STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 4 March 2016

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 4 March 2016[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 3 March 2016

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 3 March 2016
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Dow Jones 16,943.90 +44.58 (0.26%)
S&P 500 1,993.40 +6.95 (0.35%)
Nasdaq 4,707.42 +4.00 (0.09%)


[font color=green]10 Year 1.83% -0.02 (-1.08%)
30 Year 2.66% -0.02 (-0.75%) [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
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.
12/17/15 Martin Shkreli, former CEO Turing Pharmaceuticals and notorious price gouger, arrested on securities fraud charges. Posted $5M bail, resigned as CEO.
2/25/16 Jason Keryc sentenced to 9 years in prison, 3 years supervised release and to pay back $180MM to investors he bilked in a Ponzi scheme while an acct. mgr at Agape World.



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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]

[DemReadingDU]

1. AMC acquires Carmike, becomes world's biggest theater chain

3/3/16 AMC acquires Carmike, becomes world's biggest theater chain

AMC Theaters is the now the biggest movie theater chain in the world.

The U.S. theater chain announced on Thursday that it acquired theater chain Carmike Cinemas (CKEC) in an acquisition that is worth $1.1 billion. The deal will make AMC Theaters the biggest theater chain in the world.

Carmike, which has 2,954 screens, will combine with AMC (AMC) to give the theater chain more than 600 theater locations in 45 states in the U.S.

AMC, which is controlled by China's Dalian Wanda Group, currently has 387 locations and 5,426 screens in the U.S.

Dalian Wanda is owned by Wang Jianlin, China's richest man.

AMC will overtake Regal Cinemas, which is currently the largest U.S. movie theater chain with 7,369 screens in 572 theaters in 42 states.

more...
http://money.cnn.com/2016/03/03/media/amc-buys-carmike/

[antigop]

2. Social Security Privatizer Larry Fink of ... BlackRock is a Clinton Treasury Secretary in waiting

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2016/03/social-security-privatizer-larry-fink-of-giant-asset-manager-blackrock-is-clintons-treasury-secretary-in-waiting.html

As Dayen stresses, Clinton has not ruled out a Treasury Secretary from Wall Street. Indeed, she would probably argue privately that the job requires one, since they need to be able to talk to the markets, and the Bush Administration Treasury Secretaries who were mere corporate executives, like John Snow and Paul O’Neill, were generally scored somewhere between lightweight and lousy.

But appointing someone from Government Sachs or the other Bob Rubin haunt, Citigroup, might be a bit too controversial. By contrast, asset managers like BlackRock are almost never in the headlines outside the business section, and even there, not very much. But that’s no reason to be encouraged.

First, BlackRock, along with Pimco, managed to escape being designated a SIFI, meaning systemically important financial institution. On one level, that may not seem so crazy, since asset managers aren’t part of the central plumbing of financial markets (the payments system and capital markets trading). But that line isn’t as tidy as it seems. Asset managers were bailed out in the crisis just past, via the extension of guarantees to money market funds. But the flip side is that the usual risk-reduction approaches for being a SIFI are measures like holding more equity, which make no sense in the fund management context (the risks are at the fund level, and funds hold no equity; holding more equity at the parent level is not going to do much if destabilizing runs were to take place at funds, which are legal entities they merely manage, not own. Admittedly, there are other checks, like on counterparty risk, that would be germane). Nevertheless, it may be a mistake to be so sanguine, since the effect of Dodd Frank and other post-crisis interventions has been to shift risks out of the banking system on investors….which include asset managers like BlackRock. And who would be better able to plead their case than someone with deep knowledge of that industry?

Second, the big cause for pause is Fink’s devotion to the idea that Social Security should be privatized. From Dayen:

Fink has also promoted the privatization of Social Security, while mocking the idea of retiring at 65, which is easy for a business executive who sits at a desk all day to say, rather than working on an assembly line or as a waiter. Fink owes his initial backing at BlackRock to Pete Peterson, the former commerce secretary who has been at the forefront of the campaign to cut or privatize Social Security. He sat on the steering committee of the Campaign to Fix the Debt, a stalking horse for Peterson’s ideas.

[antigop]

3. Larry Fink and His BlackRock Team Poised to Take Over Hillary Clinton’s Treasury Department

https://theintercept.com/2016/03/02/larry-fink-and-his-blackrock-team-poised-to-take-over-hillary-clintons-treasury-department/

Fink’s ready-made team available for a move from Wall Street to Washington includes:

Christopher Meade, former general counsel at the Treasury Department, who now serves in a similar capacity at BlackRock. Meade spent 2010 to 2015 at Treasury, with the last three years as general counsel.
Katheryn Rosen, a managing director at BlackRock, who cut her teeth in government as a senior policy adviser to Barney Frank on the House Financial Services Committee, helping to write Dodd-Frank. Frank is an adviser to the Clinton campaign. Rosen went from Frank’s office to a deputy assistant secretary position at Treasury in February 2011, working to build the Financial Stability Oversight Council, the Treasury-led super-regulator monitoring systemic risk. Prior to government work, Rosen spent 14 years as a managing director with JPMorgan Chase.
Kendrick Wilson, a vice chairman at BlackRock since 2010 who has ties to Goldman Sachs, Lazard, and the Treasury Department. He advised Treasury while it managed the financial crisis and its fallout in 2008 and 2009, before coming to BlackRock. At Treasury, Wilson brought his experience advising financial institutions to carry out hastily arranged crisis-era deals, like the merger of Bank of America and failed subprime lender Countrywide.

...

Fink’s most telling hire, however, is Cheryl Mills, arguably Clinton’s most trusted confidante. Mills was Clinton’s chief of staff at the State Department, was deputy White House counsel in the Bill Clinton administration, and is on the board of directors of the Clinton Foundation. Fink hired Mills for the BlackRock board of directors in October 2013, in what observers mused was a ploy to insinuate himself into the Clinton inner circle.

[Gungnir]

4. German Banks Told To Start Hoarding Cash

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-04/revolution-begins-german-banks-told-start-hoarding-cash

German newspaper Der Spiegel reported yesterday that the Bavarian Banking Association has recommended that its member banks start stockpiling PHYSICAL CASH.

...

This will force the ECB to choose between two options:

1) Support this rebellion and authorize the issuance of more physical cash; or



2) Impose capital controls.

Given that just two weeks ago the President of the ECB spoke about the possibility of banning some higher denomination cash notes, it’s not hard to figure out what’s going to happen next.

[Gungnir]

5. Treasurys Hits "Fails Charge " - Dealers Are Failing To Deliver 10-Year Paper

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2016-03-04/treasurys-hits-fails-charge-dealers-are-failing-deliver-10-year-paper

Yesterday morning we noted a very disturbing trend: over the past three days, a shortage of 10 Year treasury paper has manifested that has grown more and more acute with every passing day, until the repo rate hit as low as -2.95% yesterday morning just shy of the "fails" -3.00% minimum rate, the lowest on record, and suggesting that the marketwide treasury shortage has never been worse as a result of a huge short overlay.
...
We were right: a quick update on today's repo shows the following, again from Stone McCarthy:

The 10-year note has hit the fails charge. The fails charge is either 0.00%, or the low end of the fed funds rate minus 300 basis points, so currently it is at -275 basis points, exactly where the 10-year note.

The record low repo rate is shown below:

see link above