STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 9 July 2015

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 9 July 2015[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 8 July 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 8 July 2015
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Dow Jones 17,515.42 -261.49 (-1.47%)
S&P 500 2,046.68 -34.66 (-1.67%)
Nasdaq 4,909.76 -87.70 (-1.75%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.19% -0.04 (-1.79%)
30 Year 2.98% -0.04 (-1.32%) [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)
Market Updates
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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]

[tclambert]

8. That's why I transferred all my investments to Ceti Alpha Four.

[magical thyme]

10. so should I load up on gold, silver or pop tarts?

[mother earth]

11. Pop tarts, they are edible. :) nt

[pscot]

12. And they store well

[Demeter]

13. Also burn well, for heat and light

[magical thyme]

18. Hmmm... I wonder what flavors would be best for bartering?

They're looking like the *perfect* doomer, apocalypse, SHTF, EOTWAWKI item to stock up on.

[mother earth]

20. A multi-use product is always in demand.

[mother earth]

19. Yeah, I think they have a 5 year shelf life...maybe more...

[Fuddnik]

22. I think it's measured in a half-life.

[mother earth]

23. TY, Fuddnik, I was searching for the right words.

[Hugin]

17. Icees.

That and a few latex masks of former Presidents will get you through most any apocalypse.

Did I mention Twinkies? Oh, they're all gone now.

[tclambert]

24. Twinkies are back.

Twinkies are not just back from the dead. Their baker may now be worth billions.

In 2012, Hostess, the iconic American bakery giant behind Ding Dongs, Ho Hos and Twinkies, was bankrupt, with plans to slash more than 18,000 jobs and close its doors for good amid a crippling nationwide strike.

Then, in 2013, a snack-cake savior appeared. The Missouri-based sweets maker was bought for $410 million by a partnership between private-equity giant Apollo Global Management and C. Dean Metropoulos, a billionaire turnaround artist known as "Mr. Shelf Space" for his revival of brands like Vlasic, Hungry-Man and Chef Boyardee.

Now, the iconic dessert titan is resurgent, selling its golden, cream-filled Twinkies across the world under the name Hostess Brands and turning down $2 billion offers from a pack of hopeful buyers. On Tuesday morning, the company reached its latest peak when Reuters, citing anonymous sources, suggested Hostess would head to Wall Street with an initial public offering that would value the company at around $2.5 billion.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/07/07/twinkies-are-not-just-back-from-the-dead-their-baker-may-now-be-worth-billions/

[Demeter]

2. Poroshenko’s pledge for Ukraine to join EU 'rather ambitious' – Euro Parliament president

http://rt.com/news/271906-ukraine-eu-membership-poroshenko/

European Parliament President Martin Schulz believes the Ukrainian president’s desire for the country to join the EU in just five to six years is “rather ambitious.” Petro Poroshenko, however, believes the country will have met the entry criteria by then.

"We are ambitious in our plans and our belief, and that's why we declare that within five years we will provide effective implementation of the EU association agreement and meet conditions required to apply for membership in the European Union," President Poroshenko said in April at the start of a summit with top EU officials in Kiev. Last year, he even vowed that "from the start of 2015, all Ukrainians will have the right to visit EU countries without a visa."

The situation looks markedly different now: not only have the Ukrainians been slapped with even bigger legal hurdles necessary to acquire a Schengen visa (including fingerprinting, among others), the Europeans also aren’t willing to consider even a six-year timeframe. As Schulz put it to Ukraine’s ‘Evropeyska Pravda’ on Friday: “In six years? I’d say that is rather ambitious.”

Schulz said: “We are facing a different problem today,” and that the priority is “to stabilize the country politically, economically, socially. With a stabilized Ukraine, we have a chance to gain stability for the region as a whole.

“I would be happy if it was possible now to solve [this issue], and then we would start a discussion on the future of Ukraine,” Schulz said, adding that the European Union is an open association and that “our neighbors have a European perspective,” but that talking about the future in the current situation is “incredibly difficult.”

Meanwhile, as Poroshenko vows to reform Ukraine, massive demonstrations have been taking place in the country. Some 3,000 people took to the streets of the capital in early June to protest against economic stagnation and a lack of reform. Protesters demanded a raise in social welfare payments and an end to the unrest in eastern Ukraine. A month later, about 2,000 far-right radicals, together with ultra-right volunteer battalions, could be seen marching in the capital, demanding that the fighting continue and that the Minsk agreements are revoked. Less than a week ago, another group of demonstrators had gathered in front of the US Embassy in Kiev to voice opposition to what they call American meddling in Ukraine’s internal affairs. Several hundred showed up. Earlier in April, thousands of coal miners blockaded Kiev’s streets to protest the closure of coal mines and to demand a rise in salaries, as they shouted “Where is our money?” and “Shame on you!” at the government headquarters downtown.

EU leaders have not shown any particular enthusiasm so far about Ukraine joining the bloc. Late May saw the release of a leaked draft resolution, ahead of the Eastern Partnership Summit. In it, German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged her counterparts not to rush to a decision on Ukraine.

“We must not create false expectations,” Merkel said, speaking to the German parliament before leaving for the Eastern Partnership Summit in Riga. The Eastern Partnership “is not an instrument of enlargement politics for the European Union and we must not make promises that we can’t fulfill,” Merkel said at the time.

THAT'S ALL RIGHT...THERE WON'T BE AN EU TO JOIN IN 5-6 YEARS ANYWAY.

[Demeter]

3. As China Intervenes to Prop Up Stocks, Foreigners Head for Exits FROM MONDAY

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-07/as-china-intervenes-to-prop-up-stocks-foreigners-head-for-exits

Foreign investors are selling Shanghai shares at a record pace as China steps up government intervention to combat a stock-market rout that many analysts say was inevitable.

Sales of mainland shares through the Shanghai-Hong Kong exchange link swelled to an all-time high on Monday, while dual-listed shares in Hong Kong fell by the most since at least 2006 versus mainland counterparts. Options traders in the U.S. are paying near-record prices for insurance against further losses after Chinese stocks on American bourses posted their biggest one-day plunge since 2011.

The latest attempts to stem the country’s $3.2 trillion equity rout, including stock purchases by state-run financial firms and a halt to initial public offerings, have undermined government pledges to move to a more market-based economy, according to Aberdeen Asset Management. They also risk eroding confidence in policy makers’ ability to manage the financial system if the rout in stocks continues, said BMI Research, a unit of Fitch.

“It’s coming to a point where you’re covering one bad policy with another,” said Tai Hui, the Hong Kong-based chief Asia market strategist at JPMorgan Asset Management, which oversees about $1.7 trillion. “A lot of investors are still concerned about another correction.”

MORE...SOME OF IT STILL INTERESTING, ALTHOUGH A LOT IS OUT-OF-DATE....

[Demeter]

4. This Is Why So Many Chinese Companies Are Suspended

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/this-is-why-so-many-chinese-companies-are-suspended

China's corporations have been big fans of stock-based loans, too...At least 1,331 companies have halted trading on China's mainland exchanges, freezing $2.6 trillion of shares, or about 40 percent of the country’s market value, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 5.9 percent on Wednesday. It's now about 32 percent below the peak of 5,166 it reached on June 12. The unwinding of margin loans is adding fuel to the fire. Individual investors in China, as we all know by now, have used generous margin financing terms to enter the stock market and then build up their portfolios. Less-known is that Chinese companies have been doing the same thing by using their own corporate stock to secure loans from banks.

This means that they stand to lose a lot when those share prices start trending dramatically lower.

MORE

[Demeter]

5. Some Chinese Are Taking 22% Margin Loans to Finance Stock Purchases

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-06-30/hidden-china-stock-debt-revealed-in-online-loans-at-22-interest

SAYS IT ALL, DOESN'T IT?

[Demeter]

7. China Market Rout Spreads From Stocks to Price of Pig Food

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/china-market-crash-spreads-from-stocks-to-the-price-of-pig-food

China’s stock rout spread to the country’s commodities markets as investors rushed to raise cash.

Everything from silver to sugar to eggs tumbled with the Shanghai Composite Index, which crashed to a three-month low on Wednesday. Government measures to stabilize equities are failing to stop a stock market collapse.

“People are selling everything in sight to get their hands on cash,” Liu Xu, a trader at private asset-management company Guoyun Investment Co. in Beijing, said by phone. “Some need to cover their margin calls in the stock market, while others are gripped by fear that the Chinese economy will be affected by this crisis.”

Metals including nickel and silver on the Shanghai Futures Exchange fell to their daily limits, while rubber entered a bear market. The volume of copper traded was almost six times the three-month average. Steel rebar and iron ore, as well as eggs, sugar and soybean meal dropped to the lowest level allowed by their exchanges.

“Agricultural products in my view are collateral damage in this selloff,” said Liang Ruian, a fund manager at Shanghai-based Jianfeng Asset Management Co. “Pigs are still going to eat, so what does this stock market stampede have to do with soybean meal?”

MORE

[Demeter]

6. NYSE Suspends Trading in All Securities FOR 3.5 HOURS!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-07-08/new-york-stock-exchange-suspends-trading-in-all-securities

VIDEO AT LINK

The New York Stock Exchange halted trading for 3 1/2 hours because of a computer malfunction, forcing traders to route orders elsewhere in a drama that also highlighted the resilience of U.S. market structure.

The suspension, lasting from 11:32 a.m. to just after 3 p.m. New York time, dropped the largest U.S. share platform out of the network of trading systems that make up the American equity market. That network kept running, however, as exchanges such as the Nasdaq Stock Market and Bats Global Markets Inc. picked up the runoff.

MORE

[magical thyme]

9. found this in GD. A tweet from anonymous dated evening of 7th

Anonymous
@YourAnonNews


Wonder if tomorrow is going to be bad for Wall Street.... we can only hope.

8:45 PM - 7 Jul 2015
https://mobile.twitter.com/YourAnonNews/status/618626955433349120

[Demeter]

14. One cannot help but wonder

Last edited Thu Jul 9, 2015, 07:39 AM - Edit history (1)

The revolution will be tweeted

Has Anonymous Hacked the New York Stock Exchange?
Breaches, Bugs, Business, Security
July 8, 2015
by P. H. Madore

Yesterday, in a cryptic move, Anonymous posted a tweet (pictured below) saying that they hoped the New York Stock Exchange would get through today alright. Then, today, out of nowhere, all trading halted on the exchange.

Did Anonymous just hack the NYSE?

The NYSE specifically denied that it was a hacking incident which had taken it down, but gave no other reason for trading to be stopped. All trades that were currently being executed were canceled without explanation. It was hard to attribute the cause, but other exchanges including the NASDAQ were able to continue trading NYSE stocks without interruption.

The ominous tweet from Anonymous has many in the security community wondering whether the hacktivist group was involved in the troubles of the NYSE today. The group, who were heavily involved in the Occupy Wall Street movement, would make a perfect culprit. This is to say that a move such as hacking the New York Stock Exchange would be perfectly in line with the kinds of activities that Anonymous would want to associate itself with. The fact that they mentioned the NYSE the day previous to a major blackout in trading there is a bit too serendipitous for many.

Whatever caused the overall outage was precipitated with a smaller issue described as a “gateway connection error” that only affected some symbols. Roughly an hour following that problem, the major outage took place, and trading of all symbols was halted.

As of this article, the exchange planned to re-open at 2:45PM eastern time, but had not yet openly described the cause of the outage.

https://hacked.com/anonymous-hacked-new-york-stock-exchange/

[mahatmakanejeeves]

15. ETA News Release: Unemployment Insurance Weekly Claims Report (07/09/2015)

Source: Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration

Read More: http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/eta20151335.pdf

News Release
Connect with DOL at http://blog.dol.gov

TRANSMISSION OF MATERIALS IN THIS RELEASE IS EMBARGOED UNTIL 8:30 A.M. (Eastern) Thursday, July 2, 2015

UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE WEEKLY CLAIMS

SEASONALLY ADJUSTED DATA

In the week ending July 4, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 297,000, an increase of 15,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up by 1,000 from 281,000 to 282,000. The 4-week moving average was 279,500, an increase of 4,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 274,750 to 275,000.

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

The advance seasonally adjusted insured unemployment rate was 1.7 percent for the week ending June 27, unchanged from the previous week's unrevised rate. The advance number for seasonally adjusted insured unemployment during the week ending June 27 was 2,334,000, an increase of 69,000 from the previous week's revised level. The previous week's level was revised up 1,000 from 2,264,000 to 2,265,000. The 4-week moving average was 2,268,250, an increase of 15,500 from the previous week's revised average. The previous week's average was revised up by 250 from 2,252,500 to 2,252,750.

UNADJUSTED DATA

....
The total number of people claiming benefits in all programs for the week ending June 20 was 2,148,300, an increase of 758 from the previous week. There were 2,466,780 persons claiming benefits in all programs in the comparable week in 2014.

[MattSh]

16. Too good to wait for the WEEkend.

Although you will see it again then...

NOTE: I'll be starting WEE this weekend. You should see it early AM Sat. EST/late PM Fri. PST.

[mother earth]

21. Nigel Farage is a force to behold, gotta love him. OTOH, I do feel for Tsipras, he is between a

rock and a hard place. He cannot simply leave, though that's what we all want him to do & most likely will end up doing in one shape or form. He is in a precarious position right now and I do believe it is for the sake of seeking a less tumultuous path for Greece.