STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, September 21, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, September 21, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON September 20, 2011

Dow 11,408.66 +7.65 (+0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,590.24 -22.59 (-0.87%)
S&P 500 1,202.09 -2.00 (-0.17%)
10-Yr Bond... 1.96 +0.02 (+1.03%)
30-Year Bond 3.25 +0.04 (+1.31%)

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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

Sep 21 07:00 MBA Mortgage Index 09/17 NA NA +6.3%
Sep 21 10:00 Existing Home Sales Aug 4.50M 4.70M 4.67M
Sep 21 10:30 Crude Inventories 09/17 NA NA -6.7M
Sep 21 14:15 FOMC Rate Decision Sep 0.25% 0.25% 0.25%

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/09/19-23/#ixzz1YaCwiNlG

[Roland99]

25. Sales of existing homes surge 7.7% in August

Sales of existing homes surge 7.7% in August
Five-month high in transactions; prices drop

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sales-of-existing-homes-surge-77-in-august-2011-09-21?link=MW_home_latest_news

Sales of existing homes climbed 7.7% to a five-month high in August, as previously delayed deals closed, prices fell and rents rose, according to data released Wednesday.

The National Association of Realtors reported that sales rose to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.03 million, up from an unrevised reading in July of 4.67 million and above the 4.8 million that economists polled by MarketWatch had anticipated.

Compared to August 2010, sales surged 18.6%. Every region saw sales gains but the Northeast gain was limited by Hurricane Irene.

Two-thirds of real estate agents polled reported rents rising in August. At the same time, the median price was $168,300, a decline of 5.1% from the same period last year. July prices were revised lower to $171,200 from an initially reported $174,000.

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil hovers near $87 ahead of US Fed policy meeting

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered below $87 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as traders looked to a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting for possible stimulus measures to spur economic growth.

Benchmark oil for October delivery was down 16 cents at $86.76 at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude rose $1.11 to settle at $86.92 on Tuesday.

In London, Brent crude for November delivery was up 9 cents at $110.63 on the ICE Futures exchange.

Investors will be closely watching the U.S. Federal Reserve's two-day meeting, which ends later today. Some investors expect the Fed to announce a plan to sell short-term Treasury bonds and buy longer-term ones — a policy dubbed "twist" — in a bid to spur economic growth.

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

[Demeter]

26. Gas at $3.43 in Ypsilanti Today

After hanging around $3.80 for weeks...

[bread_and_roses]

3. First Rec! yayyyy! (n/t)

[rfranklin]

4. Number five! Wahoo!

Doesn't take much to make me happy...

[Demeter]

28. And in these times of scarcity, that's a good thing

[rfranklin]

5. AT&T, Nike angle for lower corporate tax rate

Sure, if they are required to hire an American worker for every $20,000 they bring back and guarantee that job for a year

AT&T, Nike angle for lower corporate tax rate

September 20, 2011, 4:02 PM


Congress and the White House should work to lower the U.S. corporate tax rate to make the country more competitive and grow the economy, a newly formed group of 13 companies including Nike Inc. and AT&T Inc. said Tuesday.

The group, dubbed the Reducing America’s Taxes Equitably coalition (or RATE), is co-chaired by former Reagan and George H.W. Bush White House staffer James Pinkerton and former Clinton White House adviser Elaine Kamarck.

The U.S.’s top corporate tax rate of 35% is the second-highest in the developed world, though many companies pay a smaller effective tax rate due to various breaks. Both President Barack Obama and House Speaker John Boehner have recently said they want to change corporate taxes, but they differ drastically on the specifics.
-more-
http://blogs.marketwatch.com/election/2011/09/20/att-nike-angle-for-lower-corporate-tax-rate/

[bread_and_roses]

6. RayGun, Decider, and Big Dog advisors all together - how apt

Isn't that just too sweet? Another glaring example of our One Corporate Party governance.

[xchrom]

8. +1

[Tansy_Gold]

21. Please correct me if I'm wrong on this

The BF and I have been going around and around on this issue for a couple of years now.

He says raise the taxes on corporations so outfits like GE don't get off without paying anything. Then leave "the rich" alone.

I say leave the corporations alone -- but don't give them refunds of taxes they didn't pay -- because any taxes they pay will only be passed along to the consumer in the form of higher prices. I say tax the rich, because they can't pass it along.

1. Bring back inheritance taxes; inheritances are income to the heirs just like wages, salaries, tips, capital gains, rents, royalties.
2. Tax capital gains at the same rate as "ordinary" income, since it's "ordinary" for the rich to make their money other than wages and salaries.
3. Eliminate the ceiling on FICA income, but raise the minimum income required. Currently FICA taxes are levied on incomes starting around $400/year. Raising that to even $2,000 a year and making the first $2,000 exempt from FICA for employees and the self-employed would give a lot of low-income people -- who actually spend their income on goods and services -- a real tax cut and put a little bit of money back into the economy.

But what do I know?


TG

[Demeter]

29. I always liked Nixon's Plan: In which we once again salute Richard Nixon, Marxist warrior

http://smirkingchimp.com/thread/weldon-berger/37046/in-which-we-once-again-salute-richard-nixon-marxist-warrior

40 years ago, on June 22, 1971, Richard Nixon's historic plan to provide a guaranteed income for every American family sailed through the House of Representatives...Nixon's effort, something I've mentioned from time to time as among the Nixon positions that demonstrate the depth of Barack Obama's conservatism. Nixon's plan ultimately died in the Senate because of opposition from liberals concerned that it might erode benefits in some Northern states where financial aid for impoverished families was higher than the guarantee amount proposed by Nixon, and from some conservatives on the usual grounds (didn't do enough to punish impoverished people)....McGovern at one point proposed a substantially higher amount than did Nixon (he was for it before he was against it) and, later, Gerald Ford. But all three, along with a majority of the country's federal legislators, were on board with the idea. One feature common to all the plans was the removal of the penalty imposed on households with unemployed adult males, whose presence disqualified families who were otherwise eligible for welfare benefits. All of them included welfare-to-work programs as well. Intentions were mixed but for the most part the proposals were aimed at building upon the platform created by Lyndon Johnson to expand the social safety net and federalize social welfare standards to eliminate gaps, duplicated efforts, and disparities between the levels of benefits in programs administered by the states...Unfortunately, Nixon's measure was eviscerated rather than improved in the Senate. By 1973, the legislation resided in what two economists reviewing Daniel Moynihan's book on the subject said, in a play on the "benign neglect" policy toward impoverished black communities that Moynihan proposed simultaneous to becoming a guaranteed income evangelist, was "a state best described as malign neglect." The takeaway isn't that it ultimately failed, but that an effort to institute a genuine effort to improve the social welfare system ultimately attracted wide support, including from a president who was reviled by liberals.

Contrast that to the willingness among the majority of performers in the current fiscal responsibility circus to cut benefits designed to help current and future generations of impoverished people and senior ones, some of which politics and finances are already eroding on the state end of the equation. Contrast that to the support Obama continues to enjoy from a large subset of people who describe themselves as liberal or progressive.

This isn't to say that Nixon was a treat; he was paranoid, bigoted and malicious. If he had a conscience, it wasn't ever in evidence. His attitude toward those blowing the whistle on the state was every bit as malevolent as Obama's is now—Nixon had Ellsberg, whom he may briefly have considered assassinating, while Obama has Bradley Manning, who has been physically abused, and others he has subjected to abusive prosecutions. One cringes, thinking about what Nixon would have got up to if he had the national security state technology that Obama now deploys, or if he had enjoyed the current crop of timid and illiberal Democrats now running the show stage right, or an even more compliant, petty and self-satisfied institutional press...Nixon never met an act of state-sponsored violence by the US or a US ally that he didn't like, a trait Obama echoes to an increasing degree but hasn't fully internalized. Neither has Obama seemed to wholly embrace Nixon's insistence that "when the president does it, that means that it is not illegal," although he appears to be open to the concept on a case-by-case basis (assassinating US citizens; Libya).

Nixon was, somewhat peculiarly, less a friend of big business than is Obama. Although he threatened to veto a tax cut package that in his view included too many cuts for the middle class and the poor and not enough for business, he also imposed wage and price controls that he thought would curb inflation and make space for a Keynesian stimulus program to reduce unemployment, which at the time had skyrocketed to more than 4%. That didn't work out so well, in large part because almost no planning went into it, but it was a classically leftist, market-scorning "fuck you" to purveyors of free-market crack...And if the banks had crashed the economy during his time in office—unlikely, as their pre-Depression license to loot had yet to be restored (took a Democrat to get that done; thank you very much, Mr. Clinton)—he would have thrown some motherfuckers in jail if for no other reason than they made him look bad. Unlike our current president, Nixon was all content and action. He had a good speaking voice but he was neither physically attractive nor lyrical; whatever he accomplished, for good and for ill— and there was a lot of both—he accomplished without benefit of good looks and charisma. Obama offers kind words for Arab protests against authoritarian regimes, other than those which are key to this country's imperial presence in the Middle East. Nixon went to China. Nixon only wanted to kill US citizens without due process. Obama is actually trying to do it. Nixon never got his own health insurance reform package passed; 40 years on, Obama passed it for him....Nixon was never awarded a Nobel prize, but he was a party to the most darkly comic moment in the Nobel committee's history when the blood-drenched Henry Kissinger won in 1973 (his co-winner, North Vietnamese general and politician Le Duc Tho, refused the award). Obama's award ranks second in the pantheon of comical prizes; he will always be the only man to win for not being someone else, and likely the only one to deliver a rousing defense of preventive war in his acceptance speech.
_______

About author: Weldon Berger

Whatever you see from me here at the Chimp has likely been cross-posted at my blog, BTC News, where I've been holding forth more or less regularly since 2003. I am the first and will probably remain the only homeless person ever to field a White House correspondent. I'm no longer homeless and no longer fielding a White House correspondent. Coincidence? You be the judge.

[Demeter]

31. Open letter to President Obama: Dream, vision, promise of America includes income security for all

http://www.incomesecurityforall.org/

That’s clear when we think about “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” Life requires food and shelter, and therefore the income to pay for food and shelter. Liberty is denied, at least partly, to people who cannot afford basic living expenses. The pursuit of happiness is more than money, but money is a means to happiness and part of the pursuit. For these inalienable rights, thus, some secure income must also be a right.

declarationimageIncome security for all, in addition, is vital for society. Whenever some people are desperately poor, while others have plenty of money to hire lawyers, lobbyists, and publicists, democracy is impaired and individual liberty is imperiled. For a strong, healthy democratic society, every citizen must be able to participate in “We the People” with equal rights and equal opportunities.

Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt, Richard Nixon, and Martin Luther King Jr. are among the many eminent Americans who endorsed the idea of income security. It was a mainstream idea in the 1880s, 1930s, and 1960s, when there was widespread support for “guaranteed income” or a “negative income tax.” The House of Representatives passed a guaranteed income plan in 1970 by a two-to-one margin, but the Senate blocked it.
The idea, updated, is this:
· Set some amount and provide it to every adult citizen; enough for food and shelter, but just enough, so there will be still be lots of incentives to work and earn.
· Cash payments, monthly, for the very poor; tax deductions for everyone else.
· Periodic adjustments to offset changes in the cost of living.
· Possible supplements from local revenues where living costs are high.
· The same amount for every citizen, to promote justice and equality while minimizing government intrusiveness and bureaucracy.

constitution-imageThis can replace most individual welfare programs, federal, state, and local. Replace corporate welfare, too. That’s how we pay for it — by getting serious about cutting government. Our government will “promote the general welfare” only, not the special welfare of any specific individual, group, business, industry, or region. America’s free market economic system will be more fair and more free.

We ordinary citizens, when we have income security, will be more empowered to realize our goals and dreams. It will be easier to stay in school or go back to school. To start businesses. To be full-time parents. To volunteer and serve our communities. It will also be easier for us to work together, We the People, to take back our government from the special interests.

Does this make sense to you? Would you like to have a public debate, at least, about income security for all? Would you like a secure income – extra income, in addition to what you earn or get from other sources – for every adult citizen, you, your spouse, your parents, your adult children?

You can play a key role in deciding the details and making it happen.

Advocates of income security for all are conservatives and liberals, Democrats and Republicans, Greens and Libertarians and members of other “third” parties, independent voters and people who rarely or never vote, united by our discontent with the status quo. United by our desire for real change, meaningful reform, and rapid progress. United by hope.

Current economic instability – job losses, home foreclosures, and so on – make these ideas timely, even urgent.
Join us. Help spread the word. And please donate to support the campaign.

Steven Shafarman SEE LINK FOR MORE DETAILS, DONATION LINK

[txlibdem]

70. +1

[Demeter]

32. An Alternative to the Nixon Income Maintenance Plan PETER H. SCHUCK and RICHARD J. ZECKHAUSER

http://www.nationalaffairs.com/public_interest/detail/an-alternative-to-the-nixon-income-maintenance-plan

THE Nixon Administration proposal for a fundamental overhaul of the welfare system has generated heated controversy among the numerous interests concerned with poverty and related problems. The great bulk of the criticism leveled at the Nixon plan has focused on three of its facets: the adequacy of the federal guarantee level, its treatment of high-benefit states and cities, and the work requirement for mothers of school-age children.

PDF Version To download a PDF of the full article, please click here: http://www.nationalaffairs.com/doclib/20080522_197001910analternativetothenixonincomemaintenanceplanrichardzeckhauser.pdf

[Demeter]

35. And there's the Modern Alternative: $1T Underground Economy Keeping Americans (Barely) Afloat

Inside the Trillion-Dollar Underground Economy Keeping Many Americans (Barely) Afloat in Desperate Times....The underground economy isn't just drugs and sex work.(I DON'T KNOW WHETHER TO BE HAPPY OR SAD ABOUT THAT--DEMETER)

http://www.alternet.org/story/152446/inside_the_trillion-dollar_underground_economy_keeping_many_americans_%28barely%29_afloat_in_desperate_times?page=entire

...Also called the shadow or informal economy, it's not just illegal activity like selling drugs or doing sex work. It's all sorts of work that doesn't get regulated by the government or reported to the IRS, and it's a far bigger part of the economy than most of us are aware—in 2009, economics professor Friedrich Schneider estimated that it was nearly 8 percent of the US GDP, somewhere around $1 trillion. (That makes the shadow GDP bigger than the entire GDP of Turkey or Austria.) Schneider doesn’t include illegal activities in his count-- he studies legal production of goods and services that are outside of tax and labor laws. And that shadow economy is growing as regular jobs continue to be hard to come by—Schneider estimated 5 percent in '09 alone.

The Young Women's Empowerment Project describes the “street economy” as “... any way that girls make cash money without paying taxes or having to show identification. Sometimes this means the sex trade. But other times it means braiding hair, babysitting, selling CDs/DVDs, drugs or other skills like sewing and laundry.”...

...Without solutions coming from Washington or local governments, it continues to be up to working people to find a way to negotiate the rough economy. Price argued, “People shouldn't have to give up fundamental human rights like access to income in retirement or safety on the job because they need work. But in a society like ours, which tolerates high levels of unemployment, the underground economy is often the next best alternative to starving.”

While some have been able to flourish working underground, it's important to remember that most workers are not off the books to dodge paying taxes or because they prefer it that way. As we see more and more people dropping out of the formal labor market in despair, the informal economy will remain a destination of last resort—and will keep growing.

[DemReadingDU]

7. 'Operation Twist,' Explained In 4 Easy Steps

via NPR Planet Money, cool music while listening to the audio link

9/21/11
The Fed will announce its next move on Wednesday afternoon, at the close of a big, two-day meeting. That move is expected to be something known as "Operation Twist." Here's what it means.

1. The Fed already owns more than $1 trillion in bonds, purchased over the past few years in an effort to bring down medium- and long-term interest rates.

2. A lot of those bonds — hundreds of billions of dollars worth — are medium-term bonds, which come due in the next few years.

3. Interest rates on medium-term government bonds are already near zero.

4. The Fed may sell some of those medium-term bonds, and use the proceeds to buy 10-year Treasuries.

Operation Twist should, in theory, drive down the interest rate on 10-year bonds. (When demand for bonds rises, interest rates fall.) Lots of other interest rates — including mortgages — are tied to the 10-year Treasury rate. So this should drive down interest rates across the board. But it's unclear how much effect the effort will have at this point.

more text...
http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2011/09/21/140643696/operation-twist-explained-in-4-easy-steps

direct link to the audio
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=140643696&m=140658289

[Demeter]

44. Gavyn Davies - Operation twist and shout at the Fed

As the Fed starts its special two-day FOMC meeting, economists are uniformly expecting a further easing in monetary policy, and markets have priced this in. It would be surprising if the Fed did not deliver.

The FOMC will be mindful of the fact that US core inflation has risen in the past few months, but the majority still seems confident that this will prove temporary. Recession risks, on the other hand, would quickly return if the Fed allowed financial conditions to tighten. That will be uppermost in their minds at this meeting.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/ZE9K33/ORUFWA/CWSVD/KQI4MY/WTGNYQ/B7/t?a1=2011&a2=9&a3=20

PLAY IT OUT LOUD! Beatles - Twist & Shout (live in 65)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h6TIEkB4_F8

[xchrom]

9. morning all -- still gloomy here --

:donut:

[Demeter]

30. We are scheduled for 5 days of cold, grey rain

and it's already grey and foggy...good working weather, if you don't mind the humidity. The dragons sure don't care.

[xchrom]

10. europe: Sweden: Saab gets bankruptcy protection

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_SWEDEN_SAAB?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-09-21-08-51-38

STOCKHOLM (AP) -- A Swedish appeals court tossed a lifeline Wednesday to cash-strapped car maker Saab, approving its application for bankruptcy protection as it awaits funding from Chinese investors.

The ruling by the Court of Appeal for Western Sweden, overturning a lower court's decision, gives Saab three months to reorganize while being protected from creditors, some of whom have already filed bankruptcy petitions against the company.

Saab has struggled financially since General Motors Co. sold it in 2010 to the Netherlands-based company that is now called Swedish Automobile. Production at Saab's manufacturing plant has been suspended for most of the year while the company has struggled to pay suppliers and staff.

But Chief Executive Victor Muller insists he can turn the company around as soon as it receives euro245 million ($335) in cash injections from Chinese investors Zhejiang Youngman Lotus Automobile Co. and Pang Da Automobile Trade Co.

[xchrom]

11. Greece to enact more austerity measures

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GREECE_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-09-21-08-30-27

ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greece will have to take fresh austerity measures, the debt-ridden country's finance minister said Wednesday, a day after Athens moved a step closer to getting the vital bailout funds it needs to avoid a disastrous default next month.

The prospect of more tax increases and spending cuts are likely to be met with mounting concern in a country mired in a deep recession and the number of unemployed rising to around one in seven.

"We have to take supplementary measures ... because of the recession, because of the difficult task, and the weakness of the central administration have not produced the required results," Evangelos Venizelos said in Parliament ahead of a Cabinet meeting.

He did not specify what the measures might be. Those taken so far include pension and salary cuts in the public sector, and a series of tax hikes on everything from food and fuel to property and income.

[xchrom]

15. Lloyd's of London hit by record claims for natural disasters

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/sep/21/lloyds-london-record-claims-natural-disasters

Lloyd's of London boss Richard Ward has warned the insurance industry faces an extremely challenging outlook as the world's oldest insurance market slipped deep into the red following record claims from natural catastrophes.

An unprecedented run of natural disasters in Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US has led to insurers paying out billions of pounds this year. This made the first half of 2011 the costliest six-month period in the insurance market's 323-year history.

Ward said 2011 is shaping up to be the second-worst year on record for the insurance industry – after 2005, which saw Hurricane Katrina inflict huge destruction across the southern US.

"If we see more catastrophes come through it could well be ," said Ward. "Things will get more and more challenging. We're faced with a pretty dire economic environment. Everyone is talking about sovereign debt default and a double-dip recession. It doesn't make happy reading. The economic environment is, of course, affecting all our clients."

[xchrom]

17. Teachers pour onto Madrid streets against education cuts

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/Teachers/pour/onto/Madrid/streets/against/education/cuts/elpepueng/20110920elpeng_11/Ten

The first day of protests against cuts in the education sector saw thousands of teachers, parents and students take to the streets of Madrid under the slogan: "Education is not a cost. It is an investment."

Labor unions stated turnout was at 78 percent, compared to the regional government's estimate of 43-percent adherence. EL PAÍS' own calculation put the proportion of teachers attending the protest at 69 percent. The protest march, which took place on the same day as Queen Sofía and Madrid regional premier Esperanza Aguirre attended the official opening of the school year at the Fernando el Católico high school in the center of the capital, was called against proposed cuts that would affect the jobs of thousands of supply teachers.

At the ceremony, Aguirre, who was greeted with catcalls, came face-to-face with Education Minister Ángel Gabilondo for the first time since calling for his resignation for what she termed "encouraging political strikes against PP regions." Aguirre joked it would be "splendid" if Gabilondo were to fall on his sword over the current impasse.

Aguirre has been in the line of fire since making comments about teachers' working hours. The Madrid premier accused educators of working "just" 20 hours a week and earlier this week suggested that not all education should be free of charge.

[xchrom]

18. IMF lowers its 2012 economic growth forecast for Spain on global slowdown

http://www.elpais.com/articulo/english/IMF/lowers/its/2012/economic/growth/forecast/for/Spain/on/global/slowdown/elpepueng/20110920elpeng_7/Ten

The International Monetary Fund on Tuesday cut its growth forecast for Spain for next year as it warned of a "dangerous new phase" in global activity.

In its latest World Economic Outlook report, the IMF said it expects Spain's GDP growth to come in at 1.1 percent in 2012. That represented a cut of 0.5 points from its previous estimate. The agency maintained its prediction for growth for this year of 0.8 percent.

Both figures are well below the government's forecasts of a rise in GDP of 1.3 percent this year and 2.3 percent in 2012.

In an interview with Spanish commercial television station Antena 3 on Tuesday, Spanish Economy Minister Elena Salgado said the government is sticking to its forecasts, although she acknowledged it was "possible" the latest figures on the economy do not coincide with those available when the estimates were drawn up. While Spain is emerging from the crisis, it is doing so more "slowly" than the government would like, she added.

[xchrom]

23. Weak oils, miners pull Britain's FTSE lower

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/21/markets-britain-stocks-idUKL5E7KL12B20110921

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Weakness in commodity issues kept Britain's leading shares lower at midday on Wednesday, as investors focused on the outcome of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting, with the likelihood of further economic stimulus seen as already discounted.

The FTSE 100 was down 23.41 points, or 0.4 percent at 5,340.30 at 1046 GMT, midway between session highs and lows and consolidating after a 2.0 percent advance on Tuesday.

Integrated oils were the biggest drag on blue chip sentiment, led by BP down 1.1 percent, as the crude CLc1 price retreated ahead of the Fed decision.

Investors expected the U.S. central bank, which concludes its two-day policy meeting later, would act to push down already low long-term interest rates by tilting its portfolio towards longer maturities in a move known as 'Operation Twist', rather than announce more quantitative easing.

[xchrom]

12. US architecture billings index rebounds in August

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/feedarticle/9857661

NEW YORK, Sept 21 (Reuters) - A leading indicator of U.S. nonresidential construction activity surprisingly rebounded last month after four months of declines, an architects' trade group said on Wednesday.
The architecture billings index jumped to 51.4 last month from 45.1 in July, according the American Institute of Architects. Any reading above 50 indicates rising demand for design services, a predictor of construction spending nine to 12 months in the future.
"Based on the poor economic conditions over the last several months, this turnaround in demand for design services is a surprise," said AIA Chief Economist, Kermit Baker.
A separate index of inquiries for new projects, typically higher than the ABI, rose to 56.9 in August from 53.7.

[xchrom]

13. World Bank: ditch fossil fuel subsidies to address climate change

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/sep/21/world-bank-fossil-fuel-subsidies

Leaked World Bank documents propose that rich countries should eliminate the $50bn a year they give in fossil fuel subsidies, in order to financially help poor countries address climate change.

The documents, due to be presented to the G20 finance ministers in November, also suggest that countries redirect "climate aid" money already pledged, towards the propping up ailing carbon markets.

The Mobilizing Climate Finance paper, seen in draft form by the Guardian, has been prepared at the request of the world's leading economies. It is likely to provide a template for action in the UN climate talks that resume in Panama next week, in preparation for a major meeting of 194 countries in Durban in November.

According to the confidential paper, there is little likelihood that in the current economic climate, public money will be available for raising the $30bn rich countries have pledged for the 2010-2012 period, and the $100bn a year that must be found by 2020. Instead, says the paper, "the large financial flows required for climate stabilization and adaptation will, in the long run, be mainly private in composition".

[Roland99]

14. Barclays lowers forecast for the euro (sees $1.25 in 3 months)

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/barclays-lowers-forecast-for-the-euro-2011-09-21?link=MW_home_latest_news

Barclays Capital lowered its forecast for the euro against the dollar EURUSD -0.22% on Wednesday, saying the single currency will fall to $1.33 in the next month from $1.3642 in morning trading. The firm previously expected the currency to rise to $1.42 in a month. "The problems in the euro area have deteriorated significantly and are likely to worsen further before stabilizing," currency strategists led by Paul Robinson wrote in a note. Risks related to the region's sovereign debt crisis, as well as a more dovish tone coming from the European Central Bank and the floor the Swiss National Bank set for the euro against the Swiss franc EURCHF +0.52% are weighing on the currency in the short run, they said. The firm expected the euro to fall to $1.25 in three months.

Works for me...looking like a (delayed) honeymoon to Paris in early spring next year for me and the soon-to-be Mrs.

[Po_d Mainiac]

22. Just in time for the riots! If shit drags out that long......n/t

[Roland99]

16. European banks face big hit from debt crisis: IMF

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-banks-face-big-hit-from-debt-crisis-imf-2011-09-21-94260?link=MW_home_latest_news

European banks face as much as $410 billion hit from debt-ravaged countries, according to a report released Wednesday by the International Monetary Fund. The estimate comes as the IMF said risks to global financial stability have increased for the first time since the collapse of Lehman Brothers in 2008. The estimate of spillover of credit risk on the banks does not measure the banks' capital needs, which would require a full assessment of bank balance sheets and income positions, the IMF said. Some European banks urgently need to bolster their capital to mitigate the risks posed by this hit. In current market conditions, it may not always be possible for banks to raise capital so public backstops should be used to provide capital to banks as needed, the report said. Weaker banks need to be restructured, the report said.

More of the same "remedy".

Privatize the profits, socialize the losses.

[xchrom]

19. asia: REFILE-Hong Kong's stock index ends at 2-year low; China gains

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/21/markets-hongkong-china-stocks-update-idUKL3E7KL1I420110921

HONG KONG, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Hong Kong's benchmark index ended at a two-year low on Wednesday, with Chinese property stocks tumbling under short selling pressure from some hedge funds, while shares on the mainland rose as investors bought beaten-down oil majors.

China Overseas Land & Investment Ltd and Evergrande Real Estate Group Ltd were among the biggest losers. Property firms have been the hardest hit by Beijing's tightening measures and developers' unwillingness to cut prices is also eating into their profitability.

"I think data over the next two months would be very important. It's supposed to be the peak sales period right now but August data didn't look too good," said Banny Lam, a macro-strategist with CCB International in Hong Kong.

A CCB report on Monday said property sales in China's primary market fell over the previous week. Official data on Monday showed a marginal easing of China's housing inflation in August as home prices in major cities remained flat for a second straight month.

[xchrom]

24. Nikkei edges higher, lifted by Asian shares

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/21/markets-japan-stocks-idUKL3E7KL11W20110921

TOKYO, Sept 21 (Reuters) - The Nikkei average scored modest gains on Wednesday, bolstered by short-covering following a rise in Asian shares and ahead of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy decision.

But thin trade volume indicated a lack of strong investor interest, with many still deeply worried over how Europe could defend itself from a deepening debt crisis.

The Nikkei rose 0.2 percent to 8,741.16 but was capped below its 25-day moving average at 8,776. The broader Topix index climbed 0.3 percent to 757.13.

A rise in Asian share prices, including a sharp rebound in Shanghai stocks from a 14-month low hit on Tuesday, triggered short-covering in the Nikkei, which hit a six-month intraday low around 8,500.

[xchrom]

20. PRECIOUS-Gold edges up in countdown to Fed policy decision

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/09/21/markets-precious-idUKL5E7KL1WD20110921

LONDON, Sept 21 (Reuters) - Gold held steady above $1,800 an ounce on Wednesday ahead of the outcome of a Federal Reserve policy meeting at which the U.S. central bank is expected to unveil its next steps to revive the world's largest economy.

The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) is widely expected to signal that it will rebalance its portfolio of Treasury holdings in favour of longer-dated debt, which should help it anchor longer-dated interest rates, rather than embark on a another multi-billion round of government bond buying, or quantitative easing.

Gold has been a major beneficiary of the Fed's QE programmes, having gained more than 40 percent since the central bank's most recent round of bond-buying, which ran from November 2010 to June this year.

While few in the market expect QE3, any measures that keep U.S. rates low in the face of a struggling economy should support gold in the longer-run.

[xchrom]

27. Auditing in China Chinese stall

http://www.economist.com/node/21529084

THE Shanghai affiliate of Deloitte, one of the Big Four global accounting firms, used to be the auditor of Longtop, a Chinese financial-software company. After signing off Longtop’s financial statements for several years, the firm smelled trouble during its audit for the financial year that ended in March. Its subsequent questions did not go down well at Longtop, which seized some of Deloitte’s papers and threatened to keep Deloitte staff from leaving company premises. Deloitte quit as auditor, and Longtop’s shares ended up being delisted from the New York Stock Exchange in August.

Longtop is one of several Chinese firms to have suffered this fate. But Deloitte is now in a bind all of its own. America’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) subpoenaed Deloitte’s working papers for the Longtop audit in May. Deloitte says it cannot deliver them without breaking China’s secrecy laws. American law can give way to foreign regulations if they are clear and justifiable. But the SEC says Deloitte has made only hazy assertions of Chinese secrecy law, the basis for which is in any case “impossibly vague”.

So on September 8th the SEC asked a court to enforce the subpoena. This the court could do with heavy fines. If Deloitte still refuses to respond, America’s accounting regulator, the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB), could even decertify Deloitte’s Chinese affiliate from signing financial statements for firms listed in America.

The Big Four are not single firms but networks of national firms. Observers say their Chinese member-firms are rather good. But they have grown rapidly, by hiring young new accountants and acquiring local firms. Beyond the big cities like Beijing and Shanghai, quality can be “patchy”, says Mark Webster of Business Development Asia, an advisory firm. (Longtop is based in Xiamen.) And even the best accountants can find China hard. “Deloitte is just the unfortunate one that got hit first,” says Paul Gillis, a visiting professor of accounting at Peking University.

[Demeter]

33. Doom! Paul Krugman

That’s the title of a new article by John Judis about how policy around the advanced world is now aggravating the slump — and how things look likely to get even worse looking forward. It’s not very different from what I’ve been saying, but Judis offers more historical depth in the comparison with the 30...I’ve been thinking about that parallel — and how truly remarkable it is.

I was recently asked to give a talk on “capitalism and democracy”; that’s bigger-think than I usually do, but I gave it a try. I took as my starting point the famous Fukuyama thesis that liberal democracy — meaning basically a market economy plus democratic institutions — was an end state, a final resting point for state organization...I always had my doubts about that, largely thanks to the 1930s: what we saw there was that a severe economic crisis could put liberal democracy very much at risk. And it was a close-run thing: slightly better strategic decisions by the bad guys could have made totalitarianism, not democracy, the end state...It seemed to me even when Fukuyama first wrote that this could and probably would happen again, that there would be future crises that would put our system — which I agree is a very good system — at risk.

But one thing I was sure of was that the next great crisis would be different. It would be environmental, or about resource shortages, or about runaway technologies, or something; it wouldn’t be about a banking crisis and a collapse of aggregate demand, aggravated by bad monetary and fiscal policy. We’d learned too much to repeat that performance — right? Wrong! The amazing thing now is not that we’re having a crisis, it’s the fact that we’re having the same crisis, and making the same mistakes.

A lot of the blame goes to the economists, by the way, who abandoned what they used to know — and many of whom are giving bad advice now, I firmly believe, based more on ego and political affiliation than on analysis. That is, I believe that we’re looking at a moral failure as well as an intellectual failure.

I COULDN'T AGREE MORE, DR. KRUGMAN--DEMETER



http://krugman.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/09/20/doom/

[some guy]

36. perhaps no failure at all.

Maybe the bad guys are doing the same thing, hoping to make better strategic decisions this time round, and achieve totalitarianism.

[Hotler]

37. That sure picked up my spirit.

I have no hope. I see no future.

[Demeter]

39. Okay, now you've found the total justification

I have no hope, I see no future...and I posted same time as Hotler...

[Demeter]

53. TRUTHOUT Asks the Key Question:

"Is there any way the ultra-right will let go of its stranglehold on the US economy?"

If the answer is "NO" then we have to break the ultra-right, just as Hitler's grasp on the world was broken. We are going to have to fight and fight hard: prosecute, arrest, legislate, and teach the members of our society that ultra-right is maximally-wrong. It's going to take force. We've already had copious amounts of blood, sweat and tears....but these will not bend hearts that are fundamentally broken.

[Demeter]

34. MIC at 50 - A National Conference in Charlottesville, Va.

http://warisacrime.org/micat50cville

Did you know that redirecting a fraction of our military spending to education, green energy, healthcare, and tax cuts would create a job for every unemployed or underemployed person in the country (including those losing war industry jobs during this conversion)? It's true.

Did you know we're fighting drone wars that create enemies by killing innocents, in large part because the CIA created a bureaucracy for drone wars and wants to use it? Now you do.

We've got a choice to make between the military industrial complex and our future.

Contact us with any questions! SEE LINK

[Hotler]

38. k&r n/t

[Demeter]

40. Wealthy Republican Congressman Apparently Pays Workers Less than $11,400 Per Year

http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/668308/wealthy_republican_congressman_apparently_pays_workers_less_than_%2411%2C400_per_year/#paragraph9

I'M SORRY, I JUST CAN'T SAMPLE THIS...

[Demeter]

41. GOLDEN HANDCUFFS, GOLDEN PARACHUTE..AND NOW, GOLDEN COFFINS

http://www.alternet.org/story/152469/%24260_million_after_death_how_rich_executives_make_money_from_beyond_the_grave?akid=7595.227380.cQ6-JA&rd=1&t=12

I CAN'T EVEN READ THIS ONE

[Demeter]

42. That cartoon illustrates a recent phenomenon

Presidential gibberish in public speaking. It's been happening more and more, a definite tell--no wonder he's a lousy poker player.

[Demeter]

43. Roger Altman - America and Europe are on the verge of disastrous recession

For the American and western European economies to decline again, when unemployment levels are already so high, would be disastrous. It would shock consumers, businesses and financial markets. Fearful, they would retrench further, causing the economic decline to accelerate. Weak labour markets would get even worse, as would the already swollen government deficits and debt. Overall, we could be in for a repeat of the experience of 1937, when America fell back into recession after three years of recovery from the Great Depression.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/6NPSBB/U1GBTL/OFBYP/5VC0LB/5V70NW/T3/t?a1=2011&a2=9&a3=21

[Demeter]

45. Obama would raise taxes on rich to pay for jobs plan

OVER TEN YEARS---WHOOPEE

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/09/12/123892/obama-would-raise-taxes-on-rich.html

President Barack Obama would pay for his jobs bill primarily by raising $467 billion in taxes on the wealthy over 10 years, the White House said Monday.

Obama included the proposed tax increases in the detailed legislation he sent Monday to Congress, along with a demand that the entire package be passed immediately.

"This is the bill that Congress needs to pass," he said in the White House Rose Garden, waving a copy of the proposed American Jobs Act. "No games. No politics. No delays. I'm sending this bill to Congress today, and they ought to pass it immediately."

His request amounted to a legislative and political impossibility...

[Demeter]

46. Self-Regulatory Group May Gain Power in House Plan (FINANCIER, REGULATE THY SELF!)

YEAH, THAT WILL WORK GOOD...I CAN'T READ THIS ONE, EITHER. I HAVE A LOW PAIN THRESHOLD TODAY, IT SEEMS...

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/09/12/lawmakers-consider-giving-finra-more-power/

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill are weighing plans to outsource the government’s authority over Wall Street, aiming to shift some power from the Securities and Exchange Commission to groups backed by the financial industry.

Representative Spencer Bachus of Alabama, the Republican chairman of the House financial services committee, has introduced a measure that would authorize a self-regulatory organization to examine more than 10,000 investment advisory firms, a move that underscores the S.E.C.’s precarious financial position. On Tuesday, the issue will take center stage on Capitol Hill, as the House committee holds a much-anticipated hearing to examine federal oversight of the investment world. ..

[Demeter]

47. Overseas Banks Pursue 'Living-Will' Exemption

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903532804576567043654281066.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

Foreign banks with a small U.S. presence are pushing for exemption from new rules that would require them to submit "living wills" to U.S. regulators outlining how they would be liquidated in the event of a failure.

The push comes ahead of a meeting by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. LAST Tuesday in which the regulator is expected to finalize proposed rules for living wills, part of sweeping overhauls passed in the wake of the financial crisis.

Living wills are intended to allow regulators to understand the structure of "too-big-to-fail" financial firms, or those that could pose a risk to the financial system, before a crisis strikes and make it easier to wind them down in case of a failure...

[Demeter]

48. EU's Barnier Urges Calm As European Bank Shares Plummet

http://www.nasdaq.com/aspx/stock-market-news-story.aspx?storyid=201109120538dowjonesdjonline000066&title=eus-barnier-urges-calm-as-european-bank-shares-plummet

European Union's Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier Monday urged investors to keep their cool in the face of a new plunge in European banking shares, repeating recent Europe-wide stress tests have shown banks in the region are generally solid and that banks are already in the process of bolstering their capital to comply with new solvency standards.

"We are in a serious situation, but we must remain calm," Barnier told reporters on the sidelines of a conference in Paris. Recent European stress tests "show the overall situation of banks is solid...The recapitalization of banks is already under way," Barnier said, as banks have to get ready for the implementation of the new Basel-III capital standards. These standards will be gradually phased-in from 2013 and call on banks to raise their capital buffers as well as to strengthen their liquidity ratios.

Shares in European banks are experiencing a new bout of turbulence Monday, as investors fear banks may need more capital to withstand potential losses related to their sovereign bond holdings, as debt woes in the euro zone intensify.

French banks are particularly hard hit Monday as investors are bracing for a possible downgrade of their credit-rating rating by Moody's Investors Service Inc, which people familiar with the matter say could happen this week...

[Demeter]

49. Who are the world's biggest employers?

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/09/employment

ONE of the biggest headaches for policymakers in many rich countries has been how to create jobs during a period of fiscal austerity and anaemic growth. The private sector has been slow to generate jobs, and government-spending cuts usually end up cutting jobs. And governments employ a lot of people: in our chart of the ten biggest global employers, below, seven are government-run. America's defence department had 3.2m people on its payroll last year, equivalent to 1% of the country's population. China, the world's most populous nation and a big military spender, employs 2.3m people in its armed forces. And the number of people working for the National Health Service in England is equivalent to over 2.5% of the country's population. The three private companies are Walmart, McDonald's and Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Company, a subsidiary of which is Foxconn, a secretive electronics manufacturer...

[Demeter]

50. Can we contain fallout from a Greek default?

http://www.ifre.com/ifr-comment-can-we-contain-fallout-from-a-greek-default?/1606367.article

We have gone from a scenario of “How bad could the contagion get?”, to “Can Europe take the right steps to keep things together?”, and now “When will the Eurozone break up?.” The latter scenario is a bit dramatic. A more likely scenario is Greece exiting the eurozone and for the EFSF to be used as a vehicle to limit contagion.

For now expect to see Greece get its next tranche, but once we get to December and the troika are once again looking at the targets expect the default scenario to come into play. By that time the various governments would have passed the new powers of the EFSF allowing it to play a more active role in limiting contagion.

Germany continues to be against the idea of eurobonds seeing this as taking on board too much risk without a device to prevent governments credibly committing to deliver fiscal stability and not hold the rest/core hostage. This issue of moral hazard is playing out currently with Greece with the threat of an exit sufficient to keep the liquidity support flowing not just for Greece but also other peripheral countries. A part of this liquidity support was the use of the ECB’s balance sheet as a means of transferring credit risk that the markets were unwilling to hold to the ECB. But the planned resignation of ECB’s Jurgen Stark is likely to be a game changer as German politicians, and Merkel in particular, come under fire for not having done more to defend the BBK’s position.

Damaging are claims over the weekend that Stark strategically wanted to resign under the tenure of Trichet and not wait until Draghi steps in as he was not happy with Trichet’s decision to buy Italian/Spanish bonds. The importance of the debate over SMP at the ECB means that if and when it is called upon to play a role in limiting the fallout from a Greek default it will concentrate more on helping to maintain liquidity in the financial sector as opposed to take on board excessive credit risk. Instead this task will be left to the EFSF when it gains powers to both buy secondary debt as well as likely help capitalise banks. This is the eurozone’s TARP and a sovereign debt fund all rolled into one.

[Demeter]

51. Bullion Vaults Run Out of Space on Gold Rally

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-09-21/bullion-vaults-running-out-of-space-as-gold-rally-accelerates-commodities.html

Deep in the 7.4-acre Singapore FreePort next to Changi International Airport’s runways is the bullion vault of Swiss Precious Metals, behind seven-metric-ton steel doors built to survive a plane crash or earthquake.

The rooms are almost full after demand rose fivefold in the year since the Geneva-based company opened the facility. The firm plans an extension, and relocated Chief Executive Officer Jean-Francois Pages to Singapore last month to cope with the surge of investors willing to pay as much as 1 percent of the value of their holdings each year to keep them secure.

“The European debt crisis and its impact on the solvency of European financial players are driving European customers to find refuge in tangible values like physical gold and other precious metals,” Pages said. Demand “is totally compatible with the current financial and political global turmoil.”

Barclays Capital is building a new vault, The Brink’s Co. (BCO) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK) may add more space, and the Perth Mint may expand for the first time since 2003, a sign they expect demand to keep increasing after the 11-year rally during which prices increased sevenfold. Investors in exchange-traded products backed by gold bought 2,236 tons of bullion since 2003, exceeding all except four countries’ official stockpiles...

[Demeter]

52. S.E.C. Hid Its Lawyer’s Madoff Ties

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/business/sec-refers-ex-counsels-actions-on-madoff-to-justice-dept.html?_r=1

After Bernard L. Madoff’s giant Ponzi scheme was revealed, the Securities and Exchange Commission went to great lengths to make sure that none of its employees working on the case posed a conflict of interest, barring anyone who had accepted gifts or attended a Madoff wedding. But as a new report made clear on Tuesday, one top official received a pass: David M. Becker, the S.E.C.’s general counsel, who went on to recommend how the scheme’s victims would be compensated, despite his family’s $2 million inheritance from a Madoff account...Mr. Becker’s actions were referred by H. David Kotz, the inspector general of the S.E.C., to the Justice Department, on the advice of the Office of Government Ethics, which oversees the ethics of the executive branch of government.

The report by Mr. Kotz provides fresh details about the weakness of the agency’s ethics office and reveals that none of its commissioners, except for Mary L. Schapiro, its chairwoman, had been advised of Mr. Becker’s conflict. It says Ms. Schapiro agreed with a decision to keep Mr. Becker from testifying before Congress, where he would have disclosed his financial interest in the Madoff account. Mr. Kotz’s inquiry also produced evidence that at least one S.E.C. employee had been barred from working on Madoff-related matters because of a conflict, suggesting there was a double standard at the agency.

The findings are another black eye for an agency that has tried to be more aggressive in recent years after failing to uncover the Madoff fraud. More recently, the S.E.C. has been criticized for routine destruction of some enforcement documents that might have been useful in later investigations...

[Festivito]

54. Debt: 09/19/2011 14,729,488,947,751.89 (UP 30,467,316,538.79) (Mon, UP a little.)

(UNDER the new 2011 debt limit of 14.694-trillion dollars by 435.489-billion dollars. Good day.)
A sleeply afternoons.
(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)
= 10,080,320,100,313.90 + 4,649,168,847,437.91
UP 239,468,823.00 + UP 30,227,847,715.79

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 313-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,195.63 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.59, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,927,392 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $47,069.99.
A family of three owes $141,209.97. (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 4,297,589,517.98.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,008,312,662.58.
The average for the last 31 days would be 2,911,270,318.63.
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$/day.
There were 240 reports in 354 days of FY2011 averaging 4.87B$ per report, 3.30B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 489 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.4 and 17.3T$.
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)
09/19/2011 14,729,488,947,751.89 BHO (UP 4,102,611,898,838.73 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 +1,167,865,916,860.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,204,155,535,745.58 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/29/2011 -000,073,220,970.90 ---- Mon
08/30/2011 +000,152,580,275.78 ------------********
08/31/2011 +034,126,581,560.14 ------------**********
09/01/2011 +034,131,323,630.30 ------------**********
09/02/2011 +000,182,220,803.10 ------------********
09/06/2011 -000,290,117,782.20 --- Tue
09/07/2011 +015,583,261,687.60 ------------**********
09/08/2011 -006,211,008,386.30 --
09/09/2011 +000,079,600,651.10 ------------*******
09/12/2011 -000,033,661,156.40 ---- Mon
09/13/2011 -000,041,637,039.50 ----
09/14/2011 +000,269,185,032.20 ------------********
09/15/2011 +011,965,856,345.50 ------------**********
09/16/2011 +000,192,253,298.50 ------------********
09/19/2011 +000,239,468,823.00 ------------******** Mon

90,272,686,771.92 Total of 15 above reports.

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

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

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4999764&mesg_id=4999832

[Festivito]

60. Debt: 09/20/2011 14,711,870,126,618.47 (DOWN 17,618,821,133.35) (Tue, UP a little.)

(UNDER the new 2011 debt limit of 14.694-trillion dollars by 417.870-billion dollars. Good day.)
Nice Frankenmuth day with tea and time.
(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)
= 10,080,809,758,642.60 + 4,631,060,367,975.86
UP 489,658,328.70 + DOWN 18,108,479,462.05

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 313-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,195.56 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.59, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 312,934,592 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 $47,012.6.
A family of three owes $141,037.81. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 3,301,389,033.82.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,421,018,624.80.
The average for the last 32 days would be 2,269,704,960.75.
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$/day.
There were 241 reports in 355 days of FY2011 averaging 4.77B$ per report, 3.24B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 488 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.4 and 17.2T$.
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)
09/20/2011 14,711,870,126,618.47 BHO (UP 4,084,993,077,705.38 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 +1,150,247,095,726.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,182,648,422,366.89 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
08/30/2011 +000,152,580,275.78 ------------********
08/31/2011 +034,126,581,560.14 ------------**********
09/01/2011 +034,131,323,630.30 ------------**********
09/02/2011 +000,182,220,803.10 ------------********
09/06/2011 -000,290,117,782.20 --- Tue
09/07/2011 +015,583,261,687.60 ------------**********
09/08/2011 -006,211,008,386.30 --
09/09/2011 +000,079,600,651.10 ------------*******
09/12/2011 -000,033,661,156.40 ---- Mon
09/13/2011 -000,041,637,039.50 ----
09/14/2011 +000,269,185,032.20 ------------********
09/15/2011 +011,965,856,345.50 ------------**********
09/16/2011 +000,192,253,298.50 ------------********
09/19/2011 +000,239,468,823.00 ------------******** Mon
09/20/2011 +000,489,658,328.70 ------------********

90,835,566,071.52 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=5000878&mesg_id=5001359

[Hawkowl]

55. The Fed Twists

19.30 So, the Federal Reserve is selling $400 billion of its shorter-term securities to purchase longer-term holdings in an attempt to boost its weak economy
.

The move to rebalance its $2.87 trillion portfolio could lower Treasury yields further - but the idea is ultimately to reduce rates on mortgages and other loans - stimulating the economy.

19.27 The Fed is shifting $400 billion in bond holdings to drive down long-term rates in Operation Twist, in its latest move to boost the economy. It also announces that it sees "significant downside risks
".

19.24 The US Fed is holding interest rates at between 0.25pc and "virtually zero", and it seems like Operation Twist is on.

" Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in August indicates that economic growth remains slow. Recent indicators point to continuing weakness in overall labor market conditions, and the unemployment rate remains elevated. Household spending has been increasing at only a modest pace in recent months despite some recovery in sales of motor vehicles as supply-chain disruptions eased. To support a stronger economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with the dual mandate, the Committee decided today to extend the average maturity of its holdings of securities.

The Committee intends to purchase, by the end of June 2012, $400 billion of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 6 years to 30 years and to sell an equal amount of Treasury securities with remaining maturities of 3 years or less.

This program should put downward pressure on longer-term interest rates and help make broader financial conditions more accommodative. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings and is prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate."



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/8720479/Debt-crisis-live.html

[Demeter]

56. Wow! Who spilled the beans at 2:15?

I ventured out into the GD world...it's a blizzard out there!

Outside, the clouds broke up and it's warm if still a bit too humid. Inside my head, it's rather like a blender on chop...

[Roland99]

58. see the post above...

more deflation ahead?

[Demeter]

59. That came out this morning

Somebody must have flapped gums...

[Demeter]

63. THIS IS IT, I BET: Moody's Cuts Ratings For BofA, Wells Fargo, Citigroup

http://www.npr.org/2011/09/21/140670744/moodys-cuts-ratings-for-bofa-wells-fargo-citigroup?ft=1&f=1001

Moody's Investors Service has lowered some of the debt ratings for Bank of America Corp., Wells Fargo & Co. and Citigroup Inc., saying it is now less likely that the U.S. government would step in and prevent the lenders from failing in a crisis.

The ratings firm said Wednesday that it believes the government is likely to provide some level of support for financial institutions, but is also more likely now than during the 2008 financial crisis to allow a large bank to fail should it become financially troubled.

Moody's downgraded long-term debt ratings for Bank of America and Wells Fargo Bank N.A., and cut BofA's short-term rating and Bank of America N.A.'s long-term deposit rating.

The firm confirmed Citigroup's long-term rating, but downgraded its short-term rating...

[Hugin]

68. Ah, the old candy bar in the swimming pool effect, eh?

:eyes:

[Demeter]

69. It's always and everywhere about the banksters: Narcissicism Personified

[Demeter]

57. Unequal Citizenship and Access to the Commons

http://www.truth-out.org/unequal-citizenship-and-access-commons/1316542409

fas-cism (fâsh'iz'em)

n. A system of government that exercises a dictatorship of the extreme right, typically through the merging of state and business leadership, together with belligerent nationalism.

-fas'cist n. -fas-cis'tic (fa-shis'tik) adj.

— American Heritage Dictionary, 1983

There are resources and there are resources. For corporations, resources include raw materials, labor, the property and the equipment they use, the talents of the people they employ, and cash. For humans, resources include air, water, food, shelter, clothing, health care, and the means of exchange to ensure these.

I remember growing up fifty-plus years ago in an America where an employer’s responsibilities to their community were so well understood that bosses who laid off people were considered either evil or failures. There was a dramatic recalibration of this during the 1980s, as the word layoff was replaced with the more politically tolerable euphemism downsizing and then further euphemized to rightsizing. In England the same event is described much more directly: “I was made redundant.”

This chapter is about what has happened to humans as their protections have been given to entities (corporations) that have entirely different values from those of living beings. Ironically, the bigger companies get, the more ability they have to influence people’s lives for better or worse—but the bigger they get, the fewer choices are available to workers and customers. And in recent years, health researchers have identified that the inability to do anything about one’s problems is a key contributing factor to stress....


THIS IS A SERIALIZATION OF A NEW WORK IN PRINT "Unequal Protection: How Corporations Became 'People' and How You Can Fight Back"-- SEE LINK FOR MORE CHAPTERS

[Demeter]

61. Following a Disaster, Disastrous Suggestions by: Paul Krugman

http://www.truth-out.org/following-disaster-disastrous-suggestions/1316533039

....Eric Cantor is the one claiming that there’s a principle here, that any spending rise on disaster relief must be offset with current spending cuts. I’m critiquing that assertion; there is no such principle. I should be clear on that.

Where Mr. Landsburg really goes where he shouldn’t, though, is by comparing Cantor’s proposal to denying someone goodies unless he shapes up elsewhere — he uses the example of a teenager who won’t be allowed to go to the prom unless he does his chores. Is that really a good metaphor for what’s happening here? Remember, Mr. Cantor isn’t denying something called “the government” the right to do something it wants to do. He’s denying disaster relief to people hard hit by a hurricane. That is, he’s holding suffering Americans hostage to his goal of smaller government.

And the whole point of his offsetting spending cuts thing — his invention of a nonsense principle — is to obscure the ruthlessness of the blackmail involved.

Is this really a tactic you want to defend?

[Demeter]

62. A Good Fight by: Robert Reich

http://www.truth-out.org/good-fight/1316540233

So the really big fight — perhaps the defining battle of 2012 — won’t be over Medicare. It won’t even be over Obama’s jobs program.

It will be over whether the rich should pay more taxes....



WELL, MAYBE, IF OBAMA DOESN'T MANAGE TO BIPARTISANSHIP IT AWAY..OR THROW A CURVE BALL INTO THE MIDDLE EAST, OR RESORT TO ANY OTHER DISTRACTION TACTIC...AND IF HE DOES MANAGE TO PULL IT OFF IN SPITE OF HIMSELF, HE JUST MIGHT GET RE-ELECTED. I'VE SEEN THIS FILM BEFORE. I'M NOT GOING TO HOLD MY BREATH.


The President has vowed to veto any plan to tame the debt that doesn’t increase taxes on the rich. The Republicans have vowed to oppose any tax increases on the rich.

It’s a good fight to have....


GOOD? NO, IT'S JUST A SCRIMMAGE IN THE WAR AGAINST FASCISM, ONE OF MANY TO COME, SEVERAL OF WHICH WERE LOST SIMPLY BECAUSE THE GENERALS ON OUR SIDE COULDN'T BE BOTHERED TO ENGAGE THE ENEMY. IT IS A NECESSARY FIGHT, THOUGH--THEY ALL WERE NECESSARY. WE ARE STARTING FROM SO FAR BEHIND, VICTORY SEEMS INHERENTLY UNLIKELY AT THIS POINT, UNLESS WE START TO GET SOME TRACTION.

In a Rose Garden ceremony this morning, Obama proposed new taxes on the wealthy — including a special new tax for millionaires, the closing of loopholes and deductions for people making more than $250,000 a year, and an end to the portion of the Bush tax cut going to higher incomes.

Republicans accuse the President of instigating “class warfare.” But it’s not warfare to demand the rich pay their fair share of taxes to bring down America’s long-term debt...

THERE'S MORE, GO READ IT

[Demeter]

64. Are We Going to Roll Up Our Sleeves or Limp On? By THOMAS L. FRIEDMAN

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/21/opinion/friedman-are-we-going-to-roll-up-our-sleeves-or-limp-on.html

It becomes clearer every week that our country faces a big choice: We can either have a hard decade or a bad century.

We can either roll up our sleeves and do what’s needed to overcome our post-cold war excesses and adapt to the demands of the 21st century or we can just keep limping into the future.

Given those stark choices, one would hope that our politicians would rise to the challenge by putting forth fair and credible recovery proposals that match the scale of our debt problem and contain the three elements that any serious plan must have: spending cuts, increases in revenues and investments in the sources of our strength. But that, alas, is not what we’re getting, which is why there remains an opening for an independent Third Party candidate in the 2012 campaign.

The Republicans have come nowhere near rising to our three-part challenge because the G.O.P. is no longer a “conservative” party, offering a conservative formula for American renewal. The G.O.P. has been captured by a radical antitax wing, and the party’s leaders are too afraid to challenge it. What would real conservatives be offering now?

[Demeter]

65. Time for me to go roll up sleeves, again

Have a good evening, all!

[Fuddnik]

66. A perfectly logical Obama compromise solution would be.

A) Obama wants to tax the rich more.

B) The Republicans want to tax the poor more.

Who gets taxed? What would President Solomon's compromise solution be?

Hint) If I were the middle class, I wouldn't be dropping any soap in the shower.

[Demeter]

67. WHAT Middle Class?