STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 20 August 2013

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 20 August 2013[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 19 August 2013

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 19 August 2013
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Dow Jones 15,010.74 -70.73 (-0.47%)
S&P 500 1,646.06 -9.77 (-0.59%)
Nasdaq 3,589.09 -13.69 (-0.38%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.49% -0.03 (-1.19%)
30 Year 3.58% -0.03 (-0.83%)[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.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.









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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. Could be worse

Droning, indefinite detention, extraordinary rendition....but that's for next month!

[Demeter]

2. I feel your pain

[Demeter]

20. For Tansy Gold, who is feeling low, a special Dilbert

[Demeter]

3. Criminal, Victim or Just Stupid??

http://nihoncassandra.blogspot.com/2013/08/criminal-victim-or-just-stupid.html

So Bruno Iksil will (apparently) not face charges. Hmmmm. I've had nothing to say on The Whale, mostly because the debacle (and its intricacies) have been covered rather well (particularly by Matt Levine) leaving little to add on the subject. But no charges? Really? Why does this shock me? Because it appears obvious that with the size of the position and the persistence of accumulation and targeted activity in the market, that the objective of Mr. Iksil was to paint a false and misleading picture of the market by intentionally manipulating the market price (hence marks) of his position and by not letting prices trade askew, (if he could do anything about it). Anyone who has traded size in squeezable markets will immediately know what I am saying.

Snookered Hedge Funds are applying similar logic in their lawsuits against Porsche AG (though admittedly Porsche was operating in a market that was decidely more-limited in scale). But I wonder, had Mr Iksil been successful in engineering a squeeze, or waiting out for some market event that caused redemptions and deleveraging within oppositely-positioned funds, whether JPM would have been subject to similarly flavoured claims or lawsuits, irrespective of the theoretically unlimited market size in the offending instrument, constrained only by counterparty and credit limitations.

As an equity girl, this is all the more egregious. We must file positions periodically in great detail, and whenever we move above a modest level. We are obliged to law to act methodically when dominate a market - either making a bid, or limiting our actions. The idea of owning 50% or 70% of a "market" and still being allowed to operate unassailed is mind-boggling to the ruler-followers or impossible tempting to the black-hats. As a price maker, one controls the price, and one can use every marginal trade to insure, if not a profit, then against a mark-down...until one cannot, as a result of being placed upon Uncle Jamie's knee and spanked.

So the idea that Bruno Iksil had anything other than criminal intent in painting and perpetuating a false and fictitious market is laughable, and preposterous. This leaves two possibilities. The first one is that he was ordered to do so and cut loose when it went horribly wrong. That JPM tried to cover up a large and ...ahem...rather embarassing loss is not in dispute. But it appears this resulted from concerns about how stupid they would look to have let it happen, rather than management collusion on trading objectives and strategy - so I'd attribute this a low-probability. The second possibility is that Bruno Iksil is just the dumbest-of-fucking dumbasses ever to get a bankrolled seat at the table!! Rather than having criminal inten, he simply redefined the word STUPID in bold-faced upper-case. But Ecole Centrale is nothing like Nick Leeson's Middlesex Univ., and Mr Iksil didn't crawl out from under a back-office rock. This is an absurd thought. He is anything but stupid, and knew precisely what he was doing and trying to accomplish by continuing to increase the size of his position with the well-defined objective of protecting the mark-to-market valuation on his existing (large) book. Can this be called anything else? I find it surprising that this behaviour is not the focus of attention. It is precisely this point which regulatory authorities should be focusing: the interference of market-determination of prices resulting from the creation of a false and misleading market. All interested in liquid functioning democratic markets determining prices should take note.

HE WASN'T THE ONLY ONE....I'D SAY TWO OUT OF THREE: STUPID CRIMINAL

[Demeter]

4. Merkel and Schaeuble rule out additional haircut on Greek debt MERKEL JUMPS SHARK

http://www.ekathimerini.com/4dcgi/_w_articles_wsite1_1_17/08/2013_514365

There will be no further haircut on Greek sovereign debt, German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeated on Saturday.

“I see no haircut for Greece,” Merkel told German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.

“I am amazed again and again by the carelessness with which this is being talked about,” she said.

“Such a move could spark uncertainty in other parts of Europe,” Merkel warned.

Meanwhile, in an interview with Badische Neueste Nachrichten, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble also ruled out the prospect of an additional Greek haircut, acknowledging that the recession-hit country had beaten most economic predictions.

German opposition parties have piled pressure on Merkel ahead of a national election on September 22, after the country’s central bank last week claimed that Greece would probably need more bailout funding by 2014.



ARE ALL THE WORLD'S LEADERS LOSING THEIR MINDS? OR JUST THE ONES THAT THINK THEY RUN THE WORLD?

[Demeter]

5. BofA Will Dissolve Merrill Lynch Unit While Keeping Name

I GUESS THE COAST IS CLEAR, FINALLY

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-16/bofa-plans-to-dissolve-merrill-lynch-to-simplify-company.html

Merrill Lynch & Co., the 99-year-old firm known for its “thundering herd” of brokers pitching stocks to Main Street, may cease to exist as a legal entity more than four years after being acquired by Bank of America Corp.

While Bank of America will keep the Merrill Lynch brand for its retail brokerage and investment bank, the Charlotte, North Carolina-based company plans to dissolve the subsidiary as early as the fourth quarter, according to an Aug. 2 filing. The firm will assume Merrill Lynch’s obligations and debt...Merging the legal entity could help Moynihan hit his $8 billion-a-year cost-cutting target and comply with regulators who want to make the biggest banks easier to resolve in a crisis...Merrill Lynch had about $62 billion in long-term debt as of the second quarter, Hendler said. The move shouldn’t affect Merrill Lynch bonds because spreads have already converged with those of the parent company, Hendler said...



FOUR YEARS OF FUMIGATION, LITIGATION, LEGISLATION, PROVOCATION....

[Demeter]

6. U.S. senator wants to grant the SEC more time to seek penalties

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/usa-sec-fraud-idUSL2N0GD0O320130814

A U.S. Senate Democrat is developing legislation that would double from five to 10 years the amount of time that federal securities regulators have to seek penalties, in an effort to help buy them more time to investigate complex cases.

Rhode Island Senator Jack Reed, a high-ranking member of the Senate Banking Committee, has been working with officials at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and expects to introduce the measure some time this fall, his staffer confirmed.

The draft bill would extend the statute of limitations for the SEC and give it more flexibility as it tries to turbocharge its enforcement division. It is still haunted by its failure to catch the Bernard Madoff and Allen Stanford Ponzi schemes and has been criticized for a lack of marquee financial-crisis cases against Wall Street executives.

President Barack Obama earlier this year brought in former federal prosecutor Mary Jo White to head the agency, and in recent months it has charged hedge fund tycoon Steven A. Cohen and stepped up actions against municipal fraud, among other big cases...

[Demeter]

7. U.S. consumer debt drops in second quarter, continuing post-crisis trend

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/14/us-usa-fed-consumerdebt-idUSBRE97D0T820130814

Americans trimmed their overall indebtedness in the latest quarter, continuing a nearly five-year trend as mortgage balances fell further, data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York showed on Wednesday.

Total consumer debt stood at $11.15 trillion in the second quarter, down 0.7 percent from the previous quarter, the New York Fed said in its quarterly household debt and credit report.

While U.S. student debt and auto loans rose, the country's post-recession deleveraging cycle appeared intact as household delinquency rates dropped to 7.6 percent in the three months to June, from 8.1 percent in the first quarter of the year.

Americans have consistently deleveraged in the years since the housing collapse and financial crisis, and credit is now well below the peak of $12.68 trillion in the third quarter of 2008....

[Demeter]

8. Demand for physical gold jumps 53% in second quarter

http://www.cnbc.com/id/100964039

Global consumers aggressively ramped up purchases of physical gold in the April-June period, led by opportunistic buyers in emerging markets at a time when the precious metal suffered a record quarterly loss, the World Gold Council (WGC) said on Thursday.

Consumers around the world bought 53 percent more bullion in the second quarter from the year ago period, bringing total purchases of gold jewelry, bar and coins to 1,083.2 metric tons, according to WGC's quarterly report on demand trends.

Of this, India accounted for the biggest share at 310 metric tons, which is a 71 percent rise from the same period a year earlier, followed by China at 275.7 metric tons, marking an 87 percent increase. ...

[Demeter]

9. Argentina Won’t Extend Maturities on Dollar Debt, Fernandez Says

SO, KISS OFF IMF, WORLD BANK, ETC.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-14/argentina-won-t-extend-maturities-on-dollar-debt-fernandez-says.html


Argentina plans to obtain new funding from multilateral lenders like the Inter-American Development Bank for projects and won’t roll over existing debt, President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner Fernandez said.

“The other day I heard there are opportunities to get cheap debt in the world. If that means taking on debt for public works, fantastic,” Fernandez said today during a speech on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. “Is that the debt you want or to roll over debt? Because every time you extend a maturity you pay fees and interest to the banks. So don’t come to me without explaining what kind of debt we’re talking about.”

Fernandez said that while she is open to discussions with bankers, industry leaders and unions, she will maintain policies introduced by her and her late husband and predecessor Nestor Kirchner...Argentina has $2 billion of dollar bonds coming due on Sept. 12 and another $5.8 billion maturing in 2015.

Since taking office in 2007, Fernandez has seized $24 billion of private pension funds, nationalized the country’s largest oil company and tightened control of the foreign exchange market by limiting imports, forcing companies to repatriate money held abroad and banning most purchases of foreign currency. Those measures have helped push up borrowing costs to an average 12.98 percent, the highest in emerging markets.

In her first public appearance since the primaries to choose candidates for congressional mid-term elections in October, the 60-year-old president, said she won’t devalue the peso. The currency has weakened 11.7 percent this year, the most among major Latin American currencies after Venezuela’s bolivar.

MORE

[Demeter]

10. CFTC asks court not to dismiss suit against U.S. Bancorp unit

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/16/cftc-lawsuit-usbancorp-idUSL2N0GG28K20130816

U.S. regulators on Thursday asked a federal court not to dismiss their lawsuit against a bank tied to the blow-up of brokerage Peregrine Financial, saying the bank helped bring about millions of dollars of losses for Peregrine customers.

At issue is a lawsuit filed by the U.S. Commodities Futures Trading Commission in June against U.S. Bank N.A., a unit of U.S. Bancorp, based in Minneapolis. The lawsuit accused the bank of letting Peregrine founder Russell Wasendorf Sr secure loans against money that belonged to his brokerage's customers.

The lawsuit was the first against a bank tied to the collapse of Peregrine, which filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2012 after Wasendorf confessed to bilking his clients of more than $100 million in a nearly 20-year-long fraud.

Wasendorf began serving a 50-year sentence in February.

Attorneys for U.S. Bank filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this month, saying the CFTC was trying to shift responsibility for a Ponzi scheme to the bank, even though the bank itself was a victim of the scheme....MORE

[Demeter]

11. U.S. asks BP for answers on alleged market rigging

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-asks-bp-for-answers-on-alleged-market-rigging-2013-08-06

U.S. regulators ordered BP PLC (BP, BP.LN) on Monday to respond to charges that it allegedly manipulated natural gas markets.

The order, issued by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, is the latest development in an inquiry dating back to at least 2011. The order directs BP to show why it should not pay a $28 million civil penalty and give up $800,000 in profits.

The energy commission claims London-based BP violated the Natural Gas Act by manipulating natural gas markets at Houston Ship Channel from September 2008 to November 2008.

BP spokesman Geoff Morrell said in a statement that the allegations "are without merit and we stand by what we previously disclosed...that BP natural gas traders did not engage in any market manipulation in late 2008."

MUCH MORE

[Demeter]

12. That's All, Folks!

I can do no more tonight. Sweet dreams and a safe awakening!

[Demeter]

13. California discourages needy from signing up for food stamps IT'S A SCANDAL!

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-california-food-stamps-20130818,0,3317166.story

For years, Texas was among a handful of states that required every resident seeking help with grocery bills to first be fingerprinted, an exercise typically associated with criminals. Even though Republican Gov. Rick Perry ultimately got rid of the policy, Texas — always seeking to whittle down "big government" — remains one of the most effective states at keeping its poor out of the giant federal food stamp program. But it is not No. 1. That distinction belongs to California. Liberal California discourages eligible people from signing up for food stamps at rates conservative activists elsewhere envy. Only about half of the Californians who qualify for help get it. That stands in contrast to other states, including some deeply Republican ones, that enroll 80% to 90% of those with incomes low enough to qualify.

That public policy paradox — one of the country's most liberal states is the stingiest on one of the nation's biggest benefit programs — has several causes, some intentional, some not. It also has two clear consequences: Millions of Californians don't get help, and the state leaves hundreds of millions of dollars of federal money on the table. The federal government pays for almost all of the food stamp program, which provides cash aid to about 46 million Americans at a cost of $74.6 billion this year. States administer the program. In Washington, those costs have generated a furious debate that will heat up again next month when Congress returns from its summer recess. While the federal government pays the bill, states get an economic boost from more people with money to spend on groceries. Cash for food is so close to free money for states that several, such as Florida, with a Republican-controlled Legislature and a conservative GOP governor, pay contractors to scour the landscape for people to enroll in the program.

"It is impossible to get states to do conservative types of reform to this program," said Robert Rector, a senior research fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation who has tried and failed to get GOP-controlled states to enact tougher enrollment standards.

"The things they could do, they don't," he said. "It would bring them political controversy and no financial gain for their state. It is like asking them to jump into a buzz saw and to bring their governor along."

Not so in California, where onerous paperwork requirements, inhospitable county benefits offices and confusing online applications often prevail. While the U.S. Department of Agriculture's latest study reflects the participation rate in 2010, agency enrollment figures released since then leave California stuck in last place. In California, sometimes even those who qualify get rejected, as understaffed agencies prove unable to properly process applications...

[Demeter]

14. Detroit bankruptcy challenged on constitutional grounds

http://news.yahoo.com/detroit-bankruptcy-challenged-constitutional-grounds-055853429.html

Public labor unions took aim at Detroit's historic bankruptcy filing on Monday, asking a U.S. court to toss the city's bid for protection from its creditors because it is constitutionally flawed on both the state and federal levels. A union that represents public-sector workers even took the unusual step of arguing that Chapter 9 of the federal bankruptcy code, under which municipalities seek protection from their creditors, violates the U.S. Constitution.... Municipal bankruptcy experts said the U.S. Supreme Court settled Chapter 9's constitutionality in 1938....Under U.S. bankruptcy code, Detroit must prove it is insolvent and has negotiated with creditors in good faith, or there were too many creditors to make negotiations feasible, in order to be certified by a federal judge for a bankruptcy proceeding...

But as a midnight deadline for filing objections to the bankruptcy passed, Detroit's bondholders were conspicuously absent from the long list of unions, pension funds and individual creditors lining up to argue against bankruptcy...Unions representing the city's firefighters and police alleged that state-appointed emergency manager Kevyn Orr had failed to negotiate in good faith, stating "there were no negotiations."

For his part, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette said in a filing that even if the bankruptcy case continues, the city cannot be allowed to ignore state constitutional protections for retirement benefits earned by its employees. Schuette's filing does not ask the judge to prevent Detroit's bankruptcy from proceeding. Unions and the city's two public pension funds made similar arguments in their filings, claiming a bankruptcy filing will lead to an unconstitutional reduction in retirement benefits.

The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 25, in its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Detroit, argued that Chapter 9 encroaches on states' rights. The union made more conventional legal arguments as well. It argued that Detroit, which last month filed for what would rank as the largest-ever U.S. municipal bankruptcy, has not proven it is insolvent and has not negotiated in good faith with its creditors. AFSCME also said Michigan's emergency manager law, which enabled Detroit to file for bankruptcy on July 18, violates the state constitution because the law does not explicitly protect retirement benefits for public workers.

The United Auto Workers, whose members work for the city, also filed an objection early Monday evening, claiming that Gov. Rick Snyder violated Michigan's constitution when he permitted Detroit's emergency manager Kevyn Orr to file for bankruptcy. A June 14 "Proposal to Creditors" made roughly a month before the bankruptcy filing "serves as the vehicle of Governor Snyder and EM Orr to use federal bankruptcy law to impair pensions protected from impairment" by the Michigan constitution, the UAW said in its objection...

MUCH MORE

WHOODA THUNK THAT A DISCARDED, DEAD CITY COULD CAUSE SO MUCH FUSS?

MY BROTHER HAS A THEORY, THAT AS GLOBALLY RESOURCES BECOME SCARCER, AND CLIMATE CHANGE DISRUPTS EVERYONE'S WAY OF LIFE, THE HINTERLANDS AND REMOTEST PLACES (ISLANDS, EVEN AUSTRALIA, AND ANY PLACE WHERE THE BASICS OF LIFE: FOOD, WATER, ENERGY, NEED TO BE IMPORTED) WILL BE ABANDONED, AS POPULATIONS MASS IN THE PLACES THAT ARE BEST SUPPLIED AND EASIEST TO LIVE IN.

DETROIT, WITH ITS WATER, FARMLAND, AND GEOGRAPHIC ADVANTAGES, AND TEMPERATE CLIMATE, IS IDEAL FOR A 1% CAPITAL CITY. DETROIT COULD EASILY SUPPORT ITSELF, UNLIKE PLACES THAT LACK ONE OR MORE OF THESE ADVANTAGES. THE INFRASTRUCTURE, WHILE NOT IN GREAT SHAPE, IS STILL THERE.

JUST HAVE TO MOVE ALL THOSE PESKY POOR PEOPLE OUT OF THE WAY....

[xchrom]

15. MARKETS ARE TUMBLING AROUND THE WORLD — INDONESIA CRASHES AGAIN

http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-august-20-2013-8

Now this is an ugly day.
And we'll get right to the big story: Indonesia.

The Jakarta market has been getting absolutely wrecked. For the second day in a row it has fallen more than 5%, as it's the latest focal point for the big story of the year, which is the rush of money out of emerging markets.

Nearby, the Thai market (the SET) lost 3%.

Other losers:

Japan -2.6%
Italy -2%
Germany -1.2%
Spain -1.8%


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morning-markets-august-20-2013-8#ixzz2cVExuIUa

[Demeter]

16. Every Important Person In Bitcoin Just Got Subpoenaed By New York's Financial Regulator

http://www.forbes.com/sites/kashmirhill/2013/08/12/every-important-person-in-bitcoin-just-got-subpoenaed-by-new-yorks-financial-regulator/

Things are getting serious for Bitcoin this month: a federal judge declared it real money, Bloomberg gave it an experimental ticker (XBT), and New York’s financial regulator announced an interest in regulating it. Declaring Bitcoin “a virtual Wild West for narcotraffickers and other criminals,” the New York State Department of Financial Services is stepping into the sheriff’s boots.

“We believe that – for a number of reasons – putting in place appropriate regulatory safeguards for virtual currencies will be beneficial to the long-term strength of the virtual currency industry,” said NYSDFS superintendent Benjamin Lawsky in a statement.

The department is starting out by subpoenaing 22 digital-currency companies and investors to get a lay of the Bitcoin land. They sent letters to the major Bitcoin players asking them to hand over information regarding their money laundering controls, consumer protection practices, source of funding, pitch books (for Bitcoin start-ups) and investment strategies (for Bitcoin investors). The recipients of the subpoenas are nationwide and include everyone on the “people making real money on Bitcoin” list, such as Bitcoin exchanges and processors, “ mining equipment” maker Butterfly Labs, and major investors, such as the Winklevosses, Marc Andreessen & Ben Horowitz, and Google’s venture fund. (Full list below.)

A subpoena doesn’t mean criminal activity has taken place. A person familiar with the matter says the two-year-old department wants to make sure Bitcoin isn’t a conduit for illicit activities and is gathering information in order to decide whether to issue regulation for virtual currencies. The department has the authority to create regulation if there is no other primary regulator. Liberty Reserve — a virtual currency recently taken down by the feds for its use in money laundering and child porn rings — is on the mind of the department as it investigates Bitcoin...MORE

WELL, HELL, THEY SHOULD SHUT DOWN THE US DOLLAR, IMMEDIATELY! THE TERRORISM ALONE IS A DEATH SENTENCE!

[xchrom]

17. Apartments In The Bay Area Are Now Being Converted Back To Condos

http://www.businessinsider.com/apartments-in-the-bay-area-are-now-being-converted-back-to-condos-2013-8

From Carolyn Said at the San Francisco Chronicle: Bay Area rental pendulum swings to condos
Some condominium complexes opened at the worst possible time - in the depths of the real estate downturn when home buyers were few and far between. They coped by becoming for-rent apartment buildings instead. But now, as the housing recovery accelerates, several East Bay and South Bay developments are switching back to for-sale condos.

...

For instance, the 125-unit Broadway Grand in Oakland, developed by Signature Properties, first opened as a condo complex, sold 17 units, and then switched to rentals as the market tanked ... Last year it went condo again, and now has sold all but 11 of its units.

Similarly, the Skyline in San Jose with 121 units is now switching to condos after opening as rentals during the downturn. In Emeryville, the 424-unit Bridgewater is switching from rentals to condos. The current phase II, which started in June with 174 homes ranging from $185,000 to $450,000, is finding a receptive audience, said Alan Mark, president of the Mark Co., which is marketing the complex.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/apartments-in-the-bay-area-are-now-being-converted-back-to-condos-2013-8#ixzz2cVFcCaAD

[xchrom]

18. Guardian Editor Says British Intelligence Agents Destroyed Their Hard Drives After Snowden Story

http://www.businessinsider.com/guardian-editor-says-british-intelligence-agents-destroyed-their-hard-drives-2013-8

In an opinion piece posted Monday afternoon to the Guardian website, editor-in-chief Alan Rusbridger defended the Guardian's acceptance of documents from Wikileaks in 2010 and his paper's practices on the Edward Snowden story — including using reporter Glenn Greenwald's domestic partner to ferry documents between Germany and Brazil.
He also issued a scathing indictment of the tactics of the British cyber intelligence arm, the Government Communications Headquarters.

In a particularly revealing moment, Rusbridger said he was contacted by an agent of the GCHQ, who said "You've had your fun. Now we want the stuff back," referring to the classified material provided to the paper by Snowden.

Rusbridger said he asked the official if the British government intended to shut down the paper. The official said that in the absence of the handover or destruction of classified material, that was indeed the intention.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/guardian-editor-says-british-intelligence-agents-destroyed-their-hard-drives-2013-8#ixzz2cVGPRYmI

[Demeter]

19. Spitzer finding less forgiveness on Wall Street

MAYBE BECAUSE THEY ARE THE ONES THAT OUTED HIM....FOR CAUSE. HE WAS RAINING ON THEIR PARADE.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/08/18/199667/spitzer-finding-less-forgiveness.html

Eliot Spitzer came to a gospel concert in Brooklyn in search of what he's wanted for five long years. As New Yorkers waited in line and lounged in camping chairs at a park before the show one recent evening, the disgraced former governor and attorney general, his white dress shirt sleeves rolled up, gripped hands and grinned. "Welcome back!" one woman shouted. "You were a great AG!" cooed another.

Spitzer's political revival has also taken him on a repentant sinner's path to houses of worship on New York City's fringes. He has staged an improbable bid for city comptroller on subway stops in the city's working-class outer boroughs as he hopes for political redemption a half decade after a prostitution scandal forced him from office.

While polls indicate the public is willing to give Spitzer a second chance, New York's elites are not so forgiving. The toppled "Wall Street sheriff" has been touting his past assaults on the financial industry, fueling worries in executive suites and boardrooms that a Spitzer comeback may spell trouble. His foes are hoping to tap Wall Street's simmering hatred and harness its most potent weapon - money - to thwart his return.

Spitzer is "running against Wall Street and away from his scandal and his past," said Costas Panagopoulos, a political science professor at Fordham University. In the financial industry, "the scars are deep enough and real enough that they may cause problems for his candidacy."

Read more here: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/08/18/199667/spitzer-finding-less-forgiveness.html#storylink=cpy

[xchrom]

21. Capital Flows Back to U.S. as Markets Slump Across Asia

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-19/clouds-gather-over-asian-economies-as-capital-flows-back-to-u-s-.html

Asia’s role as the world’s growth engine is waning as economies across the region weaken and investors pull out billions of dollars.

The Indian rupee fell to a record low today, Thailand is in recession and Indonesian stocks have slumped about 20 percent since their peak. Chinese banks’ bad loans are rising and economists forecast Malaysia will post its second straight quarter of sub-5 percent growth this week.

The clouds forming in Asia as liquidity tightens and China’s slowdown curbs demand for commodities and goods are fueling a selloff of emerging-market stocks, reversing a flow of money into the region in favor of nascent recoveries in the U.S. and Europe. Emerging markets from Brazil to Indonesia have raised borrowing costs in 2013 to try to aid their currencies as the prospect of reduced U.S. monetary stimulus curbs demand for assets in developing nations.

“The eye of the storm is directly above emerging markets now, two years after it hovered over Europe and four years after it hit the U.S.,” said Stephen Jen, co-founder of hedge fund SLJ Macro Partners LLP in London and former head of foreign-exchange strategy at Morgan Stanley. “This could be serious for Asia.”

[Demeter]

33. "flow of money into the region in favor of nascent recoveries in the U.S. and Europe" SAY WHAT?

Recovery, you say? Someplace to bilk people out of money? No, I don't think so....

[Demeter]

22. Shale Grab in U.S. Stalls as Falling Values Repel Buyers

THANK GODDESS! THE PETUNIAS ARE SAFE!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-18/shale-grab-in-u-s-stalls-as-falling-values-repel-buyers.html

Oil companies are hitting the brakes on a U.S. shale land grab that produced an abundance of cheap natural gas -- and troubles for the industry. The spending slowdown by international companies including BHP Billiton Ltd. (BHP) and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) comes amid a series of write-downs of oil and gas shale assets, caused by plunging prices and disappointing wells. The companies are turning instead to developing current projects, unable to justify buying more property while fields bought during the 2009-2012 flurry remain below their purchase price, according to analysts.

The deal-making slump, which may last for years, threatens to slow oil and gas production growth as companies that built up debt during the rush for shale acreage can’t depend on asset sales to fund drilling programs. The decline has pushed acquisitions of North American energy assets in the first-half of the year to the lowest since 2004.

“Their appetite has slowed,” said Stephen Trauber, Citigroup Inc.’s vice chairman and global head of energy investment banking, who specializes in large oil and gas acquisitions. “It hasn’t stopped, but it has slowed.”

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

The land grab began more than a decade ago when improved drilling methods and a process called hydraulic fracturing, which cracks rock deep underground to release oil and natural gas, opened up new production in previously untappable shale fields. The rush accelerated in 2004 as more shale fields in North Dakota, Pennsylvania and Ohio were identified, opening new troves of petroleum and the prospect of energy independence in North America. As overseas buyers moved in, booming production soon led to oversupplies, and gas prices plunged to a 10-year low in 2012, forcing companies to write-down the value of some of their assets. Companies were also hurt when some fields thought to be rich in oil proved to contain less than anticipated...“A lot of companies have let leverage get out of hand”...

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[xchrom]

23. Egypt Army Looms Over Politics as Deadly Crackdown Cements Power

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-19/egypt-army-looms-over-politics-as-deadly-crackdown-cements-power.html

Hend Soliman said she knows exactly who should lead Egypt out of a state of emergency after last week’s bloody suppression of Islamist protests: a military man.

“We need an iron fist,” said Soliman, 37, a manicurist in Cairo. “These people know the country and how to run it.”

While the conflict has led to further divisions among Egyptians, there are signs many of those opposed to former President Mohamed Mursi are allying with the military leaders who ousted him rather than the civilian politicians appointed to steer the Arab state toward elections.

Troops under Defense Minister Abdelfatah al-Seesi will help enforce order under the one-month emergency rule, imposed as violence spread after hundreds were killed when police broke up sit-ins by protesters calling for Mursi’s reinstatement. Nobel laureate Mohamed ElBaradei, vice-president in the army-backed interim administration, quit in protest at the raid and the failure to pursue “peaceful alternatives.” The U.S. meanwhile canceled a joint military exercise.

“When you get appointed by a junta, you don’t give orders to the junta, the junta gives orders to you,” Omar Ashour, a senior lecturer in Middle East politics at the University of Exeter in the U.K., said by telephone.

[Demeter]

32. Oliphant makes a good point

http://assets.amuniversal.com/3672f260eb4201300a2e001dd8b71c47?width=750

[xchrom]

24. Mailman at 72 With America’s Longest Route{perpetual employment}

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-20/mailman-at-72-with-america-s-longest-route.html

He’s on County Road 1680 moving like a black-tailed jackrabbit under the big-bowl Oklahoma sky, a tiny dot in his Ford Ranger out on the edge of the world when the flying red stinger ants show up.

One, two, now three, they invade. Jim Ed Bull swats with a big hand. “They can hurt ya bad,” he says.

Other on-the-job nuisances include hail, mud, diamondback rattlers, wild boars, coyotes, bobcats, porcupines and skunks. Bull keeps on driving. Past stunted wheat fields of drought and disappointment, he rolls.

Fifty, 55, 60 mph. Turning up a driveway, he reaches out the window and, snap, the mailbox opens. Bull is a letter carrier with the longest postal route in America, 187.6 miles (301.8 kilometers) across some of the loneliest territory in the country. He’s 72, and part of the fastest-growing segment of the U.S. labor force -- those who work past their 65th birthdays.

[xchrom]

25. Indonesia stocks enter bear market amid slowdown fears

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-23763829


Indonesia stocks have continued to drop on concerns of slowing economic growth and a widening current account deficit.

The Jakarta Composite Index fell 4.9% on Tuesday, putting it in "bear market" territory - typically defined as a 20% fall from a stock index's recent peak.

The index has now fallen 21% from its high in May.

The concerns about Indonesia's economy have also weighed on its currency, the rupiah, which has fallen to a four-year low against the US dollar.

[Demeter]

34. Mr. Market is Having Another Fit Over the Fed’s Taper

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2013/08/mr-market-is-having-another-fit-over-the-feds-taper.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29



Asian markets got off to an only mildly down start... it appears that Asian markets decayed during the trading day and Europe is off to a wobbly start. The Nikkei finished down over 2.6%. The Japanese index has become so volatile that that means less than it once did but the Hang Seng also closed down over 2.2%. Gold has retreated to 1358. The FTSE is now down over .7%, the Dax is off 1 1.38%. (As I am wrapping up the post, Europe has regrouped a bit, with the FTSE down a mere .45% and the Dax lower by a mere .94%) The trigger, of course, has been the rapid retreat of hot money from emerging markets. In a nervous-making echo of the 1998 Asian crisis, key Eastern currencies are plunging. From Bloomberg:

Indian 10-year bond yields rose to the highest level since 2001 while the rupiah fell 2.5 percent and the rupee dropped 0.8 percent…India’s rupee is at a record low, Thailand is in recession and Indonesia’s widest current-account deficit pushed the rupiah to the weakest level since 2009.

Oh, and let us not forget that the rumblings of worry about China have also gotten a bit louder of late. The trigger, natch, is the prospect of the Fed’s taper. The US monetary authority firmly rejected complaints of emerging markets central bankers during QE that the Fed’s actions were generating inflation and unwelcome currency speculation. The market action now looks like a solid vindication of their argument. Commodities markets have softened too, with the GCSI off 0.9%, also confirming the widely-held belief of the influence of financial markets operators on commodity prices (witness the suddenly aggressive stance of US regulators against the participation of major dealers like Goldman and JP Morgan in warehousing and products that allow for accumulation of physical stockpiles).

US Treasuries have continued to grind downward, with ten-year yields hitting 2.88% yesterday before retreating a smidge. Perhaps even worse for the Fed, after a some weakening in economic reports (more consumer deleveraging, a marked fall in consumer confidence, housing starts missing forecasts), mortgage rates continue to rise, with Bloomberg showing 30-year rates at 4.59%, not far below recent highs of 4.64% (they had backed off to below 4.30% for a few weeks based on Fed officials expressing particularly solicitude about not wanting to undermine the housing recovery). But there is a bit of good news in all the gloom. At least one analyst blames the swoon on Larry Summers! Will the market hissy fit dent his candidacy? From Clusterstock:

Nomura’s George Goncalves says the bond weakness has to do with angst surrounding the next Fed chair, and the possibility that Larry Summers will be appointed, and take the Fed in a more hawkish direction, meaning fewer asset purchases, and a faster move away from zero interest rates.

Thin summer volumes, bull trap head-fake and slightly better data exposed UST market weakness; it’s no longer just fear of tapering but also uncertainty regarding the next Fed Chair

…

This past week the US rates market displayed unusual behavior as it didn’t require much in order for bonds to get crushed. We wait anxiously for the FOMC minutes and other key Fed events ahead to gauge what lies ahead for USTs. The biggest risk to the bond market and our tactical bullish trades in our model portfolio is the combination of tapering fears and the election of a more hawkish Chairperson. In such a scenario we wouldn’t be surprised that investors just sit on the sidelines and see how high rates can go if a hawkish Fed nominee is announced, with an overshoot meaningfully above 3% possible. At such extreme levels, we believe that stocks would be under even more pressure as bonds become competitive again and asset allocation adjustments eventually reverse the flows back into bonds.

…

While our survey and many economists’ and market participants’ predications are that Yellen is still the favorite, there is real possibility about Summers as a real possibility. The risk is that the people who are calling for Yellen could be wishful thinking as market participants may be addicted to the easy money policies of the Fed. These market participants may not view Yellen as the non-disruptive change agent but instead as dove that is similar to (or in some ways even more dovish than) Bernanke. Some media outlets (most noticeably CNN) and online probability trading sites are predicting that Summers gets the nomination. In our survey, our hedge fund accounts are also expecting Larry to get the nod.

The idea that Summers is “hawkish” compared to Yellen is probably an oversimplification of the differences between them, but that is the blunt way the two are perceived. And we can corroborate that there was tons of Summers talk this week, especially on Friday after reporter John Harwood said on Twitter that a good source of his placed the odds of Summers getting the nomination at 2/3. At least in the short term, it seems like this debate will be part of the interest rate equation.

It would be deliciously ironic if the guy Wall Street is pumping for is in fact undermining market confidence. Of course, that’s partly a reflection of the corner the Fed has backed itself into, that any QE exit is likely to be far more disruptive than Bernanke wants to believe. When he first took the helm at the Fed, one of my hedge fund buddies, himself a former Fed economist, remarked that the record of academic economists as Fed chairmen was poor. Despite getting good interim grades from the punditocracy, the aftermath of QE may prove that early call on Bernanke to be correct.

[xchrom]

26. Bad loan rate hits levels seen before Spanish bank bailout

http://elpais.com/elpais/2013/08/19/inenglish/1376933957_439640.html

Non-performing loans rose once more in June, reaching a record 11.6 percent. The figure is up 0.4 percentage points on the month before, according to provisional data released Monday by the Bank of Spain, and at a level seen just before Spain was granted a bailout to recapitalize its banks.

The default rate of loans granted by banks, savings banks, cooperatives and financial credit establishments (EFCs) to companies and private clients had seen slight falls in November 2012 and January 2013 due to the so-called “bad bank effect,” after toxic real estate assets were transferred from lenders’ balance sheets to Sareb, Spain’s newly created bad bank.

Loan defaults within the financial system at the end of June stood at 176.420 billion euros, above the 170.206 billion euros registered the previous month.

Compared to June 2012, the volume of non-performing loans — which are classed as such after three consecutive months of non-payment — rose by 8.050 billion euros. During that month, the default rate was at 8.97 percent.

[DemReadingDU]

27. Ralph Nader’s life in three words: ‘I was right’

8/19/13 Ralph Nader’s life in three words: ‘I was right’
Legendary activist Ralph Nader tells all in a new book — and tells Olivia Ward that Obama ‘turned his back on his own people’

In an age of celebrity worship, the word “I” isn’t in Ralph Nader’s vocabulary. His new book, he points out, is called Told You So, minus the personal pronoun. Subtitled The Big Book of Weekly Columns, it tells you everything you need to know — or are likely to know — about the veteran campaigner Mother Jones called “the most private man ever to run for public office.” “Fact is, I was right,” he says, chuckling.
.
.
The eight-year collection of columns is emblematic of an American original whose life has been lived from the outside in, hedgehog-style, with emotions discreetly tucked away and political opinions bristling in plain sight. And there are an exhaustive number of opinions, backed by research and fuelled by litres of midnight oil. From corporate crime to obesity to health care to media decline to tax refunds to free trade to the decline of democracy. And much, much more. They’re the latest outpouring from a five-decade career that began in the 1960s when young firebrand Nader burst on the scene as a white knight of consumer rights, shaming the authorities into a slew of new auto safety laws. He went on to crusade for sweeping anti-pollution laws, founded at least half a dozen public interest research groups, activated the much-feared Nader’s Raiders and produced more than 20 books.
.
.
RALPH NADER’S Q&A WITH THE STAR’S OLIVIA WARD:
Q: What made you call your book Told You So, a title many people would run from?
A: The response is “what hubris.” But it wasn’t just “I” told you so. I’ve been not saying it, though provoked, for 40 years. I’ve said it on auto safety, and I was right. I was right on Iraq, on (the World Trade Organization) and NAFTA. I was right on Wall Street. So it isn’t just a throwaway line. There’s testimony, books, statements behind it. If you have no axe to grind, you have a grip on reality and aren’t indentured to the prevailing propaganda — and you have a sense of urgency about justice and the common good and are willing to put the time in — you’re going to be more right than the Boltons, Rumsfelds and Cheneys.
.
.
Q: Are you disillusioned with President Barack Obama, or did you have any illusions to start with?
A: I never had illusions. I knew him when he was in Illinois. He was very good rhetorically, but conflict-averse when it came to challenging power. Obama turned his back on his own people, brown and black. He took up (Bill) Clinton’s focus on the middle class, but never talked about the poor until recently. He never raised the minimum wage, though he promised to push for it. He said it would be $9.50 by 2011. Then he comes back this year with $9 by 2015. This is the first president who decides on drone strikes — on “killer Tuesdays.” Under international law it’s a crime to kill civilians when you go after a suspect. He’s a constitutional law lecturer who’s having trouble obeying the constitution or federal statutes: there’s incarceration without charges and torture going on at Guantanamo. Surveillance is greater than under (George W.) Bush. Now all of America is under surveillance.

much more...
http://www.thestar.com/news/world/2013/08/19/ralph_naders_life_in_three_words_i_was_right.html


edit to add Amazon link for Nader's book
http://www.amazon.com/Told-You-So-Weekly-Columns/dp/1609804740

[Demeter]

30. Me too, Ralph. Me too.

It's a lonely, thankless life, but I'd rather be right than flattened like a pancake by events I wasn't paying attention to....

I do wish, Ralph, that you had told us about Obama, though, before the primaries....

[Fuddnik]

31. The PTB went after Ralph with a vengence.

He used to be in front of Congress on a weekly basis, fighting for real reform, protecting consumers, auto and other product safety. Corporatists and the DLC could not let this stand, and engaged in so much character assassination that he became toxic.

A good example of how they work is on full display right now in Jonestown. They're going after Dennis Kucinich with a vengeance for daring to oppose Dear Leaders NSA.

Chris Hedges recalled a conversation with Nader a while back, and Nader said that he never trusted Obama. Nader said that Kucinich is the one who clued him in, saying, "Just look at his record in the Senate. It's one corporate give away after another".

Now I have another book to read.

[xchrom]

28. 'Private Money': Bitcoins Gain Ground in Germany

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/germany-declares-bitcoins-to-be-a-unit-of-account-a-917525.html

The value of bitcoins has become widely accepted. The virtual, Internet-based currency can currently be traded in for about $120 each, according to Mt. Gox, a popular bitcoin exchange.

But now they are also gaining a legal footing -- at least in Germany, where the Finance Ministry has declared bitcoins to be a "unit of account." The designation stops well short of treating bitcoins as currency or even e-money, but it does classify the virtual currency as a kind of "private money." This comes as a result of a parliamentary inquiry made by Frank Schäffler, a member of the Bundestag with the business-friendly Free Democrats, Chancellor Angela Merkel's junior coalition partners.

Bitcoins have been in the headlines recently due to the massive volatility of their exchange rate. When they were first introduced in 2009, they were essentially worthless, trading for just five cents per bitcoin in July 2010. This year, however, they rocketed up in value to a high of $230 per bitcoin in April before plunging back to their current rate of exchange. Some have attributed the rise to concerns about the ongoing euro crisis in Europe.

Governments have been uncertain of how to approach the bitcoin, though. In late July, Thailand banned bitcoin transactions out of concern that the state could lose control over money flow. In the US, meanwhile, state officials in New York and federal officials recently opened an investigation into the virtual currency. The aim, according to a letter sent to financial regulators by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, was to determine the "threats and risks related to virtual currency." New York state has subpoenaed 22 companies involved with bitcoin transactions, according to The New York Times.

[AnneD]

36. The key phrase to understanding the true worth of bit coin.....

Thailand banned bitcoin transactions out of concern that the state could lose control over money flow. In the US, meanwhile, state officials in New York and federal officials recently opened an investigation into the virtual currency. The aim, according to a letter sent to financial regulators by the Senate Committee on Homeland Security, was to determine the "threats and risks related to virtual currency.

Bit coin takes the ability to print money away from the government. They will fight it tooth and nail.

[Demeter]

37. Not from the governments, from the Central Banks

The BANKSTERS don't like it.

[AnneD]

39. And the government......

is in cohoots with the banksters.

[xchrom]

29. 'Liconomics': China's Green Revolution Arrives

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/chinese-leadership-announces-new-focus-on-green-energy-a-917389.html

This August, China's leaders withdrew to Beidaihe, a bathing resort on the Bohai Sea where they have gone to calmly debate issues of power and personnel since the days of Mao. Politics, or so it seemed, had gone on a summer holiday.

But that's where, on Sunday, August 11, the government released a guideline with the modest title "Opinions of the State Council on Accelerating the Development of Energy-Saving and Environmental Protection Industries." According to the document, the government is upgrading the environmental sector to the rank of a "key industry," a title that had been reserved for the steel and pharmaceutical industries, as well as biotechnology. Under the new guideline, the sector is expected to earn a massive $728 billion (€545 billion) by 2015, and to grow at twice the rate of the rest of the economy.

Beijing wants to boost manufacturers of energy-efficient power plant equipment, significantly increase the number of cars and buses running on liquefied natural gas and further expand the number of wind and solar farms, as well as nuclear power plants.

The government plans to achieve all of this using investments, tax breaks and direct subsidies -- from which companies with foreign investors are expressly to benefit as well.

[Demeter]

35. Hey, Everybody! We're Having a Blue Moon in Aquarius!

It's supposedly very stressful.

(how can you tell the difference, I ask)

[Demeter]

38. Markets Started with a Bang, End with a Whimper

Just like the Universe....