STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 2 October 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 2 October 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 1 October 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 1 October 2012
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Dow Jones 13,515.11 +77.98 (0.58%)
S&P 500 1,444.49 +3.82 (0.27%)
[font color=red]Nasdaq 3,113.53 -2.70 (-0.09%)



[font color=green]10 Year 1.62% -0.01 (-0.61%)
[font color=black]30 Year 2.82% 0.00 (0.00%) [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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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
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
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent




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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]

[Roland99]

1. pre-rec for tomorrow

training is going ok...more along the lines of meeting others in the company and talking shop. Got the new laptop but no development tools installed yet.

Weather up here is nice. Nice fall weather, nice fall color.

[otherone]

15. We are having some colors show here in the Hudson Valley..

Good Morning to all..

[Demeter]

18. Good Morning! Our "colors" are being rained off the trees today

and it's 53F, all because I'm scheduled to work outside today and tomorrow....

It never fails to rain out the colors.

[Demeter]

2. That ditty doesn't even scan

let alone make sense.

Obama has got to get 53% to shut up that 47% claim....

[Demeter]

3. Brown signs online privacy laws

http://articles.latimes.com/2012/sep/28/local/la-me-brown-bills-20120928

Governor approves one measure protecting students' Internet accounts from university officials and another banning employers from asking for workers' email and social media passwords....MORE

[Demeter]

4. Occupy the SEC / Anniversary of OWS – Effort to Serve the 99%

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2012/09/a-review-of-occupy-the-sec-on-the-one-year-anniversary-of-ows-one-working-groups-effort-to-serve-the-interests-of-the-99.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29#KykPXTOYCSuTodsL.99

Contrary to critics, who seem to think that the only way for Occupy Wall Street to have an impact is by taking to the streets, the movement continues to focus on developing novel ways to reduce the power of a deeply entrenched, abusive financial services industry. One way is by serving as a people’s lobbyist to shine light on the way critical aspects of financial services regulation are negotiated, usually out of sight of the public.

Occupy the SEC’s participation in the Volcker Rule rulemaking comment process is a reminder that opportunities exist to fight industry lobbyists on their own turf by exercising rights available to all citizens. The Administrative Procedures Act requires that the regulators solicit public comment on proposed rules and enter those comments into the public record. It also requires the regulators to defend or refute the comments received in their final rulemaking. Press coverage of this publicly available information should help to bring pro-regulatory pressure and support to a regulatory community used to hearing from only one side. When the rules are finalized we will have another opportunity to evaluate whose interests have been served by the regulators.

We would prefer that the regulators take a stronger stand against the financial services lobby on their own. Apparently we are not alone, or even in the minority. Last week Reuters reported on a new opinion survey on corporate misconduct prepared by law firm Labaton Sucharow. Key findings from the report:

- 64% believe corporate misconduct was a driver of the crisis

- 81% want more government involvement in controlling misconduct

- 63% want more government funding for regulators and law enforcement

As the article notes, the survey’s timing is impeccable, as it comes out on the one-year anniversary of the Occupy movement. Although the survey’s results are not surprising, it is encouraging to see so much public support for the kinds of reforms Occupy the SEC and the OWS Alternative Banking are actively pursuing...MORE

[Demeter]

5. JPMorgan Unit Is Sued Over Mortgage Pools By GRETCHEN MORGENSON

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/02/business/suit-accuses-jpmorgan-unit-of-broad-misconduct-on-mortgage-securities.html

The federal mortgage task force that was formed in January by the Justice Department filed its first complaint against a big bank on Monday, citing a broad pattern of misconduct in the packaging and sale of mortgage securities during the housing boom. The civil suit against Bear Stearns & Company, now a unit of JPMorgan Chase, was brought in New York State Supreme Court by Eric T. Schneiderman, the attorney general who is also a co-chairman of the task force, known as the Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities Working Group.

The complaint contends that Bear Stearns and its lending unit, EMC Mortgage, defrauded investors who purchased mortgage securities packaged by the companies from 2005 through 2007. The firms made material misrepresentations about the quality of the loans in the securities, the lawsuit said, and ignored evidence of broad defects among the loans that they pooled and sold to investors. Moreover, when Bear Stearns identified problematic loans that it had agreed to purchase from a lender, it was required to make the originator buy them back. But Bear Stearns demanded cash payments from the lenders and kept the money, rather than passing it on to investors, the suit contends.

Unlike many of the other mortgage crisis cases brought by regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission, the task force’s action does not focus on a particular deal that harmed investors or an individual who was central to a specific transaction. Rather, the suit contends that the improper practices were institutionwide and affected numerous deals during the period.

A spokesman for Mr. Schneiderman declined to comment on the filing. A representative for JPMorgan, which acquired Bear Stearns in a fire sale in March 2008, said it would contest the allegations. “We’re disappointed that the New York A.G. decided to pursue its civil action without ever offering us an opportunity to rebut the claims and without developing a full record — instead relying on recycled claims already made by private plaintiffs,” said Joseph Evangelisti, the bank’s spokesman. He added that the allegations predate JPMorgan’s acquisition. The allegations in the suit against Bear and EMC are not new. The task force complaint closely echoes legal arguments made in recent years by numerous private litigants trying to recover losses in mortgage securities. Most of these cases continue to inch their way through the courts...The suit was brought under New York’s Martin Act, the state law that gives the attorney general wide latitude to bring fraud cases without demonstrating a defendant intended to defraud. The suit does not seek specific damages but asks for restitution for investors victimized by the deceptive practices and disgorgement of money received in connection with the fraud.

MORE

[Fuddnik]

6. Wal-Mart workers tell Wall Streeters cuts hurt business

Wal-Mart workers tell Wall Streeters cuts hurt business
By Martinne Geller and Jessica Wohl, Reuters

NEW YORK/CHICAGO -- Wal-Mart Stores Inc employees who say the world's largest retailer's labor practices are unfair voiced their concerns to Wall Street analysts on Monday, claiming that problems like long lines and empty shelves are systemic.

Five employees, two of whom have worked for the chain for more than 20 years, outlined problems they say they see, including unsafe conditions and low wages.

A handful of sell-side analysts turned out to hear from Walmart workers nearly a year after a similar meeting was held near Wal-Mart's headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas.

The meeting brought the employees' complaints to an audience that is typically more concerned with Walmart's bottom line, trying to convince analysts that issues such as low levels of staffing can lead to poor customer service, and therefore can impact sales and profits.

One employee, who said she has worked at Walmart for 13 years, including as a salaried manager, said her store threw out 2,000 pounds of leftover Halloween candy this summer after it had been too short-staffed to stock it on time.

Management tried to sell the expired candy in discount bins in the electronics department, and threw it out after it did not sell, she said.

(snip)
http://bottomline.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/01/14172707-wal-mart-workers-tell-wall-streeters-cuts-hurt-business?lite

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I made a very rare trip to a Walmart today. I couldn't find cauliflower or spinach plants anywhere, so I decided to try a Superstore near me, which has a garden dept.

They had cauliflower, but it looked like it would be dead before I got it home, so I passed. I overheard two employees while I was looking around. One manager asked an employee if she had lunch yet. She said "no", but she's been too busy, and she was going as soon as she finished her task. Two minutes later, the employee was telling another, "We're all going to get in trouble, because we all have to go to lunch right now." Sure enough, the entire dept. emptied of employees. Nobody at the two registers. I guess if someone bought something, they'd have to go inside and wait in a long line.

Reminded me of this idiot woman (she just happened to be female. Idiots come in all genders) Who came to the dog park every morning after she got off the night shift at Wally World. A brainwashed buffoon who sang Walmart's praises every day. Every time you mention buying something, she says "Oh, we have that at Walmart". She couldn't understand why I'd pay more elsewhere.

Disclaimer: I do go to Sams Club. We had a business wholesale membership for the restaurant, and it's only a mile away. And the closest Costco is almost 20 miles away. And dog treats anywhere else would bankrupt me.

[AnneD]

36. When I buy eggs, I buy organic free range eggs....

yes, I make sure the girls are truly free range organic. Happy chickens lay tasty eggs. I have eaten then for so long....I can really taste the difference. My hubby got on to me once when he saw what I was paying. I told him that a chickens time on Earth is short. I don't think it is too much to ask that they have a happy life.

It is the same with places I shop. I patronize Costco, Ikea, Whole Foods, and other places that pay their staff well and offer benefits. I appreciate the service I get. If it is too expensive, that means I make cuts in other areas. Money is a tool. I use the tool as a way to make the changes in the world that I want to see happen.

[Tansy_Gold]

40. I have only ever bought one thing at Ikea

When I got it home, I discovered the "made in China" label.

Never been back.

[AnneD]

43. I am selective....

about what I buy there. I have gotten glassware from the Czechoslovak republic etc. I also look for distance traveled and do buy used and refinish. I look for quality, but I ask the sales folks how they are treated. It matters to me.

[Demeter]

7. Romney's Goal for the Companies Bain Acquired: "Harvest Them at Significant Profit"

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11827-romneys-goal-for-the-companies-bain-acquired-harvest-them-at-significant-profit

Here’s a video of Romney AT LINK in his early years at Bain, explaining his purpose in acquiring companies was to “harvest them at significant profit.”

No one should be surprised. After all, Bain Capital wasn’t in the business of creating jobs. It was in the business of creating profits.

The two goals aren’t at all the same — as Americans whose jobs have been eliminated or whose wages and benefits have been cut know all too well.

For years, higher corporate profits have come at the expense of fewer jobs and lower wages. Business leaders and financiers have been “harvesting” like mad, leaving most Americans behind in the dirt...

MORE

[Demeter]

8. The Real Question: Why Don't People Make Enough to Pay Income Taxes?

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11847-the-real-question-why-dont-people-make-enough-to-pay-income-taxes

Mitt Romney was caught on video complaining that 47% of us don't make enough to pay taxes, believe they are victims, are dependent on government, etc. The right question is why do so many of us make so little?

Moving Jobs to Places Where People Don't Have a Say

You often hear that competition due to "globalization" means that we have to accept lower wages and fewer benefits, because people "over there" make so much less. What has caused the pressure, however, is "free trade" agreements that allow companies here to close factories here and open them over there, and then bring the same things they used to make here to sell in the same stores. The only "trade" involved in this transaction is trading who does the work.

In places where people are able to have a say, they say they want better wages, benefits, good schools, good roads, parks, a clean environment, safety standards, and things like that. In places where people do not have a say, they are told they can't have better wages, benefits, good schools, good roads, parks, a clean environment, safety standards, and things like that.

When we allow our companies to close factories here, where people have a say and move them there, where people do not have a say, and then bring the same goods back here to sell, we are allowing them to escape the borders of democracy. When they are no longer subject to the We, the People that has a say, they can do what they want, exploit workers, exploit the environment, and reap the profits of not having responsibilities to others. And because it costs less to pay people less and exploit the environment, allowing them to escape these responsibilities makes democracy a competitive disadvantage...MORE

[Demeter]

9. How to Make Work Pay Again

http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/11849-how-to-make-work-pay-again

The latest Census data prove that we need to start rebuilding the American middle class, and a new report shows how it can be done.

The U.S. Census Bureau reported that family income in the U.S. dropped to its lowest level in 16 years. The key thing in this news is that the drop is not just over the last three years, during the Great Recession. The squeeze on the middle class isn’t new, it wasn’t caused by the recession, and it won’t be fixed as we come out of the recession. If we’re going to rebuild the middle class, we need an agenda aimed at making work pay in the 21st century.

That’s why I worked with more than 20 groups who understand the daily struggles of working families on a new report we’re releasing today, 10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class for Hard Working Americans: Making Work Pay in the 21st Century. The report is a road map for addressing the truth that we don’t just have a jobs problem; we have a good jobs problem.

Before we get to what we do about it, we need to confront the fact that even though the proportion of Americans with a college education doubled in the past three decades, the share of working people with a decent job dropped. Six out of ten (58 percent) jobs now emerging from the recession are low-wage. On top of that, the jobs projected to have the most openings between now and 2020 are mostly low-wage and require no more than a high school education. So there is no reason to think things will get better unless we act.

One set of solutions proposed in 10 Ways to Rebuild the Middle Class is to tackle the lack of support and protections for low-wage workers. A first step is to restore the minimum wage, which buys 30 percent less now than it did 40 years ago. The minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 an hour, the same as it was in 1991. One in five workers would get a pay raise if the minimum wage were increased. That includes workers who get paid just above today’s minimum wage, who would also benefit as the legal floor got raised...MORE

[Demeter]

10. I am a job creator: A manifesto for the entitled By Steven Pearlstein

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/i-am-a-job-creator-a-manifesto-for-the-entitled/2012/09/28/756f2e90-07ee-11e2-858a-5311df86ab04_story.html?wpisrc=nl_headlines

I am a corporate chief executive.

I am a business owner.

I am a private-equity fund manager.

I am the misunderstood superhero of American capitalism, single-handedly creating wealth and prosperity despite all the obstacles put in my way by employees, government and the media.

I am a job creator and I am entitled.

I am entitled to complain about the economy even when my stock price, my portfolio and my profits are at record levels.

I am entitled to a healthy and well-educated workforce, a modern and efficient transportation system and protection for my person and property, just as I am entitled to demonize the government workers who provide them.

I am entitled to complain bitterly about taxes that are always too high, even when they are at record lows.

I am entitled to a judicial system that efficiently enforces contracts and legal obligations on customers, suppliers and employees but does not afford them the same right in return.

I am entitled to complain about the poor quality of service provided by government agencies even as I leave my own customers on hold for 35 minutes while repeatedly telling them how important their call is.

I am entitled to a compensation package that is above average for my company’s size and industry, reflecting the company’s aspirations if not its performance.

I am entitled to have the company pay for breakfasts and lunches, a luxury car and private jet travel, my country club dues and home security systems, box seats to all major sporting events, a pension equal to my current salary and a full package of insurance — life, health, dental, disability and long-term care — through retirement.

I am entitled to have my earned income taxed as capital gains and my investment income taxed at the lowest rate anywhere in the world — or not at all.

I am entitled to inside information and favorable investment opportunities not available to ordinary investors. I am entitled to brag about my investment returns.

I am entitled to pass on my accumulated wealth tax-free to heirs, who in turn, are entitled to claim that they earned everything they have.

I am entitled to use unlimited amounts of my own or company funds to buy elections without disclosing such expenditures to shareholders or the public.

I am entitled to use company funds to burnish my own charitable reputation.

I am entitled to provide political support to radical, uncompromising politicians and then complain about how dysfunctional Washington has become.

Although I have no clue how government works, I am entitled to be consulted on public policy by politicians and bureaucrats who have no clue about how business works.

I am entitled to publicly criticize the president and members of Congress, who are not entitled to criticize me.

I am entitled to fire any worker who tries to organize a union. I am entitled to break any existing union by moving, or threatening to move, operations to a union-hostile environment.

I am entitled to a duty of care and loyalty from employees and investors who are owed no such duty in return.

I am entitled to operate my business free of all government regulations other than those written or approved by my industry.

I am entitled to load companies up with debt in order to pay myself and investors big dividends — and then blame any bankruptcy on over-compensated workers.

I am entitled to contracts, subsidies, tax breaks, loans and even bailouts from government, even as I complain about job-killing government budget deficits.

I am entitled to federal entitlement reform.

I am entitled to take credit for all the jobs I create while ignoring any jobs I destroy.

I am entitled to claim credit for all the profits made during a booming economy while blaming losses or setbacks on adverse market or economic conditions.

I am entitled to deny knowledge or responsibility for any controversial decisions made after my departure from the company, even while profiting from such decisions if they enhance shareholder value.

I am entitled to all the rights and privileges of running an American company, but owe no loyalty to American workers or taxpayers.

I am entitled to confidential information about my employees and customers while refusing even to list the company’s phone number on its Web site.

I am entitled to be treated with deference and respect by investors I mislead, customers I bamboozle, directors I manipulate and employees I view as expendable.

I am entitled to be lionized in the media without answering any questions from reporters.

I am entitled to the VIP entrance.

I am entitled to everything I have and more that I still deserve.

[Demeter]

12. Real Unemployment Reaches 20% In 7 Colorado Counties

http://thecoloradoobserver.com/2012/09/real-unemployment-reaches-20-in-7-colorado-counties/

...In seven counties in Colorado unemployed individuals are close to or exceeding 20% of the population, a letter from the Chief Economist of CDLE to the U.S. Department of Agriculture says. The letter, obtained through the Colorado Open Records Act, was sent August 29 as required by federal law. According to the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act, the Colorado Labor Department is required to certify counties where the “Not Employed Rate” surpasses 19.5%.

The “Not Employed Rate” is defined as “the percentage of individuals over the age of 18 who reside within the community and who are ready, willing and able to be employed but are unable to find employment as determined by the State Department of Labor.”...Whereas the unemployment rate doesn’t include people who are out of work, but have given up looking for a job, the “Not Employed Rate” gives a fuller picture of the dire economic situation many Coloradans are currently facing...Colorado has faced one of the slowest economic recoveries in the nation coming out of the recession...

Last month, Colorado’s official unemployment rate — 8.2% — surpassed the national unemployment rate for first time in nearly 7 years. While unemployment fell from 8.3% the previous month, Colorado’s unemployment rate rose for four consecutive months prior to that...Ranking highest was Costilla County at 23.56 percent. The list runs from larger counties like Pueblo (20.09%), Montrose (20.62%) and Fremont (19.66%) to smaller populations like Huerfano (21.78%), Archuleta (19.97%) and Dolores (19.85%).

[Demeter]

11. Spain and Greece Are Being Forced to Suffer to Save Germany From High Inflation By Dean Baker

http://truth-out.org/news/item/11868-spain-and-greece-are-being-forced-to-suffer-to-save-germany-from-high-inflation

People in eurozone countries are sleeping in the streets and eating out of dumpsters in increasing numbers due to the callous austerity demands of the now-infamous troika: the European Central Bank, the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund.

In both Greece and Spain, tens of thousands of people turned out in the streets for protests against the austerity measures being imposed by their governments. These measures are necessary in order for these governments to stay in the good graces of the troika that controls the rescue funds: the European Central Bank (ECB), the European Commission and the International Monetary Fund. The troika wants to see these countries hitting their budget deficit targets as a condition of being eligible to receive continued to support.

The problem with the troika's agenda is that the budget cuts and tax increases they demand as a condition of continued support lead to a further contraction of the economies of Greece, Spain and other crisis countries. When the economies contract, tax collections fall and spending on transfers like unemployment insurance rise. This leads to larger deficits, causing the countries to again fall below the deficit targets.

While imposing austerity demands on the crisis countries might be great sport in Berlin and Brussels (you get to show how tough you are), it is ruining millions of lives in the crisis countries. The New York Times had an article on Spain last week in which it reported the country's 25 percent unemployment rate has pushed many formerly middle-class people to sleeping in the streets and eating out of garbage cans. It reported that many restaurants and grocery stores are now putting locks on their dumpsters to keep people from eating from them. There are similar horror stories in the other crisis countries in the eurozone...The absurdity of this suffering is that it is entirely preventable. If the ECB was determined as a matter of policy to promote a higher rate of wage growth and inflation in Germany, then it could facilitate the sort of growth that could bring the unemployment rates in Spain, Greece and elsewhere to more normal levels...MORE

[bread_and_roses]

13. "Learn Everything You Need to Know About the Economy ... it's pissed"

I've never watched a single episode of "South Park" but this struck me as funny - and the book referenced (not South Park) sounds interesting. I sometimes help write political Literature, and the struggle to get our candidates to shut up with the Wonk Speak is never ending.

http://www.alternet.org/economy/learn-everything-you-need-know-about-economy-south-park-episode?paging=off

Published on Alternet (http://www.alternet.org)

Home > Learn Everything You Need to Know About the Economy from a 'South Park' Episode
Public Affairs Books [1] / By Anat Shenker-Osorio [2]
comments_image
Learn Everything You Need to Know About the Economy from a 'South Park' Episode
October 1, 2012 |

Editor's Note: In her new book Don't Buy It: The Trouble With Talking Nonsense About the Economy [3], communications specialist Anat Shenker-Osario makes a compelling case for why progressives have to find a better way of talking about the economy if we ever hope to set things right. In a presidential election where voters' preferences often hinge on language, telling the right story with the right words is as important as getting citizens to the polls. Below is an excerpt from the preface of this handy guide that can help make policy discussions -- not to mention dinner table conversations -- a lot more clear and effective.

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. -- Exodus 20:13

In their magnum opus, “Margaritaville,” season 13, episode 3, South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone have done us a service, revealing over the course of 22 animated minutes what it might otherwise take several semesters at a decent business school to learn. The episode opens in the small Colorado town of South Park, which is wracked by a sudden and serious economic decline. After a period of collective soul-searching, the locals hit upon the obvious cause of rampant unemployment and plummeting stock values: the Economy is pissed.

The citizens cower upon realizing the truth—the Economy is an angry and vengeful god. Because South Parkers have paid insufficient homage to it, the Economy visits ruination and recession upon them. A character lectures a crowd of rapt listeners, “There are those who will say the Economy has forsaken us. Nay! You have forsaken the Economy. And now you know the Economy’s wrath.”

The solution in South Park, as will be familiar to modern-day Greeks and low-income Americans, is sacrifice. The cartoon version of this goes full throttle: Bible-inspired acts of piety and prostration ensue. Citizens turn their sheets into togas and cease to buy or sell things altogether in an attempt to show deference before the Economy.

... Deity isn’t the only form our economy takes in popular perception. In current discourse about economic policy and in prevailing explanations of events, it has become all too common to treat the economy as a living, breathing, intentional being. One that by all means we should avoid hurting. You can likely recall hearing on TV or reading in the news some variation on “We can’t do [ill in socially beneficial act] because it will hurt the economy.” Or, “If we do [thing that will make Americans’ lives better], it will scare the markets.”

On edit - meant to add, I realize the article is not talking about Wonk Speak but rather about reifying an abstract concept - which is a different struggle. It is, in fact, "not Wonk" which is what makes it so effective - using simple everyday words to evoke deep patterns and responses in our behavior.

The reason Wonk speak came to mind is that it - Wonk, that is - evokes nothing but contempt and boredom and resistance - and yet getting candidates to eschew it is a real struggle.

This is article is also another in the list of many that point out how counter-productive it is to use the enemy's language and framing - another habit of "our" side and one of the ways that various Manchurian bots supposedly on "our side" disguise their actual loyalty to the 1%.

[DemReadingDU]

14. "Good Morning"

"Good Morning" Singin' in the Rain (1952)

[Tansy_Gold]

16. Thunderstorms predicted for here, too

Cape May, New Jersey, that is. I arrived yesterday noonish after an . . . adventurous . . . . drive, settled into my motel (comfortable and clean and 60's-ish), bought a few groceries (inconvenient and expensive), and went to bed before 8:30.

Rain or not, I'll probably still head for the beach. I need to find at least one diamond for the day.

[DemReadingDU]

17. Rain in Ohio too

Good luck finding a diamond or two!

[Fuddnik]

24. Just had a big blow move through here, with a quick shower.

But, we're supposed to have scattered storms for the next 4-5 days.

There's a lot of tropical moisture being sucked out of the Caribbean through here, and funneled up to you guys.

[DemReadingDU]

31. Thanks, We do need rain!

[Tansy_Gold]

35. Soaked to the skin

I walked quite a ways down the beach this morning, with my eyes focused on the stones. It's a good thing I looked up when I did, because the sky had gone from overcast with occasional brief sunshine to menacingly black.



Just as I reached the parking lot, the rain began, and by the time I had walked the 25 yards or so to my car, it was pouring buckets and I was drenched.

But I had taken in a goodly collection of stones and a couple of shells -- this beach is not a good one for shell collecting at all -- and I had found at least one really nice "diamond."




Now I'm going to look at the local restaurant guide and see if there's a decent pizza place. You have no idea how I'm craving pizza right now. . . .

[AnneD]

37. From a long time beach comber...

best time is after a high tide, storm, or hurricane. You never know what will wash up. Good finds!!!!!!

[Tansy_Gold]

41. The best season for "diamonds"

is late winter, early spring, after winter storms, but I don't have the luxury of picking my time. I'm hoping the full moon -- moon and sun on opposite sides of earth -- will create high enough tides to bring in some goodies. And the fact that there are hardly any people on the beach helps a little, too. I'll probably go back in the morning, even though my feet hurt. . . . .

[AnneD]

44. Water socks....

They might be hard to find in Az, but they are available here and are indispensable for water activities.

You can get stone bruises. Look for some flip flops-they work in a pinch.

[Tansy_Gold]

45. the only shoes I have are flip-flops

they don't work so good, except to display "diamonds"

[AnneD]

47. Get some cushioning sweetie.....

I remember Brighton Beach in England. No sand, all stones. Rounded of course, but stones of 2-5 inches. The British definition of beach and the American definition of what constitutes a beach are different.

[Demeter]

19. Skimming Profits Off Bad Loans: Bankers And Their Dirty Tricks By Mike Whitney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32586.htm

Didn’t Ben Bernanke promise that another round of bond purchases would lower unemployment and boost economic growth? We think he did, which is why we’re wondering why all the benefits from QE3 appear to be going to the banks. According to Bloomberg News:

“The Federal Reserve’s latest mortgage bond purchases so far are helping profit margins at lenders including Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) and JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) more than homebuyers and property owners looking to refinance…

Since the Fed’s Sept. 13 announcement that it would buy $40 billion more securities per month, the rates offered for new 30- year loans have fallen by just 0.11 percentage point, compared with a drop of more than 0.6 percentage point for yields on the bonds into which the loans get packaged.” (“Fed Helps Lenders’ Profit More Than Homebuyers:Mortgages”, Bloomberg)

Well, how do you like that? That means that Mr. Bernanke’s trickle down monetary theories aren’t really working at all. Instead of the savings being passed along to homeowners in the form of lower rates, the banks are juicing profits by taking a bigger share for themselves. Who could have known? Keep in mind, that Bernanke is not some madcap scientist who doesn’t fully grasp how QE works. That’s not it at all, in fact, he’s considered one of the world’s foremost authorities on the topic and has written extensively on Japan’s deflationary woes and their “broken channels of monetary transmission”, which is shorthand for saying that loading the banks with trillions of dollars in reserves won’t do a blasted thing except pump a little ether into stock prices. (which it has done in the last 2 rounds of easing) So, Bernanke’s been down this road before. He knows what QE will do and what it won’t do, which is why he instructed members from the Bank of Japan (BOJ) to implement fiscal-monetary policies that would have a chance of succeeding. His advice was: “BOJ purchases of government debt could support spending programs, to facilitate industrial restructuring.”

Now there’s an idea. Have the Fed buy the bonds that pay for the programs that put people back to work. Brilliant! Once the new workers get their weekly paycheck, it’s off to the grocery store, the gas station, the mall etc. Spending increases, state revenues soar, and the economy clicks back into high-gear. Simple, right? So, why are we still fiddling with this crackpot QE-circlejerk that does nothing but line the pockets of crooked bankers? That’s the question. In theory, quantitative easing is supposed to lower interest rates and spur investment. That boosts activity and reduces joblessness. But according to a survey conducted by Duke University, the CFO’s of 887 large companies found that lower interest rates wouldn’t really effect their decisions. Here’s a summary:

According to the Duke University analysts:

“CFOs believe that … monetary action would not be particularly effective. Ninety-one percent of firms say they would not change their investment plans even if interest rates dropped by 1 percent, and 84 percent said they would not change investment plans if interest rates dropped by 2 percent.(“Currency war warnings follow US Fed’s “quantitative easing”, Nick Beams, World Socialist Web Site)

Of course it won’t change their investment plans, because what businessmen care about is demand. Who’s going to buy their bloody widgets, that’s what matters to them, not interest rates. Right now, there’s no demand for more widgets because unemployment is high, wages are flatlining, and policymakers have turned off the fiscal stimulus-spigot in an effort to shrink the economy so they can pursue their lunatic idea of dismantling public services and social programs. (mainly Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security, the “real targets.”) The point is, spending has to increase to get the economy off the canvas, and the only party that has money to spend is the government. So, Obama should be spending like crazy. The Central Bank cannot fix this problem with its wacko printing spree.

So, what else are the banks up to besides keeping rates elevated so they can make a bigger killing on refis? Well, for one thing, they’re using their high-powered attorneys and lobbyists to twist arms at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) to make it easier for them to make bad loans without suffering any consequences. How can that be, after all, wasn’t it bad loans that got us into this mess to begin with? Yes, it was. Even so, the banks are back at it again, up to their same old tricks. Here’s the story from Reuters:

“Just four years after toxic U.S. mortgages brought the global financial system to its knees and triggered the deepest recession since the Great Depression, a U.S. housing regulator may be making it easier for banks to make bad loans without suffering losses.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency released a little-noticed rule last week that makes it harder for Fannie Mae (FNMA.OB) and Freddie Mac (FMCC.OB) – the government-owned companies that guarantee home loans made by banks – to hold lenders accountable when mortgages go bad.

Some experts said the new rules show that lessons of the housing crisis are already being forgotten, and could set up taxpayers for tens of billions of dollars of losses if the lending bubble re-inflates later in the credit cycle.

At issue is when Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can press banks to make them whole when mortgages go bad.” (“Housing regulators loosen rules, but at what cost?”, Reuters)

MORE DISGUST AT LINK

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

Mike Whitney lives in Washington state. He is a contributor to Hopeless: Barack Obama and the Politics of Illusion (AK Press). Hopeless is also available in a Kindle edition. He can be reached at [e-mail].

[xchrom]

20. this rainy, gloomy weather is getting on my last nerve....

[AnneD]

38. AAAKKKK...

no more wire hangers.

[xchrom]

39. ...

Best. Line. Evah!

[AnneD]

42. Best lines...

I would slap you but I don't want to get slut all over my hand..my daughter.

Fasten your seat belts, it's going to be a bumpy night.

I have come here to chew bubblegum and kick ass... and I'm all out of bubblegum.

I'd kiss you, but I just washed my hair.

Toto, I have the feeling we're not in Kansas anymore.

Gentleman, you can't fight in here. This is the war room.

I AM big. It's the pictures that got small.

[Tansy_Gold]

49. Dear Dorothy:

LOVE the shoes, hate Oz; find your own way home.


Toto

[AnneD]

50. LOL LOL LOL....

too funny.

Along the lines of "What do you mean by 'we' kimosabe."

[xchrom]

21. SEC Leads From Behind as High-Frequency Trading Shows Data Gap

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-01/sec-leads-from-behind-as-high-frequency-trading-shows-data-gap.html

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, stung by criticism that it lacks the knowledge to analyze the computerized trading that has come to dominate American stock markets, is planning to catch up.

Initiatives to increase the breadth of data received from exchanges and to record orders from origination to execution are at the center of the effort. Gregg Berman, who holds a doctorate in physics from Princeton University, will head the commission’s planned office of analytics and research.

“What we will focus on is trying to shed more light on some of the big outstanding questions about market structure,” Berman said in an interview in Washington. “What is the impact of high-frequency trading? What’s the effect of high rates of order cancellations? What’s the connection between exchange- traded funds and individual stocks? How might different rules impact the market?”

Berman’s team will assess how market behavior has been altered after 15 years of regulatory reform and advances in technology that have left trading fragmented across 13 competing exchanges, 10 options markets and dozens of venues operated privately by brokerages. SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro, spurred into action by the stock rout of May 6, 2010, has made improving data collection a priority.

[DemReadingDU]

22. TIM GEITHNER IS FROM MARS AND I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE FROM VENUS

10/2/12 Neil Barofsky: TIM GEITHNER IS FROM MARS AND I’M NOT THE ONLY ONE FROM VENUS

While writing Bailout, I was forced to relive the otherworldly experience of my 27 months in Washington as the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program. While I took great care in the book to make sure that the key events and anecdotes were based on more than just my own recollections (they were corroborated by documents, personal notes and other meeting participants), there was a small part of me that still couldn’t quite believe what I had seen and heard. Did Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner really shower me with expletives when I urged him to be more transparent? Was Treasury’s signature mortgage modification program truly not intended to help up to 4 million homeowners stay in their homes as publicly stated, but actually a way, in Geithner’s own words, to “foam the runway” for the banks? Were all of those Treasury officials really engaging in a barrelful of dirty tricks in order to undermine our efforts to bring greater transparency to TARP and to protect taxpayers from fraud, waste and abuse?

It was therefore remarkably satisfying and affirming to tear through Bull By The Horns, the scathing new memoir by Sheila Bair, former Chairman of the FDIC. Bair and I hardly come from similar backgrounds. I came to Washington as a lifelong Democrat, she a Republican. I had little prior experience in the world of politics or Washington, while Bair had been a top legislative aide to Senator Dole and had enjoyed presidentially appointed senate-confirmed positions at both Treasury and the CFTC before taking the helm at the FDIC.

But despite these differences, her observations and interactions with the Geithner-led Treasury Department and her thoroughly captured fellow regulators are strikingly similar to mine.

She too was cursed out by Geithner and subjected to many of the same dirty political tricks. She also bore the brunt of misleading media attacks. She came to the same realization that I did that large chunks of the government were far more interested in preserving the status quo of the big banks than serving the broader interests of the American people. And she similarly recognized that Treasury’s mortgage modification program was never really designed to fulfill the administration's promise to help millions of homeowners. Bair looked at the same bailout landscape that I did and saw the same favoritism toward Wall Street and betrayal of Main Street.

The day Bair’s book was released a journalist friend emailed me that she thought that Bailout and Bull by the Horns share “the same utterly surreal quality” and that I would “like it a lot.” She’s right. It’s always nice to find out that you were not the only sane person in the asylum.


http://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20121002121508-159079164-tim-geithner-is-from-mars-and-i-m-not-the-only-one-from-venus

[Fuddnik]

27. They're all from some other planet.

Kolob
Xenu.

Whatever.

[bread_and_roses]

34. Hey - it's all 11th dimensional chess, doncha know?

From day one - which I count as the day those appointments were announced - Goddess, it still hurts! The awful, crushing death of "hope."

[Demeter]

46. Hotler Will Be Glad of the Company

[Tansy_Gold]

51. Day One = 24 November 2008

The link to my original post of 24 November 2008 no longer works. I don't know how much of the old DU has been lost, but at least there's this --

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/Tansy_Gold/73

And of course

[xchrom]

23. U.S. Leads in High-Frequency Trading, Trails in Rules

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-01/u-s-leads-in-high-frequency-trading-trails-in-rules.html

Given the missteps that have prolonged and deepened the European debt crisis, one wouldn’t necessarily expect the continent to be home to far-sighted financial reform. But that is exactly what seems to be happening in the realm of high-frequency, computer-driven trading.

High-speed trading comes with real benefits: lower trading expenses, better prices for investors and increased market liquidity. The costs, however, are fairly significant and can be seen in wild volatility and destabilizing trading snafus.

Consider two events in this year alone: In March, Bats Global Markets Inc., a computer-trading firm, had to abandon its initial public offering, after its system crashed the day of its IPO and forced a halt in Apple Inc. shares. And in July, the Wall Street trading firm Knight Capital Group Inc. nearly collapsed after a flawed computer program ran out of control for 45 minutes and placed errant orders. Then there was the so-called flash crash of May 6, 2010, when U.S. markets plunged, losing about $1 trillion in value, before recovering within an hour.

All of this has contributed to the erosion of trust in U.S. markets. Today, only 15 percent of Americans express confidence in financial markets, the lowest since the Chicago Booth/Kellogg School Financial Trust Index was created in January 2009.

[xchrom]

25. Time for Europe to end the cruel nonsense of austerity

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2012/1002/1224324725320.html


SO MUCH for complacency. Early last week the conventional wisdom was that Europe finally had things under control.

The European Central Bank, by promising to buy the bonds of troubled governments if necessary, had soothed markets. All that debtor nations had to do, the story went, was agree to more and deeper austerity – the condition for central bank loans – and all would be well.

But the purveyors of conventional wisdom forgot that people were involved. Suddenly, Spain and Greece were racked by strikes and huge demonstrations. The public in these countries is, in effect, saying it has reached its limit: with unemployment at Great Depression levels and with erstwhile middle-class workers reduced to picking through garbage in search of food, austerity has already gone too far. And this means there may not be a deal after all.

Much commentary suggests the citizens of Spain and Greece are just delaying the inevitable, protesting against sacrifices that must, in fact, be made. But the truth is the protesters are right. More austerity serves no useful purpose; the truly irrational players here are the allegedly serious politicians and officials demanding ever more pain.

[xchrom]

26. Spain jobless claims rise 1.7%

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1002/breaking17.html

Spanish registered unemployment rose for a second month in September amid a worsening recession.

The number of people registering for jobless benefits rose 79,645 from August to 4.7 million, according to data released today by the Labour Ministry in Madrid.

That compares with an increase of 95,817 in the same month last year.

The Bank of Spain said September 26 the euro area's fourth- largest economy is still shrinking at a "significant" pace in the third quarter.

[xchrom]

28. Australia cuts interest rates to 3.25%

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1002/breaking9.html

The Reserve Bank of Australia cut its benchmark interest rate to the lowest level since 2009 as a global slowdown weakens commodity prices that have helped drive 21 years of growth without a recession.

Governor Glenn Stevens and his board lowered the overnight cash-rate target by a quarter percentage point to 3.25 per cent, the central bank said in a statement in Sydney today.

Prices of the nation's key exports, iron ore and coal, have declined in recent months as Europe's fiscal crisis weighs on global growth and Chinese demand.

Mr Stevens's decision to add to rate reductions in May and June reflects signs of weakness in the labour market, subdued inflation and a slowdown in consumer spending.

[xchrom]

29. Spanish bailout speculation mounts

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1002/breaking22.html


Spain's 10-year bonds advanced for a fourth day, the longest streak of gains in three weeks, amid speculation the nation is preparing to seek a sovereign bailout that will trigger European Central Bank purchases of its debt.

Two-year Spanish yields fell to the lowest level in a week after Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Spain is studying the ECB's bond-buying proposal, having met with European Economic and Monetary Affairs Commissioner Olli Rehn yesterday.

"The market thinks that Spain asking for aid is just a matter of time," said Anders Moeller Lumholtz, an analyst at Danske Bank in Copenhagen.

"This would be positive for the bonds and we see it happening within the next couple of weeks."

[xchrom]

30. Consumer sentiment falls sharply

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/1002/breaking33.html

Consumer sentiment fell sharply in September as fears about the economy, the Budget and personal finances weighed on consumers.

The KBC Bank Ireland/ESRI consumer sentiment index fell from 70 in August to 60.2 last month.

The decline reversed most of the improvement seen through 2012 with the Sentiment Index now back at its weakest level since last February.

"For most of the past nine months, the improvement in sentiment reflected a gradually broadening view that the worst might be over. The September survey results suggest consumers are no longer sure that is the case," KBC chief economist Austin Hughes said.

[xchrom]

32. More Bikes Sold Than Cars In Italy For The First Time Since WW2

http://www.businessinsider.com/more-bikes-sold-than-cars-in-italy-for-the-first-time-since-ww2-2012-10



For the first time since the end of the Second World War the number of bicycles sold in Italy has overtaken the number of cars.

In a radical departure for the car-mad country, home to legendary marques such as Fiat, Ferrari and Lamborghini, 1,750,000 bikes were bought in 2011 compared to 1,748,000 motor vehicles.

As austerity cuts deepen and petrol prices hit a new high, the purchase of new cars has dropped to levels not seen since the 1970s.
Families are buying bikes, ditching their second cars and signing up to car pool schemes – a major shift for a nation which has one of the highest car ownership rates in the world, with around 60 cars for every 100 people.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/more-bikes-sold-than-cars-in-italy-for-the-first-time-since-ww2-2012-10#ixzz289R8GXPv

[xchrom]

33. Think We're the Most Entrepreneurial Country In the World? Not So Fast

America's entrepreneurial streak as one of the things that, theoretically, is supposed to make us exceptional as a country. At least it is if you listen to most politicians. But how do we actually stack up with rest of the world when it comes to building our own businesses?

We are, in fact, pretty unexceptional.

A Start-up Rate Lower than Sweden's (and Israel's, and Italy's...)

Entrepreneurship is still a bit of a blurry area of economic research, and (as you'll soon see) using different standards to measure it can yield radically different results. But one popular approach among economists is to count how many new businesses with paid employees start up each year, then divide them by the number of companies that are already up and running. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, an international research outfit that specializes in side-by-side comparisons between different economies, calls this percentage the "employer enterprise birth rate." Others just call it the start-up rate. But whatever you name the measure, the United States scores fairly low on it. We're second to last, for instance, on the OECD graph below, which looks at the years 2007 through 2009.

But hey, at least we beat Canada.

[xchrom]

48. EU Single Market Act II aims to boost competition

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-19812283

The European Commission has put forward new proposals to make it easier for people and businesses to move and do business within the European Union.

The commission's Single Market Act II has four key aims.

They include fostering mobility of citizens and businesses across borders and making it easier to gain access to finance across the 27 nation EU area.

The act also hopes to strengthen social entrepreneurship and boost consumer confidence.