability of organizing an institution combining all its advantages and obviating these objections. I sincerely regret that in the act before me I can perceive none of those modifications of the bank charter which are necessary, in my opinion, to make it compatible with justice, with sound policy, or with the Constitution of our country.

The present corporate body, denominated the president, directors, and company of the Bank of the United States, will have existed at the time this act is intended to take effect twenty years. It enjoys an exclusive privilege of banking under the authority of the General Government, a monopoly of its favor and support, and, as a necessary consequence, almost a monopoly of the foreign and domestic exchange. The powers, privileges, and favors bestowed upon it in the original charter, by increasing the value of the stock far above its par value, operated as a gratuity of many millions to the stockholders.

An apology may be found for the failure to guard against this result in the consideration that the effect of the original act of incorporation could not be certainly foreseen at the time of its passage. The act before me proposes another gratuity to the holders of the same stock, and in many cases to the same men, of at least seven millions more. This donation finds no apology in any uncertainty as to the effect of the act. On all hands it is conceded that its passage will increase at least so or 30 per cent more the market price of the stock, subject to the payment of the annuity of $200,000 per year secured by the act, thus adding in a moment one-fourth to its par value. It is not our own citizens only who are to receive the bounty of our Government. More than eight millions of the stock of this bank are held by foreigners. By this act the American Republic proposes virtually to make them a present of some millions of dollars. For these gratuities to foreigners and to some of our own opulent citizens the act secures no equivalent whatever. They are the certain gains of the present stockholders under the operation of this act, after making full allowance for the payment of the bonus.

Every monopoly and all exclusive privileges are granted at the expense of the public, which ought to receive a fair equivalent. The many millions which this act proposes to bestow on the stockholders of the existing bank must come directly or indirectly out of the earnings of the American people. It is due to them, therefore, if their Government sell monopolies and exclusive privileges, that they should at least exact for them as much as they are worth in open market. The value of the monopoly in this case may be correctly ascertained. The twenty-eight millions of stock would probably be at an advance of 50 per cent, and command in market at least $42,000,000, subject to the payment of the present bonus. The present value of the monopoly, therefore, is $17,000,000, and this the act proposes to sell for three millions, payable in fifteen annual installments of $200,000 each.

It is not conceivable how the present stockholders can have any claim to the special favor of the Government. The present corporation has enjoyed its monopoly during the period stipulated in the original contract. If we must have such a corporation, why should not the Government sell out the whole stock and thus secure to the people the full market value of the privileges granted? Why should not Congress create and sell twenty-eight millions of stock, incorporating the purchasers with all the powers and privileges secured in this act and putting the premium upon the sales into the Treasury?

But this act does not permit competition in the purchase of this monopoly. It seems to be predicated on the erroneous idea that the present stockholders have a prescriptive right not only to the favor but to the bounty of Government. It appears that more than a fourth part of the stock is held by foreigners and the residue is held by a few hundred of our own citizens, chiefly of the richest class. For their benefit does this act exclude the whole American people from competition in the purchase of this monopoly and dispose of it for many millions less than it is worth. This seems the less excusable because some of our citizens not now stockholders petitioned that the door of competition might be opened, and offered to take a charter on terms much more favorable to the Government and country.

But this proposition, although made by men whose aggregate wealth is believed to be equal to all the private stock in the existing bank, has been set aside, and the bounty of our Government is proposed to be again bestowed on the few who have been fortunate enough to secure the stock and at this moment wield the power of the existing institution. I can not perceive the justice or policy of this course. If our Government must sell monopolies, it would seem to be its duty to take nothing less than their full value, and if gratuities must be made once in fifteen or twenty years let them not be bestowed on the subjects of a foreign government nor upon a designated and favored class of men in our own country. It is but justice and good policy, as far as the nature of the case will admit, to confine our favors to our own fellow-citizens, and let each in his turn enjoy an opportunity to profit by our bounty. In the bearings of the act before me upon these points I find ample reasons why it should not become a law.

It has been urged as an argument in favor of rechartering the present bank that the calling in its loans will produce great embarrassment and distress. The time allowed to close its concerns is ample, and if it has been well managed its pressure will be light, and heavy only in case its management has been bad. If, therefore, it shall produce distress, the fault will be its own, and it would furnish a reason against renewing a power which has been so obviously abused. But will there ever be a time when this reason will be less powerful? To acknowledge its force is to admit that the bank ought to be perpetual, and as a consequence the present stockholders and those inheriting their rights as successors be established a privileged order, clothed both with great political power and enjoying immense pecuniary advantages from their connection with the Government.

The modifications of the existing charter proposed by this act are not such, in my view, as make it consistent with the rights of the States or the liberties of the people. The qualification of the right of the bank to hold real estate, the limitation of its power to establish branches, and the power reserved to Congress to forbid the circulation of small notes are restrictions comparatively of little value or importance. All the objectionable principles of the existing corporation, and most of its odious features, are retained without alleviation.

The fourth section provides " that the notes or bills of the said corporation, although the same be, on the faces thereof, respectively made payable at one place only, shall nevertheless be received by the said corporation at the bank or at any of the offices of discount and deposit thereof if tendered in liquidation or payment of any balance or balances due to said corporation or to such office of discount and deposit from any other incorporated bank." This provision secures to the State banks a legal privilege in the Bank of the United States which is withheld from all private citizens. If a State bank in Philadelphia owe the Bank of the United States and have notes issued by the St. Louis branch, it can pay the debt with those notes, but if a merchant, mechanic, or other private citizen be in like circumstances he can not by law pay his debt with those notes, but must sell them at a discount or send them to St. Louis to be cashed. This boon conceded to the State banks, though not unjust in itself, is most odious because it does not measure out equal justice to the high and the low, the rich and the poor. To the extent of its practical effect it is a bond of union among the banking establishments of the nation, erecting them into an interest separate from that of the people, and its necessary tendency is to unite the Bank of the United States and the State banks in any measure which may be thought conducive to their common interest.

The ninth section of the act recognizes principles of worse tendency than any provision of the present charter.

It enacts that " the cashier of the bank shall annually report to the Secretary of the Treasury the names of all stockholders who are not resident citizens of the United States, and on the application of the treasurer of any State shall make out and transmit to such treasurer a list of stockholders residing in or citizens of such State, with the amount of stock owned by each." Although this provision, taken in connection with a decision of the Supreme Court, surrenders, by its silence, the right of the States to tax the banking institutions created by this corporation under the name of branches throughout the Union, it is evidently intended to be construed as a concession of their right to tax that portion of the stock which may be held by their own citizens and residents. In this light, if the act becomes a law, it will be understood by the States, who will probably proceed to levy a tax equal to that paid upon the stock of banks incorporated by themselves. In some States that tax is now I per cent, either on the capital or on the shares, and that may be assumed as the amount which all citizen or resident stockholders would be taxed under the operation of this act. As it is only the stock held in the States and not that employed within them which would be subject to taxation, and as the names of foreign stockholders are not to be reported to the treasurers of the States, it is obvious that the stock held by them will be exempt from this burden. Their annual profits will therefore be I per cent more than the citizen stockholders, and as the annual dividends of the bank may be safely estimated at 7 per cent, the stock will be worth 10 or 15 per cent more to foreigners than to citizens of the United States. To appreciate the effects which this state of things will produce, we must take a brief review of the operations and present condition of the Bank of the United States.

By documents submitted to Congress at the present session it appears that on the 1st of January, 1832, of the twenty-eight millions of private stock in the corporation, $8,405,500 were held by foreigners, mostly of Great Britain. The amount of stock held in the nine Western and Southwestern States is $140,200, and in the four Southern States is $5,623,100, and in the Middle and Eastern States is about $13,522,000. The profits of the bank in 1831, as shown in a statement to Congress, were about $3,455,598; of this there accrued in the nine western States about $1,640,048; in the four Southern States about $352,507, and in the Middle and Eastern States about $1,463,041. As little stock is held in the West, it is obvious that the debt of the people in that section to the bank is principally a debt to the Eastern and foreign stockholders; that the interest they pay upon it is carried into the Eastern States and into Europe, and that it is a burden upon their industry and a drain of their currency, which no country can bear without inconvenience and occasional distress. To meet this burden and equalize the exchange operations of the bank, the amount of specie drawn from those States through its branches within the last two years, as shown by its official reports, was about $6,000,000. More than half a million of this amount does not stop in the Eastern States, but passes on to Europe to pay the dividends of the foreign stockholders. In the principle of taxation recognized by this act the Western States find no adequate compensation for this perpetual burden on their industry and drain of their currency. The branch bank at Mobile made last year $95,140, yet under the provisions of this act the State of Alabama can raise no revenue from these profitable operations, because not a share of the stock is held by any of her citizens. Mississippi and Missouri are in the same condition in relation to the branches at Natchez and St. Louis, and such, in a greater or less degree, is the condition of every Western State. The tendency of the plan of taxation which this act proposes will be to place the whole United States in the same relation to foreign countries which the Western States now bear to the Eastern. When by a tax on resident stockholders the stock of this bank is made worth 10 or 15 per cent more to foreigners than to residents, most of it will inevitably leave the country.

Thus will this provision in its practical effect deprive the Eastern as well as the Southern and Western States of the means of raising a revenue from the extension of business and great profits of this institution. It will make the American people debtors to aliens in nearly the whole amount due to this bank, and send across the Atlantic from two to five millions of specie every year to pay the bank dividends.

In another of its bearings this provision is fraught with danger. Of the twenty-five directors of this bank five are chosen by the Government and twenty by the citizen stockholders. From all voice in these elections the foreign stockholders are excluded by the charter. In proportion, therefore, as the stock is transferred to foreign holders the extent of suffrage in the choice of directors is curtailed. Already is almost a third of the stock in foreign hands and not represented in elections. It is constantly passing out of the country, and this act will accelerate its departure. The entire control of the institution would necessarily fall into the hands of a few citizen stockholders, and the ease with which the object would be accomplished would be a temptation to designing men to secure that control in their own hands by monopolizing the remaining stock. There is danger that a president and directors would then be able to elect themselves from year to year, and without responsibility or control manage the whole concerns of the bank during the existence of its charter. It is easy to conceive that great evils to our country and its institutions millet flow from such a concentration of power in the hands of a few men irresponsible to the people.

Is there no danger to our liberty and independence in a bank that in its nature has so little to bind it to our country? The president of the bank has told us that most of the State banks exist by its forbearance. Should its influence become concentered, as it may under the operation of such an act as this, in the hands of a self-elected directory whose interests are identified with those of the foreign stockholders, will there not be cause to tremble for the purity of our elections in peace and for the independence of our country in war? Their power would be great whenever they might choose to exert it; but if this monopoly were regularly renewed every fifteen or twenty years on terms proposed by themselves, they might seldom in peace put forth their strength to influence elections or control the affairs of the nation. But if any private citizen or public functionary should interpose to curtail its powers or prevent a renewal of its privileges, it can not be doubted that he would be made to feel its influence.

Should the stock of the bank principally pass into the hands of the subjects of a foreign country, and we should unfortunately become involved in a war with that country, what would be our condition? Of the course which would be pursued by a bank almost wholly owned by the subjects of a foreign power, and managed by those whose interests, if not affections, would run in the same direction there can be no doubt. All its operations within would be in aid of the hostile fleets and armies without. Controlling our currency, receiving our public moneys, and holding thousands of our citizens in dependence, it would be more formidable and dangerous than the naval and military power of the enemy.

If we must have a bank with private stockholders, every consideration of sound policy and every impulse of American feeling admonishes that it should be purely American. Its stockholders should be composed exclusively of our own citizens, who at least ought to be friendly to our Government and willing to support it in times of difficulty and danger. So abundant is domestic capital that competition in subscribing for the stock of local banks has recently led almost to riots. To a bank exclusively of American stockholders, possessing the powers and privileges granted by this act, subscriptions for $200,000,000 could be readily obtained. Instead of sending abroad the stock of the bank in which the Government must deposit its funds and on which it must rely to sustain its credit in times of emergency, it would rather seem to be expedient to prohibit its sale to aliens under penalty of absolute forfeiture.

It is maintained by the advocates of the bank that its constitutionality in all its features ought to be considered as settled by precedent and by the decision of the Supreme Court. To this conclusion I can not assent. Mere precedent is a dangerous source of authority, and should not be regarded as deciding questions of constitutional power except where the acquiescence of the people and the States can be considered as well settled. So far from this being the case on this subject, an argument against the bank might be based on precedent. One Congress, in 1791, decided in favor of a bank; another, in 1811, decided against it. One Congress, in 1815, decided against a bank; another, in 1816, decided in its favor. Prior to the present Congress, therefore, the precedents drawn from that source were equal. If we resort to the States, the expressions of legislative, judicial, and executive opinions against the bank have been probably to those in its favor as 4 to 1. There is nothing in precedent, therefore, which, if its authority were admitted, ought to weigh in favor of the act before me.

If the opinion of the Supreme Court covered the whole ground of this act, it ought not to control the coordinate authorities of this Government. The Congress, the Executive, and the Court must each for itself be guided by its own opinion of the Constitution. Each public officer who takes an oath to support the Constitution swears that he will support it as he understands it, and not as it is understood by others. It is as much the duty of the House of Representatives, of the Senate, and of the President to decide upon the constitutionality of any bill or resolution which may be presented to them for passage or approval as it is of the supreme judges when it may be brought before them for judicial decision. The opinion of the judges has no more authority over Congress than the opinion of Congress has over the judges, and on that point the President is independent of both. The authority of the Supreme Court must not, therefore, be permitted to control the Congress or the Executive when acting in their legislative capacities, but to have only such influence as the force of their reasoning may deserve.

But in the case relied upon the Supreme Court have not decided that all the features of this corporation are compatible with the Constitution. It is true that the court have said that the law incorporating the bank is a constitutional exercise of power by Congress; but taking into view the whole opinion of the court and the reasoning by which they have come to that conclusion, I understand them to have decided that inasmuch as a bank is an appropriate means for carrying into effect the enumerated powers of the General Government, therefore the law incorporating it is in accordance with that provision of the Constitution which declares that Congress shall have power " to make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for carrying those powers into execution. " Having satisfied themselves that the word "necessary" in the Constitution means needful," "requisite," "essential," "conducive to," and that "a bank" is a convenient, a useful, and essential instrument in the prosecution of the Government's "fiscal operations," they conclude that to "use one must be within the discretion of Congress " and that " the act to incorporate the Bank of the United States is a law made in pursuance of the Constitution;" "but, " say they, "where the law is not prohibited and is really calculated to effect any of the objects intrusted to the Government, to undertake here to inquire into the degree of its necessity would be to pass the line which circumscribes the judicial department and to tread on legislative ground."

The principle here affirmed is that the "degree of its necessity," involving all the details of a banking institution, is a question exclusively for legislative consideration. A bank is constitutional, but it is the province of the Legislature to determine whether this or that particular power, privilege, or exemption is "necessary and proper" to enable the bank to discharge its duties to the Government, and from their decision there is no appeal to the courts of justice. Under the decision of the Supreme Court, therefore, it is the exclusive province of Congress and the President to decide whether the particular features of this act are necessary and proper in order to enable the bank to perform conveniently and efficiently the public duties assigned to it as a fiscal agent, and therefore constitutional, or unnecessary and improper, and therefore unconstitutional.

Without commenting on the general principle affirmed by the Supreme Court, let us examine the details of this act in accordance with the rule of legislative action which they have laid down. It will be found that many of the powers and privileges conferred on it can not be supposed necessary for the purpose for which it is proposed to be created, and are not, therefore, means necessary to attain the end in view, and consequently not justified by the Constitution.

The original act of incorporation, section 2I, enacts "that no other bank shall be established by any future law of the United States during the continuance of the corporation hereby created, for which the faith of the United States is hereby pledged: Provided, Congress may renew existing charters for banks within the District of Columbia not increasing the capital thereof, and may also establish any other bank or banks in said District with capitals not exceeding in the whole $6,000,000 if they shall deem it expedient." This provision is continued in force by the act before me fifteen years from the ad of March, 1836.

If Congress possessed the power to establish one bank, they had power to establish more than one if in their opinion two or more banks had been " necessary " to facilitate the execution of the powers delegated to them in the Constitution. If they possessed the power to establish a second bank, it was a power derived from the Constitution to be exercised from time to time, and at any time when the interests of the country or the emergencies of the Government might make it expedient. It was possessed by one Congress as well as another, and by all Congresses alike, and alike at every session. But the Congress of 1816 have taken it away from their successors for twenty years, and the Congress of 1832 proposes to abolish it for fifteen years more. It can not be "necessary" or "proper" for Congress to barter away or divest themselves of any of the powers-vested in them by the Constitution to be exercised for the public good. It is not " necessary " to the efficiency of the bank, nor is it "proper'' in relation to themselves and their successors. They may properly use the discretion vested in them, but they may not limit the discretion of their successors. This restriction on themselves and grant of a monopoly to the bank is therefore unconstitutional....

Experience should teach us wisdom. Most of the difficulties our Government now encounters and most of the dangers which impend over our Union have sprung from an abandonment of the legitimate objects of Government by our national legislation, and the adoption of such principles as are embodied in this act. Many of our rich men have not been content with equal protection and equal benefits, but have besought us to make them richer by act of Congress. By attempting to gratify their desires we have in the results of our legislation arrayed section against section, interest against interest, and man against man, in a fearful commotion which threatens to shake the foundations of our Union. It is time to pause in our career to review our principles, and if possible revive that devoted patriotism and spirit of compromise which distinguished the sages of the Revolution and the fathers of our Union. If we can not at once, in justice to interests vested under improvident legislation, make our Government what it ought to be, we can at least take a stand against all new grants of monopolies and exclusive privileges, against any prostitution of our Government to the advancement of the few at the expense of the many, and in favor of compromise and gradual reform in our code of laws and system of political economy.

I have now done my duty to my country. If sustained by my fellow citizens, I shall be grateful and happy; if not, I shall find in the motives which impel me ample grounds for contentment and peace. In the difficulties which surround us and the dangers which threaten our institutions there is cause for neither dismay nor alarm. For relief and deliverance let us firmly rely on that kind Providence which I am sure watches with peculiar care over the destinies of our Republic, and on the intelligence and wisdom of our countrymen. Through His abundant goodness and heir patriotic devotion our liberty and Union will be preserved.

ANDREW JACKSON

SOURCE:http://avalon.law.yale.edu/19th_century/ajveto01.asp

AT THE ORIGINAL LINK IS A GENERAL AND SPECIFIC INDICTMENT OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE WELL WORTH THE READING, BUT LENGTHY.

[Demeter]

20. Carlyle and the coming collapse in Asian Private Equity

http://brontecapital.blogspot.com/2011/02/guanxi-vs-analyst-carlyle-and-coming.html

Carlyle is a private equity firm known for employing senior political figures and using those connections to win deals - but also for their knowledge of how government functions. The list of famous employees is large and include:

George H W Bush
George W Bush
James Baker (former Bush Secretary of State)
Mack McLarty (former White House Chief of Staff under Clinton)
John Major (former British Prime Minister)
Anand Panyarachun (former Thailand Prime Minister)
Fidel Ramos (former Phillipine President)
Arthur Levitt (former SEC chair)

I could go on - the list is extensive.

Carlyle is conspiracy theorist's dream because with all of those famous and well connected people the company understandably has important and profitable investments in the defence establishment.

But in Carlyle’s defence - many of these people not only bring connections but they bring knowledge and understanding of what is important to government and the defence establishment. The first President Bush for instance was also the CIA director - he almost certainly knows what is important to the CIA and how to sell stuff to them - and he would know that without exploiting any connections. These people are hired for the connections and for their knowledge.

Carlyle has taken this way of doing business to Asia and has hired many important and well connected people in Asia. I listed a former Phillipine President and a former Thai Prime Minister. There are many more of these people in China - notably the children of party officials.



THERE IS MUCH MORE TO THIS ARTICLE--AN EXPLORATION OF THE CRONY CAPITALIST AT HOME AND ABROAD--ANOTHER WORTHY READ! BUT LONG.

[xchrom]

29. 'conspiracy' is a fire starter -- BUT -- dear lord god -- these people are

friends and neighbors and school chums and relatives, etc.

they don't have to 'conspire' -- they already agree.

[Demeter]

23. Obama's Pentagon cuts not what they seem

http://money.cnn.com/2011/02/11/news/economy/lawrence_korb_defense_obama_budget/index.htm

GO READ IT...I CAN'T EVEN BEAR TO QUOTE IT BRIEFLY

[Demeter]

25. At Last, Bernie Madoff Gives Back FRANK RICH

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/13/opinion/13rich.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&ref=general&src=me&adxnnlx=1297675319-fnFOm0ASOMnqkYazTTQmFw

...Madoff was a second-tier player. Some in the upper echelons of New York’s financial world, including in the business press, had never heard of him. His firm’s accountant operated out of a strip mall and didn’t bother with electronic statements. The billions that vaporized in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme amounted to a rounding error next to the eye-popping federal bailouts, including those pouring into too-big-to-fail banks wrecked by their own Ponzi schemes of securitization. The suffering he inflicted on his mostly well-heeled dupes was piddling next to the national devastation of an economy in free fall. In a December when a half-million Americans lost their jobs — a calamitous rate not seen since 1974 — the video of a voiceless, combative Madoff in a baseball cap, skirmishing with photographers outside his Upper East Side apartment house, soon lost its punch.

A month later Barack Obama would be inaugurated and declare “a new era of responsibility.” Now, another two years have passed, and while the economy is no longer in free fall, we’re still waiting for that era to arrive. What’s extraordinary is that Madoff, unlike such tarnished titans of the bubble as Rubin or Fuld or Prince, is very much at center stage, even as he rots in prison. Perhaps that’s because he’s the only headline figure of the crash who did go to prison.

His evil deeds, in their afterlife, are now serving as a recurring wave of financial body scans. Each new Madoff revelation sheds light on an entire culture that allowed far loftier flimflams than his to succeed — though the loftier culprits, unlike him, usually escaped with the proceeds. That financial culture largely remains in place today.

The prime mover in connecting Madoff’s low-tech, relatively low-yield scam to the big Wall Street picture is Irving H. Picard, the bankruptcy trustee pursuing loss claims for Madoff’s victims. Most Americans haven’t heard of Picard. But each day that he accelerates his pursuit of Madoff’s collaborators, he steps further into the vacuum of leadership left by others, including the Obama administration’s Department of Justice....

FRANK'S ON FIRE!

[Demeter]

27. The Escape Artist How Timothy Geithner survived.

http://www.tnr.com/article/economy/magazine/83176/timothy-geithner-treasury-secretary?passthru=YzQ3YzJiODdkOGQzZTMwZDRhNDljZjQ4NmIyYmIwZDE

Geithner’s fortunes only worsened after he was confirmed. On February 9, 2009, the president announced that his treasury secretary would present a detailed plan for solving the financial crisis the following day. The problem was that there was no detailed plan. When Geithner delivered a vague and unimpressive speech, the stock market shed nearly 400 points, sending investors and West Wing denizens into a panic. White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel accepted part of the blame for setting the treasury secretary up to fail, but, privately, he was alarmed. “Rahm’s thing is, can he put on a Sunday show and not have to clean it up on Monday? That was his test,” recalls a former White House aide. “Early on, Tim was not doing well.”

And yet, at the midway point of Barack Obama’s first term, Geithner is the lone remaining member of the president’s original economic team and arguably the administration’s second-most valued official. Indeed, that the White House was willing to let him face down Issa is only the latest sign of a rather remarkable transformation. (Issa ultimately blinked.) Geithner owns the economic portfolio with China and has been tasked with confronting Republicans over the nation’s debt limit. He has taken the lead on corporate tax reform and overhauling Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. With his former lieutenant, Gene Sperling, now running the National Economic Council, Geithner will no longer form part of the multiheaded “war cabinet” that included Sperling’s predecessor, Larry Summers. He is set to play the first-among-equals role of a traditional treasury secretary...

ANOTHER LENGTHY BUT VALUABLE COLUMN

[Demeter]

30. Egypt Government Crafts Stimulus Plan to Jump-Start `Sudden Stop' Economy

OR IN OTHER WORDS: "BACK TO WORK, SLAVES!"

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-13/egypt-government-crafts-stimulus-plan-to-jump-start-sudden-stop-economy.html

[bread_and_roses]

32. "Egypt crisis: Protests switch to demands on pay"

Stolen from jannyk in LBN

Egypt crisis: Protests switch to demands on pay

Fresh protests and strikes have flared in Egypt as demonstrators demand better pay and conditions from the country's new military rulers.

Bank, transport and tourism workers all demonstrated in Cairo after 18 days of protests succeeded in removing President Hosni Mubarak.

In a TV statement, the military urged all Egyptians to go back to work.

Earlier Cairo's Tahrir Square was cleared of protesters, but hundreds soon returned, joined by police

[Demeter]

43. Matt Stoller: The Egyptian Labor Uprising Against Rubinites

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/matt-stoller-the-egyptian-labor-uprising-against-rubinites.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Via Wikileaks, we learned that the son of the former President of Egypt, Gamal Mubarak, had an interesting conversation in 2009 with Senator Joe Lieberman on the banking crisis. Gamal is a key figure in the forces buffeting Egypt, global forces of labor arbitrage, torture, and financial corruption. Gamal believed that the bailouts of the banks weren’t big enough – “you need to inject even more money into the system than you have”. Gamal, a former investment banker trained at Bank of America, helped craft Egypt’s industrial policy earlier in the decade.

Our purpose is to improve Egyptians’ living standards. We have a three-pronged plan to achieve this: favoring Egypt’s insertion into the global economy, reducing the state’s role in the economy, and giving the private sector greater freedom.

Deregulation, globalization, and privatization. This should be a familiar American recipe, commonly associated with former Treasury Secretary and Goldman Sachs chief Bob Rubin. That Rubinite rhetoric has been adopted by the children of strongmen shows the influence of Davos, the global annual conference of power brokers. Gamal, far more polished than his father, understood that the profit and power for his family lay in cooperating with foreign investors to squeeze labor as hard as possible.

This strategy was targeted at the global labor arbitrage going on since the 1970s, with Egypt’s role as one cheap labor in-sourcer. It’s no surprise that the Mubarak family has $40-70B stashed away in the global tax safe havens coddling the superrich. This wealth was extracted from the youth and women in Egypt’s new factories making low-cost goods for export. This is why the revolution was spearheaded by youth and women, and why the nationalist business elite, with its deep ties to the military, sided with the protesters. Mubarak’s inner circle aligned themselves with international investors and set themselves against domestic business and military interests.

In other words, this is a revolt against Rubinite economic policy. ...MORE

[Viva_La_Revolution]

38. Banks face ratings downgrade in Moody's review

Reuters) - Some banks' credit ratings will be cut as governments make it easier to wind up failing lenders and force debtholders to pay for rescues, rating agency Moody's said on Monday.

Policymakers in the U.S., European Union and elsewhere want to avoid taxpayers shoring-up troubled banks in a future crisis.

They are introducing measures such as speedier insolvencies and restructurings so that no bank is "too big to fail."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/14/us-banks-regulation-moodys-idUSTRE71D43J20110214?WT.tsrc=Social%20Media&WT.z_smid=twtr-reuters_%20com&WT.z_smid_dest=Twitter

[Fuddnik]

39. Does anybody actually trust Moody's anymore?

:rofl: :rofl:

[Demeter]

47. They Still Get Paid Their Wages

so somebody must

[Po_d Mainiac]

66. Only Fitch and S&P n/t

[Pale Blue Dot]

40. Study Predicts 3,300 Teacher Layoffs On L.I.

NEW YORK (WCBS 880) – Teacher jobs on Long Island may be in jeopardy after a new study estimated more than 3,300 layoffs over the next two years.

The study, done by the New York State School Board Association, estimates that Nassau County will have to lose more than 1,500 teacher positions while Suffolk County will need to cut more than 1,800.

http://newyork.cbslocal.com/2011/02/13/study-predicts-3300-teacher-layoffs-on-l-i/

[Pale Blue Dot]

41. Apex Tool closing in Monroe, taking 129 jobs

A Maryland tool manufacturer has told the state it is closing its Monroe plant, a move that will leave 129 people out of work.

Layoffs at Apex Tool Group LLC are set to begin in April and run through August for the facility on Mason Street. The closure is the result of the company consolidating its work with plants Apex has in other states, the N.C. Department of Commerce said.

It's the largest layoff in Union County since 2007, state records show, and comes at a time when the county was hoping to see if it could sustain a decline in its unemployment rate.

Apex, an industrial hand- and power-tool company, is based in Sparks, Md.

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/13/2051554/apex-tool-closing-in-monroe-taking.html#ixzz1Dx4IUKhl

[Pale Blue Dot]

65. Armstrong laying off 114 in Statesville

Armstrong World Industries will lay off 103 hourly workers and cut 11 salaried jobs April 29 when the company idles production at its engineered wood flooring plant on Washington Avenue.

Continued weak markets and productivity gains in Armstrong's other flooring plants are to blame for the cutbacks, said David Mullis, general manager of Armstrong Floor Products.

Hourly workers will be laid off with recall rights, and 11 salaried employees will no longer be employed by Armstrong and will be eligible for severance, Mullis said.

"There is nothing any one of us could have done differently or better to change this course of action," Mullis said in a news release. "This is simply a question of current economic conditions requiring the company to make the best use of its capacity without impacting our customers."

Read more: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2011/02/14/2062225/armstrong-laying-off-103-in-statesville.html#ixzz1Dxt4YpYa

[Pale Blue Dot]

67. AbitibiBowater will close part of Alabama facility (150 jobs lost)

NEW YORK (AP) — Newsprint maker AbitibiBowater Inc. said Monday it will close down some of its paper and packaging operations at a facility in Alabama, and expects to eliminate 150 jobs as a result.

The Montreal company said it will close the paper machine at the Coosa Pines, Ala., facility. It will also end a pilot project in which it made recycled lightweight and ultra-lightweight packaging and linerboard grades. It said the changes will be made within 30 days and about 150 employees will be affected.

AbitibiBowater said the facility will continue to make fluff paper assets.

The company said it expects to take $4 million in severance charges and other costs related to the closing, mostly in the first half of the year. It also expects a $10 million asset charge.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-14/abitibibowater-will-close-part-of-alabama-facility.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

69. Navy kickbacks case firm lays off staff (another 100 to 150)

MIDDLETOWN, R.I. (WPRI) - Advanced Solutions for Tomorrow is laying off its entire staff in Middletown, Roswell, Ga., and Fairfax, Va., following last week’s federal corruption case against its founder, WPRI.com has confirmed.

Wayne King, Advanced Solutions’ acting CEO, confirmed the mass layoffs in a brief phone interview this morning. The layoffs take effect at noon Monday.

King informed workers that they are losing their jobs in an e-mail message sent this morning and obtained by WPRI.com.

Advanced Solutions' assets have been frozen to the point that the company has been unable to secure financing or find a buyer to take it over, King said in the e-mail.

http://www.wpri.com/dpp/news/target_12/ri-company-lays-off-entire-staff

[AnneD]

72. And are they having a ....

proportionate reduction in the number of students....because these kids have to be educated-it is the law.

[Pale Blue Dot]

73. Layoffs to start at AM General (300)

AM General is expected to begin laying off hundreds of workers Monday.

The company announced in January that 300 employees will lose their jobs because the military reduced its order for Humvees.

This round of layoffs comes after a whirlwind year for the company and its employees.

A year ago, 250 people were laid off when the government announced they would no longer need Humvees. Then in August, many were hired back when the military ordered 2500 of the vehicles. And back in November, 200 more jobs were created to build a specialized wheelchair vehicle.

http://www.wndu.com/hometop/headlines/Layoffs_to_start_at_AM_General_116148624.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

74. Lynch's NH budget to call for 255 state layoffs

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — The budget Democratic Gov. John Lynch delivers to New Hampshire lawmakers Tuesday will include 255 layoffs.

Some of the jobs may be eliminated before the fiscal year begins July 1, the State Employees' Association said Monday. The union said Monday that Lynch's office had said about 300 people would lose their jobs, but Lynch's office later said the number was 255.

"We are obviously disappointed that the administration is considering putting more people on the unemployment line rather than taking them off of it," SEA President Diana Lacey said in a statement. The state laid off about 200 workers in the current budget.

Lynch's budget is the first step of a process, Lacey reminded New Hampshire's 12,600 workers, most of whom the union represents. She said the union will work with state agencies to ensure state personnel rules are followed and laid-off workers are moved into other state jobs when possible.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-14/lynch-s-nh-budget-to-call-for-255-state-layoffs.html

[Fuddnik]

42. Clothing prices to rise 10% starting in spring.

We've got a lot of those "Naturist" places in the area. I've never been to one, but I might have to. Just cover your eyes. It will be painful.
-------------------------------------------------------------------


Clothing prices to rise 10 pct starting in spring

By ANNE D'INNOCENZIO
AP Retail Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- The era of falling clothing prices is ending. Clothing prices have dropped for a decade as tame inflation and cheap overseas labor helped hold down costs. Retailers and clothing makers cut frills and experimented with fabric blends to cut prices during the recession.

But as the world economy recovers and demand for goods rises, a surge in labor and raw materials costs is squeezing retailers and manufacturers who have run out of ways to pare costs.

Cotton has more than doubled in price over the past year, hitting all-time highs. The price of other synthetic fabrics has jumped roughly 50 percent as demand for alternatives and blends has risen.

Clothing prices are expected to rise about 10 percent in coming months, with the biggest increases coming in the second half of the year, said Burt Flickinger III president of Strategic Resource Group.

http://customwire.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CLOTHING_PRICES?SITE=FLPET&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-02-14-07-52-02

[xchrom]

44. +1

[Demeter]

48. I do most clothes shopping at resale stores

For one thing, there's the price. For another, the styles are wearable.

[xchrom]

50. i'm a clothes hound -- BUT i have to have vintage stuff in the mix.

so i spend a fair amount of time out looking for used clothing.

i love it -- and they are some of my favorite treasures.

[ret5hd]

58. Bellbottoms and polyester shirts are considered "wearable"?

[Demeter]

83. this is Ann Arbor

We get LLBean, Eddie Bauer, and Liz Claiborne.

[ret5hd]

86. Dammit! I thought i might have found a place where i fit in!

[Demeter]

87. The Younger Kid got some tie-dyed polyester when she was in High School

at a vintage store...she was thrilled with them.

[Po_d Mainiac]

63. Finally inflation that bernakstein will notice

He don't use fuel in a car or eat, but the dude does wear expensive suits

[Roland99]

64. Glad we use some hand-me-downs, shop clearance racks, off-season items, use coupons....

Spent $68 at JCPenney yesterday on almost $175 worth of retail prices.

[Demeter]

51. We got us a genuine spring thaw in Michigan!

Pavement that hasn't been seen in weeks is visible, as is some turf. Influenza and other diseases are spreading like wild fire. It's pneumonia weather.

Maybe there's something to that groundhog...I sure hope so. Perhaps this week I can fill the paper boxes from the car window...

[xchrom]

57. stay well! no pneumonia for you. nt

edited for the dumbest spelling error ever.

[MattSh]

61. So that's where our nice weather went!

After hitting a very unusual 50F last week, today we could only hit 9F. Will probably hit -2F tonight. But at least it ain't Moscow weather!

[54anickel]

55. Good Morning Marketeers! & Happy Valentines Day

Been a long time, thought I'd drop by on my way to the remove King Scott Walker posts!!!
Thanks for all you do. :hi:

[AnneD]

75. Great to see you...

it has baan a while, pull up a chair and sit a spell.....:hi:

[54anickel]

78. Hey Anne! Busy manning the phone and sending e-mails before the hearing

tomorrow morning. Since I can't go to Madison, figured I'd at least help flood the communications streams. I'm amazed at just how many of my "friends" hate unions and totally buy into the meritocracy myth we're living today.

[AnneD]

79. Isn't it just the ...

shits. When we were in the run off, one of our teacher that could have voted (her husband was a member too) told use to stop calling her or she would quit. Our Union rep that worked the campaign told her "What do you think your union does for you. We are trying to get good people elected. If you can't get off you butt and help us, maybe we don't want to represent you when you have a problem with your principal. In fact let me save you the time and trouble and dis-enroll you right now....And he did." Our Union rep was hot. We laughed our butts off. With friends like that.....We won by 44 votes. Folks have got to stick together. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Hang tough and tell your members that we are with you in spirit. All teachers around the country are under attack. I have never seen it this bad in ANY profession I have worked in.

[54anickel]

90. Thanks AnneD, we'll take all the thoughts and prayers we can get here in WI. I'm not a member of any

union, or a teacher or public employee. I don't even play one on TV. This doesn't have a direct, personal effect me on at all, but it does effect the society that I am a part of so....
you betcha, I'm heading into the capital tomorrow!!!!
:hippie: :smoke: :headbang: :patriot:

[Demeter]

84. Aww! ?Ain't it cute?

How did they unglue the kitties after they got the heart photo?

[Roland99]

62. 2:30ish - Whole lotta nuthin' goin' on (except some relief on oil prices)

Dow 12,264 -9 -0.07%
Nasdaq 2,814 +5 +0.17%
S&P 500 1,331 +2 +0.12%
GlobalDow 2,207 +8 +0.37%
Gold 1,362 +2 +0.14%
Oil 84.70 -0.88 -1.03%
Euro /$1US 1.3481 -0.0025
$1US / Yen 83.3100 -0.2300
Pound / $1US 1.6030 0.0043
Aud / $1US 1.0025 0.0036
10yr T-note 3.61 -0.03
2yr T-note 0.84 0.00

[Demeter]

85. Like the Swans Floating Gracefully On the Still Water

you can't see the webbed feet paddling like mad to keep from rushing downstream and over the rapids....and I bet there was a lot of paddling today and every day for the foreseeable future.

[Roland99]

76. Oil ends lower as traders weigh Middle East - Gasoline comes off highs but settles 2.1% higher

Oil ends lower as traders weigh Middle East
Gasoline comes off highs but settles 2.1% higher
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/crude-oil-futures-lower-amid-egyptian-calm-2011-02-14

Gasoline for March delivery (RBH11 2.49, -0.01, -0.32%) rallied as high as $2.55 a gallon, but it came off its highs to settle up 5 cents, or 2.1%, to $2.52 a gallon, its best in three sessions.

...

“If anything, the prospect of regional contagion impacting a key oil supplier appears elevated. Coupled with projections by the J.P. Morgan economics team that we could see approaching the best economic performance for 20 years, oil market volatility still looks cheap,” they said.

...

China imported 21.8 million metric tons, or 5.13 million barrels a day, of crude oil in January. That’s 27% more than last year and the third highest monthly level ever.

...

On Friday, crude for March delivery /quotes/comstock/21n!f:cl\h11 (CLH11 84.88, -0.70, -0.82%) dropped 47 cents to close at $86.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, its lowest in more than 10 weeks.

[Festivito]

88. Debt: 02/10/2011 14,083,345,766,082.15 (DOWN 15,443,347,699.17) (Thu, DOWN a lot.)

(Good evening.)
Long weekend. Goodbye Linda.
(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)
= 9,455,138,178,100.21 + 4,628,207,587,981.94
DOWN 16,083,331,993.98 + UP 639,984,294.81

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 $3,211.96 makes 1T$.
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 311,336,192 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 $45,235.17.
A family of three owes $135,705.51. (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 3,000,032,915.80.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,300,025,235.45.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,225,830,873.02.
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$/day.
There were 92 reports in 133 days of FY2011 averaging 5.67B$ per report, 3.92B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 710 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.8T$.
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)
02/10/2011 14,083,345,766,082.15 BHO (UP 3,456,468,717,169.07 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 +0,521,722,735,190.40 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,431,795,476,274.41 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ------------*******
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -

39,851,693,697.92 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=4729239&mesg_id=4729307

[Festivito]

89. Debt: 02/11/2011 14,082,712,722,334.93 (DOWN 633,043,747.22) (Fri, DOWN a little.)

(Good night.)
Please let me sleep well.
(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)
= 9,455,006,722,927.41 + 4,627,705,999,407.52
DOWN 131,455,172.80 + DOWN 501,588,574.42

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 $3,211.89 makes 1T$.
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 311,343,392 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,232.09.
A family of three owes $135,696.27. (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 2,745,789,336.83.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,105,105,158.24.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,037,198,540.23.
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$/day.
There were 93 reports in 134 days of FY2011 averaging 5.60B$ per report, 3.89B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 709 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.7T$.
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)
02/11/2011 14,082,712,722,334.93 BHO (UP 3,455,835,673,421.85 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 +0,521,089,691,443.20 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,419,386,099,826.63 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
01/24/2011 -000,181,687,031.14 --- Mon
01/25/2011 +000,059,189,192.13 ------------*******
01/26/2011 -000,112,154,254.52 ---
01/27/2011 -004,717,116,457.79 --
01/28/2011 +002,605,585,609.92 ------------*********
01/31/2011 +072,534,426,006.14 ------------********** Mon
02/01/2011 -002,841,687,784.84 --
02/02/2011 +000,160,101,452.72 ------------********
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---

39,778,105,827.86 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=4732327&mesg_id=4733234