STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday 24 January

[ozymandius]

Tuesday January 24, 2006

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 1091 DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 1860 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1560 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1521
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54


U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON January 23, 2006

Dow... 10,688.77 +21.38 (+0.20%)
Nasdaq... 2,248.47 +0.77 (+0.03%)
S&P 500... 1,263.82 +2.33 (+0.18%)
30-Year Bond 4.53% +0.00 (+0.02%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.36% -0.00 (-0.09%)
Gold future... 558.70 +4.70 (+0.84%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Dollars and Loonie


PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [e-mail]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

[ozymandius]

1. WrapUp by Rob Kirby

-excerpt-

Comparing Model Years

I wrote a piece recently attempting to quantify the potential effects of a proposed Iranian Oil Bourse – which I guesstimated at 100 or so billion worth/yr. For comparison sake – here’s a look at what the effect of the “infamous” UN Oil For Food Program had on the U.S. dollar :



-cut-

Let's remember folks, oil for Euros started in the fall of 2000:

31 October 2000: The Security Council's 661 Committee authorises the UN Treasury to open an UN Iraq account in euro. It also requests an in-depth report within three months on the costs and benefits for the Programme and other financial and administrative implications of the payment for Iraqi oil in euro.

Now, look at the symmetry with the beginning of “oil for Euros” with the ascent of the Euro vs. the dollar on the chart above. THAT DAMAGE WAS DONE WITH A RELATIVE PITTANCE - NO MORE THAN 10 BILLION WORTH OF EURO DEMAND PER YEAR.

more...

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[mmonk]

64. That's why I own

Euro ETF's.

[ozymandius]

2. BofA continues trend of poor results

Bank of America (NYSE:BAC - news) on Monday continued the disappointing run of results from the top US banks by reporting a 2 per cent decline in net income for the fourth quarter.

The second-largest US bank by assets was hit by the surge in bankruptcies linked to a change in the law and the narrow gap between short and long-term interest rates. It also suffered a sharper than expected downturn in its capital markets business, which reduced net income at its investment bank by 79 per cent.

Ken Lewis, chief executive, said trading would pick up in coming quarters and that it should benefit from the lower level of bankruptcies following the introduction of the new legislation.

"Apart from those issues, our businesses had a very good year and solid fourth quarter, which sets a good foundation for 2006," he said

read more of Mr Lewis' comedy here...

[ozymandius]

3. Oil Prices Dip but Likely to Rise Again

VIENNA, Austria - Oil prices fell Tuesday, consolidating after last week's brisk gains, but analysts said prices would likely resume their climb as Iran's nuclear ambitions and militant attacks in Nigeria continued to be a threat to oil supplies.

Light, sweet crude for March delivery fell 54 cents to $67.56 a barrel by midday in Europe in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract had fallen 38 cents Monday to settle at $68.10 a barrel, weighed down by a sharp selloff in natural gas futures and refined product losses.

-cut-

"Prices inched down ... due to the Saudi oil minister hinting to refrain from a quota cut at the group's next meeting in Vienna and bearish U.S. inventory forecasts," said Vienna's PVM Oil Associates in its daily energy market report.

But other analysts said the market would remain on edge because of potential disruptions to supply from Iran, the second-largest oil producer within the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, and in Nigeria, where militants holding four expatriate oil workers have threatened to launch rocket attacks on crude installations in the Niger Delta.

more...

[UpInArms]

74. March Crude @ $67.75 bbl - Feb NatGas @ $8.78 mln btus

12:08pm 01/24/06 MARCH CRUDE DOWN 35C AT $67.75/BRL IN NY

12:08pm 01/24/06 FEB NATURAL GAS ADDS 20.6C, OR 2.4%, TO $8.78/MLN BTUS

12:08pm 01/24/06 FEB HEATING OIL UP 0.2%; FEB UNLEADED GAS DOWN 1.1%

[UpInArms]

98. Feb NatGas @ $8.84 mln btus

1:36pm 01/24/06 FEB NATURAL GAS GAINS MORE GROUND IN THE LAST HR OF TRADING

1:36pm 01/24/06 FEB NATURAL GAS CLIMBS 26.6C, OR 3.1%, TO $8.84/MLN BTUS

[UpInArms]

114. March Crude closes @ $67.06 bbl - Feb NatGas @ $8.682 mln btus

2:57pm 01/24/06 MARCH CRUDE LOSES $1.04, OR 1.5%, TO END AT $67.06/BRL

2:53pm 01/24/06 FEB NATURAL GAS CLOSES AT $8.682/MLN BTUS, UP 10.8C, OR 1.3%

[ozymandius]

4. Saudi Arabia in Energy Deal With China

BEIJING - Saudi Arabia and China inked a deal on energy cooperation on Monday, amid efforts by China to secure overseas oil and gas deposits for its power-hungry economy.

The agreement was signed during a visit to China by Saudi King Abdullah, the first by a Saudi ruler since the two countries formed diplomatic relations in 1990.

Abdullah met with Chinese President Hu Jintao and the two leaders observed the signing of the cooperation agreement covering oil, natural gas and minerals. No financial or other details of the pact were immediately released.

China, the world's No. 2 oil consumer, has been aggressively seeking to strengthen relationships with major oil suppliers as it grows more heavily reliant on oil imports.

more...

[UpInArms]

41. Saudi King arrives in India for visit

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-01/24/content_4095112.htm

NEW DELHI, Jan. 24 (Xinhuanet) -- Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Saud arrived here Tuesday evening for an official visit to India, Indo-Asian News Service reported.

The king, leading a 250-member delegation, will be chief guest at India's Republic Day parade on Thursday. This is King Abdullah's first major visit abroad after being anointed.

A comprehensive security cover, at par with that provided to the Indian president, has been planned for the king in view of a high threat perception, said the report.

It is reported that in view of threats from terrorist organizations, security officials are keeping a watch on groups capable of carrying out attacks outside Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Security agencies have already carried out anti-sabotage checks and combed the premises of the hotel, where the Saudi delegation would stay.

...more...

[EuroObserver]

121. Saudi Aramco to float 25-30 pct of Rabegh refinery

http://yahoo.reuters.com/financeQuoteCompanyNewsArticle.jhtml?duid=mtfh01160_2006-01-24_18-30-16_l24151170_newsml
EDINBURGH, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Saudi Arabia's state oil company Aramco said on Tuesday it would float 25 percent to 30 percent of an $8.5 billion refinery it is setting up in partnership with Japan's Sumitomo Chemical Co. (4005.T: Quote, Profile, Research) .

"Down the line, it will be floated -- 25-30 percent. When the project is operational it will be floated," Aramco's new business development director, Samih al-Muhaizeem, told journalists during a Saudi trade seminar in Britain.

The refinery and petrochemical project at Rabegh on the Red Sea, first announced in May 2004, is due to start operations in the second half of 2008 as a 50-50 joint venture.

Saudi businessmen and officials are taking part in a roadshow of British cities to attract investors for $623 billion worth of joint venture projects in hydrocarbons, tourism and other areas over 15 years.

The events in Edinburgh, and similar roadshows in Asia, are seen as an effort to open the economy of the world's largest oil exporter after it joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO) at the end of 2005.

The Saudi bourse, which is not open to foreign investors, is booming on the back of high world oil prices.

The entire effing kingdom is not open to foreigners, except by (regal) fiat.

[EuroObserver]

5. Tokyo Rebounds 1.88%

Tokyo stocks rebound sharply following Livedoor execs' arrests
(Kyodo) _ (EDS: ADDING INFO) Tokyo stocks rebounded sharply Tuesday as investors took the news that prosecutors had arrested Livedoor President Takafumi Horie on Monday for alleged securities law violations to be the last bit of major bad news linked to the firm for the time being.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 288.24 points, or 1.88 percent, to 15,648.89. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 24.53 points, or 1.54 percent, to 1,612.43.

The Tokyo market got off to a strong start and gains extended later, bringing the benchmark Nikkei briefly to more than 320 points above the previous day's closing.

Brokers said the day's rebound shows that investors had already factored in the arrests to some extent and thus moved on to dip-buying and short-covering. /more...

FT: Domestic sectors lead rally in Tokyo shares
...Investors bought domestically focused stocks, which have suffered sharp falls recently, as the sense of crisis provoked by last week’s raid by government prosecutors of Livedoor began to abate. Real estate rose 3.1 per cent and retailers climbed 3.5 per cent, as investors began to attach greater value again to Japan’s economic recovery. /more...

Urgent Headline News (Kyodo): Dollar quoted at 114.49-114.52 yen in Tokyo (5 pm).

[EuroObserver]

6. Toshiba to buy Westinghouse, S&P may downgrade

Toshiba set to buy Westinghouse from BNFL
TOKYO (AFP) - Japanese technology giant Toshiba has been named the preferred bidder for US power plant maker Westinghouse, beating out stiff competition from General Electric, which was reportedly supported by US President George W. Bush.

Toshiba said that if the deal went through with British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL), it would keep Westinghouse based in the northeastern US city of Pittsburgh, apparently an effort to calm US concerns about foreign control of its nuclear energy industry.

The Japanese company did not say how much it would pay BNFL but Britain's Financial Times earlier reported it would be five billion dollars -- more than twice the two billion dollars expected when BNFL, which is controlled by the British government, put Westinghouse up for sale in July.

The Bush administration wants to relaunch construction of nuclear reactors in the United States as the cost of crude oil is soaring near record highs due to both geopolitical and supply concerns.

/more...

S&P says may downgrade Toshiba rating
TOKYO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said on Tuesday it placed its "BBB" long-term and "A-2" short-term ratings on Toshiba Corp. (6502.T: Quote, Profile, Research) on CreditWatch with negative implications.

The move follows the announcement that Toshiba has obtained preferential negotiation rights and has begun negotiations with British Nuclear Fuels Plc to buy Westinghouse Electric.

The acquisition may generate larger funding demands than stated in Toshiba's medium-term management plan, and could cause deterioration in the company's balance sheet, the rating agency said in a statement.

(Toshiba shares closed down -1.09% at ¥723)

[EuroObserver]

9. Japan bets on Uranium

Japan firms look to uranium amid nuclear revival
TOKYO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Japanese firms are boosting investment in uranium sources in Central Asia as a revenue stream, since an expected surge in global demand for nuclear fuel is likely to keep prices at record-high levels.

Sumitomo Corp. (8053.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and Kansai Electric Power Co. (9503.T: Quote, Profile, Research) , Japan's third-largest trading firm and second-ranked utility, agreed on Monday with Kazakhstan's state-run KazAtomProm to jointly develop a uranium deposit in the country.

Japan's fourth largest trader Itochu Corp. (8001.T: Quote, Profile, Research) targets boosting its uranium dealing volumes to between 7,000 and 8,000 tonnes in 2010 from an estimated 4,000 tonnes in 2005, the top executive at the company's nuclear energy group told Reuters.

"We want to take upstream equities in natural uranium production and get one third of our target volumes from upstream by either direct investment or using loans," the Itochu official said, declining to be named.
...
Global uranium demand is expected to grow in the next couple of decades, as countries such as China plan to build nuclear power plants to meet booming demand for power.
...
Concerns over energy security and goals to cut greenhouse emissions from fossil fuel use are also spurring renewed global interest in building new plants, in an industry tainted by past disasters and the problem of nuclear waste disposal.

Spot uranium prices have risen to $35-$37 per pound this week, surging from around $30 last year, $20 in 2004 and $7 in 2003, industry officials say.

"Spot uranium prices will continue to rise. That is purely because of concern over supply shortage," Itochu's uranium official said.
...
Japan will still have to import uranium and wants to avoid competition with China, which has also been rushing for stakes in projects and to secure resources to meet energy demand.

"We need to secure uranium stakes before the competition with China starts over again," the Sumitomo spokesman said.

/more...

[EuroObserver]

11. Shaw Group may take minority stake in Westinghouse?

Today's Spanish newspaper El País, in a story by the Spanish news agency EFE (subscribers only), appearing to refer to a story in the FT's Lex column (also subscribers only) says (I translate):

BNFL will formally take this decision in a board meeting due Thursday, the company said. According to the Financial Times, Toshiba has promised to offer a minority participation to a US partner. This minority partner might be the engineering company Shaw Group, of Louisiana, which had also tried to gain control of Westinghouse.

[EuroObserver]

13. Shaw Group and White Phosporus

Shaw Group's subsidiary Shaw Environmental, Inc., is somehow the key intermediary for White Phosphorus manufacture in the US:

Teledyne nets $10 million subcontract
Manufacturing News, Source : TheManufacturer.com
Published : 26 Oct 2005 18:52

Teledyne Brown Engineering, Inc., under contract to Shaw Environmental, Inc., has been awarded an 18-month $10 million contract to support modernization of the White Phosphorus Plant at the Pine Bluff Arsenal in Pine Bluff, AR.

[EuroObserver]

14. Shaw Group and Katrina

(From my archives: I don't think I'll be investing with these people)

Shaw Environmental is a subsidiary of these people: Shaw Group Inc : http://www.shawgrp.com /
(see their Form:10-K Filing Date:11/2/2004 here: http://sec.edgar-online.com/2004/11/02/0000950124-04-005242/section2.asp

Shaw Group obtains FEMA New Orleans clean-up contracts: http://www.shawgrp.com/hurricanerecovery/default.aspx
"Message from our Chairman

Thank you for visiting Shaw’s Hurricane Recovery website.

The Shaw Group has earned a reputation for providing premier rapid response capabilities and expertise in times of domestic and international crisis including natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina. This devastating storm is the largest natural disaster in United States history and, as a global company headquartered in Louisiana, this tragedy hits far too close to home. Shaw is committed to being one of the first emergency response providers on the scene to assist in the recovery efforts. This site has been designed to keep you abreast of our efforts related to rebuilding Louisiana and the Gulf Coast region in the wake of this terrible storm.

Shaw is recognized for its ability to mobilize quickly to provide unparalleled emergency response services including the restoration of utilities and infrastructure. Shaw’s team of experts can effectively address the devastating environmental concerns that can accompany these disasters from the restoration of clean drinking water to wide-scale debris management and removal. Shaw also provides security for emergency response teams and government agencies during recovery efforts. For detailed information regarding our comprehensive emergency response capabilities, please visit the links provided on the right side of this page.

As events unfold, this site will be further developed and updated regularly. Please check back with us soon and stay safe!

J.M. Bernhard, Jr.
Founder, President & Chief Executive Officer"

NOLA/Katrina Contracts: http://www.taxpayer.net/budget/katrinaspending/contracts/shawgroup.htm

Profile Last Updated: November 11, 2005

Contract Values:
Contract 1: $59,639,460 through FEMA
Contract 2: $100,000,000 through Army Corps for FEMA mission assignment
Contract 3: $29,000,000 for Shaw Environmental through Army Corps for FEMA mission assignment
Contract 4: $72,144,257 for Shaw Constructors through Army Corps for FEMA mission assignment
Contract 5: $29,000 through Environmental Protection Agency as a mission assignment for FEMA
Contract 6: $400,000 for Shaw Environmental through Army Corps for FEMA mission assignment

Types of Contracts:
Contract 1: Unknown
Contract 2: Unknown
Contract 3: Restricted competition
Contract 4: Full open competition
Contract 5: Unknown
Contract 6: Competitive, fixed price

Contract Details:
Contract 1 (FEMA contract): “…all support services necessary to provide housing assistance for displaced residents including site assessments, design, construction, transportation, utilities and facilities management. In addition, the Company will provide on-demand services to meet the general needs of displaced residents. Shaw will also provide administrative services to register displaced residents housed at emergency shelters in multiple locations in Texas and other impacted areas.”
Source: FEMA Contract List, October 10, 2005.

Original Contract was awarded for $100 million, but after controversy the contract was terminated early and will be re-bid. Since the announcement the contract will be re-bid, Shaw has received orders for $59,639,460.
Source: Shaw Group Press Release

Contract 2 (Army Corps contract): "…will provide supervision, equipment, materials, labor, logistics, and all means necessary to provide the Corps of Engineers an immediate response for construction contract capability. The contract will provide construction and related services including program planning, scheduling, design, engineering, transportation, construction management, and quality control. Under this contract, Shaw has received its first task of pumping floodwater from the city of New Orleans out and over the levees. Shaw is using temporary pumps and is repairing and restarting the existing pump stations.”
Source: Shaw Group Press Release

Contract 3 (2nd Army Corps contract): USACE awarded Shaw Environmental of Baton Rouge, LA, an ID/IQ contract worth $19,000,000 on Sept. 2, 2005, for unwatering. A second order was made on the contract on Oct. 9th for $10,000,000.
Source: USACE, "Consolidated Hurricane-Related Contract Awards, Oct. 27."

Contract 4 (3rd Army Corps contract): USACE placed 10 task orders on a contract with Shaw Constructors between Aug. 28 and Oct. 14 for roofing. The contract is an ID/IQ, Firm-Fixed Price contract. Although the total of the task orders on October 17 was $44,952,443, by Oct. 25th, the values of the 10 task orders changed to total $72,144,257.20.
Source: FEMA Contract List, Nov. 4, 2005.

Contract 5: Awarded Oct. 27th, by the EPA to Shaw Environmental, Inc., for Removal Action. Source: FPDS-NG, Oct. 31, 2005

Contract 6: USACE awarded a contract to Shaw Environmental on Nov. 2, 2005, for critical public facilities support. The fixed price contract was competitively awarded and worth $400,000.
Source: USACE, "Consolidated Hurricane-Related Contract Awards, Nov. 4"

.../ see previous US Govt. Contracts: http://www.taxpayer.net/budget/katrinaspending/contracts/shaw.pdf

[EuroObserver]

15. Shaw Group - Carlyle Connection:

Quoted (in comment) here: TPM Cafe, Oct 14, 2005 -- 02:05:50 PM EST, Red Tape and Public Works, http://www.tpmcafe.com/story/2005/10/13/14728/493

"Talking about fair, we should talk about the Shaw and Carlyle Groups and how government contracts are awarded. It doesn't belong in this thread but the story of how Carlyle stole the IT Group's assets and how Shaw ended up with a piece of them is a worthwhile lesson in why Americans should not invest social security money in the stock market.

BTW, the IT Group's contracts included the cleanup of the Everglades, building miltary housing and operating the Kennedy Space Center. Carlyle was running any number of its crooked schemes through IT and one of them was through a subsidiary, Landbank.

Landbank was a realty in one of the western states, Colorado, maybe? which specialized in the sale of "brownfield" property. Brownfield property is real estate that was considered environmentally unsound and after the DEA was paid off, became usable again. Here in NY, Charlie Gargano, a Bush pioneer, and his conractor buddy, Mario Posillico, bought the old Tuscan dairy property in Suffolk County through LandBank. Carlyle was another Landbank customer.

It's no coincidence that Shaw's consultant, James Schlesinger, is a member of the White House's Homeland Security Council.

This is the same low life scum who don't want to pay $9 bucks an hour because they believe in "free" markets. They can all f**k themselves after they're done screwing everybody else."

[EuroObserver]

16. Shaw Group & Louisiana Dems

Shaw Group's Founder/Chairman BERNHARD, JAMES M. JR is/was Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party Executive Committee (2004-2008)

--> DU: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=155x2526
Head of Louisiana's Democratic Party steps down 9/16/2005, 6:53 p.m.
http://www.nola.com/newsflash/louisiana/index.ssf?/base/news
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) — Less than a year after he took the post, state Democratic Party Chairman Jim Bernhard stepped down from the leadership job Friday, saying he needs to focus on his engineering and construction company which is heavily involved in Hurricane Katrina rebuilding efforts

--> Present in LADem Executive List (Excel Doc): http://www.lademo.org/ht/action/GetDocumentAction/id/583889
--> Not Present on web page: http://www.lademo.org/ht/d/sp/i/204427/pid/204427

--> Oringinal: http://www.lademo.org/index.php?display=ShowPage&i=329508&pid=329508
Nothing to Display

--> Google Cache: (dated: 4 Nov 2005 21:39:15 GMT.) (now gone, I see) http://66.102.9.104/search?q=cache:QfjQI2dFHqQJ:www.lademo.org/index.php%3Fdisplay%3DShowPage%26i%3D329508%26pid%3D329508+Bernhard+dem+OR+democratic&hl=es&client=firefox-a

Chairman J.M. Bernhard, Jr.

About Our Chairman

J. M. Bernhard, Jr. is the Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Shaw Group Inc., a Fortune 500 company offering a broad range of services to the power, process, environmental, infrastructure and emergency response markets. The Company’s stock is publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “SGR.” Under Mr. Bernhard’s leadership, The Shaw Group has grown dramatically and through a series of strategic acquisitions to over $3 billion in revenues since its inception in 1987. Shaw is one of the youngest companies to be named to the Fortune 500 and recently debuted on the magazine’s list of “America’s Most Admired Companies”. Headquartered in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the Company employs over 18,000 people at its offices and operations in North America, South America, Europe, the Middle East and the Asia-Pacific region.

In 2001, Mr. Bernhard was the recipient of the Ernst and Young “U.S. Entrepreneur of the Year” Award. His professional accomplishments were also featured in a cover story in the April 1, 2002 issue of Engineering News-Record.

Mr. Bernhard was recently inducted into the LSU Alumni Association Hall of Distinction. He has received the Corporate Champions for Children Award, LSU College of Education’s “Special Recognition” Award. He was named Perpetual Founder of Catholic High School in Baton Rouge, and received the Tiger Athletic Foundation Augie Cross Memorial “Member of the Year” Award.

An active participant in many civic and philanthropic endeavors, Mr. Bernhard was recently selected as Chairman of the Louisiana Democratic Party. He co-chaired the transition team for the governor of Louisiana, Governor Kathleen Babineaux Blanco. Mr. Bernhard is also a member of Select Council for Revenues and Expenditures (SECURE) for Louisiana’s Future and serves on the Committee of 100 for the State of Louisiana. He is a major benefactor to both Louisiana State University, Louisiana Tech University and at Southern University, where he served as an adjunct professor. He is a member of numerous trade and civic organizations.

Prior to founding The Shaw Group, Mr. Bernhard was Vice President and General Manager of Sunland Services, a state-of-the-art pipe fabrication company, which was later acquired by Shaw. He also served on the Board of Directors of Barnard and Burk Engineers & Constructors from 1984 to 1986.

Mr. Bernhard is a native of Baton Rouge, Louisiana where he currently lives with his wife Dana and their children. He graduated from Louisiana State University in 1976 with a degree in Construction Management. Mr. Bernhard enjoys traveling, golf, hunting, fishing, and most importantly, spending time with his wife and children.

[54anickel]

58. Good riddance to him. Another Dem in name only. We seem to have

some crooks on our side of the aisle as well. When I read about Dems like this I always wonder - did they start out that way or did the stink in Washington just rub off on them. Guess the Culture of Corruption runs deep in America.

[EuroObserver]

62. If the story pans out, then quid pro quo:

Toshiba gets the prize, in (part)-exchange for giving Shaw Group a cut. White House/BFEE being the power-brokers, of course.

In which case, expect plenty of poorly-regulated (at least in CONUS) nuke power station contracts shortly down the line.

(I confess, I already had a small stake in Toshiba: I expect to take a short-term, hit, maybe worse).

[EuroObserver]

104. So, I purchased a dead-tree (European edition) FT

And, although there's an FT piece (Toshiba leads in nuclear contest) avalable to non-subscribers, which doesn't say anything much new, the more interesting article is maybe this (subscribers), although the print article (from which I quote manually, please excuse my dusty keyboard) carries a different headline, and reads in part thus:

After Toshiba's victory in the battle to control Westinghouse, the nuclear reactor group, questions are being asked about why General Electric of the US or Mitsubishi Heavy Industries of Japan, long seen as the front-runners, did not clinch this deal.

Losing out to Toshiba is a blow to GE's efforts to break into the Chinese nuclear energy market, which has so far fravoured pressurised-water reactor technology used by Westinghouse rather than GE's boiling-water technology.
...
BNFL paid $1.2bn for Westinghouse in 1998. When the business was put up for sale last July, Westinghouse was expected to attract bids in the region of $2bn. But the recent revival of interest in nuclear power, triggered in part by high oil and gas prices, meat that Westinghouse became a much sought-after asset.
...
"The $5bn price tag is not cheap for Toshiba," says Hiroshi Yoshihara, analyst at Merril Lynch in Tokyo.
...
China, the fastest-growing nuclear power market, has decided that all new plants should be of the PWR type.

"Whoever dominates China will dominate the world's nuclear power plant market," Mr. Yoshihara said.

Buying Westinghouse will make Toshiba one of the two top nuclear power companies in China together with Framatome of France, Mr. Yoshihara noted...

(I see no mention of Shaw Group in print in the FT today).

[ozymandius]

7. Rates on 30-Year Mortgages Dip for 6th Week

WASHINGTON - Rates on 30-year mortgages fell for a sixth straight week, dropping to the lowest level in three months, according to a weekly survey released Thursday.

Mortgage giant Freddie Mac said rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages dipped to 6.10 percent this week, down from 6.15 percent last week.

Rates have been falling since mid-December when rates on the 30-year mortgage were at 6.32 percent. The rate is now the lowest since the week of Oct. 20.

"Over the last six weeks, long-term mortgage rates have dropped nearly a quarter of a percent in the face of little or no inflationary pressures," said Frank Nothaft, chief economist at Freddie Mac.

more...

[ozymandius]

10. NYC mayor: housing market "dramatically" slowing

NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg on Friday said the real estate market was slowing "dramatically" and only a "miracle" could stop soaring mortgage rates from eating into housing prices.

Consumers are definitely feeling the pinch of higher mortgage lending rates and are not quite as eager to snap up a new home especially at time when house prices in the Big Apple are near record-highs, the Republican mayor said in his weekly radio show.

"The real estate market is slowing down dramatically and we're going to have a problem down the road," Bloomberg said.

"If people who want to sell their houses have to wait a longer time before someone comes along and buys it, it would be a miracle if prices didn't start to go down," he said.

more...

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

47. Can Someone Explain

Why are the rates on 30-year coming down, while the short term rates are rising? I understand that's not good, but is it helping keep the housing market from tanking, since it's the long rates which impact mortgages. So even though the fed may keep raising the short term rates, the housing market is saying Ha Ha....we're just going to lower the long term rates so people can still refinance, buy houses, etc.?

[hatrack]

56. Supply and demand - demand for mortgage loans is declining . . .

They (rates, that is) won't keep on going down forever, since the likelihood of further Fed rate increases at the next FOMC is pretty solid, and the Federal Funds Rate forms a "floor" for all financial transactions.

I seriously doubt they'll go much lower - prevailing interest rates will definitely hinder that.

[orwell]

94. Essentially...

...there is still good bond and note demand from foreign central banks and private buyers repatriating the trade surplus back into the long end of US debt markets. In essence, the wild Fed pumping, which would normally be inflationary, causing US long rates to jump, is instead going offshore in the form of the trade imbalance and coming back onshore as foreign bond and note demand.

Because so much of our manufacturing capacity is now overseas, where labor rates are extremely cheap, domestic wage growth and capacity utilization, two normal inflation drivers, are not pushing up domestic prices to the extent they would if we didn't have these giant offshore manufacturing sources. This also takes pressure off the long end.

Meanwhile, the Fed has been raising short rates (where they have direct control) to get back to a rate neutral policy and cool the domestic economy. It is very frustrating to the Fed that long rates have not risen, as they would have 10 or 15 years ago, in response to the short end rise.

The Fed can no longer effectively influence long rates.

[EuroObserver]

8. European martkets: Slightly optimistic opening

Xetra Dax 30 opens up 0.2% at 5,357.8 in Frankfurt 08:08 GMT
CAC 40 opens up 0.2% at 4,761.4 in Paris 08:07 GMT
FTSE 100 opens up 0.3% at 5,677.5 in London 08:06 GMT
Swiss SMI at CHF 7737.40 up 0.45% 09:27:25 CET

[EuroObserver]

17. FTSE 100 now not so happy

FTSE 100 down 0.2% at 5,651.2 in mid-session trade in London 12:01 GMT

[EuroObserver]

29. European markets mixed (midday)

Xetra Dax 30 up 0.3% at 5,364.88 in Frankfurt 12:43 GMT
CAC 40 up 0.1% at 4,757.11 in Paris 12:31 GMT
Swiss SMI down -0.13% at CHF 7692.68 14:19:40 CET

[EuroObserver]

33. European Market Blather, US Market Outlook, Oil, Currencies:

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Global equity markets were mixed on Tuesday as oil prices fell below $68 a barrel and the dollar made a tentative recovery after hitting four-month lows against European currencies.

European stock markets were broadly flat after a big rebound in Asian shares while U.S. stock index futures edged up, as investors welcomed in-line earnings from Dow constituent 3M Co. (MMM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) after Wall Street's tame finish on Monday.
...
Some fund managers remained relaxed about the outlook for European shares and said the market was in a holding pattern after rallying strongly in 2005.

"We have just had the perfect market for three or four months, we're still in the midst of a positive situation for the markets but we've gone a little bit too far a little bit too fast and the markets are consolidating," said Andreas Gartner, fund manager at SEB in Frankfurt.

The FTSEurofirst300 index of leading European shares was 0.1 percent down at 1,279 points -- some 2.5 percent off a 4-1/2 year high struck on Jan. 12. Shares were weaker in most regional centres, but slightly up in Paris and Frankfurt.
...
The dollar, which has lost some popularity in recent weeks, trimmed some of its sharp losses. However, it remained close to recent lows after Federal Reserve officials on Monday played up the U.S. trade deficit threat and again hinted that the Fed's 18-month campaign of U.S. interest rate rises was nearly over.

St. Louis Fed President William Poole said the U.S. central bank may stop raising rates fairly soon, while New York Fed President Timothy Geithner said the record U.S. current account deficit was a threat to the global economy and financial markets.

"I think probably yesterday's move was a little bit overdone but obviously we've broken through some reasonably sizeable technical levels and that does beg the question as to whether there is a bit further to run," Rabobank strategist Jeremy Stretch said.

The euro traded at around $1.2275 , having risen to a four-month high of $1.2323 earlier in the session. The Swiss franc and British pound traded at 1.2620 francs and $1.7855 respectively after they too scaled four-month peaks.

The dollar bought around 114.45 yen .

The Canadian dollar traded steadily against the dollar at 1.1505 as investors braced for an expected quarter-point hike in local benchmark rates to 3.50 percent and reacted to the prospect of a minority Conservative government after inconclusive elections.
...
U.S. light crude futures (CLc1: Quote, Profile, Research) fell 1.1 percent to $67.32 a barrel after top exporter Saudi Arabia said it was ready to boost supply if needed and that OPEC was unlikely to cut production when it meets next week.

That helped to skim some of the market's geopolitical froth, although an attack on Monday on a Nigerian oil platform operated by Italy's Agip highlighted the supply fears affecting the world's eighth-largest crude exporter.

Concern over Iran's standoff with the West also rumbled on. U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday he was concerned a future nuclear-armed Iran could blackmail the world.

Separately, bombs killed eight people in Iran's mainly Arab southern city of Ahvaz .

Euro zone government bond futures pared gains after stronger than expected industrial new orders data spurred expectations that the European Central Bank favoured higher interest rates.

March Bund futures (FGBLH6: Quote, Profile, Research) were flat at 121.17.

Shares in DailmerChrysler (DCXGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) rose more than 4 percent on news that it is to shed a fifth of its management .

Vodafone (VOD.L: Quote, Profile, Research) gave up earlier gains and shed 2.3 percent after disappointing some investors by saying it would keep its U.S. business . /more...

[EuroObserver]

66. Europe Closing: Uncertainty or Stability?

FTSE 100 closes down 0.5% at 5,633.8 in London 16:45 GMT
CAC 40 closes down 0.1% at 4,748.32 in Paris 16:44 GMT
FTSE 250 closes up 0.2% at 8,929.0 in London 16:42 GMT
Xetra Dax 30 closes down 0.3% at 5,334.30 in Frankfurt 16:43 GMT
FTSE Eurofirst 300 down 0.3% at 1,277.03 in closing exchanges in London 16:35 GMT
Swiss SMI down -0.29% at CHF 7680.00 17:19:26 CET

[orwell]

101. Whoops...

Separately, bombs killed eight people in Iran's mainly Arab southern city of Ahvaz."

Sounds like "the boys" are already on the ground.

[EuroObserver]

106. Yeah. There's a DU thread here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2061735#2061775

[EuroObserver]

12. Great cartoon!

Watch out for those gases :popcorn:

[loudsue]

18. Good Morning, Marketeers!!

:donut: I'm buying the coffee & donuts this a.m. -- honey buns & fritters all around!!! :applause: Getting ready for another exciting day at the casino!! :hi:

:kick:

[fasttense]

20. Good morning loudsue

Ahhh, honey buns and fritters, I'm drolling just thinking about it.

Anyhow, the ups and downs of the stock market sure make me think of a casino. You said what I was thinking. Now stop that.

[EuroObserver]

26. Casino, and the horses!

Good morning loudsue, and all :smoke:

ed: profound geopolitical insight, also. Checkout, if you haven't done so already, this Short Film at the Sundance Festival: HA HA HA AMERICA, Directed by Jon Daniel Ligon, TRT 17:00/DV/Color (be patient, server may be overloaded. Click > start button).

[loudsue]

27. And a good morning it is!!!!

Keep your chin up and your head down!! Well, uh...something like that.

:kick:

[EuroObserver]

65. ed. note: HA HA HA America's author

would appear to be Chinese-American. It's a USA production.

Hope this helps :evilfrown:

[AnneD]

39. Morning Marketeers,

:donut: Fritters, mmmm. I don't eat them, I just rub them on my hips...it ends up there anyway. Thanks for the cyber munchies Loud Sue. Interesting day is right.
Our CBS affiliated station was mentioning all the Iraqi vets running for office in 2006 and Hackett got alot of face time. What was so funny was that they were shocked,shocked that all but one was running as a Democrat. The one that wasn't was in (guesses?)....Crawford Tx.
They were also so surprised that these guys had become politically active so soon (some still were in Reserves). It is no surprise to me...most of these guys are reservists and already active in their communities. They know troops are screwed over and they are going to make sure it stops. I was impressed with Hackett-he didn't mince words-real Truman like. Keep your eye on him folks-he is an up and coming DEM leader.
Happy Hunting and watch out for the bears.

[loudsue]

136. Just got back to the computer......Hackett ROCKS!! dunny?

I hope he gave the media an ear full while he had their attention. He can really zing 'em in there. We need about 100 more just like him!

It's almost :party::applause: HAPPY HOUR!!! :toast::beer: So, I'm buyin' again!! It's loudsue wins the lottery day!!! (at least it seems so!)

:kick::kick::kick:

[UpInArms]

19. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX

Last trade 88.09 Change -0.02 (-0.02%)

Fed President Comments Was the Straw that Broke the Dollar’s Back

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_fundamentals/6254_fed_president_comments_was_the_straw_that_broke.html

After over 2 weeks of consistent rangetrading, we are finally seeing some interesting price action and volatility in the markets as the dollar collapses across the board against the majors. With Fed President and FOMC voting member Geithner warning about growth and the deficits, tensions still brewing with Iran, oil prices less than $2 away from $70 a barrel, concerns for earnings this week and a not so optimistic leading indicators report, it is not surprise that the past few weeks of consolidation has led to a breakout to the downside in the dollar. This week is the busiest period for fourth quarter earnings with over 140 companies from the S&P 500 reporting results. Given that the only pieces of US data worth watching this week is not due for release until Thursday (durable goods) and Friday (GDP), how the stock market responds to earnings releases could easily impact trading in the dollar. If the earnings releases come with warnings labels, traders should watch out as the Fed may interpret this as expectations for waning consumer demand. Either way, the market is certainly on the lookout for more signs of whether we will have one, two or three more interest rate hikes left in the pipeline. We are closing in on the January 31st FOMC meeting and the big question is whether the statement will be even more neutral than the previous one as Greenspan pens his last words on monetary policy. With the economy at a crossroad, he may very well want to leave the door wide open for Bernanke to take any path he wishes because ultimately, Bernanke is the one that has to deal with the consequences. Leading indicators were released at 0.1 percent this morning, against the market’s 0.2 percent forecast. The generous revision from 0.5 percent to 0.9 percent for the month of November helped to offset some of the pessimism.


...more...

[EuroObserver]

34. Watch on Swiss Franc (CHF), Pound Sterling (GBP):

[EuroObserver]

70. Can we add these two to the daily intro, thread start please Ozy, UiA?

For some, at least, they are quite sensitive indicators...

[EuroObserver]

109. Hmm. Another twitch just now... n/t

[EuroObserver]

111. Could it be this, and/or this (BBC breaking)?:

Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 19:23 GMT
Israel 'needs further withdrawal'
Israel will have to withdraw from further parts of the West Bank, acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has said.

/more...

Tuesday, 24 January 2006, 18:40 GMT
Panel approves Bush court nominee
A US Senate panel has voted to approve President George W Bush's Supreme Court nominee, Samuel Alito.

All 10 Republicans on the judiciary committee backed the conservative judge, while all eight Democrats opposed Mr Alito.

The nomination now goes to the Republican-led Senate, which is expected to confirm Mr Alito, although Democrats could seek to block him.

/more...

[EuroObserver]

36. Something just happened to the Canadian Dollar? n/t

[UpInArms]

38. Royal Bank of Canada raises prime to 5.25 pct

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-24T140910Z_01_TOR000804_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-ROYALBANK-PRIME-URGENT.XML

TORONTO, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Royal Bank of Canada (RY.TO: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday it would raise its prime lending rate to 5.25 percent from 5 percent, beginning Wednesday.

The move follows a quarter-percentage-point rate increase by the Bank of Canada earlier on Tuesday, which took the benchmark overnight rate to 3.5 percent.

The prime rate is the rate charged by banks on loans to their best customers.

[EuroObserver]

59. Yes, but the market seemed to have that factored in already

at around $C1.1505=$US1.00 (now at $1.1553). So maybe it's the election story, or something else...

[54anickel]

67. Conservative Party ousts Liberals in Canada, ending long reign

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/24/news/canada.php

Stephen Harper and his Conservative Party defeated the long-entrenched Liberal Party in Canadian elections, according to results announced Monday. A Conservative victory is a striking turn in the country's politics and is likely to improve Canada's strained relations with the Bush administration.

Prime Minister Paul Martin had hoped to build on a string of four consecutive Liberal national election victories in the past 13 years, but his campaign was damaged by two years of investigations into party scandals that spurred a backlash and a desire for change.

Martin tried to cut into Harper's lead in the final days with a campaign of rancorous advertising as opinion polls indicated that many urban voters were wary of allowing the country to veer into uncharted ideological waters.

But in the end, Harper seemed to reassure the public that he had evolved into a centrist and that his government would emphasize cutting taxes and cleaning up corruption rather than social issues like abortion and gay rights.

In a concession speech, Martin announced that he would leave the party leadership before the next national election. "I telephoned Stephen Harper and congratulated him on being chosen by the people of Canada," he said. "We differ on many things, but we all share the belief of the potential and the promise of Canada and the desire of our country to succeed."

more...

[Spazito]

That article is grossly misleading

It leaves out a very important aspect to the election which, in reality, puts Harper in a loosely knotted noose. He only received an even smaller minority government than the 04 Liberal minority win. In order for Harper to get ANYTHING passed, he has to get 32 members of the opposition, all of whom lean left NOT right, to vote with his party and if the bill is financial and he does not get 32 members of the opposition to support him, his government falls.

The effect of his election to a minority government status will have no effect on the market because the Canadian government is again in a minority position as was the previous government.

A little tidbit of interest: The Liberals (103 seats) plus the NDP (29 seats), together, have more seats than the Conservatives (124 seats). The Conservatives need 155 votes to get anything passed.

The Bloc (solely in Quebec) has 51 seats and lean even further left than the Liberals on the majority of the issues.

I will try and find a better article that explains Harper's position and, if I can find one, will post it.

This is no criticism of you for posting the article, 54anickel, but solely critical of the article itself.

Edited to add a link to an article that explains the situation as a result of last night's election:

Fragile minority for Tories
Paul Martin will step down as Liberal leader
Harper faces a tough House of Commons

The Conservatives have toppled Prime Minister Paul Martin's government, winning a shaky minority and ending his long career.

snip

Still, Harper, 46, finds himself with a Conservative minority that is surrounded by three, strong progressive-leaning parties — the New Democrats have surged in strength and the Bloc Québécois and the Liberals retained some important strength in Quebec and urban areas.

This precarious situation raises real questions about which of the Conservative policy priorities Harper could realistically get through the Commons. His planned cuts to the GST could likely survive, for instance, but the combined strength of the opposition could thwart any of his harder-right conservative ideas.

That leads to the bigger question too of how long this government could last and when another election could be unleashed on the country. Martin's departure may help extend Harper's stay, since Liberals will be rebuilding for at least a year, if not longer.

more

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1138056612021&call_pageid=968332188774&col=968350116467

[EuroObserver]

125. OK, thanks. Weak right-wing government, then.

...Could be dangerous.

[Spazito]

127. Quite the opposite, the weak position of Harper is a good thing

he cannot institute any radical right wing policies or his government will fall. The dance he will have to do just to hold onto power at all will be quite fascinating,lol.

[54anickel]

129. Thanks Spazito. Sounds like it could be a bit rocky for the new

government for a bit. Wonder if they will want to continue with that "arms length" from the US conservatives that they were pushing for leading up to the election. Wonder how "short" their term will be. Here's wishing the Canadians a safe test drive.


Diane Ablonczy, a long-time Conservative elected in Calgary and expected to be in cabinet, said last night that this new Tory government would represent a foothold into more lasting power: "By definition, a minority government is a shorter term ... but I think it is a start. Canadians ... want to test drive the Conservative party and we're quite happy. We're sure they're going to like the product."

Harper will be leading a highly inexperienced, rookie government, facing an expert opposition, loaded with Liberal ministers who know how the system works. With only a few exceptions — government House leader Tony Valeri, Treasury Board President Reg Alcock, Seniors Minister Tony Ianno and Agriculture Minister Andy Mitchell, for instance — virtually all of Martin's cabinet held on to their seats.

[Spazito]

132. Harper will meet with bush fairly quickly but will have to tread VERY

carefully because over 70% of Canadians are anti-bush, not anti-American at all, but very, very contemptuous of the bush cabal. If Harper even tiptoes towards any major change re issues with bush, there will be a very big backlash when his minority government falls which it will, very possibly within a year.

[AnneD]

133. Thanks for the on the ground report.....

I have a deep and abiding love and respect for Canada and was , at first, saddened about the Conservative win. After all Canada is really my border of choice should I need an exit strategy. Thanks for the reassurance that Canada has not fallen into the clutches of the neocons....

[Spazito]

134. You're very welcome!

The US media, deliberately or through ignorance,is not reporting accurately so I thought it would be important to try and clarify what actually happened here last night.

[54anickel]

138. Thanks again Spazito. Think it will fall that soon? I don't have a good

grasp on how elections work up there. I mean there's no x-number of year terms, so how is it determined that it's time for another election? How long from that determination to when the election actually takes place? Sounds like an interesting concept - no lame ducks; no long drawn out campaigns (actually doing your job responsibly IS your campaign or your outta here); no long drawn out ugly political impeachment process; no defeatist mentality of "hell we're stuck with the jerk for 4 more years" (there's always that hope that they will fail quickly).

70% are anti-bush you say? - how come the rest of the world is so much smarter about Bush than Murikans?

[Spazito]

139. Conservative minorities, historicially, do not last past a year

and I suspect this one will be no different. With a majority government, they must call an election by their 5th anniversary but most call an election in their fourth year. Minorities, overall, don't last past 18 months as a rule.

With the Libs having to select a new leader, it is my bet the Harper government will put forward a bill to deliberately cause his government to fall either just before or just after the Libs elect a new leader as he can not afford to allow time for the new leader to settle into Canadians' consciousness, so to speak. Because of this, I again speculate Harper's government will last a year at most.

I do like our system in that any government can only continue for the 5 year mandate they receive if they have the support of the Canadian people either through having been elected to a majority or with the aid of the opposition eitherwise they can be forced out by a vote of non-confidence. It is cleaner, imo, overall.

[54anickel]

140. Interesting. Learned something new again today. That's what I love

about DUers! Thanks :hi:

[Spazito]

141. You're very welcome and I so agree about DU being an incredible

learning environment. I, too, have learned so much since finding DU!

I just want to add a heartfelt thanks for you and the others that keep the Stock Market Watch going everyday, it is invaluable, imo, and one I check many times throughout the day!

[54anickel]

82. US Policymakers Sleepwalking Into Currency Crisis

http://www.321gold.com/editorials/lachance/lachance012406.html

Unbridled credit expansion and asset inflation in the US are the direct cause of excessive consumption by American households and the near total loss of global competitiveness by domestic industries producing consumer goods. The effect is a current account deficit of $800 billion per year, which the International Monetary Fund estimates will reach almost $1 trillion in 2007. This tidal wave of dollars flowing out of the US is recycled by foreign, mostly East Asian, central banks back into dollar assets in an ad-hoc arrangement known as Breton Woods II. In the brief period in which this arrangement has held, the balance sheets of the Bank of Japan and the People's Bank of China have each been weighed down by nearly $1 trillion in dollar-denominated assets, and officials in Beijing and Tokyo have become visibly skittish about further accumulation.

Viewed from the left side of the Pacific, Breton Woods II is simply a mechanism to transmit inflation from the US to other economies. China has long experienced breakneck economic growth and is waging an increasingly futile struggle to prevent overheating. Soaking up another trillion dollars is clearly a risky proposition for a government keen to maintain economic and social stability. Even Japan, which most international observers assume welcomes inflationary impetus with open arms, is by no means a bottomless reservoir for the rising flood of dollars. While the Bank of Japan cites consumer prices as the benchmark for ending monetary easing, policymakers keep a wary eye on asset prices with memories of the late 80s bubble debacle still fresh in their minds. A nearly 50% run-up in the Topix stock index in the second half of 2005 and, more importantly, double-digit annual price appreciation for prime Tokyo real estate are indications that Japan's dollar absorption threshold may be lower than many think.

Groping for an exit

The East Asian product vendors and financiers face two challenges for a repudiation of the Breton Woods II arrangement: 1) finding alternative buyers for their industrial output; and 2) procurement of raw materials, particularly energy sources, without dollars. Fortunately for China, Korea, and Japan, a potential alternative market is readily available: Asia itself. The region's consumers have the world's highest savings rate and around two-thirds of the total global savings pool. For the most part, their incomes are also expanding robustly. From a lender's perspective, this makes them attractive credit risks, certainly a better option than lending indirectly to consumers without liquidity or income growth. China is rapidly building a consumer credit infrastructure while Japanese banks, solvent again, are sending staff eastward in search of borrowers. Japan and China are already each other's largest trading partners and inter-region trade now dwarfs trade flows across the Pacific.

Procuring raw materials without dollars is a much more difficult and politically sensitive challenge. Unsurprisingly, Japan has taken a very low profile approach, enhancing energy efficiency at home while its corporations expand stakes in raw material suppliers overseas. In contrast, time is a luxury China does not have much of. It is being inundated with dollars just as its economy is on the brink of overheating. As a result, it has become much more aggressive, particularly in trying to secure oil and gas through agreements with such suppliers as Russia and Iran. The benefits for China are obvious; immediately useful materials in exchange for industrial output instead of IOUs with unpredictable future value. For suppliers, yuan acquired either directly or by conversion through euro can be used to procure essentially any type of consumer good, a trade that helps their governments buy the support of mostly impoverished populations.

From MAD to SAD

These efforts amount to East Asia attempting to alter the stakes of repudiating Breton Woods II. At the outset, the region had found itself locked in a relationship of mutual dependence with the US, comparable to the Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD) doctrine of the Cold War. Led by China, the region is trying to shift away from MAD toward a situation that could be described from the US perspective as Singularly Assured Destruction (SAD). With the US unwilling or unable to restrain its imbalances, East Asia is running out of time to alter the stakes. Given the vulnerability of its economy to further inflation, China will almost certainly be the first to have to make the inevitable choice: certain economic collapse as a result of overheating or a chance, however slim, that the result of the end of Breton Woods II will be SAD for the US, rather than MAD for both the US and itself.

more...

[EuroObserver]

89. "potential alternative market is readily available: Asia itself"

Indeed.

"Procuring raw materials without dollars is a much more difficult and politically sensitive challenge"

Working on it (see above, & previous SMW).

--> In a way, the Cheney/PNAC regime is right: the only way out for the (elite of) the USA is a big war for resources, enslaved markets.

[UpInArms]

110. peeking at the buck

Last trade 88.06 Change -0.05 (-0.06%)

thought I should since the MSM is attempting to spin a "dollar recovery" story:

Dollar makes a modest recovery

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - The dollar retook a bit of lost ground Tuesday afternoon, while crude futures remained lower and risk-aversion trade linked to international political worries lightened.

The dollar last was up 0.1% at 114.56 yen, as the euro fell 0.02% to $1.2291.

On Tuesday market participants concluded that heavy selling the prior day was overdone and bought back some dollars.

On Monday, the dollar was knocked sharply lower by fears that the eurozone could embark on a more aggressive rate hikes policy, just as the U.S. prepares to end its series of rates increases.

A long laundry list of international concerns also hurt the dollar Monday, including Iran's renewed nuclear ambitions and violence at Nigerian oil installations.

Tuesday's recovery also was linked to lower crude prices, as the front-month contract fell 60 cents to $67.50 a barrel, weakened by unseasonably warm weather and indications OPEC will stand firm on its production quotas.

...more...

[UpInArms]

21. Lexmark profit falls 47%, to cut 825 jobs

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BDE28E645%2DCDD2%2D40BF%2DB096%2D663BB9E59788%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Printing giant Lexmark International Group Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter profit that fell 47% from a year ago but handily beat Wall Street's consensus view.

The Lexingtion, Ky. company also gave a first-quarter outlook that surrounds the current average analysts' expectation, and unveiled a restructuring plan that calls for the elimination of 825 jobs, and the freezing of its U.S. pension plan.

<snip>

The restructuring plan, which also calls for the transfer of about 525 positions, will involve consolidation of the company's manufacturing capacity. As part of this effort, it will close its inkjet cartridge manufacturing facility in Scotland.

Lexmark estimates the restructuring plan will cost roughly $130 million pre-tax. It sees annual savings from the restructuring and the pension changes of about $80 million with savings for 2006 projected at about $50 million.

...more...

[UpInArms]

22. US says Qwest ex-CEO secret doc defense irrelevant

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-24T013601Z_01_N23351105_RTRIDST_0_TECH-QWEST-NACCHIO-UPDATE-1.XML

DENVER, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Former Qwest Communications International Inc. (Q.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Joseph Nacchio's plan to use classified security documents in his defense against insider trading charges is "wholly irrelevant," federal prosecutors contended on Monday.

Qwest in 2002 had to restate $2 billion in revenue for the two preceding years. The fallout from the scandal triggered civil and criminal action against Qwest and its former executives, including Nacchio.

Nacchio's attorneys, in another filing unsealed on Monday, said the former executive's knowledge of classified government contracts anticipated by Qwest in 2001 "is one of the key elements to his defense."

Nacchio is free on a $2 million bond and has pleaded not guilty. He has been indicted on 42 counts of insider trading.

The attorneys, who say they will need classified information to defend him, contend Nacchio believed Qwest was in line for lucrative national security contracts that would have strengthened the telephone company's financial outlook when he unloaded $101 million in stock in 2001.

...more...


The Axis of Corporate Evil

excerpt:

3. Roy Olofson, former vice president of finance for Global Crossing, accused company executives of overstating the company's assets, like with Enron, and of firing him when he tried to blow the whistle. Mr. Olofson told of shady deals being made with companies such as the telecommunications company Qwest.
InfoWorldFebruary 8, 2002

4. Arthur Andersen kept the books for Qwest, too.
Is Qwest playing accounting games?
MSNBC.com Jan 31, 2002

5. On January 7, 2002, Qwest Chairman and CEO Joseph P. Nacchio was named Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). The appointment was announced by FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell.
"In addition to his role as chairman of the NRIC, Nacchio is vice chairman of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), a select group of industry executives that provides advice on security and emergency preparedness issues to President George W. Bush. Nacchio is scheduled to become chairman of NSTAC later this year. The leadership roles for the government will not distract Nacchio from running Qwest.
Qwest Communications Press Release

6. Enron and Qwest struck a deal last fall to swap fiber optic network capacity and services at exaggerated prices in an effort to improve each company's financial picture.
Broadband Week March 29, 2002
The Axis of Corporate Evil

excerpt:

3. Roy Olofson, former vice president of finance for Global Crossing, accused company executives of overstating the company's assets, like with Enron, and of firing him when he tried to blow the whistle. Mr. Olofson told of shady deals being made with companies such as the telecommunications company Qwest.
InfoWorldFebruary 8, 2002

4. Arthur Andersen kept the books for Qwest, too.
Is Qwest playing accounting games?
MSNBC.com Jan 31, 2002

5. On January 7, 2002, Qwest Chairman and CEO Joseph P. Nacchio was named Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) Network Reliability and Interoperability Council (NRIC). The appointment was announced by FCC Chairman Michael K. Powell.
"In addition to his role as chairman of the NRIC, Nacchio is vice chairman of the National Security Telecommunications Advisory Committee (NSTAC), a select group of industry executives that provides advice on security and emergency preparedness issues to President George W. Bush. Nacchio is scheduled to become chairman of NSTAC later this year. The leadership roles for the government will not distract Nacchio from running Qwest.
Qwest Communications Press Release

6. Enron and Qwest struck a deal last fall to swap fiber optic network capacity and services at exaggerated prices in an effort to improve each company's financial picture.
Broadband Week March 29, 2002

[UpInArms]

23. Livedoor echoes scandals of Enron and WorldCom

http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/01/23/business/horie.php

It may go down in history as Japan's version of the Enron and WorldCom scandals: a flashy young Internet billionaire who brashly challenged Japan's establishment and whose business empire came crashing down amid a criminal investigation into possible securities fraud.

Monday's arrest of Takafumi Horie, 33, and three other executives has added to concerns expressed by economists that Horie's wide-ranging business operations, centered on the Internet-portal company Livedoor, were nothing more than a house of cards, built on inflated stock prices and billions invested by individual Japanese.

<snip>

At its height, Livedoor was worth about $6.8 billion, or 130 times the company's earnings - far above the ratio of 17 or so that is common at many Japanese companies. Since prosecutors raided Livedoor's plush central Tokyo offices last week, the company's share price has plunged 64 percent, wiping out $4 billion in value.

The biggest losers will be the legions of small investors, many of them part of the country's newly emerging population of e-traders. Many bought shares of Livedoor because they believed that it and Horie represented the aggressive, American-style capitalism of Japan's future.

But economists fear that the scandal could also make other new companies and entrepreneurs less willing to take risks, especially in challenging Japan's corporate norms. And they are concerned that more conservative members of Japan's business elite could use Horie's arrest to roll back many of Japan's recent market-style capitalist changes, which he had come to symbolize.

...more...

[UpInArms]

24. Wall Street Is Relieved at New Rules on Gifts

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/01/24/business/24place.html

Wall Street breathed a sigh of relief yesterday: Super Bowl tickets, it seems, are still fair game.

Under revised rules issued yesterday by NASD and the New York Stock Exchange, Wall Street firms will be able to take their most valued clients to the Super Bowl, even if they cannot fly them there on private jets, entertain them at the fanciest restaurants and house them at the best hotels.

The long-awaited rules on gifts and business entertainment appear to be simple: each NASD member firm - there are about 5,100 of them - will have to write its own policy and find a way to police it effectively. The objective of the rules is also simple: don't entertain in such a way that the client is influenced to award business, like trading, that is not in the best interest of the customer.

The rules represent a shift away from rigid spending guidelines toward a policy that gives firms goals and essentially asks them to use good judgment.

The policy stands in marked contrast to the climate in Washington, where wining and dining has fallen into disfavor amid the scandal involving the lobbyist Jack Abramoff. In the House and Senate, there have been calls to limit the opportunities for lobbyists to provide lawmakers with benefits like luxury golf outings or Super Bowl tickets.

Wall Street, not surprisingly, prefers the approach taken by NASD and the New York Exchange.

...more...

[UpInArms]

25. Criminal Corporate Buddies: Bush Picks Ameriquest Owner as Ambassador

Bush Picks Ameriquest Owner as Ambassador

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/07/28/AR2005072801842.html

On the same day that the White House announced that President Bush is nominating California billionaire Roland E. Arnall to be ambassador to the Netherlands, the company he controls said it would set aside $325 million for a possible settlement of allegations of predatory lending tactics.

Arnall's company, Ameriquest Mortgage Co., is being investigated by regulators in 30 states. A $325 million settlement would be one of the largest ever in a predatory lending case.

Ameriquest is the nation's biggest privately held mortgage company. The company, which is in negotiations with a group of attorneys general to resolve the investigations, said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday that the amount "represents the company's best estimate of its maximum financial liability for a comprehensive resolution of this matter."

Arnall is the firm's principal shareholder. He, his wife and their companies have been the biggest political contributors to Bush since 2002.

...more...

Ameriquest to pay $325 mln in lending settlement

NEW YORK, Jan 23 (Reuters) - Ameriquest agreed to pay $325 million to settle an investigation into the mortgage company's lending practices, Attorney General Eliot Spitzer's office said in a statement on Monday.

As part of the settlement with 48 attorneys general and banking regulators, Ameriquest agreed to overhaul its sales, appraisal and closing practices.

[UpInArms]

31. Ameriquest - Millions to settle loan abuse - now cleared for Ambassorship

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/01/24/BUGV8GRU8F1.DTL

excerpt:

The privately held company acknowledged no wrongdoing.

Based in Orange County, Ameriquest has spent millions of dollars crafting a brand image and buying political influence. It sponsored last year's Rolling Stones tour and Super Bowl halftime show.

Roland Arnall, its founder and principal shareholder, has donated millions to President Bush, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and many other elected officials from both parties.

Last year, Bush nominated Arnall to be U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands, but his confirmation stalled in the Senate Finance Committee pending settlement of state investigations into Ameriquest's lending practices.

The agreement should clear the way for Arnall's confirmation.

...more...

THIS MAN IS NOT FIT TO REPRESENT THIS COUNTRY! :argh:

[54anickel]

53. I'm waiting for the hate mail from my relatives in the Netherlands...

I rarely hear from them these days unless it is to vent their hatred for BeelzeBush. They all know where I stand, but I guess I'm one of the "Ugly Americans". I live here, surely I can do something. When they want to vent, it comes to me. They mean well - I suppose they want to make sure I'm not falling for the propaganda. It's their way of checking in with me to see how I'm doing. Just wish they'd start out with a "Hey, howyadoin'?" Once in a while instead of starting with the Bush-blasting and ending with the friendly chit-chat. Guess it's better than the one's in Australia - to them, I guess I no longer exist. Not a peep from them since operation Shock and Awe.

[ret5hd]

55. i'd be sucking up...i mean "checking in" on THEM...

rather than waiting for them to contact me...never know when you might need a place to "retreat" to.

i don't have any relatives in foreign countries...wish i did.

[54anickel]

Heh, ya I do that. But the replies are coming slower than they used to.

I'm sure a lot of that has to do with my folks being gone now, that was our common thread. It's harder to maintain a relationship with relatives so far away that you rarely see. They used to come here to the states every so often and my folks would go over there. That helped keep the ties. None of them have any desire to come here since * blew into power. I can't really afford to go over there and actually would be sort of scared to - my Dutch isn't very good and I've never handled rejection very well. ;-) My aunt has said that I would be welcomed in her neighborhood once people knew where I stood. She still loves me. :-) Sheesh, I'll never forget her phone call after the 04 election! You'd think I had just survived a train-wreck or something from that discussion. Then again....

[EuroObserver]

76. My sympathies, 54anickel. Regards from the Western Mediterranean

coast. Quality communication is (and quality communications and intelligence are) very important.

[54anickel]

80. Thanks EuroObserver. I think I'll pick up a nice card to send over

with a long letter. Maybe they've been scared off of e-mail. :evilgrin:
I always appreciate a hand-written letter over e-mail myself.

[UpInArms]

116. Confirmation of Arnall Is Seen in Wake of Deal

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-arnall24jan24,1,3868879.story?coll=la-headlines-business

WASHINGTON — Monday's settlement of predatory lending allegations against Ameriquest Mortgage Co. removes the major hurdle that blocked company founder Roland E. Arnall from becoming U.S. ambassador to the Netherlands.

Arnall's confirmation is now expected, although the timing is not yet clear, congressional staffers said. The White House nomination has languished in the Senate since November, after the normally routine appointment flared into a heated partisan dispute.

Senate Democrats, led by Paul S. Sarbanes of Maryland, opposed Arnall as long as Ameriquest remained under investigation by the attorneys general and terms of an accord had yet to be spelled out. Monday's deal transforms the picture in his favor.

"Sen. Sarbanes has indicated that if Mr. Arnall would settle this matter with the attorneys general, he would not object to or seek to block moving forward on this nomination," Jesse Jacobs, a spokesman for Sarbanes, said Monday.

A similar sentiment came from other Democrats on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. "Because a settlement was reached, Sen. Obama will not seek to block Mr. Arnall's nomination," said Tommy Vietor, a spokesman for Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.), one of Arnall's tougher questioners on the panel.

...more...

It's so comforting to think that this makes everything all better for our elected representatives. :sarcasm:

[UpInArms]

28. Avery-Dennison swings to loss (-6.9M vs +83.6M last yr)

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38741.3608859491-858233720&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Avery-Dennison Corp. (AVY) said Tuesday that it swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $6.9 million, or 7 cents a share, from a year-ago profit of $83.6 million, or 83 cents. Excluding restructuring costs and other items, the Pasadena, Calif., adhesive-label maker would have recorded earnings of 92 cents a share, ahead of analysts' average estimate of 84 cents, according to Thomson First Call. Sales for the three months ended Dec. 31 fell to $1.36 billion from $1.43 billion in last year's fourth quarter. For fiscal 2006, Avery Dennison forecast earnings at $3.45 to $3.80 a share, but that range excludes additional restructuring charges that might accrue to 8 cents to 12 cents a share. Analysts' estimate stands at $3.48 a share.

[UpInArms]

30. DaimlerChrysler to trim management (6,000 jobs)

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?siteid=mktw&guid=%7B6EF25706%2D7C5A%2D4735%2DBEE3%2D337DD7C54873%7D&

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- DaimlerChrysler said Tuesday it'll eliminate 6,000 general and administrative jobs as new CEO Dieter Zetsche puts his stamp on the company.

The auto giant (DCX) (DE:710000: news, chart, profile) said it's cutting 20% of general and administrative jobs -- and 30% of those at the management level -- in a bid to shave 1.5 billion euros ($1.8 billion) annually within three years.

The company plans to centralize areas such as finance and controlling, human resources and strategy.

DaimlerChrysler shares accelerated 3.5% in Frankfurt trade.

The board also will be slashed, to nine members from 12, with Zetsche, Bodo Uebber and Rudiger Grube holding dual roles.

...more...

[EuroObserver]

35. Better than trimming real workers

I'd vote for that!

[AnneD]

ITA....

finally, real cuts that will save money and maintain production. Too bad it hasn't caught on here.

[AnneD]

40. editied

the dreaded double post ghost strikes again.....

[UpInArms]

32. Treasurys open lower ahead of TIPS auction

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38741.3760402315-858235750&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Treasury prices lost strength in the early going Tuesday, sending yields up a bit, as the market awaited an afternoon auction of new 2-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities. Investors often lighten their holdings ahead of auctions. The benchmark 10-year note last was down 5/32 at 100-31/32 with a yield ($TNX) of 4.380%. There are no scheduled U.S. economic reports Tuesday.

[UpInArms]

42. Printing Press Report:Fed adds banking reserves via overnight system repos

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-01-24T143603Z_01_N24345260_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-FED-OPERATIONS.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve said on Tuesday that it added temporary reserves to the U.S. banking system through overnight system repurchase agreements.

The benchmark fed funds rate last traded at 4.313 percent, above the Fed's current 4.25 percent target for the overnight lending rate.

Further details of the operation are available at: http://www.ny.frb.org/markets/omo/dmm/temp.cfm

[UpInArms]

63. U.S. Treasuries fall ahead of 20-year TIPS auction

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-01-24T163051Z_01_N24411934_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, Jan 24 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices eased on Tuesday as the market continued to be weighed down by an onslaught of debt offerings, including an auction of 20-year inflation-protected securities later in the session.

With little data scheduled on Tuesday to stir up the market, dealers complained that trade was becoming quite light ahead of next week's Federal Reserve meeting, which is widely expected to end with a quarter-point interest rate increase.

"The market is clearly range-bound. Trading has been listless. We've been really slow," said a trader with one of Wall Street's Treasuries dealers. "I've been talking to other dealers and they're saying the same thing. So it's frustrating, if anything."

The auction of $10 billion in 20-year TIPS ending at 1:00 p.m. (1800 GMT) is part of a building wave of Treasury debt offerings cresting next month with a quarterly refunding that will include the reintroduction of 30-year debt.

By the end of the February, the Treasury will have issued more than $100 billion in new debt so far this year. Traders and analysts say this has been weighing on prices, even if the market has not been moving much recently.

...more...

[UpInArms]

90. TIPS Auction: Weak "bid-to-cover" showing

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38741.5522720486-858260082&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&property=symb&value=&categories=&

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - A Treasury auction of $10 billion in new 20-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities Tuesday afternoon produced a low bid-to-cover - or bids received to bids accepted - ratio of 1.48. Although the bid-to-cover ratio was low, investors were relieved that the participation level of indirect bidders, a category that includes foreign central banks, was 56.1%, a strong slowing. The median yield was 1.955%. Treasury prices remained lower, and yields higher after the results. The benchmark 10-year note last was down 8/32 at 100-28/32 with a yield ($TNX) of 4.390%.

1:05pm 01/24/06 20-YR TIPS AUCTION HAS MEDIAN YIELD 1.955%

1:04pm 01/24/06 20-YR TIPS AUCTION HAS BID-TO-COVER RATIO OF 1.48

[UpInArms]

117. Treasurys end at lows; supply concerns in focus

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/print_story.asp?print=1&guid={8EAF33F2-4932-4410-8470-BE89EAB64E48}&siteid=mktw

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) - Treasury prices closed at their lows Tuesday, keeping yields higher, after lukewarm response to an auction of 20-year Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities re-inforced worries that there is not enough demand for this month's heavy fixed-income supply

The benchmark Treasury 10-year note closed down 9/32 at 100-27/32 with a yield ($TNX) of 4.391%, up from 4.369% in late trade Monday.

The 2-year note ended down 1/32 at 100 with a yield of 4.378%

The Treasury Department's auction of $10 billion in 20-year TIPS securities produced a weak bid-to-cover - or bids received to bids accepted - ratio of 1.48. The ratio is an historic low, according to Action Economics.

Bid-to-cover ratios above 2.0 are generally thought to indicate successful auctions.

The weak response played into fears that an exceptionally plentiful amount of government and corporate bonds issuance this month is weakening demand and driving up borrowing costs.

...more...

[UpInArms]

37. pre-opening blather

09:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +2.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.5. Stage remains set for stocks to open higher as the futures market remains comfortably above fair value. Aside from the plethora of earnings reports keeping investors preoccupied this morning, reports that Walt Disney (DIS) is inching closer to a stock deal for Pixar (PIXR) that could be finalized as soon as today and more restructuring in the auto group (e.g. DaimlerChrysler AG plans to cut 6,000 jobs) have also helped underpin a bullish bias.

08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +2.1. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.0. Still shaping up for the indices to open on a positive note as the absence of notable economic data places even more emphasis on earnings and guidance. To that end, futures indications are off their best levels of the morning as investors weigh a strong report from McDonald's (MCD) against in-line Q4 results and a sales shortfall from Johnson & Johnson (JNJ).

08:00 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +3.0. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +7.5. Futures market versus fair value suggests the cash market will open higher as an analyst upgrade on Wal-Mart (WMT) and strong earnings reports from United Technologies (UTX), BJ Services (BJS) and E*Trade Financial (ET) help offset a sales shortfall from Texas Instruments (TXN) and downside guidance from DuPont (DD). Also lending support for another day of bargain hunting following last Friday's pounding has been continued deterioration in oil prices (-1.0%).

[UpInArms]

43. DuPont profit slides; more weakness seen

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B16C2A64B%2D077C%2D4873%2D9266%2DD3061CA27F0D%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- DuPont said Tuesday its fourth-quarter profit fell from last year and warned that the weakness in earnings would continue in to the first few months of 2006 based, in part, on lower sales of crop-protection chemicals.

<snip>

The latest results include a gain of 3 cents a share related to lower than expected tax costs from its repatriation of foreign earnings while the year-ago performance includes a charge of $93 million, or 9 cents a share.

The average estimate of analysts polled by Thomson First Call was for a profit of 10 cents a share in the December period on revenue of $5.92 billion

DuPont said sales fell 3% in the latest three months to $5.83 billion from $6 billion in the same period a year earlier.

...more...

[UpInArms]

44. 9:52 EST money to burn

Dow 10,721.98 +33.21 (+0.31%)
Nasdaq 2,266.94 +18.47 (+0.82%)
S&P 500 1,269.24 +5.42 (+0.43%)
10-Yr Bond 4.387 +0.30 (+0.69%)

NYSE Volume 269,204,000
Nasdaq Volume 242,596,000

09:40 am : Market opens modestly higher but follow-through bargain hunting after Friday's excessive decline rather than a reaction to the earnings news appears to be providing the bulk of early support. While several notable names have beaten analysts' forecasts (i.e. BNC, BJS, CSX, LU, LXK and ET), lighter than expected revenues from Dow components like JNJ, MMM and DD as well as some uninspiring guidance suggests that earnings growth forecasts for 2006 will have to be lowered from the current 13-14% numbers. DJ30 +29.13 NASDAQ +13.62 SP500 +3.94

[UpInArms]

45. Investor confidence at record low - State Street

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-01-24T145922Z_01_L24368360_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-INVESTORS-CONFIDENCE.XML

LONDON, Jan 24 (Reuters) - North American institutional investors dumped risk from their portfolios in January, sending global investor confidence to a record low, U.S. financial services firm State Street said on Tuesday.

In a report that seemingly underlines much of the weakness on equity markets recently, the firm said its State Street Investor Confidence Index, based on fund flows among clients, fell to 76.0 from 83.8 in December, revised down from 84.7.

It was the lowest figure since State Street began compiling its index in September 1998.

<snip>

State Street said the North American index -- which tracks what institutional investors there do globally, not just at home -- dived to a record low of 88.0 from 102.1 in December, revised up from 101.6.

"There is no shortage of concerns plaguing investors in North America," said Harvinder Kalirai, a strategist with State Street Global Markets.

"The U.S. yield curve is on the verge of inverting, which is a red flag for economic growth; the housing market is cooling, which removes a key support for consumer spending; energy prices are back near record highs, which weigh on discretionary spending; and there will be a change at the helm of the (Federal Reserve), which raises uncertainty."

...more...

[ozymandius]

46. money sloshing with little results

10:30
Dow 10,718.30 +29.53 (+0.28%)
Nasdaq 2,262.92 +14.45 (+0.64%)
S&P 500 1,268.48 +4.66 (+0.37%)
10-Yr Bond 43.85 +0.28 (+0.64%)
NYSE Volume 561,359,000
Nasdaq Volume 508,600,000

10:00 am : Equities are still on the offensive as the nine out of 10 economic sectors remain positive. Pacing the way higher is Technology, as continued strength in semiconductor and hardware offsets a pullback in software. Industrials continues to chip away at its 1.8% year-to-date decline, benefiting from United Technologies' (UTX 55.72 +1.25) strong Q4 report as well as strength in rails and airlines. Financial is getting a boost from brokerage and banks while Consumer Discretionary is benefiting from upbeat earnings from McDonald's (MCD 36.12 +0.41) and reports that Disney (DIS 25.93 +0.41) is very close to a deal to buy Pixar (PIXR 58.44 +0.17). Energy, however, remains under pressure as a 1.1% decline in oil prices weighs on refiners, drillers and explorers.DJ30 +41.78 DJTA +1.9% NASDAQ +20.66 SOX +1.5% SP500 +6.42 XOI -0.2% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 904/1504/304 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 902/1720/160 mln

[ozymandius]

48. updated blather and stalled numbers

Dow 10,715.74 +26.97 (+0.25%)
Nasdaq 2,263.53 +15.06 (+0.67%)
S&P 500 1,268.35 +4.53 (+0.36%)
10-Yr Bond 43.88 +0.31 (+0.71%)
NYSE Volume 653,744,000
Nasdaq Volume 587,973,000

10:30 am : Major averages are off their best levels as Health Care inches below the flat line, surpassing Energy as the morning's worst performing sector. Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 59.64 -1.55) -- Health Care's second most influential component -- hitting a fresh 52-week low, following lighter than expected Q4 sales and downside Q1 guidance, continues to weigh most heavily on the sector. ..DRG -0.9%. DJ30 +27.09 NASDAQ +13.73 SP500 +4.68 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 907/1671/498 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 901/1982/320 mln

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

49. Banks Instructed By Homeland Security

http://bellaciao.org/en/article.php3?id_article=10012

I got this from another post.


What did I hear?

A family member from Irvine, CA (who’s a branch manager at Bank of America) told us two weeks ago that her bank held a "workshop" where the last two days were dedicated to discussing their bank’s new security measures. During these last two days, the workshop included members from the Homeland Security Office who instructed them on how to field calls from customers and what they are to tell them in the event of a national disaster. She said they were told how only agents from Homeland Security (during such an event) would be in charge of opening safe deposit boxes and determining what items would be given to bank customers.

At this point they were told that no weapons, cash, gold, or silver will be allowed to leave the bank - only various paperwork will be given to its owners. After discussing the matter with them at length, she and the other employees were then told not to discuss the subject with anyone. The family member has since given her notice to quit the bank.

I found the news alarming and decided to find out more myself. On a trip to my bank here in Houston, I remarked to a young bank employee (who’s new there), "well I guess you’ve been told all that stuff by the manager and the Homeland Security about what to tell your customers" - and to my amazement, the young woman came right out and said yes she’d been through all that, then whispered to me across the counter, "but we’re not supposed to talk about - I could lose my job."

Why haven’t you heard more about this?

First of all, since maybe only banks’ upper management is privy to the new "rules", the information doesn’t trickle down so easily.

Also keep in mind that employees have been told NOT to say anything about this, that it’s a matter of National Security (with an allusion toward arrest if they do). They face possibly losing their job too. Another reason is that bank employees may not think it’s important, or they believe they’re a unique part of the effort towards curtailing "terrorism" and helping America’s internal defenses.

It is also important to realize that not everyone’s a writer, or Internet savvy - even if the employees moved beyond their banks’ warnings & constraints, most people don’t know how to get their experience published on the Web in the public domain - it’s a mystery they are not familiar with so you never hear their story.

[EuroObserver]

54. Bellaciao (US expats out of Italy, mostly)

seems often to be a clued-in site.

So, as we see, certain preparations are being made for CONUS.

[AnneD]

92. What is CONUS?

***United States.

[EuroObserver]

107. "Continental USA"

... but apparently not including Alaska ...

[AnneD]

120. or Hawaii...

I thought con us (fool us).

[mmonk]

60. Does this apply to foreign banks

operating in America?

[EuroObserver]

68. Expect US national security to apply

...as far as they can reach... :-(

[54anickel]

71. Sh*t, glad I got rid of my safe deposit box shortly after the Patriot Act.

That's why I'm always in the market for Tupperware and Ziplocks. :evilgrin:

[AnneD]

95. My friends in NOLA...

swear by them...They floated and nothing in the containers was damaged.

[hang a left]

84. I read this a couple of days ago.

It sure would be nice to get some independent corroboration on this subject. I have difficulty with anonymous first party hearsay confirmations.

[AnneD]

91. WTF...

:wtf: I swear, this is just classic. They did this in Nazi Germany. I think this is all the more reason to home bank. I did this during the y2k, just in case. Think it may be time to have some portable wealth and a passport handy. This just keeps getting scarier and scarier. I can't wait to check this up with my friend at the bank.

I use to make fun of those RW self sufficiency folks that were paranoid about the Government. They are starting to look down right sane these days----and that IS scary. Wonder if they did this in Nevada. They don't report account info to the IRS now (they always tell the gov where to stick it), I don't think they would tell Guido he couldn't get his money.

[pitohui]

97. people who home bank get robbed

when the vietnamese first moved into louisiana in the 70s, it became widely known that many didn't trust banks and they were targeted for home invasion and theft, i remember a man being killed for his life savings, all of $9,000, sad

the reality is that if you home bank large amounts of cash necessary to re-locate yourself in a foreign country, keep in mind a usa citizen may spend $100,000 or more to buy residency in another country, hell, i've heard it's $400,000 to buy residency in canada, long before you get that money saved, fire, flood, or drug addicts will have made away w. yr cash

[AnneD]

105. That is true.....

but, there are ways to do home banking. I never flash the cash. I keep a token amount in a bank for appearances and the cash is not at home per say. We have some foreign bank accounts.
And those relocation costs are greatly exaggerated-depends on where you go. We already own an apartment in India-$10k bought a lot of apartment. Our childless friend in Germany has spoke to us about willing us the first floor apartment of the building she owns. Who knows how that will turn out, but all our European friends have been concerned for us. All have offered sanctuary should we need. We are very lucky.

[54anickel]

50. A look at what's on tap at Davos

Thought I'd get a ME viewpoint:

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2006%5C01%5C24%5Cstory_24-1-2006_pg3_5

snip>

The World Economic Forum is being held in Switzerland this week. Over 2,300 participants from 89 countries will gather at the ski-resort town of Davos and shape a policy agenda which in turn will impact the lives of people around the world. While the Forum proposes to promote public interests, there are some inconsistencies in its approach.

The Forum is being held annually since 1971 to facilitate interaction between different stakeholders and identify opportunities for addressing global challenges like the perpetual need to create more jobs. Yet the Forum is often criticised for primarily upholding business interests. Since the Forum’s membership base is comprised of 1,000 business companies from around the world, it has just become a platform for big business to interact with political leaders and for heads of international organisations to negotiate their own corporate interests.

Besides the lopsided representation of stakeholders, the regional representation at the Forum is also inadequate. Of the 735 business leaders who have confirmed their attendance at this year’s Forum, only four South Africans, two Brazilians and one Mexican will be present. Conversely more than 132 companies from Fortune 500 are going to be lobbying for their specific interests with the 175 public figures present at the event.

There will be less than 500 civil society representatives attending the Forum. Out of these, over 230 will be reporters who have no direct say in formulating the agenda. At best, the media can only inform or influence public opinion after this agenda is unveiled.

snip>

The Muslim world is receiving sufficient attention at the Forum. An extraordinary annual meeting of the Forum in Jordan in 2003 established the Arab Business Council to secure business links and promote stability in the Middle East. A US-Middle East Free Trade Zone has also been created under the auspices of the Forum. Nonetheless, the benefits of promoting corporate interests in the Middle East and their potential role in stabilising this region are still far from evident.

more about beefed up security and the World Social Forum's alternative forums....



And from the horn-tooting crowd:
Past successes show Davos does make a difference
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,16849-2006525,00.html

snip>

At a time when businesses and governments are under constant pressure to deliver in the short term, the World Economic Forum (WEF) forces us to confront the long-term issues that challenge the global community — and reminds us that there are no easy answers. Foremost among those issues are the two great challenges of our age — Africa and climate change.

Last year the annual meeting of the forum was the launch pad for Tony Blair’s G8 policy priorities. An advisory board of 24 company bosses, led by the WEF, helped to shape the climate change agenda by calling on governments to establish “clear, transparent and consistent price signals covering greenhouse gases”.

Three hundred and fifty business leaders at the WEF’s subsequent Africa economic summit signed a declaration supporting the commission for Africa’s multibillion-dollar aid programme.

snip>

What can we expect this year? I hope more of the same.

Last year was meant to be the Year of Africa in which we would “Make Poverty History”, when hundreds of millions of Africans who live in despair and destitution would sense that hope would move to help. The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund backed a deal to cancel $55 billion (£34 billion) of debt and the European Union announced a €166 million (£114 million) aid programme for ten African countries.

So gains were made, but not nearly enough and progress was marred by the failure of the WTO talks in Hong Kong to give African nations the chance to compete equally.

more...



CNN has announced their take:

CNN shines spotlight on Davos
http://edition.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/01/24/davos.tv/

DAVOS, Switzerland (CNN) -- CNN has begun a week of coverage dedicated to the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, including documentaries, live debate, interviews and regular news updates.

snip>

Coverage includes a special two-hour network event titled "Europe's identity crisis" which culminates in a CNN Connects global forum before a live audience.

A prestigious panel of newsmakers will brainstorm and debate how European nations can effectively embrace different faiths and cultures.

snip>

European economies need migrant labor, but has immigration touched off a clash of cultures? Why are immigrants angry, and are European's at odds with the very people the continent needs to sustain its viability and future prosperity? CNN Connects airs at 2200 GMT on Thursday, January 26.

snip>

In Europe's Identity Crisis, Penhaul travels across the continent visiting France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain, examining life through an immigrant's eyes, and investigating how nations have reacted to the increasing tide of migrant workers. The film can be seen at 2100 GMT on Thursday, January 26.



Finally the Bloomberg take:

Davos Devils Stalk Buffett, Gates Over the Seven Deadly Sins
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aN2DYOj6o0kE&refer=us

Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- Is Warren Buffett going to hell?

That's just one of the burning questions that await 2,340 global leaders, including former U.S. President Bill Clinton, Microsoft Corp. Chairman Bill Gates, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. President Lloyd Blankfein and Harvard University President Lawrence Summers, when they huddle in the Swiss Alps tomorrow for the World Economic Forum.

It's shaping up to be one hell of a week in Davos, where the attendees, including 23 theologians and 15 heads of state, kick off the 35th annual powwow with an opening night supper panel that confronts the issue of ``Today's Sinners and the Seven Deadly Sins.'' It's a topic that will be discussed at other seminars and official forum gatherings throughout the five-day conference.

``Gluttony, lust, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride,'' explains sin seminar organizer Vanessa Edwards. The seven deadly sins were enumerated by St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century.

Fifteen centuries later, the folks who run the forum reckon St. Gregory's list, popularized by the Italian poet Dante in ``The Divine Comedy'' isn't quite up to the task of explaining modern behavior.

``We want to find out what is the eighth deadly sin of our time,'' Edwards says.

more....

[skids]

69. 8th deadly sin.

``We want to find out what is the eighth deadly sin of our time,'' Edwards says.

I'll save them the time. It's ignorance.

(Actually there are nine now, the ninth being mendacity.)

[UpInArms]

51. 11:03 EST losin' that lovin' feelin'

Dow 10,702.37 +13.60 (+0.13%)
Nasdaq 2,260.03 +11.56 (+0.51%)
S&P 500 1,266.59 +2.77 (+0.22%)
10-Yr Bond 4.383 +0.26 (+0.60%)

NYSE Volume 782,690,000
Nasdaq Volume 691,042,000

[54anickel]

75. 12:15 and some Spanish Fly for the crowd

Dow 10,713.82 +25.05 (+0.23%)
Nasdaq 2,261.40 +12.93 (+0.58%)
S&P 500 1,267.67 +3.85 (+0.30%)
10-yr Bond 43.77 +0.20 (+0.46%)
30-yr Bond 45.53 +0.21 (+0.46%)
NYSE Volume 1,191,104,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,015,264,000

12:00 pm : Market continues to extend Monday's recovery efforts following Friday's excessive decline but mixed earnings results and volatile oil prices have left midday gains modest at best.

Of the nine economic sectors trading higher, Consumer Discretionary is leading the charge following upbeat Jan. comps guidance from Target (TGT 54.37 +1.62), reports that Disney (DIS 26.01 +0.49) is very close to a deal to buy Pixar (PIXR 58.14 -0.13) and solid Q4 results from McDonald's (MCD 36.06 +0.35) -- a suggested holding in Briefing.com's portfolio for active investors. Despite Texas Instruments (TXN 31.37 -0.33) missing overly optimistic revenue forecasts, strength in semiconductor coupled with a 1.4% surge in hardware following Lexmark's (LXK 50.53 +4.63) strong Q4 earnings, have helped Technology provide some influential leadership.

Industrials has also posted a gain, benefiting from United Technologies' (UTX 55.72 +1.25) strong Q4 report as well as continued momentum in rails following strong Q4 earnings from Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI 74.66 +3.03), another suggested holding. Bargain-hunting opportunities in banks and ongoing upside momentum in brokerage have helped Financial while an analyst upgrade on Duke Energy (DUK 28.84 +0.38) has give Utilities a lift. Energy, despite falling oil prices, has attracted some modest buying interest but continues to fluctuate around the unchanged mark.

Health Care, however, has turned in the day's worst performance, as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 59.64 -1.55) trades near 52-week lows following lighter than expected Q4 sales and downside Q1 guidance. DJ30 +24.49 DJTA +2.0% DJUA +0.3% DOT -0.2% NASDAQ +11.59 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +0.7% SOX +0.8% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +3.13 XOI +0.2% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1120/1701/962 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1133/1978/782 mln

11:30 am : Stocks bounce of session lows but the absence of leadership from Health Care and Energy continues to stall more aggressive buying efforts. Also not helping matters has been further deterioration in Texas Instruments (TXN 31.28 -0.42), which at session lows after missing overly optimistic sales forecasts has pared much of the PHLX Semi Index's early gains. DJ30 +16.53 NASDAQ +10.95 SOX +0.5% SP500 +2.65 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1147/1634/820 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1123/1936/644 mln

[ozymandius]

52. Hammer starts to fall

11:08
Dow 10,693.49 +4.72 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq 2,257.60 +9.13 (+0.41%)
S&P 500 1,265.82 +2.00 (+0.16%)
10-Yr Bond 43.83 +0.26 (+0.60%)
NYSE Volume 809,606,000
Nasdaq Volume 713,782,000

[EuroObserver]

57. World jobless hits high despite strong economy

GENEVA, Jan 24 (Reuters) - Global unemployment hit a record high of 192 million last year, despite a buoyant economy, with young people making up nearly 50 percent of the jobless, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) said on Tuesday.

Furthermore, about half of the world's 2.8 billion workers was still earning less than $2 a day, the international poverty line, unchanged on the 1.4 billion figure of a decade ago, the United Nations' agency said.

Despite 4.3 percent growth in global economic output in 2005, only some 3 percent of the 500 million people earning less than $1 a day were able to improve their situation and lift earnings above the threshold for extreme poverty.

"We are facing a global crisis of mammoth proportions ... We need new policies and practices to address these issues," said ILO Director-General Juan Somavia.

/more...

[54anickel]

72. Uh, maybe it's cuz the "strong economy" is a friggen LIE?!!! eom

[bobo4u]

73. Now, tell me again how globalization will "Lift all Boats"?? n/t

[EuroObserver]

79. There is no "trickle-down"

China model only way.

[UpInArms]

61. McAfee shares plunge on profit alert

hmmmm.... what? no more cooked books?

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7BE8AE2D06%2D13D1%2D4CD1%2D8458%2DC1993BED2B58%7D&symbol=&siteid=mktw

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- McAfee Inc.'s stock plunged as much as 17% on Tuesday after the security-software firm predicted quarterly results would fall short of both the company's own prior outlook and the average of estimates on Wall Street.

<snip>

Analyst John DiFucci at Bear Stearns said McAfee's revenue and earnings miss were in sharp contrast to somewhat-better-than-expected bookings and deferred revenue.

"We believe that much is going on in the financial model, which will likely require the earnings call to clarify," DiFucci told clients.

While the stock looks "attractive" given the company's last 12 months of operating performance, "we believe there is significant risk that free cash flow may decline in the future," the analyst said. He remains "cautious" on the stock, which he rates underperform and estimates to have an intrinsic value of $20 to $23 each.

...more...

ahem!

3:27pm 01/04/06 $ McAfee to Pay $50 Million Fine -

2:27pm 01/04/06 McAfee agrees to settle SEC charges, will pay $50 mln - Kathie O'Donnell

1:24pm 01/04/06 McAfee charged with overstating revs from 1998-2000 - MarketWatch.com

1:24pm 01/04/06 SEC says McAfee scheme directed by CFO - MarketWatch.com

1:19pm 01/04/06 SEC says settles with two software firms on fraud charges - MarketWatch.com

1:19pm 01/04/06 SEC fines McAfee $50 mln - MarketWatch.com

[UpInArms]

77. Feb Gold @ $557.70 oz - Apr Platinum @ $1,055 oz

12:07pm 01/24/06 FEB GOLD FALLS $1 TO $577.70/OZ IN AFTERNOON DEALINGS (CBS typo - s/b $557.70/oz)

12:07pm 01/24/06 APRIL PLATINUM UP 0.1% AT $1,055/OZ AFTER 26-YR $1,057 HIGH

edited to fix gold price - sorry OCD! Hope your neck gets better soon! :hi:

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

83. Thanks :-) nt

[UpInArms]

100. Feb Gold closes @ $558.10 oz - Apr Platinum @ $1,058 oz

1:45pm 01/24/06 FEB GOLD CLOSES AT $558.10/OZ, DOWN 60C FOR THE SESSION

1:45pm 01/24/06 MARCH COPPER ENDS AT CONTRACT RECORD OF $2.1525/LB, UP 3.3C

1:45pm 01/24/06 APRIL PLATINUM UP $4.20 TO END AT 26-YR HIGH OF $1,058/OZ

[UpInArms]

78. 12:19 EST stagnant waters

Dow 10,704.20 +15.43 (+0.14%)
Nasdaq 2,260.60 +12.13 (+0.54%)
S&P 500 1,266.56 +2.74 (+0.22%)
10-Yr Bond 4.377 +0.20 (+0.46%)

NYSE Volume 1,205,842,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,027,651,000

12:00 pm : Market continues to extend Monday's recovery efforts following Friday's excessive decline but mixed earnings results and volatile oil prices have left midday gains modest at best.

Of the nine economic sectors trading higher, Consumer Discretionary is leading the charge following upbeat Jan. comps guidance from Target (TGT 54.37 +1.62), reports that Disney (DIS 26.01 +0.49) is very close to a deal to buy Pixar (PIXR 58.14 -0.13) and solid Q4 results from McDonald's (MCD 36.06 +0.35) -- a suggested holding in Briefing.com's portfolio for active investors. Despite Texas Instruments (TXN 31.37 -0.33) missing overly optimistic revenue forecasts, strength in semiconductor coupled with a 1.4% surge in hardware following Lexmark's (LXK 50.53 +4.63) strong Q4 earnings, have helped Technology provide some influential leadership.

Industrials has also posted a gain, benefiting from United Technologies' (UTX 55.72 +1.25) strong Q4 report as well as continued momentum in rails following strong Q4 earnings from Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI 74.66 +3.03), another suggested holding. Bargain-hunting opportunities in banks and ongoing upside momentum in brokerage have helped Financial while an analyst upgrade on Duke Energy (DUK 28.84 +0.38) has give Utilities a lift. Energy, despite falling oil prices, has attracted some modest buying interest but continues to fluctuate around the unchanged mark.

Health Care, however, has turned in the day's worst performance, as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 59.64 -1.55) trades near 52-week lows following lighter than expected Q4 sales and downside Q1 guidance. DJ30 +24.49 DJTA +2.0% DJUA +0.3% DOT -0.2% NASDAQ +11.59 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +0.7% SOX +0.8% SP400 +0.6% SP500 +3.13 XOI +0.2% NASDAQ

[UpInArms]

81. ALERT: Homeland Security awards KBR $385M for US Detention Centers

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/newsfinder/pulseone.asp?dateid=38741.5136277662-858254656&siteID=mktw&scid=0&doctype=806&

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- KBR, the engineering and construction subsidiary of Halliburton Co. (HAL) , said Tuesday it has been awarded a contingency contract from the Department of Homeland Security to supports its Immigration and Customs Enforcement facilities in the event of an emergency. The maximum total value of the contract is $385 million and consists of a 1-year base period with four 1-year options. KBR held the previous ICE contract from 2000 through 2005. The contract, which is effective immediately, provides for establishing temporary detention and processing capabilities to expand existing ICE Detention and Removal Operations Program facilities in the event of an emergency influx of immigrants into the U.S., or to support the rapid development of new programs, KBR said. The contract may also provide migrant detention support to other government organizations in the event of an immigration emergency, as well as the development of a plan to react to a national emergency, such as a natural disaster, the company said.

I am strapping on my :tinfoilhat: and am definitely :scared:

[54anickel]

85. OK, that does it. It IS time to suck up to relatives overseas and

friends in South America. If for nothing else, at least they'll know to pay attention if I suddenly get "disappeared".

[AnneD]

102. Three years ago many of my friends thought I was paranoid...

when I told them that hubby, myself, and hubby's friend were being spied on. Well, here we are today and look at the front pages. Our friend is VERY outspoken (a peace activist and against the Bush admin) and we worry every time he leaves the house. For example, we were standing in his yard one afternoon when an unmarked car drove by, slowed down and took photos of us then sped off.
I have always said that I would wait 2 more election cycles....but I think it is time to start to 'ease on down the road'. Guess I need to start brushing up on my European contacts. This stuff is down right scary!

[EuroObserver]

86. "Migrants": Read "influx", but also "outflux"??? n/t

[54anickel]

88. Unfathomed Dangers in Patriot Act Reauthorization

http://www.counterpunch.org/roberts01242006.html

A provision in the "Patriot Act" creates a new federal police force with power to violate the Bill of Rights. You might think that this cannot be true as you have not read about it in newspapers or heard it discussed by talking heads on TV.

Go to House Report 109-333 -USA PATRIOT IMPROVEMENT AND REAUTHORIZATION ACT OF 2005 and check it out for yourself. Sec. 605 reads:

"There is hereby created and established a permanent police force, to be known as the 'United States Secret Service Uniformed Division'."

This new federal police force is "subject to the supervision of the Secretary of Homeland Security."

The new police are empowered to "make arrests without warrant for any offense against the United States committed in their presence, or for any felony cognizable under the laws of the United States if they have reasonable grounds to believe that the person to be arrested has committed or is committing such felony."

The new police are assigned a variety of jurisdictions, including "an event designated under section 3056(e) of title 18 as a special event of national significance" (SENS).

"A special event of national significance" is neither defined nor does it require the presence of a "protected person" such as the president in order to trigger it. Thus, the administration, and perhaps the police themselves, can place the SENS designation on any event. Once a SENS designation is placed on an event, the new federal police are empowered to keep out and to arrest people at their discretion.

more...

[54anickel]

93. The Problem with Presidential Signing Statements:

Their Use and Misuse by the Bush Administration

When's that Pat Act up for renewal and what was buried in the first draft that was put off?
OK, I know I'm way off SMW topic now, but this is important. Besides, UIAs started it all. :P

snip>

By Cooper's count, George W. Bush issued 23 signing statements in 2001; 34 statements in 2002, raising 168 constitutional objections; 27 statements in 2003, raising 142 constitutional challenges, and 23 statements in 2004, raising 175 constitutional criticisms. In total, during his first term Bush raised a remarkable 505 constitutional challenges to various provisions of legislation that became law.

That number may be approaching 600 challenges by now. Yet Bush has not vetoed a single bill, notwithstanding all these claims, in his own signing statements, that they are unconstitutional insofar as they relate to him.

Rather than veto laws passed by Congress, Bush is using his signing statements to effectively nullify them as they relate to the executive branch. These statements, for him, function as directives to executive branch departments and agencies as to how they are to implement the relevant law.

President Bush and the attorneys advising him may also anticipate that the signing statements will help him if and when the relevant laws are construed in court - for federal courts, depending on their views of executive power, may deem such statements relevant to their interpretation of a given law. After all, the law would not have passed had the President decided to veto it, so arguably, his view on what the law meant ought to (within reason) carry some weight for the court interpreting it. This is the argument, anyway.

snip>

Or suppose a new law suggests even the slightest intrusion into the President's undefined "prerogative powers" under Article II of the Constitution, relating to national security, intelligence gathering, or law enforcement. Bush's signing statement will claim that notwithstanding the clear intent of Congress, which has used mandatory language, the provision will be considered as "advisory."

The upshot? It is as if Congress had acted as a mere advisor, with no more formal power than, say, Karl Rove - not as a coordinate and coequal branch of government, which in fact it is.

more...

[UpInArms]

113. okay - if it's my fault

I'm really going to throw in the kitchen sink today:

Where we lost our rights

(about 1/3rd down the page)

In his writings, Jefferson identified three oppressors of humanity that we find throughout history. First, there are warlords, who held power through the use of violence and terror. Secondly, there are theocrats, who claimed that god, or the gods had given them the right to rule. And finally, there are the plutocrats, who belonged to what Jefferson called the "pseudo-aristocracy." They are aristocratic by wealth rather than by birth, and claim power on that basis. Jefferson argued that human beings, having rights, should be protected from domination by any of these three institutions.

The Declaration of Independence explicitly states that we would not have a king, so that is the end of that. The First Amendment to the Constitution rules out having popes to lead us on crusades. We can have popes, but they cannot take part in the government, due to the separation of church and state. That puts an end to theocracy. And interestingly, I found in Jefferson's letters that he wanted to include a ban on commercial monopolies in the Bill of Rights. He wanted to prevent practices such as corporations owning stock in other corporations, or conducting more than one business. So if a corporation was chartered to make railroad cars, it could not also make matchboxes; if they published a newspaper, they could not also make movies, and so forth. In addition, he wanted to limit the life span of a corporation to a productive human life span, which in his estimation was forty years.

Jefferson fought very hard to include these principles in the constitution, but without success. His opponents included Alexander Hamilton, who had a vision of America as a commercial powerhouse; his Federalist party, which Jefferson called the party of the well-born and the well-bred was beholden to the moneyed interests of North America. The Federalists believed that commercial monopolies would help build the country, so Jefferson's compromise was to allow small monopolies, provided that they were tightly regulated. This was accomplished by giving states the absolute power to create corporations, and as a result, the word "corporation" cannot be found in the Constitution. All private corporations were to be chartered at the state level, so that citizens of the states could keep the corporations under control. And in fact, from the founding of the United States until 1886, corporations had a limited life span of anywhere from ten to forty years.

Under state laws, corporations were established to serve the local community, by making matchbooks, drilling for oil, or whatever. The state attorney general would verify each year that corporations were serving this specified purpose, and if they were not, they would lose their charter. Almost every state had a "bribery and influencing law." For example, this law in the State of Wisconsin up until the 1880s said, "It is a felony for any person to speak with any legislator with an attempt to influencing legislation on behalf of or to further the interests of a corporation. It is a felony for any person to give money to a political party, a political candidate or any political group on behalf of a corporation with an intent to influence legislation, and it is a felony for a person to publish any form of advertising or public pronouncement on behalf of a politician or to influence legislation that is paid for by a corporation." You could go to jail for five years if you did these things.

So, originally, corporations had no First Amendment rights to free speech; they just had certain privileges. Human beings had rights, while it was up to states and local communities to determine what corporations could do. For instance, there were communities that wrote laws to encourage and help small entrepreneurial businesses by restricting out-of-state, predatory corporations. The people in a given community decided what they would allow in terms of business activity, and that was that, based on the Constitution.

<snip>

So I went to Paul, the librarian, and said, "This ruling you gave me doesn't say that corporations are persons." He answered, "That's interesting - did you read the head note, the commentary on the case?" Then he showed me an introductory page of small boldface type, and the first sentence states, "Corporations are persons under the 14th Amendment and therefore entitled to equal protection under the law." I said, "That's interesting - it's not in the decision. What is this?" He answered, "That's the commentary on the decision written by the Clerk of the Court, the Court's reporter." "It doesn't say what the decision says," I told him, and he replied, "I'm not a lawyer. You need to ask a lawyer about that." So, I paid my seventy cents and made some copies.

...more...

[AnneD]

118. I was watching that on

canofun last week. It seems to be a grey area. What worries me is that Congress has their heads up their asses an will not filibuster Alito. With Alito in, count on the Executive branch grabbing more power and give those notations meaning. Really, they illegally selected Bush. Don't they understand that they are giving away their authority (both Congress AND the Supreme Court). What is to keep Bush from, in the interest of national security, (terra,terra,terra) closing the border, shutting down air traffic, and call off or postponing national elections. And whose gonna stop him, Congress? the Supreme Court?
I watched the story of John and Abigail Adams last night on PBS. Frankly, too many people are not deserving of the country they gave us. I truly am deeply ashamed at the way America and our elected officials are rolling over on this one.
:rant: I am my school's union steward AND deal with the school district unique Nurse union members problems. I see this same acquiescences every day and I want to pull my hair out. And when they (even non members) come up to me crying for help, I alway ask them why weren't there beside me when I was fighting this and WHY if they are NOT a union member, do they think I should help them. Ben Franklin was right, these people deserve neither freedom nor security.

[EuroObserver]

126. "And whose gonna stop him"

I believe the correct expression over there is: "a well-armed militia."

[AnneD]

135. that's the truth.....

I go out to the firing range with some fellow DEMS and keep my skills up (patsys we are not). Kinda blows my whole Christian liberal persona, but I grew up on and around farms in Texas so that's what we do.
A militia is one thing that will slow them up but I am sure they will come up with some sweet lie to get peolpe to hand over their weapons...heck people have given up most of their other rights. I worry about them using the military against American citizens...that's been done too.

[AnneD]

124. Do you remember those women from NOLA that testified before Congress...

Those Senators or Reps scoffed at them in open disbelief (I guess they thought because they were black they were stupid too :grr: )when they said they were detained in concentration camps...AT GUNPOINT. I think that this may prove their point. I need to find that tape and send this link.

[loudsue]

137. Holy shit, UIA!!!! They really ARE going to round us up!!!

This isn't just irritating anymore. This is concentration camp time.

:tinfoilhat:


:kick::kick::kick:

[UpInArms]

87. Ohio plant among 14 to be closed by Ford

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/news-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/01/24/20060124-A1-01.html

A downturn in the U.S. auto industry hit Ohio again yesterday as Ford Motor Co. said it will cut up to 30,000 jobs nationally — including more than 1,700 at a transmission plant near Cincinnati — in the next six years.

Ohio already is losing 1,000 jobs at a General Motors assembly plant near Dayton as part of cuts announced in November that will eliminate 30,000 jobs in North America.

Ford, which plans to close 14 plants in North America by 2012, yesterday identified five of them. Besides the plant in Batavia, Ohio, Ford is closing plants in St. Louis; Atlanta; Wixom, Mich.; and Windsor, Ontario.

<snip>

east one more (Ohio) plant closing in the next round," said James Rubenstein, a Miami University professor who has written several books on the industry. "The most likely number is one more; two is the second most likely. Three is not impossible, but it’s far less probable."

The one Ohio operation that certainly will close is the Batavia transmission plant, which makes transaxles for several Ford models. Counting those workers — and not counting workers at operations Ford took back last year from its spinoff Visteon Corp. — 12,000 people work at the company’s nine Ohio plants, or about 10 percent of the company’s North American work force of 122,000.

One of Ford’s two Cleveland engine plants could close, Rubenstein said. About 1,000 people work at each plant.

...more...

[JNelson6563]

96. So lemme get this straight

Massive layoffs coming, a bit of a surge in 10 yr. yield, the dollar is wobbling and the housing market's down.....people are struggling to pay heating bills........and the markets aren't plummeting?? Oy.

Ok, for shits and giggles, was swag shopping for District party, found this:



Thought it might add a little fun to the thread. :toast:

Julie

[54anickel]

99. *SNARF!!!!* Good one Julie! Thanks for dropping by to share. n/t

[AnneD]

122. If it were..

al GeBra (that there terraist cell) you would have to add Rove to the Bush side to make both sides equal.

[UpInArms]

103. 2 o'clock faeries right on time with BIG spike straight up

Dow 10,736.79 +48.02 (+0.45%)
Nasdaq 2,264.70 +16.23 (+0.72%)
S&P 500 1,269.53 +5.71 (+0.45%)
10-Yr Bond 4.394 +0.37 (+0.85%)

NYSE Volume 1,662,231,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,399,079,000

2:00 pm : More of the same for the equity market as the bulk of industry leadership remains positive. Pacing the way higher in afternoon trading has been Telecom Services and Materials. However, as the S&P 500's two least influential sectors combining to account for just 6.0% of the broader market's total weighting, their gains have basically been muted by weakness in Health Care, which accounts for 13.3% of the S&P's weighting. DJ30 +22.58 NASDAQ +11.22 SP500 +3.14 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1171/1759/1.39 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1152/2040/1.17 bln

1:30 pm : Stocks now vacillate in roughly the same ranges as investors find few catalysts to push the indices more aggressively in either direction. Bonds, however, have recently stumbled to their worst levels of the day following today's $10 bln 20-year TIPS auction. Indirect bidder participation checked in at a healthy 56.1% but below the previous auction's more impressive 64.1%. The 10-yr note is now off 10 ticks to yield 4.39%.DJ30 +19.77 NASDAQ +11.48 SP500 +2.71 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1177/1736/1.29 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1181/2001/1.08 bln

[EuroObserver]

108. You call that BIG?

We take that kind of volatility increasingly in our stride over here...

...and ¿Just who are these faeries, btw, do we know?

[UpInArms]

112. Working Group on Financial Markets

"Big" only in that it goes straight up - no explanation as to market movement - no "snews" - no report - no activity to correlate the movement or direction.

:shrug:

Working Group on Financial Markets

Executive Order 12631--Working Group on Financial Markets

Source: The provisions of Executive Order 12631 of Mar. 18, 1988, appear at 53 FR 9421, 3 CFR, 1988 Comp., p. 559, unless otherwise noted.

By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and laws of the United States of America, and in order to establish a Working Group on Financial Markets, it is hereby ordered as follows:
Section 1. Establishment. (a) There is hereby established a Working Group on Financial Markets (Working Group). The Working Group shall be composed of:
(1) the Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee;
(2) the Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, or his designee;
(3) the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or his designee; and
(4) the Chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, or her designee.
(b) The Secretary of the Treasury, or his designee, shall be the Chairman of the Working Group.
Sec. 2. Purposes and Functions. (a) Recognizing the goals of enhancing the integrity, efficiency, orderliness, and competitiveness of our Nation's financial markets and maintaining investor confidence, the Working Group shall identify and consider:
(1) the major issues raised by the numerous studies on the events in the financial markets surrounding October 19, 1987, and any of those recommendations that have the potential to achieve the goals noted above; and
(2) the actions, including governmental actions under existing laws and regulations (such as policy coordination and contingency planning), that are appropriate to carry out these recommendations.
(b) The Working Group shall consult, as appropriate, with representatives of the various exchanges, clearinghouses, self-regulatory bodies, and with major market participants to determine private sector solutions wherever possible.
(c) The Working Group shall report to the President initially within 60 days (and periodically thereafter) on its progress and, if appropriate, its views on any recommended legislative changes.

Sec. 3. Administration. (a) The heads of Executive departments, agencies, and independent instrumentalities shall, to the extent permitted by law, provide the Working Group such information as it may require for the purpose of carrying out this Order.
(b) Members of the Working Group shall serve without additional compensation for their work on the Working Group.
(c) To the extent permitted by law and subject to the availability of funds therefore, the Department of the Treasury shall provide the Working Group with such administrative and support services as may be necessary for the performance of its functions.

[UpInArms]

115. 3:09 EST numbers and blather (air seeping out)

Dow 10,711.02 +22.25 (+0.21%)
Nasdaq 2,263.72 +15.25 (+0.68%)
S&P 500 1,267.40 +3.58 (+0.28%)
10-Yr Bond 4.392 +0.35 (+0.80%)

NYSE Volume 2,066,798,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,714,222,000

3:00 pm : Stocks still trade in positive territory but recent oil-induced momentum seems to have stalled renewed buying interest. Even though crude oil, heating oil and gasoline futures fell 1.5%, 1.2% and 2.8%, respectively, the closing of the commodity's market leaves investors with few catalysts to extend recent gains. Not to mention, the pullback across the energy complex has in turn sent Energy (-0.4%) back below the flat line, removing leadership from this year's best performing sector. DJ30 +25.29 NASDAQ +15.38 SP500 +3.69 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1038/1928/1.53 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1040/2207/1.43 bln

2:30 pm : Major averages spike to session highs, getting a boost from further deterioration in oil prices. Within the last 30 minutes, crude futures have plunged 1.5% to their worst levels of the day, nearly falling below $67/bbl, ahead of expected inventory builds. With high oil prices as a key inflation concern for 2006, given the commodity's effect on the duration of Fed policy tightening, oil's pullback has eased some of the market's early hesitation to push stocks even higher. DJ30 +45.70 NASDAQ +19.50 SP500 +5.98 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1005/1940/1.55 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 969/2265/1.32 bln

[UpInArms]

119. IBM Accused of Not Paying OT to Workers

http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/060124/ibm_overtime.html?.v=4

Three Current, Former IBM Employees File Suit Against Company for Allegedly Not Paying Overtime

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- International Business Machines Corp. was sued in federal court Tuesday for allegedly not paying overtime to tens of thousands of rank-and-file employees.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court on behalf of three current and former workers, and seeks class-action status to represent computer installers and maintenance workers for IBM throughout the United States.

"They were forced to work overtime without being paid in a manner that is required by the state and federal laws," attorney James Finberg said.

Lawyers said they are seeking millions of dollars in back pay for employees of the world's biggest technology services provider based in Armonk, N.Y. They are also considering punitive damages.

...more...

[54anickel]

123. I know we discussed it before when they were changing the definition

of nonexempt employees. It was pretty much a given that the rule was abused in the computer industry. They only workers at my former employer that were paid OT were the production workers on the line and the "grunts" in shipping and receiving and they were few in number (yeah, we were a big bureaucratic nightmare for such a small company - no wonder it went belly-up). Everyone else was salaried and exempt.

[AnneD]

131. We have had this problem in Nursing for years....

some places classify us as management because we have a few Nurse Aids under us-yet we cannot fire or hire them (no matter how lazy or inept they are).
Then they put in that little gem about patient abandonment. What that means is that once you have taken report and worked your 12 hour shift (no lunch , no break) and the Nurse coming on calls in sick, you are stuck there until they get someone there to relieve you, which could be 2,4,6 hours or more. If you leave, even if you have made them aware of the problem and are too fatigued to safely practice Nursing--you can be reported for patient abandonment and reported to the Board and have your license revoked.
My last part-time job tried to pull that carp on me during hurricane Rita. They started ordering us what we were going to do and told us we would do 12 hr shifts (I was 8 hrs). They told us the pharmacy had been evaced but they had not sent in the medicines. In some cases, the books identifying the patients were missing. I refused to take report (I did not sign in because I suspect some crap like that). I wrote a note stating I quit effective now (we ARE an at will state) and that I had NOT taken report and walked out the door. I would have loved to help those patients but I could not risk my license (and they would have yanked it too).
So now you have some insite as to why there is a Nursing shortage (there is a shortage of Nurses willing to put up with that crap).
The changes to the labour laws brings workers down to the plantation pay scale.

[EuroObserver]

128. What, still not closed over there?

C'mon, Let's have the data. I need to go out to dinner. Tomorrrow's a whole new day (starts early for me).

Thanks for all the free speech, btw, folks :hi:

[ozymandius]

130. I decree the United States closed for today's bidness.

Dow 10,712.22 +23.45 (+0.22%)
Nasdaq 2,265.25 +16.78 (+0.75%)
S&P 500 1,266.86 +3.04 (+0.24%)
10-Yr Bond 43.90 +0.33 (+0.76%)
NYSE Volume 2,568,294,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,119,030,000

For tomorrow: more carrion leftovers

4:20 pm : Follow-through bargain hunting after Friday's excessive decline, exacerbated late in the day by further deterioration in crude futures, helped investors grapple with a mixed batch of earnings reports. Eight out of ten economic sectors closed higher as above-average volume provided some reassurance behind the session's broad-based moved to the upside.

Of the five Dow components that posted quarterly results today, DuPont (DD 39.21 -0.34) was the only one to report better than expected earnings. However, copper prices hitting record highs helped Phelps Dodge (PD 148.61 +5.26) -- a suggested holding in Briefing.com's portfolio for active investors -- lead Materials to the session's best performance, offsetting DuPont's ensuing downside FY06 guidance.

McDonald's (MCD 36.06 +0.35), another suggested holding, merely matched analysts' forecasts, but investors took into account that MCD raised guidance a week ago, sending shares to an intraday 52-week high and helping Consumer Discretionary turn in the day's second best performance. Strength in retail, after Target (TGT 54.21 +1.46) implied Jan. comps will hit the high end of guidance, as well as media, amid reports that Disney (DIS 26.01 +0.49), another holding, is very close to a deal to buy Pixar (PIXR 58.14 -0.13), provided additional sources of sector support. Industrials were also in focus following in-line reports from 3M Co. (MMM 74.19 -1.51) and United Technologies (UTX 56.47 +2.00), but 3M's uninspiring outlook was no match for an revenue growth across all of UTX's divisions. Strength in railroads, following strong Q4 earnings from Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNI 74.66 +3.03), a suggested holding, and aerospace, following Northrop Grumman's (NOC 62.19 +1.43) solid Q4 report.

Financial also provided some upside leadership, following upbeat analyst remarks regarding American Express' (AXP 52.83 +1.39) Q4 report (yesterday) while Consumer Staples benefited from analyst upgrades on Wal-Mart (WMT 45.72 +0.47) and Coca-Cola (KO 40.90 +0.40). Even though Texas Instruments (TXN 30.68 -1.02) missed overly optimistic revenue forecasts, strength in semiconductor coupled with gains in storage and hardware, following strong Q4 earnings from EMC Corp (EMC 13.65 +0.39) and Lexmark (LXK 51.06 +5.16), respectively, helped Technology close higher.

Health Care, however, nearly erased what little gains the sector has made in 2006, as Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 59.64 -1.55) hit a 52-week low following lighter than expected Q4 sales and downside Q1 guidance. Energy also lost ground, failing to recover from a late-day sell-off in crude oil (-1.5%) which removed leadership from this year's best performing sector but in turn sidelined a key inflation concern for 2006, given the commodity's effect on the duration of Fed policy tightening. BTK +0.4% DJ30 +23.45 DJTA +2.4% DJUA +0.8% DOT -0.1% NASDAQ +16.78 NQ100 +0.6% R2K +1.4% SOX +1.0% SP400 +0.9% SP500 +3.04 XOI -0.2% NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1017/2003/2.12 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1095/2204/1.86 bln