STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 6 November 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 6 November 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 5 November 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 5 November 2014
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Dow Jones 17,484.53 +100.69 (0.58%)
S&P 500 2,023.57 +11.47 (0.57%)
[font color=red]Nasdaq 4,620.72 -2.91 (-0.06%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.34% -0.02 (-0.85%)
30 Year 3.06% -0.02 (-0.65%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?
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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.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts







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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]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. How much you wanta bet. . . .

I used my rubber stamp more yesterday than what's his name will use THAT ^^ one in the next two years?


What a fuckwad.

[Demeter]

2. I don't take sucker bets

Obama will get to be the Republican he always wanted to be. Talk about closeted!

Besides which, that stamp of yours is wearing out.

[Demeter]

3. Dow, S&P 500 close at records after midterm vote

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-markets-stocks-idUSKBN0IP1EH20141105?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, with both the S&P 500 and Dow advancing to records, after Republicans took control of the Senate, allaying fears of drawn-out runoffs and raising investor hopes for more business- and energy-friendly policies.

A stronger-than-expected report on the labor market also helped lift stocks, but some weak tech sector earnings weighed on the Nasdaq.

The beaten-down energy sector rallied on hopes that a Republican majority could pass legislation that includes approval of oil and gas pipelines and reforms of crude and natural gas export laws. The S&P energy index .SPNY was up 1.8 percent.

"For now, the market generally likes the results. If we had uncertainty around the result, that would have been a cause for concern," said John Canally, chief economic strategist at LPL Financial.

"A little bit less business unfriendliness coming out of Washington is a clear plus," he added, noting that 88 percent of the time, stocks rise in the fourth quarter of midterm election years, regardless of the outcome.

U.S. private employers added 230,000 jobs in October, the most since June, according to the ADP National Employment report. The data could raise hopes for Friday's closely-watched payroll report. On the downside, the pace of growth in the U.S. services sector slowed more than expected in October...

MORE SELF-CONGRATULATORY BS AT LINK

WE WILL SEE HOW THEY FEEL ABOUT THE RESULTS IN A YEAR'S TIME...

[Demeter]

4. Three major nations absent as China launches World Bank rival in Asia

IT'S ALL A QUESTION OF CORRUPTION....ARE THE CHINESE AS CORRUPT AS THE WEST? IF NOT, THEY WILL TAKE OVER. IF SO, THERE WILL BE ECONOMIC WAR. IF MORESO, THEY WILL DESTROY THE LIVES OF 1.3 BILLION CHINESE.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-china-aiib-idUSKCN0ID08U20141105?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

Australia, Indonesia and South Korea skipped the launch of a China-backed Asian infrastructure bank on Friday as the United States said it had concerns about the new rival to Western-dominated multilateral lenders. China's proposed $50 billion Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) is seen as a challenge to the World Bank and Asian Development Bank, both multilateral lenders that count Washington and its allies as their biggest financial backers. China, which is keen to extend its influence in the region, has limited voting power over these existing banks despite being the world's second-largest economy.

The AIIB, launched in Beijing at a ceremony attended by Chinese finance minister Lou Jiwei and delegates from 21 countries including India, Thailand and Malaysia, aims to give project loans to developing nations. China is set to be its largest shareholder with a stake of up to 50 percent. Indonesia, where President Xi Jinping first spoke of the AIIB during an October visit last year, was not present and neither were South Korea and Australia, according to a pool report.

Media reports said U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry put pressure on Australia to stay out of the bank. However, State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said: "Secretary Kerry has made clear directly to the Chinese as well as to other partners that we ‎welcome the idea of an infrastructure bank for Asia but we strongly urge that it meet international standards of governance and transparency..."We have concerns about the ambiguous nature of the AIIB proposal as it currently stands, that we have also expressed publicly."

The Australian Financial Review said on Friday that Kerry had personally asked Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott to keep Australia out of the AIIB. "Australia has been under pressure from the U.S. for some time to not become a founding member of the bank and it is understood Mr Kerry put the case directly to the prime minister when the pair met in Jakarta on Monday ­following the inauguration of Indonesian President Joko Widodo," the paper said.

South Korea, one of Washington's strongest diplomatic allies in Asia, has yet to say it will formally participate in the bank. "We have continued to demand rationality in areas such as governance and safeguard issues, and there's no reason (for Korea) not to join it," South Korean Finance Minister Choi Kyung-hwan said in Beijing on Thursday...

THIS SHOULD BE INTERESTING...TAKE OUR MINDS OFF LOCAL POLITICS

[Demeter]

5. Energy seen getting biggest boost from Republican Senate

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-usa-elections-markets-idUSKBN0IP02N20141105?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

While the Republican Party won't assume its Senate majority until January, U.S. stock investors are already betting the new congressional makeup could lead to faster action on pipelines and trade agreements, sending energy shares higher on Wednesday.

Wall Street rose broadly in its first session after midterm elections, but energy and medical device companies - two sectors that could see a more direct impact from legislative measures - had outsized moves.

Part of the broader market's move came on relief that the Senate majority party was not in doubt; investors had been concerned some close races would be forced into run-offs, an outcome that could have delayed knowing who would control Congress's upper chamber for weeks.

"It had looked like some of the races would be very close and that we might not know who controlled the Senate, but in the end, the results were pretty decisive," said John Carey, portfolio manager at Pioneer Investment Management in Boston. "That's good news for the industries that had been subject to regulatory issues."...Other issues that may also find traction under Republicans include a potential repeal of the medical-device tax that is part of the Affordable Care Act, which could benefit the healthcare technology sector...

MORE TEA LEAF READING (GET IT?) AT LINK

[Demeter]

6. Companies sign secret tax deals with Luxembourg

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/05/us-luxembourg-tax-idUSKBN0IP30L20141105?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

More than 300 companies, including PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N), AIG Inc (AIG.N) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBKGn.DE), secured secret deals from Luxembourg to slash their tax bills, the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) reported, quoting leaked documents.

The companies appear to have channeled hundreds of billions of dollars through Luxembourg and saved billions of dollars in taxes, the group of investigative journalists said, based on a review of nearly 28,000 pages of confidential documents.

The leaked documents reviewed by ICIJ journalists include hundreds of private tax rulings – known as comfort letters – that Luxembourg provides to corporations seeking favorable tax treatment.

Luxembourg officials denied any "sweetheart deals" in its tax system.

"The Luxembourg system of taxation is competitive – there is nothing unfair or unethical about it," ICIJ quoted Nicolas Mackel, chief executive of Luxembourg for Finance, as saying in an interview....

VERY INTERESTING, INDEED

[Demeter]

7. Dark Age America: The End of the Market Economy THE ARCHDRUID REPORT

http://thearchdruidreport.blogspot.com/2014/11/dark-age-america-end-of-market-economy.html

One of the factors that makes it difficult to think through the economic consequences of the end of the industrial age is that we’ve all grown up in a world where every form of economic activity has been channeled through certain familiar forms for so long that very few people remember that things could be any other way. Another of the factors that make the same effort of thinking difficult is that the conventional economic thought of our time has invested immense effort and oceans of verbiage into obscuring the fact that things could be any other way. Those are formidable obstacles. We’re going to have to confront them, though, because one of the core features of the decline and fall of civilizations is that most of the habits of everyday life that are standard practice when civilizations are at zenith get chucked promptly into the recycle bin as decline picks up speed. That’s true across the whole spectrum of cultural phenomena, and it’s especially true of economics, for a reason discussed in last week’s post: the economic institutions and habits of a civilization in full flower are too complex for the same civilization to support once it’s gone to seed.

The institutions and habits that contemporary industrial civilization uses to structure its economic life comprise that tangled realm of supposedly voluntary exchanges we call “the market.” Back when the United States was still contending with the Soviet Union for global hegemony, that almost always got rephrased as “the free market;” the adjective still gets some use among ideologues, but by and large it’s dropped out of use elsewhere. This is a good thing, at least from the perspective of honest speaking, because the “free” market is of course nothing of the kind. It’s unfree in at least two crucial senses: first, in that it’s compulsory; second, in that it’s expensive. “The law in its majestic equality,” Anatole France once noted drolly, “forbids rich and poor alike to urinate in public, sleep under bridges, or beg for bread.” In much the same sense, no one is actually forced to participate in the market economy in the modern industrial world. Those who want to abstain are perfectly free to go looking for some other way to keep themselves fed, clothed, housed, and supplied with the other necessities of life, and the fact that every option outside of the market has been hedged around with impenetrable legal prohibitions if it hasn’t simply been annihilated by legal fiat or brute force is just one of those minor details that make life so interesting.

Historically speaking, there are a vast number of ways to handle exchanges of goods and services between people. In modern industrial societies, on the other hand, outside of the occasional vestige of an older tradition here and there, there’s only one. Exchanging some form of labor for money, on whatever terms an employer chooses to offer, and then exchanging money for goods and services, on whatever terms the seller chooses to offer, is the only game in town. There’s nothing free about either exchange, other than the aforesaid freedom to starve in the gutter. The further up you go in the social hierarchy, to be sure, the less burdensome the conditions on the exchanges generally turn out to be—here as elsewhere, privilege has its advantages—but unless you happen to have inherited wealth or can find some other way to parasitize the market economy without having to sell your own labor, you’re going to participate if you like to eat. Your participation in the market, furthermore, doesn’t come cheap. Every exchange you make, whether it’s selling your labor or buying goods and services with the proceeds, takes place within a system that has been subjected to the process of intermediation discussed in last week’s post. Thus, in most cases, you can’t simply sell your labor directly to individuals who want to buy it or its products; instead, you are expected to sell your labor to an employer, who then sells it or its product to others, gives you part of the proceeds, and pockets the rest. Plenty of other people are lined up for their share of the value of your labor: bankers, landlords, government officials, and the list goes on. When you go to exchange money for goods and services, the same principle applies; how much of the value of your labor you get to keep for your own purposes varies from case to case, but it’s always less than the whole sum, and sometimes a great deal less.

Karl Marx performed a valuable service to political economy by pointing out these facts and giving them the stress they deserve, in the teeth of savage opposition from the cheerleaders of the status quo who, then as now, dominated economic thought. His proposed solution to the pervasive problems of the (un)free market was another matter. Like most of his generation of European intellectuals, Marx was dazzled by the swamp-gas luminescence of Hegelian philosophy, and followed Hegel’s verbose and vaporous trail into a morass of circular reasoning and false prophecy from which few of his remaining followers have yet managed to extract themselves. It’s from Hegel that Marx got the enticing but mistaken notion that history consists of a sequence of stages that move in a predetermined direction toward some as-perfect-as-possible state: the same idea, please note, that Francis Fukuyama used to justify his risible vision of the first Bush administration as the glorious fulfillment of human history. (To borrow a bit of old-fashioned European political jargon, there are right-Hegelians and left-Hegelians; Fukuyama was an example of the former, Marx of the latter.) I’ll leave such claims and the theories founded on them to the true believers, alongside such equally plausible claims as the Singularity, the Rapture, and the lemonade oceans of Charles Fourier; what history itself shows is something rather different...What history shows, as already noted, is that the complex systems that emerge during the heyday of a civilization are inevitably scrapped on the way back down. Market economies are among those complex systems. Not all civilizations have market economies—some develop other ways to handle the complicated process of allocating goods and services in a society with many different social classes and occupational specialties—but those that do set up market economies inevitably load them with as many intermediaries as the overall complexity of their economies can support.

HE PREDICTS BACK TO THE FEUDALISM....I HOPE NOT. I'D RATHER GO TO WOMEN'S COUNTRY...

[xchrom]

8. The 10 Most Important Things In The World Right Now

http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-important-things-in-the-world-right-now-nov-6-2014-11

1. Leaked documents show that Luxembourg allegedly helped more than 300 of the world's largest corporations save millions in tax.

2. New malware called WireLurker is targeting iPhones and iPads on an unprecedented scale, a security firm told The New York Times, with Chinese users being most affected right now.

3. The UN leader in charge of fighting Ebola told the BBC that the organisation does not yet have the resources to beat the disease.

4. After Republicans regained control of the US Senate in midterm elections, President Obama said he would seek explicit authorisation from Congress to back the military campaign against the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

5. The European Central Bank announces its latest monetary policy decision today at 12:45 p.m. GMT.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/10-most-important-things-in-the-world-right-now-nov-6-2014-11#ixzz3IHolJxph

[xchrom]

9. Markets Are Down Ahead Of The ECB's Big Announcement

http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-nov-6-2014-2014-11

European stocks are down ahead of the ECB decision on rates and policy at 12.45 p.m. GMT. A press conference will follow at 1.30 p.m. GMT.

Germany's DAX is down 0.14%

Spain's IBEX is down 0.57%

Italy's FTSE MIB is down 0.65%

The UK's FTSE 100 is down 0.33%

France's CAC 40 is down 0.36%

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 0.86% after rallying since Friday. Hong Kong's Hang Seng closed down 0.20%.

US futures are slightly lower: the S&P is down 4.5 points and the Dow is down 26 points.

Today's big economic event is the European Central Bank's policy decision and president Mario Draghi's press conference. Analysts aren't expecting much action, but Draghi will likely face questions about growing rifts at the ECB.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/market-update-nov-6-2014-2014-11#ixzz3IHpNzGSZ

[xchrom]

10. Here's The Secret Letter That Shows The ECB Forced Ireland To Ask For A Bailout

http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-secret-letter-that-shows-the-ecb-forced-ireland-to-ask-for-a-bailout-2014-11

As this two line statement issued by the ECB at the time Cyprus fell into difficulty in 2013 demonstrates, making emergency liquidity assistance conditional on accepting economic reforms under the oversight of the so-called troika (made up of the European Commission, the IMF and the ECB) has now become the region's de facto model for dealing with banking crises. Critics would argue that such conditionality shows the ECB was willing to overstep the traditional boundaries of central banks by straying into the sovereign affairs of euro member states.

Mr Brian Lenihan, Tánaiste and Minister of Finance

Frankfurt, 19 November 2010

Dear Minister,

As you are aware from my previous letter dated 15 October, the provision of Emergency Liquidity Assistance (ELA) by the Central Bank of Ireland, as by any other national central bank of the Eurosystem, is closely monitored by the Governing Council of the European Central Bank (ECB) as it may interfere with the objectives and tasks of the Eurosystem and may contravene the prohibition of monetary financing.

Therefore, whenever ELA is provided in significant amounts, the Governing Council needs to assess whether it is appropriate to impose specific conditions in order to protect the integrity of our monetary policy. In addition, in order to ensure compliance with the prohibition of monetary financing, it is essential to ensure that ELA recipient institutions continue to be solvent.

As I indicated at the recent Eurogroup meeting, the exposure of the Eurosystem and of the Central Bank of Ireland vis-a-vis Irish financial institutions has risen significantly over the past few months to levels that we consider with great concern. Recent developments can only add to these concerns. As Patrick Honohan knows, the Governing Council has been asked yesterday to authorise new liquidity assistance, which it did.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/heres-the-secret-letter-that-shows-the-ecb-forced-ireland-to-ask-for-a-bailout-2014-11#ixzz3IHpvHbxi

[xchrom]

11. OECD: The World's Economy Is Stuck In The Mud And Europe Is Failing

http://www.businessinsider.com/oecd-the-worlds-economy-is-stuck-in-the-mud-and-europe-needs-qe-2014-11

Global growth is pretty slow: but nothing is quite as slow as Europe.

That's the main message from the Organisation for Economic C0-operation and Development (OECD) Thursday morning. Its latest set of economic forecasts are out, and they're not pretty.

According to the Paris-based think tank, global growth will only reach 3.3% this year, 3.7% next year and 3.9% in 2016.

Angel Gurria, secretary general of the OECD, summed it up: "There is an increasing risk of stagnation in the euro area. Countries must employ all monetary, fiscal and structural reform policies at their disposal to address these risks and support growth."



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/oecd-the-worlds-economy-is-stuck-in-the-mud-and-europe-needs-qe-2014-11#ixzz3IHql257l

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/oecd-the-worlds-economy-is-stuck-in-the-mud-and-europe-needs-qe-2014-11#ixzz3IHqYuL2Q

[xchrom]

12. UK Industrial Production Comes In Better Than Expected

http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-industrial-production-september-2014-11

UK Industrial production increased by 0.6% between August and September, which is better than the expected 0.4% increase.

The marginal uptick reflects increases of 3.8% in mining and quarrying, 0.4% in manufacturing, and 1.5% in the water supply, sewerage, and waste management sector, the Office of National Statistics said.

Production and manufacturing increased by 1.5% year-over-year in September.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/uk-industrial-production-september-2014-11#ixzz3IHrDyWFn

[xchrom]

13. Here's A Full List Of Companies That Allegedly Have Shady Tax Deals With Luxembourg

http://www.businessinsider.com/full-list-every-company-named-in-the-luxembourg-secret-tax-deal-database-2014-11

Here are the 310 companies — which include Pepsi and AIG — named by the ICIJ in their database of leaked documents, which includes 548 private tax rulings and corporation tax returns. We suggest heading over to the database for more context — it's a fantastic resource.

Here's the full list (twenty-seven more company names are expected come over the next month):

2PCT
3i
Abbott Laboratories
ABN Amro Group
Abris Capital Partners
Abry Partners
ABS - CBN Broadcasting Corporation
Abu Dhabi Investment Authority
Accenture
ACE Group
Acergy Group (now Subsea 7)
Advent International Corporation
AEA Investors
AHW Capital Management
AIG
Alexander Eriksen
Alfa Group Consortium
Allco Finance Group
Amazon



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/full-list-every-company-named-in-the-luxembourg-secret-tax-deal-database-2014-11#ixzz3IHrzMBrZ

[xchrom]

14. LEAK SHOWS SCALE OF LUXEMBOURG'S SWEET TAX DEALS

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_LUXEMBOURG_TAX_AVOIDANCE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-06-05-40-11

BRUSSELS (AP) -- Documents leaked to a group of investigative reporters allegedly show that scores of major multinational companies have sweet deals with the government of Luxembourg that help them avoid taxes in others nations.

Luxembourg's prime minister, Xavier Bettel, hastily arranged a press conference Thursday to address the allegations of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists, which said it pored through some 28,000 pages of confidential documents and said some 340 businesses could be linked to the Grand Duchy for special tax deals.

The European Union has already broadened its crackdown on multinationals' tax avoidance schemes, with a probe against Amazon's practices launched last month.

The ICIJ allegations now add many more high-profile names, including FedEx, Pepsi and IKEA.

[xchrom]

15. WORLD STOCKS MOSTLY DOWN AS ECB, JOBS REPORT LOOM

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/FINANCIAL_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-06-05-21-48

KEEPING SCORE: France's CAC 40 was down 0.5 percent at 4,185.90 and Germany's DAX shed 0.5 percent to 9,271.35. Britain's FTSE 100 fell 0.5 percent to 6,506.14. Future pointed to losses on Wall Street. Dow futures were down 0.2 percent at 17,385 and S&P 500 futures dropped 0.2 percent to 2,014.20.

EUROPE WOES: Despite the eurozone economy's sluggishness, the European Central Bank is likely to refrain from offering more monetary support at its meeting Thursday as it looks to existing stimulus programs to start working. The ECB's 24 policymakers are expected to leave the key interest rate at a record low of 0.05 percent and signal no step-up in the current stimulus programs, which aim to boost the flow of credit to companies. Analysts think ECB President Mario Draghi will use his news conference after the meeting in Frankfurt to underline the bank's willingness to intensify its stimulus efforts if things get worse

JOBS REPORT: A strong report on U.S. hiring from payrolls processor ADP suggested Friday's official monthly employment figures will show robust employment growth. If that is the case, it will allay lingering worries that the Fed's recent decision to withdraw its extraordinary stimulus, provided through a massive program of bond buying, was premature. Intended to spur economic recovery after the global recession, the stimulus helped markets defy gravity even in the face of poor company earnings or bad economic news.

THE QUOTE: "Friday's jobs report will be of great interest to assess the psychology of the market," said Chris Weston, chief market strategist at IG in Melbourne, Australia. The Federal Reserve's "safety net isn't there anymore and fundamentals should matter more now," he said. "A poor number will really paint a clearer picture about whether the market is ready to revert to a more traditional stance and potentially sell-off on bad news and rally on good news."

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 stock average erased gains to end down 0.9 percent to 16,792.48 and Hong Kong's Hang Seng dropped 0.2 percent to 23,649.31 South Korea's Kospi added 0.3 percent to 1,936.48 and Australia's S&P/ASX 200 dropped 0.2 percent to 5,506.10. Markets in Southeast Asia were mostly higher.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude was down 11 cents at $78.57 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It swooned earlier in the week on reports that Saudi Arabia was cutting prices for U.S.-bound crude. On Wednesday, oil rebounded on a smaller-than-expected increase in overall U.S. supplies.

[xchrom]

16. GERMAN FACTORY ORDERS RISE LESS THAN EXPECTED

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_GERMANY_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-11-06-05-10-48

BERLIN (AP) -- German factory orders rose only slightly in September, failing to make up for a sharp drop the month before as had been hoped.

The Federal Statistical Office said Thursday that orders rose 0.8 percent over August, following a revised 4.2 percent drop that month over July, according to figures adjusted for seasonal and calendar factors.

Foreign orders rose 3.7 percent, helping offset a 2.8 percent drop in domestic orders.

Following an economic contraction of 0.2 percent in the April-June period, analysts say Germany needs to post a strong rebound in September to avoid another drop in the third quarter, which would technically put Europe's largest economy in a recession.

[Demeter]

17. We have an alarming weather forecast here

Starting Wednesday next, not even going above freezing! I am so glad I quit the route.

That's serious late December weather. Can't wait to see what January will bring.

[xchrom]

18. Not All QE Is Created Equal as U.S. Outpunches ECB-BOJ

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-06/central-bank-bond-buying-not-born-equal-in-risk-investors-miss.html

It turns out not all quantitative easing is created equal.

New stimulus measures at the Bank of Japan and European Central Bank may lack the global punch of the U.S. Federal Reserve, which last week ended its third round of quantitative easing. So investors should pay more attention to the source of the extra cash sloshing around the financial system than to the amounts.

“It is unlikely that increased asset purchases by the BOJ and the ECB will be able to provide a full offset to the end of Fed purchases,” says David Woo, head of global rates and currencies at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.

His calculations, contained in a Nov. 3 report, show the Bank of Japan’s surprise decision last week to boost its monetary base faster than previously planned will help add another $730 billion to its balance sheet in the next year. Meantime, the ECB’s buying of asset-backed securities and covered bonds should add $410 billion to its accounts annually.

So even with the Fed no longer buying $85 billion a month of assets, the aggregate liquidity provided each month by the three major central banks will next year return to this year’s peak of a little more than $150 billion.

[xchrom]

19. Fed Concern With Repeat of 1937 Blunder Echoed by Markets

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-06/fed-concern-with-repeat-of-1937-blunder-echoed-by-markets.html

The specter of 1937 is weighing on the minds of top Federal Reserve officials as they work on a road map for unwinding their unprecedented economic stimulus.

That was the year, following a recovery from the Great Depression, that the Fed prematurely tightened monetary policy and was forced to backtrack as the economy fell back into a recession.

The dangers of repeating that mistake are highlighted in a survey of the 22 primary dealers that trade U.S. Treasuries directly with the Fed. The dealers saw a 20 percent chance the Fed, which plans to raise its main interest rate in 2015, would be forced to cut it back to zero within two years, according to the median response to the poll, taken by the New York Fed before September’s Federal Open Market Committee meeting.

“When I think of the odds of them having to reverse course, they are uncomfortably high because this is not your typical cycle and typical recovery,” said Eric Green, head of U.S. rates and economic research at TD Securities USA LLC in New York, a primary dealer.

[Demeter]

29. Until unemployment reaches acceptable (real) levels...like 3% for fulltime

they shouldn't even think about it.

And that has to be living wages, mind. None of this cheeseparing.

[xchrom]

20. BOJ Adopts Shame Gauge as Japan Targets Higher Returns

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/boj-adopts-shame-gauge-as-japan-targets-higher-returns.html

Buried amid the surprise stimulus by the Bank of Japan last week was a footnote: the central bank will start using an equity gauge designed to shame the nation’s companies into becoming more profitable.

The BOJ can buy exchange-traded funds tracking the JPX-Nikkei Index 400, it said Oct. 31, when it tripled annual purchases of ETFs to about 3 trillion yen ($26 billion). The nation’s $1.1 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund is already investing in the state-backed equity measure created to make Japanese companies use cash better.

For Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. and SMBC Nikko Securities Inc., the BOJ’s move shows Japan will put its money where its mouth is in seeking to improve return on equity at the nation’s companies. Other efforts include a government-endorsed ROE target of 8 percent and a stewardship code that enlists investors to press management for higher returns.

“The government is continuing to put pressure on companies and investors,” Takashi Miyazaki, general manager of strategic research and investment at Mitsubishi UFJ Asset, said by phone from Tokyo on Nov. 4. “ROE on the Nikkei 225 Stock Average currently averages about 10 percent. If that rose to 12 percent, the Nikkei 225 would probably climb to 20,000.”

[xchrom]

21. U.S. Earnings Beat Estimates at Fastest Pace in 4 Years

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/u-s-earnings-beat-estimates-at-fastest-pace-in-4-years.html

Standard & Poor’s 500 Index companies are beating analysts’ estimates at the fastest pace in four years, underscoring the strength of the U.S. economy’s recovery from the longest recession since the Great Depression.

More than 81 percent of the 410 S&P 500 members that have reported results so far this quarter have topped projections, led by companies from Caterpillar Inc. (CAT) and Time Warner Inc. to Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) That’s the highest rate since the first quarter of 2010 and exceeds the 58 percent ratio for members of the Stoxx Europe 600 Index and the 52 percent for the MSCI (MXAP) Asia Pacific Index, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

Recent economic data point to improvements in the U.S. labor market and consumer sentiment, which, combined with the lowest costs at the gas pump in four years and the fastest pace of payroll gains in more than a decade, are projected to help lift consumer spending. While rivals in Europe and Asia grapple with slowing growth, U.S. companies are taking advantage of technologies such as fracking, 3-D printing, apps and cloud computing to lower costs and lift earnings to record levels.

“It’s a tremendous earnings environment with technology gains and with the slow, steady -- what we call plow-horse -- economy,” said Brian Wesbury, chief economist at First Trust Portfolios LP, who was fourth in a Bloomberg ranking of top forecasters of the U.S. economy last quarter. “That’s why earnings keep beating these pessimistic forecasts.”

[xchrom]

22. Harsh Winter Outlook Made a Bit More Dire by Early Snow

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-06/harsh-winter-outlook-made-a-bit-more-dire-by-early-snow.html

Remember how evidence was mounting last month that early snowfall was accumulating across Siberia? And remember how there’s a theory that says this snowfall signals a cold winter?

So in the two and half weeks since, the news for the winter-haters has, unfortunately, only gotten worse.

About 14.1 million square kilometers of snow blanketed Siberia at the end of October, the second most in records going back to 1967, according to Rutgers University’s Global Snow Lab. The record was in 1976, which broke a streak of mild winters in the eastern U.S. In addition, the speed at which snow has covered the region is the fastest since at least 1998.

Taken together they signal greater chances for frigid air to spill out of the Arctic into more temperate regions of North America, Europe and Asia, said Judah Cohen, director of seasonal forecasting at Atmospheric and Environmental Research in Lexington, Massachusetts, who developed the theory linking Siberian snow with winter weather.

[Demeter]

30. Snow is good

Much better than flooding.

[xchrom]

23. The Deal to Sell 6,000 of Detroit's Blighted Properties Falls Apart

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2014-11-05/the-deal-to-sell-6-000-of-detroits-blighted-properties-falls-apart#r=hp-ls

Just a week after his surprising bid to buy more than 6,000 tax foreclosures in Detroit, casino and real estate developer Herb Strather has withdrawn his offer, the Detroit Free Press reports. Strather’s bid was unexpected because the county and city stuffed the bundle with thousands of properties that would require an estimated $24 million to demolish, purposefully making the package so unattractive that no one would want it. That way the county could legally transfer the properties to the city, which has a newly rejuvenated land bank that’s leading the local blight-removal effort.

Strather didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. Last week he told Bloomberg Businessweek that he’d hoped to keep some of the best parcels for his investment fund and find a way to get the city to use federal funding to demolish the decrepit properties. The Wayne County’s deputy treasurer, David Szymanski, said a plan like that wasn’t “going to fly,” and the land bank said it’s allowed to demolish only properties it owns.

Szymanski said his office met with Strather and laid out the expectations that the developer take responsibility for demolishing the blighted properties and participate in other programs the land bank runs that gives neighbors the chance to pay $100 for empty lots. Those expectations were public before the auction closed, and Szymanksi says, “I don’t know how somebody could interpret” the original guidance to allow a plan to offload the worst properties on the city. Szymanski says Strather also met with Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan before withdrawing his offer.

[Demeter]

31. It's like the Spy vs. Spy in Mad Magazine

Who could screw whom first and worst.

[xchrom]

24. Costco Said to Weigh Dropping AmEx as U.S. Card Partner

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-05/costco-said-to-weigh-dropping-amex-as-u-s-card-partner.html


Costco Wholesale Corp. (COST), the retailer that replaced American Express Co. (AXP) as its credit-card issuer in Canada, is considering a similar move with its larger U.S. portfolio, according to two people familiar with the matter.

Costco is seeking bids for both an issuer and a payments network for its U.S. cards, the people said, requesting anonymity because the matter hasn’t been made public. New York-based AmEx could be among the firms bidding on the contract, the people said.

In September, Costco struck a deal with Capital One Financial Corp. and MasterCard Inc. to issue co-branded credit cards in Canada when the retailer’s contract with AmEx ends this year. Issaquah, Washington-based Costco notified customers that it will stop accepting all American Express cards in Canada on Jan. 1 after negotiations between the two companies to renew the contract fell through.

American Express, the largest U.S. credit-card issuer by purchases, was the only credit card accepted at Costco stores in Canada. AmEx has a separate contract with Costco in the U.S. The retailer operates 468 stores in the U.S. and Puerto Rico, and 88 in Canada, according to its website.

[xchrom]

25. Draghi Tests Limits of Power as ECB Enters 2014 Endgame

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-06/draghi-tests-limits-of-power-as-ecb-enters-2014-endgame.html

As Mario Draghi prepares the ground for further European Central Bank action, he’s testing the limits of his power.

Two years after he corralled policy makers to back his plan to save the euro, the ECB president is struggling to galvanize similar support for more stimulus to rescue the region’s economy. At his monthly press conference today in Frankfurt, he’ll probably insist he can overcome divisions on the Governing Council as officials prepare their final forecasts in 2014.

While Draghi is unlikely to announce major new measures yet, he could use the platform to hint at the ECB’s willingness to expand its asset-buying program as soon as December, when he’ll have the revised predictions as a guide. Before then, the ECB will open a new front by purchasing asset-backed securities, though Draghi’s ability to push his colleagues as far as full-blown quantitative easing remains unproven.

[Hotler]

26. Something happy, take a break from the shit in politics.

This was posted over in Video & Multimedia forum.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/1017224903#post18

Worth the watch.
Have a good day my friends.

[DemReadingDU]

27. Nice! Thanks for sharing

[mahatmakanejeeves]

28. ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (11/06/2014)

Source: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Read More: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20142210.pdf

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending November 1, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 278,000, a decrease of 10,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 287,000 to 288,000. The 4-week moving average was 279,000, a decrease of 2,250 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since April 29, 2000 when it was 273,000. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 281,000 to 281,250.

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

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.8 percent for the week ending October 25, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending October 25 was 2,348,000, a decrease of 39,000 from the previous week's revised level. This is the lowest level for insured unemployment since December 23, 2000 when it was 2,340,000. The previous week's level was revised up 3,000 from 2,384,000 to 2,387,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,369,750, a decrease of 8,500 from the previous week's revised average. This is the lowest level for this average since January 13, 2001 when it was 2,360,500. The previous week's average was revised up by 750 from 2,377,500 to 2,378,250.
....

UNADJUSTED DATA

....
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending October 18 was 2,138,934, an increase of 77,119 from the previous week. There were 3,975,825 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2013.