STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Wednesday, 15 January 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Wednesday, 15 January 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 14 January 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 14 January 2014
[center][font color=green]
Dow Jones 16,373.86 +115.92 (0.71%)
S&P 500 1,838.88 +19.68 (1.08%)
Nasdaq 4,183.02 +69.71 (1.69%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.87% +0.02 (0.70%)
30 Year 3.80% +0.01 (0.26%) [font color=black]


[center][/font]

[HR width=85%]

[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
[center]


[/center]

[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

[/center]

[center]

[/center]

[HR width=95%]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
[center]
Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
[center]
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
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
[center]
Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout


[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
[center]
LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center]

[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
[center]
Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
[/center]

[div]
[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.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.








[HR width=95%]


[center]

[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]

[kickysnana]

1. Oh dear, it is the ides of January already

Where did the time go?

[Demeter]

2. At least it's not the Ides of March!

Et tu, Brute?

And we STILL have to get past Groundhog Day!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=Sh7bAaJqvAg

[Ghost Dog]

4. 1914

1914 2014. January.

"Everywhere the same hard, grim, pitiless sign of battle and war. I have had a belly full of it," wrote Captain CJ Patterson, as he sat in his trench surrounded by blood-stained clothing and discarded ammunition during the first battle of the Marne in September 1914.

Captain Paterson did not live long enough to see the end of the war. He died of serious wounds on 1 November 1914, but through a new digitisation project, his diary – along with 300,000 others – has been brought back to life.

To mark the centenary of the first world war, which killed more than 8 million soldiers between 1914 and 1918 and left 22 million wounded, the National Archives has digitised 300,000 unit diaries, some of its most popular records, in an attempt to build a more authentic picture of life during wartime...

/... http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/jan/14/first-world-war-diaries-online

April is the cruellest month, breeding
Lilacs out of the dead land, mixing
Memory and desire, stirring
Dull roots with spring rain.
Winter kept us warm, covering
Earth in forgetful snow, feeding
A little life with dried tubers.
Summer surprised us, coming over the Starnbergersee
With a shower of rain; we stopped in the colonnade,
And went on in sunlight, into the Hofgarten,
And drank coffee, and talked for an hour.
Bin gar keine Russin, stamm’ aus Litauen, echt deutsch.
And when we were children, staying at the arch-duke’s,
My cousin’s, he took me out on a sled,
And I was frightened. He said, Marie,
Marie, hold on tight. And down we went.
In the mountains, there you feel free.
I read, much of the night, and go south in the winter.

What are the roots that clutch, what branches grow
Out of this stony rubbish? Son of man,
You cannot say, or guess, for you know only
A heap of broken images, where the sun beats,
And the dead tree gives no shelter, the cricket no relief,
And the dry stone no sound of water. Only
There is shadow under this red rock,
(Come in under the shadow of this red rock),
And I will show you something different from either
Your shadow at morning striding behind you
Or your shadow at evening rising to meet you;
I will show you fear in a handful of dust...

/... http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/176735

[Demeter]

3. Wells Fargo eclipses JPMorgan as most profitable U.S. bank

POOR JAMIE DIMON! WHATEVER WILL HE DO?

SPENDING A FULL QUARTER'S INCOME ON SETTLEMENTS WILL DO THAT.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-bank-earnings-20140115,0,6571952.story?track=rss&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+latimes%2Fbusiness+%28L.A.+Times+-+Business%29&utm_content=My+Yahoo

— Massive legal payouts didn't just cost JPMorgan Chase & Co. billions last year. They also cost the Wall Street giant its title as America's most profitable bank. After weathering a barrage of legal and regulatory assaults in 2013, the New York bank said Tuesday that its annual profit slid 16% from the previous year to $17.9 billion.

JPMorgan's bottom line was eclipsed by the $21.9 billion earned last year by Wells Fargo & Co. despite a sharp industry-wide slowdown in mortgages. Wells Fargo, by far the nation's largest home lender, also reported its quarterly results Tuesday.

Weighing on JPMorgan's earnings in the fourth quarter was yet another whopping settlement — this time, $2.6 billion to settle federal investigations into its role in Bernard Madoff's Ponzi scheme.

"They would have had another record year," said Dick Bove, a bank analyst at Rafferty Capital Markets. "I don't think they're anywhere close to the end of the lawsuits that they're going to get hit with."

[jtuck004]

5. Fed's Outlook on Unemployment -- Yikes!

Submitted by Bud Meyers on January 14, 2014 - 1:26pm

Dennis Lockhart, President and Chief Executive Officer, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta:

"About 4 million more people than before the recession are unemployed today...Some of the decline in labor force participation since 2009 is due to the baby boomers retiring, but even among prime-age workers—those aged 25 to 54—the participation rate is down significantly. This suggests that other factors, such as low prospects of finding a job, are playing a role ... It's accurate to say the country has a large number of people in the so-called 'shadow labor force' ... There is also the issue of underemployment. Many Americans are working fewer hours than they would prefer because their employers are offering them only part-time work ...To sum up, these comparisons of employment data suggest that the labor market is not as healthy as the improved unemployment rate might indicate. The unemployment rate drop may overstate progress achieved...It's worth noting that wage and salary income growth remains weak."

* In other words, nothing has changed for the last 5 years.
SOURCE:
http://www.frbatlanta.org//news/speeches/140113_speech_lockhart.cfm

From the comments section at Economic Populist, here.

1 serving of "hope" from the Federal Reserve, coming up. Good luck.

[Tansy_Gold]

16. None of which is anything we haven't noted here

This group continues to amaze me!

and

[jtuck004]

21. Now if he had just said "And I read this in SMW..."

But it is interesting to hear it coming out of the mouth of someone at that level, especially one who is part of the org that has been pouring trillions out to make it go the other way.

[DCBob]

31. "nothing has changed for the last 5 years.".. absurd comment.

Things are not great but clearly better than in 2009.

I dont know why people continue to hype the negative regarding the economy. Is it some sort of death wish or what?

[Demeter]

35. It's looking under the wallpaper, Bob

To see the cracked and holey wallboard that isn't keeping us warm and dry.

NOTHING that caused the catastrophe in 2008 has been "fixed", that is, no changes have been made to ensure that it never happens again.

Some changes to make it more likely have happened.

QE is the wallpaper that covers up the destruction of people's lives, fortunes, careers, and those of their children and grandchildren.

Things are not better. Don't believe me? Ask the people around you. Unless they are all Obscenely Wealthy, you will get an earful of really bad news.

[DCBob]

38. "no changes have been made to ensure that it never happens again." ... That's not true either.

Have you tried to get a mortgage lately? I have. The documentation and requirements are incredibly strict. Anyone getting a mortgage now will most likely be able to make the payments.

Of course there are people still suffering.. I know some of them. The thing is there are a lot fewer than there were in 2009. In fact I was one of them back then. My company went out of business and I lost my job and got divorced and was nearly homeless.

[Demeter]

39. It's the derivatives, Bob

Those high-tech financial products that brought the world to a standstill. The mortgage scam was a parallel issue. The derivatives were the mechanism of contagion.

[DCBob]

40. Totally agree derivatives were the crux of the problem however..

the derivative crisis would not have been triggered had mortgages been sound. For sure it could happen again but it less likely given the tightening of regulations in the past few years.

[Demeter]

41. Oh, yes it would

Because the derivatives are to pay off more than 4 times all the wealth in the world. That's simply impossible. And still is.

[jtuck004]

42. 4 to 6 million unwanted dogs and cars are killed each year for our convenience.

"Shelters" all overtake in too much money, convince that they are the solution and kill pets by the millions, charge the people too much money. They never approach the problem as the community and so never solve the problem. "Do-gooders" (my friends are just as convinced their spay/neuter/adopt methods are the solution and pets are still killed by the millions, a plateau we've been on for a number of years. They never approach the problem as the community, and so never solve the problem

We tolerate it, pay more than we should for it, and go on. And of course they get all their feelings hurt when you dare talk about their good work, instead of recognizing what they need to do differently and fix the problem. So this isn't about them, but an analogy.

In the people world, HELL YES, it's been GREAT for perhaps 15 millionish of the wealthy and their multi-faced political lapdogs! And their little helpers, too. Like the shelter operators or the animal welfare workers the lapdogs, and their little helpers too, make policies that make sure this vigorish is being paid to people who really don't seem to add much value.

On the other hand, for too many of the roughly 200 million or so of 300ish Americans, those who actually DO the work, in economic terms the best they got out of the past 10 years is that they are not dead yet. Ten years older, but with roughly the same or less than they had then in terms of assets and income, which means they are falling behind in this world. Several millions of them who used to have something who now have nothing, who have joined those who were in poverty all along. They fight each other over nickels while the rich and "powerful" light their cigars with $100 bills and don't, really,pay them any attention except when their chauffeur has to go around an unruly mob. (Even then they just figure they and their police will hash it out, and go back to figuring out way tot take their output).

So maybe better for you, but it sounds like you are the only one that counts in your world.

Good luck with that. Bye.

[xchrom]

6. PORTUGAL AIMS TO RAISE $17.7B IN BONDS THIS YEAR

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_PORTUGAL_FINANCIAL_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-15-06-32-11

LISBON, Portugal (AP) -- Portugal's government debt agency says it plans to raise up to 13 billion euros ($17.7 billion) from bond sales this year as the country recovers from a financial crisis that forced it to ask for a bailout.

Portugal needed a 78 billion-euro international rescue in 2011 when investors, spooked by the government's high debt burden and financial turmoil in the wider eurozone, demanded unaffordable interest rates to lend it money. That financial aid runs out in the middle of this year.

The Portuguese economy emerged from recession last year, and the government last week sold five-year bonds in the first issuance of its kind since the bailout as investor appetite returned.

The debt agency said Wednesday it estimates Portugal's net borrowing needs at around 11.8 billion euros in 2014.

[xchrom]

7. {THEY'RE BAAAACK}DAVOS TO FOCUS ON GLOBAL ECONOMY, CONFLICTS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_DAVOS_FORUM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-15-07-14-50

GENEVA (AP) -- Conflicts like the war in Syria and getting the world economy back on track will be the focus of next week's annual gathering of world leaders and power brokers in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.

Organizers of the World Economic Forum said Wednesday that hundreds of public figures are expected to attend, including the leaders of Iran, Israel, Japan and Britain.

This year's event will coincide with the start of the first face-to-face negotiations between the Syrian government and opposition, which will also take place in Switzerland, in the cities of Montreux and Geneva. But the forum's organizers said they do not yet know how many of the ministers who will be at those talks might then join the event in Davos.

The forum's founder, Klaus Schwab, told reporters Wednesday at the organization's lavish headquarters overlooking Lake Geneva that the event seeks to "push the reset button" on the world's crisis mode.

[Demeter]

24. ...the event seeks to "push the reset button" on the world's crisis mode.

I'll BET they want to....all their manufactured crises have fizzled or exploded in unpredicted ways, and all their poo-pooing of Reality Crisis is biting them in the ass. THEY AREN"T RAKING IN THE MOOLA like they thought they would. And the 99% is getting more restless with every passing day...

I hope it degenerates into a drunken orgy/sob fest, and Davos reverts to something as trivial as the Ascott for the 1% Elitists who dabble in serious things.

[xchrom]

8. EU EASES ACCESS TO STATE-BACKED LENDING FOR FIRMS

http://bigstory.ap.org/article/eu-eases-access-state-backed-lending-firms

BRUSSELS (AP) — The European Commission is making it easier for small- and medium-sized companies to get state-backed financing, an effort to get credit flowing again and help the economic recovery.

The Commission, the 28-nation bloc's executive arm, said Wednesday its guidelines for state aid rules will be eased from July 1 by allowing governments to further team up with banks.

Funding for many European small- and medium-sized companies dried up in the wake of the financial crisis as banks focused on replenishing their coffers and worried about the economic outlook.

The Commission says that between 10 and 60 percent of a state-backed loan would have to come from a private sector lender to make sure such aid attracts, rather than replaces, private funding.

[Demeter]

25. Ah, yes. The Payoff

Europe has forgotten about the Danegeld.....

[xchrom]

9. OBAMA TO NOMINATE CALIF. BUSINESSWOMAN TO LEAD SBA

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_OBAMA_SMALL_BUSINESS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-15-07-08-04

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama intends to nominate Maria Contreras-Sweet, the founder of a Latino-owned community bank in Los Angeles and a former California cabinet secretary, to be head of the Small Business Administration, according to a White House official.

Obama will announce Contreras-Sweet's selection at an event Wednesday, the official said. The official was not authorized to discuss the nomination by name ahead of the announcement.

Contreras-Sweet, who was born in Guadalajara, Mexico, has a history of working with small businesses and has been an advocate for Hispanics. As California's secretary of the state's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency from 1999 to 2003, she was the first Latina to serve as a cabinet secretary in the state and oversaw 40,000 state employees and a $12 billion budget.

In 2006, she founded ProAmérica Bank, a financial institution that aimed to assist small and mid-size businesses. Before that, she was president and co-founder of a private equity firm that provided capital to small California businesses.

[xchrom]

10. BANK OF AMERICA 4Q EARNINGS JUMP NEARLY FIVE-FOLD

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EARNS_BANK_OF_AMERICA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-15-07-43-24

NEW YORK (AP) -- Bank of America Corp. said Wednesday that its fourth-quarter profit jumped from a year earlier, as the loans on the bank's balance sheet continued to improve.

The nation's second-largest bank earned $3.44 billion in the October to December period, up from $732 million a year earlier. On a per-share basis, the bank made 29 cents, beating the 27 cents expected by financial analysts.

Profits got a big boost because Bank of America was able to significantly reduce the amount of money it holds on its balance sheet to protect itself from bad loans. The bank's provision for credit losses fell to $336 million from $2.2 billion in the same period a year earlier. The bank also had significant legal costs a year earlier, which weighed down its profits back then.

"We enter this year with one of the strongest balance sheets in our company's history," Bank of America Chief Financial Officer Bruce Thompson said in a prepared statement.

[xchrom]

11. WORLD BANK SEES GLOBAL ECONOMY PICKING UP

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WORLD_BANK_GLOBAL_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-14-22-37-54

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The global economy is slowly picking up steam, led by advanced economies appearing to turn the corner after five years of financial crises and recession and a continued good performance by China, the World Bank said Tuesday.

However, it says growth prospects remain vulnerable to rising interest rates and potential volatility in capital flows as the U.S. Federal Reserve eases up on the extraordinary stimulus it has been providing to the U.S. economy, the world's largest.

The bank's twice-yearly Global Economics Prospects report says global growth is expected to firm from 2.4 percent in 2013 to 3.2 percent this year and 3.4 percent in 2015.

The report said the momentum that countries such as the United States and Japan are building up should support stronger growth in the developing countries.

[Demeter]

26. World Bank talking through its hat

[xchrom]

12. GERMAN ECONOMY SLOWED IN 2013 AMID EUROPEAN CRISIS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-01-15-05-05-35

BERLIN (AP) -- The German economy, Europe's biggest, slowed down more than expected last year as other countries' financial troubles and a global economic downturn weighed on exports, official figures showed Wednesday.

The 2013 growth rate of 0.4 percent was the weakest since the German economy shrank in the wake of the global financial crisis in 2009 and compared with a 0.7 percent expansion in 2012. Economists and the government had forecast a 0.5 percent growth rate.

The Federal Statistical Office estimated that the economy grew by around 0.25 percent in the fourth quarter compared with the previous three-month period - about the same as the third-quarter figure of 0.3 percent. However, an official final-quarter growth number won't be released until Feb. 14.

Germany, unlike many other countries in the 18-nation eurozone, avoided recession as the continent struggled to get beyond its debt crisis. Still, the crisis hasn't entirely passed the country by, and last year's economic expansion was fueled entirely by domestic demand.

[xchrom]

13. World Bank: Global economy at turning point

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25741060

The global economy is at a "turning point", the World Bank has said, as it forecasts stronger growth for 2014.

In its annual report on the world economy, the bank said richer countries appeared to be "finally turning a corner" after the financial crisis.

That is expected to support stronger growth in developing economies.

But it warned growth prospects "remained vulnerable" to the impact of the withdrawal of economic stimulus measures in the US.

[Demeter]

27. Watch out below--heading straight down!

[xchrom]

14. Scottish economy grows by 0.7% in third quarter of 2013

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-scotland-business-25743024

The Scottish economy grew by 0.7% in the third quarter of last year, according to official estimates.

It was the sixth consecutive quarter to show growth north of the border, but was slightly lower than the UK as a whole.

Comparing the quarter with the same period in 2012, Scottish Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 2.1%.

Construction, manufacturing and services all performed strongly between July and September.

[xchrom]

15. Rebranding America: Can the U.S. Sell Itself to International Tourists?

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/01/rebranding-america-can-the-us-sell-itself-to-international-tourists/283061/



BERLIN — Recently, a curious bit of programming popped up on German television, sandwiched between a dating show and the news: a commercial promoting the United States, in the form of Rosanne Cash singing America’s praises under the Brooklyn Bridge.

While ads for American products like iPhones or Coca-Cola are a staple of advertising abroad, rarely is the U.S. itself the product on display. But if there were ever a time when America needed to make a sales pitch for itself abroad, this was it. In Germany, as a result of the NSA spying scandal, trust in the U.S. government has fallen from 76 percent in 2009 to 35 percent today. The trend is in keeping with eroding pro-American sentiment elsewhere in the world.

The “Discover America, Land of Dreams” ad campaign is the product of a joint venture between the U.S. government and tourism industry. The entity behind the campaign is called Brand USA, and it aims to attract international tourists who have been turned off to America as a vacation destination.

“After 9/11, we secured our borders, but made America unwelcoming,” Anne Madison of Brand USA told me. “People abroad saw the U.S. as a ‘been there done that’ country.”

[Ghost Dog]

20. With a cello.

We're looking for a cello...

http://aridisland.com (fresh sounds there).

[xchrom]

17. U.S. Stock Futures Rise as Bank of America Profit Surges

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-15/u-s-stock-index-futures-little-changed-before-earnings.html

U.S. stock futures climbed, signaling equities will extend the biggest rally in almost four weeks, as the World Bank raised its global growth forecast and data indicated manufacturing in the New York region expanded.

Bank of America jumped 3.3 percent after the second-biggest U.S. lender reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that beat analysts’ estimates. Apple Inc. gained 1.5 percent after China Mobile Ltd. said pre-orders for iPhones had reached 1 million. Tesla Motors Inc. advanced 2.5 percent after Elon Musk predicted that the company will deliver its first Model S vehicles to China in March.

S&P 500 futures expiring in March added 0.2 percent to 1,835.6 at 8:35 a.m. in New York. Contracts on the Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 27 points, or 0.2 percent, to 16,326 today.

“Given that equity markets have had a good run, there could be room for some disappointment, but overall the bias still is to the upside,” Jawaid Afsar, a trader at Securequity Ltd. in Sheffield, England, said in an interview.

[xchrom]

18. Rouhani in Davos Has Chance to Cash In on Iran Accord

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-15/rouhani-in-davos-has-chance-to-cash-in-on-iran-accord.html

President Hassan Rouhani will be the first Iranian leader in a decade to visit the World Economic Forum in Davos next week, when he’ll have a chance to turn his nuclear diplomacy into deals that can boost the economy.

Rouhani, 65, will be accompanied in the Swiss city by his foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who negotiated Iran’s nuclear deal with world powers in Geneva last November, according to an official program announced today. They’ll be looking to attract investment and help an economy hurt by U.S. and European Union sanctions that will be eased under the agreement, due to take force two days before Davos starts.

“Rouhani wants to create the perception that Iran is now open to business,” said Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “This is the place to shake hands and cut deals.”

[xchrom]

19. Fed Student-Loan Focus Recognizes Threat to U.S. Economy

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-01-15/fed-student-loan-focus-recognizes-threat-to-u-s-economy.html

Tiffany Roberson works for the state of Texas as a parole officer, teaches part time and is living with her parents after finishing a master’s degree. She’s held off marrying her boyfriend of four years and starting a family because she owes more than $170,000 in federal and private student loans.

“I’ve never gone into default,” the 30-year-old said. “What really hurts is people say I’m a bum for living at home.”

Federal Reserve economists are trying to determine whether people like Roberson represent a trend that will damage U.S. growth, partly by restricting sales of houses and cars. Student loans are one of the only deteriorating pockets of consumer credit, with balances and delinquency rates rising to record highs even as a strengthening economy allows Americans to reduce total borrowing.

Outstanding education debt exceeded $1 trillion in the third quarter of 2013, and the share of loans delinquent 90 days or more rose to 11.8 percent, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. By contrast, delinquencies for mortgage, credit-card and auto debt all have declined from their peaks.

[antigop]

22. Back from the dead: Return to securitisation

http://www.economist.com/news/finance-and-economics/21593424-much-maligned-financial-innovation-early-stages-comeback-back

IF YOU asked regulators in 2008 which financial instrument they most wished had never been invented, odds were that they angrily splurted a three-letter acronym linked to securitisation. The practice of bundling up income streams such as credit-card and car-loan repayments, repackaging them as securities and selling them on in “tranches” with varying levels of risk once seemed like enlightened financial management. Not so after many a CDO, CLO, ABS, MBS and others (see table) turned out to be infested with worthless American subprime mortgages.

Find the same regulator today and he is probably devising a ploy to resuscitate the very financial vehicle he was bemoaning five years ago. Enthusiasm for the once-reviled practice of transforming a future income stream into a lump sum today—the essence of securitisation—is palpable. In Britain Andy Haldane, a cerebral official at the Bank of England, recently described it as “a financing vehicle for all seasons” that should no longer be thought of as a “bogeyman”. The European Central Bank (ECB) is a fan, as are global banking regulators who last month watered down rules that threatened to stifle securitisation.

Watchdogs will be pleased that, after once looking as if it was heading for extinction, securitisation is making a recovery. Issuance of ABSs (securities underpinned by car-loan receivables, credit-card debt and the like) are at double their 2010 nadir. Issuance of paper backed by non-residential mortgages is up from just $4 billion in 2009 to more than $100 billion last year. There have even been offerings of securities underpinned by more esoteric sources, such as cashflows from solar panels or home-rental income—the sort of gimmick once derided as a boomtime phenomenon. Excluding residential mortgages, where the American market is skewed by the participation of federal agencies, the amount of bundled-up securities globally is showing a steady rise (see chart).

[Demeter]

29. Are they CRAZY? Don't answer that.

It's not like the regulatory bodies have caught up with the crisis, or anything. They are crazy.

[Hotler]

23. Hello my friends. I dropped in to take a deep breath .......

and release a big sigh in one of the few places I feel safe, SMW. Anyone read WillPitt's rant in Jones Town? I feel the same way.
Take care everyone and be safe.

[Demeter]

28. It's crazy all over

But this is a safe house. Glad to hear you are well...

The January thaw is over, it's back to fierce wind, biting cold and snow.

[Warpy]

33. It's almost balmy out here in the high desert

We're supposed to be in the high 50s later this week. We're in the mid 50s now.

It's dry, dry, dry. California's going to be hurting a lot come summer.

[Demeter]

30. Signs of these beknighted times

1) some poor car owner across the highway from our place had all four tires stolen off his car last night. This is Ann Arbor, and the troubles out of Detroit are migrating down and out...

2) I opened a new package of toilet paper. They have made the rolls as skinny as they can, so NOW, the rolls are 1/4 inch SHORTER, too. And they say there is no inflation. Shame on them!

I don't recall that happening last time we had toilet paper wars....

[Warpy]

32. I've noticed the TP getting slimmer for some time

It used to cover the spindle, but no more.

"No inflation" my flabby old ass.

[1StrongBlackMan]

34. Question:

I have been following the Nymex WTI - Daily Candles chart for awhile now and had gotten pretty good at using it to predict the price at the pump (about a week out).

But is it just me, or is there now (since about 12/26) a complete disconnect being this chart and the (trailing) price at the pump?

(Disclaimer: While I know a bit about economics, I know little to nothing about commodities, in general, and the Nymex Chart, in particular ... so maybe, my price at the pump exercise was more happenstance than anything else.)

[Demeter]

36. It's not you. It's the gas companies.

Somebody has to threaten them with price gouging again. Michigan has a law about that, but we have a Teahadist Governor and Atty. General...

The disconnect is growing. Because they think we are idiots, and we have no options.

[1StrongBlackMan]

37. Okay ...

I, actually, had gotten pretty good at using the graph to predict gas prices at the pump, and have been adjusting my diving habits to take advantage ... but the graph has been headed downward and the price at the pump bounced between +10 and +15 cents above my projections.

(BTW, I'm a numbers geek that hates math.)