STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday November 27

[ozymandius]

Monday November 27, 2006

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 784 LONG DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2161 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1867 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1828
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 7
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 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 November 24, 2006

Dow... 12,280.17 -46.78 (-0.38%)
Nasdaq... 2,460.26 -5.72 (-0.23%)
S&P 500... 1,400.95 -5.14 (-0.37%)
Gold future... 635.40 +0.30 (+0.05%)
30-Year Bond 4.63% -0.02 (-0.47%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.55% -0.02 (-0.44%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver


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 Tim W. Wood

THE DOW REPORT
A CLOSER LOOK AT THE ONGOING NON-CONFIRMATION

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

[ozymandius]

2. Oil market opens week with slight rise

SINGAPORE - Oil prices were up Monday as the market opened after the long Thanksgiving weekend, but stayed within the range of the last eight weeks with little geopolitical or weather news to drive prices.

Light sweet crude for January delivery rose 31 cents to $59.55 a barrel in midmorning Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Trading was light last week, with floor trading closed for two days due to the Thanksgiving holiday.

Oil prices have fallen by about 23 percent since hitting an all-time trading high above $78 a barrel in mid-July. They haven't settled above $62 a barrel since Oct. 1, despite the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries' announcement in mid-October that it would reduce output by 1.2 million barrels a day.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[ozymandius]

4. AP analysis: Firms crimping oil supplies

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. - You'd think it was Texas. Dusty roads course the scrubland toward oil tanks and warehouses. Beefy men talk oil over burritos at lunch. Like grazing herds, oil wells dip nonstop amid the tumbleweed — or even into the asphalt of a parking lot.

That's why the rumor sounded so wrong here in California's lower San Joaquin Valley, where petroleum has gushed up more riches than the whole gold rush. Why would Shell Oil Co. simply close its Bakersfield refinery? Why scrap a profit maker?

The rumor seemed to make no sense. Yet it was true.

The company says it could make more money on other projects. It denies it intended to squeeze the market, as its critics would claim, to drive up gasoline profits at its other refineries in the region.

Whatever the truth in Bakersfield, an Associated Press analysis suggests that big oil companies have been crimping supplies in subtler ways across the country for years. And tighter supplies tend to drive up prices.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061126/ap_on_bi_ge/ungushing_oil_4

[ozymandius]

7. Australia denies guilt in oil-for-food

SYDNEY, Australia - Prime Minister John Howard on Monday rejected claims that his government was guilty of negligence for allowing Australia's monopoly wheat exporter to pay multimillion-dollar kickbacks to former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

Howard made the comments ahead of the release of a government-commissioned report into payments by the Australian Wheat Board, now known as AWB Ltd., under the U.N.'s corruption-riddled Iraq oil-for-food program.

The media have predicted the report will recommend criminal charges against several AWB executives, while Howard's government is likely to escape formal censure over the scandal.

Opposition leaders have accused the government of failing to respond to a string of diplomatic cables sent from Australian officials at the U.N. and in the Middle East warning that AWB may have been violating the sanctions imposed on Baghdad after its 1990 Kuwait invasion.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061127/ap_on_re_au_an/australia_oil_for_food_1

[Ghost Dog]

30. World economic leaders (G20) call for energy reforms

http://www.mmorning.com/ArticleC.asp?Article=4213&CategoryID=7

World economic leaders have called for reforms to energy markets to reduce potential conflicts amid soaring demand as they ended a summit cocooned inside a massive security cordon following violent protests.

...

They also called for reforms to world energy markets to avoid the volatile price fluctuations in oil prices of recent years.

Australian Treasurer (finance minister) Costello described the agreement on energy security as the biggest breakthrough of the meeting.

“The emergence of countries like China and India is going to put immense pressure on energy and minerals and the price of energy and minerals”, he said.

Market mechanisms were needed to guarantee emerging giant economies such as India and China access to the energy and minerals they need or “the friction between nations will be quite severe”.

The leaders called for strengthening energy and mineral markets and for new investment and greater efficiency to deliver “lasting resource security”, according to a communiqué at the end of the summit.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

31. US ambassador warns Georgia against Iran gas deal

DU thread: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x2630981

A US diplomat warned Georgia against signing a long-term contract for natural gas supplies with Iran, saying in an interview published Monday that such a deal would be "unacceptable" for the United States.

/...

[Roland99]

32. And, of course, Georgie must look out for what's best for.....the United States

[Ghost Dog]

35. Yeah. I'm not sure that's what "strengthening markets" is supposed to mean...

[Roland99]

60. Er, that should have been "Georgia"

;)

[acmejack]

3. I've been waiting to get your sagacious take on the dollar

Collapsing, adjusting, or other?

[ozymandius]

5. That's UpInArms' beat.

I'm sure we'll get the skinny on the dollar shortly. 54anickel also has keen insight into the Forex machine.

[Barnaby]

6. You want to get out of the dollar yesterday

Correlation between the Euro and gold is +.545. If they're moving up together, then the dollar is plummeting. I look for more erosion this week while oblivious Americans ship more of the little green losers off to China via Wal-Mart.

[acmejack]

8. That was my thinking.

I have been telling everyone the fininacial minds (that's you folks!) would be in this morning.

[AnneD]

21. Morning Marketeers.....

:donut: and lurkers. I had a great few days off. Still dealing with crazy landlord, but I am proving to be a tough cookie for that numb nut.

Ya take a few days off and everything goes to hell in a hand basket. Never underestimate the power of the breakfast counter at the local watering hole. Met a sharp business mind there the other day. He really had it going on. Believe it or not, I was able to keep up. I had either read or heard of some of the books he was espousing. We were talking about the dollar, and sure enough, it plummeted a few days later. The funny thing is that he had never heard of DU or the SWT. I hope he starts posting. He travels a lot and he filled me in on the economy in other spots. The big irony....I am the School Nurse for one of his kids and have worked with his wife. He wants to get a discussion group together-which is a great idea. I think we may start something-I know enough econo-wonks that it may work. We will be the poor man's Caryle group...our goals is to protect our assets and expand what we can, if we can.

I am interested in reading the thread too. I love to here other thoughts. I'll ask about the retail sales this weekend too.


Happy hunting and watch out for the bears.

[ozymandius]

9. Stock futures down after holiday weekend

LONDON - U.S. stock futures drifted lower on Monday ahead of the first full day of trading in five days, with retailers in the spotlight as a broker turned more optimistic on home-improvement retailers and as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. reported sluggish November sales and a venture into the India market.

S&P 500 futures slipped 1.6 points at 1,401.30 and Nasdaq 100 futures dropped 5.5 points at 1,814.75.

On Friday, U.S. stocks ended lower after a sharp dollar decline in an abbreviated session. The Dow industrials fell 46 points, the Nasdaq Composite lost 5.7 points and the S&P 500 ended 5.1 points lower.

The dollar continued to see weakness against the euro and the British pound, though it rose slightly on the Japanese yen. The euro was trading at $1.3121, the pound at $1.9369 and the dollar at 116 yen.

No major U.S. economic data is due out Monday, though housing and durable-goods orders data will come later this week.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/wall_street

[ozymandius]

10. Traffic down, spending up in holiday retail debut

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Heavy discounts and "door-buster" promotions sent more than 140 million U.S. shoppers to stores during the three-day kickoff to holiday shopping, but overall customer traffic was seen falling from last year, a retail trade group said on Sunday.

Despite the drop-off, the National Retail Federation (NRF) estimated the average shopper spent 19 percent more than last year -- or $360.15 versus $302.81.

-cut-

"I didn't really notice the very impressive traffic numbers that one would hope for," said Morgan Keegan analyst Brad Stephens, who tracked malls in Atlanta on Saturday and Sunday. "I think it kind of slowed as the weekend went on."

Analyst Liz Pierce of Roth Capital Partners said she "didn't see people shopping with total abandon."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061127/bs_nm/retail_holiday_traffic_dc_1

[AnneD]

48. When all else fails...

blame the weather.:eyes:
I went this weekend and didn't see much. Of all the places I visited, I came out of WalMart with the least. So far I am still under my Christmas Cap of $200. I bought some things earlier in the year (for my daughter), but there just isn't much this year. And if they think I will pay some of those prices (like x-box), they are nucking futz.

And the new marketing plan about CD's (films tied to certain CD formats) is the craziest thing I have heard to date. I am still getting my films switched to CD from VHS. This planned obsolescence is going to be the end of some of these companies.

I think they are going to loose a consumer PERIOD. Then what will they do?

[ozymandius]

11. Stocks may slip on Wal-Mart, dollar

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stocks could start the week lower after Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE:WMT - news), a key barometer of the U.S. retail sector, forecast a decline in monthly sales, signaling caution about the holiday shopping season.

Weakness in the dollar that sparked a sell-off on Friday could also cut demand for U.S. stocks.

A full slate of economic data will influence the market this week as investors review reports on economic growth, inflation and consumer confidence. The week will wrap up with the latest sales figures from the struggling U.S. auto sector.

-cut-

Wal-Mart, the world's biggest retailer, estimated that November sales fell 0.1 percent at U.S. stores open at least a year. This would mark Wal-Mart's first monthly same-store sales decline since April 1996.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061127/bs_nm/column_stocks_outlook_dc_5

[itsmesgd]

12. Currency question

Someone told me that it is ilegal for US citizens to trade in Euros, is this true. It appears to make sound financial sense to diversify and have some euros in the event that the dollar falls too far. Also, I travel to Europe on occasion and I feel it when the dollar is struggling.
So the question...is it ilegal to buy euros?
Thanks

[ozymandius]

14. China has been cracking down on illegal Forex trades.

But I have seen nothing that says dollar-euro trading is illegal. In fact - there are services advertised on Dow-Jones that specialize in dollar-euro trading.

[ozymandius]

13. Here Come the Economic Populists

FOR years, the Clinton wing of the Democratic Party, exercising a lock on the party’s economic policies, argued that the economy could achieve sustained growth only if markets were allowed to operate unfettered and globally.

Overcoming protests from labor unions, a traditional constituency, the Clinton administration vigorously supported free trade agreements like Nafta and agreed to China’s admission into the World Trade Organization. If there was damage to workers, then the Clinton camp proposed dealing with it after it occurred — through wage insurance, for example, or worker retraining and other safety-net measures.

This approach coincided with a period of economic prosperity, low unemployment and falling deficits. Over time, this combination — called Rubinomics after the Clinton administration’s Treasury secretary, Robert E. Rubin — became the Democratic establishment’s accepted model for the future.

-cut-

The populists argue that the national income has flowed disproportionately into corporate coffers and the nation’s wealthiest households, and that the imbalance has grown worse in recent years. They want to rethink America’s role in the global economy. They would intervene in markets and regulate them much more than the Rubinites would. For a start, they would declare a moratorium on new trade agreements until clauses were included that would, for example, restrict layoffs and protect incomes.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/weekinreview/26uchitelle.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[UpInArms]

15. daily dollar watch

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

Last trade 83.63 Change -0.03 (-0.04%)

Hard for nations with big US dollar forex reserves to switch - China official

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/11/26/afx3203589.html

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Countries with large holdings of US dollar denominated foreign exchange reserves have little leeway to switch into other currencies because of the vigilance of global markets, Guan Tao, deputy head of the general affairs department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said at a weekend conference here.

'Even if they intend to adjust (their reserve assets) into non-US dollar assets, their adjustment (scope) is very limited, 'Guan Tao said, noting that there are only a few countries that hold huge US dollar reserves 'and their every move is watched by the market.'

He said even hinting of a switch in reserves is going to prompt a 'response from the market,' and 'in this kind of situation, it's difficult for monetary authorities of these countries to make adjustments to their reserve assets.'

Guan noted that he was expressing his personal opinion only.

His comments followed fresh jitters in the greenback after a heavy sell-off saw it hit 19-month lows against the euro.

That sell-off was fuelled in part by comments from People's Bank of China vice-governor Wu Xiaoling who said in a paper distributed at a forum here Friday that East Asian foreign exchange reserve assets are under threat from a depreciating dollar and falling long-term interest rates.

...more...

What to Expect for the US Dollar on Monday

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_fundamentals/What_to_Expect_for_the_1164392166518.html

US Dollar – The last few trading days were suppose to be quiet with most US and Japanese dealers out for the holiday. However it has proven to be anything but that. In fact, we have not seen this degree of volatility in at least a month. The US dollar has completely melted down with the Euro and British pound hitting a yearly high against and the Japanese Yen hitting a 2 month high. The triggering of stop loss orders on Friday has intensified carry trade liquidation in a low liquidity environment. The EUR/USD’s move from 1.2975 to 1.3075 in 10 minutes at the European open is a clear confirmation that flow rather than fundamentals is to blame. There was no US data released today and the financial markets that were open all closed early because of the holiday. Comments from Chinese officials about the need for more flexibility in the Yuan and the country’s currency policy are certainly not helping. Interestingly enough, this was exactly what happened in 2004 as well. The US dollar began to breakdown after two weeks of consolidation on the eve before Thanksgiving. Then on Thanksgiving Day, the EUR/USD rallied 100 points. The move extended even further on the Friday after Thanksgiving and on the Monday when everyone returned from their holidays, the move actually failed to extend much further. Instead, the pair consolidated for a few days as EUR/USD longs took more profits off the table while traders that were short banked their massive losses and quietly licked their wounds. Unlike the past week, we do have a very busy trading week ahead of us. There are a number of central bank officials speaking from around the world including Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke who will be talking about the US economic outlook. Data wise, we are expecting data from the manufacturing and housing market sector along with consumer confidence and third quarter GDP.

...more...

Dollar Dumped

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/special_report/special_reports/Dollar_Dumped1164619721165.html

On Friday we wrote, “Incredibly wild night of action in FX markets as both euro and pound verticalized in thin holiday trade to take out multiple option barriers and triggered a torrent of stops. Once the EUR/USD crossed the psychologically important 1.3000 level it invited massive inflows of speculative capital as momentum players, option sellers and wrong footed dollar bulls all scrambled for euros sending the pair higher by 70 points in a matter of seconds.“


Of course holiday thin trading wasn’t the only reason for the collapse. As we noted last week, “the fundamental bias remains to the dollars downside.” That bias includes the unrelenting fact of US housing slowdown which is impacting sentiment and spending throughout theUS economy. The key trigger for dollar’s woes was Tuesday downgrade of US economic forecast by the White House. That news suddenly made clear that the Fed may be facing the prospect of having to lower rates by the first half 2007 and dashed the dollar bulls “goldilocks” scenario.


Continuation or a bit of a retrace next week? Data will tell and given the dour projections for US economic releases including further contractions in Housing and Durable Goods dollar longs may have little help from the calendar. Most critical of all will be the ISM manufacturing survey. With the index hovering near the 50 boom/bust mark a fall through that level will set off yet another round of hand wringing, as talk will turn to the possibility of a US recession. However, should the data surprise to the upside, the dollar could mount a very strong comeback as dealers will try to buy back all the euro shorts they printed this week to the momentum players. – BS

...more...

[54anickel]

16. Has the tipping point finally arrived for the dollar?

http://www.moneyweek.com/file/22176/has-the-tipping-point-finally-arrived-for-the-dollar.html

snip>

The biggest question isn’t so much ‘why is the dollar falling now?’ - it’s more ‘how has it managed to defy gravity for so long?’

The US economy is not really in a position to sustain a strong, or even particularly healthy currency. The country’s current account deficit stands at more than 6% of gross domestic product. To put that into perspective, most economists believe that 4% represents the danger point for an economy.

The US needs to continue to attract foreign investors’ savings to prop up that deficit - but the only way to attract foreign investors is to offer them a decent return on their funds. This is what has been holding the dollar up until recently - the prospect of rising interest rates.

But now, with the US housing market in ‘freefall‘, as some have put it, and the government downgrading its expectations of US economic growth, it looks like the next move in US interest rates could be a cut. This is at a time when interest rates in the UK, Japan and particularly in Europe, are all expected to head higher in the near future.

With rising interest rates no longer on its side, while other economies are strengthening, there is nothing to keep the dollar at its current levels. “Steadily the US dollar will decline through 2007, but probably at a faster pace in the second half of the year, as people realise the Fed is going to have to cut rates,” said HSBC’s Paul Mackel.

The other big threat to the US dollar stems specifically from Japan. In a phenomenon known as ‘the carry trade’, speculators have been borrowing money in Japanese yen at very low interest rates, and putting the money into dollar-denominated assets, often US government bonds (known as Treasuries). Because Treasuries pay a higher interest rate than it costs to borrow yen, it’s an easy way to make money.

Or so it seems. The only trouble is the currency risk. If the yen starts to rise and the dollar starts to fall, then the changing exchange rate can wipe out any gains and rapidly lead to losses, as the amount the borrower owes in yen outstrips what they have invested in dollars.

more...

[Ghost Dog]

29. US dollar 'will keep falling' (Observer/Guardian)

http://observer.guardian.co.uk/business/story/0,,1956925,00.html
Heather Stewart
Sunday November 26, 2006
The Observer

The US dollar has reached a 'tipping point' as foreign exchange markets wake up to the threat that the Federal Reserve will have to slash interest rates in the new year to stave off recession, analysts say. After a sharp sell-off on Friday took the greenback to 18-month lows against the euro, and pushed the pound to $1.93, economists warned that there was worse to come for the US currency.

'We are just at the start of what we think will be a downtrend for the dollar - a tipping-point has probably been reached,' said Tim Fox, currency strategist at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, who expects sterling to hit $2 within the next three months.

...

'Steadily, the US dollar will decline through 2007, but probably at a faster pace in the second half of the year, as people realise the Fed is going to have to cut rates,' said Paul Mackel, currency strategist at HSBC.

/..

[Ghost Dog]

34. Euro's strength clouds finance ministers meeting

http://www.afp.com/english/news/stories/061127160806.7sibj6j1.html

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The euro's current strength has cast clouds over the economic outlook for the 12-nation eurozone ahead of a meeting of the bloc's finance ministers.

The ministers are due to take the pulse of their combined economy when they meet over dinner Monday in Brussels as their shared currency hit new highs against other major currencies.

The euro reached a 20-month high against the greenback on Monday of 1.3161 dollars and was testing new record highs against the Japanese currency at 152.31 yen.

Economists and some politicians warn that the euro's strength will pinch exports from the eurozone by making goods from the 12 countries sharing the euro more expensive on international markets.

Raising his concerns ahead of the ministers' meeting, French Finance Minister Thierry Breton called for caution about the dollar's recent weakness towards the euro.

"The recent depreciation must trigger our broad collective vigilance," he told an economic seminar in Paris.

Monday night's meeting could offer eurozone ministers a chance to follow Breton's example and effectively try to talk down the euro by calling attention to its strength.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

40. European shares fall to 5-week low as strong euro hits exporters

http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft2-com/html-story.asp?dateid=39048.5081481481-885096942&guid={505EC99B-A594-4E32-A7DC-F63F345FBDB5}

European bourses closed at their lowest levels since October, as investors fretted about the potential impact of the dollar’s weakness on European corporate earnings. The FTSE Eurofirst 300 index suffered its worst one-day drop since early July, shedding 20.2 points, or 1.4 per cent, to close at a five-week low of 1,430.85.

Car and car parts makers were among the hardest-hit. DaimlerChrysler fell 2.8 per cent to €44.25, Peugeot shed 2.5 per cent to €46.78 and Volkswagen closed 1.6 per cent lower at €80.01. Michelin, the tyremaker, fell 4 per cent to €65.20 and Continental slipped 3.5 per cent to €86.10.

Among other big dollar earners, Siemens fell 2.9 per cent to €72.44., and Atlas Copco, 3.7 per cent lower at SKr194.50.

...

The Xetra Dax closed down 1.8% at 6,298.17 in Frankfurt while the CAC 40 fell 1.5% to 5,308.65 in Paris.

/..

[Ghost Dog]

41. FTSE 100 ends down, hit by weak U.S. dollar

http://yahoo.reuters.com/news/articlehybrid.aspx?storyID=urn:newsml:reuters.com:20061127:MTFH87804_2006-11-27_17-02-16_L27879640&type=comktNews&rpc=44

LONDON, Nov 27 (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 index .FTSE of Britain's largest shares fell to its lowest close in seven weeks on Monday as the sliding dollar continued to weigh on stocks with U.S. exposure.

...

"Undoubtedly the dollar is something which is bowling its way through the equity markets," said Peter Dickson, economist at Commerzbank. "The general view is that companies with a high dollar exposure will have problems with regard to their earnings next year, and that is what is causing the fall, particularly on this side of the Atlantic."

...

The FTSE 100 ended down 72 points, or 1.18 percent, at 6,050.1, with 95 of its stocks ending lower.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

42. (Tokyo stocks end higher after dipping last week)

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061127/kyodo/d8lla4u00.html

(Kyodo) Tokyo stocks rebounded almost across the board Monday from falls last week, with gains in domestic demand-linked issues offsetting falls in export-oriented shares triggered by a surge in the yen.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average gained 150.78 points, or 0.96 percent, to 15,885.38. The Tokyo Stock Price Index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange rose 14.97 points, or 0.97 percent, to 1,553.01.

The benchmark Nikkei was pushed up by rises in issues linked to domestic demand, including pharmaceutical and insurance stocks, as investors bought them following declines last week.

Exporters, however, took a beating as the yen surged to a three-month high in the lower 115 yen level early Monday in Tokyo. A stronger yen makes Japanese products more expensive and therefore less competitive in overseas markets, and reduces exporters' earnings.

"The Tokyo market is entering a stage of technical rebound on caution that issues have been oversold recently. Other than that, there was no particular factor for the overall rise in stocks today," said Yumi Nishimura, manager in the equity planning department of Daiwa Securities SMBC Co.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

45. (BOJ's Fukui brushes off recent weak data, stays upbeat on economy)

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061127/kyodo/d8ll9ubo0.html

(Kyodo) _ Bank of Japan Governor Toshihiko Fukui on Monday maintained his upbeat view of the country's economy by brushing aside recent weak economic indicators, such as machinery orders and household spending.

In a speech to local business leaders in Osaka, Fukui said, "We have seen both strong and weak indicators recently, but I believe those data do not suggest that the current mechanism of Japan's economy has changed."

The mechanism generating economic and price trends in Japan indicates that the country's economy will likely post a long-term expansion as both external and domestic demand increases and favorable effects of the corporate sector spill over to the household sector, Fukui said in reference to a BOJ economic outlook report released in late October.

"Although machinery orders, a leading economic indicator, sharply dropped in the July-September period, the result reflects a rapid growth in the previous quarter and declines in mobile phone orders," Fukui said. "I don't think this represents a change in the basic trend of corporate capital spending."

Japan's core private-sector machinery orders, considered a leading indicator of corporate capital spending six to nine months ahead, plunged a seasonally adjusted 11.1 percent in the third quarter of the year, the largest-ever fall since the government began compiling the data in April 1987.

Average monthly household spending in Japan also fell a real 6.0 percent in September from a year earlier, posting the biggest fall in nearly five years and its ninth consecutive monthly decline.

/...

[54anickel]

17. Hard for nations with big US dollar forex reserves to switch - China official

http://www.forbes.com/markets/feeds/afx/2006/11/26/afx3203589.html

BEIJING (XFN-ASIA) - Countries with large holdings of US dollar denominated foreign exchange reserves have little leeway to switch into other currencies because of the vigilance of global markets, Guan Tao, deputy head of the general affairs department of the State Administration of Foreign Exchange said at a weekend conference here.

'Even if they intend to adjust (their reserve assets) into non-US dollar assets, their adjustment (scope) is very limited, 'Guan Tao said, noting that there are only a few countries that hold huge US dollar reserves 'and their every move is watched by the market.'

He said even hinting of a switch in reserves is going to prompt a 'response from the market,' and 'in this kind of situation, it's difficult for monetary authorities of these countries to make adjustments to their reserve assets.'

Guan noted that he was expressing his personal opinion only.

His comments followed fresh jitters in the greenback after a heavy sell-off saw it hit 19-month lows against the euro.

That sell-off was fuelled in part by comments from People's Bank of China vice-governor Wu Xiaoling who said in a paper distributed at a forum here Friday that East Asian foreign exchange reserve assets are under threat from a depreciating dollar and falling long-term interest rates.

more...

[54anickel]

26. The Paulson & Bernanke Show Airs Soon in China: William Pesek

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601039&refer=columnist_pesek&sid=a2W6JzF7buFc

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- To underscore how serious he is about pushing for change in China, Henry Paulson is employing a powerful prop: Ben Bernanke.

As the New York Times reported last week, U.S. Treasury Secretary Paulson is enlisting Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke to partake in an unusual U.S. delegation to China next month. It's meant to increase the pressure on China to open its economy, let its currency rise and crack down on piracy.

Paulson's move isn't as new as it seems. He may work for President George W. Bush, though Paulson's strategy here is rather Bill Clintonesque. Former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin used then Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan in similar fashion in Asia in the late 1990s. Even so, it's nice to see the Bush administration trying something different.

The real issue is what Paulson's use of Rubin's playbook says about the direction of U.S.-China relations in the final two years of Bush's presidency.

Perhaps Paulson wants to keep newly empowered Democrats from zealously going after a nation holding $340 billion of Treasuries. Maybe Bush noticed how the U.S. was almost an afterthought at the recent Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Hanoi and wants to get back in the Asian game.

After all, zooming off to Beijing with such a high-level delegation is a sign of enormous respect for the ascendant Chinese economy -- something China isn't used to from Bush's team. It may be just a coincidence, but it comes as China's currency reserves reach the $1 trillion mark.

more...

[Roland99]

33. The exchange rate my hotel in Toronto offered over the weekend? 1.05!!!

1.05 Canadian dollars to 1 US dollar.


:wow:

[Ghost Dog]

44. Dollar Down, Gold Up in Europe

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/061127/ap/d8llhd7gb.html

The U.S. dollar was lower against most other major currencies in European trading Monday. Gold prices rose.

The euro was quoted at $1.3117, up from $1.3079 late Friday. Later, in midday trading in New York, the euro bought $1.3127.

Other dollar rates in Europe, compared with late Friday, included 116.13 Japanese yen, up from 115.75; 1.2083 Swiss francs, down from 1.2105; and 1.1319 Canadian dollars, down from 1.1331.

The British pound was quoted at $1.9363, up from $1.9317.

In midday New York trading, the dollar bought 116.02 yen and 1.2075 Swiss francs, while the pound was worth $1.9371.

Gold traded in London at $639.90 bid per troy ounce, up from $638.20 late Friday.

In Zurich, the bid price was $639.35, up from $638.05.

Gold rose $4.20 in Hong Kong to close at $638.00.

Silver traded in London at $13.50 bid per troy ounce, up from $13.38.

/.

[54anickel]

50. France in plea for ‘vigilance’ over fall of dollar

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/9d5a103c-7e42-11db-84bb-0000779e2340.html

France on Monday led European concern over the rising euro in an apparent attempt to put pressure on the European Central Bank not to jeopardise eurozone growth prospects ahead of next year’s French presidential election.

Thierry Breton, France’s finance minister, urged “collective vigilance” in the face of the falling US dollar. He promised to raise the euro’s recent rally with fellow eurozone finance ministers at their monthly meeting in Brussels on Monday night.

In spite of recent foreign currency movements, the ECB is expected to press ahead with another quarter-point rise in its main interest rate to 3.5 per cent next week. But, if sustained, the euro’s appreciation could curb the scope for further rises in borrowing costs in 2007. Mr Breton’s initiative may have been aimed at setting the tone in the debate on monetary policy action beyond the December 7 ECB meeting.

French anxiety, which compared with a more relaxed mood in Germany, has been heightened since the economy ground to a halt unexpectedly in the third quarter, after an exceptionally strong second quarter. That has prompted economists to cut their growth estimates for the year to the bottom of the government’s target of 2-2.5 per cent.

A French official said Mr Breton had deliberately changed his tone on the euro, from saying it was “fully valued” when it was trading at $1.24-$1.28 against the US dollar, to calling for “collective vigilance” now it was above the $1.30 mark.

more...

[54anickel]

18. Factors in Our Colossal Mess

http://www.zmag.org/content/showarticle.cfm?SectionID=10&ItemID=11493

snip>

Assume Anarchy

The failure of socialist theory is much more than matched by the failure of capitalism because the latter has the entire responsibility for keeping the status quo functioning-and it has no intellectual basis for doing so. The crisis that exists is that capitalism has reached a most dangerous stage in destructiveness -- and no opposition to it exists. This malaise involves foreign affairs and domestic affairs -- vast greed at home and adventure overseas. If the foreign policy aspects are largely American-originated, the rest of the world tolerates or sometimes collaborates with it. Its downfall is inevitable, perhaps imminent. The chaos that exists will exist in a void. No powerful force exists to challenge, much less replace it, and therefore it will continue to exist -- but at immense and growing human cost. Alternative visions are, for the moment at least, mostly cranky.

Ingenious and precarious schemes in the world economy today have great legitimacy and flourish in the sense that the postulates of classical economics postulated are fast becoming irrelevant. It is the era of the fast talker and buccaneer-snake-oil salesmen in suits. Nothing old-fashioned has credibility. Joseph Schumpeter and other economists worried about pirates, but they are more important today than ever before-including than during the late 19th century when they were immortalized in Charles Francis Adams Jr's Chapters of Erie. The leitmotif is "innovation," and many respectables are extremely worried. I argued here in Counterpunch recently (June 15 and July 26) that gloom prevails among experts responsible for overseeing national and global financial affairs, especially the Bank for International Settlements, but I grossly underestimated the extent of anxieties among those who know the most about these matters. More importantly, over the past months officials at much higher levels have also become much more articulate and concerned about the dominant trends in global finance and the fact that risks are quickly growing and are now enormous. Generally, people who think of themselves as leftists know precious little of those questions, questions that are vital to the very health of the status quo. But those most au courant with global financial trends have been sounding the alarm louder and louder.

The problem is that capitalism has become more aberrant, improvisatory, and self-destructive than ever. We are in the age of the predator and gamblers, people who want to get very rich very quickly and are wholly oblivious to the larger consequences. Power exists but the theory to describe the economy which was inherited from the 19th century bears no relationship whatsoever to the way it operates in practice, a fact more and more recognized by those who favor a system of privilege and inequality. Even some senior IMF executives now acknowledge that the theory that powerful organization cherish is based on outmoded 19th century illusions. "Reconstructing economic theory virtually from scratch" and purging economics of "neoclassical idiocies," or that its "demonstrably false conceptual core is sustained by inertia alone," is now the subject of very acute articles in none other than the Financial Times, the most influential and widely-read daily in the capitalist world.

As an economic system capitalism is going crazy. In late November there were $75 billion in global mergers and acquisitions in a 24-hour period-a record. Global capitalism is awash with liquidity -- virtually free money -- and anyone who borrows can become very rich, assuming they win. The beauty of the hedge fund is that individual risks become far smaller and one can join with others to bet big -- and much more precariously. Henced, spectacular chances are now being taken: on the value of the U.S. dollar, the price of oil, real estate -- and countless others gambles. In the case of Amaranth Advisors, this outfit lost about $6.5 billion at the end of September on an erroneous weather prediction and went under. At least 2,600 hedge funds were founded from the beginning of 2005 to October 2006, but 1,100 went out of business. The new financial instruments -- derivatives, hedge funds, incomprehensible financial inventions of every sort-are growing at a phenomenal rate, but their common characteristic, as one Financial Times writer, John Plender, summed it up on November 20. , is that "everyone become less risk adverse." Therein lies the danger.

Hedge funds will bet on anything, natural disasters and, soon, longevity of pension fund members being only the latest examples of their addiction to taking chances. London is fast replacing New York as the center of this activity, and the capital market in general, because the regulatory regime of the government the British Labour Party established is much more favorable to this sort of activity than that Bush's Republican minions allow -- though this may change because Wall Street does not like losing business.

On September 12, 2006, the International Monetary Fund released its report on "Global Financial Stability," and it was unprecedented in its concern that "new and complex financial instruments, such as structured credit products," might wreak untold havoc. "Liberalization," which the "Washington consensus" and IMF had preached and helped realize, now threatens the US dollar and much else. "The rapid growth of hedge funds and credit derivative mechanisms in recent years adds to uncertainty," and might aggravate the "market turbulence and systemic impact" of once-benign events. Hedge funds, it warned, have already "suffered noticeable losses."

much more...

[ozymandius]

19. Ford to Get $18 Billion in Financing

DEARBORN, Mich. (AP) - Ford Motor Co. said Monday it plans to get about $18 billion in financing in part to address near- and medium-term negative operating-related cash flow and fund its restructuring.

The No. 2 U.S. automaker also said the financing will help protect against a recession or other unanticipated events.

Ford said a new five-year senior secured revolving credit facility of about $8 billion is intended to replace Ford's existing unsecured credit facilities of $6.3 billion. A senior secured term loan will total about $7 billion, and unsecured capital market transactions will total about $3 billion.

Following the transactions, Ford said its "automotive liquidity" will be about $38 billion at year's end. That includes cash, cash equivalents, loaned and marketable securities and available credit facilities.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=AP&Date=20061127&ID=6224956

[ozymandius]

20. pre-open numbers

09:02 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.7. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -5.7.

08:32 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.2. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -4.7.

08:06 am : S&P futures vs fair value: -1.9. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: -6.2.

[54anickel]

22. Are Arab Oil kingdoms and China Attracted to Golds Glitter?

http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article137.html

snip>

Saudi princes, who control 70% of the stock market in Riyadh have been bailing out of local stocks and moving funds into Gold since early October. The Saudi elite are worried that Democrats could hasten an American withdrawal from Iraq. Defense chief Donald Rumsfeld’s departure could well be a first move in that direction. Signaling a broad shift in his Iraq policy, President Bush on Nov 11th described his new pick for defense secretary, Robert Gates, as an “agent of change.”

The Democratic chairman, Howard Dean, says Congress will keep up the pressure for change in Iraq. “Americans across the country made it clear that they want a new direction in Iraq and in the war on terror.” Sen. Carl Levin, a Michigan Democrat and the next probable chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee said, “The first order of business is to change the direction of Iraq policy. The American presence was not open-ended, and that, as a matter of fact, we need to begin a phased redeployment of forces from Iraq in four to six months,” Levin said on Nov 12th.

The man who is about to be isolated in the White House is Vice President Dick Cheney, the last neo-con left. Robert Gates, James Baker, and Brent Scowcroft, have been called in for strategy on exiting Iraq over the objections of VP Cheney. But an abandoned Iraq could be seen as a major victory for Islamic insurgents, embolden Iranian and Syrian kingpins, lead to a full-blown civil war in Iraq, and future al-Qaeda or Hizbollah attempts to overthrow the Saudi kingdom.

Saudi Arabia's interior minister on Nov 12th called Iraq a major base for terrorism, a sign of growing concerns in the oil-rich kingdom over its violence-plagued neighbor. “There is no doubt that Iraq now forms a main base for terrorism," said Saudi Interior Minister Prince Naif. “The situation in Iraq is deteriorating daily, and the country has become a threat in the region,” he warned.

While stock markets around the world are climbing to 5-year or new record highs, Saudi blue chips plunged to the 8000 level on Nov 11th, their lowest close in almost 20-months. The sudden collapse below the psychological 10,000 level, sent shockwaves through other Gulf bourses where investors are nervous over Iran’s escalating nuclear weapons program, the Shiite revolution moving across the Middle East, and the slide of OPEC’s benchmark oil price to below $60 a barrel.

Since October 29th, the Saudi All-share Index has plunged 25%, and the average P/E has fallen to 14 from around 40 times earnings at its peak in February. New listings in Saudi Arabia are also taking a hit as the Arab world’s largest stock market posts its sharpest decline since losing half of its capitalization between February and May during a region-wide stock market crash.

Proving its mettle as a safe haven in dangerous times, gold has climbed steadily against the price of OPEC’s benchmark crude oil prices from 8.75 barrels in early August to a high of 11.5 barrel last week. Gold traders in London, New York, and Tokyo, have noticed that gold diverged from its tight linkage to the crude oil market over the past few weeks, and the phenomena might have its origin in the Gulf.

more...

[ozymandius]

23. Markets are open for bidness.

9:48
Dow 12,248.12 Down 32.05 (0.26%)
Nasdaq 2,450.37 Down 9.89 (0.40%)
S&P 500 1,398.46 Down 2.49 (0.18%)
10-Yr Bond 4.587% Up 0.039
NYSE Volume 212,690,000
Nasdaq Volume 144,706,000

09:45 am : There were no surprises when the market opened as the major indices turned lower as the futures market suggested they would. The Nasdaq is pacing the modest decline with participants remaining in profit-taking mode. Overall, there is no strong sense of leadership yet, but the Energy sector (+0.80%) is off to a decent start, underpinned by talk of a potential OPEC production cut in December and a boost in crude futures. Consumer Discretionary (+0.05%) is another pocket of relative strength, led by computer and electronics retailers Best Buy (BBY 56.30, +1.22) and Circuit City (CC 24.48, +0.23), which reportedly saw strong traffic over the weekend. DJ30 -18.67 NASDAQ -5.62 SP500 -0.73

[54anickel]

24. THE NEW WORLD OIL ORDER, Part 2: Russia tips the balance

Hmmm, sheds a bit more light on the poisoned Russian spy guy - read elsewhere that it was somehow tied to Yukos

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/HK23Ag01.html

Russia has set the agenda for the global transition to an entirely new model of international energy security designed to address intensifying concerns, especially those of the rising East.

Russia, possessing unequaled energy-based leverage, has taken the leadership among the world's producers and the rising powerhouse economies of the East to promote a vast worldwide



web of alliances and ties prominently featuring rigid bilateral, private long-term supply contracts.

This model runs counter to and increasingly circumvents the established liberal US-backed global oil market denominated in US dollars. The West relies on the current order for its energy security. It cannot function without it, and therefore the order is its single point of weakness. And Russia is acting as the "point man" to locate and exploit, with the help of its partners, this Achilles' heel of the West.

A conspicuous feature of global developments over the past several years is Russia's distinctive leadership role in fueling global transition in three key spheres - energy, economic and geopolitical.

Within six months of taking office as Russia's new president, Vladimir Putin was by the summer of 2000 already moving hard against the capitalist-inspired oligarchs who were fleecing Russia of its natural resources and industry with, at a bare minimum, the full complicity of the West.

Western institutions operating within Russia and those exercising what the Kremlin saw as undue influence from without, most notably the West's oil majors and their closely related financial institutions, certain non-governmental organizations and the media, have eventually either been pushed out or brought to heel.

Russia's strategic resources have been brought firmly under de facto Kremlin control in direct opposition to the West's loudly proclaimed liberal democratic principles of private ownership and control. Russia's example and success in such endeavors have instigated a global wave of nationalization and consolidation of state control over energy resources, with an accompanying loss of leverage and control by the West's oil majors. That wave is accelerating.

much more....

[Ghost Dog]

54. Debating "War and Peace" behind Closed Doors: NATO'S Riga Security Conference

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=viewArticle&code=CHO20061126&articleId=3975

On the 29th of November, heads of State and heads of government from the 26 States together with Ministers of Defense and senior military brass of the "enlarged" Atlantic Alliance (NATO) will be meeting in Riga, Latvia.

The venue is being held in a former Soviet Republic, regrouping for the first time all 26 members of the enlarged NATO, including Poland. It directly challenges Moscow's influence in Eastern and Central Asia. It signifies to Moscow that NATO enlargement is proceeding on Russia's doorstep.

Although Israel will not be represented at the Summit, NATO has developed in the last two years a close working relationship with Tel Aviv, which in practical terms provides Israel with a "de facto associate membership" within the Atlantic Alliance. The NATO Riga Summit will launch NATO's Rome based training program for its Mediterranean partner countries and members of the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI). The latter includes a number of Arab countries as well as Israel.

From a US standpoint, this meeting will be used to build a European consensus on America's "long war". The purpose of the meeting is to rally support for the US led military adventure in the Middle East and Central Asia, which is intimately related, from a strategic standpoint, to the battle for oil and oil pipeline corridors.

The US-NATO military build-up in the Persian Gulf and the Eastern Mediterranean as well as Washington's "New Middle East" will be on the agenda.

In parallel with the Summit, a major Security Conference ("The Riga Conference") starting on November 27, will bring together politicians, top military brass, corporate CEOs, defense and foreign policy analysts, "top feeder" media pundits, policy advisers and New World Order academics. (See list of participants below). In many regards, this parallel activity organized by the George Marshall Fund's Transatlantic Center is more important from a strategic standpoint than the official Summit venue. Headed by Ronald D. Asmus, a former deputy assistant secretary of state in the Clinton administration, the Transatlantic Center's task on behalf of NATO is to foster "transatlantic dialogue" between Europe and America as well as actively seek European "cooperation in the broader Middle East and Black Sea regions".

The Conference is intent upon building a consensus within Europe regarding America's military agenda in the broader Middle East.

/read on...

[54anickel]

25. Very Rich Are Leaving the Merely Rich Behind

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/27/business/27richer.html?hp&ex=1164690000&en=8ce83432e4bd8730&ei=5094&partner=homepage

A decade into the practice of medicine, still striving to become “a well regarded physician-scientist,” Robert H. Glassman concluded that he was not making enough money. So he answered an ad in the New England Journal of Medicine from a business consulting firm hiring doctors.

And today, after moving on to Wall Street as an adviser on medical investments, he is a multimillionaire.

Such routes to great wealth were just opening up to physicians when Dr. Glassman was in school, graduating from Harvard College in 1983 and Harvard Medical School four years later. Hoping to achieve breakthroughs in curing cancer, his specialty, he plunged into research, even dreaming of a Nobel Prize, until Wall Street reordered his life.

Just how far he had come from a doctor’s traditional upper-middle-class expectations struck home at the 20th reunion of his college class. By then he was working for Merrill Lynch and soon would become a managing director of health care investment banking.

“There were doctors at the reunion — very, very smart people,” Dr. Glassman recalled in a recent interview. “They went to the top programs, they remained true to their ethics and really had very pure goals. And then they went to the 20th-year reunion and saw that somebody else who was 10 times less smart was making much more money.”

more....

[AnneD]

27. When I first graduated....

from Nursing School, I had a choice. My child was 16 months old. I had missed many of those early milestones. I tried to work at the hospitals because they paid more. They had switched to 12 hour days. How humane is that? I threw up my hands in disgust and switched to Public School Nursing. My income dropped by over 10K and I struggled, but I had time to be a Mom to my daughter. I have been doing this for some time and unlike many of my colleagues, will be eligible for a defined benefit retirement at the ripe old age of 57. After that, I will have a little bit of time left in me that I will work strictly for the money in an overseas contract if I can get one. I then want to do something non medical (and therefore make more money)in retirement.
I can't say as I blame these Docs. The system is set up this way and it is too bad. We have been squawking about this for some time but it falls on deaf ears. If you think it is bad now, just wait a few years when we are all trying to use this dwindling resource.


This is my post to the DU thread. I don't make much...even by the stats they say the Nursing earn. And in a recent survey, Nursing wages are becoming flat again (shades of the 90's). I would recommend you learn about some good medical web site or get really friendly with a Nurse or Doc. The system is set up for a crash and burn when we have our next challenge to the system (pandemic). The disaster planning that they (hospitals and med community)are doing is frightening.

[54anickel]

37. Our local hospital was county run when I was a kid, then it went private,

non-profit. There's no competition (yet). So, what do they do with all the money they are making hand over fist? Rather than pay decent wages they keep building and building and building. The place is HUGE and there are satellite medical complexes going up all over the place. Big beautiful facilities, but the care sucks as there's not enough quality staff on hand. Over-worked and under-paid they end up going to work elsewhere like you did. The local hospital is just a stepping stone for experience. Most of the nursing staff and med techs are the recent grads from the area tech college. Very high turnover rate.

[AnneD]

52. And speak of the devil......

Increased Need, Not Enough School Nurses in Schools…
The following are excerpts from a recent Wall Street Journal article titled “Is there a nurse in the house? Schools endure shortage as health needs rise.” written by Jeff Zaslow.

“These are overwhelming times for the nation's 50,000 school nurses, as they cope with school budget cuts, a nationwide nursing shortage and a growing number of students with serious medical needs. Federal guidelines suggest that each school nurse be assigned to no more than 750 children, but 59% have more students than that in their care. In 11 states, including California, Colorado, Illinois and Michigan, the average school nurse cares for more than 2,000 kids, according to the nonprofit National Association of School Nurses.”

“Aware of the obligations school nurses face, some parents are getting proactive. They're lobbying school boards to protect nurses' jobs from budget cuts, or they're questioning whether school staffers are well-enough trained to give medical aid if a nurse isn't available.”

“Because of demand for nurses in hospitals and clinics, some schools can't even find nurses, and can't pay them what they can earn elsewhere. So parents are asking hard questions: Should a school fund, say, a top-notch football program when it can't earmark enough money to hire a qualified nurse?”

To read the full article, please visit www.post-gazette.com/pg/06306/735088-114.stm .



And you are so right about the building craze, 54anickle. At the time the hospital I was working was cutting back on Nursing and support staff (and making MY job harder and more unsafe for the patients, they were building an entire new wing. It really was needed, but it begged the question...whose's going to work in those beautiful new buildings if you are going lay off your devoted staff (that has made you a number one nation wide facility). Truly penny wise and pound foolish.

[54anickel]

55. Yep, pretty crazy. We had just taken my sister up to the ER at 2am yesterday and

there was a 4 hour wait for a room from the time the doc decided to admit her. But when we got up to the floor she was admitted to at least 1/3 of the rooms were empty. Come to find out the wait was for a "staffed" room - and they were still short on help. Go figure.

Way back when I was a kid we had what they called a school nurse, but it was a pool of moms who volunteered. They got a bit of training, but mostly it was just having a surrogate mom to hold your hair while you :puke: and to call your own mom to come you when you felt sick. Of course I grew up in a one-horse town and it was back when people weren't so sue happy. Heck our "bus service" was a lady with a station wagon that got paid by the mile.

[AnneD]

58. Unfortunantly...

kids come to school these days with far more serious problems. I do/have dealt with diabetics, asthmatics, aids, sever epileptics with implants, kids post chemo, abuse, broken bones, catheters, ostomies, rare genetic diseases, you name it. I don't think a few hours of training does it these days. But most folks labour under the delusion that all I do is hand out bandages and ice. Just today I had a kid that had his finger bite by a donkey over the holidays (I swear to GOD this happened). I called my nurse friend and asked her to just shot me. She said she would but she was at a hospital with a kid whose contractions were 3 min apart and she could not get the parents (this is not a surprise). She won the 'just shot me' contest. But this is a typical day and you have to think on your feet. And they wonder why school nurses have a high turnover rate.

[spotbird]

28. -130 and counting.

Looks like Walmart still matters.

[Roland99]

36. From the "No duh!" files... Google has an "exceedingly rich valuation."

http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/us-stocks-fall-dow-down/story.aspx?guid=%7B5E10D2C7%2D21F2%2D44D7%2DA68C%2DDE5B43E55A5B%7D&siteId=

down about 3% today.

[54anickel]

38. 12:11 numbers and the lunchtime blather (a sea of red)

Dow 12,155.19 124.98 (1.02%)
Nasdaq 2,419.47 40.79 (1.66%)
S&P 500 1,386.92 14.03 (1.00%)
10-yr Bond 4.5600% 0.0120
30-yr Bond 4.6400% 0.0110
NYSE Volume 1,199,779,000
Nasdaq Volume 901,699,000

12:00 pm : There might have been a lot of buying at retail stores over the holiday weekend, but there certainly hasn't been much buying in the stock market today. The indices started the session on a lower note and have seen those initial losses exteded throughout the morning. Dollar weakness and a report from Wal-Mart (WMT 47.05, -0.85) that November same-store sales are estimated be down 0.1% versus a prior forecast of approximately flat are drawing the blame for much of the selling activity.

As noted earlier, Briefing.com isn't necessarily sold on either excuse given that dollar weakness can be good for profit growth while Wal-Mart is known to have company-specific problems.

Frankly, Wal-Mart's lackluster performance coming out of the Black Friday sales rush seems to contradict reports of general strength in spending activity over the holiday that are being communicated by industry watchers such as ShopperTrak and the National Retail Federation. Wal-Mart's news, though, has provided an excuse to take some money of the table.

Similarly, traders appear to be cognizant that the market ran out of steam last year shortly after Thanksgiving and ended 2005 on a sluggish note. Sensing the possibility of a repeat performance, they have come back in profit-taking mode. Arguably, a Goldman Sachs forecast for the S&P 500 to reach 1460 by September 2007 is aiding in their decision, as that target price translates to a mere 4.0% increase (i.e., less than many money-market accounts and CD rates) from Friday's close.

The Financial and Technology sectors have paced today's retreat with declines of 1.30% and 1.80%, respectively. Energy (+0.04%) has been a pocket of relative strength amid talk of a potential OPEC production cut in December and forecasts for cooler temperatures to arrive soon. Those factors have put a bid in crude futures (+$0.63 at $59.87), which is providing another layer of support.

At the moment, there isn't a single S&P industry group sporting a gian of more than 1.0%. In fact, only seven are registering a gain of any kind. DJ30 -129.14 NASDAQ -41.72 SP500 -14.38 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2274/599/798 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2498/627/596 mln

11:30 am : New session lows have been established by each of the major indices in the past half hour. Media sources are blaming the dollar's weakness and Wal-Mart's (WMT 47.03, -0.87) disappointing same-store sales update for November for the weakness. Both reasons, though, are open to argument. To wit, dollar weakness can be good for profit growth and Wal-Mart is known to have company-specific problems. The most practical explanation for the weakness is that it is overdue considering the market has run virtually unabated from its low in mid-July. It can't go up in a straight line forever. With so much emphasis being placed on the positives lately and some market indicators, like the Volatility Index ("VIX"), flashing signs of complacency, it is not unusual to see the market latch on to some incrementally negative news (eg., dollar weakness) as an excuse to take profits.DJ30 -129.38 NASDAQ -42.56 SP500 -13.86 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2191/637/633 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2328/740/473 mln

11:00 am : The indices are trading near their worst levels of the day and have been on the defensive since the start of trading. Currently, there isn't a single S&P industry group that has gained more than 1.0%, which speaks to the broad-based nature of today's selling activity. Energy (+0.80%) and Telecom Services (+0.20%) are the only two sectors on positive ground; meanwhile the market's two most influential areas - Financial (-1.05%) and Technology (-1.30%) - are today's biggest losers. A lack of leadership from those areas will limit the success of a subsequent recovery effort.DJ30 -95.90 NASDAQ -28.85 SP500 -9.03 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2162/617/487 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2323/683/363 mln

10:30 am : The major indices have been knocked back in noticeable fashion this morning in a broad-based wave of profit taking precipitated by the S&P's inability to hold above the 1400 level. The dollar's weakness, particularly against the euro, is also being cited as a factor, but that is being overplayed as an excuse in Briefing.com's estimation given that a weaker dollar is good for U.S. multinationals and increases the attractiveness of U.S. exports. In any event, buyers are few and far between at the moment as traders sense a possibility of a repeat of last year's end-of-year showing when the market stalled after Thanksgiving and closed the year on a sluggish note.DJ30 -100.14 NASDAQ -26.69 SP500 -9.27 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2043/617/334 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2183/753/228 mln

10:05 am : The market remains on the defensive with selling interest accelerating amid continued chatter that it is overdue for a correction. Such talk is understandable given the run the market has had, but with underlying fundamentals remaining solid, it stands to reason that participants will continue to view weakness as a buying opportunity. A few factors playing into today's selling interest include: (1) the realization that the market had a big run last year through Thanksgiving and then petered out into year-end and (2) a forecast from Goldman Sachs that puts the S&P 500 at 1460, or merely 4.0% higher than Friday's close, by September 2007. DJ30 -73.22 NASDAQ -17.04 SP500 -6.17 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1635/869/148 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1744/938/86 mln

09:45 am : There were no surprises when the market opened as the major indices turned lower as the futures market suggested they would. The Nasdaq is pacing the modest decline with participants remaining in profit-taking mode. Overall, there is no strong sense of leadership yet, but the Energy sector (+0.80%) is off to a decent start, underpinned by talk of a potential OPEC production cut in December and a boost in crude futures. Consumer Discretionary (+0.05%) is another pocket of relative strength, led by computer and electronics retailers Best Buy (BBY 56.30, +1.22) and Circuit City (CC 24.48, +0.23), which reportedly saw strong traffic over the weekend. DJ30 -18.67 NASDAQ -5.62 SP500 -0.73

[Ghost Dog]

39. Africa: Finance Ministers Map Out Africa's Dev't Strategy

http://allafrica.com/stories/200611270457.html
Cameroon Tribune (Yaoundé)

P.M. Inoni yesterday announced three priority areas to develop the continent,while Cameroon has been chosen to host the seat of the African Monetary Fund.

African Ministers of the Economy and Finance met in their second conference yesterday in Yaounde and took far reaching decisions on how best to develop the African continent. The Cameroonian Prime Minister, Ephraim Inoni, chaired the event, streamlining three major channels through which the continent can pass to reach effective development. The three areas include: infrastructure development, food security and improvement of the business climate. "Any effort to release the growth potential of the continent and achieve the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) should first address the acute shortage of infrastructure in Africa", he said.

The P.M. said the development of agriculture on which most rural dwellers earn their livelihood, remains a key factor for poverty alleviation and food security. Of the recommendations made by finance ministers, PM Inoni highlighted one; development financing and external debt. In his closing speech, he called on ministers to propose to their Heads of State to put in place mechanism to follow up the implementation of the recommendations of the Yaounde conference. He was particularly thankful for the choice of Cameroon to host the seat of the African Monetary Fund (AMF) for the Central African Sub region. Nigeria will host the seat for West Africa and Libya for North Africa.

As concerns the business climate, Mr Inoni said it is an essential condition for attracting more foreign investment flows which will enable our continent to fully develop its huge potential.

/...

[54anickel]

43. Spitzer slams threat to corporate reforms

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a849ea52-7d85-11db-9fa2-0000779e2340.html

Eliot Spitzer, New York’s governor-elect, has hit out at efforts by figures in the Bush administration and business to roll back corporate accountability reforms imposed in the wake of financial scandals such as Enron.

In an interview with the Financial Times, the outgoing state attorney-general, who won fame for tackling corruption in the financial services industry, said diluting such reforms would be “counterproductive” and would fail to tackle the reasons US businesses are falling behind.

“The argument that we are failing in competitiveness because of regulations is incomplete,” Mr Spitzer said. “We’re failing in competitiveness because of failed business models and the lack of smart investment in technology. General Motors is not failing because of regulations but because it hasn’t produced good products.

“It’s failing because it hasn’t controlled costs and those costs are from private contracts that GM entered into.”

snip>

Mr Spitzer said critics who warned that aggressive enforcement hurts competitiveness were ignoring recent history. “The sectors that bore the brunt of my cases are performing extremely well,” he said. “They are more competitive because they understand the importance of ethics.”

more...

[54anickel]

46. Rich try unusual moves to join hedge funds

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15910608/

With enough money, a private jet and a house in the Hamptons are easy enough to acquire, but wealthy investors are finding they have to resort to devious tactics to get the latest must-have: a stake in the world's best hedge funds.

The flood of money pouring into the hedge fund industry has seen the best fund managers shut their doors to new money.

Some of the industry's biggest names – Stevie Cohen of SAC Capital, Paul Tudor Jones of Tudor Investments, Louis Bacon of Moore Capital, Steve Mandel of Lone Pine Capital and many others – do not need to expand further and often believe more cash would hurt their returns.

"The reality is that it is only a tiny number of hedge funds that are any good and of those an increasing number are either limiting inflows completely or have the luxury of deciding who their investors will be," says Mark James, director of alternative investments at ABN Amro.

Some wealthy investors are so keen to get a foot in the door they are taking sly steps to get their cash into so-called "closed" funds. Several funds have seen well-off individuals transfer money to their depository bank, triggering automatic issuance of units in the fund, even though they were not wanted.

"It is incredibly annoying," says one London fund manager who has been closed for several years. "People are quite flabbergasted, especially very wealthy people, when you send their money back."

more...

[54anickel]

47. Affiliated Computer CEO, CFO resign

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/4361719.html

DALLAS — Information technology company Affiliated Computer Services Inc. said Monday its chief executive and chief financial officer resigned after an investigation into stock options practices found they violated the company's ethics code.

Both CEO and President Mark A. King and Chief Financial Officer Warren D. Edwards signed separation agreements with ACS that will allow them to remain with the company during a transition period ending June 30, 2007.

Effective immediately, Chief Operating Officer Lynn Blodgett, 52, was named president and CEO, and John Rexford, 49, executive vice president of corporate development, was appointed CFO.

In September, the company delayed the filing of its annual report and said it would review stock option grants going back to 1994. The probe was launched in response to a pending informal investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and a grand jury subpoena from the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York.

more...


Monster Fires Top Lawyer over Options Probe
Fired "for cause," the general counsel will not receive certain severance-related payments.

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/8313866/c_8317584?f=home_todayinfinance&x=1

Monster Worldwide says it fired vice president, general counsel, and secretary Myron Olesnyckyj, for cause. He was suspended on September 19. In a press release, the company said the action was related to a review of its historical stock-option grant practices. Because he was fired for cause, Olesnyckyj will not qualify for certain severance-related payments.

Last month Monster named William Pastore chief executive officer after founder Andrew McKelvey resigned as chairman emeritus, saying he declined to be interviewed by a special committee of the board charged with reviewing stock-option grants. In June the company launched an internal review, and the following month it warned it may restate prior years' results to record additional noncash charges for stock-based compensation expense relating to various stock-option grants.

snip>

Monster was also one of 138 companies cited in a Glass, Lewis & Co. report for submitting a late-filing notice for the second quarter of 2006. Late-filing notices, according to the report, were up 52 percent from year-earlier levels.

more...

[54anickel]

49. Peer Pressure: Inflating Executive Pay

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/26/business/yourmoney/26peer.html?adxnnl=1&ref=business&adxnnlx=1164651648-0RuIq+dTv8k3au4d171fMQ

LIKE Lake Wobegon, Garrison Keillor’s fictitious Minnesota town where all the children are above average, executive compensation practices often assume that corporate managers are equally superlative. When shareholders question lush pay, they are invariably met with a laundry list of reasons that businesses use to justify such packages. Among that data, no item is more crucial than the “peer group,” a collection of companies that corporations measure themselves against when calculating compensation.

But according to a handful of pay experts who are privy to the design of pay practices at the nation’s largest corporations, many of these peer groups are populated with companies that are anything but comparable. They also say corporate managers themselves — who have an interest in higher pay — are selecting which companies make it into a peer group. And because these companies are often inappropriate for comparison purposes, their use has helped inflate executive pay in recent years.

“The peer group is the bedrock of the compensation philosophy at a company,” said James F. Reda, an independent compensation consultant in New York. “But a lot of people do it by the seat of their pants, and that is part of the reason why executive pay has really skyrocketed.”

The use of peer groups to calculate executive pay has become ubiquitous in recent years. This is partly in response to the Securities and Exchange Commission’s requirement that companies compare their stock performance with a peer group in tables in the section of their proxy filings devoted to shareholder returns. Theoretically, these tables allow investors to compare their company’s performance against objective benchmarks.

But as is true with much about executive pay, details about exactly how peer groups are compiled have been kept under wraps. The worry among investors, of course, is that executives, consultants and directors simply cherry-pick peer-group members, thereby pumping up pay packages.

more...

[54anickel]

51. Swift Rejects Former Chief's Offer to Buy Trucker (Update3)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aDiDQ3JPnBTg&refer=home

Nov. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Swift Transportation Co., the second- largest U.S. trucker, rejected an unsolicited $29-a-share buyout offer from former Chief Executive Officer Jerry Moyes and will begin talks with him and other suitors.

Moyes, Swift's largest shareholder, proposed three weeks ago to buy the Phoenix-based company for $2.17 billion and take it private. The company, in statement today, called Moyes's offer ``inadequate'' and said a board committee has begun discussions with other potential buyers.

Today's announcement marks the first sign that Swift is considering selling the company that Moyes co-founded 40 years ago. ``There can be no assurance'' of a sale, Swift said.

``We haven't heard the last from Jerry,'' said Rick Paterson, an analyst with UBS Securities in New York, who rates the shares ``neutral' and doesn't own any. ``He gave a lowball number so that he could negotiate higher from there.''

Moyes is attempting to regain control of the company he co- founded with his brother Ronald. Swift had $3.2 billion in sales last year with a fleet of about 18,000 tractors and 52,000 trailers operating in the U.S., Canada and Mexico.

more...

[spotbird]

53. Um, not to alarm anyone

but there seems to be quite a decline underway.

Is it so predictable that it isn't even interesting at this point?

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

56. Let Me Know When It Reaches 10,000

Until then, this is no big deal. The Dow is still up for 2006, and is still near it's all time high.

When it shaves 10% off the price, then I'll take notice.

[AnneD]

59. There is something called...

the Santa Claus rally. They will prop up things until the end of the year cause that is how bonus' are calculated. So unless something like overseas considerations come into play, I'd not worry. Most regulars here have hedged their bets some time ago.

[Maeve]

61. However, I have heard speculation that there will be no Santa Rally this year

I'll see if I can find anything and get back to you later this week

on edit--didn't take that long!
Santa rally not expected this year
Uncharacteristic market patterns set stage for slump
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Joe Bel Bruno
ASSOCIATED PRESS

NEW YORK — Forget about the traditional Santa Claus rally on Wall Street, and get ready for the Christmas correction.

Some market watchers are warning that economic uncertainty will torpedo a record run in stocks, and that it’s only a matter of time before the implosion begins. Investors have largely ignored these admonitions, giving negative news an upbeat spin and sending stocks higher.

There’s consensus building that this stock frenzy might be setting the market up for a December surprise. Out goes the year-end rally that investors have gotten used to, and in comes the long-awaited stock-market retreat.

"There’s an overall bias to be bullish out there, but the seasonal patterns of being more negative in September and October just didn’t hold true," said Bill Strazzullo, chief market strategist for Bell Curve Trading, which uses market technicals to advise hedge funds and institutional investors.

"So, that means you can’t trust any of the seasonal patterns. We’re in the last leg of the rally, and people are going to want to take their profits and take a step back." <more>

http://www.columbusdispatch.com/business-story.php?story=dispatch/2006/11/12/20061112-F1-01.html

[54anickel]

63. Didn't they already get their bonuses for the year anyway? I seem to

remember a post about this being some sort of record breaker on the Street for bonuses, or maybe that was bonus expectations. Could have sworn they said the Ferrari orders were up this year. :shrug:

[54anickel]

57. 3:30 and no calvary in sight for today - bonds are getting a bid though

Dow 12,123.87 156.30 (1.27%)
Nasdaq 2,407.47 52.79 (2.15%)
S&P 500 1,382.54 18.41 (1.31%)
10-yr Bond 4.5380% 0.0100
30-yr Bond 4.6180% 0.0110
NYSE Volume 2,266,928,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,684,795,000

3:30 pm : Indices continue to scrape the bottom with a half hour to go, pressured by a lack of upside leadership n a general sense that the market is ripe for a pullback. The Technology sector (-2.40%) remains the loss leader today, but has plenty of company as seven of ten economic sectors are showing a loss of 1.00% or more. The Treasury market is garnering support from a safe-haven trade as an anticipated pullback in stocks is prompting some rotation into Treasuries. DJ30 -156.38 NASDAQ -52.13 SP500 -18.21 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2455/550/1.61 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2710/580/1.25 bln

3:00 pm : There has been little change in the indices since the last report, which is to say they remain near their worst levels of the session. Tomorrow there won't be any shortage of market-moving headlines. There are several noteworthy economic releases on the docket - Durable Orders, Consumer COnfidence and Existing Home Sales - and a litany of speeches from influential government officials that include Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke. Secretary Paulson will talk about global capital markets and trade at a conference in London while Dr. Bernanke will be giving a speech on the economic outlook to the National Italian American Foundation.DJ30 -165.67 NASDAQ -50.98 SP500 -19.00 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2417/591/1.48 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2658/621/1.15 bln

2:30 pm : Buyers for the most part have been few and far between today, a fact that is evident in a decidedly negative A/D line at the NYSE and Nasdaq. On that note, the Dow and S&P hit new session lows in the past half hour while the Nasdaq came within a hair of doing the same. It isn't a pretty picture for the bulls today, but the bottom-line is that the selling is being driven by a growing belief the market is simply due for a pullback. Accordingly, excuses like the dollar's weakness and Wal-Mart's disappointing sales performance have provided the fuel for today's broad-based selling effort.DJ30 -159.50 NASDAQ -49.91 SP500 -18.35 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2411/565/1.36 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2636/607/1.04 bln

2:00 pm : The indices are off their lows but not by much as there is a clear lack of leadership in today's session. Although there are pockets of relative strength (eg. Energy and Telecom Services), all ten economic sectors are showing a loss at the moment. Technology (-2.10%) leads the pack, which is understandable since it has been one of the best-performing areas of late. Pfizer (PFE 26.98, +0.09), AT&T (T 32.93, +0.26) and ExxonMobil (XOM 72.43, +0.05) are the only Dow components in positive territory. Altria Group (MO 83.68, -0.07) is making a bid to see green figures as it is garnering support from news that the Supreme Court upheld the Illinois Supreme Court's decision to overturn the $10.1 bln verdict against Philip Morris USA in the marketing of its "light" cigarettes. DJ30 -141.64 NASDAQ -46.84 SP500 -16.01 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2400/569/1.26 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2625/587/964 mln

1:25 pm : Inasmuch as the dollar's weakness is being cited as a reason for today's sell-off, it is understandable that we are seeing corresponding strength in gold prices since a weak dollar is known to evoke inflation fears while at the same time making the yellow metal more affordable to foreign buyers. Gold futures are currently up $11.60 at $647.00 per ounce. The biggest move within the commodities complex today, however, is being made by silver which is up 3.70% to $13.72 per troy ounce. Commodities, in general, are faring well as measured by the 1.40% gain in the CRB Index. DJ30 -150.37 NASDAQ -48.85 SP500 -17.00 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2400/552/1.13 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2637/592/867 mln

1:00 pm : Stocks can't get the motor into forward gear today as they are being pressured by selling interest that has been prominent since the start of trading. Strikingly, as the equity market's losses have mounted, the Treasury market's losses have been pared. To wit, the 10-year note was down 11 ticks before the stock market opened and is now up one tick with its yield at 4.54%. The performance of the Treasury market is anecdotal evidence that the dollar weakness excuse for the stock market's problems is being overplayed. If there were strong concern's about the dollar's performance, theTreasury market would be squarely on the defensive as well. In brief, the dollar's weakness is a convenient excuse to take some profits from the stock market. DJ30 -145.97 NASDAQ -48.13 SP500 -16.51 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2358/573/1.03 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2587/617/789 mln

12:25 pm : The indices remained mired in negative territory as buyers have been slow to force a recovery effort like they have normally done in recent weeks. Their reluctance to do so appears to be driven by a sense that the market is overdue for a pullback and the recognition that today's loss leaders are the market's two most influential groups - Financial and Technology. Small-cap shares are combining with big-cap technology issues to represent the stocks hardest hit by profit taking today. DJ30 -120.49 NASDAQ -40.77 NQ100 -1.70%% R2K -2.00%% SP500 -13.29 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2312/582/906 mln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2546/606/688 mln

[UpInArms]

62. sweeping the floor (very slippery) and closing the door

Dow 12,121.71 158.46 (1.29%)
Nasdaq 2,405.92 54.34 (2.21%)
S&P 500 1,381.90 19.05 (1.36%)
10-Yr Bond 4.538% 0.01

NYSE Volume 2,723,897,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,027,930,000

Bulls have had their share of good days since mid-July. Today wasn't one of them. The major indices sold off in noticeable fashion, pressured by a lack of upside leadership and a prevailing sense that the market is overdue for a correction.

The popular reasons cited for the poor showing included concerns about the dollar's weakness and a disappointing same-store sales update from Wal-Mart (WMT 46.61, -1.29). Both reasons, frankly, were overplayed as catalysts for the reversal of fortune. Briefing.com's belief in that respect is owed to the understanding that a weaker dollar is good for multinational profit growth while Wal-Mart is known to have company-specific problems.

If the dollar concerns were as pronounced as they were made out to be the Treasury market would have been hit hard as well. That wasn't the case as the 10-year note recouped early losses and traded up five ticks to bring its yield down to 4.53%.

Meanwhile, Wal-Mart's report that November same-store sales are now estimated to decline approximately 0.1% versus a prior estimate for sales to be flat contradicted communications from industry sources, such as the National Retail Federation and ShopperTrak, that suggested the holiday selling season got off to a solid start for retailers in general.

The most practical explanation for the weakness today is that it was overdue considering the market has run virtually unabated from its low in mid-July. It can't go up in a straight line forever. With so much emphasis being placed on the positives lately, and some market indicators like the Volatility Index ("VIX") flashing signs of complacency, it was not unusual to see the market latch on to some incrementally negative news (eg., dollar weakness) as an excuse to take profits.

Separately, the S&P's failure to hold above the 1400 level and a forecast from Goldman Sachs that put the S&P 500 only 4.0% higher from Friday's close by September 2007 were added sparks for the profit-taking move.

The selling activity was broad-based, and fittingly, was concentrated among the market's better-performing areas of late. To that end, the Technology sector (-2.50%) was the loss leader; but it had ample company with the Financial sector (-1.60%), Materials sector (-1.50%) and Consumer Discretionary sector (-1.40%) trailing in its wake.

The Energy sector (-0.30%) was a pocket of relative strength, garnering support from talk of a potential OPEC production cut in December and a forecast for cooler temperatures to arrive soon that lifted crude futures back above $60 per barrel.

In a reflection of the broad-based nature of today's retreat, all ten economic sectors posted a loss and only four S&P industry groups managed a gain, the largest of which was posted by the gold group (+0.20%) whose strength stemmed from inflationary concerns brought on by the weaker dollar and the understanding that a weaker dollar makes the yellow metal more affordable for foreign buyers.DJ30 -158.38 NASDAQ -54.34 NQ100 -2.20%% R2K -2.60%% SP400 -2.00%% SP500 -19.00 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2440/585/1.87 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2697/624/1.46 bln

3:30 pm : Indices continue to scrape the bottom with a half hour to go, pressured by a lack of upside leadership and a general sense that the market is ripe for a pullback. The Technology sector (-2.40%) remains the loss leader today, but has plenty of company as seven of ten economic sectors are showing a loss of 1.00% or more. The Treasury market is garnering support from a safe-haven trade as an anticipated pullback in stocks is prompting some rotation into Treasuries. DJ30 -156.38 NASDAQ -52.13 SP500 -18.21 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2455/550/1.61 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2710/580/1.25 bln

3:00 pm : There has been little change in the indices since the last report, which is to say they remain near their worst levels of the session. Tomorrow there won't be any shortage of market-moving headlines. There are several noteworthy economic releases on the docket - Durable Orders, Consumer COnfidence and Existing Home Sales - and a litany of speeches from influential government officials that include Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke. Secretary Paulson will talk about global capital markets and trade at a conference in London while Dr. Bernanke will be giving a speech on the economic outlook to the National Italian American Foundation.DJ30 -165.67 NASDAQ -50.98 SP500 -19.00 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2417/591/1.48 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2658/621/1.15 bln

and a check on the buck

oops!

Last trade 83.50 Change 0.00 (0.00%)

[54anickel]

64. 2007 outlook: Don't sweat housing

http://money.cnn.com/2006/11/27/markets/citigroup_outlook/index.htm

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- A top economist and market strategist at Citigroup both said Monday morning they did not think the housing slowdown is going to cause the economy to plunge into a recession or the stock market to fall into a tailspin in 2007.

Speaking at a breakfast for financial reporters at the company's headquarters in New York, Citigroup senior economist Steven Wieting said that concerns about a recession due to softness in the housing market are overdone.

In fact, Wieting said that if the housing market had not cooled this year, that would have presented a greater risk to the economy since it most likely would have led to increased inflation and probably more interest rate hikes from the Federal Reserve.

"Without the housing downturn, the economy would be overheating and there would be more inflation and tightening pressures," he said.

Wieting indicated that perhaps too much attention is being paid to the housing market and that there would need to be more than just a real estate slowdown to cause widespread pain to the consumer. He pointed out that consumers have so far withstood weakness in housing as well as a steady rise in the price of oil and gas over the past few years.

more... :eyes: