STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 11 May 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 11 May 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 10 May 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 10 May 2012
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Dow Jones 12,855.04 +19.98 (0.16%)
S&P 500 1,357.99 +3.41 (0.25%)
[font color=red]Nasdaq 2,933.64 -1.07 (-0.04%)


[font color=green]10 Year 1.83% -0.03 (-1.61%)
30 Year 3.04% -0.03 (-0.98%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison



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[font size=3][font color=red]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.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Demeter]

1. That cartoon: Just too precious.

Can we focus on the fact that Ahab got his Moby Dick this week?

JPMorgan Discloses $2 Billion in Trading Losses

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/10/jpmorgan-discloses-significant-losses-in-trading-group/

JPMorgan Chase disclosed on Thursday that a trading group had suffered “significant” losses in a portfolio of credit investments, with the chief executive, Jamie Dimon, estimating losses at $2 billion in a conference call.

“These were egregious mistakes,” Mr. Dimon said on the call. “They were self-inflicted and this is not how we want to run a business.”

The troubles at the unit, the so-called Chief Investment Office, which makes trades to balance the bank’s assets and liabilities, are expected to weigh on the bank’s broader earnings.

For example, the corporate group, which includes the Chief Investment Office, is now expected to lose $800 million in the second quarter, the company said in a filing. Previously, JPMorgan had estimated that the group would report net income of roughly $200 million....

AND THERE'S MORE, SO MUCH MORE...

J.P. Morgan drops 7% in heavy after-hours volume

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/nordstrom-express-scripts-results-due-after-hours-2012-05-10?siteid=YAHOOB

J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. shares fell 7% Thursday evening after the company said it had a “significant” credit portfolio loss...Investors shoved shares of J.P. Morgan JPM -6.73% lower by 6.9% to $37.95 in heavy volume that nearly topped Nasdaq’s list of late-session volume leaders. The selloff was spurred by the bank’s regulatory filing in which it said it had “significant” mark-to-market losses in its synthetic credit portfolio. The synthetic credit portfolio had proved to be riskier and more volatile than expected, said J.P. Morgan. Losses have been partially offset from sales in the chief investment office’s available-for-sale securities portfolio, it added...

I SPECULATE THAT THE COMMODITIES CRASH AND THE CURRENCY CRASH HAVE MORE TO DO WITH JPMORGAN THAN GREECE, SPAIN, FRANCE AND THE EURO....


JPMorgan reveals unexpected losses

JPMorgan Chase announced surprise “significant mark-to-market losses” on credit derivatives in its chief investment office, an opaque unit whose aggressive trades have recently drawn controversy.

The bank said in a regulatory filing that the portfolio at the CIO had “proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than the firm previously believed”.
On a hastily convened conference call, Jamie Dimon blamed “errors, sloppiness and bad judgment”.

Separately, JPMorgan said it was on the hook for as much as $4.2bn in excess of reserves for various legal proceedings.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/YBQZPT/GYN7Q/HYUUMS/U1YK8L/UP/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=10

[jtuck004]

13. +1 Great. n/t

[Hugin]

18. Gee, I wonder if this is related to the collapse of the crude speculation bubble?

P.S. The 'toon is good.

[Hotler]

36. Jamie! Jamie! Jamie! Jamie! Jamie! Jamie!

That man deserves a fucking raise.
Gotta run, just dropped in to add my praise for Mr. Dimon. Have a good day my friends.
Hot.

[AnneD]

66. Wonderful toon....

great lead off story-can't wait to dig into the rest. Instead of a raise, I was listening to some crazy talk about him being nominated as Sec of State. Yeah, I had all the same reactions.

I think JPM losses are cosmetic, just so he looks like a good candidate

Hot, thanks for dropping in.

[Demeter]

2. Probe may delay Facebook Instagram deal

A competition probe into Facebook’s $1bn acquisition of photo-sharing service Instagram threatens to postpone the closure of the deal beyond the second quarter, the target set by the company in its initial public offering documents.

The Federal Trade Commission has launched the investigation, according to two people familiar with the matter, and has already begun collecting information from at least one of the social network’s largest competitors.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/H60H77/97LE99/JQU4J/II1TR2/4C3F2Z/AZ/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=10

[Demeter]

3. Hands to put £20m into Terra Firma

Guy Hands, the financier, is ploughing £20m of his own money into his underperforming private equity fund in an unusual move to retain his best dealmakers as revenues fall

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/KQ2178/87I64/U12Z8S/MS7A3L/SN/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=10

THEREBY BREAKING THE RULE ABOUT ONLY USING "OTHER PEOPLE'S MONEY"

[Demeter]

4. Spain offered time to curb deficit

I THOUGHT THE PLAY WAS OVER...GUESS THERE'S ONE MORE ACT TO GO

Spain will be offered more time to hit the budget deficit targets it agreed with the EU but only if Madrid meets new conditions, including an independent audit of the restructuring plan for its troubled banks

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/FG6LAA/U1DC4N/204L2/GDP1S2/WTEYG9/HK/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=10

[Ghost Dog]

9. Spain.

... A well ordered Kingdom ought so much the more avoid such artifices, for these only are the things which corrupt the King and all the Ministers in a Tyranny. And do not, on the other side, tell me of some present Kingdom, for I will not admit them to be all well ordered Kingdoms; for Kingdoms that are well ordered do not give absolute (power to) Rule to their Kings, except in the armies, for only there is a quick decision necessary, and, therefore, he who (rules) there must have this unique power: in other matters, he cannot do anything without counsel, and those who counsel him have to fear those whom he may have near him who, in times of peace, desire war because they are unable to live without it. But I want to dwell a little longer on this subject, and look for a Kingdom totally good, but similar to those that exist today, where those who take up the profession of war for themselves still ought to be feared by the King, for the sinews of armies without any doubt are the infantry. So that if a King does not organize himself in such a way that his infantry in time of peace are content to return to their homes and live from the practice of their own professions, it must happen of necessity that he will be ruined; for there is not to be found a more dangerous infantry than that which is composed of those who make the waging of war their profession; for you are forced to make war always, or pay them always, or to risk the danger that they take away the Kingdom from you. To make war always is not possible: (and) one cannot pay always; and, hence, that danger is run of losing the State. My Romans ((as I have said)), as long as they were wise and good, never permitted that their citizens should take up this practice as their profession, notwithstanding that they were able to raise them at all times, for they made war at all times: but in order to avoid the harm which this continuous practice of theirs could do to them, since the times did not change, they changed the men, and kept turning men over in their legions so that every fifteen years they always completely re-manned them: and thus they desired men in the flower of their age, which is from eighteen to thirty five years, during which time their legs, their hands, and their eyes, worked together, nor did they expect that their strength should decrease in them, or that malice should grow in them, as they did in corrupt times...

http://www.constitution.org/mac/artofwar_.htm

[Ghost Dog]

12. France.

...Indeed, for our team, François Hollande’s victory will start a series of strategic upheavals which will greatly affect Europe and will significantly accelerate the geopolitical changes in progress on a world level since the beginning of the global crisis in 2008. Therein, the results and consequences of the French presidential election (5) have much more importance than those of the next American presidential election in November 2012... And François Hollande’s election, who has clear ideas on Europe and France’s role in Europe and has clearly stated his intention to actively explore partnership possibilities with the new emerging powers (BRICS), will establish a major break with the absence of vision and European strategy of Nicolas Sarkozy’s five years’ presidency, mainly marked by an unprecedented allegiance in the country’s recent history to the dominant US power (6) and its unconditional integration in a Washington/Tel Aviv axis on the major geopolitical problems’ fundamentals (7). France had disappeared in the world these last five years (8); it’s on the point of making a sensational return (9), even beyond the future president’s personality (10).

The impact of François Hollande’s election on global geopolitical transition (2012-2015)
In global terms, LEAP/E2020 makes a point of underlining two outstanding trends which will characterize the first two years of the new French government:

. France’s assertion of a European-Gaullist policy (or Mitterand- Gaullist), i.e., making independent European foreign policy a strategic priority.

. the exploration of conceivable relationships with the BRICS at top speed, in particular in a context of a future Euro-BRICS partnership.

François Hollande has remained very discreet as regards foreign policy because, first, it’s not at the centre of French concerns in this election; and because, second, one doesn’t announce material changes in this field in advance.

There are a plethora of arguments for such changes and their implementation isn’t likely to create difficulties in public opinion which, generally, felt betrayed by the Americanist allegiance of the Sarkozy period, in effect there is no reason to hurry. As he announced on the question of France’s reintegration in NATO’s joint military organization (11), it will be based on an objective evaluation of the advantages and disadvantages of this decision.

The result is known in advance since the outgoing president didn’t negotiate anything (and thus got nothing) in exchange for France’s return. There will thus be a two-speed action: a counterparty requirement in terms of key military positions for France within NATO and the installation, by 2015 at the latest, of a pillar of European defence outside, but connected to, NATO. France will be able to count on the support of the majority of the continental European countries, definitively convinced by the Libyan and Afghan adventures of the need for radical changes within the Atlantic Alliance. With the help of an increased budget on the part of Europeans for assuming responsibility for the costs of their own defence; the United States, facing drastic reductions in their military budget, will accept it like it or not. And only the United Kingdom will be opposed to this development before joining in, since it doesn’t have the financial, military and diplomatic resources for its policies any more.

In global terms, following Germany which is already well committed to the process of diplomatic co-operation with the BRICS, France will adopt a more strategic approach, with a European (Eurolander) common reasoning, which will aim at drawing up common points for Euro-BRICS action (12) at international organization level (IMF reforms (13), UN Security Council …) and especially a fundamental reform of the international monetary system (the issue of replacing the US Dollar as the system’s pillar). The G20 Moscow summit in the first half of 2013 will mark the first achievement of this development.

While stimulating only these two changes (and one can suppose that there will be more of them), the new French government, with an exemplary European approach, will have thus decisively contributed to the development of world post-crisis governance.

/... http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-64-is-available-Global-systemic-crisis-France-2012-2014-The-big-republican-earthquake-and-its-international_a10097.html

[Po_d Mainiac]

14. History is against the Maginot Line

http://www.maginotlinetours.co.uk/index.html

[Ghost Dog]

16. Pardon, monsieur?

In what sense has what line yet to (temporarily, even) fall?

Approved by the National Assembly of France, August 26, 1789

The representatives of the French people, organized as a National Assembly, believing that the ignorance, neglect, or contempt of the rights of man are the sole cause of public calamities and of the corruption of governments, have determined to set forth in a solemn declaration the natural, unalienable, and sacred rights of man, in order that this declaration, being constantly before all the members of the Social body, shall remind them continually of their rights and duties; in order that the acts of the legislative power, as well as those of the executive power, may be compared at any moment with the objects and purposes of all political institutions and may thus be more respected, and, lastly, in order that the grievances of the citizens, based hereafter upon simple and incontestable principles, shall tend to the maintenance of the constitution and redound to the happiness of all. Therefore the National Assembly recognizes and proclaims, in the presence and under the auspices of the Supreme Being, the following rights of man and of the citizen:
Articles:

1. Men are born and remain free and equal in rights. Social distinctions may be founded only upon the general good.

2. The aim of all political association is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, security, and resistance to oppression.

3. The principle of all sovereignty resides essentially in the nation. No body nor individual may exercise any authority which does not proceed directly from the nation.

4. Liberty consists in the freedom to do everything which injures no one else; hence the exercise of the natural rights of each man has no limits except those which assure to the other members of the society the enjoyment of the same rights. These limits can only be determined by law.

5. Law can only prohibit such actions as are hurtful to society. Nothing may be prevented which is not forbidden by law, and no one may be forced to do anything not provided for by law.

6. Law is the expression of the general will. Every citizen has a right to participate personally, or through his representative, in its foundation. It must be the same for all, whether it protects or punishes. All citizens, being equal in the eyes of the law, are equally eligible to all dignities and to all public positions and occupations, according to their abilities, and without distinction except that of their virtues and talents.

7. No person shall be accused, arrested, or imprisoned except in the cases and according to the forms prescribed by law. Any one soliciting, transmitting, executing, or causing to be executed, any arbitrary order, shall be punished. But any citizen summoned or arrested in virtue of the law shall submit without delay, as resistance constitutes an offense.

8. The law shall provide for such punishments only as are strictly and obviously necessary, and no one shall suffer punishment except it be legally inflicted in virtue of a law passed and promulgated before the commission of the offense.

9. As all persons are held innocent until they shall have been declared guilty, if arrest shall be deemed indispensable, all harshness not essential to the securing of the prisoner's person shall be severely repressed by law.

10. No one shall be disquieted on account of his opinions, including his religious views, provided their manifestation does not disturb the public order established by law.

11. The free communication of ideas and opinions is one of the most precious of the rights of man. Every citizen may, accordingly, speak, write, and print with freedom, but shall be responsible for such abuses of this freedom as shall be defined by law.

12. The security of the rights of man and of the citizen requires public military forces. These forces are, therefore, established for the good of all and not for the personal advantage of those to whom they shall be intrusted.

13. A common contribution is essential for the maintenance of the public forces and for the cost of administration. This should be equitably distributed among all the citizens in proportion to their means.

14. All the citizens have a right to decide, either personally or by their representatives, as to the necessity of the public contribution; to grant this freely; to know to what uses it is put; and to fix the proportion, the mode of assessment and of collection and the duration of the taxes.

15. Society has the right to require of every public agent an account of his administration.

16. A society in which the observance of the law is not assured, nor the separation of powers defined, has no constitution at all.

17. Since property is an inviolable and sacred right, no one shall be deprived thereof except where public necessity, legally determined, shall clearly demand it, and then only on condition that the owner shall have been previously and equitably indemnified.

/... http://avalon.law.yale.edu/18th_century/rightsof.asp

[Po_d Mainiac]

65. The Bundesbank will try the Northern route n/t

[Ghost Dog]

94. Alone, without UK?

No way.

[AnneD]

73. How interesting......

I had a dream that I was in France last night. I was having lunch at a cafe. I witnessed a policeman give a ticket to this guy for basically jaywalking. As the crowd gathered, I talked with what turned out to be the owner of the wonderful bistro. He gave me my lunch for free (I think he enjoyed my humorus attempts at the language-I was mangeling it badly). Now anyone that knows anything about French city life will know that is preposterous on it's face. What was really wierd, I was dreaming IN FRENCH-something I have not done since high school. In fact, I really haven't spoken any French with any seriousness since high school.

Wonder why I have France on the brain....

[Ghost Dog]

96. Do you recall my comment,

in your context, AnneD, amor, about 'old european tribalism' ?

You're gonna be surprised. I hope, not too bADLY.

[AnneD]

97. PM me....

Maybe this might have triggered my dreams. Many time, it is the trigger of my dreams and not the dream itself that is most interesting.

Really, to dream in French?????? In this part of the world I can see Spanish, but French???????

[westerebus]

57. Wishful thinking by the GEAB.

The French will do what the French always do. Why? Because they are French.

If Hollande is a Gaulist (as in Generale de'Gaul ) I'd be surprised. I might venture the possibility the Algerians, Libyans, Sudanese, Afghans, and assorted others might be too.

[Demeter]

5. MARK FIORE'S ASSAULTING AUSTERITY

http://www.markfiore.com/political-cartoons/watch-europe-austerity-elections-debt-budget-cuts-republicans-obama-animated-video-mark-fiore-political+

[just1voice]

98. Great cartoon, it shows how truly cartoonish the whole "austerity" BS is

I like people like Fiore who can easily say what's wrong, especially when the criminals responsible for it are always trying to make it complicated.

[Demeter]

6. I'VE GOT SEVERAL OF THESE IN THE CONDO...

[Tansy_Gold]

7. ha ha ha ha ha

I think we all have a few of these, condo or not!

[Ghost Dog]

11. Ding

Fucking Ding.

[Demeter]

8. YVES SMITH'S CONCLUSION ON GAY MARRIAGE FLIP

...This election, “boring“?! Au contraire Some heart-felt reactions to Robama affirming gay rites “for me personally”: Like my happy nieces and nephews, “My heart is turning such cartwheels.” But then there’s the hagiography: “Barack Obama becomes the Abraham Lincoln of gay rights.” Emancipation Proclamation, 1863? That Lincoln? But the winner of the faint praise contest would be Stoller (via FaceBorg): “Important to be honest about why this good thing happened. A very bad man was forced to do a good thing.” (On “forced”: We noted two days ago gay donors were withholding campaign contributions. Maybe that was it.)

It’s good that Robama, “personally” — even if not in his capacity as President — affirmed that gays are fully human. Atrios: “Looks like the man did the right thing, and not in an absurd babysplitting way”. But Robama did exactly that — split the baby, absurdly — by leaving policy up to the states. Most of the reporting carefully notes that, even if the clips of Robama don’t. (How’s that “leave it to the states” thing working out for women?) The Onion: “Obama went so far as to call the president’s position “incoherent,” and questioned how Obama could adamantly support the legalization of same-sex marriage on a state level but not a federal one.” Gawker: “Before Roe v. Wade, abortion was a state-by-state issue, too. So was slavery.” (Lincoln, eh?) So if indeed TPM is right — “Evolution complete: Obama endorses same-sex marriage” — that’s not so good. Robama’s statement should be the beginning of the end, and not the end. The fundraising, of course, has already begun.

“Mr. Obama’s announcement on Wednesday that he now supported same-sex marriage should assure him a warm reception at the Clooney residence”. “Last fall, we counted at least 12 prominent gay and lesbian rights advocates who together had bundled at least $2.7 million for the Obama campaign”. “The Influence Industry: Same-sex marriage issue shows importance of gay fundraisers”. Of course, money is speech. So that’s alright, then.

On the timing, it is too bad that Obama “evolved” twenty four hours after the NC vote, instead of days or weeks before. The Log Cabin Society is right about that (and also right to point out that Dick Cheney’s “moral leadership” just as moral as Obama’s, down to the family values gloss). The New Yorker: “Opponents of Amendment 1 could have used some reinforcements.” The normally acute Charles Pierce writes: “He saw a clear injustice — the North Carolina vote — and he decided that his conscience would brook no more delay.” Let the injustice happen, instead of preventing it? I didn’t fall off the turnip truck. Either.

[Demeter]

10. TO ADD INSULT TO INJURY, IT'S EUCHRE NIGHT!

So I will be AWOL for a bit Friday night, BUT DON'T DESPAIR. The Weekend Will Be There! Eventually.

[Po_d Mainiac]

15. Jamie fucks a mongrul (sorry Blythe)

After the bell JPM announced that it is taking a $2 Billion loss in its London derivatives book. The news drove down US bank stocks and the SP futures dropped a quick 12 points

A Treasury official, speaking off the record, noted, "We may be dancing on the edge of a crevasse, but we're still better than Europe. Neener neener.".

http://blogs.barrons.com/stockstowatchtoday/2012/05/10/jp-morgan-reveals-large-loss-shares-hammered/?mod=google_news_blog


Banker Rampant On a Field of Broken Dreams
“The enormous loss was just the latest evidence that what banks call ‘hedges’ are often risky bets.”
Senator Carl Levin

[girl gone mad]

17. Trouble in Paradise?

You don't say.

JPM Crashing After It Convenes Emergency Call To Advise Of "Significant Mark-To-Market" Losses In Bruno Iksil/CIO Group

Out of nowehere, JPM announced 40 minutes ago that it would hold an unscheduled 5pm call to coincide with the release of its 10-Q. Rumors were swirling as to why. The reason is as follows:

JPMORGAN SAYS CIO UNIT HAS SIGNIFICANT MARK-TO-MARKET LOSSES - "Fortress balance sheet" at least until Bruno Iskil gets done with it.
JPMORGAN SAYS LOSSES ARE IN SYNTHETIC CREDIT PORTFOLIO - but, but, net is NEVER, EVER Gross.
JPM WOULD NEED $971M ADDED COLLATERAL IF RATINGS CUT ONE-NOTCH
JPM WOULD NEED $1.7B ADDED COLLATERAL IF RATINGS CUT 2 NOTCHES - how about three notches?
JPMORGAN: MAY HOLD SOME SYNTHETIC CREDIT POSITIONS LONG TERM - "Level 3 CDS FTW"
"As of March 31, 2012, the value of CIO's total AFS securities portfolio exceeded its cost by approximately $8 billion"

As a reminder, the CIO unit is where Bruno Iksil was making $200 billion-sized bets. Basically JPM has suffered massive losses at its CIO group most likely due to its IG/HY positions held by Iksil.

In Corporate, within the Corporate/Private Equity segment, net income (excluding Private Equity results and litigation expense) for the second quarter is currently estimated to be a loss of approximately $800 million. (Prior guidance for Corporate quarterly net income (excluding Private Equity results, litigation expense and nonrecurring significant items) was approximately $200 million.) Actual second quarter results could be substantially different from the current estimate and will depend on market levels and portfolio actions related to investments held by the Chief Investment Office (CIO), as well as other activities in Corporate during the remainder of the quarter.



Since March 31, 2012, CIO has had significant mark-to-market losses in its synthetic credit portfolio, and this portfolio has proven to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than the Firm previously believed. The losses in CIO's synthetic credit portfolio have been partially offset by realized gains from sales, predominantly of credit-related positions, in CIO's AFS securities portfolio. As of March 31, 2012, the value of CIO's total AFS securities portfolio exceeded its cost by approximately $8 billion. Since then, this portfolio (inclusive of the realized gains in the second quarter to date) has appreciated in value.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/jpm-crashing-after-it-convenes-emergency-call-advise-significant-mark-market-losses

[Tansy_Gold]

19. I'm shocked. n/t

[Po_d Mainiac]

54. And the regulators

(or lack thereof) can explain this how?

- JPMorgan Chase & Co became the first bank on Tuesday to say regulators have completed stress tests of its balance sheet and approved a dividend increase and stock buybacks.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/03/13/us-jpmorgan-dividend-idUSBRE82C16B20120313

[westerebus]

61. Hence the " Fortress " remains in tact.

The FED's really needs to hired better liars or new script writers.

[Po_d Mainiac]

64. wunner if they kept the napkins

they did the calculations on

[westerebus]

68. Back of a hundred dollar bill.

Linen is linen. Wash. Rinse. Repeat.

Dinner tab on company card.

Bar tab in cash.

Company policy post Columbia rule changes.

[Ghost Dog]

95. Uh. Yup.

... News agency

A news agency is an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to news organizations: newspapers, magazines, and radio and television broadcasters. Such an agency may also be referred to as a wire service, newswire, or news service.

History

The oldest news agency is Agence France-Presse (AFP).[1] It was founded in 1835 by a Parisian translator and advertising agent, Charles-Louis Havas as Agence Havas. Two of his employees, Paul Julius Reuter and Bernhard Wolff, later set up rival news agencies in London and Berlin respectively. In 1853, in Turin, Guglielmo Stefani founded the Agenzia Stefani, that became the most important agency in the Kingdom of Italy, and took international relevance with Manlio Morgagni.

In order to reduce overhead and develop the lucrative advertising side of the business, Havas's sons, who had succeeded him in 1852, signed agreements with Reuter and Wolff, giving each news agency an exclusive reporting zone in different parts of Europe.[2]

Commercial services

News agencies can be corporations that sell news (e.g. Press Association, Thomson Reuters and United Press International). Other agencies work cooperatively with large media companies, generating their news centrally and sharing local news stories the major news agencies may chose to pick up and redistribute (i.e. AP, Agence France-Presse (AFP) or American Press Agency (APA)). Commercial newswire services charge businesses to distribute their news (e.g. Business Wire, the Hugin Group, GlobeNewswire, Marketwire, PR Newswire, CisionWire, and ABN Newswire). Governments may also control news agencies: China (Xinhua), Canada(citation needed), Russia (ITAR-TASS) and other countries also have government-funded news agencies which also use information from other agencies as well.[3]

The major news agencies generally prepare hard news stories and feature articles that can be used by other news organizations with little or no modification, and then sell them to other news organizations. They provide these articles in bulk electronically through wire services (originally they used telegraphy; today they frequently use the Internet). Corporations, individuals, analysts, and intelligence agencies may also subscribe.


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

[Fuddnik]

20. Asia looking ugly tonight

At about 12:30

Ni4kkei down 41 pts.
Hang Seng down 238 pts.

[Demeter]

21. Truly, I Was Expecting JPMorgan Was Going to Swallow another Victim

I guess it's a replay of Mr. Creosote, instead.

[Demeter]

23. Coal, Foreclosures and Bank of America’s ‘Extraordinary Event’ By Amy Goodman

http://www.nationofchange.org/coal-foreclosures-and-bank-america-s-extraordinary-event-1336663163

Bank of America is currently the second-largest bank in the U.S. (after JPMorgan Chase), claiming more than $2 trillion in assets...North Carolina, which went for Barack Obama in 2008, is a swing state in this year’s presidential election. Current polls indicate the Tar Heel State is a tossup. To boost its chances there, the Democratic Party has chosen Charlotte to host this summer’s Democratic National Convention. In preparation, the Charlotte City Council passed an amendment to the city code allowing the city manager to declare so-called extraordinary events. The ordinance is clearly structured to grant police extra powers to detain, search and arrest people who are within the arbitrarily defined “extraordinary event” zone. The ordinance reads, in part, “It shall be unlawful for any person ... to willfully or intentionally possess, carry, control, or have immediate access to any of the following” and then lists a page of items, including scarves, backpacks, duffel bags, satchels and coolers.

Many activists expressed outrage at the bank’s role in the subprime mortgage industry and the foreclosure crisis it helped spawn. As part of a federal settlement over widespread mortgage fraud, Bank of America agreed to hand over $11.8 billion. Just two days before the protest, the bank announced it was contacting the first 5,000 of 200,000 mortgage customers who are eligible for a loan modification, with a potential decrease in their mortgage principal of up to 30 percent....Last week, activists with the Rainforest Action Network climbed 100 feet to suspend a banner on Charlotte’s Bank of America Stadium, where President Obama is scheduled to make his nomination acceptance speech on Sept. 6. The banner read “Bank of America” with the word “America” crossed out and replaced with “Coal.” RAN is part of a broad coalition fighting the destructive practice of mountaintop removal. RAN Executive Director Rebecca Tarbotton told me: “Bank of America is the lead financier of mountaintop-removal mining, which is a practice of mining which is really the worst of the worst mining that we see anywhere, essentially blowing the tops off of mountains in Appalachia, destroying people’s homes, polluting their water supplies. And that’s even before it gets into the coal plants, where it’s burnt and creates air pollution in inner-city areas and all around our country ... [it’s] the canary in the coal mine for our reliance on fossil fuels.”

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

Obama responds to pressure. Look at the issue of marriage equality. In 1996, while campaigning for state senator in Illinois, Obama wrote he supported same-sex marriage. While campaigning in 2008, then-U.S. Sen. Obama stated, “I believe that marriage is the union between a man and a woman.” This week, he told ABC News, “It is important for me to affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married.”

Given the political climate, it certainly is brave for Obama to endorse marriage equality, especially just hours after the voters of North Carolina voted in favor of a state constitutional amendment that bans same-sex marriage. But he was once a community organizer, and no doubt recalls the words of Frederick Douglass: “Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did, and it never will.” The LGBT community was organized and vocal, and the president’s position moved.

[Demeter]

24. Avoiding the Next Big Bailout

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304543904577394362191974098.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

FDIC Would Seize Parent, Allow Units to Operate While Mess Is Cleaned Up

When the next crisis brings a major financial firm to its knees, U.S. regulators will seize the parent company but allow its units around the globe to keep operating while the mess is cleaned up, according to a planned announcement Thursday from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

The equity stakeholders of the large bank or other financial firm will be wiped out, and bondholders will face losses as their holdings are swapped for equity in a new entity, as a part of the FDIC's plan.

Nearly four years after the massive government bailouts of the financial crisis, regulators are looking to chip away at the tacit understanding that the government will step in to save top financial institutions seen as vital to the economy or banking system.

As part of that effort, acting FDIC Chairman Martin Gruenberg will outline the agency's strategy in a speech in Chicago Thursday, his first public remarks on the dismantlement plans for banks. In recent weeks, FDIC officials discussed the plans with The Wall Street Journal. If several federal agencies and the Treasury Department agree to seize a firm, the FDIC will unwind the parent bank holding company of the faltering firm, placing it in receivership and revoking its charter. The firm's subsidiaries around the world would continue to operate, supported with liquidity the FDIC-held parent company can borrow from the government under the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul. Next, the FDIC would transfer most of the firm's assets and some of its liabilities into what's known as a "bridge company," according to FDIC officials. There, regulators would oversee a debt-for-equity swap akin to what occurs under a Chapter 11 restructuring: Equity holders would be wiped out, but creditors would get equity in exchange for the claims they held. The company eventually would emerge from the process as a new, recapitalized private entity...

AND GUESS WHO IS GOING TO BE THE FIRST BENEFICIARY? I'D PLACE MY BET ON JPMORGAN....

[Demeter]

25. Of Bedrooms and Boardrooms ROBERT B. REICH

POWERFUL CAMPAIGN SPEECH...TOO BAD THE ADMINISTRATION CHOOSES TO IGNORE ROBERT REICH...READ THE WHOLE THING!

http://robertreich.org/post/22746789908

...The Republican bedroom crowd doesn’t want to talk about the nation’s boardrooms because that’s where most of their campaign money comes from. And their candidate for president has made a fortune playing board rooms like checkers. Yet America’s real problems have nothing to do with what we do in our bedrooms and everything to do with what top executives do in their boardrooms and executive suites.

We’re not in trouble because gays want to marry or women want to have some control over when they have babies. We’re in trouble because CEOs are collecting exorbitant pay while slicing the pay of average workers, because the titans of Wall Street demand short-term results over long-term jobs, and because of a boardroom culture that tolerates financial conflicts of interest, insider trading, and the outright bribery of public officials through unlimited campaign “donations.” Our crisis has nothing to do with private morality. It’s a crisis of public morality – of abuses of public trust that undermine the integrity of our economy and democracy and have led millions of Americans to conclude the game is rigged.

What’s truly immoral is not what adults choose to do with other consenting adults. It’s what those with great power have chosen to do to the rest of us. It is immoral that top executives are richly rewarded no matter how badly they screw up while most Americans are screwed no matter how hard they work.

MORE..THIS IS A SPEECH THAT SHOULD LIVE WITH THE GREATEST--CHURCHILL, FDR, ETC....

[Demeter]

26. Europe on Opening, Dives into Red Sea

Extend and pretend is over....

[Demeter]

27. How a Radical Greek Rescue Plan Fell Short

WELL, FIRST OF ALL, IT WASN'T ANYTHING LIKE A PLAN TO RESCUE GREECE OR THE GREEK PEOPLE, OR EVEN THE GREEK BANKS.

IT WAS A BAILOUT OF GERMAN BANKSTERS AND THEIR AMERICAN COUSINS.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304203604577393964198652568.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories

Two years after Europe bailed Greece out to protect the euro, the rescue has become a debacle that threatens to unravel the common currency.

After Greece's May 6 elections left pro-bailout parties too weakened to govern the country, more elections are likely in June, with no guarantee a stable government will emerge. By next month, Athens must identify €11.5 billion, or $15 billion, in fresh spending cuts or face suspension of the international loans it needs to pay pensions and run schools. If it doesn't get the money, it would eventually have to print its own...

...Mr. Papandreou says that when he asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for gentler conditions in 2010, she replied that the aid program had to hurt. "We want to make sure nobody else will want this," Ms. Merkel told him....

AH, YES, GERMAN MERCY IS NOT STRAINED...IT IS NOT EVEN USED...

[Ghost Dog]

34. ...

... Thursday a story appeared in Der Spiegel: “Breaking a German Taboo, Bundesbank Prepared to Accept Higher Inflation.” The ECB is already losing its “Bundesbank DNA” since being taken over by Mario Draghi. Now it looks like the Bundesbank itself is losing its singlemindedness when it comes to inflation.

This is a game-changer, obviously, when it comes to inflation in Europe (German inflation carries about a 25% weight in the calculation of euro inflation) but also when it comes to inflation globally. I noted yesterday that Euro M2 accelerated to a 3.1% pace in the year ended March, and that that was the highest pace since September of 2009. I can’t imagine these two things – an acceptance by Germany of potentially higher inflation, and faster Euro-area money supply growth – are unrelated.

This may or may not be an error. If Germany is acceding to higher inflation because she believes that faster inflation will be a result of faster Euro-area growth, it’s an error since inflation derives from money growth, not real growth. But if Germany is allowing inflation to rise in Germany relative to the rest of the Eurozone, as a way to ‘rebalance’ her economy relative to the Eurozone, then it’s not a bad idea...

/... http://seekingalpha.com/article/580401-market-wisdom-a-time-to-refrain-from-embracing

[xchrom]

28. well, i've managed to survive til friday

[Fuddnik]

40. I'm trying to hang on until Monday.

This is my last week-end in my 50's. The end of an era. I turn 60 on Monday.

Buy lots of distillery stocks this week-end.

[xchrom]

43. you're the best dude -- happy birthday! i'll hoist one in your honor

[InkAddict]

67. and, in the shadow of the Fed, a new era begins...Caesar's opens a new casino...

on your B-day, no less.

http://www.clevelandfed.org/For_the_Public/Tours/About_the_Cleveland_Fed/Photo_Tour/Photo_Tour.cfm

http://www.caesars.com/casinos/horseshoe-cleveland/casino-misc/grand-opening-detail.html

http://videos.cleveland.com/plain-dealer/2012/05/a_look_inside_the_horseshoe_ca.html

[Fuddnik]

72. I'll probably give them a visit in October.

I'm going up to Cleveland for a week for a wedding.

They're putting it in the old Higbee's building, where they filmed the Santa and shopping scenes, and Public Square, in "A Christmas Story".

I always seemed to have good luck at Caesars in Las Vegas.

[Tansy_Gold]

52. I just wanted to let you know

how much I love your morning pictures!

They're always different, always evocative, sometimes funny, sometimes hilarious, sometimes sentimental. Just like mornings!

[xchrom]

56. well, that was very nice. thank you! nt

[xchrom]

29. Socialists give Bankia takeover guarded support

http://elpais.com/elpais/2012/05/10/inenglish/1336675007_251622.html

The opposition Socialists gave cautionary support Thursday to the nationalization of troubled lender Bankia, which was taken over by the government late Wednesday. Alfredo Pérez Rubalcaba, the Socialist leader, issued a warning to Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, telling him “to act responsibly” to avoid the bank’s “collapse.”

“The Socialists support the government entering into Bankia but the state will have to pull out at some point. And we need guarantees that there are no losses for the government, and that all the money injected will be recovered, hopefully with profits,” Rubalcaba said.

Meanwhile, Popular Party (PP) officials were blaming the Bank of Spain — specifically its governor Miguel Ángel Fernández Ordóñez — for pressuring Caja Madrid to merge with Bancaja as part of the multi-lender fusion in June 2010 that formed Bankia.

Vicente Martínez Pujalte, the PP spokesman of the economic commission in Congress, said Bank of Spain “obliged” Rodrigo Rato, the former president of Bankia, who resigned on Monday, to merge with Bancaja after showing him financial information “that probably wasn’t correct” and without any plan “to protect assets,” news agency Efe reported.

[xchrom]

30. $202 Million Deal Deutsche Bank Settles Lawsuit with the US

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/deutsche-bank-reaches-settlement-with-us-justice-department-a-832642.html

With just a couple of weeks to go before the era of CEO Josef Ackermann comes to an end at Deutsche Bank, Germany's largest financial institution is cleaning house. On Thursday, the bank reached a $202 million (€156 million) agreement with the US Department of Justice to settle charges that Deutsche had engaged in fraud.

The deal puts an end to a civil lawsuit alleging that Deutsche Bank subsidiary MortgageIT breached federal housing regulations from 2007 to 2009. The subsidiary made hefty profits during that period, partially due to the resale of risky mortgages. The Thursday deal included an admission by Deutsche Bank that it was in a position to know about the regulation violations.
Deutsche Bank expressed relief on Thursday that the lawsuit has now been resolved. "This marks a significant step in resolving our mortgage-related exposures," the bank said in a statement.

'Biggest Mistake'

The government lawsuit argued that bad mortgages made by MortgageIT cost the Department of Housing and Urban Development some $386 million to cover insurance claims made by the Federal Housing Administration. The costs stem from some 1,400 housing loans made by MortgageIT that have defaulted. More may be on the way.

[xchrom]

31. JPMorgan Loses $2 Billion as ‘Mistakes’ Trounce Hedges

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-11/jpmorgan-loses-2-billion-as-mistakes-trounce-hedges.html

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon said the firm suffered a $2 billion trading loss after an “egregious” failure in a unit managing risks, jeopardizing Wall Street banks’ efforts to loosen a federal ban on bets with their own money.

The firm’s chief investment office, run by Ina Drew, 55, took flawed positions on synthetic credit securities that remain volatile and may cost an additional $1 billion this quarter or next, Dimon told analysts yesterday. Losses mounted as JPMorgan tried to mitigate transactions designed to hedge credit exposure.

“There were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment,” Dimon said as the company’s stock fell in extended trading. “These were grievous mistakes, they were self-inflicted.”

The chief investment office was thrust into the debate over U.S. efforts to ban proprietary trading when Bloomberg News reported last month that the unit had taken bets so big that JPMorgan, the largest and most profitable U.S. bank, probably couldn’t unwind them without losing money or roiling financial markets. Dimon, 56, had transformed the unit in recent years to make bigger and riskier speculative trades with the bank’s money, five former employees said.

[Roland99]

48. I think this will sum up all of our thoughts quite nicely >>>

[xchrom]

51. ...

[xchrom]

32. Japan Pledges Liquidity in Case of Global Emergency Arising

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-11/boj-pledges-readiness-to-provide-foreign-currency-in-emergencies.html

Japan’s central bank pledged to deploy its foreign-exchange assets as part of any international emergency response to turmoil in financial markets.

“Time may be necessary before international organizations and other relevant institutions are able to take necessary measures,” the Bank of Japan said in a statement in Tokyo today. The bank “would be prepared to provide foreign currency until international support is provided,” it said.

The bank revised its guidelines for reserve management to take account of “recent changes in international financial and capital market conditions.” In 2008, the BOJ participated in Federal Reserve swap lines designed to address a surge in demand for dollars in the aftermath Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s collapse. Today, investors are monitoring for any signs of a Greek exit from the euro region that would roil markets anew.

“Whatever their intentions, today’s decision is likely to promote a risk-off mode among investors especially when there seems to be no real improvement in Greece,” said Masaaki Kanno, chief Japan economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) in Tokyo and a former chief foreign-exchange dealer at the BOJ.

[xchrom]

33. A New Greek Election Looks Guaranteed, And Greek Stocks Are Getting Destroyed

http://www.businessinsider.com/the-latest-headlines-suggest-a-new-greek-election-is-a-done-deal-and-the-athens-market-is-getting-crushed-2012-5



Just to recap what's going on:

Last Sunday in the Greek election, the two main parties saw their support collapse, with seats going to a wide variety of parties, many of whom are opposed to the bailouts and even Eurozone membership.

Since that day, the parties have desperately tried to form a coalition government, but they have been unable to cobble together a combination.

A failure to form a government would mean brand new elections next month.

It looks like that's going to happen.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-latest-headlines-suggest-a-new-greek-election-is-a-done-deal-and-the-athens-market-is-getting-crushed-2012-5#ixzz1uYfIyKcB

[xchrom]

35. This China Chart Is Making Everyone Scream 'Hard Landing' Today

http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-industrial-production-2012-5

The big news out of China: A major miss on industrial production growth.

From Nomura:

Industrial production (IP) growth dropped sharply to 9.3% y-o-y in April from 11.9% in March (Consensus 12.2%, Nomura 12.1%, Figure 1). This slowdown was not due to a base effect. According to the National Bureau of Statistics, on a month-on-month seasonally adjusted basis, IP grew by only 0.35% in April (annualized growth rate of 4.2%). Output data across industries appears to be sending mixed signals, as steel and automobile production both picked up in April while electricity, cement, and oil production fell.




Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-industrial-production-2012-5#ixzz1uYfq97lL

[xchrom]

37. Jamie Dimon falls to earth

http://www.salon.com/2012/05/10/jamie_dimon_falls_to_earth/



It was a quiet Thursday afternoon, and then Twitter exploded with the frenzy of a zillion financial pundits snarking all at once.

At 4:30 p.m. J.P. Morgan CEO Jamie Dimon convened an impromptu conference call in which he admitted that a spectacularly bad bet by a London-based trader had resulted in at least $2 billion of trading losses over the last six weeks. And the numbers could get even worse, Dimon warned, depending on how the market behaved in upcoming days. Another $1 billion in losses could happen.

A big bet gone wrong is hardly unusual on Wall Street. It’s the nature of the beast, the kind of thing one expects from over-testosteroned speculators surfing the waves of their own monster egos. It happens all the time.

But not to J.P. Morgan. And not to Jamie Dimon. Until now J.P. Morgan was renowned for the excellence of its risk management strategies. It was one of the few big banks to come out of the financial crisis stronger than before the meltdown. While other banks collapsed or sought shotgun mergers, J.P. Morgan was the killer whale gobbling up the weakened predators around it. Dimon even complained mightily about being forced to take a government bailout. His bank didn’t need it, he said, and he returned the money as fast as he possibly could.

[Fuddnik]

38. Give that man a bonus!!!!!

He's probably feeling really rotten right now. Thinks nobody loves him, anymore. Depression is setting in.

Give him about a $12-$15 million bonus, and he can come back in on Monday, feeling appreciated and fresh and lose another $2 billion. Hey, who cares? The shareholders and taxpayers will pick up the tab.

[xchrom]

39. him coming out and lectering everybody about how they shouldn't

regulate too much and all that blow hard bullshit he's pulled.

i agree -- give him a 'bonus'.

[Fuddnik]

41. A nice FRSP would be appropriate

[xchrom]

42. ...

indeed.

[DemReadingDU]

44. and the stock market will rally!

[xchrom]

45. and other miracles!

[InkAddict]

70. Maybe he's planning a visit to Timmy's Cleveland office

on Monday evening...I hear there's a big surprise party for Fuddnik, LOL, planned.

http://www.caesars.com/casinos/horseshoe-cleveland/casino-misc/grand-opening-detail.html

http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2012/05/a_look_inside_the_horseshoe_ca.html

OOPS...sorry...this place.

http://www.clevelandfed.org/For_the_Public/Tours/About_the_Cleveland_Fed/Photo_Tour/photo_tour.cfm

[xchrom]

71. Brilliant! boy -- wouldn't i love to see that

[DemReadingDU]

74. Party in Cleveland? I'm in!

[Fuddnik]

75. I guess I'll miss it.

I'm in Tampa.

[Roland99]

53. He'll feel better once Obama offers him the job at Treasury should he win in November

[Demeter]

58. Now, you've put me off breakfast entirely

Want to try for lunch? I could lose a few pounds....

Jeez, I really don't want to think about a second-term Obama Cabinet...will he go with the losers he knows, or losers as yet unknown?

[Roland99]

60. hasn't been much in the way of turnover in this admin, from what I've seen

I'd expect *some* should Obama win in Nov but it won't really change anything, though, will it?

[westerebus]

92. Second term compensation for the loyal band of appointees.

Offers are being lawyered up, just in case staff want to spend more family time post election. And so it goes.

[xchrom]

46. Banks prepare for the return of the drachma

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/11/uk-banks-drachma-idUKBRE84A0D920120511

(Reuters) - Banks are quietly readying themselves to start trading a new Greek currency. Some banks never erased the drachma from their systems after Greece adopted the euro more than a decade ago and would be ready at the flick of a switch if its debt problems forced it to bring back national banknotes and coins.

From the end of the Soviet Union - which spawned currencies such as the Estonian Kroon and the Kazakh Tenge - to the introduction of the euro, they have had plenty of practice in preparing their systems to cope with change.

Planning behind the scenes has been underway since Europe's debt crisis erupted in Greece in 2009, said U.S.-based Hartmut Grossman of ICS Risk Advisors who works with Wall Street banks.

"A lot of the firms, particularly in Europe and also here, have been looking at that for a long time," said Grossman, who added that the latest Greek political crisis had brought matters "to a little bit of a head".

[Ghost Dog]

101. I'm trying to advise folks around here to not go back to 'pesetas' ('pesos'). Rather: Maravedis:

...The maravedí (Spanish pronunciation: [maɾaβeˈði]) was the name of various Iberian coins of gold and then silver between the 11th and 14th centuries and the name of different Iberian accounting units between the 11th and 19th centuries.

Etymology

The word maravedí comes from marabet or marabotin, a variety of the gold dinar struck in Spain by, and named after, the Moorish Almoravids (Arabic المرابطون al-Murābitũn, sing. مرابط Murābit). The Spanish word maravedí is unusual in having three documented plural forms: maravedís, maravedíes and maravedises. The first one is the most straightforward, the second is a variant plural formation found commonly in words ending with a stressed -í, whereas the third is the most unusual and the least recommended (Real Academia Española's Diccionario panhispánico de dudas labels it "vulgar in appearance&quot .

History


The gold dinar was first struck in Spain under Abd-ar-Rahman III, Emir of Córdoba (912-961). During the 11th century, the dinar became known as the morabit or morabotin throughout Europe. In the 12th century, it was copied by the Christian rulers Ferdinand II of León (1157–1188) and Alphonso VIII of Castile (1158–1214). Alfonso's gold marabotin or maravedí retained inscriptions in Arabic but had the letters ALF at the bottom. Ferdinand's gold maravedí weighed about 3.8 g.

In Castile, the maravedí de oro soon became the accounting unit for gold, alongside the sueldo (from solidus) for silver and the dinero (from dinar) for billon (vellón in Spanish).

/... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_maraved%C3%AD

Spanish Devils...

[xchrom]

102. Lol! Note to Spain - I hear Japan is selling their gold.

Honest to god - what are any of these countries going to do?

And I can't believe this shit won't be contagious.

[Ghost Dog]

103. Yeah. It's catching...

Catching on, huh.

After all - what's a true measure of real value?

A little history helps, I reckon.

[xchrom]

104. I find all of this very scary - they've all manufactured

These very complicated 'economics' - the financial houses ran wild w/ their algorithms - stuff we used to call 'off the books' - legitimized the whole thing - & now we are all apparently? Stuck w/ it?

[Roland99]

47. US Futures "chasing" the rabbit down the hole

[font color="red"]S&P 500 1,350.25 -7.25 -0.53%
DOW 12,769 -65.00 -0.51%
NASDAQ 2,610 -8.50 -0.32% [/font]

missed my S&P call by one day, apparently.

like picking certain stocks (and indexes) at random times and on Feb 10, I'd picked the S&P to be down after 3 months (it was up just a few points).

oh well...it's only for "fun"

[Roland99]

55. and it worsens

[font color="red"]S&P 500 1,346.75 -10.75 -0.79%
DOW 12,744 -90.00 -0.70%
NASDAQ 2,602 -16.50 -0.63% [/font]

[Roland99]

63. NASDAQ already back in black. DJIA and S&P bouncing off lows easily

[Demeter]

59. I claim copyright violation! X, I WAS KIDDING! AND BESIDES, YOU DIDN'T WRITE IT!

Last edited Fri May 11, 2012, 12:24 PM - Edit history (1)

See first reply...and the time stamp.

(Not that it wasn't an obvious turn of phrase>>&gt
I GUESS I FORGOT THE

[xchrom]

62. i missed it! -- i'll fix it. sorry 'bout that. nt

[Demeter]

84. You messed up my "joke"

I didn't mean to scare you!

[Roland99]

50. Today's Economic Reports (Producer Prices) >>>>

* Gas price drop drags April PPI down 0.2%
* April producer prices fall 0.2%
* April PPI drop largest since October
* April yr-on-yr rise of 1.9% weakest since Oct. '09
* April core producer prices up 0.2%

[Roland99]

69. Report: May UMich sentiment 77.8 (DJIA +100 from lows of the day)

post-recession high.

[Demeter]

76. Firefox Keeps Crashing on Me

It doesn't like the new Adobe Flash update, I guess.

[kickysnana]

105. I got a notice they had upgraded the security today.

My immediate thought was you as I have trouble with Firefox but I don't try to do as much as you do and the frustration must be exponential. Hope they get it right ASAP.

[Demeter]

77. Lehman E-Mails Show Wall Street Arrogance Led to the Fall

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-06/lehman-e-mails-show-wall-street-arrogance-led-to-the-fall.html

If one wants to understand the full complicity of Wall Street in the Great Recession, look no further than the voluminous package of pre-collapse Lehman Brothers documents that have been made available by the law firm Jenner & Block LLP, which has acted as the coroner in the Lehman post-mortem.

Most important, the cache dispels the myth that Dick Fuld, chief executive officer of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., and his close associates were unaware of the risks their business faced in 2007 and 2008. That would be bad enough, but the more devastating reality is that Fuld and his sycophants were warned repeatedly but were blinded by their hubris.

The records confirm, yet again, that the “forces-out-of- our-control” argument we hear from Wall Street leaders is bunk. It is the ill-advised behavior of one banker after another, day in and day out, that leads to the sort of devastating financial crisis we are only now emerging from.

For instance, at a Lehman board meeting in September 2007, according to a copy of the presentation in the data cache, Lehman executives presented a clear summary of the brewing crisis. “The initial tremors were felt at the end of 2006,” the board was told, “when the poor loan performance of sub- prime borrowers began to be a cause for concern in the marketplace. This was evidenced by a gradual spread widening in the asset backed index.” The presentation continued: “The market continued to widen as it became apparent that the performance problems in mortgage loans was not going to abate and was no longer limited to the sub-prime market but also affecting the Alt-A product.”

MORE

[Demeter]

78. Analysts re-evaluate J.P. Morgan, Jamie Dimon BETTER LATE THAN NEVER

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/analysts-re-evaluate-jp-morgan-jamie-dimon-2012-05-11?siteid=YAHOOB

Analysts were quick to weigh in on the likely effects of J.P. Morgan Chase & Co.’s surprise loss on the bank’s future performance...“While J.P. Morgan's core business lines remain strong and intact, we worry about the potential risk the credit-derivatives portfolio poses to earnings going forward,” the analysts said.

They added that they believe the company’s jarring announcement poses a headline risk to the whole industry, “but we believe that the real problems are isolated to J.P. Morgan.” HOW LITTLE THEY LEARN...

[Demeter]

79. Regulators Looking Into JPMorgan Trading Activities Before $2 Billion Loss DITTO, DITTO

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2012/05/11/regulators-looking-into-jpmorgan-trading-activities-before-2-billion-loss/

United States and British regulators have been in discussions with JPMorgan Chase for almost a month about the trading group that disclosed more than $2 billion in losses on Thursday, according to people with direct knowledge of the matter.

The bank first informed the Federal Reserve and the Financial Services Authority of Britain about the trading activities when media reports surfaced in April about a London-based trader with outsize positions, who was called the “London Whale” and “Voldemort.”

...Regulators’ efforts to get to the bottom of JPMorgan’s recent trading activity come as authorities worldwide are clamping down on the risks that financial institutions are able to take. Along with the Volcker Rule, which will restrict banks from trading with their own money, officials are demanding that firms hold more reserve capital to offset any future financial shocks and are forcing so-called over-the-counter trading activity, which allows companies to trade between each other, onto exchanges to increase the transparency of financial markets.

“The enormous loss JPMorgan announced today is just the latest evidence that what banks call ‘hedges’ are often risky bets that so-called ‘too big to fail’ banks have no business making,” Senator Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat, said in a statement on Thursday.

[Demeter]

80. JPMorgan Chase loss will be scrutinized, SEC's Mary Schapiro says DID WE WAKE YOU, MARY? SORRY...

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-sec-jpmorgan-chase-regulators-20120511,0,3897661.story

Regulators are looking into the $2-billion trading loss by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the head of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Friday as lawmakers and analysts said the bank's revelation would increase pressure for tighter financial rules.

“I think it's safe to say that all the regulators are focused on this,” SEC Chairwoman Mary Schapiro told reporters after a speech at a Washington conference, according to news reports. She would not comment further.

The Federal Reserve and Britain's banking regulator learned of the trading loss last month and have been in discussions with JPMorgan Chase about it, the New York Times reported Friday.

The huge loss from a trading portfolio intended to help the bank manage credit risk comes as JPMorgan Chase Chief Executive Jamie Dimon has helped lead the charge against tougher financial rules being drafted by regulators...

[Demeter]

81. BARNEY FRANK CHIMES IN (OR IS IT "PILES ON")

"This regrettable news from JPMorgan Chase obviously goes counter to the bank’s narrative blaming excessive regulation for the woes of financial institutions," said Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), one of the lead authors of the law.

"The argument that financial institutions do not need the new rules to help them avoid the irresponsible actions that led to the crisis of 2008 is at least $2 billion harder to make today," he continued.

Frank noted a recent estimate by JPMorgan Chase that complying with new regulations would cost the bank $400 million to $600 million.

"In other words, JPMorgan Chase, entirely without any help from the government has lost, in this one set of transactions, five times the amount they claim financial regulation is costing them," Frank said.

[Demeter]

82. JPMorgan's $2 Billion Loss, Explained

http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2012/05/11/152488354/jp-morgans-2-billion-loss-explained?ft=1&f=1001

NICE SUMMARY IN SMALL WORDS FOR THE PLEBES

What's the bottom line?

JPMorgan has more than enough money to cover the loss it announced yesterday. The bank made nearly $6 billion in profit in the first quarter of this year alone. And other profitable trades mean the bank's current net trading loss is less than $1 billion. But the news is likely to have an impact beyond the numbers. It will hurt JPMorgan's reputation. Less than a month ago, CEO Jamie Dimon called media coverage of this trade "a tempest in a teapot."

Cut to yesterday's conference call: "The portfolio has proved to be riskier, more volatile and less effective as an economic hedge than we thought," Dimon said. "There were many errors, sloppiness and bad judgment."

JPMorgan has widely been viewed as the best risk manager among the big banks. Throughout the financial crisis, JPMorgan made a profit every quarter. This mistake will not only dent this reputation. it will give more credibility to those arguing for a narrower implementation of the Volcker Rule to restrict the trades banks can make with their own money...

[Demeter]

83. Watching Icon of the Left Eric Schneiderman Morph into Administration Water Boy Tom Miller

YVES SMITH WAS TERRIBLY DISAPPOINTED IN SCHNEIDERMAN TRUCKLING UNDER TO OBAMA'S NON-ENFORCEMENT ENFORCEMENT...SO SHE TEARS HIM A NEW ONE

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/05/watching-icon-of-the-left-eric-schneiderman-morph-into-administration-water-boy-tom-miller.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

...Established readers may recall that Tom Miller, an unknown when he became the lead negotiator in the mortgage settlement on behalf of his fellow state attorney generals, quickly distinguished himself with how often he lied and how badly he did it. He started inauspiciously with promising criminal prosecutions and almost immediately walked that back. He wasn’t terribly convincing in dealing with the revelation that his donations from the FIRE sector increased 88 times in the previous year compared to what they’d given him in the preceding decade. He kept running the administration canard that the group negotiating with the banks had done serious investigations. And from January 2011, he’d regularly maintain a deal was “weeks” away, and gave several drop dead dates that were missed. He also kept insisting that the release for the banks would be narrow, when as we know, that was never in the cards.

The point is that Miller was a convenient stooge for the Administration. His job was to maintain the pretense that the effort he was leading was in the public’s interest and moving ahead at a good clip. These weren’t very easy lies to sell and Miller wasn’t very good at pedaling them, but that didn’t matter much. His job was to keep up a certain level of background noise.

But nothing was going to happen unless the Administration wanted it to happen, and for some reason, the powers that be decided in late 2011 that a mortgage settlement would be a useful election talking point. So they saddled up and pushed the foundering deal over the line.

Now that the Administration has traded up from the unknown Miller to the soi disant “Man the Banks Fear Most” Eric Schneiderman, we have the instructive spectacle of watching Schneiderman look more and more Miller-like with every passing day. Admittedly, Schneiderman is far more skilled at passing off Administration canards than Miller, and is also trusted by many progressives, so he can probably run on brand fumes for quite a while....LOTS MORE...Schneiderman may be able to get away with this longer than he should, particularly since the plan is likely to be to file a couple of headline-getting but not-seriously-threatening-to-the-banking-oligarchs cases in the weeks before the election. He seems not to have noticed how the Administration has been quick to cast aside its operatives when they are no longer of use to them. In case he has managed not to notice how he is being played, expect him to have a rude awakening by the election.

[Demeter]

85. Spain offered time to curb deficit

European Commission insists on extra conditions, including more fiscal control of regional governments, before allowing Madrid to delay

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/08S5AV/9MEOW/JELHFW/7A1PRQ/50/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=11

HOW GRACIOUS OF THEM...

[Demeter]

86. Madrid must take bold approach to banks

Fears will persist that more bailouts will be needed unless policymakers are overcautious on the capital front

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/08S5AV/9MEOW/JELHFW/4C3F9I/50/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=11

LIKE FRSP?

[Demeter]

87. Schäuble ready to tolerate German inflation

Finance minister declares that price rises ‘in a corridor between 2-3 per cent’ – slightly above the ECB target – would be ‘tolerable’

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/VKY5JJ/08S5AV/9MEOW/JELHFW/DW8B1R/50/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=11

TEUTONIC HYPOCRISY...OLD WORLD QUALITY, NOT LIKE OUR WATERY AMERICAN BRAND

[Demeter]

88. DeAnne Julius - With great shareholder power comes great responsibility

As a former chairman and member of several remuneration committees, I support the move to a binding ‘say on pay’ vote, despite its difficulties. The market for chief executives has a number of inherent flaws which can be ameliorated by regulation.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/YIQXNN/7AUQSI/06MUC/OR88YI/KQA7IT/OS/t?a1=2012&a2=5&a3=11

[Demeter]

89. Economic Update: US Banks Are Invading the Payday Loan Industry

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8910-economic-update-us-banks-are-invading-the-payday-loan-industry

PODCAST

[Demeter]

90. Four Years After Wall Street Crash, Regulation of Financial Markets Is Still Spotty

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8964-four-years-after-wall-street-crash-regulation-of-financial-markets-is-still-spotty

Almost four years after America’s financial near-collapse, regulators are now empowered to police financial markets as never before. Yet some of the most important rules to curb Wall Street’s bad behavior have yet to take effect – and could be watered down.

Historians likely will view Barack Obama’s presidency through the prism of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. Like that period in the 1930s, the legislative and regulatory response to this crisis is sure to influence the U.S. economy for decades.

The 2010 revamp of financial regulation – the Dodd-Frank Act – attempted to do what much of the legislation in the 1930s did: Reshape the landscape. Dodd-Frank empowered the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission to regulate hedge funds, oil traders, credit ratings agencies, money market funds and a host of other Wall Street players that had enjoyed relaxed regulation.

But only about 33 percent of the new rules to rein in Wall Street are in force, according to the Davis Polk law firm, which specializes in regulation and puts out a monthly report on Dodd-Frank. And financial firms are aggressively trying to slow down the rule-making process and roll back some of the rules...

[Demeter]

91. Mic Checking John Stumpf: An Inside Report on Protesting Wells Fargo's Shareholder Meeting

http://truth-out.org/news/item/8913-mike-checking-john-stumpf-an-inside-report-on-protesting-wells-fargos-shareholder-meeting

Fed up with Wells Fargo's corrosive behavior, thousands of everyday Americans came to Wells Fargo's annual shareholder meeting in San Francisco on Tuesday, April 24, to let the top executives know that the 99 percent would no longer tolerate corporate malfeasance. Nearly 200 protesters bought shares in Wells Fargo ahead of the meeting and prepared to attend representing the communities hardest hit by Wells Fargo's bad business practices. They were there to face CEO John Stumpf and demand that instead of foreclosures, Wells Fargo adjust loans and keep families in their homes; instead of financing payday lenders and private prisons, Wells Fargo invest in green jobs and energy; instead of avoiding its responsibilities, Wells Fargo pay its fair share of taxes; and instead of its PAC donating to politicians who fix the rules of our democracy to benefit the 1 percent, Wells Fargo get its money out of our democracy and let it truly be of, by and for the people.

A broad coalition of groups helped organize the protest, including of ReFUND California, Causa Justa, PICO National Network, San Francisco Organizing Project, Contra Costa Interfaith Supporting Community Organization, Alliance of Californians for Community Empowerment, Service Employees International Union, Occupy Wall Street West, and many more.

This is the story of how a few "shareholders" went inside Wells Fargo's meeting to confront its president and CEO John Stumpf...

[Demeter]

93. Economic Democracy, Not Austerity or Keynesian "Growth"

http://truth-out.org/news/item/9026-austerity-vs-keynesian-growth-vs-economic-democracy

Recent defeats of Dutch, Greek and French governing parties show rising opposition to their austerity policies. Across Europe and North America, similar oppositions mount. Bailing out large financial and other corporations with borrowed money has been the almost universal government plan for coping with global capitalist crisis. The result - rising government deficits and debts - was followed by "austerity policies" to reduce those deficits and debts. After suffering a crisis and then bailouts that bypassed them to favor major corporations, people now face austerity cutbacks of government jobs and services to offset the bailouts' costs. As opposition mounts, will it seek Keynesian "growth" or go beyond capitalism to economic democracy?

Keynesianism (expansionary state economic intervention) never was capitalists' preferred policy for capitalism's recurring recessions and depressions. Their Plan A was government borrowing to bail out major financial and other corporations followed by "austerity policies." Austerity repays the costs of bailouts by siphoning money away from (cutting) government jobs and services. Only when anti-capitalist movements threaten from below, as in the 1930s, do anxious capitalists abandon Plan A and shift to Plan B - eventually formalized as Keynesianism. Via government spending, Keynesian policies claim credit for jobs and income "growth" and aim to keep political control away from anti-capitalist forces. Keynesianism's dependence on radicals' pressure from below explains its strength in the 1930s versus its weakness today.

Capitalists prefer austerity for many reasons. Because universal suffrage allows politics to undo capitalism's consequences such as unequal wealth, income and power distributions, capitalists worry about how far universal suffrage will go. Majorities may, during crises, reject bailouts and austerity. The Greek and French just did. They may then demand Keynesian "growth" via government jobs and income and wealth redistribution. Or they may demand transition beyond capitalism to democratize their economies by socializing means of production, planning the economy and transforming enterprises into self-directed worker collectives. No wonder that conservative mainstream economics (so-called "neoclassical economics&quot celebrates capitalism as a self-healing system requiring no government intervention.

Keynesianism also frustrates crisis mechanisms that discipline workers to capitalists' advantage. Rising unemployment makes worried jobholders accept reduced wages, benefits and job security: good news for employers. As falling wages reduce costs for surviving capitalists, they anticipate rising profit opportunities. They will then invest, renewing growth and prosperity. That's how most capitalists prefer to "let the market work through" economic crises...

[Roland99]

99. Fitch Downgrades JPM To A+, Watch Negative

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/fitch-downgrades-jpm-watch-negative

[Fuddnik]

100. Just remember this.

T-shirt I bought for Monday.