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STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 9 March 2012
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 9 March 2012[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 8 March 2012
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 8 March 2012
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Dow Jones 12,907.94 +70.61 (0.55%)
S&P 500 1,365.91 +13.28 (0.98%)
Nasdaq 2,970.42 +34.73 (1.18%)
[font color=red]10 Year 2.01% +0.02 (1.01%)
30 Year 3.17% +0.02 (0.63%) [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
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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
[/center][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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Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
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
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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]
65 replies
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= new reply since forum marked as read
TRAUMA SHOWS UP BEFORE MOST RADIATION CONSEQUENCES....
http://www.npr.org/2012/03/09/148227596/trauma-not-radiation-is-key-concern-in-japan?ft=1&f=1001
..."Surprisingly, there have been no health effects that have been demonstrated among the Japanese people or among the workers," says John Boice, a cancer epidemiologist at Vanderbilt University. To be sure, "there was radiation released. It was about a tenth of what was released from Chernobyl," he says. "But most of the releases were blown off to the Pacific Ocean. The winds were blowing to the sea and not to populated areas."
One big cloud did blow inland, up toward the northwest. But most of the 170,000 residents in the area were quickly evacuated. Boice says that helped limit dangerous doses. So did other quick actions by the Japanese government. "They prohibited the release of any food that had had increased levels of radiation in them," he says. "So there wasn't milk out there in the public supply. There wasn't any fish that had levels that were increased."
And that's a huge difference from the aftermath of Chernobyl. In 1986, the Soviets let people eat contaminated food and drink contaminated milk, activity that led to many cancers. In Japan, Boice says the only people with significantly elevated doses are the nuclear workers. And as a result, a few workers are at slightly higher risk for cancer...
NOT COUNTING THE SUICIDE WORKERS, ONE MUST ADD...They work until they reach the occupational radiation limit of 50 millisieverts in a year, then they go home. But they don't know what their risk really entails...
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/are-irish-taxpayers-about-bail-out-goldman-peter-sutherland-stealing-his-own-people-give-vam
It is deja vu all over again. To little media fanfare the dire financial situation in Ireland is nothing less than a repeat of the Lehman collapse in those dark days of September 2008. With the recent nationalization of half of the country's six big banks, and the blanket guarantee over the rest of them, the Irish government has effectively made sure that bondholders in all banks, even those which such as long insolvent Anglo Irish bank will be made whole by the long-suffering Irish taxpayers. And despite rumors of haircuts for at least sub debtholders, actual facts validating this possibility remain unseen. Which begs the question why is everyone in the world so terrified of taking mark to market losses on even a few billion in debt? Simple: as all of the world's banks, but Europe more so than anyone else, are now caught in the biggest circle jerk ever imaginable, with one entity's liabilities making up another's assets, which in turn are someone else's liabilities, and so forth in a MC Escher (or is that HR Giger?)-esque flow chart of the surreal (as can be seen here), even one dollar of write downs can spiral and affect tens if not hundreds of billions of downstream assets (and thus liabilities). Which explains why the ECB and everyone else in Europe is so intent on preventing a failed auction in Ireland (we previously disclosed that virtually every September auction of Irish bonds was purchased by the ECB, either directly and indirectly): should the banks that are on the hook actually validate their impairment, Europe is one step away from activating its own $1 trillion TARP package. Yet what is amusing is that inbetween the cracks of exclusively European-bank based senior and subordinated bondholders in such bankrupt banks as Anglo-Irish, a familiar name emerges: Goldman Sachs.
Yes, nested quietly inbetween the €4,034,756,880 in face value of Anglo Irish bondholders is the name that managed to pull the strings (via its puppet Hank Paulson) and get bailed out when AIG threatened to make Goldman management and investors insolvent. Is Goldman, via its UK-based Goldman Sachs Asset Management Intl. subsidiary, currently petitioning Brian Lenihan to be the only US-based bank to receive a direct bailout on its Anglo bond position? Or is it, as always behind the scenes, negotiating on behalf of 80 other European banks, among which Lombard Odier, Rothschild, and Deutsche, and achieve what it always succeeds in: escaping scott free, and stuffing taxpayers with the bill? We are confident Irish taxpayers, and drivers of cement trucks, would be fascinated in getting the correct answer.
Guido Fawkes, who managed to obtain the Anglo Irish bondholder list, shares the following commentary:
Spot on question. And as the highlighted area in the chart below demonstrates, we would like to add Goldman Sachs to the list of bailoutees. Surely, few firms in the world deserve to be redeemed as much as god's little helpers.
It is deja vu all over again. To little media fanfare the dire financial situation in Ireland is nothing less than a repeat of the Lehman collapse in those dark days of September 2008. With the recent nationalization of half of the country's six big banks, and the blanket guarantee over the rest of them, the Irish government has effectively made sure that bondholders in all banks, even those which such as long insolvent Anglo Irish bank will be made whole by the long-suffering Irish taxpayers. And despite rumors of haircuts for at least sub debtholders, actual facts validating this possibility remain unseen. Which begs the question why is everyone in the world so terrified of taking mark to market losses on even a few billion in debt? Simple: as all of the world's banks, but Europe more so than anyone else, are now caught in the biggest circle jerk ever imaginable, with one entity's liabilities making up another's assets, which in turn are someone else's liabilities, and so forth in a MC Escher (or is that HR Giger?)-esque flow chart of the surreal (as can be seen here), even one dollar of write downs can spiral and affect tens if not hundreds of billions of downstream assets (and thus liabilities). Which explains why the ECB and everyone else in Europe is so intent on preventing a failed auction in Ireland (we previously disclosed that virtually every September auction of Irish bonds was purchased by the ECB, either directly and indirectly): should the banks that are on the hook actually validate their impairment, Europe is one step away from activating its own $1 trillion TARP package. Yet what is amusing is that inbetween the cracks of exclusively European-bank based senior and subordinated bondholders in such bankrupt banks as Anglo-Irish, a familiar name emerges: Goldman Sachs.
Yes, nested quietly inbetween the €4,034,756,880 in face value of Anglo Irish bondholders is the name that managed to pull the strings (via its puppet Hank Paulson) and get bailed out when AIG threatened to make Goldman management and investors insolvent. Is Goldman, via its UK-based Goldman Sachs Asset Management Intl. subsidiary, currently petitioning Brian Lenihan to be the only US-based bank to receive a direct bailout on its Anglo bond position? Or is it, as always behind the scenes, negotiating on behalf of 80 other European banks, among which Lombard Odier, Rothschild, and Deutsche, and achieve what it always succeeds in: escaping scott free, and stuffing taxpayers with the bill? We are confident Irish taxpayers, and drivers of cement trucks, would be fascinated in getting the correct answer.
Guido Fawkes, who managed to obtain the Anglo Irish bondholder list, shares the following commentary:
Anglo-Irish Bank did not represent a systemic risk to the Irish economy, it wasn’t a high street bank like AIB or the Bank of Ireland. If it had been allowed to go the way of Lehmans the only losers would have been shareholders and bondholders. The Irish state stepped in and nationalised a bank that was basically run by crooks lending to property speculators. The Irish people are taking losses that should rightly have been shouldered by bondholders.
Every child in Ireland is being bequeathed a huge debt at birth to protect the interests of foreign, mainly German, bondholders – why? Guido was once a bond trader, it was always understood that sometimes the bond issuer defaults. That is the risk investors take.
So why is Dublin’s political establishment so keen to protect foreign investors at the expense of future generations? Guido has obtained the list of foreign Anglo-Irish bondholders as at the close of business tonight. These are the people whom Dublin’s politicians really seem to care about.
Between them they hold Anglo-Irish bonds with a face-value of €4,034,756,880. Shouldn’t they take the hit rather than future generations of Irish taxpayers? Capitalism is a system of profit and loss, they took the risk of investing in Anglo-Irish Bank. Is the Irish government under pressure from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt to protect German investors?
Every child in Ireland is being bequeathed a huge debt at birth to protect the interests of foreign, mainly German, bondholders – why? Guido was once a bond trader, it was always understood that sometimes the bond issuer defaults. That is the risk investors take.
So why is Dublin’s political establishment so keen to protect foreign investors at the expense of future generations? Guido has obtained the list of foreign Anglo-Irish bondholders as at the close of business tonight. These are the people whom Dublin’s politicians really seem to care about.
Between them they hold Anglo-Irish bonds with a face-value of €4,034,756,880. Shouldn’t they take the hit rather than future generations of Irish taxpayers? Capitalism is a system of profit and loss, they took the risk of investing in Anglo-Irish Bank. Is the Irish government under pressure from the European Central Bank in Frankfurt to protect German investors?
Spot on question. And as the highlighted area in the chart below demonstrates, we would like to add Goldman Sachs to the list of bailoutees. Surely, few firms in the world deserve to be redeemed as much as god's little helpers.
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-spanx-billionaire-20120309,0,6561741.story
Spanx founder Sara Blakely at the Spanx Fall 2012 Fashion Week Presentation in New York in February. (Skip Bolen, Getty Images for Spanx / February 13, 2012)
Spanx inventor Sara Blakely is a billionaire at 41 years old, according to the annual Forbes magazine list of billionaires.
Blakely, the creator and owner of the line of women's and men's slimming, smoothing undergarments, is the youngest woman ever to make the list as a self-made billionaire, meaning she didn't inherit or marry into the money.
She's one of several billionaires who appear on the cover of the latest Forbes issue.
According to Forbes, Blakely was 29 when she was looking for something flattering to wear under her white slacks. She ended up inventing a new line of shaping underwear. She invested $5,000 — her entire life savings — to start the company.
Spanx founder Sara Blakely at the Spanx Fall 2012 Fashion Week Presentation in New York in February. (Skip Bolen, Getty Images for Spanx / February 13, 2012)
Spanx inventor Sara Blakely is a billionaire at 41 years old, according to the annual Forbes magazine list of billionaires.
Blakely, the creator and owner of the line of women's and men's slimming, smoothing undergarments, is the youngest woman ever to make the list as a self-made billionaire, meaning she didn't inherit or marry into the money.
She's one of several billionaires who appear on the cover of the latest Forbes issue.
According to Forbes, Blakely was 29 when she was looking for something flattering to wear under her white slacks. She ended up inventing a new line of shaping underwear. She invested $5,000 — her entire life savings — to start the company.
http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-china-inflation-20120309,0,5896014.story
Analysts expect Chinese policymakers to implement modest loosening measures such as lowering bank reserve ratios. Above, shoppers outside a mall in the city of Datong, Shanxi province. (Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images / March 9, 2012)
Reporting from Beijing—
China’s annual inflation rate fell to a 20-month low in February, giving policymakers room to ease lending at a time of tapering economic growth.
“The inflation story is over, leaving [China’s central bank] with fewer excuses not to step up its easing efforts, especially given a sharp slowdown in exports so far this year,” said Qu Hongbin, co-head of Asian Economics Research for HSBC, in a note to clients Friday. “Get ready for more steps toward policy easing.”
Consumer prices rose 3.2% from a year earlier, down from 4.5% annual growth in January, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.
The slowdown was led by food prices, which rose 6.2% in February compared to 10.5% in January.
Analysts expect Chinese policymakers to implement modest loosening measures such as lowering bank reserve ratios. Above, shoppers outside a mall in the city of Datong, Shanxi province. (Mark Ralston, AFP/Getty Images / March 9, 2012)
Reporting from Beijing—
China’s annual inflation rate fell to a 20-month low in February, giving policymakers room to ease lending at a time of tapering economic growth.
“The inflation story is over, leaving [China’s central bank] with fewer excuses not to step up its easing efforts, especially given a sharp slowdown in exports so far this year,” said Qu Hongbin, co-head of Asian Economics Research for HSBC, in a note to clients Friday. “Get ready for more steps toward policy easing.”
Consumer prices rose 3.2% from a year earlier, down from 4.5% annual growth in January, China’s National Bureau of Statistics said Friday.
The slowdown was led by food prices, which rose 6.2% in February compared to 10.5% in January.
http://www.wbur.org/npr/148225343/with-cutbacks-greeks-say-antiquities-are-at-risk
?t=1331239434&s=4
The entrance to the Museum of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, is cordoned off last month, after two hooded thieves broke into the museum and made away with more than 70 ancient objects. The stolen loot included chariots, horses and a gold ring that was more than 3,000 years old. Greeks say such sites are vulnerable because of cutbacks that have reduced the number of guards. (Dimitris Papaioannoy / EPA/Landov)
At the Museum of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, lush pine trees and olive groves are filled with chirping birds. The one guard at the site looks nervously at the few visitors.
There is still a sense of shock in Olympia following the theft last month at the museum, when armed robbers broke into the building and tied up the single guard on duty.
Archaeologist Kostantinos Antonopoulos says they ran off with 77 priceless objects, including votive figurines, chariots and horses.
"But the most precious and valuable exhibit that they took was a golden ring of the Mycenaean times. And it had a picture on it, very important from the early times of the games," he says, adding that the ring was more than 3,000 years old.
?t=1331239434&s=4
The entrance to the Museum of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, is cordoned off last month, after two hooded thieves broke into the museum and made away with more than 70 ancient objects. The stolen loot included chariots, horses and a gold ring that was more than 3,000 years old. Greeks say such sites are vulnerable because of cutbacks that have reduced the number of guards. (Dimitris Papaioannoy / EPA/Landov)
At the Museum of the Olympic Games in Olympia, Greece, lush pine trees and olive groves are filled with chirping birds. The one guard at the site looks nervously at the few visitors.
There is still a sense of shock in Olympia following the theft last month at the museum, when armed robbers broke into the building and tied up the single guard on duty.
Archaeologist Kostantinos Antonopoulos says they ran off with 77 priceless objects, including votive figurines, chariots and horses.
"But the most precious and valuable exhibit that they took was a golden ring of the Mycenaean times. And it had a picture on it, very important from the early times of the games," he says, adding that the ring was more than 3,000 years old.
3/8/12 MF Global Still Set to Pay Bonuses
Executives Helping Trustee in Wake of Firm's Collapse Could Get Hundreds of Thousands of Dollars
Three top executives of MF Global Holdings Ltd. when it collapsed could get bonuses of as much as several hundred thousand dollars each under a plan by a trustee overseeing the securities firm's bankruptcy case, people familiar with the matter said.
Louis Freeh, the former Federal Bureau of Investigation director now in charge of unwinding what is left of the New York company, is expected to ask a bankruptcy-court judge as soon as this month to approve performance-related payouts for the chief operating officer, finance chief and general counsel at MF Global, these people said. All three executives kept their jobs after the company's Oct. 31 failure in order to help Mr. Freeh untangle the firm's assets and maximize payouts to creditors.
Under the expected pay plan, the three executives and as many as 20 other MF Global employees working for Mr. Freeh would get the bonuses only if they hit specified targets such as increasing the value of MF Global's estate for creditors.
The payments could vary in size depending on progress with the estate and likely would be paid in batches throughout 2012, a person familiar with the matter said. The total payouts are expected to be smaller than bonuses received by the same executives before MF Global sank amid panic over the big bets made on European sovereign debt under Jon S. Corzine, the company's former chairman and chief executive. He resigned in November.
more...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203961204577269841477216320.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.alternet.org/newsandviews/article/831281/what_to_take_away_from_the_latest_jobs_report/#paragraph5
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the private sector generated 233,000 jobs in February, with 227,000 total jobs created as the public sector, led by the federal government, lost 6,000 jobs—an improvement over 2011, when an average of 22,000 public sector jobs were lost each month. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 percent
The number of officially unemployed people is 12.8 million, "essentially unchanged" from January, with 5.4 million having been jobless for six months or longer. The U6, an alternative measure of unemployment that includes those working part-time because they cannot find the full-time work they want and some (but not all) people who have become too discouraged to look for work, dropped below 15 percent for the first time since 2009.
The numbers are seasonally adjusted. December's numbers were revised upward, from 203,000 to 223,000, and January was revised from 243,000 to 284,000. Crucially, the civilian labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio both grew slightly, to 63.9 percent and 58.6 percent respectively.
Manufacturing employment rose by 31,000, entirely in durable goods manufacturing. Professional and business services employment rose by 82,000 jobs; however, more than half of those jobs, 45,000, were in temporary help services. Health care and social assistance employment rose by 61,000 and leisure and hospitality by 44,000.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the private sector generated 233,000 jobs in February, with 227,000 total jobs created as the public sector, led by the federal government, lost 6,000 jobs—an improvement over 2011, when an average of 22,000 public sector jobs were lost each month. The unemployment rate was unchanged at 8.3 percent
The number of officially unemployed people is 12.8 million, "essentially unchanged" from January, with 5.4 million having been jobless for six months or longer. The U6, an alternative measure of unemployment that includes those working part-time because they cannot find the full-time work they want and some (but not all) people who have become too discouraged to look for work, dropped below 15 percent for the first time since 2009.
The numbers are seasonally adjusted. December's numbers were revised upward, from 203,000 to 223,000, and January was revised from 243,000 to 284,000. Crucially, the civilian labor force participation rate and the employment-population ratio both grew slightly, to 63.9 percent and 58.6 percent respectively.
Manufacturing employment rose by 31,000, entirely in durable goods manufacturing. Professional and business services employment rose by 82,000 jobs; however, more than half of those jobs, 45,000, were in temporary help services. Health care and social assistance employment rose by 61,000 and leisure and hospitality by 44,000.
