STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday September 12

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday September 12, 2008

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 128
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2791 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2516 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2807
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

---

U.S. FUTURES &
MARKETS INDICATORS>
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES

---

AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.
$1 USD = EUR 1.06678
$1 USD = JPY 116.6200

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON September 11, 2008

Dow... 11,433.71 +164.79 (+1.46%)
Nasdaq... 2,258.22 +29.52 (+1.32%)
S&P 500... 1,249.05 +17.01 (+1.38%)
Gold future... 745.00 -17.50 (-2.35%)
30-Year Bond 4.21% -0.01 (-0.26%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.62% -0.02 (-0.52%)






GOLD,EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

---

PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

---

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Market WrapUp

Commodity Bulls Jump the Shark
BY MIKE SHEDLOCK

The GlobeAndMail is reporting on The Real Reason Commodities Are Tumbling.

To hear Donald Coxe tell it, the commodity selloff ripping through Canada's stock market is no accident. It is the result of a deliberate, brilliantly executed plan hatched at the highest levels of the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury.

U.S. authorities engineered the collapse in commodities a move he said was necessary to shore up the global financial system to be bitter. My attitude is, damn it, they're good it was brilliant.

To understand why commodities are plunging now the S&P/TSX plummeted another 488 points yesterday you have to go back to mid-July, when the U.S. Federal Reserve and Treasury first announced steps to support mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

The move, which ultimately led to the Treasury taking control of Fannie and Freddie this week, touched off a chain-reaction of market events that culminated with the wrenching decline in commodities.

The Fed's ultimate goal was to trigger a rally in financial stocks, which would, in theory, help banks hammered by the credit crisis raise fresh capital and repair their balance sheets. To accomplish this, the decision to support Fannie and Freddie was deliberately announced on a Sunday, which had the effect of maximizing the reaction from thinly traded financial stocks on overseas markets.

....

Carry Trade Blows Sky High

A massive unwinding of the carry trade is now fueling the dollar rally. Huge speculation by traders shorting the Yen and going long the Euro, the Pound, the Australian Dollar, and the New Zealand Dollar is being unwound.

Similarly there was massive speculation by traders shorting the dollar and going long the Euro, the Pound, the Australian Dollar, and the New Zealand Dollar. That too is being unwound.

Those sorry bets were made on the misguided belief that Europe, Asia, and especially China would decouple from the US. In other words, massive bets were made that the tail would wag the dog. Now we see how foolish those bets were, especially for the Johnny-Come-Latelies who plowed into the trade just as it was about to reverse.

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[Demeter]

18. To Imply That the Fed or the Treasury Acted Knowledgably

is a form of Canadian humor--dry, nutty, bizarre and slapstick.

The Fed and Treasury are trying to refill the punch bowl, which has shattered and cannot hold its punch!

To further imply that these efforts have had the intended effect is icing on the cake!

[ozymandius]

2. Today's Reports

08:30 Core PPI Aug
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.2%
Prior 0.7%

08:30 PPI Aug
Briefing.com -0.5%
Consensus -0.5%
Prior 1.2%

08:30 Retail Sales Aug
Briefing.com 0.7%
Consensus 0.3%
Prior -0.1%

08:30 Retail Sales ex-auto Aug
Briefing.com 0.2%
Consensus -0.2%
Prior 0.4%

10:00 Business Inventories Jul
Briefing.com 0.5%
Consensus 0.5%
Prior 0.7%

10:00 Mich Sentiment-Prel. Sep
Briefing.com 65.0
Consensus 64.0
Prior 63.0

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

[ozymandius]

16. Retail Sales in U.S., Excluding Autos, Probably Fell in August

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at U.S. retailers excluding car dealers probably dropped in August for the first time in six months as Americans retrenched in the face of mounting job losses and record foreclosures.

Non-auto purchases fell 0.2 percent after a 0.4 percent gain the prior month, according to the median of 76 estimates in a Bloomberg News survey. A separate report may show wholesale prices dropped in August for the first time this year.

Consumer spending, which accounts for more than two-thirds of the economy, is faltering as wages haven't kept pace with inflation and the effect of the government's tax rebates fades. Americans are also confronting declining property values and stock prices, indicating even the recent retreat in fuel costs may not be enough to boost sales.

.....

The first increase in vehicle sales since January probably brought overall purchases up 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent drop in July, according to the survey median. Lower gasoline prices probably curtailed spending at service stations, reducing overall sales, economists said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=ah0H0gIVJONM&refer=us

[UpInArms]

33. U.S. Aug. retail sales ex-autos fall 0.7% vs. -0.2% expected

01. U.S. Aug. retail sales fall 0.3% vs. 0.4% gain expected
8:30 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

02. U.S. Aug. retail sales ex-autos fall 0.7% vs. -0.2% expected
8:30 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

03. U.S. Aug. retail auto sales up 1.6% in past year
8:30 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

[UpInArms]

37. Retail sales fall on plunging gas prices

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/retail-sales-fall-plunging-gas/story.aspx?guid=%7BBB32A2B0%2DA582%2D4938%2DB0B4%2D8C82D7DA5195%7D

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - U.S. retail sales unexpected fell in August, pushed lower by plunging gasoline prices, according to Commerce Department data released Friday.

Seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.3% in August, much worse than the 0.4% gain expected by economists surveyed by MarketWatch.

Sales in June and July were also revised lower by a total of 0.6 percentage points, making consumer spending significantly weaker this summer than earlier believed despite the infusion of about $100 billion into consumers' pocketbooks from Washington.

Sales are up 1.6% in the past year. The figures are not adjusted for price changes.

Sales in August were boosted by a rebound in auto sales, which rose 1.9%, the biggest increase in a year. Excluding autos, retail sales fell 0.7%, the worst performance this year.

<snip>

The drop in gasoline prices over the past two months has boosted consumer confidence levels, but anecdotal reports from retailers show consumers aren't spending the freed-up cash at the malls. After eight months of declining employment and more than a year of falling house prices, consumers remain anxious about their finances.

...more...

[UpInArms]

34. Producer prices up 9.6% over the past 12 months - core producer prices increase 0.2% in August

02. Producer prices up 9.6% over the past 12 months
8:32 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

03. U.S. core producer prices increase 0.2% in August
8:32 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

04. U.S. producer prices decline 0.9% in August, Labor says
8:32 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

[UpInArms]

38. Producer prices drop 0.9% in August; 'core' rate up 0.2%

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/producer-prices-drop-09-august/story.aspx?guid=%7B5A49C11A%2D2F5F%2D483F%2DB766%2D236B386727BA%7D&dist=hplatest

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- U.S. producer prices fell a steeper than expected 0.9% in August, the Labor Department reported Friday, helped by lower energy costs. The decline follows on the heels of a sharp 1.2% gain in July. Excluding food and energy, "core" producer prices rose 0.2% last month. Analysts polled by MarketWatch were predicting a decrease of 0.4% in overall PPI and a 0.2% increase in the core rate. Producer prices are up 9.6% over the past 12 months.

[UpInArms]

50. Yippie Skippy! We are Freakin' Ecstatic! Sentiment LEAPS 10 points to 73.1 in August!

01. U.S. Sept. UMich consumer sentiment index 73.1 vs. 63.0 Aug.
10:01 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

If anyone believes that pile o' stinkin' crap, I've got a bridge to sell them!

[UpInArms]

51. bridge location hint:

on I-35W in Minneapolis

[Dr.Phool]

60. Will you take Visa?

Not much left on the limit, but I'm sure we can work something out.

:silly:

[UpInArms]

71. shhhh!

I think Ozy dropped this on his way out the door this morning

[UpInArms]

68. Check out the Inventories Report - horrible numbers that they tried to hide

Sep 12 10:00 AM
Business Inventories Jul
report 1.1%
briefing.com forecast 0.5%
market forecast 0.5%
June Report 0.8%
rev'd from 0.7%

[UpInArms]

70. Near-term U.S. economy recovery is wishful thinking: ECRI - solidly in recession territory

http://www.reuters.com/article/economicNews/idUSNAT00436720080912

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A measure of future economic growth in the United States fell slightly and its annualized growth rate inched up but is still deep in recessionary territory, indicating the U.S. business cycle is still far from an upturn, a research group said on Friday.

The Economic Cycle Research Institute, a New York-based independent forecasting group, said its Weekly Leading Index rose to 126.0 in the week to September 5 from 126.2 in the previous period, revised from 126.3.

Its annualized growth rate inched up to negative 11.6 percent from minus 11.7 percent in the previous week.

The index's fall was due to weaker money supply growth and lower stock prices, and it was offset in part by lower interest rates, said Melinda Hubman, research associate at ECRI.

"Despite a slight uptick WLI growth remains solidly in recession territory, suggesting that the prospect of a near-term business cycle recovery amounts to wishful thinking," she said.

...more...

[ozymandius]

3. Oil rises in Asia as Ike bears down on Texas coast

SINGAPORE - Oil prices rose to nearly $102 a barrel Friday in Asia as Hurricane Ike swept up from the Gulf of Mexico, prompting companies along the Texas coast to shut down refining and drilling operations.

Light, sweet crude for October delivery rose 94 cents to $101.81 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange midafternoon in Singapore. The contract fell $1.71 overnight to settle at $100.87 after dropping as low as $100.10 per barrel. The last time Nymex crude traded below the $100 mark was April 2.

Exxon Mobil Corp., Valero Energy Corp., ConocoPhillips and Marathon Oil Co. have begun halting operations as Ike headed straight for the nation's biggest complex of refineries and petrochemical plants. U.S. wholesale gasoline prices spiked 30 percent Thursday.

....

In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures rose 1.95 cents to $2.935 a gallon, while gasoline prices gained 3.62 cents to $2.785 a gallon. Natural gas for October delivery fell 3.9 cents to $7.54 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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

[ozymandius]

4. Saudis Vow to Ignore OPEC Decision to Cut Production

VIENNA — Hours after suffering a rare setback in a negotiating session at OPEC’s headquarters, Saudi Arabian officials assured world markets on Wednesday that they would ignore the wishes of other cartel members and continue to pump plenty of oil.

....

The confusion surrounding this week’s meeting slowed the decline in prices as oil markets struggled to understand the cartel’s byzantine politics. Oil closed Wednesday at $102.58 a barrel in New York trading, a decline of 68 cents.

After a 30 percent drop in prices since July, and with oil seemingly headed below the psychological milestone of $100 a barrel, OPEC producers are getting anxious. The cartel’s president, Chakib Khelil, said the group was particularly concerned that slowing demand for oil was creating a glut in the market that might provoke a collapse in prices.

....

In June, King Abdullah pledged that his country would pump at full tilt to bring prices down. In August, the kingdom increased its production to 9.7 million barrels a day, the highest in three decades. Saudi Arabia is now producing around 9.5 million barrels a day, 600,000 barrels a day more than its quota.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/11/business/worldbusiness/11oil.html?_r=1&ref=todayspaper&oref=slogin

[ozymandius]

8. Gasoline prices spike as Ike heads toward Texas (want some price gouging with your emergency?)

NEW YORK - Gasoline prices jumped to unprecedented levels in the wholesale markets Thursday as Hurricane Ike tore across the Gulf of Mexico, threatening to strike Texas and its refineries.

Crude oil on the futures market, however, sank below $101 a barrel to its lowest settlement price since late March — a sign that investors are still worried about waning global demand.

The wholesale price of gasoline ranged from $4 to nearly $5 a gallon in the U.S. Gulf Coast throughout the day on Thursday, said Tom Kloza, publisher and chief oil analyst of the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J.

That was up significantly from about $3 to $3.30 a gallon on Wednesday, Kloza said, and the surge drove up wholesale prices in other U.S. regions, too.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080911/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

12. I predict that...

If some regulators down there start to do their jobs(Yeah, right), there will be people going to jail for that kind of price gouging. No reason for it.

PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME
Nymex Crude Future 101.97 1.10 1.09 05:23
Dated Brent Spot 96.92 1.03 1.08 05:53
WTI Cushing Spot 100.60 -1.98 -1.93 09/11


PETROLEUM (¢/gal)
PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME
Nymex Heating Oil Future 293.54 1.99 .68 05:16
Nymex RBOB Gasoline Future 279.85 4.97 1.81 05:23


NATURAL GAS ($/MMBtu)
PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME
Nymex Henry Hub Future 7.26 .01 .12 05:22
Henry Hub Spot 7.77 .11 1.44 09/11
New York City Gate Spot 8.20 .18 2.24 09/11


ELECTRICITY ($/megawatt hour)
PRICE* CHANGE % CHANGE TIME
Mid-Columbia, firm on-peak, spot 58.75 -.48 -.81 09/11
Palo Verde, firm on-peak, spot 56.07 -2.01 -3.46 09/11
Bloomberg, firm on-peak, day ahead spot/West Coast 67.60 -1.85 -2.66 09/11

[ozymandius]

13. Regulators doing their job in Texas:

I will hold my breath just after I blow up this balloon.

[UpInArms]

31. October crude up 91 cents to $101.78 a barrel on Globex

01. October crude up 91 cents to $101.78 a barrel on Globex
8:25 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

[Dr.Phool]

22. I ran up and topped off the tank after I read this.

$3.59 per gallon. That's up $.04 from yesterday.

The delivery truck pulled up just as I was leaving. I'll check the price again in about an hour, when I take the dog to the park.

[Buttercup McToots]

46. Minimum Operating Level (MOL) Oil shortages coming?

Post subject: Minimum Operating Level (MOL)
Lots of chatter on this MB...anyone know anything?

http://www.peakoil.com/fortopic28679-240.html

The peak oil crisis: The minimum operating level

Quote:
There has been much discussion about gasoline inventories in the US lately and rightly so. Every Wednesday morning the Department of Energy releases a snapshot of US oil and product inventories at the end of the preceding week. As US gasoline inventories fell dramatically during the past few months, it is this report, as interpreted by many buyers and sellers of gasoline, that is largely responsible for the record high prices we are paying for gasoline.

Last Thursday, after the report was issued, gasoline prices jumped nearly 10 cents in a single day. On Tuesday of this week, before the report was issued, gasoline prices fell by 10 cents a gallon based on analysts' guesstimates that inventories would increase and there would not be serious shortages this summer. It is clear that the size of our gasoline stockpile has become an important number, not only for everyone who drives, but also for the future of our economy.

The number is currently around 197 million barrels, but there is more to the story than one number. Now that we are all fixated on gasoline inventories, it is important to know that America has two largely unconnected oil worlds - the five west coast states (California, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, and Arizona) and the rest of the country. The West Coast gets its imported gasoline supplies by tanker across the Pacific. The rest of the country gets its imports from tankers across the Atlantic. As there is little transfer of gasoline between the two regions, what comes to the west coast is consumed on the west coast. Thus when one reads of a big change in gasoline imports, it is important to find out which coasts got the imports. Last week for example, 1.2 million of the 1.7 million barrel increase was on the west coast leaving very little to increase the stockpile in the rest of the country.

The next important point about gasoline stockpiles is that not all of it is useable. As gasoline is largely delivered by pipeline, barge and coastal tankers these days, a lot of gasoline is tied up in transit. Thus the amount of gasoline "trapped" in transport is substantial. This "trapped" gasoline is known as the "minimum operating level."

The Department of Energy used to publish this number, but stopped doing so a few years ago on the grounds they were not confident that it was accurate. This week, however, the old number for the minimum operating level surfaced in a 3-year-old government report and it turned out to be 185 million barrels - very close to the 197 million in the inventory. It really does not matter what the actual minimum level is, for any figure remotely close to 197 million is cause for concern. If stockpiles - on either coast - drop much more, we are going to find out, the hard way, exactly where the minimal operating level is, for that will be the day the shortages develop.

Meanwhile, alarm bells concerning low gasoline supplies are going off across the country. In addition to the EPA specifically stating that shortages are occurring in the six states where it waived gasoline content rules (such as not requiring ethanol to be mixed in with gasoline), many areas reports short supplies. Wholesale prices across the country, including the Northeast US and NYC, are now higher than the widely quoted futures price (which requires delivery only about the end of the month). Wholesale prices increased again today in the greater Chicago area, the Gulf Coast, and the southeast US.

As discussed further above, shortages start to appear when gasoline inventories approach minimum operating levels. If MOLs are reached only in certain states, or regions, the distribution system can adjust to some extent on a national level. For example, prices are 50 cents a gallon higher in Chicago than NYC, which draws supplies from the Northeast (which has enough for now) to Chicago.

When total inventories for the whole country drop below national MOLs, the game of whack a mole is over, and shortages start to spread.


DantesPeak just reported that the Coast Guard has halted all inbound traffic in the Houston Ship Channel because of Ike

At the moment it's probably not going to be allowed to officially support panic numbers. Reports will be labeled as insufficient data and due for revision.

The most important and immediate measure for us here will be a close watch on the prices (as Dantes and others are doing) and vigorous search for news on shortages and gas lines. I believe that some of this is going to be suppressed as long as possible to allow orderly and less panicked evacuation of the TX coast.

This looks like it may become very serious, very quickly. I find it rather bizzaro at the moment that we are the only one's "seeing" what is going on with supply.

This is a story that may be tenaciously denied until it cannot be denied any longer.

[TalkingDog]

73. Wholesale??? Howz about a 1.00 in the last 24 hours here in NC

We're at 4.99 right now. Out the back window I can see a long line of county employee vehicles lining up to get their tanks filled. And they don't even pay for the gas.

That's why I love my Saturn 35 mpg.

And the Spousal Unit better be glad I love him enough to carpool with him even though it puts me with an hour and 1/2 to kill be for I have to actually start working.

[NeoConsSuck]

5. Futures are up..

that can only mean one thing: The Fed has already decided to sell out the American taxpayer again. It will be another one of these Sunday night deals where BOA gets all the profitable parts of Lehman, the taxpayer gets to keep the subprime garbage.

[ozymandius]

7. People who place bets this early also play the Nigerian lottery.

In 1933 the Federal Reserve and Treasury let banks fail to save the dollar. Today the government is saving the banks and scuttling the dollar. Just wait. Those USD favorable Forex trades will not last.

You're so right. Quality T-notes will be swapped for wormy junk.

EDIT: If the Fed and Treasury do not come to the rescue then none of what I said above has any merit. Bloomberg reports that the Fed has (maybe) balked at providing any backstop to a buyer as they did with Bear and JP Morgan's deal. In this case, we may have our first example showing who is not too big to fail.

[ozymandius]

6. WaMu cut to "junk," sees $4.5 billion loss reserve

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N) was downgraded to below investment-grade status by Moody's Investors Service, after the largest U.S. savings and loan projected a $4.5 billion third-quarter increase in reserves for bad loans but said it has more than enough capital.

Moody's cut the Seattle-based thrift's senior unsecured debt rating two notches to "Ba2," its second-highest "junk" grade, from "Baa3," with a "negative" outlook. It also lowered its rating for the banking unit to "Baa3" from "Baa2."

....

Washington Mutual said it expected the third-quarter increase in loss reserves to decline from $5.9 billion in the second quarter, when its overall net loss was $3.33 billion.

It also said it expects net charge-offs, or loans it does not expect to be paid back, to be roughly $2.7 billion in the third quarter, up from the second quarter's $2.17 billion.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20080912/bs_nm/washingtonmutual_dc

[ozymandius]

11. WaMu May Be Forced to Sell Deposits, Branches to Stay Afloat

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc., facing up to $19 billion in bad home loans and slammed by a 34 percent drop in its stock this week, may sell parts of a nationwide 2,300-branch network to raise capital.

``The only real asset they have that's worth anything to other banks is the deposit base, because of their branches,'' said L. William Seidman, chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. from 1985 to 1991. Seattle-based WaMu can probably sell branches in New York and Chicago, said Bert Ely, president of Ely & Co. Inc., a bank consulting firm based in Alexandria, Virginia.

Alan Fishman, WaMu's new chief executive officer, may have to shed branches that hold $143 billion in deposits. The biggest U.S. savings and loan is headed for its fourth straight quarterly loss. Suitors have walked away because of potential damage to their earnings and WaMu's chief regulator, the Office of Thrift Supervision, has told it to boost risk management and compliance.

....

Without most of its branches and deposits, WaMu would be limited to businesses that include credit cards and mortgages -- neither a guaranteed moneymaker in the current economic climate. WaMu's credit-card division had net revenue of $956 million in the quarter ended June 30, down from $1.2 billion the previous quarter. Commercial and home-loan units had a combined $351 million in revenue for the period, compared with $757 million.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=au_737FNxQmk&refer=home

---

Tombstone salesmen come calling.

[UpInArms]

69. JPMorgan in advanced talks to acquire WaMu-source

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1225610420080912

WASHINGTON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is in advanced discussions to acquire Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a source familiar with the discussions said on Friday.

"They are in advanced talks," the source told Reuters.

The source said the sensitive talks had been going on for some time and JPMorgan had conducted a lot of due diligence into Washington Mutual.

Thursday's downgrade of Washington Mutual by Moody's Investors Service helped advance the discussions between the two companies, the source said.

...more...

[ozymandius]

9. Lehman racing to find buyer for beleaguered firm

NEW YORK - With Lehman Brothers' shares signaling another steep drop on Friday, top executives are racing to put a sale of the beleaguered investment bank in place before it loses further market value and confidence.

Confidence has waned that Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will emerge from the financial crisis as an independent franchise, and the No. 4 U.S. investment bank is scouring Wall Street for a financial lifeline. Executives worked feverishly in the past 24 hours to find someone willing to buy all or part of the company, bankers and industry executives close to the situation said.

And the scrutiny is expected to grow more intense Friday, with investors placing bets that Lehman's stock will again nosedive. Shares fell 41 cents, or 9.7 percent, to $3.81 in after-hours trading; the stock skidded 41.8 percent to $4.22 during the regular session in New York, and is down more than 94 percent for the year.

....

Bank of America Corp., Japan's Nomura Securities, France's BNP Paribas, Deutsche Bank AG and Britain's Barclay's Plc have been mentioned this week as potential buyers. Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which also was being talked about as a potential buyer, is not interested, according to an industry official who ask not to be named.

Lehman is also in close contact with both the Treasury Department and Federal Reserve about how to proceed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080912/ap_on_bi_ge/lehman_brothers

[ozymandius]

10. (Hold the phone!) Fed Balks at Deal

Lehman's Fuld Races to Sell Firm as Fed Balks at Deal (Update1)

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld is seeking buyers for the investment bank amid signs that the U.S. government may balk at providing the funding that enabled Bear Stearns Cos. to sell itself and avoid bankruptcy.

Fuld, who built Lehman into the biggest U.S. underwriter of mortgage securities during his four decades at the firm, was cornered into a potential forced sale after talks about a cash infusion from Korea Development Bank ended, sparking a 70 percent drop in the firm's market value during the past three days. Unlike when JPMorgan Chase & Co. took over Bear Stearns, the Federal Reserve and Treasury aren't likely to put up money for a purchase of Lehman, people briefed on the matter said yesterday.

.....

Potential buyers demanded some sort of government protection in the Bear Stearns case because of the mortgage- related assets the firm owned, which had plummeted in value. Since the collapse of the subprime mortgage market last year, banks have reported more than $510 billion of writedowns and credit losses on such assets.

.....

Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the biggest U.S. securities firm, has no plan to buy Lehman without financial backing from the Fed or Treasury, a person briefed on the matter said yesterday. Goldman spokesman Michael DuVally said the investment bank ``continues to do business'' with Lehman.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601170&refer=home&sid=aqUUwMrAfWf0

[UpInArms]

25. WRAPUP 3-Lehman rescue hopes rise, BofA seen as suitor

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSSP680920080912?sp=true

LONDON, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Expectations that a deal will emerge to save Lehman Brothers (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) mounted on Friday after its plunging share price prompted intensive talks with U.S. officials about rescue options.

Lehman's shares added 4 percent to $4.40 in pre-market trading in New York as talk swirled that the bank would put out a statement before Wall Street opens. Lehman declined to comment.

The bank wrote down $5.6 billion for the third quarter, dragging it to a record quarterly loss of $3.9 billion and has failed to attract investors to shore up its capital position.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) (BofA) is seen as the most likely suitor for the 158-year-old firm, according to various reports and analysts. BofA declined to comment.

"I believe that Bank of America will win the auction for Lehman Brothers. There is a natural fit between the two companies," Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Richard Bove said in a note.

Lehman and U.S. officials were in discussions about a number of options, including a complete sale, sources with direct knowledge of the talks said late on Thursday. One of the sources said the firm was resisting government intervention.

The Treasury and Federal Reserve were engaged in the talks, which could be completed this weekend, a second source said. The U.S. government is hoping to avoid spending money on a bailout, another person familiar with the situation told Reuters.

...more...

[UpInArms]

26. Lehman-owned student lender to shut HQ: report

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSBNG20812120080912

(Reuters) - Campus Door, a student-lending company owned by Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc is closing its Pennsylvania headquarters and laying off 124 employees starting from October 26, The Wall Street Journal said in a report.

A Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry spokesman told the paper that the department had already begun working with employees to help them look for other jobs.

...more...

[UpInArms]

32. TIMELINE: A brief history of Lehman Brothers (founded in 1844)

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSLC64449320080912?sp=true

(Reuters) - Lehman Brothers, the fourth-largest U.S. investment bank, has seen its shares shed three-quarters of their value this week as it announced a record $3.9 billion loss and a restructuring plan.

Here is a brief history of the company:

1844

Henry Lehman, an immigrant from Germany, opens his small shop in Montgomery, Alabama in 1844.

1850

Henry is joined by brothers Emanuel and Mayer and they name the business Lehman Brothers.

1929

The Lehman Corporation is created, a closed-end investment company.

1975

Lehman acquires Abraham & Co.

1984

American Express acquires Lehman Brothers and merges it with Shearson.

1993

American Express divests Shearson in 1993, and the independent firm once again becomes known as Lehman Brothers.

1994

Lehman becomes independent through a public stock offering and Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. common stock begins trading on the New York & Pacific stock exchanges.

1999

Lehman establishes an alliance with Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi for Japanese mergers and acquisitions.

2002

Lehman establishes its wealth and asset management division and acquires Lincoln Capital Management's fixed income business.

...more...

[UpInArms]

39. Lehman shares fall 12%, to $3.70 in pre-open trade

02. Lehman shares fall 12%, to $3.70 in pre-open trade
8:43 AM ET, Sep 12, 2008

[UpInArms]

40. Lehman loss confirms Wall Street's deep troubles

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1132414320080912?sp=true

<snipping to the part that matters>

The steep mark-downs also bode ill for Merrill Lynch & Co Inc (MER.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), which is in the final weeks of its calendar year quarter. Merrill, like Lehman, is struggling under out-sized exposures to risky mortgage, commercial property and other asset-backed securities.

"In a word, business was 'lousy,'" Ladenburg Thalmann analyst Dick Bove said in a note.

FEELING PAIN

Well into the second year of a global credit crunch, Wall Street firms are really starting to feel the pain. Analysts for weeks slashed their forecasts as trading conditions grew worse, equity markets tanked and deal activity slowed to a crawl.

Investment banking revenues have plunged by a third to $600 million since the second quarter and fell by half from last year, fueled by lower demand for debt underwriting, stock issuance. Merger and acquisitions revenue was little changed from the second quarter, but it was down by half from last year.

Even investment management revenue fell by a quarter, to $600 million, reflecting a decrease in assets.

"There is concern about the viability of the whole investment banking community," said Sean Egan of independent credit analysis firm Egan-Jones Ratings Co.

..more...

[UpInArms]

53. Paulson "adamant" no government funds for Lehman: source

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSWAT01003520080912

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is "adamant" that no government money be used in any deal that resolves the crisis at Wall Street investment bank Lehman Brothers, a source familiar with his thinking said on Friday.

The source said Lehman (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) already has substantial support from the Federal Reserve as it races to negotiate with potential buyers.

"There are two things that make this different from Bear Stearns. The market's been aware of the situation for a long time and has had time to prepare. Second, the Primary Dealer Credit Facility was created by the Fed to allow time for an orderly process," the source told Reuters.

"Given these things, (Paulson) is adamant that there will not be government money used in the resolution of the situation," the source added.

[Hugin]

57. Not directly anyway...

It'd have to be laundered first. :eyes:

[ozymandius]

14. Martin Hennecke says that government bailouts will tip the U.S. into a Depression.

The end result of the global economic slowdown may be the U.S. announcing national bankruptcy as the government cannot afford the bailouts that it promised and the market will not bail out the government, Martin Hennecke, senior manager of private clients at Tyche, told CNBC on Thursday.

"We expect a depression in the United States. We expect a depression, very possibly, also in Europe," Hennecke said on "Worldwide Exchange."

.....

When the government can no longer pass the United States' "immense debt" on to taxpayers, it will turn to the holders of U.S. dollars, leading to the eventual downfall of the currency, Hennecke said.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/26656750/site/14081545/

[Buttercup McToots]

20. Also...

Hennecke's stock allocations are mainly Asian-based, especially in the Chinese market as the country's government has a large amount of cash and the macroeconomics are fundamentally strong.

He also suggested investing in gold, despite the recent fall in price.

[ozymandius]

15. U.S. Foreclosures Hit Record in August as Housing Prices Fell

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.S. foreclosure filings rose to a record in August as falling home prices made it harder to sell or refinance homes to pay off the mortgage, RealtyTrac Inc. said.

Owners of 303,879 properties, or one in 416 U.S. households, got a default notice, were warned of a pending auction or foreclosed on last month. That was the most since reporting began in January 2005. Filings increased 27 percent from a year earlier, about half the annual pace of previous months, because of high default totals in August 2007, the Irvine, California- based seller of foreclosure data said in a statement today.

.....

The worst housing slump since the 1930s shows little sign of abating. Home prices in 20 U.S. metropolitan areas declined 15.9 percent in June from a year earlier, according to the S&P/Case- Shiller index. Prices may fall another 10 percent through the end of 2009, according to analysts at Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

August filings were 11 percent higher than the previous record of 273,001 set in May, according to RealtyTrac. Filings rose 12 percent from July. Bank seizures, the last stage of the foreclosure process, known as real estate-owned or REO properties, more than doubled from a year ago to 90,893.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aWKdjgdwQZQI&refer=us

[ozymandius]

17. Have fun watching the Casino.

:donut: :donut: :donut:

Time for me to go.

:hi:

[Demeter]

19. Thank You , Ozy! Have a Good One!

and DGIF everybody! Hold onto your wallets and your hats.:hi:

[Hugin]

55. Attention: SMW Complaint Dept.

Dear SMW Complaint Dept.,

When I first started reading this thread your sales people assured me, and I quote, it is a "Family Friendly Wholesome Discussion of the Economy in general and the Stock Markets specifically."

Well! It sure doesn't look that way to me! It's content has degraded over the last few weeks with shocking EXPLICIT discussions of Illicit Recreational Sex, Wanton Substance Abuse, and constant references to The Demon Rock&Roll Music.

Ha! Family Friendly? Hardly! Wholesome? Ha! No-Way!

Unless you clean up your act, I will be forced to bring this thread to the attention of your Higher Management and
take my Little Ingots elsewhere to enjoy our family quality time together.

Signed,

Outraged.

[Demeter]

63. You Must Read Lots of Letters to the Editor, Prag

You've got the outrage down pat.

Hey, we just report the news. Yell at the people who make it!

[Hugin]

72. P.S. Demeter took my shoe!

:P

:hi:

:)

[Demeter]

85. Did Not!!!

He's always picking on me, Ma!

[ozymandius]

83. The Booger Pimp handles all complaint correspondence.

He's nonsensical and rude. My apologies in advance.

:silly:

[Buttercup McToots]

21. China may cut its dollar holdings -

China may cut its dollar holdings -
Updated: 2008-09-12 07:32

China, which holds a fifth of its currency reserves in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt, may cut the portion held in US dollars, according to China International Capital Corp (CICC), one of the nation's biggest investment banks.

US govt takes over Fannie, Freddie
The US government this week seized control of the two mortgage-finance companies, which account for almost half of the home-loan market in the world's biggest economy, to prevent defaults from crippling them. China holds up to $400 billion in the two firms' debt, CICC Chief Economist Ha Jiming said in a report Thursday.

"The crisis has made Chinese officials realize it's a bad idea to put all their eggs in one basket," wrote Hong Kong-based Ha. "This will likely lead to greater diversification of foreign exchange reserve investments."

China held $447.5 billion of US agency bonds as of June 2008, according to the CICC calculations using disclosures by the US Treasury. It is likely to reduce the portion of reserves in dollar assets from the current 60 percent by purchasing more non-dollar assets with new reserves, he said.

Countries in Asia have stockpiled foreign exchange reserves since the 1997-98 financial crisis to act as a cushion against a run on their exchange rates. That in turn has increased pressure on policymakers to ensure higher returns from more than $4 trillion in assets.

China will expand its investments in corporate bonds and equities, according to Ha. Treasury and agency bonds account for 50 percent and 40 percent of total dollar assets held by the central bank, he wrote.

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/china/2...nt_7020656.htm

[Buttercup McToots]

23. Do You Think Gold Deserves To Trade In A Free Market?

http://news.goldseek.com/ThunderCapitalManagement/1221165179.php

Do You Think Gold Deserves To Trade In A Free Market?
By: Richard J. Greene
Posted Thursday, 11 September 2008 Source: GoldSeek.com

The relentless selling we have seen over the past month in precious metals was kicked off by the manipulative interventions occurring right around the time of the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac implosions in mid-July. Unprecedented short selling by two major banks in the futures market along with waves of naked short selling of resource stocks pushed indices and stocks through technical support on charts. Yamana Gold, which is one of the most successful gold companies saw short interest rise 72% in the first two weeks of August (without counting all the naked shorts). There is no reason to short this stock; it has been a star performer. Many investors have given up and portfolio managers that haven’t given up are now forced to sell due to redemptions. These investors believe that the market is telling them a message and don’t realize it is not a market message but a heavily controlled manipulation to make them believe so and to dupe them out of their positions.
The official explanation of this action is that we are experiencing deflation and all things real will crash. A deflation scare is mainly useful to the financial authorities for one main purpose; to justify the next round of government-sponsored inflation.
The dollar has been rising against other increasingly worthless fiat currencies with the explanation that Europe is weakening. As bad as it might be getting there, there is no way we are doing any better in the US unless we are referring to our ability to generate more bogus statistics. If we were experiencing a true deflation with the level of debt out there, the fear of accepting any paper currency would cause gold to rise even faster. Yet foreign exchange reserves have grown to $7 trillion in the past seven years and money market assets are over $3.5 trillion in the US alone so there is plenty of cash around. Everything we feared could happen in this economy has more or less occurred, or more correctly, has started to occur yet we have not been sheltered by the traditional safe haven status of gold and silver.
This is no accident. It is a planned policy known as “the strong dollar policy” that runs against all the natural forces in the real world, dooming it to failure. The fiat money system can not possibly survive if money is not continuously created since it is brought into creation as debt and additional money to pay interest must always be created. With interest payments at such a high proportion of the overall money in creation, any slowing at this point will lead to implosion and any expansion in excess of productivity will also lead to implosion. This is why the talk of any tightening is a bluff and any drop in rates threatens inciting a dollar crash. Very few can see this logic but the truth is getting ever more difficult to hide and soon the masses will see things much more clearly.

We are witnessing the complete breakdown of the world, but particularly the US, financial system. Evidence mounts on a daily basis but investors do not see or understand the relevance of events. One of the most significant events yet is the recent all out attack on gold and silver. Although the mainstream belief is that “the commodity bubble” is over, most of those that have been buying gold and silver to protect from Governments that are now in the early stages of hyper-inflating have not been fooled. Purchasing gold and silver and other items of enduring value is the only way to step outside the system of constant Government devaluation of money and illogical manipulation of everything else. They are buying physical gold and silver because they do not trust any currencies and do not like what they see out of the various Central Bank “operations”. They realize every time they buy physical gold and silver and take it into possession they are reducing the stockpiles that are being used to control their prices in the fractional reserve type operations of the bullion banks. The rapid $7+ decline in silver was accomplished 100% in the paper markets, largely by two banks selling 27,000 paper contracts representing 138 million ounces of silver in just over a month. That is almost 1/4 of annual world production shorted by two banks no less. Their shorts as of August 5th accounted for 61% of the total commercial net short position. These operations are meant to demoralize you and hopefully get you to sell your physical metal and turn to their ridiculous safe haven candidate, bonds yielding less than 4% in a 15% inflation environment. They were expecting to incite panic selling in silver, however, the result of their actions were just the opposite. Worldwide investors scrambled to take advantage of the price crash, wiping out most bullion dealers despite paying as high as well over $4 above the spot price of silver. In fact, this is the first time in 30 years since gold began trading that declining futures prices led to a spike in physical demand. The world’s largest single refinery in South Africa said it was cleaned out by one 5000-coin order for Gold Krugerrands. Even the questionable silver ETF was seeing massive buying on the 40% sell off! Not only were they unsuccessful in prompting selling, (except by the leveraged paper longs on the COMEX), they also did tremendous damage to the functioning of the futures market that will derail the ongoing manipulation. Dealers that bought to hedge off price risk from selling physical silver to customers have been crushed, losing untold sums since paper prices have still not recovered even close to physical prices. This could destroy the futures market which severely restricts the ability to manipulate prices lower since many futures market participants (suckers) will no longer trust such a sham of a market. The longer these below market prices persist, the sooner greater shortages will develop which are already substantial. This recent manipulation has been so severe the interveners may have gone too far. We shall see but if buyers and sellers circumvent the exchanges the manipulation will get much more difficult and we are already seeing that. The reason we have spent so much time on this is because this is the sign that the physical market is taking over from the paper markets. This is what needed to happen in light of the ongoing manipulation for true market prices for gold and silver to be reached and now we are one giant step closer. Unfortunately, Americans are the most exposed to the misinformation campaigns regarding gold and are the most disadvantaged as a result. Foreigners know not to believe the rhetoric and are steadily accumulating gold and silver at giveaway prices. Going forward this is all that will really matter.

[jdog]

59. More info on Central Bank collusion

http://seekingalpha.com/article/94314-the-great-dollar-pump-of-2008-a-doomed-central-bank-intervention?source=feed

It's very frustrating to try to do ANYTHING financially these days, since you never know which decision you make, based on whatever sound financial principals you've learned to establish in your life, will come under target by the manipulators!

Stuffing the mattress is looking better every day - - whoops forget that! What are we supposed to stuff it with? Dollars?

[UpInArms]

24. dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 79.623 Change -0.313 (-0.39%)

Forex Trading Speculators Sell US Dollars - Will Rally End?

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/special_report/special_reports/Forex_Trading_Speculators_Sell_US_1221139166375.html

Forex trading speculators continue to sell US dollars according to FXCM Speculative Sentiment Index, and this has coincided with strong declines in the Euro/US Dollar and other major forex pairs. Indeed, our Speculative Sentiment Index has done a good job of forecasting general direction in the EURUSD, GBPUSD, USDCHF, and USDCAD through the past week of trade. Key questions remain as to whether it will continue to do so, however, as many signs suggests we are near the end of the US dollar rally.

According to the CFTC's Commitment of Traders report on Futures markets, speculative US dollar longs have gained to their highest levels since late 2005--a clear sign that forex trading sentiment has become extremely bullish the US dollar. Though short and medium term momentum remains in its favor, the exceedingly high level of speculative forex future long positions increases the likelihood of sharp pullbacks. Increasingly indecisive forex retail traders likewise show signs that they may begin to buy US dollars--a contrarian signal that could forecast the end of the US dollar's sharp rally. Read individual sections below to study forex positioning statistics on major currency pairs.



...more...

Euro Bounces to the Upside, Overlooks Recessionary Fears

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_brief/Euro_Bounces_to_the_Upside__1221215395256.html

The Euro strengthened to touch an intraday high of 1.4126 as the U.S. dollar slumped across the board. Despite the slight recovery in the Euro, economic activity in the Euro-Zone remains subdued as foreign demands falter.

Euro-Zone employment increased at its slowest pace in two years, rising 0.2% in the second quarter, while the yearly figure slipped to 1.2% from 1.6%. Meanwhile, industrial production fell more than expected, slipping to -1.7% from the previous year. What’s more is that the previous figure was revised lower to -0.8% from an initial reading of -0.5%, which signals that the slowdown in the global market has clearly taken a toll on the European economy. Sluggish labor demands paired with lower production suggests that economic activity may weaken further as Germany and Spain are on the brink of a recession.

The Japanese economy contracted at its fastest pace in seven years in the second quarter, driven by a slump in domestic and foreign demands. Annualized GDP was revised lower to -3.0% from an initial reading of -2.4%, while the quarterly reading was revised to -0.7% from -0.6%. Fading export demands has left the world’s second largest economy on the brink of a recession, while domestic demands may slow further as Japanese consumers continue to face higher living costs.

U.S. advance retail sales are due out for release at the beginning of the trading session, and may stoke increased volatility in the greenback as the headline figure is anticipants to rise 0.2% after falling 0.1% in the previous month. Meanwhile, the U. of Michigan confidence index and business inventories are expected to improve as well, which would boost buying pressures for the dollar. Furthermore, a rise in producer prices is likely to raise the interest rate outlook for the Fed, which would further induce bullish sentiment for the reserve currency.

...more...

[UpInArms]

27. former AIG CEO, Maurice Greenberg settles Delaware case for $115 mln: report

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/maurice-greenberg-settles-delaware-case/story.aspx?guid=%7BE8EDFBA7%2D2DC3%2D4876%2D95E8%2DCAADE5F9A25C%7D

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Maurice Greenberg, former chairman and chief executive of American International Group Inc. (AIG: 17.55, +0.05, +0.3%) , along with other former AIG executives and C.V. Starr & Co. Inc., will pay $115 million to settle a lawsuit filed against them in Delaware in 2002, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site Thursday. Greenberg and the former executives were accused of diverting more than $1 billion to C.V. Starr, where they also served as officers, according to the Journal. The men will pay $29.5 million of the settlement, while the rest will be covered by liability insurance, the newspaper said, citing the law firm Grant & Eisenhofer.

What happened to "no material impact" Hank? Greenberg is such a piece of shit!

http://www.marketwatch.com/charts/int-basic.chart?symb=AIG&sid=511&time=9&startdate=&enddate=&freq=1&comp=&compidx=&uf=&ma=&maval=&type=2&size=1&lf=1&lf2=&lf3=&style=1013&mocktick=1&rand=873954415

that the AIG 2-year chart - it's worth a peak :eyes:

[UpInArms]

36. AIG woes knock its market value below peers

http://www.reuters.com/article/ousiv/idUSN1132575520080912?sp=true

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fears that American International Group Inc's (AIG.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) large mortgage exposure could trigger another round of losses has rankled investors so much that the insurer has lost its iron grip as the world's industry leader by market value.

AIG's shares have tumbled more than 70 percent over the past year. Including steep declines this week, AIG's valuation has fallen to about $47 billion from roughly $175 billion a year ago, leaving it trailing such companies as AXA SA (AXAF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), with a market value of about $65 billion, according to Reuters data.

AIG started the week with a market value in excess of $60 billion.

The company, which sells insurance to 74 million customers from operations in more than 130 countries and territories, has been badly hit over the past three quarters by more than $25 billion in write-downs on credit default swaps (CDS) it wrote to guarantee mortgage-linked securities against default.

Compounding investor fears was the reminder this week that mortgage losses are still plaguing Wall Street, with Lehman Bros (LEH.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) posting a record $4 billion loss, largely stemming from $5.6 billion in additional mortgage write-downs.

...more...

[Buttercup McToots]

28. 9/15 thru 9/19...Jim Willie...US financial system breakdown

Bloody hell...my birthday is 9/19...is everything going to fall to bloody pieces on my birthday?:cry:

http://www.gold-eagle.com/editorials_08/willie091108.html

In truly perverse fashion, only in America, the USDollar is rallying as a prelude to a US financial system breakdown. Call it a blowoff top! The Wall Street carnival seems to celebrate anything to lift the USDollar, even recession and the death knell for USTreasurys. Nationalization is never a positive for financial prospects. A powerful reversal comes when intervention ammunition wanes and the reality of US bank system implosion returns. The rally could reach the 82 mark, if the reversal pattern reaches full completion. The three major factors pulling the US$ down are the bank losses, the housing decline, and the job loss situation. Nothing has changed with these factors, except they have worsened!

My position is unshakable. The financial structure of the Untied States is besieged by powerful bankrupt insolvencies. 1) USGovt federal deficits are exploding, from war, from handouts, from recession, from bailouts. 2) US trade deficits are chronic and have risen over $60 billion monthly, soon to worsen from the US$ rise rendering harm to exports. 3) US banks are insolvent, with congames the only force forestalling bankruptcy as they continue to distort their balance sheets, while showing inability to raise needed cash in their replenishment. 4) US homeowners are now increasingly living with loans that reflect negative equity, as the proportion sits around one third in such upside-down living rooms. In the next few months, all four wrecked pillars will worsen dramatically. Fundamentals drive the USDollar lower. An assault on the USTreasurys will put the US$ into No Man’s Land.

The most dangerous reaction investors can make now is to believe the USDollar has begun a major new upleg. The second most dangerous reaction is to sell gold or silver into this climax of fraud, manipulation, bankruptcy, and protected larceny. The sun is soon to set on the Fascist Business Model network. Those who put leverage into their portfolios have forfeited their freedom to hold. The father of a friend down here in half sunny, half rainy Costa Rica just lost his $250k silver account. He had told me of his father’s strong belief in silver and the wrecked US$ condition, but he was not even aware that his father had a silver futures account, not physical silver bullion or coins. He owned paper silver, bound by the illusion of wealth. Now Dad has no silver at all, as he liquidated after a few margin calls. A piece of the inheritance is gone. My Dad has significant bank deposits, which might be under a different strain as banks drop like flies this winter. My advised strategy since the beginning of the year has been to hold silver or gold in physical form, for at least one third of accounts, maybe more.

The uplift coming this autumn and winter will be historic, as new chapters will be written on the global financial rehabilitation and remake. The world is planning the post-US era, amused by the celebration taking place on Wall Street. It will wind down soon enough. The next chapter will be characterized by isolation, retribution, receivership, dismissed government, overriding supply contracts, and redrawn lines.

LICENSE TO STEAL

A time limit has been granted, with high likelihood via order given by the most powerful bank in the world. The US has been ordered to bring its bonds home, to be buried under an avalanche of nationalized debt, foreign vengeance, and bank system collapse. During that period of time, Wall Street has been given a free ride, a blank check, a certificate of impunity, to rig markets for their own gain, to pull credit from client accounts for their own gain, to do whatever they can to force liquidation of positions, to basically rape & pillage private accounts. The fraud has been protected by regulators at the Securities & Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, each staffed by Wall Street mafiosi. They are taking full benefit of the granted OPEN WINDOW TO STEAL, pulling gold below 750 and pulling silver below 11. The total split, the bifurcation described last week, has become even more laughable, stark, and obvious of Wall Street corruption of the precious metals market. The gold & silver owned (on paper) by folks has been taken. Since through corruption of the precious metals market, where supply is largely unavailable, call it theft, robbery, larceny. Call a spade a spade! Wall Street loves an investor panic. Do not give it to them. What infuriates me is the impunity. Wall Street firms have a license to corrupt markets and take money from people and businesses, as they are forced into liquidation or shrunk positions, often with credit pulled tactically. The regulators are sitting on their hands, permitting it all during this climax events of a fiesta. Banksters at the BIS are taken care of banksters inside the Untied States. A climax of theft is nearing an end.

THE DOOR SHUTS VERY SOON

On the week of September 15 thru 19, some initial events are anticipated to occur. An important event schedule will be initiated. The party and celebration and corrupt raids should come to an end abruptly. Many possible events are offered in conjecture in the September Hat Trick Letter, due out late this weekend. In all, 13 powerful shock wave events are suggested as possible. Foreigners are watching the tainted party, viewing it as staged atop the heavily listing Titanic vessel. The four pillars of insolvency, plus the looming credit derivative roof crumple, seem not to matter. The entire global playing field, related to commerce and finance, is soon to be reshaped, with the Untied States becoming a bit player, or not invited. The turkey carving is nigh.

When the events begin to unfold, one event will lead to another. Just like the Iraq War, a schedule does not adhere to a calendar, but rather to events. One event leads to released new pressures, factors to be made clear, obstacles to be removed (possibly forcibly), and the next event unfolds. My view of the sequence very simple is to reveal the big picture, RECEIVERSHIP & DEFAULT. The gold & silver prices will rocket higher. Part of the event schedule, down the road in time, not at an early stage, is the launch of the gold-backed Russian currency and the gold-backed Gulf dinar. These are not new news items, but well advertised and fully ignored by a dismissive US failing financial fortress. The gold & silver prices have become laughable. Very little supply was available in the low 800s for gold. Very little supply was available at 13 for silver. Now prices are lower. One should try to imagine the building rage by angry foreign owners of physical gold & silver, who look at the price schemes dominated by paperhangers on Wall Street, who use the printing press and electronic switchboards to create new counterfeit supply to sell. Foreigners seek justice, to stem the corruption, to stem the threat to global stability, both financially and militarily. Do Americans have much of any idea of the foreign perspective? Do they know about violated NATO treaties, and poking the Russian bear with sharp sticks repeatedly? Americans are soon to be given a fresh course in receivership. The opening salvo was Fannie Mae and the fat little brother Freddie Mac. Never in modern history has a widened pattern of nationalization been favorable to a currency!


:cry:

[Buttercup McToots]

35. In all, 13 powerful shock wave events are suggested as possible

Quote:
On the week of September 15 thru 19, some initial events are anticipated to occur.

In all, 13 powerful shock wave events are suggested as possible.

http://www.fxstreet.com/fundamental/economic-calendar/


Bolivia and Venezuela kicking out their US ambassadors
NATO ships in the Black Sea
China threatening to dump the US$
Saudis walking out on OPEC
Pakistan furious with the US
Hurricane Ike
Fanny &Freddie failure backlash
PMs crude crushed
Lehman Brothers?
WaMu?
Putin playing war games with Chavez
Palin threating Putin
Israel vs Iran

what else?

[UpInArms]

29. Fed resorts to begging Japanese investors: U.S. plea: Don't dump Fannie-Freddie debt

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-treasury-reassures-japanese-investors/story.aspx?guid=%7BB5CC7053%2DF4A5%2D4E9C%2D9DC3%2D383259C21157%7D

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Seeking to head off any unloading of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds by Japanese investors, the U.S. Treasury Department is taking the unusual step of directly contacting Japanese financial institutions about the plan to rescue the mortgage giants, according to a published report.

Because a massive unloading of Fannie Mae (FNM: 0.77, +0.03, +4.2%) and Freddie Mac (FRE: 0.59, -0.07, -10.6%) holdings could hamper the U.S. government's efforts to shore up the mortgage firms' finances, the Treasury Department is effectively asking investors to refrain from doing so, Japanese business daily Nikkei said on its Website in a report dated Friday.

According to sources familiar with the matter, Treasury Undersecretary for International Affairs David McCormick on Thursday phoned senior executives at major Japanese banks as well as the Life Insurance Association of Japan to explain Washington's plans for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the report said.

McCormick is believed to have reiterated plans announced Sunday, including seizure of both mortgage giants and the government's intention to infuse funds if necessary. During the phone calls, he is also said to have urged Japanese institutions to continue investing with confidence in Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

According to a Nikkei report earlier this week, Japanese financial institutions own more than 15 trillion yen ($142.5 billion) in securities issued by based on data disclosed by domestic banks, life insurers and others as of March 31. Many Japanese investment trusts also include securities in their portfolios.

...more...

[Buttercup McToots]

30. Mark, we need your clear thinking..

“Sometimes I wonder whether the world is being
run by smart people who are putting us on
or by imbeciles who really mean it.”
– Mark Twain –

[Demeter]

86. Imbeciles, without a doubt

Imbeciles who can't count, no less, or they'd realize that even with Blackwater, they are substancially outnumbered.

[Buttercup McToots]

41. Another One Bites The Dust? (Lehman) ...Denninger

http://market-ticker.denninger.net/archives/578-Another-One-Bites-The-Dust-Lehman.html

Another One Bites The Dust? (Lehman)
Here we go again.

Even though the press claims that it is "unlikely" that The Fed (or the Treasury) will put in "money" toward a Lehman acquisition, you can't believe a word of it.

In fact, you can't believe anything you read or hear from these clowns in DC.

Slowly, piece by piece, they are dismantling what used to be Free-Market Capitalism.

And how does freedom (both to succeed and fail) die?

To thunderous applause.

Certainly, when Bear Stearns failed, you got thunderous applause.

When The Fed summarily declared the financial system in "crisis", thereby granting itself powers that it arguably did not have (including lending to non-banks acquiring equity interest!) the markets roared with thunderous applause, and Congress clucked with approval. The people yawned and reached for another beer.

When the TAF, PDCF, and TSLF, all "alphabet soup" means of pumping extra liquidity into a financial system that was in trouble as a direct consequence of previous excess liquidity fed into it by Alan Greenspan, the market roared with thunderous applause.

When Treasury instantaneously doubled the federal debt, we heard the roar of thunderous applause.

And last afternoon, when a rumor started floating around that The Fed was going to once again intervene, this time to "take under" Lehman Brothers, we once again heard the market roar with thunderous applause, rising by more than 1% in - literally - less than 5 minutes.

We are truly an idiot nation.

We are being led to the economic gas chamber - quite literally - and cheer on the way.

Anything to prevent home prices from being.... gasp.... affordable!

Anything so the stock market does not go down.

Anything, including licking the boots of the Japanese and Chinese, who we now know threatened our nation's Treasurer if he did not back up debt with the explicit full faith and credit of the United States - debt they bought knowing it lacked that guarantee.

The Truth is that these institutions - all of them - got in trouble by writing paper in an imprudent manner. They loaned money to people who couldn't pay it back. As bankers, it is their job to know whether their customer can in fact pay, but that all went out the window in the "New Era of Finance", where you can shovel off your crap to someone else, forcing them to be the bagholder when it all goes "boom" rather than you.

What these geniuses forgot is that in real life it doesn't work this way, even if you think it should or might. What happens in real life is that people get greedy, and this is shortly followed by a bout of stupidity, where you lend out money on looser and looser terms, until finally you reach the point that the only real qualification is that you have a pulse.

At the same time there is always a backlog of this paper in your shop, and when the inevitable gravy train of suckers runs out, you find yourself sitting on a sizable number of these nuclear weapons - and they're all ticking.

Never mind that there's a matter of ethics here, in that these bankers knew the paper was bad. This no different, really, than selling Pintos that you know will explode if struck from behind. It was and is a defective product, and whether it "booms" on you or someone else the fact remains that these bankers knew these loans were unsound when they wrote them. They simply didn't care.

Lehman is just the latest, but not the first or last, of a long line of institutions that has or will explode.

There are no "maybe" involved in this, and if there were two firing neurons in the heads of most stock traders the market would tank every time we discover a new victim of self-immolation, for it would be yet another tick-mark in the contraction of credit, another tick-mark in the lack of diversity of business, and another tick-mark proving that the "smartest guys in the room" - in truth - have an IQ lower than Forest Gump's.

But the institutions that bail people out, including Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke, continue to come to the microphone and pronounce that "life is like a box of chocolates".

And there we stop listening, having stuck our fingers in our ears for the "you never know exactly what you're going to get, and we may have inserted some arsenic" part of the sentence. Oh no, we hear "chocolate!" and instantly a sugar-high flows through the arteries of the market.

Like Pavlov's dogs we mash the "buy buy buy" button with a mighty roar.... of thunderous applause.

Step back for a moment folks and think about what these failures really mean to American business, and to you as an American.

They mean that the "bastions of capitalism" were in fact either knowingly committing felonies on a many-per-second basis for nearly 10 years, robbing you (collectively and in many cases individually) with each one, or were criminally stupid. It is simply not possible for a hairdresser making $8/hour to afford a $500,000 house, but many of them bought one in California.

How did they get the money?

They mean that the so-called "regulators" - The Fed, the OCC, the OTS, Congress, Treasury and the SEC, for starters, were either bribed, blackmailed ("got Client #9?") or were too blind to be able to see past the end of their noses. Banks and brokerages are regulated entities; they do not get to sell any product to any person they wish without government oversight.

Many of these banks, including but most certainly not limited to WaMu and Wachovia, were offering "nuclear-size debt bomb" mortgages as recently as May of this year, more than a year after we knew they were exploding!

The regulators were and are today either intentionally asleep or grossly incompetent.

If you are a thinking individual this instantaneously calls into question the safety and capability of the FDIC to pay your "up to $100,000" should the bank where your money is immolate itself, especially as the FDIC is now losing over 20% of the assets for each bank it takes over. The historical average, by the way, was in the single digits until this last year. What happens when the FDIC's money runs out? One single large bank and their entire fund is gone. And before you say "Congress will just give them more money" (of course they will) please understand that Congress doesn't actually have any money - the government gets its funds from you via taxes, so in effect you are stealing yet more of your own money in order to pay yourself back when your bank goes under! In other words, there is in fact no insurance since the party paying the check is, in fact, you once the FDIC fund runs out - and run out it will.

The FDIC has historically charged very low insurance premiums, essentially zero in the case of some banks, both because banks rarely fail and because recovery when they do has, historically, been quite high. Neither of these "old paradigms" is necessarily valid any more.

Not that the FDIC failing and having to be bailed out would be new. Does anyone remember the S&L crisis? The FSLIC blew up as a direct consequence of the same regulatory failures in the S&Ls, and when the "insurance fund" imploded Congress was forced to step up and inject huge sums of money into the system. In fact, S&L depositors didn't have FSLIC insurance "make them whole"; they had the government reach into their pocket, extract the money to "pay them", and then give it back to them.

The people roared with thunderous applause.

Now we're living the same nightmare a second time.

None of this should have happened, and we the people should make damn sure that (1) it doesn't happen again, and (2) the people who caused this mess bear "first loss" - loss of their job, loss of their boats, loss of their mansions, loss of their wealth and loss of their freedom - in that order.

We should not and must not bail out any more banks, lenders, or other institutions, and we must insist that the regulators intervene early and often, shutting down those institutions that pose "systemic risk" now if they can't (or won't) take down that "systemic risk."

Today, as you contemplate that CNBC is reporting that "everyone wants the same deal Jamie Dimon got - and they're not going to get it" in the context of "bailing out Lehman" (meaning that all the potential acquiring banks all want you the people to eat the losses - again!) you may wish to consider whether that beer and NFL is such a good idea - or whether a more appropriate response is the (figurative) tar and feather treatment that we the people have the right (and duty) to impose upon our elected and appointed officials via the ballot box.

Don't let freedom - and capitalism - die to thunderous applause.

[DemReadingDU]

52. I was just going to post this, thanks

This sickening feeling in my gut won't go away. Next week sure doesn't look good.

[Dr.Phool]

67. Today would be a "good" day for a major take-over.

They've got a huge distraction down in Houston.

Shock Doctrine.

[Buttercup McToots]

42. Joyous Loathing at Lehman's Collapse ...Bloomberg

Joyous Loathing at Lehman's Collapse
Darknight

Incept: 2007-08-10

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=2....

Sept. 11 (Bloomberg)-- To see the mental state of financial markets at the moment you need only to sit at a computer with an Internet connection and watch investors respond to journalism.

On Tuesday morning Bloomberg News quoted an unidentified person inside Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. saying his firm had tried and failed to raise capital from the Korean Development Bank. This report came on the heels of an earlier one in which a named person who regulated the Korea Development Bank denied such a thing had happened -- but no matter.

A few minutes after Bloomberg News posted the piece, it was the most-read news of the day, and Lehman's shares went into a free fall. Fifteen minutes later they had lost almost half their value.

What's interesting, among other things, is the total lack of reflection in the markets. Who had heard of the Korean Development Bank? Who knew what it did, or whether the people inside it were shrewd assessors of subprime-mortgage portfolios?

Basically no one, I'd guess. And yet a single report from an unnamed person inside Lehman that some Koreans had considered, and then passed on, investing in the firm was enough to cause the shares to crash.

And all that had really happened was that KDB proved it may have finally grasped what should be for Asians a cardinal investment principle: Never buy anything an American investment banker is selling.

Lehman Doomed

What one can see from this event is that Lehman Brothers is doomed. It's doomed, in part, because it still owns all sorts of crappy assets at inflated prices.

It holds tens of billions of dollars in subprime-related assets of the sort Merrill Lynch & Co. in July disgorged at 22 cents on the dollar. But that's probably just the beginning.

There's no happy reason they haven't explained in detail their exposure to credit-default swaps. No one -- not its big investors, not the analysts and journalists who cover it, not even, perhaps, the Korean Development Bank -- has had a clear view of its assets and liabilities.

This opacity was once a huge advantage: the people outside assumed the best. It's now an even bigger disadvantage: people outside assume the worst.

But Lehman is doomed for another reason: People are enjoying its failure. The pleasure and interest the markets now take in seeing it fail now exceeds their pleasure and interest in seeing it survive.

Interest in Failure

This is one of the many unintended little side effects of the government bailout of Bear Stearns Cos.: to greatly reduce the interest of the people who do business with Lehman Brothers in the survival of Lehman Brothers.

All those people whose affairs are intertwined with Lehman might have pressured them to handle their problems more briskly and intelligently -- and might also be trying to keep it afloat. The U.S. government has made it possible for them to instead stand back and watch with some detachment and even pleasure as Lehman collapses.

After all, the Federal Reserve will give them their money back, re-insure their credit defaults, take another pile of these distressed assets out of the market. And when the dust settles they can go in and poach Lehman's business and its smarter employees.

The Bear Stearns bailout was supposed to prevent the crisis from rippling through Wall Street. Obviously it hasn't done that. It's merely thrown the crisis into slow motion and prolonged the agony.

And it's given the Korean Development Bank whole new powers.

[TalkingDog]

43. 2 things: Annie D. be careful

I didn't get a chance to say so yesterday.... We'll be thinking about you in the Dog household.

And WTF!??

When I signed off yesterday, well after lunch, the Dow was at something like 12+.....

Today should be interesting.

Keep your powder dry, boys (and girls).

TD

[UpInArms]

44. Will the markets do the rate-cut boogy today? Prospects for Fed cuts inch higher

http://www.reuters.com/article/bondsNews/idUSN1234230220080912?sp=true

CHICAGO, Sept 12 (Reuters) - U.S. short-term interest rate futures on Friday showed traders consider Federal Reserve rate cuts by late this year more likely after August retail sales were reported weaker than expected and wholesale inflation pressures eased.

Over the past week, futures have swung from a bias toward higher interest rates from the Fed toward a possible rate cut as turmoil continues in financial markets.

The implied prospects for a Fed rate cut by year-end hit a new cycle high of 36 percent after the data, up from 28 percent late on Thursday.

Still, futures show an 88-percent chance that the Fed will hold benchmark rates steady at 2 percent at its policy meeting on Tuesday.

August retail sales fell by 0.3 percent against forecasts for a 0.2-percent increase, while sales excluding autos tumbled by 0.7 percent. July's sales were revised to down 0.5 percent from the original 0.1 percent result.

"The retail sales data was significantly weaker than expected both in August, particularly with the downward revision to July. The weakness was broad-based," said Alan Ruskin, chief international strategist at RBS Greenwich Capital in Greenwich, Connecticut.

...more...

[UpInArms]

45. self-deleted dreaded dratted dupe post

:(

[UpInArms]

47. 9:56 EST - pulling off its lows before the 10:00 reports

Dow 11,328.11 105.60 (0.92%)
Nasdaq 2,234.00 24.22 (1.07%)
S&P 500 1,240.72 8.33 (0.67%)
10-Yr Bond 3.635% 0.013

NYSE Volume 641,648,562.5
Nasdaq Volume 179,990,562.5

09:45 am : Stocks have opened the session markedly lower. Losses are steepest among financials (-1.8%), though their position has improved.

The downturn in financials reflects continued investor wariness. Trading has been marked by uncertainty recently as participants ruminate over the future of Lehman Brothers (LEH 3.75, -0.47). According to reports, the struggling investment bank may be acquired, helping protect against the threat of failure. Shares of LEH have dropped more than 90% this year.

As a group, investment banks and brokerages are down 2.7% this session.

09:15 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -9.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -16.50. The major indices continue to trail fair value, indicating a downward start to the week's final trading session.

09:02 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -9.30. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -16.50. Stock futures remain weak ahead of the opening. Telecom giants AT&T (T) and Verizon (VZ) have had their estimates cut at Credit Suisse. The lowered estimates reflect macro concerns and margin pressure. Meanwhile, analysts have a mixed view on Washington Mutual (WM); the stock has been downgraded at some firms and upgraded by others.

[TalkingDog]

48. Dow -120 at 10 am.... guess that answers that question....

The Word for Today: Slaughter












duh on me too....

[Hugin]

56. ...

Oh, never mind... It's on my end. :doh:

[Joanne98]

49. AIG down 20%

http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=AIG

[antigop]

54. Insurance execs: We did a lousy job assessing our own subprime risks

http://financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080911/REG/809119977/1036

Insurance industry executives expect the subprime meltdown and other credit issues to continue to have a significantly negative impact on the industry’s financial performance in 2009, according to a survey by KPMG.

Industry executives anticipate that credit and pricing risks will pose major challenges to the industry over the next three to five years.

The survey of 365 industry executives, conducted this week at a conference held by KPMG, found that 82% of the respondents expect the credit crisis to have a significantly or extremely negative impact on 2009 performance. In 2007, only 55% of those surveyed felt subprime issues would have a negative impact on the financial results and performance of the industry.

A third of the insurance executives surveyed cited adequate pricing as the top challenge over the next three years, while 32% see credit risk as the biggest challenge.

Insurance executives indicated the industry as a whole did not do a good job of understanding its exposure to credit and subprime risks in 2008. Forty percent gave the industry a grade of D or F, while only 19% assigned a grade of B or better. In the 2007 survey, nearly three-quarters of insurance executives said they felt confident their companies had a solid grasp on their exposure to the subprime market and related risks.

AND HOW MUCH MONEY DID THESE GUYS MAKE? :grr: :grr:

[Roland99]

58. Enough to not give a damn

[Ghost Dog]

61. European Stocks Gain on Possible Lehman Sale; UBS, BHP Climb

Sept. 12 (Bloomberg) -- European stocks advanced for the first time in four days as speculation Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. will find a buyer lifted banks and rising metals prices sent commodity producers higher.

UBS AG, the European bank hardest hit by subprime-related losses, climbed 2.7 percent while Barclays Plc gained 3.6 percent. BHP Billiton Ltd., the world's largest mining company, rallied 7.4 percent as copper increased. SAS Group jumped 15 percent after the biggest Nordic airline said it's ``evaluating various structural possibilities'' for the carrier's future.

The Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index gained 1.7 percent to 280.41, extending this week's advance to 3 percent. The U.S. Treasury and the Federal Reserve have been working with Lehman on a sale of the securities firm, and a deal may be announced before Asian markets open Sept. 15, a person with knowledge of the matter said.

...

National benchmark indexes rose in all 18 western European markets except Greece and Iceland. Germany's DAX climbed 0.9 percent, while the U.K.'s FTSE 100 jumped 1.9 percent. France's CAC 40 advanced 2 percent.

U.S. Consumer Confidence

Stocks extended gains after a report showed confidence among U.S. consumers climbed more than estimated this month as a drop in gasoline prices provided relief from rising unemployment and tumbling home values.

UBS advanced 2.7 percent to 23.52 francs. Barclays, the U.K.'s third-largest bank, increased 3.6 percent to 350.5 pence. Credit Suisse Group AG, Switzerland's second-biggest bank, added 3.1 percent to 52.6 francs.

...

BHP Billiton jumped 7.4 percent to 1,509 pence. Rio Tinto Group, the world's third-biggest mining company, added 8 percent to 4,490 pence. Anglo American Plc, the fourth-largest diversified mining company, increased 8.4 percent to 2,502 pence.

Copper for three-month delivery rallied as much as 3.6 percent to $7,180 a ton on the London Metal Exchange, for the first weekly gain since the period ended Aug. 22.

Valuations

``Declines in energy and basic resources shares have been excessive,'' said Jacques Porta, who helps manage $180 million at Ofivalmo Patrimoine in Paris. ``The shares have been massacred. With oil rising, it's a good reason to come back to the shares.''

...

Total SA and Eni SpA led gains by energy producers as oil rebounded from a five-month low. Crude rose as much as 2 percent to $102.89 a barrel in New York as Hurricane Ike headed toward the Texas coast, home to 23 percent of U.S. refining capacity, shutting almost all Gulf of Mexico oil production as it passes.

Total, Europe's third-largest oil company, rose 2.2 percent to 45.71 euros. Eni, Italy's biggest, gained 3 percent to 20.83 euros. Seadrill Ltd., the Norwegian oil-rig company set up by billionaire John Fredriksen, added 7.9 percent to 133.25 kroner.

`Structural Solution'

SAS Group jumped 15 percent to 55.25 kronor. The airline is ``conducting talks about a possible structural solution,'' SAS said. It didn't identify with whom it is discussing the airline's plans. Earlier, Reuters reported Deutsche Lufthansa AG may make a takeover offer for the airline.

...

Deutsche Postbank AG fell 6.3 percent to 42.90 euros. Deutsche Bank AG agreed to buy almost 30 percent of Germany's biggest consumer bank by clients for 2.79 billion euros ($3.93 billion) in the country's fourth financial-services acquisition in two months.

Deutsche Bank dropped 2.5 percent to 57.90 euros on plans to sell as much as 2 billion euros in new shares to finance the stake purchase.

Sacyr Vallehermoso SA rallied 9.7 percent to 13.56 euros after saying it may sell its 20 percent stake in Repsol YPF SA, Spain's largest oil company. Repsol increased 5.6 percent to 20.14 euros.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=aw8r5VdXVPjE&refer=europe

[Ghost Dog]

62. Cuba says sugar cane damaged across country

HAVANA, Sept 12 (Reuters) - Hurricane Ike flattened 156,000 hectares of Cuban sugar cane and flooded more when it churned along the island for two days this week, state-run radio reported on Friday.

Cuba harvested 330,000 hectares of cane during the 2008 harvest, producing almost 1.5 million tonnes of raw sugar.

There are 700,000 hectares devoted to sugar cane in the country.

The president of the Cuban sugar technicians said the preliminary figures would no doubt increase as workers gained access to plantations where roads were washed out.

"The data is still preliminary and is going to increase ... I saw today a figure of 15,000 hectares flooded," Tirso Saenz told Radio Progresso.

Saenz said he was more worried about the flooded cane than that which was flattened, but that both situations were serious.

/... http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idINN12109720080912?rpc=44&sp=true

'Evening folks. Think I'll go and invest a case of genuine Cuban rum; wait out the coming storm...

[antigop]

64. FASB to require greater disclosure of credit derivatives risk

http://financialweek.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080912/REG/809129981/1036

In a move that could become a burden for sellers of credit derivatives—but a boon for investors and regulators—the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued amendments today designed to improve disclosure related to the exposures of sellers of credit derivatives.

The FASB change comes amid the uncertainty over the future of investment bank Lehman Brothers, a major player in the credit derivatives market. The troubles at Lehman have revived concerns that counterparty risk could have dire consequences for financial markets.

FASB said that effective Nov. 15, it will require more information about potential adverse effects of changes in credit risk on the financial position, financial performance and cash flow of the sellers of credit derivatives, which are often insurers, brokers and banks.

The board’s staff position amends FAS 133 (on accounting for derivative instruments and hedging activities) and would require disclosure from sellers of credit derivatives, including credit derivatives that are embedded in hybrid instruments.

Does anyone really believe this will become effective Nov. 15? :cynicism:

[Demeter]

65. They've Called in that Little Engine That Could Again

Hear it chugging?

"I think I can, I think I can, I think I can..."

[Dr.Phool]

74. Well, I'm the engineer.

And I just heard the conductor yell, "Pig-hole It"!!!

In railroad vernacular, that means throw the emergency braking system.

Damned thing probably left the tracks while I was sleeping.

[xyouth]

66. Has anyone used Monex to by gold?

Buttercup McToots 23rd post scared the piss out of me. It actually caused an anxiety attack! :scared: :scared: :scared: :scared:

[ret5hd]

75. go to a local coin shop and buy physical.

[xyouth]

76. Thanks

Am I buying the coins as just weight? I have no interest in investing in coins.

[ret5hd]

77. just weight...kugerands or maple leafs or plain bullion

[Dr.Phool]

79. I haven't bought krugerrands in years.

What kind of a premium do they charge now?

[ret5hd]

80. At this moment i bet its sky high...i'm hearing reports of ppl paying $4 over spot for SILVER!

[Dr.Phool]

81. The last time I bought them, they were going for $35 over spot for 1 oz coins.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

78. Oil at a $100?

Is an election coming up?

[ozone_man]

82. I think we'll see $80 fairly soon.

Regardless of who wins the election.

There was a rather large commodities bubble that is in the process of deflating. Gold, oil, pork bellies, ...;)

[ozymandius]

84. end of the day - little movement despite screaming volume

Dow 11,421.99 Down 11.72 (0.10%)
Nasdaq 2,261.27 Up 3.05 (0.14%)
S&P 500 1,251.70 Up 2.65 (0.21%)
10-Yr Bond 3.73% Up 0.108
NYSE Volume 6,351,894,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,025,782,125

4:05 pm : The stock market struggled to make headway Friday. Buyers found little motivation to enter the market as uncertainty continues to shroud the financial sector. Although solid gains were made among beaten-down commodities stocks their influence was too small to lift the broader market in material fashion.

Traders continue to await clarity related to the fate of a couple of financial players. Lehman Brothers (LEH 3.65, -0.57) may receive a helping hand from another bank, or even by a consortium of firms, looking to take over the investment bank. Lehman has faced tough times before, but many question whether the firm will survive the current turmoil on its own.

As for Washington Mutual (WM 2.77, -0.06), a midday report that JPMorgan Chase (JPM 41.17, -0.48) is in advanced discussions to acquire the downtrodden savings and loan institution led to a recovery effort. However, JPMorgan stymied the rally when it came out to say it is not in negotiations, according to CNBC.

Making its way to a new 52-week low, AIG (AIG 12.14, -5.41) was one of the worst performers in the financial sector. The company has been subjected to heavy selling pressure as concerns mount over its fate.

Financials finished the session as the worst performing sector, which is where it began the session. Financials were down 2.7% early, then rallied to a 0.6% gain before volatile action led the sector to close 1.0% lower.

While financials fared the worst, materials and energy saw the largest gains as traders picked up depressed names. Stocks dealing in commodities have seen their shares beaten down in recent sessions amid fears a global slowdown will hamper demand. In fact, earlier this week the materials and energy sectors were at their lowest level in months. They ended the day with gains of 3.2% and 2.8%, respectively. Due to the losses seen earlier in the week, materials advanced 2.1% week-to-date, while energy concluded the week 0.7% higher.

Expectations of softer demand have also been reflected in oil prices. Though hurricanes threaten production and refining facilities in the Gulf of Mexico, crude briefly dipped below the $100 mark this session. It closed just short of $101 per barrel, down roughly 0.1% this session and 31% from its July 11 high.

Lackluster economic data did little to restore investor confidence. Prior to the session's opening bell it was reported August retail sales decreased 0.3%, despite expectations for a 0.2% increase. Sales during the prior month were revised lower to reflect a 0.5% decrease. Consumer spending remains on a sluggish growth path as consumers continue to face stiff headwinds.

A separate report indicated encouraging inflationary data. The Producer Price Index indicated prices declined 0.9% in August, which marked a sharper downturn than economists expected. Core PPI, which excludes food and energy, increased 0.2%, which was in-line with expectations. DJ30 -11.72 NASDAQ +3.05 NQ100 -0.4% R2K +0.2% SP400 +1.1% SP500 +2.68 NASDAQ Adv/Vol/Dec 1347/1.97 bln/1455 NYSE Adv/Vol/Dec 1759/1.28 bln/1390