STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, November 9, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, November 9, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON November 8, 2011

Dow 12,170.18 +101.79 (+0.84%)
Nasdaq 2,727.49 +32.24 (+1.18%)
S&P 500 1,275.92 +14.80 (+1.16%)
10-Yr Bond... 1.99 -0.09 (-4.23%)
30-Year Bond 3.04 -0.10 (-3.09%)

---

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

---

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

---

---

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

Nov 09 07:00 MBA Mortgage Index 11/05 NA NA +0.2%
Nov 09 10:00 Wholesale Inventories Sep 0.9% 0.5% 0.4%
Nov 09 10:30 Crude Inventories 11/05 NA NA 1.826M

http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/2011/11/07-11/

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil hovers below $97 as China inflation eases

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered below $97 a barrel Wednesday in Asia as receding inflation in China added to expectations that the world's second-largest economy can continue robust growth and strong demand for crude.

Benchmark crude for December delivery was down 13 cents at $96.67 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $1.28 to settle at $96.80 in New York on Tuesday.

Brent crude was up 57 cents at $115.57 a barrel on the ICE Futures Exchange in London.

China said Wednesday that consumer prices rose 5.5 percent from a year earlier, down from September's 6.1 percent and a 37-month high of 6.5 percent in July.

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

[Demeter]

63. Gas prices up a quarter from yesterday

fortunately, I did fill up. Didn't get the gas can, though.

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. U.S. Stock Futures Tumble as Italian Bond Yields Surge to Euro-Era Record

U.S. stock futures retreated, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will erase two days of gains, as a jump in Italian bond yields signaled Europe’s debt crisis is worsening.

Adobe Systems Inc. (ADBE) tumbled 11 percent in Europe after the largest maker of graphic-design software cut its earnings target. Yahoo! Inc. gained 0.8 percent as Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. and Softbank Corp. were said to be talking with private- equity funds about making a bid for the company.

S&P 500 futures expiring in December lost 2.2 percent to 1,245.5 at 6:13 a.m. in New York. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 209, or 1.7 percent, to 11,914.

“Italian bonds are within a very, very dangerous zone,” said Alberto Espelosin, head of analysis at investment company Ibercaja Gestion SGIIC SA in Zaragoza, Spain. “Any country paying more than 6.5 percent it just boosts financing costs and makes it hard to reduce deficits. There is high risk aversion and equity markets will reflect this.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/u-s-stock-futures-tumble-as-italian-bond-yields-surge-to-euro-era-record.html

[DCBob]

4. Italy bond market is out of control.. this could get ugly..

rather uglier... its already ugly.

[Po_d Mainiac]

6. Nothing spells reality, like a rise in margin requirements..

Who's next? :nuke:

[xchrom]

9. spain? their unemployment is through the roof. nt

[Po_d Mainiac]

12. True, But if France is the largest counterparty,

and the ECB doesn't go into Ctrl-P mode at warp speed,she may win the race to the bottom.

We may see all asset classes get creamed. Except for real-estate of coarse. Errr w8 a minute, scratch that thought.

[xchrom]

14. hmmm -- it's hard for me to think about france like that -- but you're right.

and their banks don't sound like they are in very good shape.

[Po_d Mainiac]

24. Some numbers 4 ya...Bank of International Settlements

French and German banks have:

€689 billion worth of exposure to Italy

€801 billion of exposure to Spain, Ireland, Greece and Portugal combined.

[xchrom]

38. it's mind boggling that france, germany and the us have

behaved this way -- the world i grew up with had those three as bedrocks -- now they're more like mill stones.

[Demeter]

44. These are the Corporate Clones, not the Countries

The cronies took over, like demonic possession, and now we need to exorcise them, one nation at a time.

[xchrom]

47. very true.

it's just startling how far from the world i grew up in we've come.

[Po_d Mainiac]

50. A house of cards tends to collapse as a singular..YMMV n/t

[Demeter]

62. I Am Very afraid We Willl Find Out Personally

It's more like a bunch of interlocking deals and directorships.

The only way it will fall down is to haul banksters to jail and strip them of wealth and power. Or start issuing them FRSP.

[DemReadingDU]

94. Yep

And the longer this global Ponzi continues, the bigger the boom when it collapses

[Roland99]

33. Ctrl-P mode

heh heh

[Roland99]

8. Worldwide Markets Collapse Following Italian Bond Margin Hike

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/worldwide-markets-collapse-following-italian-bond-margin-hike

[bread_and_roses]

15. "in these neverneverland markets"

from your link:

The much dreaded LCH margin hike came and went and while initially the market thought it was just a joke as nothing bad is ever allowed to happen anymore in these neverneverland markets, a few hours later the realization that this is all too real has finally dawned.

While I don't have the foggiest what the rest of the paragraph means, I did quite like that phrase, along with the pointed "nothing bad is ever allowed to happen." (to the 1% that must be, as quite bad things are not only allowed to happen but demanded of hoi polloi and like me and I presume thee - like working till we drop dead while taking wage cuts and going without health care. "Austerity!" )

K&R

[Tansy_Gold]

17. What you said. Yes. absolutely. n/t

[Po_d Mainiac]

20. What the banksters succeeded in doing

by calling the Greek haicuts 'voluntary' and not defaults, puts all the focus on the original paper.

MFG likely expected counter coverage, and got butt sex instead. Now there should be a rush to the exits (sell) as the last ones holding, are probably gonna loose most if not all their investment.

This is AIG/Lehman redux, but just a wee bit biggerer

[Tansy_Gold]

29. And gonna keep gettin biggerer and biggerer and biggerer. . .

::POP!::

[amandabeech]

113. Undoubtedly, there will be litigation on the decision.

I haven't read the contracts, which are supposed to be ISDA, but for a sharp lawyer, there's always a way to at least starta colorable suit and hope to force a better outcome.

[Roland99]

30. Italian Exposure By Bank

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/italian-exposure-bank

Intesa €60.2 BN
UniCredit €49.1 BN,
Banca Monte €32.5 BN
BNP Paribas €28.0 BN
Dexia €15.8 BN
Banco Popolare €11.8 BN
Commerzbank €11.7 BN
Credit Agricole €10.8 BN
UBI €10.5 BN
HSBC €9.9 BN
Barclays €9.4 BN
SocGen €8.8 BN
Deutsche Bank €7.7 BN

[Roland99]

32. Visualizing Where The Pain Is: Summary Of Biggest Exposures To Italy

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/visualizing-where-pain-summary-biggest-exposures-italy

[Po_d Mainiac]

52. Old data...June 2011

But pretty current by Reuters standards :rofl:

[Demeter]

64. Unlikely that it's improved

except that the banks have been writing off debt as fast as they recapitalize. It's like an endless film loop.

[Po_d Mainiac]

88. see post 24

[girl gone mad]

124. Everything is awesome.

Nothing but green shoots.

[xchrom]

5. morning...

:donut:

[xchrom]

7. south asia: Indian Trade Deficit Widens the Most Since at Least 1994, Pressuring Rupee

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-08/indian-trade-deficit-widens-the-most-since-at-least-1994-pressuring-rupee.html

India’s trade deficit widened the most in October in at least 17 years, adding pressure on the rupee, Asia’s worst performing currency this year.

Merchandise exports rose 10.8 percent to $19.9 billion last month from a year earlier, Commerce Secretary Rahul Khullar told reporters in New Delhi yesterday. Imports gained 21.7 percent to $39.5 billion, causing a trade deficit of $19.6 billion. That’s the biggest shortfall since April 1994, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

India’s trade gap increased as merchandise shipments grew at the slowest pace in two years, dragged down by waning demand for engineering and petroleum products in Europe, Khullar said. The deficit may enlarge as higher oil costs boost the value of imports, said Hemendra Bhatia, chief currency strategist at Ahmedabad, India-based Vadilal Enterprises Ltd.

“The rupee will remain under pressure,” Bhatia said in an interview yesterday. “Exports will weaken because of the global slowdown.”

[xchrom]

10. asia: Slowing China Inflation Gives Scope for Stimulus as Industry Output Cools

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/china-inflation-eases-to-five-month-low-may-enable-looser-monetary-policy.html

China’s inflation slowed by the most in almost three years, giving officials more room to support growth as industrial production and the property market cool and Europe’s crisis threatens exports.

Consumer prices rose 5.5 percent in October from a year earlier, the statistics bureau said on its website today. The 0.6 percentage point decline from September’s rate was the biggest since February 2009. Industrial output growth slowed to 13.2 percent.

Most economists expect Premier Wen Jiabao’s government to loosen fiscal or monetary policy without cutting interest rates as inflation stays above a full-year target of 4 percent, a Bloomberg News survey showed this week. HSBC Holdings Plc said today that “targeted easing” may include measures to support smaller businesses and the construction of public housing and infrastructure.

“The combination of easing inflationary pressures, a protracted euro debt crisis and a potential property market slump has set the scene for an imminent policy easing,” said Liu Li-Gang, a Hong Kong-based economist with Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. “The time is right” for a cut in lenders’ reserve requirements, he said.

[xchrom]

19. Asia stocks mostly up on Italian news, China data

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/asia-markets-climb-with-banks-miners-rising-2011-11-08?dist=markets

SYDNEY (MarketWatch) — Asia markets traded mostly higher on Wednesday, as cooling inflation in China gave some banking and property shares a boost, and investors cheered plans by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi to resign as a step toward resolving crippling debt problems in Europe.

The Hang Seng Index /quotes/zigman/2622475 HK:HSI +1.71% rose 1.7%, the Shanghai Composite /quotes/zigman/1859015 CN:000001 +0.84% advanced 0.8%, and Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average /quotes/zigman/5986735 JP:NIK +1.16% gained 1.2%.

South Korea’s Kospi /quotes/zigman/1652118 KR:0100 +0.23% edged up 0.2%, while Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 index /quotes/zigman/1653884 AU:XJO +1.22% rose 1.2%.

[Po_d Mainiac]

21. 5.5% my ass! n/t

[xchrom]

61. do you think china is fudging on their reports?

cause i do.

[Tansy_Gold]

115. what's that one about the pope being catholic? n/t

[xchrom]

11. AngloGold Profit Jumps 34% on Gold Price

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/anglogold-ashanti-reports-profit-of-457-million-in-quarter-to-september.html

AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. (ANG), the largest African gold producer, posted a 34 percent gain in third-quarter profit and said it will begin paying dividends quarterly.

Earnings excluding one-time items grew to $457 million, or $1.18 a share, from $342 million, or 89 cents, in the prior quarter, the company said in a statement today. Output gained 0.6 percent to 1.092 million ounces. The dividend, previously paid semi-annually, was 11 cents a share for the three months.

AngloGold, based in Johannesburg, slid 1 percent to 376.55 rand by 11 a.m. in the city, and is up 15 percent this year.

Gold averaged $1,704.62 an ounce in the quarter, 13 percent up on the prior three months, and touched a record $1,921.15 on Sept. 6. AngloGold also benefited from a weaker currency in South Africa, where it produces about 40 percent of its metal.

[xchrom]

13. europe: Merkel Advisers See German Growth Slowing

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/merkel-advisers-see-german-growth-slowing.html

European leaders’ decisions last month to combat the debt crisis only bought a “window of time” to fix the euro, Chancellor Angela Merkel’s economic advisers said as they slashed a forecast for 2012 German growth.

Steps to increase the muscle of the European Financial Stability Facility laid out at an Oct. 26 European summit will act as a temporary salve to the crisis, the panel of independent economic advisers wrote in a report published in Berlin today. They forecast growth in Germany next year of 0.9 percent after 3 percent in 2011. The government sees 1 percent growth next year.

“The current package is no sustainable solution for the problems of the euro area,” the panel said in its annual report. “But it opens a window of time for policy makers that they must use decisively to create a political framework for the euro area marked not only by solid state finances but also a stable financial system.”

European officials are working to flesh out the details of plans to scale up the rescue fund’s power as political turmoil in Greece and Italy drives borrowing costs to euro-era records. There’s still no certainty that those measures taken by leaders in Brussels last month will return confidence to markets in the short term, “and certainly not permanently,” the panel said.

[xchrom]

18. Financial Alchemy Foils Capital Rules in Europe

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/financial-alchemy-undercuts-capital-regime-as-european-banks-redefine-risk.html

Banks in Europe are undercutting regulators’ demands that they boost capital by declaring assets they hold less risky today than they were yesterday.

Banco Santander SA (SAN), Spain’s largest lender, and Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA (BBVA), the second-biggest, say they can go halfway to adding 13.6 billion euros ($18.8 billion) of capital by changing how they calculate risk-weightings, the probability of default lenders assign to loans, mortgages and derivatives. The practice, known as “risk-weighted asset optimization,” allows banks to boost capital ratios without cutting lending, selling assets or tapping shareholders.

Regulators in Europe, seeking to stem the region’s sovereign-debt crisis, ordered banks last month to increase core capital to 9 percent of risk-weighted assets by the end of June. Lenders, facing a 106 billion-euro shortfall, are reluctant to plug the gap by cutting dividends or bonuses and are struggling to sell assets or raise cash in rights offerings. Politicians are trying to stop banks from the alternative, cutting back lending, because it could trigger a recession.

[xchrom]

16. Orszag: Winds of Change Blow Away College Degree

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-09/winds-of-economic-change-blow-away-college-degree-peter-orszag.html

Many parents in the U.S. are legitimately concerned about the prospects for their college-age children. After all, today’s students face three overlapping challenges: a long-term structural shift as the world’s effective labor supply expands; rising tuition and growing concerns about the quality of public higher education; and the misfortune of graduating into a weak labor market.

The first challenge arises from rapid shifting of the tectonic plates that underlie the world labor market. Over the past 25 years, the effective global labor supply has at least doubled and by some estimates has quadrupled. This has suppressed wage growth in the developed economies and reduced the share of national income accruing to labor. So far, people without a college degree have primarily borne the consequences. As a result, globalization has widened the inequality between workers at the 90th percentile of wages and those at the 50th percentile.

The effects of globalization are already moving up the wage scale, though, and that trend will likely continue. As Alan Blinder of Princeton University trenchantly noted in 2006, “Many people blithely assume that the critical labor-market distinction is, and will remain, between highly educated (or highly skilled) people and less-educated (or less-skilled) people -- doctors versus call-center operators, for example.” Instead, the crucial distinction is between those tasks that are easily digitized (and thus subject to substantial competition from workers abroad) and those that are not.

[AnneD]

107. Just ask the Harvard Law School grads...

that can't find a job.

[Demeter]

22. America's Crisis -- Has Anyone Got the Slightest Idea What to Do? By Alexander Cockburn

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29629.htm

...The middle class has — at least two-thirds of it — crashed into penury. Americans' store of value and savings — the house — is worthless; social safety nets have eroded; students emerge from higher education crushed by debt. Thirty million Americans are without work or are working part-time. Nearly 6 million manufacturing jobs in the United States have disappeared since 2000, and more than 40,000 factories have closed. African-Americans have endured the greatest loss in collective assets in their history. Hispanics have seen their net worth drop by two-thirds. Millions of whites have been pitchforked into poverty and desperation.

This is the mulch that has created the Occupy Wall Street movement. Its strength lies in the simplicity and truth of its basic message: The few are rich; the many are poor. In terms of its pretensions, the capitalist system has failed.

But for all its simplicity and truth, how much staying power does the OWS message have as presently deployed? In terms of its powers of repression, the system has not failed. To date, the OWS movement has not even confronted the moneyed elite with a threat on the scale of the 1999 protests in Seattle.

Indeed, right now everyone loves OWS. The London Financial Times ran an editorial in favor of it. But in the end, to reform finance capital you have to offend people and institutions, including the Financial Times...
I've no doubt that if, by chance, the left in Greece today evicts the local political agents of the international banks, it won't be long before a NATO intervention, covert and then overt, is under way, using the usual arsenal of assassination, drone attacks and armed support for whatever security forces do not defect to the left...
Having briefly tasted batons and pepper spray, OWS-ers should know that when the capital feels it is being pushed to the wall, it will stop at nothing to crush any serious challenge. The cop puts away his smile. The indulgent mayor imposes a curfew. "Exemplary" sentences are handed down. The prisons fill up. Nationwide, organized resistance can only defeat organized repression. How to mount this, is the OWS-ers' urgent and immediate challenge. In Oakland, on Wednesday, OWS staged a rally calling for a General Strike. That's at least thinking along the right lines.

[Tansy_Gold]

27. One of the DUers ---

nadinbrezinski -- and I probably spelled that wrong -- posted a little quip last night that Ayn Rand had it correct in Atlas Shrugged, in that she knew it takes a strike to overthrow the system. Rand's error, as I've said here a time or two, was that she had the wrong people going on strike.

The difference between the world of Atlas Shrugged and the world of today is that Rand's strikers were people who actually DID things. Galt made his static electricity machine, Rearden made his Metal, Halley composed music, Dagny ran her railroad. What we have today are an entirely different type of "leaders" in the financial world, people who do nothing but steal money. Rand would be hard pressed to people her novel with Tim Geithners and Robert Rubins and Ben Bernanke, because they actually are the antithesis of her "heroes." But they have taken that mantle upon themselves with enormous success.

They will never, of course, go on strike, because if they did, the world would see how superfluous they are to any economy.

Cockburn apparently has no imagination. Tansy Gold does.

If OWS wanted to make a real difference, they would indeed call for a general strike. Not in a week or a month, but far enough in advance that people would have time to prepare for it. Self-imposed austerity with a clearly defined objective is a lot easier to endure than government-imposed austerity with no end in sight.

What's a good date? How 'bout 6 June 2012? It's the anniversary of the D-Day invasions, so a nice historical note. But it has something else -- 6+6=12. Six of one, half a dozen of another -- no matter what, the oligarchs are going to screw the workers if the workers don't take back the economy. Oh, it's not as catchy as remember, remember, but it's seven months in the future and everyone has time to prepare.

If you don't stand for something, you'll fall for anything.

[Demeter]

34. June 6th is bad luck

(I had the misfortune to marry on that date)

[Tansy_Gold]

39. I'm sure lots of people had bad luck on that date

and on just about every other date on the calendar. And just as many had good luck.

You're never gonna come up with a date that pleases EVERYONE.

[Fuddnik]

43. February 30th would please the Banksters!

[Po_d Mainiac]

53. +1000 or the second Tuesday of the fifth week in any month n/t

[Hotler]

51. I agree 100% but,......

not enough people feeling the pain yet to get them into the streets for a general strike. Too many still have the attitude "I have mine. Fuck everybody else." I have one friend that leans left that says "I don't like to use the word fuck. I use I'm sorry for everybody else." I said it still means the same thing and he just looked at with me question marks in his eyes. When the people with jobs start standing up for the people without jobs we will be getting somewhere. It won't happen by June.
I have no hope. I see no future.

[Fuddnik]

84. I've had the AmericanGeneralStrike domain name registered for a while now.

I even have the hosting, but I don't have the knowledge to set up a website.

[Tansy_Gold]

89. Does your host have website templates? n/t

[Demeter]

23. Thoughts from Athens Bruce Krasting

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/thoughts-athens

I talked to someone in the shipping business this morning. He happens to be Greek and has substantial interests in the country. We never did get around to talking about ships. Some of his words on the status quo in Greece:

The situation today is worse than ever. Business has stopped. The world does not appreciate the extent of social deterioration in the country. Soup kitchens are forming to feed people. Many old age homes are desperate. Many are indebted. The have been pleading for donations. Wealthy ship owners have been discussing a private initiative to provide support for those on the edge.


There is no possibility for a unity government. There is less chance for this in Greece then there is in the USA. You think there is a problem between Democrats and Republicans? Here, they hate each other. Papandreou was desperate to get out. He could not see how he could continue to play a confrontational role with the Greek people. He was losing his ability to maintain civil order. He did not want to govern a country that was going to become either a police state, or fall into a state of revolution. An interim government may pass new laws and make promises to the EU and IMF. Most in the government want to stay in the EU and stick with the Euro. It’s in their best interests to do so. That’s what the EU is pushing them day and night to do.

It’s way to late for this type of orderly transition. It will end badly for Greece.

There is a sense of optimism in the markets and the press that a soft landing can be achieved in Europe. That a “solution” is hours away. Only “one more” vote in parliament is required in any of the countries facing trouble. The financial resources needed to address the problem are available. There may be a temporary liquidity issue but solvency is not a question. The social, political and economic consequences of what will come are all manageable.

I thought I would provide this fellow’s thoughts as a contrast to all that hopium.

[bread_and_roses]

26. Ever notice that the talking heads always say "austerity" without talking about what it means?

I only listen to news on NPR - awful as it is, at least the commercials are very short - but I presume it is same for other THs on MSM. If they mention anything, it is lowering the retirement age and pay cuts for a "bloated" public sector - but never anything about the day-to-day lives of people. Never about how the hell a 60 year old laborer is going to break pavement all day, for instance. Or soup-kitchens and food banks for working people (of course, since we've long become innured to the same here in "the greatest country in the world" that's not so surprising).

There has to be a breaking point. Where is it?

[Demeter]

35. Second question--Do we want to get there naturally, or force the issue?

The first ensures the maximum pain. The second, if planned, can protect people while driving the criminals out of power...but is there enough time for planning before the natural endpoint is reached?

The natural endpoint means all options are exhausted, and all resources. That's when the looting by the 99% starts.

[Demeter]

36. Thomas Ferguson: How to Take Back Our Political System From the 1%

http://www.alternet.org/economy/152960/thomas_ferguson%3a_how_to_take_back_our_political_system_from_the_1?page=entire



The following has been adapted from a version of a speech delivered to Occupy Boston by Thomas Ferguson, the father of the "Investment Theory of Politics."

**********************************************************

I’m honored to speak to you today about money and politics, but it’s not the first time I’ve been here. This is actually the third time I’ve visited your encampment. The first couple of times I walked around and looked at the signs. Many were priceless; the best tutorials I’ve ever seen on the subject of money and politics. My favorite was the one that advised that Congressmen and women should emulate NASCAR drivers and show us their sponsors. Another styled contemporary capitalism “socialism for the 1%.” And many sharply attacked the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision, which helped throw open the floodgates to the tidal wave of secret money that is now engulfing American elections.

I’m a social scientist, so I actually counted: about a third of all the signs that day had money and politics as their themes. It was obvious that you here at Occupy Boston and your colleagues in New York, Oakland, Chicago, and other cities have already grasped the heart of the problem of money and politics in America: that we live in a money-driven political system that works pretty well for the 1%, but no one else.

So I begin by thanking you for reminding the rest of us about what really matters: That our problem right now is not “the government.” And the task is not to dismantle the social achievements of the New Deal so that citizens can look on cheering as people who failed to buy medical insurance bleed to death or old folks whose pensions and home values collapsed in the wake of the Lehman bankruptcy lose their homes.

It is to force government to take account of the interests of the 99% of Americans who have been left holding the bag for bank bailouts, bonuses, and corporate welfare as they scramble to find jobs and dig themselves out of debt. The state has to be rescued from the clutches of the 1% and made responsive to the interests of the broad public.

I know that you’re getting all kinds of advice about programs and what to do next. I’d rather not join that parade. I want to make a few remarks about political money, but my first suggestion is that you just take your time. Think through the situation and don’t get excited about heated demands for immediate “programs."

You are powerfully influencing American politics just by directing attention to the 1% and big money’s hold on American politics. It is a message that makes the establishments of both political parties and the mass media tremble, lest it transmit to the rest the citizenry, which is well aware that something is rotten, but not always sure exactly what is causing it.

Disregard claims that most Americans don’t yet have a clear view of you. In the U.S., many attempts to describe public opinion by analyzing polls are really barely disguised attempts to influence it. The lesson I extract from the early polls is that to the extent most of Americans hear about you, they like your movement. They share your rage at the banks and Wall Street and a political system in which both major parties demand more and more austerity.

Only weeks after you surged in the streets, your numbers are much better than the Tea Party’s. I would guess that in part that is because many Americans have favorably noted your culture of non-violence, tolerance, and respect for individual persons. The contrast with the cults of violence growing up elsewhere in the system is obvious and infinitely refreshing.

Now let’s talk for a few minutes about money and politics. Mostly I want to talk about possible remedies, but first a few remarks about the problem itself.

Firstly, the rot is very deep. In short pieces for the Financial Times, the Washington Spectator, and some scholarly work, I’ve focused attention on the way both parties in Congress now “post prices” for committee slots, chair positions, and leadership posts. Congress today is all too reminiscent of Best Buy or Target: You want a committee slot or an important leadership post, you buy it. The result is a kind of arms race in contributions, which just gets worse over time. Most Americans don’t know this. When they learn it, they usually are disgusted.

Secondly, the astronomical sums politicians now collect to run for office define only part of the problem. As Rob Johnson and I documented in a paper, the disparity between regulators’ salaries and what you can make in the private sector has transformed our regulatory institutions (including the White House staff) into employment agencies for the industries – like finance – that they are supposed to regulate. This has nothing to do directly with running for office. It won’t be fixed by fixing campaign spending.

At the deepest level, it underscores the importance of your emphasis on equality. For the corruption of our regulatory institutions really reflects the workings of economic inequality in the government as a whole. At some point – and we’re past it – economic inequality begins to shade into political tyranny. Think tanks and policy institutes dependent on large sums of money may help conceal this, but they not only don’t stop it, they themselves are mostly part of the problem. There is no substitute for a popular movement if you want to keep democracy.

Now about remedies. First, let’s face it. We might as well be back in the Gilded Age. The Supreme Court appears determined to sweep away just about any impediments to big money’s sway in politics. I thus conclude that Dylan Ratigan and others who are campaigning to amend the Constitution to make it clear that the government has the power to regulate money in elections are right. I would not open Pandora’s Box by calling a constitutional convention; I would just try to move such an amendment through the normal process of passage by Congress and ratification by states. I would also be very careful about language. Potential threats to free speech are not fantasies; careless language could encourage tyranny. Any such amendment, I think, needs to make it clear that corporations are not to be regarded as natural persons and are not entitled to protections as though they were. But that’s not enough: we cannot have our political system dominated by a handful of super rich individuals.

Such an amendment also needs to write into stone the option of true public financing of elections. The central contention of my “investment” approach to party competition is that classical theories of democracy greatly underestimate the costs voters face in trying to control the state. Those costs are real; somebody has to pay them. Thus, in the real world, either we all pay a little or the 1% pay the whole bill and control the system.

The idea of a constitutional amendment daunts many people, because they usually take a long time to pass. But the Seventeenth Amendment providing for direct election of U.S. Senators passed remarkably quickly once Americans realized that the old Senate was then the seat of a “Millionaires Club.” I think we are approaching a time when something like that could happen again.

Whatever you think of that, some major measures clearly could be taken that would be easier to put across. There is no question, for example, that Congress has the right to make its own rules. If the Congress decided to ban representatives from accepting money from anyone with an interest in legislation before committees he or she sat on, for example, it could do that. Nobody’s speech would be infringed; only perhaps, our politicians’ lifestyles. Membership on the now ridiculously swollen House Financial Services Committee would plunge, but the improvement would be major.

States also have the right to force Super Pacs in their jurisdiction to disclose their contributors. In addition, the ability of these secret conduits to operate underground derives not just from Supreme Court decisions, but the determination of the Federal Election Commission not to enforce laws on the books. It is time to press for a truly independent FEC that would enforce the law. While of course, continuing to defend public financing from its legions of foes in legislatures and courts.

Obviously money in politics is not the only issue that merits your attention. Let’s not forget, for example, that Congressional Super Committee on the Budget reports very soon. It would be the height of irony if, as Occupy Wall Street develops, what remains of the social safety net from the New Deal disappears at Thanksgiving time. But in its short existence, Occupy Wall Street has highlighted the problems of money and politics in a way no other force in American society has. You have put your finger on the pivotal issue of our time, which is whether democracy in America can survive.

******************************************************************

*This essay is adapted from Ferguson's talk to Occupy Boston on October 24, 2011.


Thomas Ferguson is Professor of Political Science at the University of Massachusetts Boston and the author of 'Golden Rule: The Investment Theory Party Competition and the Logic of Money-Driven Political Systems.'

[AnneD]

126. Austerity...

a euphamism for starvation, watching your elderly family members and young family members die from lack of even the most minimal health care, dirt disease and infection every where, the thin veneer of civilization being stripped away from daily life, the daily stress of just living to the end of the day wearing you down, not knowing if you will have a safe, dry and maybe warm place to sleep at night, and last but not least, the unsinkable sick feeling that things will never ever get back to 'normal'.

[Demeter]

81. Greece fails to agree on coalition

Talks on conditions set by former ECB vice-chief Lucas Papademos had made progress but no agreement had been reached, said one official

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/DW9TYL/EKRAI/30CLBS/NJ17OH/28/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

[Demeter]

25. Tokyo Starts Burning Radioactive Waste from Other Areas

http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/tokyo-starts-burning-radioactive-waste-other-areas-%E2%80%A6-tokyo-governor-tells-residents-%E2%80%9Cshu

I noted in August:

Nuclear expert Arnie Gundersen says in a new interview that the Japanese are burning radioactive materials. The radioactivity originated from Fukushima, but various prefectures are burning radioactive materials in their territories...Gundersen says that this radioactivity ends up not only in neighboring prefectures, but in Hawaii, British Columbia, Oregon, Washington and California.

Now Tokyo is starting to burn radioactive debris from other prefectures.

NHK reports that the first container from Miyako City in Iwate Prefecture arrived by rail in JR Tokyo container terminal in Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo at 7AM on November 3. It was promptly transported to one of the contractors selected by the Metropolitan government, and the debris was sorted, and crushed into smaller pieces. Flammable debris will go to the TEPCO’s subsidiary (Tokyo Rinkai Recycle Power) located on the landfill and be burned after November 6, and non-flammable debris will be simply buried in the same landfill.

Given that Tokyo is directly getting hit by radiation from Fukushima, and that Fukushima is still far from any stable shutdown – and is still apparently undergoing nuclear reactions – burning radioactive debris just adds insult to injury...

Steven Starr – Senior Scientist, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and Director of the Clinical Laboratory Science Program at the University of Missouri-Columbia, who has advised numerous countries on issues of nuclear non-proliferation – wrote a comment to the post agreeing:

Burning radioactive debris will only serve to further randomly spread radiation across Japan, as well as the rest of the world. Not only will this lead to more morbidity and mortality within Japan, but it will further complicate epidemiological studies of the Fukushima disaster. Raising “acceptable” levels of radioactive fallout is a false solution to a serious problem. It is possible for the government authorities to do this because radiation is invisible to us, and at lower doses, the consequences of exposure do not manifest themselves for some time . . . thus it is a poison that is easy to hide and ignore. Sadly, the children of Japan will be those most seriously affected by this man-made environmental catastrophe.

All independent nuclear health experts would agree with Starr. And Japanese children are already suffering tremendously from Fukushima radiation... Fuji TV news also says that 3,000 complaints have been sent to the Tokyo Metropolitan government, over 90% of them protesting against the debris from disaster-affected areas to be transported, processed, crushed and burned and buried in Tokyo Bay.

And today, Ex-SKF reports that the Tokyo governor’s attitude towards his citizens has filtered down to the Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Environment as well:

“It is a fate for children to accept radiation contamination.”

Ms. Iwanaga of Tokyo Metropolitan Bureau of Environment was also bad. She said “Radioactive materials would disperse but it would be safe; there was no problem at all because it had been agreed and approved in the Metropolitan Assembly which represents the residents of Tokyo; there was no system whereby the residents have a direct say in the matter.” To top it off, she hung up on me.

Remember, Japan is a very homogenous society where peer pressure to conform can be intense. For example, last month it was reported that mothers who expressed concern about their kids playing outside in potentially radioactive conditions are called “monster parents” by their peers.

... you have to know that nuclear plants have the most sensitive ongoing testing equipment; indeed, because of the Russian cover-up, the Chernobyl accident was first “discovered” when a nuclear plant in another country detected high high ambient radiation levels.

[Demeter]

28. Rajaratnam ordered to pay $92.8 million in SEC case

http://news.yahoo.com/rajaratnam-ordered-pay-92-8-mln-sec-case-205712720.html

A federal judge ordered Raj Rajaratnam, the Galleon Group hedge fund founder convicted of insider trading, to pay a $92.8 million penalty in a related civil case brought by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The penalty was imposed by U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff in Manhattan.

Rajaratnam was convicted in May of 14 counts of securities fraud and conspiracy in a separate criminal case. Rakoff's colleague, U.S. District Judge Richard Holwell, sentenced Rajaratnam last month to an 11-year prison term.

[Demeter]

31. Onion's weekly Horrorscopes--See Especially Leo, Mr. President!

Aries; A shocking revelation will shake you to the core of your being this week, which is odd, because it's merely the fact that the Doobie Brothers aren't actual brothers.


Taurus: Betrayal, treason, and vile calumny will be the order of things next week, which you must admit, sounds a lot cooler than the light office work you're used to.


Gemini: Although you always thought you'd be forced to mature when you had children, it turns out you fathered a son years ago and nothing's changed.


Cancer: You've always described yourself as someone who hates long goodbyes, but you've been standing on the edge of that bridge for three days now.


Leo: While it's true only God can judge you, you're making it pretty easy for Him to decide you're a jackass.


Virgo: Your deep-seated belief that there is meaning and purpose to the universe will be sorely tested this week, but only by the usual crap that always happens.


Libra: Trying to eat healthier and exercise more is admirable, but only when combined with not running blindly into traffic out of sheer depression.


Scorpio: After pondering what truly separates man from the animals, you're pretty sure that whatever it is should really be between you and the slavering wolverine.


Sagittarius: You'll be reduced to a caricature this week, but at least it's the cool one where you smash through a glass coffee table while coked out of your mind.


Capricorn: You may not be an expert on which snakes are poisonous and which aren't, but damn it, you know a cuddly one when you see it.


Aquarius: Mars rising in your sign this week means it's already November, and you've spent the past four months in an alcoholic haze.


Pisces: You'll learn a valuable lesson about sharing this week, proving the effectiveness of hiring a top-rated sharing instructor.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/your-horoscopes-week-of-november-8-2011,26589/

QUERY: WHAT'S A DOOBIE BROTHER?

[xchrom]

37. aqui...

http://www.doobiebros.com/

[Fuddnik]

41. Think "China Grove"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doobie_Brothers

[Demeter]

46. I scanned youtube, recognized exactly two tunes

Long Train Running and China Grove. Couldn't have identified anything about the group before this. Can't recite lyrics, or anything.

I'm hopeless, just face it. Consider it a pitiful disability.

[AnneD]

112. I have a Doobie Brothers...

greatest hits album I can lend you. I'll be happy to pass that Doobie to you :evilgrin:

Sorry, must be having a flashback....

[zogofzorkon]

71. This is a doobie brother

<>

[Fuddnik]

85. That's a doobie what is a doobie.

I haven't seen one like that since I was in Jamaica in 1976!

You want the spliff, mon?

[Demeter]

40. MF Global Client Theft Estimate Doubled To $1.5 Billion?

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/mf-global-client-theft-estimate-doubled-15-billion

...it seems that the gross criminal activity by the company may have been orders of magnitude bigger than anyone has expected. To wit:

"As a result of the apparent segregation violations and the suspension of clearing privileges, more than 150,000 customer accounts essentially were frozen on October 31, 2011, of which more than 50,000 accounts were regulated commodities customer accounts. The CME estimates that MFGI’s current segregated funds requirement is approximately $5.45 billion. Moreover, the total amount of MFGI customer segregated funds on deposit at the CME is approximately $2.5 billion, and the clearing-level segregated collateral is approximately $1.5 billion or approximately 60 percent of the MFGI customer segregated funds on deposit at the CME."

Doing some quick inverse addition and we get a (w)hole of $5.45 less $2.5 less $1.5 or $1.45 billion.

In other words, the theft by MF Global was not stealing hunderds of millions from its customers: it has stolen a whopping $1.5 billion! For those confused, this is not a rogue loss of $1.5 billion, something which was enough to send UBS' Kweku to prison. This is outright theft resulting from illegally commingled accounts.

Our only question is will $1.5 billion in theft be enough for the first real perp walk of an Obama-friendly Wall Street executive?

[Tansy_Gold]

45. Let me put it this way.

I would not be unhappy if Mr. Corzine reaches a point where he wishes he had died in that 91-mph car wreck. What a wanker.

[Demeter]

48. And yet, there still is no collapse

perhaps when enough of the 1% get their wings clipped by their elite, then we will see revolution...or at least, prosecution.

[Po_d Mainiac]

54. He also knows what closets are full of bones..

Might be worth a couple bags of popcorn to hear what he has to say if/when the 'soap ona rope' thought becomes a for-real event..hmmm.

[Hotler]

56. The Obama administration has no spine. The piping for Keystone...

is being unload here in the US as we write. It is a done deal. The President is just delaying telling us to kinda soften the blow. Obama is bought and paid for just like the rest of them in Washington. Money trumps everything. I have no hope. I see no future.

[Demeter]

74. Steven Rattner: Regulators must share blame in MF Global collapse

MF Global is not the first firm to be done in by bad bets in the casino known as Wall Street, nor will it be the last.

With many questions still unanswered – perhaps most importantly what exactly happened to the $630m of customer money that was required to remain in segregated accounts – attempting to divine the meaning of its collapse may be premature.

But a first rough draft of the meteoric history of the brokerage company offers a few lessons and timely reminders.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/WDI4RR/TU67HZ/9MEOW/MSJYEL/SPGW7V/36/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=8

[Fuddnik]

86. Regulators?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Where?

They said that Corzine wouldn't get his severance package. I think he deserves one.



The old, but not forgotten, French Revolution Severance Package.

And give Paterno one while they're at it.

[Po_d Mainiac]

99. Regulators? Midget porn is their guide to regulations..n/t

[Demeter]

95. A Board Complicit in MF Global’s Bets, and Its Demise

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/11/08/in-mf-globals-downfall-an-argument-for-stronger-boards/?ref=business

The easy explanation for MF Global’s downfall is that it was killed by Jon S. Corzine’s risky trading bets. Yet MF Global was torpedoed not only by Mr. Corzine but by its board. The board at MF Global is highly sophisticated and experienced. It includes two former senior executives from HSBC, the former chief financial officer of the Aon Corporation and a top member of the private equity firm J. C. Flowers & Company. Under this board’s watch, MF Global invested in European sovereign debt using short-term financing. When ratings agencies and investors became spooked by the European debt exposure, the financing dried up and a classic run on the bank soon ensued. Bankruptcy followed.

On paper, these highly qualified directors should have realized that Mr. Corzine and MF Global were taking undue risks. After all, it was short-term financing that brought down Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns. There is even a board member who appears to specialize in this type of financing and risk management: Robert S. Sloan, a managing partner of a company that focuses on in global collateral management and counterparty risk management

This is also not a case of willful blindness. The board appears to have been thoroughly aware of these trades and discussed them. The existence of these trades was also disclosed by MF Global in its public filings, though perhaps not thoroughly. By the available indications, MF Global directors approved these trades.

The question is, why? How could this experienced board have been so foolish, particularly when several directors appear to have expertise on this matter? There is some thought that the MF Global board failed to stop these trades because it was in awe of Mr. Corzine and his Goldman Sachs pedigree. The “Corzine as Wizard of Oz” argument, however, seems too glib given the sophistication of the board. These directors were simply too experienced to be fooled by Mr. Corzine or to be lulled into blind obedience. A better explanation may be that boards are inherently unable to do the job we want of them: to oversee the company and counteract the influence of its chief executive. Directors are part-time members of a corporation. The ability of even the most sophisticated directors to understand the business better than management is unlikely....MORE

IMHO, THESE DIRECTORS HAD NO SKIN IN THE GAME. IT WASN'T THEIR NECK ON THE BLOCK. THEY COULD INSIDER TRADE ALL THEY WANTED, AND COME OUT WHOLE.

THE AUTHOR IS LIVING IN A FANTASY WORLD....HIS PRESCRIPTIONS ARE ESPECIALLY HUMOROUS.

[amandabeech]

120. Sarbanes Oxley was supposed to take care of at least some of this stuff--

you know, knowledgeable people on the financial subcommittee of the B of D.

[Tansy_Gold]

121. .

:rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl::rofl: :rofl:

and then

:sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm::sarcasm:


and then


FUCKERS!!!!

[Demeter]

42. “These are the Times. . .” By John Perkins

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article29616.htm

My job as an economic hit man during the 1970s was to enslave nations that had resources our corporations coveted by burdening them with debts they could never repay. We then demanded that they sell those resources cheap, without social or environmental regulations, to our corporations. It was an incredibly successful strategy. In essence it created the world’s first truly global empire and the first one that was not built primarily through military occupations. It also transformed geo-politics. The power of elected officials was usurped by those who sit at the top of the multinational corporations (the ‘corporatocracy’). This success led to the realization that similar strategies could be applied in the United States in order to emasculate a population that was exerting its democratic rights in ways that threatened the corporatocracy – forcing an end to the highly profitable Vietnam War, demanding racial and gender equality, increasing social security, Medicare, education, and other services.

By 1980, the Reagan administration understood that its most effective weapon to protect corporations against labor movements was debt. Borrowers were deceived into believing that they were paying low interest rates when in fact balloon payments, adjustable rate mortgages, and other technically complex packages resulted in higher overall rates that made it increasingly difficult to break the shackles of debt...This story continued. Regulations that protected our rights were demolished. New wars erupted. Family businesses were wiped out by the unfair practices of huge chains. The media was commandeered by a handful of giant conglomerates. Unemployment, poverty and foreclosures escalated. The upward trend line of a growing and prospering middle class plummeted.

We the people fell into a trance of lethargy.

Until now!

We have finally realized that we are serfs of a system that reflects the feudal Middle Ages. Modern-day lords of the castle, the corporatocracy had convinced us – we who live outside the walls and supply all the food and conveniences for them – that if we didn’t pay our “debts” and service their every desire we would be raped and pillaged by soldiers from neighboring castles. But we are no longer buying their lies. Across this planet, we have marched into the courtyards of those castles with the message that we are no longer blind. We will not be hoodwinked by their false promises or by their fear tactics. The Occupy movement spans seven continents. Participation expands at seemingly exponential rates, online as well as at the front lines. It is the largest mass protest since those against the Vietnam War – and may well turn into the largest in human history.

Those at Wall St. and in the financial and political system who operate above the law without remorse or penalty and have believed for a long time that workers saddled with debt will not strike, quit, or demand justice, are hearing our message. There are those among us who express skepticism. They say nothing will come of this. They are wrong. The Occupy movement has already changed the world and we must continue forward. With the recent arrests and uptake of policing these events, we must pay attention that our democracy and free speech is at threat. The corporatoctacy are striking back. They are writing new laws forbidding us to assemble in places like Wall Street. They are attempting to censor the Internet (as they did in Egypt). They will come up with schemes we can’t even imagine. Each time they do this we must utilize their energy to inspire and empower us further. Coming from a place where we know we are right, we will employ the aikido of love, compassion, and cooperation to keep expanding our energy, our resolve, and our creative responses.

At a time during the American Revolution, when things looked very dire, Tom Paine wrote:

"These are the times that try men's souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. . .A generous parent should say, "If there must be trouble, let it be in my day, that my child may have peace." . . . 'Tis the business of little minds to shrink; but he whose heart is firm, and whose conscience approves his conduct, will pursue his principles unto death. . . By perseverance and fortitude we have the prospect of a glorious issue."

This is another of those times. Our souls are being tried. This is our opportunity to stand firm, to show our perseverance and fortitude. This is a time our children and grandchildren will sing about. Their ballads will praise us for bringing them the world we all deserve..

*********************************************************************

As Chief Economist at a major international consulting firm, John Perkins advised the World Bank, United Nations, IMF, U.S. Treasury Department, Fortune 500 corporations, and countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He worked directly with heads of state and CEOs of major companies. His books are published in over 30 languages. John's Confessions of an Economic Hit Man (70 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list) is a startling exposé of international corruption.

[Roland99]

49. 6 min in...straight down!

Dow 11,938 -232 -1.91%
Nasdaq 2,667 -60 -2.22%
S&P 500 1,249 -27 -2.14%
GlobalDow 1,842 -35 -1.86%
Gold 1,792 -7 -0.39%
Oil 95.38 -1.42 -1.47%
Euro /$1US 1.3599 -0.0235
$1US / Yen 77.6900 -0.0300
Pound / $1US 1.5940 -0.0153
Dollar Index 77.63 0.97
10yr T-note 1.98 -0.11
2yr T-note 0.23 -0.0

[Hotler]

55. Just a blip. When it heads south of -500 give me shout.

I love you guys. Thank you for SMW.

[Roland99]

58. getting closer. -314. S&P at 1,240.

Dow 11,856 -314 -2.58%
Nasdaq 2,648 -80 -2.93%
S&P 500 1,240 -36 -2.83%
GlobalDow 1,828 -49 -2.60%
Gold 1,787 -13 -0.70%
Oil 94.82 -1.99 -2.06%

[Roland99]

59. Joe Paterno announces his retirement. DJIA up nearly 100 from the lows

no other reason I can see for that sharp rise!

[bread_and_roses]

60. yep - looks like PPT going into action now (n/t)

[Roland99]

73. G-Pap has officiallly resigned in Greece. Guess that's behind the spike up.

not up on any kind of earnings news...just more Hopium.

[Demeter]

101. Be Careful What You Wish For, Hotler

you may get it.

And as for the rest, united we stand on this thread. It tends to make Management uneasy, but we aren't here to do emotional therapy for Management. We are a suport group for those cursed with two eyes and a functional orbital frontal cortex.

[Hotler]

125. Sorry. I should have kept the -500 to myself.

The only thing I wish for is peace and prosperity for EVERYONE.

[Demeter]

122. Guess you'll have to settle for almost 400

[kickysnana]

57. Lots of good stuff here today guys, thanks. n/t

[Demeter]

65. Italy's Silvio Berlusconi agrees to resign

http://www.latimes.com/news/la-mobile-berlusconi,0,5322267.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fnews+%28L.A.+Times+-+Top+News%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

After losing support among a majority of lawmakers on a crucial vote Tuesday, Silvio Berlusconi agreed to step down as Italy's prime minister when Parliament passes economic reforms demanded by European leaders who are trying to contain the region's debt crisis.

The announcement came in a statement from Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, who met with Berlusconi following the budget vote in the Parliament's lower chamber earlier in the day. The measure passed the lower house with 308 votes, but 321 lawmakers abstained.

The vote on the reform package had been expected to be held next week, but the timing was left unclear by Tuesday's developments.

Berlusconi's failure to carry the full majority was the latest sign that support for him has waned among his coalition...

[Demeter]

66. Want Berlusconi out? Be careful what you wish for

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/want-berlusconi-out-be-careful-what-you-wish-for-2011-11-08?siteid=YAHOOB

The media was aflutter Monday with the idea that Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was on the verge of resigning. The tone of the reporting made it sound like, if such an event were come to pass, all of Europe’s problems would instantaneously disappear...Now I can appreciate the personal dislike for Berlusconi; after all, a man in his 70s and in his position of authority has no business partying with girls a third his age. But in the enthusiasm of seeing a rather egocentric and controversial leader flounder, the consequences of the fall of his government are being sometimes ignored and more often distorted.

If Berlusconi resigns, the consensus seems to be that a “technical government” (ECONOMIC HITMEN?--DEMETER) can step in, implement the reforms required by the European Union and reverse the growing credit crunch affecting Italian bonds.

This is, in my humble opinion, complete and utter nonsense.

After 10 years out of office, the opposition bloc will do its darn best to regain power through snap elections. And if the center-left were to win, their agenda would consist of the only thing they have known since 1945: increasing taxes on the rich and redistributing the money for their own benefit. There is nothing further from the mind-set of Berlusconi’s opponents than the concept of fiscal restraint. But even assuming a “technical government” is installed for a few months, it could cause even more damage than a center-left regime. Just ask any Italian who had a bank account — any bank account — on July 11, 1992, and who woke up to find that 0.6% of its balance had been seized overnight by executive order. The stunt came courtesy of then-Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, a leader of the Socialist party under whom many of the current slate of left-of-center politicians were trained and indoctrinated. And before anybody begins to doubt that such a fiscal maneuver won’t happen again, only Italians who believe in unicorns are dismissing the talk that this time the levy will amount to 2% of account balances above €100,000...there is a very real financial horror story embedded in the policies proposed by the current opposition bloc. Just as it happened in the early to mid-’70s, tax increases, drive-by account raids and most of all the feelings of vengeance accumulated by the left over their time spent in political irrelevance, are likely to scare capital en masse out of Italian financial institutions just at a time when these banks are least capable of withstanding a run on their deposits...

[Demeter]

70. Mohamed El-Erian: Only the ECB can save Italy now

Here we go again. Europe’s debt crisis has entered a new, more dangerous phase with the yield on Italian 10-year bonds crossing the seven per cent level on Wednesday morning. This is a eurozone-era record that, if sustained, would severely destabilise the debt situation of the world’s third largest bond issuer and one of the original six founders of the modern European project.

Those who lived through the horrid days of the various emerging market debt crises will quickly recognise the four distinct factors that have come together in the last few days to form a highly destabilising cocktail.
And they may well agree on what needs to be done to stop a bad situation getting worse.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/08Z9VV/WH2F8/AM4M3Z/30M3LT/OS/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

WHAT NONSENSE! ECB CAN'T "SAVE" ANYONE EXCEPT BANKSTERS...AND WHEN THE * HITS THE *, NOT EVEN THAT.

[Demeter]

72. Alexander Friedman - Time for Draghi to fire the sliver bullet

The European Central Bank, now led by Mario Draghi, must accept its role as the lender of last resort in Europe. The ECB could stop the panic engulfing Italian and Spanish government bond markets, and it is the only institution in the world with this power.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/XHVIBP/GYN7Q/ZG6GKT/TU8YQN/B7/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

THAT DRY, EUROPEAN SENSE OF HUMOR...HOW I MISS IT!

[Demeter]

67. Greek precedent exposes banks, says Ackermann

The precedent set by the restructuring of Greek sovereign debt risks leaving banks more exposed to future financial crises of other countries, according to the man who helped to orchestrate the so-called “private sector involvement” in the rescue plan for Athens

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/U1O4P3/9MEOW/KQ9KY8/2O7R00/XL/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=8


Greek precedent exposes banks, says Ackermann

IIF chief says bondholders that volunteer for a 50% reduction in the value of Greek debt could set a precedent for other sovereign haircuts

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/YB2YWA/T10SH/IIEWKZ/DWQGRR/W1/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

[Demeter]

68. MPs demand ‘radical overhaul’ of Bank

A Treasury select committee report has called for a powerful supervisory board within the Bank to review policy and oversee actions on interest rates and regulation. It also seeks greater parliamentary control over the appointment and dismissal of the Bank governor

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/QM42II/EXSPDC/GYN7Q/086LTT/KQ30J4/FW/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=7

WHAT HAS ENGLAND GOT THAT WE DON'T?

[Demeter]

69. Repsol announces big shale find in Argentina

The large discovery in the Loma La Lata area of the Vaca Muerta onshore shale oil and gas formation boosts the Spanish group’s recoverable reserves by nearly 1bn barrels of oil equivalent, or about 50 per cent

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/2SRI11/L9UBI8/JQU4J/16OTHL/QNH7FA/XL/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=7

I'D SAY CHAVEZ' INVESTMENT IS ABOUT TO PAY OFF...IF HE CAN SURVIVE US ATTEMPTS TO TOPPLE HIM.

[Demeter]

75. LEST WE FORGET...DILBERT

[Demeter]

76. Lloyds adds to UK banking gloom

With underlying profit down 25 per cent, bank admits it might struggle to hit some of the goals laid out in June if the economy does not improve
Read more >>

http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/YB2YWA/T10SH/IIEWKZ/NJ17BH/W1/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

[Demeter]

77. Credit Suisse to hand over US clients’ names

Credit Suisse informs American clients with offshore private banking accounts that their names are to be revealed to US authorities

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/YB2YWA/T10SH/IIEWKZ/C4EBJE/W1/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

[Demeter]

78. Fannie Mae asks for $7.8bn as losses widen

US mortgage financier’s quarterly loss swelled to $5.1bn following soured derivatives bets, nearly quadrupling last year’s third-quarter shortfall

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/YB2YWA/T10SH/IIEWKZ/VLOY2B/W1/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

[Demeter]

83. Fannie Mae Seeks $7.8 Billion in Aid After Reporting Loss

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-08/chinese-solar-equipment-companies-say-u-s-duties-would-threaten-industry.html

...The government-sponsored enterprise had a net loss of $5.1 billion for the three-month period that ended Sept. 30, driven by defaults on loans made before 2009 and derivative losses linked to a decline in interest rates, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing today.

“Fannie Mae is working to reduce losses on our legacy book and limit taxpayer exposure,” Susan McFarland, the company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, said in a statement.

Washington-based Fannie Mae and smaller rival Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, have survived on Treasury aid since they were seized by the federal government in September 2008 amid subprime mortgage losses that pushed them toward insolvency.

The $7.8 billion aid request reported by Fannie Mae today includes $2.5 billion that will be repaid to Treasury in the form of dividends on the U.S. stake. The borrowing brings the company’s total draw to $112.6 billion, of which $17.2 million in dividends has been returned to the government...

[amandabeech]

119. Soured derivative debts?

When are these people going to get out of the gambling business, and just go back to bundling fully-vetted home loans?

What are they doing? Trying to get back all the $$$$ that they lost for us by going back to Vegas?

[Demeter]

123. Yes

Next question?

They are gambling addicts. They need the intervention of a Higher Power.

One that they haven't bought off yet.

[Roland99]

79. Very Sobering Charts

This is No Cyclical Recession… It is a Secular DE-pression
http://www.zerohedge.com/contributed/no-cyclical-recession%E2%80%A6-it-secular-de-pression

Median Duration of Unemployment
http://www.zerohedge.com.nyud.net:8090/sites/default/files/images/user20289/imageroot/2011/10/Zh%2011-9-11_0.gif

Labor Force Participation Rate
http://www.zerohedge.com.nyud.net:8090/sites/default/files/images/user20289/imageroot/2011/10/CIVPART_Max_630_378.png

[Demeter]

80. Yahoo, AOL and Microsoft in ad alliance

Trio to sell each other’s excess advertising inventory in US in an attempt to stem the erosion in pricing that has hit the online display business with the rise of Google and Facebook.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/YB2YWA/T10SH/IIEWKZ/MSUZHP/W1/t?a1=2011&a2=11&a3=9

THAT DOESN'T SOUND LEGAL, LET ALONE POSSIBLE...

[Demeter]

82. Ohio voters overwhelmingly reject Issue 2, dealing a blow to Gov. John Kasich

http://www.cleveland.com/politics/index.ssf/2011/11/ohio_voters_overwhelmingly_rej.html

Ohio voters dealt a sharp rebuke to first-year Gov. John Kasich and his conservative agenda Tuesday by overwhelmingly rejecting the restrictive new collective bargaining law he championed.

"It's clear the people have spoken," the humbled Republican leader said from the Statehouse. "I heard their voices. I understand their decision. And frankly, I respect what the people have to say in an effort like this. And as a result of that, it requires me to take a deep breath and to spend some time to reflect on what happened here."

The state's labor union leaders, meanwhile, praised voters for standing up to Kasich, who they felt bullied them in his rush to create the law, known as Senate Bill 5.

"We want to thank the voters of Ohio who used their citizen's veto to send a message that this extreme legislation was simply out of touch with the majority of Ohioans," said Ohio Civil Service Employees Association President Christopher Mabe. "Most Ohioans believe that government runs best when front-line workers have a seat at the table. Tonight, they gave us our seat back."

[Fuddnik]

87. Canada delivering Keystone XL pipes to US.

You think this ain't a done deal?

Lookie here.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2011/11/08/pol-keystone-pipeline-sections.html

[Demeter]

90. Deals Can Be Undone

and that will be the fashionable thing, I predict. Only, it won't be deals for the 99% any longer....

[Demeter]

91. How a Financial Pro Lost His House By CARL RICHARDS

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/09/business/how-a-financial-pro-lost-his-house.html?_r=1&ref=business

READS LIKE A RECOVERING ALCOHOLIC'S STORY....TOO DEPRESSING FOR WORDS

[Roland99]

92. Lunchtime buzz wore off...markets down almost to daily lows.

[DemReadingDU]

93. Reminder: First Nationwide Emergency Alert System Test At 2:00 PM Eastern

11/9/11 Reminder: First Nationwide Emergency Alert System Test At 2:00 PM Eastern

FEMA, in coordination with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), will conduct the first nationwide Emergency Alert System (EAS) Test on November 9, at 2:00 p.m. Eastern.

FEMA, the FCC, and NOAA’s vision for improving the EAS is incremental, which means testing the readiness and effectiveness of the EAS as it currently exists today is the first step. A more effective and functional EAS requires continual testing to identify necessary improvements so that all levels of the system can better serve our communities and deliver critical information that will save lives and property.

more...
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/reminder-first-nationwide-emergency-alert-system-test-200-pm-eastern

[Fuddnik]

96. Will Big Brother appear on the screen?

I keep picturing Donald Rumsfeld rallying the country with his known-unknown-knowns speech.

[DemReadingDU]

97. lol

I just hope everything works after the test
:P

[Demeter]

102. Darn, I missed it

[DemReadingDU]

105. only lasted 30 seconds

and TV came back on
nothing to worry about

[AnneD]

117. I can just see HS...

shutting down the system if the protests get out of hand. I can see way down the road on this one. Mubarak just wishes he had this kind of control.

[Roland99]

98. 1:58pm - Markets plunging new daily lows

Dow 11,819 -351 -2.89%
Nasdaq 2,640 -88 -3.22%
S&P 500 1,236 -40 -3.13%
GlobalDow 1,828 -48 -2.58%
Gold 1,789 -11 -0.60%
Oil 96.96 +0.11 +0.11%

[DemReadingDU]

100. maybe it is the nationwide EAS test

:eyes:

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

103. Boo-ya!

[Roland99]

104. I think we need the bloodbath one today!

DJIA down almost 400.

[DemReadingDU]

106. there is still time for the 3:45 rally

:crazy:

[Roland99]

108. bit of a bounce now but we shall see how this day pans out.

[Demeter]

111. The PPT has been pumping for all it's worth

I expect when they knock off at 2:30-3:30, there will be a REALLY big plunge.

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

109. A new bloodbath:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_UpMo2B1nbmg/SelJANYjBlI/AAAAAAAAB9s/yOMZoZAL9iQ/s320/Lego+Red-3.jpg

[Roland99]

114. Is that at the new Legoland?? That's only about 45min. away. I should check it out

:)


Headed for the exits (even oil):


Dow 11,762 -408 -3.35%
Nasdaq 2,625 -103 -3.77%
S&P 500 1,230 -46 -3.63%
GlobalDow 1,823 -53 -2.85%
Gold 1,782 -17 -0.95%
Oil 95.71 -1.09 -1.13%

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

116. Indeed it is.

[AnneD]

127. When did Janet Leigh get out of the shower ?????

and who colorized the film??????

[DemReadingDU]

110. Reminder Of Marketwide Circuit Breakers

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/reminder-marketwide-circuit-breakers




How come we don't have circuit breakers when the markets rally to the moon

:crazy:

[Tansy_Gold]

118. I love the juxtaposition

You wrote --

How come we don't have circuit breakers when the markets rally to the moon



Your sig line is --

Many people are still living in Cloud Cuckoo Land.