STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 29 May 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 29 May 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 28 May 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 28 May 2014
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Dow Jones 16,633.18 -42.32 (-0.25%)
S&P 500 1,909.78 -2.13 (-0.11%)
Nasdaq 4,225.08 -11.99 (-0.28%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.44% -0.03 (-1.21%)
30 Year 3.29% -0.02 (-0.60%) [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.
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.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.








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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. This Friday, on Weekend Economists, we will ask the ultimate question:

who is Timmy Geithner?

Since he's gone public and revealed a lot of his innermost self, it should be a cathartic experience for all (except Timmy--he doesn't get the runs, he gives them).

[Demeter]

2. It appears that all the Bloomberg graphics for the markets are defunct

I will look for new ones...anybody else got anything?

[Tansy_Gold]

24. I noticed that yesterday, too

Not sure if it's just the links or something on the Bloomberg site???

I iz not tech savvy.

[Demeter]

3. Funnies (or not)

[Demeter]

4. Iceland says defunct banks could be made bankrupt unless creditors take haircut

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/27/iceland-banks-idUSL6N0OD4YM20140527

Iceland's defunct banks could be put into bankruptcy if creditors do not agree to a haircut on debts owed by Kaupthing, Glitnir and Landsbanki, which collapsed in 2008 owing more than $75 billion, the finance minister warned on Tuesday.

Iceland slapped on capital controls after the financial meltdown, hampering much needed investment, but these cannot be removed until a deal to wind up the left-overs of the old banks - around 2,500 billion krona ($22 billion) in cash, shares and bonds - is reached with creditors.

"It should be obvious to everyone that winding up procedures can't take forever," Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson said in a telephone interview. "If they are unsuccessful, then we have to take it to the next step. That (bankruptcy) may well happen. One should not exclude that possibility if the winding up procedures that started in 2009 don't show any success."

Bankruptcy would mean a fire-sale of assets and probably much lower recoveries for creditors, who have claims against the old banks totalling 7,530 billion Iceland krona ($66 billion), dwarfing Iceland's 2013 GDP of 1,786 billion krona. Benediktsson said plans put forward so far by the old banks for paying creditors did not go far enough to reduce the risk of destabilising the economy and the krona. But he would not be drawn on how much of a haircut, creditors - such as Bayerische Landesbank and Deutsche Bank Trust Company Americas - would need to take.

"It has been evident and it has been clear for years that assets in the estates will not and cannot all exit (through) the FX market without severe effects on the exchange rate in Iceland," Benediktsson said.

"There is no logical reason why the central bank or the government would allow that to happen."

Creditors, however, have complained Iceland has not said what kind of deal it wants. Kaupthing and Glitnir put forward plans to pay creditors in late 2012, but say they have yet to receive a formal response from the central bank, which, along with the Finance Ministry has to okay any deal. In May, the estate of Landsbanki agreed a deal with its creditors to extend repayment of around 226 billion krona in bonds issued when the government took over the bank. Benediktsson said this would reduce repayments by state-owned Landsbankinn - which took over Landsbanki's assets - over the next few years, a key step in removing capital controls. But the terms of the deal - including exemptions from capital controls - needed to be considered carefully.

"We do not want to give a precedent that others cannot enjoy," he said. "They have given us three months to answer. We will just have to see what the answer will be."

While Iceland will not risk financial stability for a quick fix to the problem of the old banks, Benediktsson said capital controls could be removed relatively quickly, if a comprehensive agreement with creditors is reached...

[xchrom]

5. JAPAN AID WIDENS MYANMAR FACTORIES VS FARMS DIVIDE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_MYANMAR_FACTORIES_FIRST?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-29-04-05-54

THILAWA, Myanmar (AP) -- Tin Hsan and her husband lived modestly in the outskirts of Myanmar's commercial capital Yangon, growing rice and betel leaves on their 22 acres and peddling vegetables, but they got by, until they were forced to move to make way for Thilawa, a showcase industrial zone being built with Japanese aid.

The expansive factory park is part of plans to develop the Yangon region and its crumbling, pre-World War II infrastructure as Myanmar rushes to shift from subsistence farming to export manufacturing following sweeping political and economic reforms that ended outright rule by the military.

Critics, however, say the landmark project is pushing families deeper into poverty, and accuse local officials of strong-arm tactics to force resettlements, highlighting the dilemmas faced by Myanmar's fledgling democracy as foreign businesses and development groups pour into the country.

Japan International Cooperation Agency and several big Japanese companies have a combined 49 percent stake in the 2,400-hectare (5,900-acre) special economic zone, which is Japan's biggest investment in Myanmar so far.

[xchrom]

6. WORLD STOCKS LACKLUSTER AHEAD OF US GROWTH UPDATE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-29-05-56-21

MUMBAI, India (AP) -- World stock markets were mostly down Thursday ahead of U.S. government reports on jobs and economic growth.

Expectations the data would paint a mixed picture of the world's biggest economy instilled caution among investors.

In early European trading, Germany's DAX was down 0.1 percent at 9,933.78 and France's CAC 40 edged down 0.2 percent to 4,522.77. London's FTSE 100 rose 0.3 percent to 6,870.10.

But futures pointed to modest gains on Wall Street after trading lower for the first time in five days Wednesday. Dow futures were up 0.1 percent to 16,647.30 and S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 percent to 1,911.80.

[xchrom]

7. EXXON CEO: SANCTIONS NOT HURTING RUSSIA OPERATIONS

ttp://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_EXXON_MOBIL_MEETING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-28-17-41-08

DALLAS (AP) -- The CEO of Exxon Mobil says U.S. sanctions against Russian officials are having no effect on his company's activities there.

Rex Tillerson also says that he is skeptical of sanctions and has discussed his view with U.S. government officials.

Tillerson made the comments Wednesday after Exxon Mobil Corp.'s annual meeting.

U.S. sanctions over Russia's annexation of Crimea have targeted close associates of Russian President Vladimir Putin, including the president of Russia's largest oil company, Rosneft, but not the company itself. Exxon has an exploration and production agreement with Rosneft in the Russian arctic and Siberia.

[xchrom]

8. RUSSIA, BELARUS AND KAZAKHSTAN SET UP NEW ALLIANCE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_RUSSIA_NEW_ALLIANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-29-07-16-35

MOSCOW (AP) -- The leaders of Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan on Thursday created an economic union that intends to boost cooperation between the ex-Soviet neighbors, a pact which was at the source of the crisis in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said the Eurasian Economic Union - which Moscow had pushed Ukraine to join, helping spark the worst crisis in relations between Russia and the West since the Cold War - takes the countries' cooperation to a "new level" while respecting their sovereignty.

"We are creating a powerful and attractive center of economic development, a major regional market bringing together over 170 million people," Putin said during talks in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana. He added that the pact would allow the countries to exploit their economic potential and strengthen their positions in global markets.

With a combined annual economic output of $2.2 trillion a year, the alliance's economic size would be close to that of Britain and well below that of the U.S.'s $17 trillion.

[xchrom]

9. AMID ASIAN FEUDS, JAPAN SEEKS BIGGER SECURITY ROLE

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_JAPAN_SOUTH_CHINA_SEA?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-05-29-05-02-21

TOKYO (AP) -- China's moves to assert its territorial claims in the South China Sea are giving fresh impetus to Japanese plans to play a bigger role in regional security, adding to the growing strains between the two Asian rivals.

Japan said this week it is exploring whether it can accelerate a proposal to supply patrol boats for Vietnam, which is embroiled in a tense standoff at sea with China after Beijing moved an oil rig into disputed waters. In a similar deal, Japan agreed in December to lend 18.7 billion yen ($183 million) to the Philippines to purchase 10 Japanese-made boats.

The vessels are a tangible sign of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's effort to deepen ties with Southeast Asia in the face of China's expanding maritime ambitions. He is likely to stress Japan's commitment to regional stability in a speech to Asia-Pacific defense ministers in Singapore on Friday night.

"China's recent behavior has enabled Abe to push cooperation in a much more conspicuous way," said Corey Wallace, a Japan and maritime security expert at the University of Auckland in New Zealand.

[xchrom]

10. Ruble Bears Unimpressed by Rally as Putin’s Economy Sinks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-29/ruble-bears-unimpressed-by-rally-as-putin-s-economy-sinks.html

Currency traders and analysts are showing no faith in the rebound that has made the Russian ruble the world’s best-performing currency this month.

The 2.8 percent rally in May will fade into a rout that pushes it down by about 5 percent versus the dollar by September, according to strategists surveyed by Bloomberg. Among major currencies, only the Argentine peso is forecast to slide more during that time. Option contracts show traders see a 63 percent chance that, by year-end, the ruble will slide back to the record-low levels it reached in March.

While Russian assets rebounded this month as tensions with Ukraine eased, analysts are focusing on the deteriorating state of the economy. Inflation is soaring while the risk of recession builds as the international sanctions imposed on Russia curb investment.

“You had the rally, but if you look at macro fundamentals, the situation is even worse than it was two, three months ago,” Murat Toprak, the head of Europe, Middle East and Africa currency strategy at HSBC Holdings Plc, said yesterday from London. “You have more recessionary pressures on the economy.”

[Demeter]

27. Well, the currency traders and their bankster gang can try

but I wouldn't think they'd have any more success this year than last....

[xchrom]

11. Bond Surge Worldwide Drives Index Yield to One-Year Low

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-29/treasury-gain-pushes-yield-to-lowest-versus-peers-in-8-months.html

A worldwide bond-market surge pushed yields to the lowest levels in a year on growing evidence central banks can keep stimulating economic growth without igniting inflation.

Government securities climbed across Asia, following a rally yesterday that drove the yield on the Bloomberg Global Developed Sovereign Bond Index to 1.28 percent, the least since May 2013. Australia’s (GACGB10) 10-year yield dropped to an 11-month low, Japan’s slid to the least in 12 months, while U.S. and European bonds were little changed.

Bonds climbed yesterday in the wake of a report showing German unemployment unexpectedly rose in May. Data from the Commerce Department in Washington today may show the U.S. economy shrank 0.5 percent in the first quarter, based on a Bloomberg News survey of analysts.

“People are beginning to realize that the recovery of the world economy is not strong enough to spur inflation,” said Yusuke Ito, a bond manager in Tokyo at Mizuho Asset Management Co., which oversees the equivalent of $39.3 billion. “We are heavily overweight the U.S.”

[Demeter]

28. WHAT economic growth are they stimulating?

It looks like bubbles, big, humongous bubbles, from sea to shining sea...

[xchrom]

12. China Seen Outspending U.S. Drillers to Chase Shale-Gas Boom

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-29/china-seen-outspending-u-s-drillers-to-chase-shale-gas-boom.html

China’s effort to catch up with the U.S. in developing shale gas and become more energy independent is coming at a big cost: It’s spending four times as much developing some fields, according to a new report.

Holding the world’s biggest potential reserves of natural gas in shale rock, China will spend billions of dollars in trying to close a gap with the shale leader, which is about a decade ahead in developing the energy resource, according to a study by Bloomberg New Energy Finance released today.

The emergence of shale projects in Asia and Europe affects global gas and oil prices and is changing the energy agendas of governments from London to Beijing. In China, leaders mandated national targets for their producers such as state-owned China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. (386), known as Sinopec.

“For the government, shale is one of the highest priorities, and Sinopec is looking to distinguish itself by making gains in shale,” Xiaolei Cao, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance, said in an interview.

[xchrom]

13. The Impossibility of Growth Demands a New Economic System

https://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/05/28-0?fb_action_ids=808548122491166&fb_action_types=og.likes


The trajectory of compound growth shows that the scouring of the planet has only just begun. We simply can't go on this way.

Let us imagine that in 3030BC the total possessions of the people of Egypt filled one cubic metre. Let us propose that these possessions grew by 4.5% a year. How big would that stash have been by the Battle of Actium in 30BC? This is the calculation performed by the investment banker Jeremy Grantham(1).

Go on, take a guess. Ten times the size of the pyramids? All the sand in the Sahara? The Atlantic ocean? The volume of the planet? A little more? It’s 2.5 billion billion solar systems(2). It does not take you long, pondering this outcome, to reach the paradoxical position that salvation lies in collapse.

To succeed is to destroy ourselves. To fail is to destroy ourselves. That is the bind we have created. Ignore if you must climate change, biodiversity collapse, the depletion of water, soil, minerals, oil; even if all these issues were miraculously to vanish, the mathematics of compound growth make continuity impossible.

Economic growth is an artefact of the use of fossil fuels. Before large amounts of coal were extracted, every upswing in industrial production would be met with a downswing in agricultural production, as the charcoal or horse power required by industry reduced the land available for growing food. Every prior industrial revolution collapsed, as growth could not be sustained(3). But coal broke this cycle and enabled – for a few hundred years – the phenomenon we now call sustained growth.

[tclambert]

25. Sustained growth is impossible.

If capitalism requires limitless growth, but limitless growth is impossible, then . . .

[xchrom]

14. Argentina in deal with Paris Club to pay $10bn debts

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27616255

Argentina has reached an agreement with the Paris Club group of international creditor governments to repay its overdue debts over a five-year period.

The deal covers Argentine arrears of some $9.7bn (£5.8bn).

The government of President Cristina Kirchner said in 2008 that it wanted to pay back the debt inherited from the country's 2001-02 default crisis.

During the last weeks of 2001 the Argentine government defaulted on public debt totalling $132bn.

[xchrom]

15. Japan retail sales fall after tax increase

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27615479

Retail sales in Japan fell 4.4% in April, compared with the same period last year, as the effect of an increase in the country's sales tax began to be felt.

Japan raised the tax from 5% to 8% on 1 April - the first hike in 17 years.

The country faces rising social welfare costs due to an ageing population and is trying to rein in public debt.

Analysts said sales had dropped in part due to consumers rushing to make purchases ahead of the tax rise.

[xchrom]

16. France in 14bn-euro tax black hole

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27602312

The French government faces a 14bn-euro black hole in its public finances after overestimating tax income for the last financial year.

French President Francois Hollande has raised income tax, VAT and corporation tax since he was elected two years ago.

The Court of Auditors said receipts from all three taxes amounted to an extra 16bn euros in 2013.

That was a little more than half the government's forecast of 30bn euros of extra tax income.

[xchrom]

17. Florida Man Penalized Record 150% for Swiss Account

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/florida-man-87-owes-150-of-swiss-account-jury-says.html


A federal jury found an 87-year-old Florida man owes the U.S. government civil penalties amounting to 150 percent of the value of his Swiss bank account, the biggest such penalty by percentage on record, his lawyers said.

Carl Zwerner must pay a 50 percent penalty on the annual value of the account in 2004, 2005 and 2006, a total of more than $2 million, for willfully failing to file a U.S. Treasury form called a Report of Foreign Bank and Financial Accounts, or FBAR, jurors in Miami ruled yesterday.

Prosecutors and the Internal Revenue Service have often used civil FBAR penalties, which sometimes exceed criminal fines, as a weapon in their criminal crackdown on offshore tax evasion. Many of the more than 70 taxpayers charged since 2009 have pleaded guilty, paying an FBAR penalty of 50 percent of the high account balance for only one year.

The threat of such penalties has helped to drive U.S. taxpayers into an IRS amnesty program that lets holders of undeclared offshore accounts avoid prosecution. They must pay back taxes, fines and penalties and tell the IRS which banks and bankers helped them hide their money. Since 2009, more than 43,000 Americans have joined, paying $6 billion to the U.S. Credit Suisse AG pleaded guilty last week to helping Americans evade taxes and agreed to pay $2.6 billion in penalties.

[xchrom]

18. SAC’s Martoma Seeks Leniency for Insider Trading

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/sac-s-martoma-seeks-lenient-sentence-for-insider-trading.html

Former SAC Capital Advisors LP hedge fund manager Mathew Martoma is seeking leniency for his record $276 million insider-trading scheme, in part because he only did it once.

“Martoma was convicted of insider trading over the course of at most two weeks based on one piece of information from one tipper about one event,” attorney Richard Strassberg said in a court filing ahead of his client’s June 10 sentencing. He “is less culpable than other recent insider-trading defendants.”

The government’s probation department, which makes recommendations based on federal sentencing guidelines, differed: It recommended one of the most severe insider trading prison terms in U.S. history, from 15 to 20 years, for what prosecutors called the most lucrative illegal trades ever.

Calling the recommendation “outrageous,” Strassberg cited cases he said were similar to Martoma’s in which defendants received as little as two years. The sentencing range, the lawyer said, should be between 5 and 6 1/2 years.

[Demeter]

32. Long sentence for ex-SAC trader Martoma appropriate: court officials

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/28/us-sac-martoma-idUSKBN0E81F720140528?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

A prison sentence approaching 20 years would be an appropriate punishment for Mathew Martoma, a former SAC Capital Advisors LP fund manager convicted of insider trading, U.S. court officials said, prompting his lawyers to object strenuously.

In a court filing late Tuesday, lawyers for Martoma urged U.S. District Judge Paul Gardephe in Manhattan to show leniency, and impose a lesser sentence than the 11-year prison term given to Galleon Group hedge fund founder Raj Rajaratnam for his 2011 insider trading conviction. A term of nearly 20 years would be record for an insider trading conviction.

The filing also included more than 100 letters of support for Martoma, of Boca Raton, Florida, who is married and has three young children. SAC was founded and owned by billionaire investor Steven A. Cohen.

Martoma faces sentencing on June 10 following his Feb. 6 fraud conviction for seeking and trading on confidential tips about a clinical trial for an Alzheimer's drug...

[xchrom]

19. Wells Fargo Can’t Shake L.A. Lawsuit Over Predatory Loans

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-28/wells-fargo-can-t-shake-l-a-lawsuit-over-predatory-loans.html

Wells Fargo & Co. (WFC) lost a bid to throw out a lawsuit by Los Angeles in the city’s renewed effort to hold mortgage lenders liable for record foreclosures during the collapse of the U.S. housing market.

U.S. District Judge Otis Wright II in Los Angeles, without ruling on the merits of the claims, today said the city’s allegations that the bank targeted minority lenders with “predatory loans” were legally sufficient at this stage to proceed with the case.

The second-largest U.S. city separately sued Wells Fargo, Citigroup Inc. (C) and Bank of America Corp. last year, saying the three mortgage lenders engaged in discriminatory practices since at least 2004, placing minority borrowers in loans they couldn’t afford and driving up the number of foreclosures in their neighborhoods.

Los Angeles, which previously sued Deutsche Bank AG as owner of foreclosed properties, and other cities have explored legal means to hold banks accountable for urban blight in the wake of the 2008 collapse of the U.S. housing market and financial crisis.

[xchrom]

20. Mongolia Sees $1 Billion Investment From Doubling Area for Mines

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-29/mongolia-sees-1-billion-investment-from-doubling-area-for-mines.html

Mongolia is seeking to expand its area available to mining to a fifth of the country, and by the close of the decade to end its dependence on foreign oil, according to a senior government official.

The outlook hangs on the passage of laws governing mining and energy, Vice Minister for Mining Erdenebulgan Oyun said last week in an interview. Both could be signed off by parliament within a month, he said.

The mining plans alone could unlock $1 billion in developments this year, easing pressure on Mongolia’s mineral-dependent economy. As recently as 2011, its growth was a world-beating 17.5 percent. That moderated to 11.7 percent last year, amid a collapse in foreign investment that has continued into 2014. The government last month embarked on a 100-day race to improve economic performance via dozens of measures to boost investment and cut imports.

Replacing Mongolia’s 1991 Petroleum Law would expand investment opportunities to include different types of contracts between parties, and regulate new energy sources including the nation’s nascent oil shale industry.

[xchrom]

21. U.S. Economy Shrank for First Time Since 2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-05-29/u-s-economy-shrank-early-this-year-for-first-time-since-2011.html

The economy in the U.S. contracted for the first time in three years from January through March as companies added to inventories at a slower pace and curtailed investment.

Gross domestic product fell at a 1 percent annualized rate in the first quarter, a bigger decline than projected, after a previously reported 0.1 percent gain, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. The last time the economy shrank was in the same three months of 2011. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg called for a 0.5 percent drop.

A pickup in receipts at retailers, stronger manufacturing and faster job growth indicate the first-quarter setback will prove temporary as pent-up demand is unleashed. Federal Reserve policy makers said at their April meeting that the economy has strengthened after adverse weather took its toll.

“We do have business investment picking up, the household sector is in pretty good shape with the labor market improving a bit,” Sam Coffin, an economist at UBS Securities LLC in New York, said before the report. “That combination of slightly braver businesses, slightly faster job growth, should add up to broader, better growth.”

[Demeter]

29. Three years of bubble blowing, shot to hell by one mean winter

Better luck next time!

[mahatmakanejeeves]

22. ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (05/29/2014)

Source: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Read More: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20140950.pdf

== == == ==

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending May 24, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 300,000, a decrease of 27,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 326,000 to 327,000. The 4-week moving average was 311,500, a decrease of 11,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since August 11, 2007 when it was 311,250. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 322,500 to 322,750.

There were no special factors impacting this week's initial claims.

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 2.0 percent for the week ending May 17, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending May 17 was 2,631,000, a decrease of 17,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since November 17, 2007 when it was 2,609,000. The previous week's level was revised down by 5,000 from 2,653,000 to 2,648,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,655,250, a decrease of 32,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since December 8, 2007 when it was 2,638,500. The previous week's average was revised down by 1,250 from 2,689,000 to 2,687,750.

========

More goofiness. This thing keeps bouncing up and down by 27 or 28 thousand initial claims from week to week. I don't know what's going on.

[Demeter]

30. I quote Mark Twain

Figures often beguile me, particularly when I have the arranging of them myself; in which case the remark attributed to Disraeli would often apply with justice and force: "There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."

- Mark Twain's Own Autobiography: The Chapters from the North American Review


Further background on this quote is provided by Stephen Goranson who writes on the Mark Twain Forum in a post dated 31 July 2002: Twain's Autobiography attribution of a remark about lies and statistics to Disraeli is generally not accepted. Evidence is now available to conclude that the phrase originally appeared in 1895 in an article by Leonard H. Courtney. So Disraeli is not the source, nor any pre-1895 person; merely Courtney. The 1895 article is now available online at: http://www.york.ac.uk/depts/maths/histstat/lies.htm Courtney may have read Carlyle on statistics (also quoted at this site); certainly, misuse of statistics was complained about before 1895.

http://www.twainquotes.com/Statistics.html

[xchrom]

23. Companies Commit Human-Rights Abuses in America, Too

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/05/human-rights-abuses-happen-in-america-too/371702/

***SNIP

Recent headlines indicate no shortage of business-related human-rights abuses in the U.S.:

Last week, The New York Times revealed that immigrant detainees are staffing the very detention centers where they are held—some run by private companies, others by the federal government—for 13 cents an hour.

Earlier this month, Human Rights Watch released a report documenting horrific working conditions for children farming tobacco in North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Virginia.

That same week, fast food workers staged protests in 150 cities across the country in the hopes of securing higher wages.

Last week, Facebook announced that it would succumb to user anger about its opaque and fickle policies and give a “privacy check-up” to its users.

Experts assert that human trafficking rises around the Super Bowl and other major sporting events, enabled by hotels, airlines, and other businesses in the travel industry.

In 2013, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission received 93,727 private sector charges of discrimination during the last fiscal year.

Human rights are clearly at risk in business operations in the U.S., but it is rare that companies or media frame such issues in human-rights terms. To be sure, human rights are at greater risk in countries where the rule of law is weak and there is less robust media and civil society to hold both governments and companies to account. But that does not mean that human rights are fully protected in Western countries—as I learned during my time with BP.

[Demeter]

31. And that's only the most egregious civil rights violation--slavery

Fourth Amendment, anyone? Rule of Law? I could go on, but you know the list....

[Demeter]

26. One's salary is NOT a measure of one's WORTH

It is a measure of one's POWER.

[Demeter]

33. Report: Detroit spent big to renovate homes

http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/story/25641290/report-detroit-spent-big-to-renovate-homes

Detroit spent as much as $537,000 per home renovating 30 houses starting in 2011 under a federal program to fight blight before selling most for less than $100,000 each, according to a newspaper's investigation published on Thursday. The Detroit Land Bank transformed eyesores into gems, with features such as glass-tiled bathrooms, stainless steel appliances, underground sprinkler systems and, in some cases, geothermal heating, The Detroit News reported.

A goal was to entice middle class families into the East English Village and Boston Edison neighborhoods. Land bank Executive Director Richard Wiener, who took over in January, said officials "are now moving in a different direction." The bank is working to sell the last three homes in the program. It spent nearly $8.7 million from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development on 30 homes. So far, sales have brought in about $2 million.

An average of $290,000 was spent on each home, with the 13 most expensive ones costing $300,000 to $537,000 apiece. Susan Hanafee learned from The News that $430,000 was spent on the three-story Boston Edison home she bought last year for $80,000.

"It kind of makes me sick," she said. "It didn't really need that much rehab. ... It makes me sad to think about the money that was poured into a particular house and ... to know my neighbors are having to scrape enough together to put a new roof on."

The report comes two days after a task force said removing blighted residential properties and small commercial structures that have plagued Detroit neighborhoods for decades would cost $850 million, with perhaps $1 billion more needed to tackle the bankrupt city's larger commercial and industrial property. The 2011 program was launched amid fears that the housing meltdown was causing even Detroit's most stable neighborhoods to collapse, and some of the homes were intended for then-Mayor Dave Bing's Project 14 to attract city police and firefighters living in the suburbs.

"If we wouldn't have invested the money, those communities would have tilted the wrong way," said Bing in defense of the program.

Federal grants paid for the program and limited how city officials could spend the money. Contractors said often the worst homes on the block were selected for rehab, some needing expensive foundation repairs, lead and asbestos abatement and new plumbing and electrical systems. Many of the homes are large.

"Wherever we go in the city of Detroit, it has to be subsidized," said Lisa Johanon, executive director of Central Detroit Christian Community Development Corp., a nonprofit that did two renovations.

"It's just what it takes right now to get Detroit on its feet," she said.

[Demeter]

34. Michigan a leader in 'blue economy' jobs

http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20140529/BIZ/305290056/1409/METRO



Michigan is fourth in the nation in the share of its workforce associated with industries that develop freshwater technology and services or are highly dependent on plentiful and clean water, according to a report released Thursday. From wastewater treatment to farming and advanced manufacturing, a wide swath of the state’s economy is particularly sensitive to any changes in water quality or abundance, said the analysis prepared on behalf of three public universities that conduct extensive water research. It also says that those industries and the research provide a solid foundation for developing a “blue economy” advocated by many futurist thinkers as a path to prosperity for the Great Lakes region in the post-Rust Belt era.

“You just have to look at what’s happening around the country with all the droughts to understand how important it will be in the 21st century to know how to conserve and protect water,” said Jeff Mason, executive director of the University Research Corridor, the consortium of the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University that sponsored the analysis

.

The report was produced by Anderson Economic Group, an East Lansing consulting firm that previously has examined the universities’ contributions to sectors such as automobiles, information technology and alternative energy. The Associated Press obtained a copy prior to its release during the Detroit Regional Chamber’s annual policy conference at Mackinac Island. It found that 718,704 jobs in Michigan — 21.3 percent of total employment — are with industries that benefit directly from innovation and research that boost water quantity and quality. Bigger states such as California and Texas have more such jobs. But Michigan ranks fourth nationally in the share of its workforce in those industries, trailing Indiana (23.3 percent), Wisconsin (23.2 percent) and Alabama (21.3 percent). Hawaii’s rate, 7.5 percent, is lowest. The nationwide rate is 16.1 percent.

The report divided the industries into two broad categories. “Core water products and services” consists of sectors with the clearest link, as they develop, sell or implement water quality and quantity technology. Examples include water filtration, waste treatment and scientific or engineering consultant services. Michigan has 138,026 of those jobs.

The second category, “water-enabled industries,” includes those that use large volumes of water for their products or operations, discharge significant amounts needing processing, or both. While virtually every part of the economy needs water, the industries in this group are most likely to make direct use of the new technology, the report said. Among them are agriculture, electric power generation, shipping and numerous types of manufacturing, from wood products to chemicals, drugs and appliances. Their combined employment totaled 581,028. Only a few workers in such places might have direct involvement with water, said Alexander Rosaen, who wrote the report.

“But the fact remains that if there’s a significant change in availability of water, or they can’t get the quality of water they need, it might disrupt their operations or the might even change their location,” he said.

MORE

[Demeter]

35. 13 southeast Michigan counties selected for place in $13 billion Obama manufacturing program

http://www.clickondetroit.com/news/13-southeast-michigan-counties-selected-for-place-in-13-billion-obama-manufacturing-program/26213324

Thirteen counties in southeastern Michigan are getting a slice of a $1.3 billion Obama administration project to boost American manufacturing...The White House said Wednesday that 12 U.S. regions will get help under a program to make them more attractive to manufacturers. The Investing in Manufacturing Communities Partnership began in September to encourage communities to develop long-term plans to pursue manufacturing-based growth opportunities. The Michigan counties are Clinton, Eaton, Genesee, Ingham, Lapeer, Livingston, Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Shiawassee, Washtenaw and Wayne.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Dan Kildee of Flint says the program should help boost advanced manufacturing and workforce training in the region. The White House says 22 percent of U.S.-made vehicles and 70 percent of U.S. auto research happens in the region.

[Demeter]

36. Shareholder anger simmers worldwide over bankers' pay SEE CARTOON, ABOVE

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/05/29/us-banks-salary-shareholders-agm-idUSKBN0E91LG20140529?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

Investors owning almost 6 billion shares rejected the pay plans of 10 of the world's biggest banks in recent weeks as anger over excessive bonuses reached record levels in Britain and jumped sharply from a year ago in the United States. Hefty bankers' bonuses have been blamed for contributing to the 2008/09 financial crisis and banks have since changed pay structures, but many politicians, shareholders and members of the general public say the industry has not gone far enough.

"While some changes in behavior are taking place, these are not deep or broad enough. The industry still prizes short-term profit over long-term prudence, today’s bonus over tomorrow’s relationship," Christine Lagarde, the managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said this week.

Shareholder opposition to executive pay at five European and five U.S. banks averaged 17.5 percent at their annual meetings in April and May, according to Reuters' analysis of votes. That was up from an average of 9.5 percent across the same 10 banks last year, but was slightly down from the record rebellion of 19.2 percent of votes in 2012. Opposition at British banks this year hit record levels, led by 41 percent of shareholders at Standard Chartered voting against its executive pay plan. At Barclays more than one-third of voters failed to back its plan, including abstentions.

Eugenia Jackson, head of governance at F&C Investments, which has 82 billion pounds in assets under management and voted against remuneration reports at Barclays, HSBC, UBS and others, said lower revenues and profits in investment banking and tougher capital requirements had put even more scrutiny on how banks plan to adapt pay levels.

"It's an even bigger concern than it was before because we are now coming to the realization that the old business models have to change, and as a result they have to rethink the compensation," Jackson said.

"Say on pay" votes on bank executives' compensation are not binding, although there is growing pressure to change that. Some banks held binding votes on some aspects of pay policy this year and investors at UK banks had to vote on a separate pay policy that set out three-year pay plans. It passed at all banks, but was rejected by 21 percent of HSBC shareholders who voted. Opposition above 5 percent on proposals recommended by a company are typically regarded as a protest vote, with anything over 10 percent seen as significant. During Britain's "shareholder spring" in 2012, when investors became more vocal with criticism, opposition to remuneration reports averaged 7 percent across the top 350 UK companies.


...At the five U.S. firms with major investment banks, including JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs, opposition to compensation reports averaged 13.3 percent, up from 9.1 percent last year but below 2011 and 2012 levels.

There were significant protest votes at Switzerland's UBS and Credit Suisse, although the scale of opposition did not reach the levels seen in 2012 and 2010.

MORE

[Demeter]

37. A Deeper Look at Why Fewer People Are Starting Businesses

http://www.inc.com/erik-sherman/the-entrepreneurship-crash-the-puzzle-continues.html



The Brookings Institute recently reported that entrepreneurship is at a three-decade low because of a long decline across the country. There has been enough buzz about the results that authors Ian Hathaway and Robert Litan decided to release a follow-up. Although they don't yet have an answer to the question of why people would become less interested in starting businesses, rather than work for someone else, they are working on a paper on the topic. In the meantime, though, they wanted to address a number of rationalizations and excuses from those who have wanted to discount the results and pretend that everything is fine.

As a recap, for decades, the entrance of firms into the economy outpaced their exit, meaning a net increase in new businesses. The authors saw that as a proxy for entrepreneurial activity. Since at least 1978, the lines for entry and exit have converged. In 2008, they reached a watershed moment and crossed. Now the pace of firm creation continues to shrink, as does, apparently, the number of entrepreneurs.

Retail and Services

Some critics have claimed that the shift of the economy toward retail and services industries combined with well-known consolidation is the reason for the apparent drop. Hathaway and Litan dismissed that on two grounds. One is that the reduction of firm creation is happening across all industries. The other is if you back out retail and services from the overall numbers, firm creation falls even faster. The sectors turn out to be big net firm creators that pulled up the average. Without them, it would have been worse.

High-Growth Firms

Another criticism is that when it comes to the economy and job creation, certain firms count more than others. More specifically, the argument is that high-growth firms are the important ones, and if others aren't being formed, who cares? But, the authors counter, it's next to impossible to know at the outset which new companies will become the ones that generate the majority of jobs and activity. For example, it turns out that venture backing isn't a good predictor of importance. In any year, the "large majority ... making it to the Inc. 500 list of fast-growing firms in any given year ... never received VC money." In general, the economy needs many companies first to start so that some of them will wildly succeed.

Policy and Politics

Forget the partisan agendas, as well. The decline has been pretty steady for more than 30 years, whether there was a Democrat or Republican in the White House. The issue isn't personal income tax either, because marginal rates have dropped since 1981. If taxes were the real issue, you'd have expected firm creation to have increased. There is some chance that regulation could be a factor, but even that is complicated. For example, the Affordable Care Act might act as an impetus because people might be less bound to a job to keep their health insurance.

So far it's three easy explanations down and the real ones to come. Rationalizations aren't going to work in this case.

[Demeter]

38. Here's What Corporate America Really Thinks About You

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/data-brokers-stereotyping_n_5405805.html?utm_hp_ref=business

If you are an American human being today, you probably labor under the illusion of having a self, as Rust Cohle put it, but what you really are is a sadly predictable agglomeration of demographic traits and buying habits.

This is just how the world works, according to our many "data brokers," who pretty much know everything. These are companies that tirelessly scour the Internet, government records and anyplace else we might leave a mark on this mortal coil and then use the information they glean to help companies sell crap to you. You can learn more about them in a new Federal Trade Commission report, "Data Brokers: A Call For Transparency And Accountability."

One of the most interesting/depressing things about the report is how these companies, which have terrible corporate-speak names like Acxiom, Corelogic and Datalogix, cram people into stereotype buckets to make their crap-selling easier.

"While some of these segments seem innocuous, others rely on characteristics, such as ethnicity, income level, and education level, which seem more sensitive and may be disconcerting," the FTC wrote in the report....

[Demeter]

39. Costco's Secret Is in Plain Sight, So Why Hasn't Anyone Copied It?

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/costcos-secret-plain-sight-why-133500022.html

Costco's secret is that it continues to profit even though it pays wages that satisfy its employees. More proof came in the latest Glassdoor survey. Its list of the 25 best companies based on compensation listed Google at No. 1 and Facebook at No. 3. Costco was No. 2 and was the only retailer on the list. That doesn't mean Costco pays as much as Google. The results are based on surveys of employees. It means Costco employees are nearly as satisfied with their treatment as those at Google.

... many people are driving right past Sam's Club outlets to go to Costco. I do it all the time. The question Wall Street never asks is why. Most suspect it's because Costco has higher-end merchandise, which attracts a higher-end clientele. But that's not why. The main reason is because when I walk into a Costco store the people working there are happy. Good wages translate into happy employees, and happy employees make for happy customers. You don't have to pay Google wages to make this happen, but you do have to pay significantly more than the minimum wage, and Costco does that.

The Glassdoor survey of Costco wages show a pretty flat salary curve, with pay ranging from $10-$23 an hour for cashiers and just $22-24 an hour for supervisors. No position averages much more than $22 an hour, but none averages less than $11 an hour either. Even the guy who checks your receipt and the woman who sells the cheap hot dogs take home a decent wage. Glassdoor estimates salaries at Sam's Club are quite different. Cashiers and other low-level employees make as little as $8 an hour, but supervisors take home an average of almost $50,000 a year, which comes to about $25 an hour.

It's not just that Sam's Club employees earn, on average, several dollars per hour less than those at Costco. There is a clear line between labor and management in every Sam's Club store. The line is blurred in a Costco store. Is that communism? Some might say so. But based on the numbers, it's also good business. Everyone in a retail store is on the same team. Why should there be lines drawn between them? And that's the secret of Costco. It is hiding in plain sight. What is amazing is how few retailers have copied it.

At the time of publication the author owned shares of GOOG and COST. This article represents the opinion of a contributor and not necessarily that of TheStreet or its editorial staff.