STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 12 July 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 12 July 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 11 July 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 11 July 2013
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Dow Jones 15,460.92 +169.26 (1.11%)
S&P 500 1,675.02 +22.40 (1.36%)
Nasdaq 3,578.30 +57.54 (1.63%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.68% +0.06 (2.29%)
30 Year 3.69% +0.06 (1.65%) [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
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


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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
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.










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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]

[Fuddnik]

1. Oh Gawd.

And we saw that crash coming in 2008 when he was assembling his flight crew.

[Tansy_Gold]

2. Sure did

And for anyone who thinks we're spouting heresy:


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=7922946

[Demeter]

3. The BOG Monsters will be after you!

Run for your lives!


Yeah, that brings back memories. I think most of those idiots have moved on...or I still have them on Ignore. Or they changed their names to protect the guilty...


There will be a big party...I'm bringing crow for the potluck.

[Tansy_Gold]

16. BRING 'EM ON! N/T

[Demeter]

4. I made my first peach pies of the season

Georgia peaches...my babies are still babies.

It came out good. You never know if you still have it, until you try.

[DemReadingDU]

5. yum!

Fresh peach pie, warm from the oven. Heavenly!

[Demeter]

6. Going to buy some more peaches tomorrow

By the time they are ripe, it will be time to make more..

[jtuck004]

7. I wonder if those chortling over the budget surplus would laugh at hungry children too?

We have a budget surplus because we are not investing in people, because we are letting schools be closed down, government employees be laid off, letting useful buildings and roads crumble into dust.

But because some think so highly of the Republican goals they want to celebrate it as a success. It's like thinking of George Zimmerman as a crime fighter.

Economists looked even closer at Reinhart and Rogoff’s data—and the results might surprise you - Here:

In order to predict the future, the ancient Romans would often sacrifice an animal, open up its guts and look closely at its entrails. Since the discovery of an Excel spreadsheet error in Carmen Reinhart and Ken Rogoff’s analysis of debt and growth by University of Massachusetts at Amherst graduate student Thomas Herndon and his professors Michael Ash and Robert Pollin, many economists have taken a cue from the Romans with the Reinhart and Rogoff data to see if there is any hint of an effect of high levels of national debt on economic growth. The two of us gave our first take in analyzing the Reinhart and Rogoff data in our May 29, 2013 column. We wrote that “…we could not find even a shred of evidence in the Reinhart and Rogoff data for a negative effect of government debt on growth.”
...
Understanding all of this matters because, as Mark Gongloff of Huffington Post writes:

Reinhart and Rogoff’s 2010 paper, “Growth in a Time of Debt,” … has been used to justify austerity programs around the world. In that paper, and in many other papers, op-ed pieces and congressional testimony over the years, Reinhart and Rogoff have warned that high debt slows down growth, making it a huge problem to be dealt with immediately. The human costs of this error have been enormous.

Even though there are many effective ways to stimulate economies without adding much to their national debt, the primary remedies for sluggish economies that are actually on the table politically are those that do increase national debt, so it matters whether people think debt is damning or think debt is just debt. It is painful enough that debt has to be paid back (with some combination of interest and principal), and high levels of debt may help cause debt crises like those we have seen for Ireland and Greece. But the bottom line from our examination of the entrails is that the omens and portents in the Reinhart and Rogoff data do not back up the argument that debt has a negative effect on economic growth.

That cartoon is interesting, maybe prophetic. Because we are certainly on the glide path toward a no-growth future, and we most assuredly coming in with our nose too high.

[AnneD]

24. A very wise man once said.....

Where a man's treasure is, there shall be his heart.

Instead of waging war, we could repair our infrastructure and feed and educate our population. At least when we had a war on poverty and a war on cancer, we got something good in return. The way we are spending our money today, we get nothing in return....not even oil.

[jtuck004]

25. I look back over history and look at the lives and blood and money that has

been spent to secure oil for us to drive and live with, at the huge taxpayer subsidies the oil companies are pocketing even today, trumpeting huge profits, and then think about the people voted into office trying to find their lowest common denominator as a human being by denying food to hungry people.

USA! USA! USA!

[Demeter]

8. Another week has come and gone

which means, it's the Weekend!

This weekend is Saline's Celtic festival...an annual extravaganza of bagpipes, haggis, fish and chips and Men in Kilts!

Tonight is Pub Night, when they run the Mr. Prettylegs contest, and various bands entertain with music old and new. I will bring back a fuller report...but let us celebrate that mysterious tribe this Weekend, a salute to Celts everywhere.

You would think Ireland and Scotland, but most of Europe was Celtic at one time or another, and then there's wannabes. So, Slainte!

[xchrom]

9. Chief Economist: European Central Bank 'In Danger Of Overload'

http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-praet-european-central-bank-overload-2013-7

The European Central Bank risks being overloaded by its new and huge task of watching over banks, executive board member Peter Praet warned in a newspaper interview on Friday.
"The eurozone was set up with too few institutions actually capable of acting. We're now paying the price for that," he said.

"We're being entrusted with more and more tasks," Praet, who is the ECB's chief economist, told the business daily Handelsblatt.

"I wouldn't call this a politicisation" of the central bank, "but a possible overburdening," Praet said.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/peter-praet-european-central-bank-overload-2013-7#ixzz2YpfQfzWo

[Demeter]

19. Poor babies!

They might actually have to hire some of those people they've forced into unemployment...

[xchrom]

10. Chinese Finance Minister Makes Some Sobering Comments Yet About How Much Growth Could Slow

http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-finance-minister-makes-some-of-the-most-sobering-comments-yet-about-how-much-growth-could-slow-2013-7

China's finance minister signalled that Beijing may be willing to tolerate economic growth in the second half of the year significantly below 7pc, marking the most sobering comment to date from a senior policymaker on the country's slowdown.

Speaking in Washington, Lou Jiwei said growth in the world's second-largest economy could be 7pc this year, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Friday.

That would mean growth coming in below the government's official target for the first time in living memory.

Mr Lou said economic growth in the first half of the year would be "slightly lower than 7.7pc". China is due to report GDP for the latest April-June quarter on Monday.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/chinese-finance-minister-makes-some-of-the-most-sobering-comments-yet-about-how-much-growth-could-slow-2013-7#ixzz2YpgG8Grt

[xchrom]

11. Venice flood barrier executives arrested in massive fraud swoop

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/uk-italy-venice-fraud-idUKBRE96B0E220130712

(Reuters) - Police conducted dawn raids on Friday on companies across Italy linked to the construction of Venice's flood barrier, arresting seven people suspected of rigging lucrative contracts for the multi-billion euro project.

Police are investigating whether the consortium that is managing the building work on behalf of the government fixed the bidding process in favour of local companies and paid off others with public funds to keep them quiet.

In the early hours, several hundred tax police conducted 140 raids on companies associated with the "Moses Project" all over Italy, placing seven people under house arrest and forbidding seven others from travelling.

The cost of building flood barriers to save Venice from sinking into the lagoon on which it is built doubled to 4.3 billion euro (3.7 billion pounds) a year after construction began in 2004. Building is now roughly 75 percent complete, according to a project website.

[xchrom]

12. JPMorgan reports 31 percent rise in profit as trading rebounds

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/uk-jpmorgan-results-idUKBRE96B0CM20130712


(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) reported a 31 percent rise in quarterly profit on Friday as trading revenue rebounded and the biggest U.S. bank by assets set aside less money to cover bad loans.

Net income rose to $6.50 billion (4.3 billion pounds), or $1.60 per share, in the second quarter ended June 30 from $4.96 billion, or $1.21 per share, a year earlier.

The year-earlier quarter included the vast majority of the losses of more than $6.2 billion on derivatives positions that were so large that hedge funds had referred to the trader handling them as the "London Whale".

Provision for credit losses fell 78 percent to $47 million.

[xchrom]

13. France backs EU Commission's bank resolution plans

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/uk-eu-bankingunion-france-idUKBRE96B0DE20130712

(Reuters) - France threw its support on Friday behind European Commission plans for a new agency to wind down troubled banks, setting Paris up for a new clash with Germany over a key euro zone policy.

Finance Minister Pierre Moscovici welcomed the proposals for a so-called bank resolution mechanism, which he said would be one of the key pillars of the euro zone's banking union along with joint supervision and deposit guarantees.

"Now we have to work out the details of the mechanism for resolving banking crises within the euro zone, which requires the capacity to respond quickly," Moscovici said in a statement.

While France has from the start been a key supporter of the broader concept of banking union within the euro zone, Germany has had reservations and criticised the Commission's proposals as out of step with EU law.

[xchrom]

14. Bank of England guidance to be tied to unemployment - Reuters poll

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/07/12/uk-boe-poll-idUKLNE96B00A20130712

(Reuters) - The Bank of England will tie guidance on its policy to unemployment, according to a Reuters poll of economists that found them divided over whether this was a major change or just a tinkering at the edges.

Former Bank of Canada chief Mark Carney took the helm at the BoE this month and wasted no time in telling investors after his first Monetary Policy Committee meeting that they were getting ahead of themselves with bets on when interest rates might start to rise.

Half of the 32 economists in the poll, taken in the past week, predicted future guidance on the likely policy path would be based on the unemployment rate while 11 said it would be centred on a timeframe. Five said it would be a combination of the two.

"It's going to be based on economic conditions and most likely it will be the jobless rate," said Michael Saunders at Citi.

[Fuddnik]

15. 11 foot crocodile captured about 2 miles from my house.

One of the dog parks I go to is on Lake Tarpon, as well as a restaurant we go to every now and then. I've seen lots of gators from their deck, but never a crock.

http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/wildlife/long-rumored-crocodile-captured-in-lake-tarpon/2131063

Long-rumored crocodile captured in Lake Tarpon

By Matt McKinney, Times Staff Writer

Thursday, July 11, 2013 8:54pm

TARPON SPRINGS — Wanda Vekasi had been hearing stories about a crocodile in Lake Tarpon for almost a year. But that wasn't the first thing that came to mind when she saw a long, peculiar object floating behind her waterfront home Monday evening.

An alligator? Vekasi has seen "more than enough" gators after living in the area for 13 years. But this was different.

"He didn't look anything like a gator. He had big spikes sticking out of his tail. It just looked evil," she said. "When I saw its mouth open, I just knew I didn't want to go out looking for it."


What Vekasi saw floating in the big freshwater lake turned out to be a 700-pound, 11-foot-long American crocodile.

No other crocodile has been captured this far north, a wildlife official said, though one was photographed in northeast St. Petersburg in 2011.

Vekasi called a trapper she'd been working with recently to capture alligators near her home. It took Mike Amyx and three crew members more than four hours to capture the creature, Vekasi said.

(snip)

[xchrom]

17. ...

[xchrom]

18. Brussels warns of risks Spanish banking sector faces from ongoing recession

http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/07/10/inenglish/1373468879_596912.html

The European Commission on Wednesday said the adjustment program imposed on Spain in exchange for the bailout to clean up its banking sector remains on track but warned of a number of potential risks that could derail the situation.

In its third report on Spain’s compliance with the terms of the rescue package of up to 100 billion euros to recapitalize banks in problems, the so-called troika - the Commission, the European Central Bank and the IMF - highlighted the risks deriving from the banking business in itself, uncertainties generated by new regulations, and the impact of a prolonged and deep recession. “The challenges are significant,” the report said.

The troika’s admonitions put something of a damper on the increasingly upbeat mood of the government regarding the arrival of a much-awaited economic recovery. They also come on the heels of updated forecasts released Tuesday by the IMF predicting that the economy would not recover until 2015, a year later than previously expected.

The Commission warned that the ongoing depressed state of economic activity accompanied by rampant unemployment could further push up non-performing loans. It painted a scenario of a vicious circle under which banks further tighten the tap on lending in order to meet capital needs, thereby delaying the recovery further. If the economy remains in the doldrums, this could lead to further deterioration in the quality of the banks’ assets and further need to top up capital.

[Demeter]

20. Digital Health Records’ Risks Emerge as Deaths Blamed on Systems GIGO RULES

GARBAGE IN, GARBAGE OUT...THE BIGGEST PROBLEM IN DATABASE MANAGEMENT TODAY AND ALWAYS...TO ERR IS HUMAN, TO REALLY F THINGS UP REQUIRES A COMPUTER AND BLIND FAITH IN THE SYSTEM...When it comes to electronic records, the most dangerous time for patients appears to be immediately after a facility installs the new technology...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-25/digital-health-records-risks-emerge-as-deaths-blamed-on-systems.html

When Scot Silverstein’s 84-year-old mother, Betty, starting mixing up her words, he worried she was having a stroke. So he rushed her to Abington Memorial Hospital in Pennsylvania.

After she was admitted, Silverstein, who is a doctor, looked at his mother’s electronic health records, which are designed to make medical care safer by providing more information on patients than paper files do. He saw that Sotalol, which controls rapid heartbeats, was correctly listed as one of her medications.

Days later, when her heart condition flared up, he re-examined her records and was stunned to see that the drug was no longer listed, he said. His mom later suffered clotting, hemorrhaged and required emergency brain surgery. She died in 2011. Silverstein blames her death on problems with the hospital’s electronic medical records.

“I had the indignity of watching them put her in a body bag and put her in a hearse in my driveway,” said Silverstein, who has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit. “If paper records had been in place, unless someone had been using disappearing ink, this would not have happened.”



....Digital medical records, a cornerstone of U.S. President Barack Obama’s push to modernize the nation’s health-care system, are increasingly common at the doctor’s office.

[Demeter]

21. The Largest Gold Miner On The Planet Is Losing Billions In The Andes Mountains

http://www.businessinsider.com/barrick-to-slow-chile-gold-mine-project-2013-6

The world's largest gold mining company said Friday it is slowing construction of its massive Pascua-Lama project in the Andes Mountains and will likely take a writedown of between $4.5 billion and $5.5 billion in the second quarter on the project. Barrick Gold Corp. said it now will target first production by mid-2016 compared to the previous schedule of the second half of 2014. Falling gold prices, rising costs and a sagging stock price weighed down by its Pascua-Lama project have plagued the Canadian company. Since late 2011, the gold price has fallen by $600 — over 30 percent.

Last month, Chile's environmental regulator stopped construction and imposed sanctions on the $8.5 billion Pascua Lama mine, citing "serious violations" of its environmental permit. An indigenous community has complained the project threatens their water supply and pollutes the glaciers. Barrick has already spent about $5 billion on the project, which straddles the Chile-Argentine border at 16,400 feet (5,000 meters) above sea level. Barrick said it has submitted a plan, subject to approval by regulators in Chile, to construct a water management system in compliance with permit conditions.

Argentine authorities have insisted that Lama, their side of the bi-national project, will proceed with or without Chile, taking advantage of the infrastructure already in place for its Veladero mine, which is already producing ore just downhill. But most of Pascua-Lama's 18 million ounces of gold and 676 million ounces of silver are in Chile, where Barrick warned shareholders earlier this year that it might abandon the project if production can't begin in 2013.

"In light of the challenging business environment we are facing today, and taking into consideration existing construction delays, the company is advancing the project in a prudent manner by extending the construction schedule over a longer period," Barrick President and Chief Executive Jamie Sokalsky said in a statement.

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/barrick-to-slow-chile-gold-mine-project-2013-6#ixzz2YqgqJ9zi

[Demeter]

22. Reining In the Regulators By THE NYT EDITORIAL BOARD

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/06/opinion/reining-in-the-regulators.html?_r=1&

For all its rabid partisanship, Congress has shown time and again that it is willing to come together to deregulate corporate America. The latest example is a new bill in the Senate that would effectively end the independence of independent regulatory agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Consumer Product Safety Commission and the National Labor Relations Board. Introduced by Republicans Rob Portman and Susan Collins and Democrat Mark Warner, the measure, if enacted, would scotch any remaining hope for putting the Dodd-Frank financial reform law fully into practice anytime soon — if ever. In the long run, it would benefit powerful corporate interests over investor protection, consumer health and safety and basic fairness.

Unlike cabinet departments and executive agencies, independent agencies do not report to the White House. They are overseen by Congress, which deemed them independent to insulate them from pressure by the executive branch and to keep them focused on their public missions. The Senate bill, called the Independent Agency Regulatory Analysis Act of 2013, would require such agencies to submit all significant draft rules to the White House for review. The stated goal is to ensure that new rules appropriately balance costs and benefits. In reality, White House review, first established in 1980 to vet draft regulations from executive agencies, has long proved to be an obstacle to timely and strong regulation. The review process often adds lengthy delays to already arduous rule-making procedures, in large part because corporations use it as an opportunity to lobby for favorable treatment. It is opaque and also politicized, as shown most recently by the Obama administration in 2012, when it delayed important rules in an attempt to coddle industry and avoid Republican criticism in an election year, creating a regulatory backlog that persists to this day.

Subjecting independent agencies to executive regulatory review would not improve the rule-making process, but it would ensure that ostensibly regulated industries are as unregulated and deregulated as possible...There is no question that making independent agencies less independent is a bad idea. The question is whether Congressional Democrats and administration officials will join forces to kill the measure.

[Demeter]

23. Currency Controls in Cyprus Increase Worry About Euro System By ANDREW HIGGINS

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/10/world/europe/currency-controls-in-cyprus-increase-worry-about-euro-system.html?_r=0&pagewanted=print

On a visit to Athens this year, Marios Loucaides, a Cypriot businessman, saw an apartment he liked in the heart of the Greek capital and decided to buy it. He told the owner he would seal the deal with a bank transfer — the price was 170,000 euros, about $220,000 — once he got back to Cyprus. After returning home, however, Mr. Loucaides discovered that the euros he had on deposit here in Nicosia, the capital, could not be moved to Greece, even though the two countries share the same currency and, in theory at least, the same commitment to the free movement of capital. The apartment deal collapsed. And so, too, did Mr. Loucaides’s belief that Europe has a common currency. Tangled in restrictions imposed in March as part of a bailout for the country’s ailing banks, a euro in Cyprus is no longer the same as one in France, Germany or Greece.

“A Cyprus euro is a second-class euro,” said Mr. Loucaides, the managing director of the Cyprus Trading Corporation... The rules of the European Union, enshrined in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, ban restrictions on the movement of capital, but the measures by Cyprus have been endorsed by the European Central Bank and the union’s executive arm, the European Commission, as essential to prevent money from fleeing the country. While the European Central Bank declined to comment on the Cyprus situation, officials in Brussels say they remain firmly committed to maintaining the euro as a single currency.

Nevertheless, many financial experts say Cyprus has, in effect, made a “silent, hidden exit” from the euro, said Guntram B. Wolff, the director of Bruegel, a Brussels research group. Despite a softening of restrictions, he added, “the euro in Cyprus is still not the same as a euro in Frankfurt.”

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