STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, February 28, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday February 28, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON February 25, 2011

Dow 12,130.45 +61.95 (+0.51%)
Nasdaq 2,781.05 +43.15 (+1.55%)
S&P 500 1,319.88 +13.78 (+1.04%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.40 -0.02 (-0.53%)
30-Year Bond 4.50 -0.01 (-0.11%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

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

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

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Today's Reports

Feb 28 08:30 Personal Income Jan 0.3% 0.3% 0.4%
Feb 28 08:30 Personal Spending Jan 0.1% 0.4% 0.7%
Feb 28 08:30 PCE Prices - Core Jan 0.1% 0.1% 0.0%
Feb 28 09:45 Chicago PMI Feb 62.0 67.5 68.8
Feb 28 10:00 Pending Home Sales Dec -1.5% -3.2% 2.0%

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil above $99 as Libya's oil industry in chaos

SINGAPORE – Oil prices jumped above $99 a barrel Monday in Asia as Libya's violent power struggle continued to disrupt crude output in the OPEC nation. Violent protests in Oman also raised fears political upheaval could impact other crude exporters.

Benchmark crude for April delivery was up $1.51 at $99.39 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 60 cents to settle at $97.88 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for April delivery was up $1.37 to $113.51 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

As fighting between supporters and opponents of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continued over the weekend, foreign oil companies scrambled to evacuate staff. The chaos in Libya's oil industry has cut production by at least 750,000 barrels daily, down from its normal capacity of 1.6 million barrels, the International Energy Agency reported late Friday.

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. European Stocks, U.S. Index Futures Are Little Changed; Lloyds Shares Fall

European stocks were little changed after the Stoxx Europe 600 Index posted its biggest weekly retreat in seven months as Libyans sought to end Muammar Qaddafi’s 41-year reign as the country’s ruler. Asian stocks rose, while U.S. futures fluctuated.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc lost 1.1 percent after Standard & Poor’s Equity Research and Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Inc. downgraded the shares.

The benchmark Stoxx 600 dropped 0.1 percent to 283.82 at 8:03 a.m. in London.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-28/european-stocks-u-s-index-futures-are-little-changed-lloyds-shares-fall.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. Financial meltdown documentary wins Oscar

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - "Inside Job," a film blaming financial institutions for triggering the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, won the Academy Award for best documentary on Sunday.

Director Charles Ferguson started off his acceptance speech lamenting that "not a single financial executive has gone to jail and that is wrong," drawing applause from the Hollywood celebrity audience.

"Inside Job," the second Oscar-nominated documentary by Ferguson and his co-producer Audrey Marrs, was considered the front-runner for the Oscar after it won the Directors Guild of America award for best documentary.

The film had impressed critics and the industry alike with its expansive cinematography, global reach, fast-paced narrative and pointed interviews.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/entertainmentNews/idCATRE71R10220110228

[DemReadingDU]

5. Excellent!

We saw the documentary a couple months ago, well worth seeing!

[Fuddnik]

19. Available on Netflix on 3-8.

[AnneD]

22. Funny thing that...

we use to call it news and not a documentary.

[Demeter]

28. We've gone back to the "News Reel" in the local film palace

an excellent way to propagandize, for people shut out of the MSM. But a really sad commentary on the News Bidness Today.

[Demeter]

9. +15 Trillion

or whatever the current estimated level of damages is....

[Hugin]

32. !!!

:thumbsup: :thumbsup: :thumbsup:

[Tansy_Gold]

6. That toon is spot on.

K&R from


Tansy Gold, who spent virtually all yesterday afternoon and evening glued to DU watching the Madison events

[xchrom]

7. recommend

[Festivito]

8. Debt: 02/24/2011 14,119,807,822,019.49 (DOWN 5,654,854,288.02) (Thu, DOWN some.)

(Good day.)
Good Chinese food on a Sunday.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,485,547,122,223.65 + 4,634,260,699,795.84
DOWN 6,532,296,295.79 + UP 877,442,007.77

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,210.92 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,436,992 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,337.61.
A family of three owes $136,012.82. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 2,502,952,921.69.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,918,930,573.29.
The average for the last 31 days would be 1,857,029,587.06.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 101 reports in 147 days of FY2011 averaging 5.53B$ per report, 3.80B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 696 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.7T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/24/2011 14,119,807,822,019.49 BHO (UP 3,492,930,773,106.41 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,558,184,791,127.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,385,969,039,194.63 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
02/03/2011 -011,756,222,449.85 -
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********
02/16/2011 +000,114,208,468.26 ------------********
02/17/2011 -011,510,944,063.77 -
02/18/2011 +000,193,465,100.84 ------------********
02/22/2011 +000,575,498,293.73 ------------******** Tue
02/23/2011 +000,604,643,024.49 ------------********
02/24/2011 -006,532,296,295.79 --

2,811,848,391.48 Total of 15 above reports.

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

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

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4748045&mesg_id=4748062

[Festivito]

47. Debt: 02/25/2011 14,137,541,098,872.71 (UP 17,733,276,853.22) (Fri, UP a lot.)

(Interesting day.)
Tracert cannot resolve DU nor 216.158.28.198, let alone trace.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,511,339,835,005.19 + 4,626,201,263,867.52
UP 25,792,712,781.54 + DOWN 8,059,435,928.32

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

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,210.85 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 311,444,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,393.5.
A family of three owes $136,180.49. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 3,046,476,684.96.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,335,632,125.14.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,260,289,153.36.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 102 reports in 148 days of FY2011 averaging 5.65B$ per report, 3.89B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 695 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.7T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
02/25/2011 14,137,541,098,872.71 BHO (UP 3,510,664,049,959.63 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,575,918,067,981.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,420,338,478,466.66 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
02/04/2011 +000,096,985,369.31 ------------*******
02/07/2011 -000,024,110,721.58 ---- Mon
02/08/2011 +000,098,708,298.02 ------------*******
02/09/2011 +000,070,875,766.12 ------------*******
02/10/2011 -016,083,331,993.98 -
02/11/2011 -000,131,455,172.80 ---
02/14/2011 -001,050,366,540.96 -- Mon
02/15/2011 +048,146,191,309.44 ------------**********
02/16/2011 +000,114,208,468.26 ------------********
02/17/2011 -011,510,944,063.77 -
02/18/2011 +000,193,465,100.84 ------------********
02/22/2011 +000,575,498,293.73 ------------******** Tue
02/23/2011 +000,604,643,024.49 ------------********
02/24/2011 -006,532,296,295.79 --
02/25/2011 +025,792,712,781.54 ------------**********

40,360,783,622.87 Total of 15 above reports.

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

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

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4751329&mesg_id=4751363

[rfranklin]

10. Oscar winner acceptance: Why no jail for banksters?

Matt Stoller: A Very Political Oscars – “Not a single executive has gone to jail”

By Matt Stoller, a fellow at the Roosevelt Institute. His Twitter feed is http://www.twitter.com/matthewstoller

Obama had a brief appearance on the Oscars, and received no applause from an audience that surely would have treated him differently two years ago. The politics of the night belonged to Charles Ferguson, who won the Oscar for Best Documentary for Inside Job. He said at the end of his acceptance speech:

Forgive me, I must start by pointing out that three years after a horrific financial crisis caused by massive fraud, not a single financial executive has gone to jail and that’s wrong.”

Ferguson has a very mild manner, but he is utterly fearless. He wants prosecutions, and he used one of the biggest stages in the world to ask for them. Ferguson has gone after the Obama administration and spares no one, as when he called Eric Holder and Andrew Cuomo “partners in crime."

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/matt-stoller-a-very-political-oscars-%e2%80%93-not-a-single-executive-has-gone-to-jail.html

[xchrom]

11. +1

[DemReadingDU]

12. +++

[Demeter]

15. NYT’s Joe Nocera Defends Failure to Bring Wall Street Execs to Justice

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/02/nyts-joe-nocera-defends-failure-to-bring-wall-street-execs-to-justice.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

Aargh, it is frustrating to see how quickly establishment-serving shallow arguments become conventional wisdom. We get a big dose of this line of thinking from the New York Times’ Joe Nocera in an article titled, “Biggest Fish Face Little Risk of Being Caught.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/26/business/economy/26nocera.html?_r=1&pagewanted=2&ref=business

Now you can’t disagree with the conclusion: no major banking industry figure is going to be brought to justice. But the explanation he offers is incomplete and misleading, and serves to misdirect the public from more fundamental and more troubling causes.

At the start of the piece, Nocera recounts some of the unsavory acts of Countrywide’s Angelo Mozilo, and mentions in passing two other prime suspects, AIG’s Joe Cassano and Lehman’s Richard Fuld. Then he points to the decisions not to pursue criminal prosecutions of Mozilo and Cassano, and recites oft-repeated arguments. First, it’s too costly. The S&L crisis required a huge commitment of resources by the FBI, that ain’t happening now. Second, it’s too hard. Look at how the prosecution of two hedge fund managers at Bear Stearns failed. Third, the top brass has successfully insulated itself from the really bad actions at their firms.

Let’s deal with these arguments in reverse order...SEE LINK

CONCLUSION:

So we are back to the same ugly fact set. The overly generous terms of the TARP, and the failure of Team Obama to force management changes on the industry in early 2009 was a fatal error. It has embedded and emboldened a deeply corrupt plutocracy. The only way to go after them, as Eliot Spitzer suggested in the movie Inside Job, may be to target lower and mid-level employees on the widespread and well accepted practice of having securities firms pay for prostitutes and drugs out of research budgets. All it would take is a sufficiently bloody-minded prosecutor. But that sort of individual is notably absent from any of the perches where he could take on this mission. Given what happened to Spitzer, that seems to be no accident.

[xchrom]

41. +1

[Demeter]

13. In Local (Ann Arbor, Demeter) News...

We had a thunderstorm at 3 AM which woke me up and melted about half the snow that fell on us last week. It's supposed to go down to 11F tonight...can you say "skating rink"?

Yesterday's exercise (delivering 400+ copies of a worthless free paper that nobody wants unless they are interested in the grocery ads, which takes me two hours) in the cold wore me out superbly. I really slept well (except for the above mentioned thunderstorm) since the pain from the exercise of moving twice as much paper this week as last (big advertising section for some absurd reason) left me immobile with back muscles in pain. I might actually lose weight doing this...if I survive it. I'm too tired to eat.

The co-op meets to teleconference with our "good" banker, who wants to expedite selling off two units in default, for which his bank has lent money, and he's willing to take a loss to unload, and our "bad bank" litigators, who want to discuss the proposed settlement which states the bad bank takes NO loss, but the co-op loses all the money invested in rehab so that the units would sell...to which we aren't going to agree.

Then I go off to the real job, cooking and household maintenance. For other people, though I hope to get some of my own done, too.

It's a damn shame I don't get paid for the volunteer work, which is not only more intellectually stimulating and "responsible", but which the real world would pay good money to some glad-handing, well-connected WASP guy to mess up. We all know how little value "women's work" earns. Except who gets to clean up the glad-hander's messes? 3 guesses.

And today is a tutoring day, but not a puppy day, so I get to catch up on reading the worthless paper I deliver, which mainly means doing the sudoku puzzles. And perusing the grocery ads.

The sense of peace I feel at the moment is extraordinary. Not just from sufficient exercise, from getting to the thrift store and finding useful stuff cheap, from seeing the snow retreat, from seeing the New World Order go the way of all tyranny, but perhaps the stars have shifted out of the horrible patterns of February, or maybe it's just the chance for Spring to return. Whatever. I'll take it.

My sister is uncommunicative. Either she's "protecting" me from the bad news, or Dad is being reasonably co-operative, now that he's given up his ridiculous expectations that somebody would give up all life and live with him in Virgina, and moved in with her. We'll see: he's going to his new primary care physician this week. The work of getting his house emptied, rehabbed and sold still lies ahead.

Best wishes to all for this transition out of the beastly month of February!

PIRATE KING:ECCLESIASTICAL CHANT

For some ridiculous reason, to which, however, I've no desire to be disloyal,
Some person in authority, I don't know who, very likely the Astronomer Royal,
Has decided that, although for such a beastly month as February, twenty-eight days as a rule are plenty,
One year in every four his days shall be reckoned as nine and twenty.

Through some singular coincidence - I shouldn't be surprised if it were owing to the agency of an ill-natured fairy -
You are the victim of this clumsy arrangement, having been born in leap-year, on the twenty-ninth of February;
And so, by a simple arithmetical process, you'll easily discover,
That though you've lived twenty-one years, yet, if we go by birthdays, you're only five and a little bit over!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XXhJKzI1u48

[Demeter]

14. World leaders unite against Gaddafi

World leaders issued calls for Muammer Gaddafi to leave office as the sanctions drive against Libya grows. German chancellor Angela Merkel said it was ‘high time’ Gaddafi went

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/TWK799/V1STMO/JQU4J/OJW9KV/721XCR/VU/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28

WELL, BETTER LATE THAN NEVER...BUT WHAT COULD POSSIBLY BE THE REASON?

ANYONE? BEULLER?

[Demeter]

16. Date with history as UN acts over Libya

The Security Council unanimously referred a case of state violence to the International Criminal Court. That was a victory for the resolution’s British and French drafters, writes Harvey Morris

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/TWK799/V1STMO/JQU4J/OJW9KV/3ON566/VU/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28

AND WHEN WILL IT BE THE US'S TURN IN ICC? THAT DAY IS COMING...

[Demeter]

26. US imposes sanctions on Libya

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110226/ap_on_re_us/us_obama_libya_sanctions?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

The Obama administration is freezing assets held by Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and four of his children in the United States.

The Treasury Department says the sanctions against Gadhafi, three of his sons and a daughter also apply to the Libyan government.

The action was taken under an executive order signed Friday by President Barack Obama.

Obama says the U.S. is imposing unilateral sanctions on Libya because continued violence there poses an "unusual and extraordinary threat" to America's national security and foreign policy.

The president acted after hundreds of Americans were safely evacuated from Libya following days of bloodshed across the country. Militias loyal to Gadhafi have been firing on protesters who have been demanding the Libyan leader's ouster.

[Demeter]

27. U.S.:Neo-Con Hawks Take Flight over Libya By Jim Lobe

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27572.htm

In a distinct echo of the tactics they pursued to encourage U.S. intervention in the Balkans and Iraq, a familiar clutch of neo-conservatives appealed Friday for the United States and NATO to "immediately" prepare military action to help bring down the regime of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and end the violence that is believed to have killed well over a thousand people in the past week.

The appeal, which came in the form of a letter signed by 40 policy analysts, including more than a dozen former senior officials who served under President George W. Bush, was organized and released by the Foreign Policy Initiative (FPI), a two-year-old neo-conservative group that is widely seen as the successor to the more-famous – or infamous – Project for the New American Century (PNAC).

SEE LINK FOR DETAILS ... RECOMMEND READING IN FULL!

Such comments evoked strong reactions from some military experts, however.

"I'm horrified to read liberal interventionists continue to suggest the ease with which humanitarian crises and regional conflicts can be solved by the application of military power," wrote Andrew Exum, a counter-insurgency specialist at the Center for a New American Security... "To speak so glibly of such things reflects a very immature understanding of the limits of force and the difficulties and complexities of contemporary military operations."

Other commentators noted that a renewed coalition of neo-conservatives and liberal interventionists would be much harder to put together now than during the Balkan wars of the 1990s..."(The neo-conservatives) are essentially pro-intervention, pro-war, without regard to the costs to the country," he told IPS. "They don't recognize that we're incredibly over-extended and that the kinds of things they want us to do actually further weaken our already-eroded stock of American power."

[Demeter]

29. War Über Alles By Paul Craig Roberts

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article27570.htm

The United States government cannot get enough of war. With Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi’s regime falling to a rebelling population, CNN reports that a Pentagon spokesman said that the U.S. is looking at all options from the military side.

Allegedly, the Pentagon, which is responsible for one million dead Iraqis and an unknown number of dead Afghans and Pakistanis, is concerned about the deaths of 1,000 Libyan protesters.

While the Pentagon tries to figure out how to get involved in the Libyan revolt, the commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific is developing new battle plans to take on China in her home territory. Four-star Admiral Robert Willard thinks the U.S. should be able to whip China in its own coastal waters.

The admiral thinks one way to do this is to add U.S. Marines to his force structure so that the U.S. can eject Chinese forces from disputed islands in the East and South China seas.

It is not the U.S. who is disputing the islands, but if there is a chance for war anywhere, the admiral wants to make sure we are not left out...

RIGHTEOUS SCREED! AS USUAL

[Demeter]

33. US will win from Middle East domino effect

Mark Twain famously said that “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme”. As investors consider the ramifications of turmoil in the Middle East and North Africa, I can’t help but reflect on the political revolutions that swept through Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union in the early 1990s.

During that period, the winds of change that brought the collapse of communist regimes also precipitated turmoil in the financial markets and severe recessions. Along these lines, I believe the events in the Middle East-North Africa region today will perpetuate an economic domino effect that
may result in dramatic shifts across the investment landscape over the course of the next year.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/EWVD5S/3CWTA/C5O5OW/ZBS5J9/ID/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28

DON'T KNOW OR CARE WHO THIS LUNATIC IS, BUT I'D STAY AWAY FROM WHATEVER RECREATIONAL DRUG HE'S USING...THE US CANNOT POSSIBLY WIN, IT IS IN NO POSITION TO WIN.

IF ANYONE WINS, IT WILL BE CHINA.

[Demeter]

25. How will America handle the fall of its Middle East empire?

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peteroborne/100077625/how-will-america-handle-the-fall-of-its-middle-east-empire/

Empires can collapse in the course of a generation. At the end of the 16th century, the Spanish looked dominant. Twenty-five years later, they were on their knees, over-extended, bankrupt, and incapable of coping with the emergent maritime powers of Britain and Holland. The British empire reached its fullest extent in 1930. Twenty years later, it was all over...For a number of years, America has been incapable of funding its domestic programmes and overseas commitments without resorting to massive help from China, its global rival. China has a pressing motive to assist: it needs to sustain US demand in order to provide a market for its exports and thus avert an economic crisis of its own. This situation is the contemporary equivalent of Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), the doctrine which prevented nuclear war breaking out between America and Russia....Barack Obama... responded to the crisis (ECONOMIC, HOME AND ABROAD) with the same failed policies that caused the trouble in the first place: easy credit and yet more debt. It is certain that America will, in due course, be forced into a massive adjustment both to its living standards at home and its commitments abroad.

This matters because, following the second convulsive blow, America’s global interests are under threat on a scale never before seen. Since 1956, when Secretary of State John Foster Dulles pulled the plug on Britain and France over Suez, the Arab world has been a US domain. At first, there were promises that it would tolerate independence and self-determination. But this did not last long; America chose to govern through brutal and corrupt dictators, supplied with arms, military training and advice from Washington.


........................................

The great question is whether America will take its diminished status gracefully, or whether it will lash out, as empires in trouble are historically prone to do. Here the White House response gives cause for concern. American insensitivity is well demonstrated in the case of Raymond Davis, the CIA man who shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore. Hillary Clinton is trying to bully Pakistan into awarding Davis diplomatic immunity. This is incredible behaviour, which shows that the US continues to regard itself as above the law. Were President Zardari, already seen by his fellow countrymen as a pro-American stooge, to comply, his government would almost certainly fall.

Or take President Obama’s decision last week to veto the UN Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements. Even America itself accepts that these settlements are illegal. At a time when the Middle East is already mutinous, this course of action looks mad...The biggest problem is that America wants democracy, but only on its own terms. A very good example of this concerns the election of a Hamas government in Gaza in 2006. This should have been a hopeful moment for the Middle East peace process: the election of a government with the legitimacy and power to end violence. But America refused to engage with Hamas, just as it has refused to deal with the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, or to acknowledge the well-founded regional aspirations of Iran.

The history of the Arab world since the collapse of the Ottoman caliphate in 1922 can be divided schematically into two periods: open colonial rule under the British and French, followed by America’s invisible empire after the Second World War. Now we are entering a third epoch, when Arab nations, and in due course others, will assert their independence. It is highly unlikely that all of them will choose a path that the Americans want. From the evidence available, President Obama and Secretary of State Clinton are muddled and incapable of grasping the nature of current events.

[Demeter]

17. US probe into tax evasion widens

A US tax evasion investigation that has prompted charges against several Swiss bankers has expanded to include Israeli and Asian banks, according to lawyers


Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/3O109V/RP6QL/QFKJS2/TPD8R2/LE/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28

I WOULD PAY REAL MONEY TO KNOW HOW AND WHY THIS STARTED AND CONTINUES...IT'S SO "UNAMERICAN" IN THESE TIMES OF RAMPANT CRONYISM

[Demeter]

18. 3M chief warns Obama over business regulation

The head of the industrial groups 3M has launched a scathing attack on Barack Obama’s attempts to repair relations with companies, dubbing him “anti-business”

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/3O109V/RP6QL/QFKJS2/BMBI2N/LE/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28

THE PUSH-BACK, OR RATHER, PUSHING-AROUND, CONTINUES...UNTIL THE REVOLUTION!

[Demeter]

20. JPMorgan fund eyes 10% stake in Twitter

A JPMorgan fund is in talks to acquire a substantial stake in Twitter, one of the fastest-growing social networking sites.

The fund hopes to acquire 10 per cent of the online messaging service for $450m, valuing Twitter at $4.5bn, according to people familiar with the plans.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/8AGAUN/XBAN6/40U6YP/LQZP86/1G/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=27


WHAT THE HELL FOR, YOU MAY ASK?

THEY HAVEN'T GONE PUBLIC, YET. THE GREATER FOOL THEORY STILL LIVES....

[snot]

37. What for – to get control over it.

[Demeter]

43. Not JPMorganChase--They just want Quick Profits Fleecing the Sheep

[Demeter]

21. Muni market faces tough test in US

US states, local governments and other public bodies are selling bonds this year at the lowest rate in more than a decade after a recent sell-off drove borrowing costs higher

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/3O109V/RP6QL/QFKJS2/26F7HI/LE/t?a1=2011&a2=2&a3=28

[Demeter]

23. LATEST ASSANGE RUMOR:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuYLHCvM-7s&feature=player_embedded

[xchrom]

36. paul craig roberts is very interesting man.

and very charming with that genteel accent.

[Demeter]

24. Wal-Mart worker burns self to death in parking lot

http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2009/02/wal-mart-worker-immolates-self-in-parking-lot.html?obref=obinsite

A 58-year-old Wal-Mart employee who said he "couldn't take it anymore" lit himself on fire in a parking lot near the Bloomingdale store where he worked late Thursday night and was later pronounced dead at a hospital, authorities said this morning.

In an interview, his son said his father went to work last night with nothing seeming out of the ordinary. "This had nothing to do with the economy. I want to make that clear," he said, adding that the family may never know the reason for the public suicide...A store manager, who identified himself only as Erwin, had no explanation for the suicide. he said the man had not been laid off...

[masmdu]

30. ES support at 1306...if broken watch 1295 as lower support before further down...If 1306 holds then

1328 is resistance...If exceeded then challenge to previous recent high 1343.

(NOT TRADING ADVICE. JUST MY SPECULATION)

[masmdu]

40. 1328 hit...pullback from here ? (10:20)

[Hotler]

31. k&r n/t

[Demeter]

34. Egypt's Stock Market to Resume Trading on March 1 After One-Month Shutdown

SO, THAT'S ALL RIGHT, THEN (SHAKES HEAD)

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-02-27/egypt-s-stock-market-to-resume-trading-on-march-1-after-one-month-shutdown.html

Egypt’s stock market will resume trading on March 1 after a suspension of more than a month amid a popular revolt that toppled President Hosni Mubarak’s 30-year regime.

Prime Minister Ahmed Shafik replaced the head of the Egyptian Financial Supervisory Authority and approved changes to trading rules aimed at limiting possible losses when the market reopens, the North African country’s Cabinet said in a statement today. Egypt’s benchmark EGX 30 Index of stocks slumped 16 percent in the week that ended Jan. 27, the day it last opened.

“They’re trying to limit the drop as much as possible,” said Mohamed Radwan, head of international sales at Cairo-based Pharos Holding for Financial Investment. “Investors were frustrated with the market closure so the resumption is essential. There shouldn’t be a fear of the market taking a hit because those buying at a discount will boost the market in the long term.”

Efsa’s former head, Ziad Bahaa El-Din, is the latest official to be replaced after Shafik brought in 11 new ministers last week to appease protesters. The regulator announced a list of rules on Feb. 19 aimed at managing a possible selloff when trading resumes, including putting in place a 10 percent circuit breaker on the daily price movement of shares, reducing trading hours by one to three, and banning margin trading.

WELL, IT JUST MIGHT WORK...

[Demeter]

35. Carmakers’ Rush to China Could Fuel Another Bubble

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/28/business/global/28iht-cars28.html?src=busln

When Stefan Jacoby, the chief executive of Volvo, turned up in China on Friday, it was yet another sign of where the action is in the auto industry these days. But some people are starting to wonder whether there is a little too much action...there are warning signs that China could soon suffer from the same overcapacity that has long afflicted the United States and Europe.


....Despite the warning signs, there is little indication that automakers plan to scale back their plans for China. Even as growth in China slows, other markets, like Brazil, Russia and India, promise to take up the slack, said Ferdinand Dudenhöffer, a professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen in Duisburg, Germany, who follows the automotive industry.

“India is just as big. There is still Vietnam and other countries,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said. “There is still a lot of potential.”

Somewhat slower growth in China might even be a good thing, he said. “If it doesn’t grow so explosively, that is actually better for the manufacturers,” Mr. Dudenhöffer said. “It’s more stable.”

DEFINITION OF INSANITY APPLIES HERE

[xchrom]

38. i don't know what language those guys speak -- but i'm sure it's not native to earth.

i can't understand a word of that gobbledygook.


'it could' 'maybe' 'slow growth' 'stability' 'viet nam' -- and on and on.

[kickysnana]

39. Investors have lost more than $160 billion in structured and complex income investments

Is a Structured Product Good for Retirement Income? by John F Wasik

http://news.morningstar.com/articlenet/article.aspx?id=367646 (Free to read but you have to resister)

Why haven't you heard more about structured products? Because they are loosely regulated. Not even the new financial reform law reined them in. Here are some specific problems:

* No regulator vets them before they hit the market, and they continue to be hugely profitable for banks and brokers.

* Morningstar can't track them because pricing is not posted daily, each one is slightly different, and they are more opaque than a black box.

* It's very difficult to get inside of one to see how they work and how much they will cost you once underwriting fees, commissions, and other embedded costs are subtracted from your principal.

* Their acronym-rich, mind-numbing prospectuses spell out some risks, but do little to clearly explain costs or the real downside of these complex vehicles. Many brokers themselves don't fully understand how they work.

* The worst part about structured products is that you lock up your money for years in hopes of getting a better return--up to 30% in some cases. Yet they are actually wagers that limit your upside and downside, so no one really knows what will happen until you reach your maturity date. You'd be much better off in low-cost exchange-traded funds or hedging a position with options contracts--provided you understand them or work with a registered investment advisor who is a fiduciary.

===================================================
There was a little lengthier article in the Marcy/April AARP Magazine but I did not find that article online. Sorry if this is a dupe. I thought it looked like important information for investors.

[AnneD]

42. Again...one of the 10 commandments of investing.......

If you can't clearly understand it...don't part with your money.

The slicker the brochure, the more acronims they throw at you, the newer the brokers suit and shoes, the more of a con job it is. They will flatter your intelligence while they pick your pocket.

To paraphrase Mel Brooks "why you(Headly LaMar) use your tongue better than a Kansas City whore."

[Demeter]

44. Nope, that's a Scoop! Good Job!

We haven't seen that piece of flim-flam documented until you posted this.

[xchrom]

45. 160 billion -- and americans still aren't angry enough at these sharks. nt

[Fuddnik]

46. I'd like to short those investments.

But, I'm a little short, myself. :shrug: