STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, June 14, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, June 14, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON June 13, 2011

Dow 11,953.00 1.06 (+0.01%)
Nasdaq 2,639.69 -4.04 (-0.15%)
S&P 500 1,271.83 0.85 (+0.07%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.00 +0.01 (+0.44%)
30-Year Bond 4.22 +0.01 (+0.26%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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

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

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 12

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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

Jun 14 08:30 Retail Sales May -1.0% -0.7% 0.5%
Jun 14 08:30 Retail Sales ex-auto May 0.4% 0.2% 0.6%
Jun 14 08:30 PPI May 0.1% 0.1% 0.8%
Jun 14 08:30 Core PPI May 0.1% 0.2% 0.3%
Jun 14 10:00 Business Inventories Apr 1.0% 1.0% 1.0%

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/06/13-17/#ixzz1PFOsIVat

[xchrom]

44. Retail sales fell for first time in 10 months

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_RETAIL_SALES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-14-08-36-57

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Consumers spent less on cars in May, sending retail sales down for the first time in nearly a year.

The Commerce Department says retail sales dropped 0.2 percent last month. It was the first decline after 10 straight increases.

A cutback on incentives and supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crises pushed auto sales down 2.9 percent. It was the biggest setback for the industry in three years. When excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.3 percent.

The slump in retail sales was the latest report signaling that the economy lost momentum in May. Consumers are struggling to deal with high gasoline prices and a slowdown in hiring. While the surge in gas prices eased in May, pump prices are still significantly higher than a year ago.

[xchrom]

45. Wholesale prices rise at slowest pace in 10 months

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WHOLESALES_PRICES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-14-08-34-05

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wholesale prices rose at the slowest pace in 10 months in May as food costs fell and gas prices rose by the smallest amount in eight months. The figures suggest consumers could see some relief from rising prices soon.

The Labor Department says the Producer Price Index, which measures price changes before they reach the consumer, increased 0.2 percent in May. That's down sharply from a 0.8 percent rise in April and a 0.7 percent increase in March. In the past 12 months, the index has risen 7.3 percent, the most since September 2008.

Excluding the volatile food and energy categories, the so-called "core" index also increased 0.2 percent, driven by higher prices for plastics, clothing and new cars. The core index has risen 2.1 percent in the past year.

[Pale Blue Dot]

50. Retail sales fell for first time in nearly a year in May as consumers spent less on autos

WASHINGTON — Consumers spent less on cars in May, sending retail sales down for the first time in nearly a year.

The Commerce Department says retail sales dropped 0.2 percent last month. It was the first decline after 10 straight increases.

A cutback on incentives and supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crises pushed auto sales down 2.9 percent. It was the biggest setback for the industry in three years. When excluding autos, retail sales rose 0.3 percent.

The slump in retail sales was the latest report signaling that the economy lost momentum in May. Consumers are struggling to deal with high gasoline prices and a slowdown in hiring. While the surge in gas prices eased in May, pump prices are still significantly higher than a year ago.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/retail-sales-fell-for-first-time-in-nearly-a-year-in-may-as-consumers-spent-less-on-autos/2011/06/14/AGmm0RUH_story.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil hovers above $97 amid global economy fears

SIGNAPORE – Oil prices hovered above $97 a barrel Tuesday in Asia amid concern a weakening global economy is undermining crude demand.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was up 30 cents to $97.60 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped $1.99 to settle at $97.30 on Monday following a fall of $2.64 on Friday.

In London, Brent crude for July delivery was up 34 cents to $118.75 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

On Monday, Standard & Poor's cut Greece's credit rating deeper into junk territory Monday, saying the country is likely to default on its massive debts at least once by 2013. Investors are worried a disorderly restructuring of Greek debt could spark panic in the global bond market and torpedo a fragile global recovery.

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

[legin]

36. I been watching the Nymex - Brent gap

It first opened up (about +$10) when Eygpt went into crises.

It stayed up when Egypt got sorted out but Libya started up.

Just in the last few days the gap has opened up an additional $10.
So the oil market is saying Brent price = plus $10 for Libya, and plus $10 for something I can't seem to find a reason for.

It could be the Opec meeting but why just the European oil price?

It could be Egypt is about to go pear-shapped again.

It could be the u.s. is totally indpendent from Opec.

Of couse it could be just speculators.

Colour me a trifle perplexed.

[Po_d Mainiac]

41. Good question

NSB is crap compared to WTI

[Warpy]

73. Isn't there a pipeline going through Syria?

That might be one of the other reasons, that and the general instability in the Middle East.

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Rally; Caterpillar, DuPont, Apple Shares Advance

U.S. stock futures rallied, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may gain for a second day, as China’s industrial production surpassed forecasts.

Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), the world’s largest maker of construction and mining equipment, climbed 0.7 percent in German trading. DuPont Co. advanced in European trading. Apple Inc. (AAPL) rose 0.7 percent in early New York trading as it settled all litigation with Nokia Oyj.

S&P 500 Index (SPX) futures expiring in September rose 0.8 percent to 1,276.2 at 11:27 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures increased 68 points, or 0.6 percent, to 11,953.

Futures advanced after China reported that industrial production climbed more than estimated in May, while inflation last month accelerated to the fastest pace in almost three years. Production gained 13.3 percent from the year before, exceeding the median economist forecast of 13.1 percent in a Bloomberg survey. The 5.5 percent annual gain in consumer prices matched estimates.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/u-s-stock-index-futures-rally-caterpillar-dupont-apple-shares-advance.html

[Demeter]

4. Batten down the hatches, lads and lassies

Get ready for another string of bad reports and worse excuses....

Good morning, PBD! Strange times we live in. Every morning I wake in the hope that our long national nightmare is at an end, and every morning, I am disappointed. Who could have predicted that the Stupidest Guys in the room would be in charge of EVERYTHING? That wasn't how a meritocracy was supposed to work.

I wonder at which point in time we switched from the meritocracy to the corporate crony plutocracy...any clues?

[boomerbust]

25. In hindsight

1980

[Demeter]

28. The Reagan-Gingrich One-Two

Sounds good to me....

I think the inpulse to kill America might have roots in the Baby Boom...Boomers were pushing the Elite out of their hereditary slots, with state-subsidized, scholarship-paid educations enabling the hoi polloi to compete for the plum jobs and all...and there was the fear that People Power would take over Washington, what with Peaceniks and Flower Children, dislodging the Miltiary/Industrial Complex.

The 80's started the backlash against our glowing future. A tremendous opportunity to advance to Star Trek's probable future was squandered to support the Unsuitable Elites in the style to which they wanted their children to become accustomed.

[Demeter]

5. Getting Away With It By JOE NOCERA

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/14/opinion/14nocera.html

Not long ago, I came into possession of the names of the investors in the now-defunct Galleon Group, the hedge fund firm that was run by Raj Rajaratnam, who last month was convicted of insider trading...It’s a long and impressive list. Cornell, Colgate and Texas A&M each entrusted part of their endowments to Galleon. State pension funds in New Hampshire and Virginia invested with Rajaratnam. There were a handful of foundations, like the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, and lots of family trusts. Private wealth managers, like Banque Privée Edmond de Rothschild, steered clients to Galleon. A.I.G., the insurance giant, and Yuengling, the beer company, were investors. So were Kenneth Cole, the fashion designer; Peter Peterson, the Blackstone co-founder; and Jeffrey Vinik, the long-ago former manager of the Fidelity Magellan mutual fund. In other words, the investors were pretty much whom you’d expect to find in a big-time hedge fund with a stellar long-term track record. And, of course, as Galleon enriched its investors, Rajaratnam also got rich: Shortly before he was arrested, Forbes magazine listed his net worth at $1.5 billion.

As I pored through the Galleon list, though, I couldn’t help thinking about another group of investors who had unwittingly hitched their wagon to a crooked hedge fund manager. Like Rajaratnam, Bernie Madoff had a client list that included institutions and foundations, public figures and wealthy executives, family trusts and retirement accounts. Yet, despite the similarities, the two groups of investors have been treated completely differently since the crimes of their respective fund managers were exposed. For many investors in Madoff’s Ponzi scheme — the “net winners” who took out more money than they put in — the experience has been hellish. Irving Picard, the trustee in the Madoff case, has sued many of them to recover some or all of their ill-gotten gains. By contrast, the Galleon investors have paid no price at all. They’ve been able to keep every ill-gotten penny.

Why is this so? More to the point, why is it right?

One reason is that, unlike Rajaratnam, Madoff only pretended to be running a hedge fund; like all Ponzi schemers, he used money coming in from new investors to pay other investors. That’s why the law justifies clawing it back: Picard is essentially trying to return stolen money to the “net losers.”
...Yet isn’t insider trading also a form of stealing? After all, Rajaratnam was convicted of stealing information that gave him an unfair advantage over other investors. The gains he made from those unfair trades robbed the people who, lacking the information he had obtained, sold the shares that Galleon bought. In insider-trading cases, prosecutors try to find those people so that appropriate restitution can be made. But only Rajaratnam will have to make that restitution. His investors get to keep the profits that resulted from his illegal trades...It is implausible that every one of Rajaratnam’s sophisticated investors were in the dark. Yet the law says that, unlike the Madoff investors, they bear no responsibility for ignoring red flags. On the contrary: They are being rewarded for looking the other way. And even though Rajaratnam is likely to spend years in prison — and will have to pay tens of millions of dollars in restitution and fines — he will remain supremely wealthy, as will his family. This is one more contrast to Madoff, whose family is likely to be penniless by the time the trustee is finished...

MORE--TODAY'S MUST READ FOR POLICY DEVELOPMENT

[DemReadingDU]

15. “There oughta be a law.”

couple more paragraphs from the article...

There oughta be a law, for instance, that executives who create corporate cultures that encourage employees to commit fraud, as Angelo Mozilo did at Countrywide, should be held criminally liable for fostering that culture. But there isn’t any such law, so Mozilo gets a pass, despite all the fraudulent mortgages Countrywide underwrote.

The more I think about it, the more I’m convinced that there ought to be a law that says that if a fund manager’s “edge” is insider trading, his investors should have to pay a price, too. Maybe then, they’d be less willing to look the other way when their fund manager starts doing things he shouldn’t.

[Demeter]

35. Ex-Galleon trader ‘Octopussy’ convicted

Zvi Goffer, a former hedge fund trader nicknamed “Octopussy”, and two others were found guilty of insider trading

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/ZE9K33/ZGHZDB/SUO9T/HD5IUY/XTUD68/HK/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=14

[xchrom]

6. morning!

:donut:

[xchrom]

7. europe: Euro Finance Chiefs Race to Avert Greek Default

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/greek-bailout-enters-homestretch-as-european-leaders-race-to-avert-default.html

European finance chiefs begin the final stage of hammering out a Greek rescue to prevent the euro area’s first sovereign default after the country was slapped with the world’s lowest credit rating by Standard & Poor’s.

Yields on 10-year Greek bonds climbed to 17.12 percent today, a record in the 17-nation euro-area's history, before an emergency session of finance ministers in Brussels. They’re seeking to narrow differences on how investors share the cost of easing Europe’s biggest debt burden and to wrap up a new financing plan at a leaders’ summit on June 23-24, a year after Greece received a first bailout.

“The market is placing much too high a probability on this possibility that Greece will default imminently,” Peter Westaway, chief European economist at Nomura International Plc, said today on Bloomberg Television’s “First Look.” “Policy makers just aren’t going to let Greece default. It’s completely fanciful to think this is going to happen.”

[xchrom]

20. Turkey stocks give up AKP-election inspired gains

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/turkish-stocks-rise-after-ruling-akp-wins-election-2011-06-13

TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) — Turkish stocks ended lower Monday, giving up the gains that had arrived after the ruling Justice and Development Party of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan won a third four-year term in power with about half the vote in Sunday’s election.

The Istanbul Stock Exchange‘s benchmark XU-100 Index TR:XU100 -1.88% shed 0.2% at 63,532.22, but had been up by as much as 1% during the session. The Turkish lira /quotes/zigman/4869223/sampled USDTRY +0.25% also turned lower, by 0.2% against the U.S. dollar, after a report showed Turkey’s current account deficit in April widened to $7.68 billion from $4.37 billion in the same period a year ago. The current account deficit on a year-to-date basis has now reached $29.6 billion, a figure called “alarming” by emerging market analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch on Monday.

The election result gives Erdogan a mandate to strengthen Turkey’s economy by reducing the current account deficit, analysts said. But they warned that issues like the Kurdish minority’s demands for autonomy and thorny questions of civil and religious rights must be addressed.

[xchrom]

47. European shares buoyed by Chinese optimism

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/14/markets-europe-stocks-idUKLDE75D0HN20110614

LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Miners helped lift European shares on Tuesday, as investors bought into riskier assets after Chinese data suggested the country would avoid a hard landing.

The Euro STOXX 50 volatility index .V2TX, one of Europe's main barometers of market sentiment, fell 4.5 percent, signalling a rise in investor appetite for riskier asset classes.

Investors were encouraged by a flurry of Chinese data that suggested the country's economic growth was not slowing too quickly, and as China's central bank raised bank reserve ratios to try and curb inflation.

By 1132 GMT, the pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 .FTEU3 index of top shares was up 0.7 percent at 1,099.31 points, but the market is down 3.8 percent in June following a slew of weak economic data.

[xchrom]

56. House price slide gathers pace in May - RICS

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/14/uk-house-prices-idUKTRE75D1FJ20110614

(Reuters) - House prices in Britain fell last month at their fastest pace since January as worries about the economic outlook and the availability of mortgage finance took their toll, a survey indicated on Tuesday.

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors' seasonally-adjusted house price balance fell to -28 last month from -21 in April, confounding forecasts of a modest improvement.

The supply of homes for sale continued to rise, but there was little sign of a renewed appetite to buy, with new enquiries slightly lower on the month.

"Buyer interest in purchasing property remains flat across much of the country and there is little sign of this changing any time soon," said RICS housing spokesman Ian Perry.

[Demeter]

8. Do Older Workers Need a Nudge?

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/06/13/do-older-workers-need-a-nudge-out-of-the-workplace

A recent Times article and a column by Ronald Brownstein in The National Journal described the conflict in some workplaces when older employees fight to stay on, no matter what. "For every member of the millennial generation frustrated that she can’t start a career, there may be a baby boomer frustrated that he can’t end one," Mr. Brownstein wrote in his essay, subtitled, "Why Millennials Can’t Start Their Careers and Baby Boomers Can’t End Theirs."

With Americans' retirement prospects on shakier ground and with life spans increasing, who can blame the baby boomers for wanting to hang on? Yet who can blame younger workers for resenting them, even if some people in their 20's are not eager to jump into the rat race, particularly if their parents are willing to provide a safety net (possibly because mom and dad are still working)?

What should employers be able to do when an older worker hangs on well past his or her productive years? Are some older employees blocking the way for new blood in American offices and workplaces?

It's Not a Zero-Sum Game

http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2011/06/13/do-older-workers-need-a-nudge-out-of-the-workplace/its-not-a-zero-sum-game

Todd G. Buchholz is a former White House economic adviser and managing director of the Tiger hedge fund. He is the author of "Rush: Why You Need and Love the Rat Race."

I object to the concept of “making room” for young people. The United States is not a mythical Eskimo village, where we march old people off to ice floes when there’s not enough blubber to go around. An economy is not a zero-sum game. I would advise young people to stay far away from any company that can’t see future growth and merely sees one cog in the wheel replacing another.

For society as a whole, enticing experienced people to stay on the job is a good thing. The sooner we push older workers off to retirement, the more depressed they get, the sicker they get and the more it costs in Social Security and Medicare. And who pays for those higher costs? Young people who must pay higher taxes. And what does that do? Destroy incentives for new jobs!

What should we do about older workers whose productivity is slipping? First, make fair comparisons. In 1929, Babe Ruth hit 23 percent fewer home runs than in 1927 but was still the best in baseball. If a worker’s output is slow compared with his competitors, something must be done. Unfortunately, convoluted regulations undermine firms trying to develop flexible policies. With the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, and the 2010 health care law, only the sharpest labor lawyer has a clue how to arrange a flexible benefits programs for downshifting workers. Companies often outright fire workers before even considering rehiring them on a part-time basis.

To save pride and to save time, Congress should pass a “Single Purpose Consultancy Act,” which would allow a worker and his company to create on one sheet of paper in five minutes a consultancy arrangement that bypasses most regulatory stumbling blocks...Finally, for professions that are high risk to the client, we must be decisive and firm: Nobody wants to go under the knife with “Shaky” Johnson, the prostate surgeon.

OKAY, WHAT ABOUT POLITICIANS? CAN WE HAVE SOME KIND OF "HIGHER" MINIMUM STANDARD THAT PREVENTS THE MORONIC FROM HOLDING OFFICE?

[Demeter]

13. OR AS DILBERT SAYS IT

[xchrom]

16. lower the SS age & i think more older folk will retire.

& frankly we need them to.

[Demeter]

18. But not into poverty

there has to be equity in retirement.

and the stupidest part of this is: probably 80% of the jobs that exist today aren't worth having, anyway. They are neither creative nor productive--but they pay the bills.

We truly need job creation, before we start talking about throwing more people out of work. This guy just wants the plum jobs for his kids who went to Ivy Leagues schools and have student loans to pay off...

[xchrom]

19. i agree. nt

[bahrbearian]

27. You wouldn't be throwing people out of work if you allowed people to take SS

at a younger age. I being unemployed at 58 for 6 months now, without much prospects would welcome SS. My sister (60) on the other hand having worked for the Government for 35 years refuses to retire early, she needs a nudge. She is also a teabagger and hates her government job, go figure.

[Demeter]

29. Would you prefer SS or a paying job?

If ones "career" broke one's health, early retirement is a necessity (although better working conditions would be preferable, to prevent future injuries). Other compensation, such as class action lawsuits, would be helpful.

If one's savings have been ravaged by economic forces like international banking fraud, pension-dumping and such, then SS won't restore them. Aside from clawing back the stolen wealth, regulations to prevent such abuse of the populace would be helpful.

I'm talking income redistribution, I know. And a tightly regulated financial and corporate sector that stops all chance of cowboys and pirates wreaking havoc. But the alternatives are very ugly: poverty, plague, revolution, and generations of suffering and loss of the technology we have developed to improve life's duration.

[bahrbearian]

40. What does one have to look forward to with no job or no SS.

There is no way that 10 to 20 million jobs will be created in the next 2 years. Of course I'd rather take a job, that paid a fair wage and had some bennies, but where are they? They needed to start working on that 2 years ago, but the repugs are still working against that. Upon edit SS would pay my bills. So allowing people 55 and older to take early SS would open up the job market and reduce the # of unemployed.

[Demeter]

48. It would be a short-term solution for our generation

But I'm wanting a long-term solution, too. My kid needs one.

[Tansy_Gold]

54. Two years ago, bahrbearian,

We were still being told to give Mr. O and his marvelous economic team of Geithner and Summers more time. They'd only been in charge for six months. By the next election cycle we'd be on the road to. . . . . .


TG, not forgetting

[Demeter]

57. And we are STILL being told that, and that Private Industry Is Supposed to Do It

with no demand support from the government...in fact, the government is destroying domestic demand by laying off public workers...

Demeter, who isn't waiting any more.

[InkAddict]

65. Hoard your soda bottles for the young(er), learn advanced First Aid,

and learn/teach Dickens knitting encryption methods. Might self-employment become the long-term answer? Chanting to the choir doesn't seem to be working; neither does voting.

[Tansy_Gold]

66. Self-employment has always been the long-term answer

at least for anyone who is not in the investment class (and most of them are essentially self-employed as well).

Self-employment is also an excellent tax shelter.



TG, self-employed

[Demeter]

67. Unfortunately, My Ideas are Too Big for One Person

I'm working towards a worker's co-op to replace the rentier's publicly traded corporation. Many hands make big jobs possible. Like NASA.

[InkAddict]

68. Best to make sure those workers have the incorruptable

Right Stuff, then, right? Their principles or their lives and the lives of their families can be quite a dilema in the big, bad real world.

Here ya go: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/space/2011-05-05-astronaut-corps-evolves_n.htm

[InkAddict]

71. LOL, look what I found - Perhaps Dickens tales aren't

reliable pathways worthy of imitation either...

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/addiction-in-society/201106/why-have-married-peoples-yearnings-run-amok

[InkAddict]

72. Or American interpretation of fairy tales...

You'll luv(?) this one, Demeter.

http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-imprinted-brain/201004/bruno-bettelheim-psychotic-savant

[Demeter]

76. Thank you --that' was very interesting and useful. Tansy should read it, too!

Add it to our collections of types.

[Po_d Mainiac]

30. Raw numbers

56 percent of American workers have less than $25,000 saved.
60 percent of retirees have less than $50,000 saved.
45 million on food stamps

[Johnny Harpo]

74. What Say All Us Boomers Retire ASAP And Then See What Happens...

First a caveat:

I try to read SMW every day. I don't post much, either here or elsewhere, but that does not mean I'm not here or that I'm not paying attention, or at least trying to.

I respect all of you guys and learn a great deal from your informed posts, so no disrespect is intended.

Now this is going to sound like a rant, but this one struck a nerve early this morning just before I went to a job interview in hopes of ending a 2 year run of un-employment.

Yes...I am a Boomer (born 1947).

*************************************************************************************
THAT'S THE TICKET!...have all of us Boomers retire ASAP! As xchrom says 'frankly we need them to'.

I remember reading a number of times in the past, various articles expressing a real concern about having a shortage of workers to fill jobs once the Baby Boomers retired.

But Wait!...Not a problem or concern or worry any longer because some brilliant mind decided the best way to mitigate this problem/concern/worry would be to import foreign workers, give them H1B work visas and let them take the jobs.

Trouble is...NO ONE WAITED UNTIL WE RETIRED!

Our jobs started being filled by outsiders years ago. Imported from other countries, living 6 to a 3 bedroom apartment, sharing 2 cars between them, splitting rent and utilities 6 ways, working for less money but still making more than they would make 'back home'.

But that was then...and this is now.

Now another brilliant mind has come up with yet another way to fill our jobs.

NO WAIT!...It's the SAME idea. So much for original thought Mr. President.

'Obama's jobs plan includes more H-1B visas, automatic green cards for foreign students'

http://www.wral.com/business/story/9721770 /

With millions un-employed in the USA, the answer is to allow still more foreign workers to come here and take even more of our jobs.

And when our un-employment numbers don't fall, all the 'brilliant minds' will scratch their heads and scratch their asses wondering what happened.

While at the same time wondering why the Boomers are in such dire circumstances.

YOU FREAKING DUMMIES!....You allowed our jobs to be sent to foreign countries and then you allowed foreign workers to come here and pick over what was left!

What the hell did you think was going to happen?

RETIRE?....NO WAY!

I have just been through 2 years of 'forced retirement' otherwise known as un-employment.

If I am fortunate enough to be offered the job I interviewed for this morning, I intend to die in my cubicle.

To para-phrase Charlton Heston to the NRA:

They can have my key access card when they pry it from my cold dead hands.

[Demeter]

77. This has haunted engineering since at least the day I graduated 1976

and it's just getting worse, despite all the hollering from IEEE and the rest.

[xchrom]

9. south asia: Indian Stocks Advance as Monsoon Speculation Overshadows Inflation Report

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/india-nifty-stock-index-futures-decline-on-concern-inflation-accelerating.html

Indian stocks rose, lifting the benchmark index higher for the first time in five days, as speculation monsoon rains will boost agricultural output overshadowed an acceleration in inflation.

Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., India’s largest maker of tractors, gained 1.1 percent as the nation’s agriculture secretary said wheat production may advance to a record for a fourth year. ITC Ltd. (ITC), a consumer goods company, climbed the most in two weeks. Larsen & Toubro Ltd. (LT), the nation’s largest engineering company, advanced 1.4 percent.

The Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index, or Sensex, gained 50.58, or 0.3 percent, to 18,316.61, according to preliminary closing prices at 3:30 p.m. in Mumbai, with two stocks rising for each one that fell. The MSCI Asia Pacific Index climbed 1.1 percent after a Chinese industrial production report exceeded economists’ forecasts.

[xchrom]

59. Inflation rises to over 9%, RBI may hike interest rates again

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Inflation-rises-to-over-9-RBI-may-hike-interest-rates-again/articleshow/8849340.cms

NEW DELHI: Driven by rising prices of fruits, milk, petrol and manufactured goods, headline inflation surged past the 9 per cent mark in May, raising the expectations of another hike in key policy rates by the Reserve Bank of India later this week.

Inflation rose to 9.06 per cent in May from 8.66 per cent in April, prompting Prime Minister's Economic Advisory Council (PMEAC) Chairman C Rangarajan to describe the trend as "upsetting" and pitch for tightening of the monetary policy by the RBI to cool rising prices.

The central bank, which has raised key interest rates nine times since March, 2010, to check rising prices, is slated to conduct a mid-quarterly review of the monetary policy on Thursday. The RBI would try to balance the need to tame inflation and promote industrial growth, which has slipped to 6.3 per cent in April from 13.1 per cent a year ago.

[xchrom]

60. Sensex shrugs off high inflation no, up 43 pts on global cues

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Sensex-shrugs-off-high-inflation-no-up-43-pts-on-global-cues/articleshow/8851054.cms

MUMBAI: Shrugging of high inflation and a four-day declining trend, the BSE benchmark Sensex on Tuesday rose by 43 points at 18,308.66 on emergence of buying in banking and capital good stocks amid a firming global trend.

The Bombay Stock Exchange's 30-share index, Sensex, which had lost 228 points in the last four sessions, opened firm and recovered by 42.663 points.

Broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 17.70 points to 5,500.50.

Brokers said the market was moving on positive global cues, shrugging of year-on-year inflation data for the month of May, which at 9.06 per cent is less than 10.48 per cent inflation recorded in May, 2010.

However, it has broken away from the downward trend of the last few months this calender year. Inflation in April this year was recorded at 8.66 per cent.

[Festivito]

10. Debt: 06/10/2011 14,344,626,232,128.96 (DOWN 11,917,681.50) (Fri, UP a little.)

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 51-billion dollars. Good day.)
Everyone's back. Beautiful nights, beautiful days.
(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)
= 9,750,131,124,994.24 + 4,594,495,107,134.72
UP 90,705,816.97 + DOWN 102,623,498.47

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,203.07 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.61, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,200,192 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 $45,946.88.
A family of three owes $137,840.65. (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 569,714,532.49.
The average for the last 30 days would be 436,781,141.58.
The average for the last 31 days would be 422,691,427.33.
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$/day.
There were 173 reports in 253 days of FY2011 averaging 4.53B$ per report, 3.09B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 590 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.6 and 17.4T$.
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)
06/10/2011 14,344,626,232,128.96 BHO (UP 3,717,749,183,215.88 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 +0,783,003,201,237.20 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,129,629,124,314.54 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
05/20/2011 +001,132,579,417.77 ------------*********
05/23/2011 -001,060,800,214.98 -- Mon
05/24/2011 -004,058,498,841.79 --
05/25/2011 +010,640,781,539.65 ------------**********
05/26/2011 -005,228,052,393.61 --
05/27/2011 +000,285,108,497.37 ------------********
05/31/2011 +005,592,179,988.61 ------------********* Tue
06/01/2011 +013,072,944,722.02 ------------**********
06/02/2011 -000,912,177,803.85 ---
06/03/2011 +005,646,446,089.80 ------------*********
06/06/2011 -002,705,846,785.55 -- Mon
06/07/2011 -004,526,140,661.35 --
06/08/2011 +009,230,133,015.51 ------------*********
06/09/2011 +006,779,036,856.95 ------------*********
06/10/2011 +000,090,705,816.97 ------------*******

33,978,399,243.52 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=4882599&mesg_id=4883669

[Festivito]

78. Debt: 06/13/2011 14,344,590,476,192.34 (DOWN 35,755,936.62) (Mon, DOWN some.)

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 51-billion dollars. Good day.)
Late, hope I sleep enough.
(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)
= 9,747,653,568,358.75 + 4,596,936,907,833.59
DOWN 2,477,556,635.49 + UP 2,441,800,698.87

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,202.85 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.61, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,221,792 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,943.59.
A family of three owes $137,830.77. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 1,724,061,644.87.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,206,843,151.41.
The average for the last 31 days would be 1,167,912,727.17.
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$/day.
There were 174 reports in 256 days of FY2011 averaging 4.50B$ per report, 3.06B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 587 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 17.4T$.
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)
06/13/2011 14,344,590,476,192.34 BHO (UP 3,717,713,427,279.26 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 +0,782,967,445,300.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,116,340,302,870.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
05/23/2011 -001,060,800,214.98 -- Mon
05/24/2011 -004,058,498,841.79 --
05/25/2011 +010,640,781,539.65 ------------**********
05/26/2011 -005,228,052,393.61 --
05/27/2011 +000,285,108,497.37 ------------********
05/31/2011 +005,592,179,988.61 ------------********* Tue
06/01/2011 +013,072,944,722.02 ------------**********
06/02/2011 -000,912,177,803.85 ---
06/03/2011 +005,646,446,089.80 ------------*********
06/06/2011 -002,705,846,785.55 -- Mon
06/07/2011 -004,526,140,661.35 --
06/08/2011 +009,230,133,015.51 ------------*********
06/09/2011 +006,779,036,856.95 ------------*********
06/10/2011 +000,090,705,816.97 ------------*******
06/13/2011 -002,477,556,635.49 -- Mon

30,368,263,190.26 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=4883822&mesg_id=4883845

[xchrom]

11. asia: Chinese Mount Global Homebuying Spree as Governments Squeeze Local Markets

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-13/chinese-mount-global-homebuying-spree-as-governments-squeeze-local-markets.html

On a sunny Saturday in early June, Larry Zhou strolled the floor of a property exhibition in Hong Kong, wondering whether it was time to buy another home -- not in the city, where residential prices have soared 50 percent in the past two years, but maybe in Thailand or Malaysia.

“My wife and I have been thinking about investing outside of the country since we already own an apartment in Shanghai,” Zhou, a 38-year-old civil engineer, said in an interview at the Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre before wrapping up a business trip and returning home. “I’ve known people in Shanghai who like to bring their money and invest in Hong Kong properties, but I think Hong Kong is way too expensive.”

The two-day event that lured Zhou and 3,000 others is one way that China’s blossoming wealthy and middle classes are finding investment properties and second homes around the world -- exporting a real estate boom that has driven up prices 26 percent in Shanghai last year and 28 percent in Beijing, and bolstering markets around the world. In cities with established Chinese populations, like Sydney, Singapore, and San Francisco, Asians on homebuying tours meet brokers such as Betty Chan, who markets herself on her website as “Las Vegas’ #1 Chinese Lady Real Estate Broker.”

[xchrom]

12. Asian stocks gain after Chinese data

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japanese-shares-up-but-australia-down-2011-06-13

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Asian equity markets advanced Tuesday, after Chinese economic data fed into hopes that the country will avoid a sharp economic slowdown, though a late-session announcement of higher bank-reserve requirements hit Hong Kong-listed financials.

The Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI -0.05% closed 0.1% lower in Hong Kong at 22,496.00, moving into negative territory in the final hour of trading after the People’s Bank of China announced a half-percentage-point rise to the reserve requirement ratio.

The hike, China’s sixth this year, is slated to take effect June 20, bringing the ratio for most large lenders to 21.5%. See report on China’s bank reserves hike.

[xchrom]

49. Nikkei up after China data, bounce may be short-lived

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/14/markets-japan-stocks-idUKL3E7HE0W620110614

TOKYO, June 14(Reuters) - The Nikkei average rose on
Tuesday, helped by sporadic buying from Asian investors and
gaining momentum after China inflation data provided no nasty
surprises, but concerns about the global economy may mean the
bounce won't last.

Tokyo Electric Power Co's stock soared after
Japan's cabinet approved a compensation scheme for people
affected by the crisis at its crippled Fukushima nuclear plant.


Analysts said Chinese inflation figures provided some relief
that the country would not get more aggressive in tightening
policy.

China's inflation accelerated to 34-month highs of 5.5
percent in the year to May, slightly above market expectations
of a rise to 5.4 percent. Although the reading could add to the
case for Beijing to tighten monetary policy further, it was
below the market's whisper number of 6 percent.

[xchrom]

14. Gold, silver advance in electronic trading

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-silver-advance-in-electronic-trading-2011-06-14

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) – Gold and silver futures climbed in electronic trading on Tuesday, as investors returned to the precious metal amid a weaker dollar.

Gold for August delivery /quotes/zigman/700181 GC1Q +0.21% added $5.20, or 0.3%, to trade at $1,520.80 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange during Asian trading hours.

Silver tracked gold higher, with the July contract /quotes/zigman/659156 SI1N -0.06% gaining 32 cents or 0.9%, to $35.06 an ounce.

The dollar index /quotes/zigman/1652083 DXY -0.01% , which measures the U.S. unit against a basket of six currencies, traded at 74.425, from 74.501 in late North American trading on Monday.

[Demeter]

17. Avis Budget nears £600m deal for Avis Europe

Avis Budget is close to a deal to buy its European counterpart for more than £600m, reuniting the two parts of the Avis business after 25 years and marking a possible turning point in the car hire group’s battle with Hertz for Dollar Thrifty.

The deal between Avis Budget and London-listed Avis Europe could be announced as soon as Tuesday and would be struck at more than 300p per share, people familiar with the matter said.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/R5WAEE/B57E77/JQU4J/726ZER/18HEFU/9A/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=13

I SUPPOSE IT'S A MUCH BETTER ROI THAN BUYING CHEVY VOLTS...SIGH

[Demeter]

21. Greece downgraded three further notches by S&P

Greece has been downgraded three notches to triple C by Standard & Poor’s, just two notches above default, because of worries that a second bail-out will involve private creditors that would in turn lead to a ratings default.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/A1TNOO/U1POHX/9MEOW/D4AWCL/RNJ75V/GX/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=13

[Demeter]

22. Government backpedals on benefits

Britain’s ruling coalition is to modify its plan for a rigid £26,000 annual cap on the total benefits that can be claimed by any household, amid fears it could force thousands of poor families out of their homes in London

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/QNRLRB/Q38E1/OJISWZ/C5ZPHP/YT/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=12

[Demeter]

23. FT LAUNCHES HUMOR COLUMN, STARRING LARRY SUMMERS

Lawrence Summers: How to avoid our own lost decade

The former US Treasury secretary launches the FT A-List, exclusive and original daily comment from our network of globally renowned leaders, policymakers and commentators

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/08BVO0/PNGIU/S3SNQQ/EWM1BO/OS/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=12

[Demeter]

24. Banks battle over US tax law

Banks and foreign governments are mounting an increasingly desperate push against a sweeping US tax law that will force overseas institutions to report their American clients to the Internal Revenue Service

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/FKWEOA/K91WR/KEXICN/PR9VZ9/N9/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=12

[Demeter]

26. Nouriel Roubini: The eurozone heads for break up

The muddle-through approach to the eurozone crisis has failed to resolve the fundamental problems of economic and competitiveness divergence within the union. If this continues the euro will move towards disorderly debt workouts, and eventually a break-up of the monetary union itself, as some of the weaker members crash out.

The Economic and Monetary Union never fully satisfied the conditions for an optimal currency area. Instead its leaders hoped that their lack of monetary, fiscal and exchange rate policies would in turn see an acceleration of structural reforms. These, it was hoped, would see productivity and growth rates converge.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/BLH300/WT10OD/PNGIU/FX7X7V/5C6JXU/B7/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=13

[Demeter]

31. Goldman intern had link to Libyan fund

Goldman Sachs gave a paid internship to a Libyan official’s relative while it was carrying out loss-making trades on behalf of the LIA

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/GDXFIZ/IEP5S/HD5IUD/UUNWT9/36/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=14

WHO NEEDS DALLAS, WHEN WE HAVE GOLDMAN SACHS?

[Demeter]

43. Why the NATO Powers are Trying to Assassinate Moammar Gaddafi

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28323.htm

Wikileaks-released State Department cables from November 2007 and afterwards show the real reason for the mounting U.S. hostility to the Libyan government prior to the current civil war.

NATO has been dropping devastating bunker-busting bombs on Muammar Gaddafi's home in an attempt to assassinate him. One son and several grandchildren have died but Gaddafi has survived. The State Department cables give background to the hostility directed against Gaddafi by the United States and other NATO powers.

One State Department cable from November 2007 (Wikileaks reference ID 07TRIPOLI967) sounds the alarm of “growing evidence of Libyan resource nationalism” by the Gaddafi government. This was almost identical language employed by the U.S. and British governments against Iranian Prime Minister Dr. Mohammad Mossadegh when he nationalized Iran’s oil field in 1951. Mossadegh was overthrown by a 1953 CIA coup that restored the Shah to the throne. It allowed U.S. and British oil companies to re-take ownership over Iran’s oil until the 1979 revolution.

Condemning “Libyan resource nationalism” is diplomatic language. The U.S. government was furious that Gaddafi was moving to rein in and limit the power and profits of the western-owned oil giants that he permitted to come back into the country after George W. Bush in 2004 lifted economic sanctions against Libya...The same cable refers to an angry speech that Gaddafi made in 2006 which was interpreted as a virtual act of war by the oil companies and the U.S. and western governments...Gaddafi's speech included these unacceptable words: “Oil companies are controlled by foreigners who have made millions from them—now, Libyans must take their place to profit from this money.”

...MORE

[Demeter]

46. Gold, Oil, Africa and Why the West Wants Gadhafi Dead MUST READ!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28308.htm

Muammar Gadhafi's decision to pursue gold standard and reject dollars for oil payments may have sealed his fate-- NATO forces engage in regime change and worse, an objective to kill Muammar Gadhafi to eradicate his vision of a United Africa with a single currency backed by gold.

By Brian E. Muhammad



...Observers say implementing that vision would change the world power equation and threaten Western hegemony. In response, the United States and its NATO partners have determined “Gadhafi must go,” and assumed the role of judge, jury and executioner.

“If they kill Brother Gadhafi, I submit to you that American interests in Africa will come under severe strain,” warned the Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan on WPFW-FM's "Spectrum Today” program with Askia Muhammad. “That man has invested in Africa more than any other leader in the recent history of Africa's coming into political independence,” he continued. The Muslim leader said America needs access to the mineral resources in Africa to be a viable power in the 21st century.

...Analysts say introducing the gold dinar as the new medium of exchange would destroy dependence on the U.S. dollar, the French franc and the British pound and threaten the Western world. It would “finally swing the global economic pendulum” that would break Western domination over Africa and other developing economies...“Gadhafi's creation of the African Investment Bank in Sirte (Libya) and the African Monetary Fund to be based in Cameroon will supplant the IMF and undermine Western economic hegemony in Africa,” said Gerald Pereira, an executive board member of the former Tripoli-based World Mathaba...The moves are also bad for France because when the African Monetary Fund and the African Central Bank in Nigeria starts printing gold-backed currency, it would “ring the death knell" for the CFA franc through which Paris was able to maintain its neocolonial grip on 14 former African colonies for the last 50 years...“It is easy to understand the French wrath against Gaddafi,” said Prof. Jean-Paul Pougala of the Geneva School of Diplomacy.

...According to the International Monetary Fund, Libya's Central Bank is 100 percent state-owned and estimates that the bank has nearly 144 tons of gold in its vaults. If Col. Gadhafi changed the purchasing terms of his oil and other Libyan commodities sold on the world market and only accepted gold as payment; a policy like that wouldn't be welcomed by the power elites who control the world's central banks. “That would certainly be something that would cause his immediate dismissal,” said Mr.Wile...

[Demeter]

51. Germany recognises Libya rebels

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0613/breaking3.html

Germany today recognised Libya's rebel council as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people. lending heavyweight support to the leaders poised to run the country if Muammar Gadafy falls. The recognition, voiced by Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle on a visit to the rebel stronghold of Benghazi, is significant because Germany has been reluctant to be drawn into the Libyan conflict and opted out of Nato military action.

"We share the same goal - Libya without Gadafy," Mr Westerwelle told a news conference in Benghazi after meeting members of the rebel National Transitional Council, seen by many as a government-in-waiting. "The national council is the legitimate representative of the Libyan people," Mr Westerwelle said, to applause from Libyans who were listening to him speak.

A senior rebel official welcomed the German decision to join France, Italy, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and other states in recognising the rebel council. "It is a very big step and we appreciate it," said Abdel Hafiz Gogha, the council's vice chairman...The United Arab Emirates said it had recognised the rebel council, based in Benghazi, joining a small but growing list of states that view the council as Libya's legitimate representatives...

[Demeter]

52. Just 26% Favor Continued Military Action in Libya

A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds that just 26% of Likely
U.S. Voters feel the United States should continue its military actions in Libya. Forty-two percent (42%) are opposed and 32% are undecided.

http://bit.ly/iF0Q53

<http://r20.rs6.net/tn.jsp?llr=iqnuv6bab&et=1105985554967&s=62166&e=001FjJr5vSAbroLlu12T_jzV-6wc84nLpiBF1C4Rjas1MJyucjL5Ul6JlYvhbfC8_tZLxNfA87-C9Rc786J6CFsCwNCY3KucknSYLW0lztlPx0=>

[Demeter]

61. Qaddafi Coddled by U.S. Oil Producers

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-14/qaddafi-coddled-by-u-s-oil-companies-whose-hearts-are-where-the-money-is.html

The week after U.S. oil executives in Libya received tongue-lashings from Muammar Qaddafi and one of his lieutenants in February 2008, Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) hired an additional lobbyist. ..Hogan & Hartson, one of Washington’s oldest law firms, had one mission, according to documents filed by Occidental: To get Libya exempted from a law signed the previous month by President George W. Bush letting American terrorism victims seize assets of countries found liable.

The dictatorship was an explicit target of the legislation. Qaddafi had taken responsibility for the 1988 crash of a Pan Am flight in Lockerbie, Scotland, that killed 270 people, including 189 Americans. Courts in France, Germany and the U.S. also had linked his regime to a 1989 blast that downed a Paris-bound flight in the Sahara, killing 171, and a 1986 attack at a Berlin disco that killed two American soldiers and a Turkish woman.

U.S. oil producers nonetheless rallied on behalf of Qaddafi, according to formerly secret State Department cables published this year by WikiLeaks and lobbying records. The six U.S. oil companies, including Occidental, and two U.S. units of foreign companies doing business in Libya, boosted lobbying expenditures 63 percent to $75.8 million in 2008, when they were pursuing the waiver for Libya, filings show.

Congress voted in July 2008 to spare Libya from the terrorism measure in exchange for its promise to create a fund for victims. The companies’ wooing of U.S. lawmakers and officials seemed to have paid off...

SEE LINK FOR WHAT HAPPENED AFTER THAT!

[xchrom]

63. +1

[Demeter]

32. IMF board blocks Fischer candidacy

The board of the International Monetary Fund has blocked the application of Stanley Fischer, governor of the Bank of Israel, to head the organisation

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/GDXFIZ/IEP5S/HD5IUD/720N7C/36/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=14

VERY INTERESTING! IF I THOUGHT THEY'D EXPLAIN WHY, I'D WASTE A FREE LOOK ON THIS ARTICLE..

[Demeter]

33. S Korea president says corruption ‘rampant’

Lee Myung-bak, South Korea’s president, has said a banking scandal has exposed widespread corruption among state officials

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/LVA6WW/GDXFIZ/IEP5S/HD5IUD/BMA1WV/36/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=14

SOME NATIONS DO TRY TO KEEP IT CLEAN

[Demeter]

34. Suspicious pre-deal trades fall sharply

Level of suspicious trading ahead of UK mergers and acquisitions fell sharply last year to 21 per cent, the lowest level since 2003

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/ZE9K33/ZGHZDB/SUO9T/HD5IUY/YH1YOO/HK/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=14

[Demeter]

37. Vietnam seeks US support in China dispute

Vietnam has called on the US to help resolve the escalating territorial disputes in the South China Sea, in a move likely to anger Beijing

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/9ULF66/HYKJEN/FDFZE/EWZWQF/A723E3/1G/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=13

WHAT? AGAIN? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!

[Johnny Harpo]

75. 58,220 Voices Say No F-ing Way...Not Again!

n/t

[Demeter]

38. US banks to cut Treasuries use

Some of the biggest US banks are preparing to cut their use of Treasuries as a precaution against any turbulence if Congress fails to increase the US debt ceiling soon

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/ORS161/JQU4J/GKMKEQ/S3R7HF/KI/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=13

[Demeter]

39. Goldman and Clive Capital to launch commods index

Goldman Sachs and Clive Capital are to launch a commodities index aimed at risk-averse institutional investors

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/ORS161/JQU4J/GKMKEQ/V13468/KI/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=13

NOW, WHY DOES THIS SOUND LIKE A SHEEP-SHEARING CALL?

[Po_d Mainiac]

42. Goldman Sucks wood never fleece their customers n/t

[Demeter]

53. Sorry, Folks I don't seem to have any stamina, any more

of course, it doesn't help when the Kid is having a tantrum...

I hope to return to posting sometime today...

[Demeter]

55. Up Like a Rocket

down like a rock? The PPT reinflates the Stock Bubble, take 2.

[Demeter]

62. 123 POINTS? FOR WHAT?

Waking up in the morning with only a hangover?

[Roland99]

70. but but but...inflation is in check, don'tcha know?!

[DemReadingDU]

58. John Xenakis - The Principle of Maximum Ruin

6/14/11 John Xenakis - The Principle of Maximum Ruin

"During a financial crash following the implosion of a generational credit bubble, the markets act in an incredibly ingenious manner, to ruin the maximum number of people to the maximum extent possible."
.
Xenakis also discusses Steve Keen.
.
"Keen's analysis fills in a gap in Generational Dynamics theory, by describing exactly where the 1970s macroeconomic models go wrong in the 2000s. Keen doesn't relate his analysis to generational theory, but it's this transition from a "well-functioning economy" to a "Ponzi economy" that occurs as the survivors of the previous financial crisis (the Great Depression) all disappear, leaving behind younger generations that have no fear of unlimited debt acceleration."

"The "Principle of Maximum Ruin" says that these young generations have no fear of accelerating debt until the trend exhausts itself, causing them to lose everything in a new Depression. As Keen points out, this lesson has not yet been learned, and the worst of the financial crisis is yet to come."

lots more...
http://www.generationaldynamics.com/cgi-bin/D.PL?xct=gd.e110614b#e110614b


As to my family and friends, not one of them, has any clue what is coming. They all talk about buying the latest tech gadgets, taking exotic vacations, buying new big cars, investing more in the stock market, despite my warnings that the markets are due for a decline. (what goes up, eventually will come back down)

They know that basic stuff (like clothes, shoes, towels, tools) are made in other countries and are imported to U.S., but they don't connect the dots that eventually shipments of stuff, and oil, will become fewer, if not completely stopped.

Indeed, it is impossible to wake up anybody to the future, everyone needs to do this on their own. But by that time, most everyone will find out the hard way 'The Principle of Maximum Ruin'.
:(

[xchrom]

64. Hares and tortoises / Which countries have had most, and least, GDP growth per person since 2001?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/gdp-growth


FOR all its faults, GDP per person is still the measure that gives the best indicator of economic progress or lack thereof. The countries where GDP per head grew fastest between 2001 and 2010—Equatorial Guinea, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan—are all rich in natural resources, and were beneficiaries of the past decade’s boom in commodity prices. China is an exception to this rule, which makes its growth even more impressive. And while it usually helps to start relatively poor, a bad start does not necessarily result in success later on. Haiti and Zimbabwe have both explored how much ruin there is in a nation over the past decade and show little sign of improving. They are two of only 15 countries that have seen negative growth since 2001. Slow population growth also helps: although America's economy has grown considerably faster than Japan's since 2001, Japan’s population has shrunk while America's has risen. This means that income per head in Japan has grown almost as rapidly as in America over this period.

[Roland99]

69. Ayn Rand’s ‘Death of the Soul of Capitalism’...

Commentary: Self-destructive narcissists are sabotaging Adam Smith’s ideal
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ayn-rands-death-of-the-soul-of-capitalism-2011-06-14?link=MW_story_popular

interesting seeing comments on MarketWatch that are not only critical of Ayn Rand, but outright disgusted at anyone that thinks unfettered capitalism continues to be the answer to the problem caused by...unfettered capitalism!