STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday July 24

[ozymandius]

Source: DU

Tuesday July 24, 2007

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 548/font] LONG DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 2391 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 2103 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 2064
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 10
Enron execs conveniently deceased = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54

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

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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 July 23, 2007

Dow... 13,943.42 +92.34 (+0.67%)
Nasdaq... 2,690.58 +2.98 (+0.11%)
S&P 500... 1,541.57 +7.47 (+0.49%)
Gold future... 681.50 -3.20 (-0.47%)
30-Year Bond 5.07% +0.00 (+0.06%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.96% +0.01 (+0.16%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie and Silver

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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

---

Read more: DU

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Market WrapUp

Sovereign Wealth Funds
Where Will the Money Flow?
BY TONY ALLISON

The rise of once-docile Sovereign Wealth Funds and their trillions of dollars of foreign currency reserves may emerge into dominant institutions within a few short years. Sovereign Wealth Funds have been around, but are just beginning to flex their muscles. As the name implies, they are investment funds representing sovereign nations that are now pouring a portion of their massive foreign currency reserves into funds that will invest in areas beyond the traditional treasury bonds. The funds will be investing in stocks, corporate bonds, commodities and private companies, looking for much faster growth and higher returns. The major players are China, Norway, Russia, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and a dozen other countries with hefty trade surpluses. They will no doubt be joined by Japan and India shortly. Don’t expect the US to join the club, as we sport an annual trade deficit of nearly $900 billion and must borrow $2.5 billion a day to keep the lights on.

Serious Wealth

The capital available to the Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWF’s) is staggering, but it’s only the beginning. According to analyst Stephen Jen of Morgan Stanley, SWF’s currently have approximately $2.5 trillion available to invest. Jen estimates, conservatively, that the total for all SWF’s will reach $5 trillion before 2010 and hit $12 trillion by 2015. That is some serious wealth. Jen expects the world’s reserves to grow at a much slower pace, and by 2011 he estimates the Sovereign Wealth Funds will surpass the world’s official foreign currency reserves at $6.5 trillion.

The implications are enormous. The massive shift of hundreds of billions and perhaps trillions of dollars from sovereign bond markets into other assets will have profound effects. Even if the SWF’s decide not to sell their Treasury bonds (and they might), but just cap new purchases, the effects will be harsh for the US treasury markets, and ultimately the US dollar. To feed our insatiable and endless appetite for borrowed foreign currency, the US will be forced to raise rates significantly to attract foreign capital. Or perhaps the Fed will just print the money and buy the bonds. Either path will lead to higher inflation.

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

[ozymandius]

2. no gubbermint numbers today n/t

[ozymandius]

3. Oil prices fall to near $74 a barrel

Oil prices continued to fall Tuesday on worries that crude prices have risen too high in recent weeks and speculation that recent OPEC comments may signal a less bullish position on production and supplies.

Light, sweet crude for September delivery lost 84 cents to $74.05 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midday in Europe. On Monday, the contract had fallen 90 cents to $74.89 a barrel.

September Brent crude dropped 94 cents to $75.92 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

A fair price for crude oil is between $60 and $65 a barrel, Hasan Qabazard, head of research for the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told Dow Jones Newswires on Monday — leading some to conclude the cartel may be open to reversing its long-held position that oil supplies are adequate.

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

[ozymandius]

4. BP net profit gains 1.5 percent`

LONDON - BP PLC said Tuesday that second-quarter profit rose on the sale of the Coryton refinery in Britain and the West Texas pipeline in the United States to Occidental Petroleum Corp.

The company, in its first results since Tony Hayward succeeded John Browne as chief executive on May 1, reported net profit of $7.38 billion (5.34 billion euros) for the quarter, up from $7.27 billion in the same period a year earlier. Revenue was $73.1 billion (52.9 billion euros), compared with $73.2 billion a year earlier.

Profit, excluding exceptional items and changes in inventories, was $5.35 billion (3.87 billion euros), down 12 percent on the comparable period a year ago.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_britain_bp_1

[ozymandius]

9. Gas prices, energy futures fall

NEW YORK - Gas prices dropped below a national average of $3 a gallon over the weekend, while energy futures had their own decline Monday on suggestions that OPEC may increase its output.

Hasan Qabazard, research director of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries, told Dow Jones Newswires he thinks oil is fairly valued at $60 to $65 a barrel, leading some to conclude the cartel may be open to reversing its long-held position that oil supplies are adequate.

"I'm shocked, they had a sudden change of heart," Phil Flynn, an analyst with Alaron Trading Corp. in Chicago, said of OPEC.

-cut-

Natural gas futures fell sharply on the Nymex, tumbling 40.7 cents to settle at $6.039 per 1,000 cubic feet on growing supplies and mild temperatures, which are keeping demand in check. The drop added to last week's 21.6-cent decline, but it was too early to tell if it would translate into lower heating costs next winter.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070723/ap_on_bi_ge/oil_prices_21

[mojavekid]

33. FT: Falling dollar puts pressure on Opec

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/743a52a2-3959-11dc-ab48-0000779fd2ac.html

The falling US dollar is lowering the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries’ purchasing power by up to a third, making the powerful oil cartel more reluctant to increase production and cut prices.

Although oil is trading near last August’s record $78.65 a barrel, Opec calculations show that, when adjusted for the weaker dollar and inflation, an average of the 12 Opec members’ crude oil prices has fallen in the past year.

The adjusted “Opec basket price” averaged only $43.60 a barrel in June compared with $44.30 a barrel in the same month last year, according to the organisation’s latest monthly report.

Growing trade between Opec members, especially in the Middle East and North Africa, and the European Union is aggravating the problem because the pound and the euro have risen.

The dollar on Monday fell to an all-time low against the euro of $1.3844 and a 26-year low against sterling, at more than $2.06.

Mohamed Bin Dhaen al Hamli, Opec president, said at its latest meeting three months ago that the cartel was “concerned about the continuing weakness of the US dollar” because “this is having a significant effect on the purchasing power of oil producing countries”.

Since then, the dollar has continued to fall against the euro and sterling.

more...

[roamer65]

40. Delete.

[ozymandius]

70. This will also encourage them to sell oil in currency other than dollars.

Iran is doing it with China and Japan. Not surprising if this becomes the norm in the next few months.

[ozymandius]

5. DuPont profit is below consensus

WILMINGTON, Del. - Chemical giant DuPont Co. on Tuesday reported second-quarter earnings similar to year-ago results as higher sales were offset by the cost of energy and accelerated biotech research.

International sales growth and higher local selling prices helped offset the impact of continuing weakness in the housing and automotive markets, and DuPont reaffirmed its outlook for the full year.

Net income slipped to $972 million from $975 million a year ago, with earnings per share flat at $1.04. Excluding a tax benefit of 3 cents per share in the prior-year period, earnings would have been $1.01 per share for the 2006 quarter.

Sales grew 6 percent to $7.88 billion from $7.44 billion a year earlier, helped by higher local prices, the weak dollar, international volume growth and higher pharmaceutical income.

The company said these gains were partially offset by higher ingredient costs and increased cost investments primarily to accelerate biotech research and development, expand global sales coverage in seeds, and increase production capacity in Kevlar and Nomex and select China facilities.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_dupont

[ozymandius]

6. Eli Lilly profit slips on charges

INDIANAPOLIS - Eli Lilly and Co. said Tuesday its second-quarter profit declined 19 percent on research and development charges, but adjusted earnings topped Wall Street expectations as the company raised its outlook for the full year.

The drug maker reported that earnings fell to $663.6 million, or 61 cents per share, from $822 million, or 76 cents per share, in the previous year.

The latest-quarter's results were weighted by the acquisitions of Hypnion Inc. and Ivy Animal Health Inc., which sapped 29 cents per share. Excluding one-time charges, adjusted earnings totaled $978.7 million, or 90 cents per share.

-cut-

Analysts expected net income of 82 cents per share on sales of $4.39 billion, according to a Thomson Financial poll.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_eli_lilly

[ozymandius]

7. PepsiCo profit rises 13 percent

NEW YORK - PepsiCo Inc., the world's second-largest soft drink maker, said Tuesday its second-quarter profit rose 13 percent on the strength of 18 percent growth in international sales.

Profit for the quarter ended June 16 was $1.56 billion, or 94 cents per share, up from $1.38 billion, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue rose 10 percent to $9.6 billion from $8.71 billion last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had predicted 89 cents per share on revenue of $9.38 billion. Consensus estimates usually exclude one-time items.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_on_bi_ge/earns_pepsico

[ozymandius]

8. (cognitive dissonance alert!) Paulson says backs strong U.S. dollar

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson repeated on Monday that a strong dollar was in the U.S. interest and currency values should be set in free and open markets.

"We feel very strongly, I do, that a strong dollar is in our nation's interest," Paulson said on CNBC television. "The dollar's value should be determined in a competitive marketplace, based upon underlying economic fundamentals."

He added that he felt the same way about the value of other currencies.

The U.S. dollar's value has declined for five consecutive weeks, battered by turmoil in U.S. credit markets due to worries about fallout from mushrooming defaults in the subprime mortgage sector. On Monday the greenback recovered slightly from a record low against the euro of $1.385 and stabilized at near 12-year lows against a basket of other major currencies.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070723/bs_nm/economy_paulson_dollar_dc

[The Good Doctor]

11. A Depression of Biblical Proportions Will Visit Us Shortly: Don't Be Fooled.

The housing slump extends beyond houses
The drop has pulled the rug out from under rug sellers ... and landscapers, appliance dealers, plumbers and others.
By James Thorner, Times Staff Writer
Published July 22, 2007

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/07/22/Business/The_housing_slump_ext.shtml



As one of the Tampa Bay area's largest landscaping companies, Raymow thrived servicing new home buyers of companies such as Standard-Pacific and Transeastern homes.
Now Standard Pacific's Florida sales are in retreat. Transeastern has tanked and its corporate name will vanish under new ownership.
Housing's economic ripple has rolled over Raymow. The Oldsmar company projects $5-million less in sales than originally forecast and has laid off about 100 of 320 employees.
"We've had a hurt put on us for sure," vice president Wendy Andrews-Fine said.
Almost everyone's heard about the pain the crumbling housing market has inflicted on building trades, real estate agents and mortgage lenders. But the tremors have cascaded from the inner circle to more distant, but related, industries.
Think furniture stores, appliance dealers, pickup sellers - even the CSX trains that lug lumber to Tampa to build homes.
"It's weighing down the economy and it's shaved growth off. There's no doubt about that," said Sean Snaith, a University of Central Florida economist who tracks the economies of Florida's metropolitan areas.
But economists like Snaith caution that a slowdown in one of the region's largest industries hasn't dragged the overall economy into recession, even in Slump Central like the Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area. That's not to say a recession couldn't happen should the real estate outlook darken further, but it hasn't happened through the middle of 2007.
Job creation, though much reduced thanks to construction layoffs, hasn't stopped. Personal income is the best gauge of whether consumers will continue to spend. It has risen locally about 6 percent the past year, fueling retail sales. Florida's gross state product, the measure of all economic activity in the state, continues to rise.
"It's clear housing hasn't been able to knock the economy off track," said Ken Simonson, economist with the Associated General Contractors of America in Arlington, Va.
But Simonson isn't in the business of dispensing happy talk: "I do expect to hear about a lot of bankruptcies in businesses that furnished and equipped a home or yard."
Jeff Bloom knows what he's talking about. Bloom's family has run Ethan Allen furniture stores in and around Tampa since 1967. Since late last year, customers just aren't coming through the doors at his design centers in Tampa, Citrus Park and Brandon.
Construction of a planned Wesley Chapel store, a community that until early 2006 was the throbbing heart of housing's growth spurt, has been placed on hold.
A chain of upscale furniture stores called Storehouse, with a branch near Bloom's Citrus Park store, went bankrupt last year and closed.
"We have to wait and see when housing's coming back before we can justify building," Bloom said. "This is as rough as we've seen it in many, many years."
When St. Petersburg builder Construction Compliance Inc. filed for bankruptcy this year, one of the first things seized was its pickups.
Tom Castriota, owner of Castriota Chevrolet in Hudson, has noted the same phenomenon in Pasco County: a glut of pickups for sale on U.S. 19 from idled plumbers and other tradesmen.

[Roland99]

14. Wow! Someone finally put it out there!!

same domino effect that hit during the dot-com burst

[ozymandius]

18. Alan Greenscam can reap the credit

for steering so many people toward financial ruin. It was his shitty financial advice to acquire an ARM. It was his sure-fire recipe for easy home ownership. To boot - these were the most unequivocal words he uttered in over a decade.

So I wonder: was Greenscam malicious or just plain stupid? Either way he hurt and will continue to bruise millions of people for years to come.

[olddad56]

61. I wouldn't balme Greenspan, I'd blanme the Bush Admin.

[Warpy]

21. Gee whiz, Thorner got around to reading what I wrote a year ago!

Good for him. Or he finally figured it out when dismal sales figures began to pile up and factory workers started being laid off, and some plants closed outright. What an amazing intellect.

However, what will cause the true crunch is the DEBT that people incurred on all this stuff during the boom years. More and more of that debt is going to become uncollectable as the job market shrinks even more, as speculators find themselves in negative numbers and holding balloon mortgages on overbuilt housing, and as brokerages finally discover they were playing with fire when they bought up hedge funds full of derivative jockeys playing the subprime game. Some brokerages will loot their stockholders' porfolios in an attempt to stay afloat. It is impossible to know which ones ahead of time.

If you want to know where depressions come from, follow the debt. When wealth collects at the top and debt all sinks to the bottom, you are in for a period of extremely low consumer spending. When the consumer market, 2/3 of the economy, collapses, THAT is a depression.

[burf]

23. I saw this

and hope it hasn't been posted previously.

Trouble in Hedgistan: “Its gonna get a lot worse”
By Mike Whitney

07/21/07 "ICH" -- -- Two columns of black smoke can be seen rising over Wall Street and disappearing into the ice-blue New York sky.

Terrorism?

Not quite. The plumes of smoke are all that’s left of two major hedge funds which blew up just weeks ago leaving nothing behind but a few smoldering embers and a mound of black soot

more at http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article18051.htm

[DemReadingDU]

31. Great article

from the Mike Whitney article...
If anyone still has any doubts about the magnitude of fiasco, I recommend they look over these eye-popping charts which tell the whole story. The housing blowdown will spread the carnage from “sea to shining sea”.

http://www.itulip.com/forums/showthread.php?p=12232#post12232

[Roland99]

67. Doesn't paint a pretty picture does it?

[DemReadingDU]

68. Ugly

and so very sad. So many people have been hoodwinked that having a huge mortgage is an investment. Not.
It is a big debt, an albatross around one's neck.

[DemReadingDU]

28. But some people I know, spend, spend, spend

They have lots of credit cards, and even more debt. Even with the higher price of gas and groceries, it is charge, charge, charge.

I guess when they can't find a way to pay the rent/mortgage, they finally stop spending?

[Warpy]

32. They're still being allowed to ignore those net worth numbers

and when they look at the cars, plasma TV sets, sports equipment, clothing, granite countertops, and all the other accoutrements of the high life, they think they're solidly middle class.

The bill is going to come due. When it does, they'll start to realize they've been poor all along. The bill will come due. The present system of unrestricted consumer spending supported by unrestricted debt is unsustainable both nationally and personally.

In the Depression, people who were unable to get out of debt just went out the front door, turned the key in the lock, and walked away from all the things they thought they owned but found out the debt holder really did. Likely it will be the same this time.

[Hugin]

52. Welcome to DU and thanks for all of your great input here in SMW today!

:thumbsup:

[Roland99]

12. We need a more strongly weak dollar!

or is that a weakly strong dollar?

[Hugin]

50. See what happens when you lie?

:rofl:

[DoBotherMe]

53. LOL!

That made me spit my tea ... funny stuff here in the market watch! Dana ; )

[ozymandius]

10. U.S. stocks futures slip ahead of bell

NEW YORK - Stock prices appeared headed to a lower opening Tuesday as investors digested a number of key earnings reports including disappointing results from DuPont Co. and Texas Instruments Inc.

Stock prices had rebounded on Monday amid another round of buyout news, and optimism about second-quarter results after Merck & Co. surpassed analysts' expectations. Dozens of companies in the Standard & Poor's 500 index are set to report on Tuesday.

There will be little in the way of economic news, and some investors might position themselves ahead of key housing data to be released Wednesday when the National Association of Realtors reports on existing home sales for June.

Dow futures expiring in September fell 22, or 0.15 percent, to 13,989, while Standard & Poor's 500 index futures shed 2.70, or 0.17 percent, to 1,546.30. Nasdaq 100 index futures dropped 7.25, or 0.35 percent, to 2,046.25.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070724/ap_on_bi_st_ma_re/wall_street

[The Good Doctor]

13. A Depression is on it's way

http://finance.yahoo.com/intlindices?e=europe

British markets sinking bigtime.

[ozymandius]

15. Welcome to D.U., The Good Doctor, and the Stock Market Watch

:toast:

:hi: Ozymandius

[Ghost Dog]

25. European shares hit by falling resource stocks

http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft2-com/html-story.asp?pulse=true&siteid=ft&dist=ft&guid=%7B13e4fb47%2D4e2f%2D4d55%2Da9cb%2D7ee2cccfa6f2%7D

European equities fell on Tuesday as gains for carmakers and other auto-sector stocks were offset by losses in the oil, mining and utilities sectors. In lunchtime exchanges, the FTSE Eurofirst 300 was down 0.4 per cent to 1,602.8, Frankfurt’s Xetra Dax shed 0.7 per cent to 7,888.3, the CAC 40 in Paris was 0.5 per cent lower at 5,978.16, and London’s FTSE 100 lost 0.8 per cent to 6,569.6. Peugeot, the French carmaker, was one of the top gainers on the Eurofirst 300 after Morgan Stanley said there was a ”high probability of surprise and delight” with its first-half earnings, pulished on Wednesday. ”Earnings have the potential to quadruple from 2006 lows with positive impact on the share price,” the broker said, adding that new chief executive Christian Strieff, in the company’s ”rapidly approaching” strategic review would target operating margins of at least 6 per cent by 2010. The shares, already benefitting from Exane BNP’s price target upgrade on Monday, rose 3 per cent to €67. Domestic rival Renault, also expected to report a rise in profits, mainly due to cost cuts, gained 1.7 per cent to €115.40

[Ghost Dog]

26. Fall in UK export orders hits confidence

http://mwprices.ft.com/custom/ft2-com/html-story.asp?pulse=true&siteid=ft&dist=ft&guid=%7B5c437ff2%2D0eca%2D428d%2D856f%2D685daac224be%7D

UK export orders have fallen “noticeably” for the first time in 18 months, contributing to lower demand growth for manufactured goods and a hit to hitting business confidence, the CBI employers’ organisation said on Tuesday. In a weaker-than-expected survey of industrial trends, the CBI said total new orders in the three months to July grew at the slowest rate since last autumn and that firms’ companies’ order books had dropped relative to compared with normal levels. But it added that demand growth remained above average compared to with the last decade. The survey of 576 companies, conducted between June 21 and July 11, suggested that the strength of the pound, the US economic slowdown and the rising cost of commodities, including oil, were beginning to take their toll.Nevertheless, Ian McCafferty, CBI chief economic adviser, cautioned against calling an end to the manufacturing recovery, saying the survey also showed manufacturers’ investment intentions had picked up and that falls in employment had slowed. “While the recent manufacturing growth looks to have moved down a notch, we should not be speculating about an end to this year’s manufacturing recovery,” he said.

[Ghost Dog]

27. Asian Stocks Rise on Earnings Outlook, Led by KDDI and Ping An

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=a1MIW1IXbots&refer=asia

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Asian stocks rose, driving a regional benchmark to a high, after KDDI Corp. and Samsung Heavy Industries Co. reported increased earnings.

KDDI, Japan's second-biggest mobile-phone carrier, jumped the most in eight weeks after it said earnings improved, while record quarterly profit helped lift Samsung Heavy. Ping An Insurance (Group) Co. jumped the most in a month after saying net income may have more than doubled in the first half.

``There's been some improvements in terms of earnings and that confirms our strategy so far,'' said Thue Isen, who helps manage about $1 billion in Asian equities at Bankinvest Group in Singapore. ``I don't really see any risks to markets right now from within the region.''

BHP Billiton Ltd. climbed after the company said annual output for eight of its main commodities rose to a record, setting the world's largest miner up for its largest profit.

The Morgan Stanley Capital International Asia Pacific Index added 0.9 percent to 161.40 as of 1:45 p.m. in Tokyo, having yesterday slid 0.4 percent from a high of 160.72. All 10 of the measure's industry groups advanced.

The Nikkei 225 Stock Average added 0.1 percent to 17,983.46. Samsung Electronics Co. led a 0.5 percent retreat in South Korea's Kospi index, which today touched 2,000 for the first time, after the won rose to its highest this year against the dollar. Other markets open for trading rose, except the Philippines.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

29. Tokyo stocks rebound but gains limited before election

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/070724/kyodo/d8qipo8o1.html

(Kyodo) Tokyo stocks staged a mild rebound Tuesday following overnight gains in U.S. shares, but gains were limited amid a wait-and-see mood ahead of the House of Councillors election on Sunday and upcoming earnings announcements by Sony and other major companies.

The 225-issue Nikkei Stock Average rose 38.39 points, or 0.21 percent, on the day to 18,002.03. The broader Topix index of all First Section issues on the Tokyo Stock Exchange gained 8.70 points, or 0.50 percent, to 1,765.99.

Buying took the upper hand after U.S. shares rebounded overnight, but the upward momentum was not so strong, as seen in the benchmark Nikkei's temporary decline into minus territory.

Brokers said that although Monday's rebound on Wall Street provided some relief to the Tokyo market, investors remained cautious about making bullish bets ahead of a series of possible market-moving events, and are being influenced as well by the yen's recent appreciation.

"A slew of key events are coming up, including the upper house election and earnings announcements, and that is making it hard for investors to buy aggressively now, or even to launch into bargain-hunting," said Yutaka Miura, deputy head of Shinko Securities Co.'s equity information division.

Market attention on the election has increased as a result of recent media polls showing that the ruling coalition could lose its majority in the upper house.

/..

[Ghost Dog]

30. Samsung Heavy, Daewoo Shipbuilding Have Record Profit, Orders

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601080&sid=axpL._adWVdU&refer=asia

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- Samsung Heavy Industries Co., the world's second-largest shipyard, reported record profit and Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Co., the third-biggest, set an all-time high for orders on booming demand for vessels.

Samsung Heavy said today that net income in the April-June quarter more than quadrupled on contracts for oil and gas tankers. Daewoo Shipbuilding said contracts this month have reached $4 billion, an industry record. Both companies are based in Seoul.

Shipyards in South Korea, the world's biggest shipbuilding country, will probably report all-time high earnings this year as they book contracts at record prices. A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S, the world's largest shipping line, and its peers have spent more on vessels for about five years to move more raw materials to China and take away finished goods to the U.S. and Europe.

``Earnings are looking good for shipyards and ship prices will probably remain at record levels,'' said Mo Jae Sung, who helps manage $1.6 billion at Hanwha Investment Trust Management Co. in Seoul. ``Samsung Heavy's announcement has raised expectations that earnings at others will also be very good. There are more new orders than what a lot of people had expected earlier this year.''

Shares of Daewoo Shipbuilding climbed as much as 3.8 percent to 62,200 won and traded at 51,500 won as of 12:31 p.m. in Seoul. Shares of Samsung Heavy rose as much as 2.8 percent to 52,300 won.

The two companies raised their targets for new contracts in 2007 by as much as 55 percent earlier this month because of the strong demand for vessels that can carry containers, coal and other products.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

45. European shares end down on US economic concerns

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=eurMktRpt&storyID=2007-07-24T164206Z_01_L24255058_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-EUROPE-STOCKS-UPDATE-3.XML

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - European shares fell on Tuesday as unease grew over the outlook for the U.S. economy, which offset upbeat results from Akzo Nobel (AKZO.AS: Quote, Profile , Research) and a strong production report from top miner BHP Billiton (BHP.AX: Quote, Profile , Research) (BLT.L: Quote, Profile , Research).

A series of disappointing results from some of the U.S. bellwether companies has unsettled European investors who are already grappling with record strength in their currency, wide credit spreads and patchy earnings so far this quarter.

The FTSEurofirst 300 index <.FTEU3> of top European shares ended 1.5 percent lower at 1,585.62 points. The index is still up 7 percent in the year to date but is on course for its biggest monthly slide since February.

"From a charting point of view, if you look over the short term, over the last month or two, the markets really do look like they're finally reaching a peak," said CMC Markets dealer James Yates.

"We can press on (towards new highs) ... on the main European indexes if we get some good results ... If we get some poor results, we will definitely have reached a top," he said.

Banks were the biggest negative weight on the index, with HSBC shares (HSBA.L: Quote, Profile , Research) down 1.6 percent, followed by energy companies, which were hit by a 2 percent slide in crude oil futures <LCOc1>.

Shares in BP (BP.L: Quote, Profile , Research) and Total (TOTF.PA: Quote, Profile , Research) were two of the biggest negative weights on the broader market.

Profits at BP fell less than expected in the second quarter but the company's shares fell 1.9 percent, while shares in French oil company Total fell 2.3 percent.

Royal Dutch Shell (RDSb.L: Quote, Profile , Research) lost 2.7 percent.

Around Europe, Germany's DAX index <.GDAXI> shed 1.7 percent, Britain's FTSE 100 index .FTSE fell 1.9 percent, and France's CAC 40 <.FCHI> lost 1.7 percent.

/...

[Ghost Dog]

46. FTSE down on subprime lending woes, US market drop

http://investing.reuters.co.uk/news/articleinvesting.aspx?type=londonMktRpt&storyID=2007-07-24T162210Z_01_L24771798_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BRITAIN-STOCKS-UPDATE-2.XML

LONDON, July 24 (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 .FTSE of Britain's leading shares ended down 1.9 percent after touching a nearly one-month low on Tuesday after U.S. subprime mortgage worries and a sell-off in U.S. markets hit shares.

U.S. stocks fell at the open as disappointing profits from DuPont Co. (DD.N: Quote, Profile , Research) and Countrywide Financial Corp (CFC.N: Quote, Profile , Research) heightened fears over a housing slump, subprime lending and earnings growth.

The FTSE 100 was 125.7 points lower at 6,498.7, extending earlier losses after an unexpected fall in British factory orders dragged stocks into the red.

"The chickens are coming home to roost. People are now concerned that subprime lending is going to affect credit and liquidity," said David Buik of Cantor Index.

"Though valuations of individual stocks look in good shape, the market looks a bit heavy, and we're having a little bit of a shakeout," he added.

Insurers featured heavily on the downside, with Old Mutual (OML.L: Quote, Profile , Research) dipping 3.9 percent and Legal & General (LGEN.L: Quote, Profile , Research) down 2.8 percent as traders cited both subprime lending concerns and a pullback after the sector rose due to M&A activity on Monday.

But the oil sector was the standout loser, accounting for 27 negative index points as London Brent crude <LC0c1> traded at about $75 a barrel -- its third day of losses -- on further assurances of OPEC's readiness to boost supplies and on expectations of higher fuel stockpiles in the United States.

/...

[UpInArms]

16. dollar watch

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

Last trade 80.153 Change -0.156 (-0.19%)

US Dollar Recovers: But the Losses May Not be Over

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/bio1/US_Dollar_Recovers__But_the_1185224307694.html

Equities, bond yields and the US dollar all recovered today amidst the lack of any US economic data. However, none of these assets managed to regain all of Friday’s losses, which suggests that the selling may not be over. This week’s major event risks do not come until Wednesday at which time we will learn more about how much the situation in the housing market has worsened. If existing and new home sales continue to fall, then Fed Chairman Bernanke’s claim that things will get worse before they better is supported. If they rebound however the market will continue to downplay the risks of a collapse in the housing market, just as they have in the past. It has become a “show me” world, where the investors need proof before bailing out of the risky positions that have afforded them consistent profits. The continual rise in high yielding currencies such as the British pound, New Zealand and Australian dollars is a clear sign that the market hasn’t given up on assuming risk. Don’t expect the US government to stand in the way of further dollar weakness either. They will continue to pay lip service to a strong dollar policy, while banking on a weak dollar to pull the US economy out of its current slump. One of the primary reasons why the housing market has not collapsed yet and why the stock market remains not far from its record highs is because of the widespread benefits of a weak dollar. The manufacturing sector is recovering strongly thanks to booming exports. The latest survey of business economists revealed that profit margins increased for the 16th straight quarter. Optimism is increasing which has translated into stronger capital spending and productivity. Even though traders and investors are nervous about the housing market, they will need to see proof of the situation deteriorating before bailing – at which time a true liquidation will not be as forgiving as the corrections that we have seen over the past 2 months.

...more...

USDJPY Head and Shoulder Break - Objective at 119.45

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/dailyfx_reports/daily_technicals/USDJPY_Head_and_Shoulder_Break_1185278525052.html



Commentary: The EURUSD remains below 1.3843 (yesterday’s high) before pulling back to the 1.3800 figure. The two near term moves that we view as having the highest probabilities are, 1.) that an ending diagonal is unfolding from 1.3752 and 2.) that a flat is unfolding from 1.3752. In the first instance, the EURUSD will spike through the 1.3843 before reversing and trading to at least 1.3752. In the second instance, the pair will continue lower from current levels and initial support is just below 1.3752. We are showing the flat scenario on the chart.



Commentary: We wrote yesterday that “intraday charts show a head and shoulders pattern forming from the beginning of June as well. The pattern is confirmed on a break below 120.75. The next level of support would be the 50% fibo of 115.14-124.13 at 119.64.” The USDJPY broke below the neckline and is currently testing the line as resistance. From an EW standpoint, a double zigzag may be unfolding from 124.13. The first a-b-c decline (wave W) is from 124.13-120.97. Wave X is from 120.97-122.60 and wave Y is underway now (will either be an a-b-c or i-ii-iii-iv-v). Waves W and Y would be equal at 119.45, very close to the mentioned 50% fibo at 116.64 and 1 pip away from the 5/11 low at 119.46. We are looking for a decline to this level.

...more...

[DemReadingDU]

17. $79.87 at 9:10am

http://www.kitco.com/market/index.html


:wow:


lowest I've ever seen the dollar fall

[Buttercup McToots]

19. Wow....

Hi Dem...
I is watchin` it...
Ye think the PPT will come in?
:hi:

[DemReadingDU]

22. Market down at opening

Guess we will see what happens this afternoon.

:hi:

[ozymandius]

20. Where will it settle?

The charts that UpInArms posted suggest that we can expect volatility and dithering around unfavorable margins. But at which point does the dollar lose support to a precipitous degree? When does wholesale dollar dumping overseas (see today's WrapUp) become the way Forex traders start their day?

[mojavekid]

37. Daily Pfennig 7/24/07: Subprime Woes Go Global...

http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=1509

Good day... Without any data in the U.S. and a slow data day in Europe, the currency markets continued to track along their recent trend lines, which are US$ negative. The mood of the markets continues to be one of trepidation as traders wait to see just what the subprime mortgage mess will bring next. Traders continue to come to the realization that the U.S. housing slowdown and subprime mortgage mess will not go away quickly.

Data due out today and tomorrow will do little to calm their fears. The ABC Consumer Confidence number and Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index are the only two reports which will print today, and neither is expected to show much strength. Tomorrow we get a snapshot of the housing market with the release of MBA Mortgage Apps. & Existing Home Sales in the morning, followed by the release of the Fed's Beige Book in the afternoon. Existing Home Sales will be the driver of the markets and are expected to show a month-on-month drop of 2.1% in June.

With the markets nervous about this week's housing reports, the dollar weakened against all of the 109 most active currencies. Even the Japanese yen got in on the fun as it strengthened to a two-month high vs. the greenback. The dollar's slide accelerated after the dollar reached levels that triggered automatic sell orders.

News released yesterday shows the subprime rout is going global, as Reuters reported that Basis Capital Fund Management Ltd., an Australian hedge fund, is hiring Blackstone Group LP to advise the fund on limiting its losses. It seems Basis Capital Fund bought into the CDO markets, and these investments are falling fast. I also read that Japan's nine biggest banking groups have more than 1 trillion yen of combined holdings in products backed by U.S. subprime mortgages.

more...

[Ghost Dog]

48. Euro Sets Record Highs Against US Dollar on Stock Market Declines

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/currency/eur_news/Euro_Sets_Record_Highs_Against_1185300028502.html?engine=rss&keyword=article
Tuesday, 24 July 2007 17:59:14 GMT

The US dollar continued its losing ways, plumbing fresh record lows against the Euro and 26-year troughs versus the British Pound. Renewed declines in US equity markets and a subsequent drop in bond yields were the primary drivers of dollar weakness, with a simultaneous drop in oil prices not enough to offset dollar bearishness. Fundamental data likewise did little for USD performance; a lukewarm Richmond Federal Reserve Manufacturing Index cut optimism for US Industrial Production growth.

The Euro scaled to a record $1.3851 against the dollar before remaining nearly unchanged at $1.3811 through time of writing. British Pound traders were likewise relentless in their USD sell-off, sending Cable to 26-year peaks at $2.0651 before a retracement saw GBPUSD at $2.0620. The Japanese Yen continued its recent rally against the dollar, with the USDJPY down 0.36 points to ¥120.71 in later New York price action.

A sparse US economic calendar saw a slightly disappointing result out of this morning’s Richmond Fed Manufacturing survey. The headline number remained exactly unchanged at 4 through July—below consensus forecasts of a gain to 5. Though the disappointment was hardly earth-shattering, it did serve to moderate expectations of accelerating growth in the domestic manufacturing sector. Recent Institute of Supply Management reports showed that the broader sector saw its strongest performance in 12 months through June. Today’s Richmond Fed data suggests that the ISM number may remain flat through July, but there are clearly other factors that may determine the future direction of the closely-followed national index. Traders initially sent the US dollar lower on the worse-than-expected Richmond result, but a later greenback bounce signaled that markets were unwilling to force strong moves on the mid-tier economic release.

Domestic equity markets fared no better than the national currency, posting continued declines on poor earnings reports. The Dow Jones Industrial Average neared triple-digit losses at 96 points worse to 13,848. Tech stocks led the NASDAQ Composite 16 points off to 2,675, while the S&P 500 Index was the day’s biggest percentage loser at -12 to 1,529.45. Market losses were seemingly due to a renewed surge in global risk aversion, with the S&P 500 Volatility Index up 1.30 to 18.08—near the highs seen in the first quarter market correction. Continued gains in the VIX bode poorly for the future of US stock market performance, with subsequently bearish implications for the hugely popular foreign currency carry trade phenomenon. Simple calculations show that the VIX carries a strongly negative correlation with carry-favorites EURJPY, NZDJPY, AUDJPY, and GBPJPY. It is subsequently little coincidence that the jump in implied volatility coincides with a recent Japanese Yen rally.

A flight to safety initially led US Treasury debt prices higher on the day, but a later retrace left the benchmark 10-year note down 1/16 to 96 and 15/32. Yields inched ever so slightly higher at +1 bp to 4.96 percent.

/.

Watch on Swiss Franc (CHF), Pound Sterling (GBP)

[roamer65]

54. We should start calling this the "Dollar death watch".

:yoiks:

[ozymandius]

24. bloody bidness being dealt

9:41
Dow 13,828.07 Down 115.35 (0.83%)
Nasdaq 2,665.87 Down 24.71 (0.92%)
S&P 500 1,527.47 Down 14.10 (0.91%)
10-Yr Bond 4.944% Down 0.02
NYSE Volume 207,019,000
Nasdaq Volume 150,236,000

[mojavekid]

34. Bloomberg: KKR, Homeowners Face Funding Drain as CDO Sales Slow (Update1)

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aG18rnNeuGxc&refer=us

July 24 (Bloomberg) -- The Wall Street money-machine known as collateralized debt obligations is grinding to a halt, imperiling $8.6 billion in annual underwriting fees and reducing credit for everyone from buyout king Henry Kravis to homeowners.

Sales of the securities -- used to pool bonds, loans and their derivatives into new debt -- dwindled to $9.1 billion in the U.S. this month from $42 billion in June, analysts at New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in a report yesterday. The market, which was ``virtually shut'' earlier this month, is showing ``signs of life,'' the bank said.

Investors are shunning CDOs after the near-collapse of two hedge funds run by Bear Stearns Cos. that owned the securities. Standard & Poor's downgraded bonds from 75 CDOs as mortgages to people with poor credit defaulted at record rates. Concern about losses on home loans are rattling investors across the credit spectrum.

``We're walking on thin ice,'' said Alexander Baskov, a fund manager who helps oversee $25 billion of high-yield debt for Pictet Asset Management SA in Geneva. ``People are trying to find value and the right price and right now nobody knows what it is. Pretty much everyone is in the dark.''

Investors are demanding yields 10 percentage points higher than benchmark rates to compensate for the risk of losses on some of the lower investment-grade rated parts of CDOs, up from 4 percentage points at the start of the year, according to data compiled by Morgan Stanley in New York.

more...

[Buttercup McToots]

35. $79.92

:yoiks:

[ozymandius]

36. (reminder) Bush's Job Growth: Worst of the Last 40 Years

Heckuva job you're doing there Job Czar!

by bonddad
Tue Jul 24, 2007 at 04:37:29 AM PDT

For economic commentary and market analysis, go to the Bonddad Blog

Although the national economy is technically at "full employment" – meaning that all people who want to work can find jobs, the reality is Bush’s record of job creation is still the lowest of the last 40 years.

For these numbers, I used total nonfarm jobs from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The dates are the dates of the official business cycles from the National Bureau of Economic Research

2/61 - 12/69
Beginning number of jobs: 65,588,000
Ending number of jobs: 78,740,000
Total Jobs Created: 13,152,000
Compound rate of establishment job growth: 2.09%

11/70 - 11/73
Beginning number of jobs: 78,650,000
Ending number of jobs: 86,320,000
Total Jobs Created: 7,670,000
Compound rate of establishment job growth: 3.15%

3/75 - 1/80
Beginning number of jobs: 85,187,000
Ending number of jobs: 99,879,000
Total Jobs Created: 14,692,000
Compound rate of establishment job growth: 3.35%

11/82 - 7/90
Beginning number of jobs: 99,112,000
Ending number of jobs: 118,810,000
Total Jobs Created: 19,698,000
Compound rate of establishment job growth: 2.39%

3/91 - 3/01
Beginning number of jobs: 117,652,000
Ending number of jobs: 137,783,000
Total Jobs Created: 20,131,000
Compound rate of establishment job growth: 1.59%%

11/01 - ?
Beginning number of jobs: 136,238,000
Ending number of jobs: 146,140,000
Total Jobs Created: 9,902,000Compound rate of establishment job growth: 1.26%

But there are further problems with Bush’s employment numbers. The BLS uses a model called the "birth/death" model to account for new businesses that aren’t counted in the survey This means the most recent job reports -- those over the last 6-9 months -- are probably too high:

The BLS surveys about 160,000 businesses in its sample model. There is an unavoidable lag between an establishment opening for business and its appearing on the sample frame and being available for sampling. Because new firm "births" generate a significant portion of employment growth each month, non-sampling methods must be used to estimate this growth. To make up for this, they add or subtract a certain number of jobs, called the birth/death (of new businesses) ratio.
......
Remember the jobless recovery of the first Bush term and the constant criticism about the poor economy? Why was the economy doing so well and yet job creation was so poor? It turns out that a great deal of the explanation is that the BLS underestimated the number of new jobs being created by small business. In the early years of the recovery, rather badly.

Likewise, the BLS data will overestimate jobs when the economy is slowing down.

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2007/7/24/73729/9580

[Roland99]

38. Subprime problems spread to top-rated mortgages, (Countrywide) says

Countrywide quarterly profit tumbles; shares off 7%
Subprime problems spread to top-rated mortgages, lender says
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/countrywide-quarterly-profit-drops-losses/story.aspx?guid=%7B88821AE2%2D27FE%2D4E74%2DA96A%2D0FE326B14B29%7D

Countrywide Financial Corp. reported a 33% drop in second-quarter net income on Tuesday and signaled that problems in the subprime mortgage market have spread to the highest-quality home loans.

The warning pushed Countrywide shares down more than 7%, to their lowest level in almost two years. It also weighed on the broader stock market because investors have been waiting to see if credit problems in the subprime-mortgage sector would spill over into higher-rated, or "prime" home loans.

"The company incurred increased credit-related costs in the quarter, primarily related to its investments in prime home-equity loans," CEO Anthony Mozillo said in a press release detailing Countrywide's second-quarter financial results.

Countrywide's second-quarter net income fell 33% to $485 million, or 81 cents a share, down from $722 million, or $1.15 a share, earned a year earlier, on softening home prices.
Results were hurt by impairment charges totaling $417 million and a loan-loss provision of $292.9 million.

Who was that idiot analcyst who just the other day pooh-poohed fears of the subprime fallout and even said lenders' futures were looking up?


moran.

[TrogL]

39. Loonie Watch !!!! (OMFG)

Highlights

Current:



30-day and 90-day vs.greenback:



30-day vs. Euro, Yen, UK Pound and Swiss Franc




Currency Comparison: http://members.shaw.ca/trogl/looniewatch.html

Detailed analysis: http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD

Up-to-the-minute graph: http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=CME_CD.Y%24%24&v=s&w=5&t=l&a=1

Historical values http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/data30.html

2007-06-25 Monday, June 25 0.933532 USD
2007-06-26 Tuesday, June 26 0.935279 USD
2007-06-27 Wednesday, June 27 0.933184 USD
2007-06-28 Thursday, June 28 0.941088 USD
2007-06-29 Friday, June 29 0.94038 USD
2007-07-02 Monday, July 2 0.947598 USD
2007-07-03 Tuesday, July 3 0.94402 USD
2007-07-04 Wednesday, July 4 0.94402 USD
2007-07-05 Thursday, July 5 0.946342 USD
2007-07-06 Friday, July 6 0.954381 USD
2007-07-09 Monday, July 9 0.95429 USD
2007-07-10 Tuesday, July 10 0.95057 USD
2007-07-11 Wednesday, July 11 0.947239 USD
2007-07-12 Thursday, July 12 0.955384 USD
2007-07-13 Friday, July 13 0.954563 USD
2007-07-16 Monday, July 16 0.958773 USD
2007-07-17 Tuesday, July 17 0.958313 USD
2007-07-18 Wednesday, July 18 0.958313 USD
2007-07-19 Thursday, July 19 0.959233 USD
2007-07-20 Friday, July 20 0.957854 USD
2007-07-23 Monday, July 23 0.956938 USD


Current values

Loonie:

Last trade 0.9669 Change +0.0102 (+1.07%)
Previous Close 0.9568 Open 0.9582
Low 0.9582 High 0.9670


Other combinations:

AS.M07 AUSTRALIAN $/CANADIAN $ Sep (NYBOT) 0.9205 +0.0019
RA.M07 EURO/AUSTRALIAN $ Sep (NYBOT) 1.57015 -0.00820
HY.M07 CANADIAN $/JAPANESE YEN Sep (NYBOT) 115.65 +0.43
GB.M07 EURO/BRITISH POUND Sep (NYBOT) 0.67180 -0.00065
EP.M07 EURO/CANADIAN $ Sep (NYBOT) 1.44760 +0.00205
EJ.M07 EURO/JAPANESE YEN Sep (NYBOT) 165.96 -0.61
EU.M07 EURO/US$ (LARGE) Sep (NYBOT) 1.38470 +0.00185


Blather (from http://quotes.ino.com/exchanges/?r=CME_CD)

No blather - I think it broke or went insane.

Analysis

I don't yet know what's going on, but the loonie's taken off like a rocket with no end in sight.
I'm going on vacation to England from tomorrow to 2nd week of August (hence no Loonie Watch for the interim) so I'm going to start getting interested, for perfectly selfish reasons, to the Sterling and Euro.

The combinations above don't make any sense either. I feel like the Mission controller for Challenger watching his little dials and finally blurting out "something, obviously, has gone disastrously wrong", presumably with the greenback, dragging the yen with it and reflecting badly on the greenback comparied to the Ozzie (and Scandianvian currencies for some reason other).

I'll post more when I've figured out what's going on and beg my mother for more worthless loonies to convert to Sterling.

[TrogL]

42. Loonie Rises as Canada Posts Strong Numbers

http://1stonforex.fxstreet.com/2007/07/loonie-rises-as.html


Canadian Retail Sales came in at 2.8% far surpassing expectations of 0.6%

The Canadian Loonie has seen continued strengthening as the US Dollar continues to fall. The Dollar fell over 75 pips on the announcement and is seeing a base of support at approx 1.0370.

The Euro also weakening against the Loonie falling more than 100 pips from 1.4450 to form a new base at approx 1.4350

[TrogL]

47. We have a new record

Current values

Loonie:

Last trade 0.9675 Change +0.0108 (+1.13%)
Previous Close 0.9568 Open 0.9582
Low 0.9582 High 0.9675

[TrogL]

65. and another one - High 0.9681

[ozymandius]

71. Jeebus! That's near parity.Tha

Thanks fine crew at the White House, Treasury Department and Federal Reserve!

:yourock: :woohoo: :toast:











:sarcasm:

[roamer65]

41. I dumped my US assets big time today.

Moved a good chunk of my money into some well performing global funds. With the dollar crisis and the eventual float of the Chinese renminbi, these funds will do much better than US ones. I am fast heading toward treating the US dollar as only a medium of exchange.

The handwriting is on the wall, folks. Bernanke can't increase interest rates, for fear of turning the subprime mortgage crisis into a depression. The Fed will continue to run M3 up at 13 plus percent and fudge the inflation numbers. It's now not a question of whether the dollar will fall, but of how fast it will fall.

[Buttercup McToots]

43. $80.01 @ 1:30

They can't keep it up...

[Buttercup McToots]

44. $79.96 @ 2:45

Ouch!
My PM stocks are taking a beating...

[Ghost Dog]

49. Westinghouse Seals Mega China Nuclear Deal

http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=13183

BEIJING -- U.S.-based Westinghouse Electric signed on Tuesday a multi-billion-dollar deal with Chinese partners to build four nuclear reactors in eastern China, finalising a pact agreed between Beijing and Washington seven months ago.

The contract, estimated in the past at close to $8 billion, is expected to warm relations between the world's top energy users amid recent disputes over issues from the yuan currency and China's bloated trade surplus.

"The definitive contracts signed today will result in the first-ever deployment of advanced U.S. nuclear power technology in China," Westinghouse President and CEO Steve Tritch said at the signing ceremony at Beijing's Great Hall of the People.

Construction will begin in 2009, with the first plant slated for operation in 2013 and the remaining three coming on line in the next two years, Westinghouse said in a statement.

It did not give specific financial terms but said the deal would create some 5,000 jobs in at least 20 states in the United States.

Westinghouse, owned by Japan's Toshiba Corp., will build four 1.1-gigawatt reactors using its advanced AP1000 design, a technology the Pittsburgh-based company said is the basis for nearly half of the world's operating nuclear plants.

...

Shortly after picking Westinghouse last December as winner for the four plants, Beijing quietly awarded French state-run Areva another two reactors in southern China in a preliminary deal worth about $5 billion.

China was also in talks with Russia for possible participation in expanding a nuclear power plant in eastern Jiangsu province, built by Atomstroiexport and started up earlier this year, official media reported.

"Big deals like nuclear plants have more political elements than economic," said a senior Chinese industry official.

Westinghouse and its engineering partner Shaw Group Inc. will build two reactors in Haiyang city of Shandong province and another two in Zhejiang province's Sanmen city.

China Power Investment Corp. (CPIC), parent of Hong Kong-listed China Power International Development Ltd., will be the lead investor for the Shandong plant, and China National Nuclear Corp. (CNNC) the main investor in Zhejiang.

China, the world's second-largest energy consumer, plans to spend some $50 billion adding around 30 reactors by 2020, raising its installed nuclear capacity to 40 GW, nearly enough to power Spain.

That would be around 4 percent of the country's power capacity, compared with just over 2 percent at present, but still far behind the three-quarters in France and one quarter in Japan.

/...

Hmm. Shaw Group, of white phosphorous and Katrina profiteering fame.

[roamer65]

51. Hurry up, Bernanke...

You've gotta login to the Fed computers and debt monetize another 8 billion of Treasury bonds the Chinese are dumping. Quick...hurry!

[DemReadingDU]

56. Hurry, hurry. Where are the fairies?

Dow down -239 at 3:45pm

[donkeyotay]

66. I hope they regulate nuclear power plants better than they do toothpaste

We're down wind.

[DemReadingDU]

55. Subprime woes hit junk bonds - Gross

Lack of confidence has frozen lending, backed up high- yield bond offerings, says manager of biggest bond fund.

Woes plaguing the subprime mortgage market are spreading to junk bonds, according Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund.

Credit markets are facing a "sudden liquidity crisis" in the high-yield bond sector as a growing lack of confidence has frozen future lending, the PIMCO bond manager wrote in an August investment newsletter posted on the PIMCO Web site.

"Both borrowers and lenders may have bitten off more than they can chew, and even those that swallow their hot dogs whole -- Nathan's Famous Coney Island style -- are having a serious bout of indigestion," he wrote.

http://money.cnn.com/2007/07/24/markets/bondcenter/pimco_gross/index.htm?postversion=2007072414

Uh,oh, gross indeed.

[UpInArms]

57. 3:44 EST market enduring a shitstorm

Dow 13,702.24 down 241.18 (1.73%)
Nasdaq 2,635.18 down 55.40 (2.06%)
S&P 500 1,508.62 down 32.95 (2.14%)
10-Yr Bond up 4.944% 0.02

NYSE Volume 3,469,779,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,179,067,000

3:30 pm : Stocks are plunging deeper into negative territory as there isn't a buyer to be found anywhere. Not even bonds were able to muster much in the way of a flight-to-quality bid in the face of renewed subprime concerns.

With only 30 minutes left until the closing bell sounds, a recent reversal in Telecom now leaves all 10 sectors trading lower. Utilities paces the way with a 3.2% decline followed by Energy (-2.9%), Financials (-2.7%), and Materials (-2.3%). Technology is off 1.4% while Discretionary is down 1.7%. DJ30 -184.66 NASDAQ -49.01 SP500 -26.99 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2493/513/1.94 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2922/393/1.40 bln

[Buttercup McToots]

58. $79.92 @ 3:50 pm

USD Index in free fall and the Dow is dumping....
:wow:

[Buttercup McToots]

59. DJ melt down

USDX broke support / DJ melt down / subprime slime spreading / NY banks trying to knock gold down - won't do any good - you know they had to try.
PPT sells gold, buys DJ. Meanwhile they try to come up with a bail out plan. You know they had to try - won't do any good.

[Hugin]

60. Quick... Issue a Breaking News story about the Falcons!

:eyes:

[Buttercup McToots]

62. What Is the Real Value of the US Dollar?

What Is the Real Value of the US Dollar?
Wednesday, July 04, 2007 - FreeMarketNews.com

A government witness in a Federal Tax Evasion Case in Las Vegas, Nevada, testified on Friday that a Federal Reserve Note is not a dollar but a silver dollar minted since 1986 AD is a real dollar. When one of the defense Attorneys held up a Federal Reserve Note and a silver dollar minted since 1986 AD and asked, “Now these are both dollars, correct?” the government witness testified that that was not correct and the that Federal Reserve Note was not a dollar. He also stated that a Federal Reserve Note is not real money but the Silver dollar is. He testified that a Federal Reserve Note is just a debt note and not a dollar and has not been a dollar since the United States would no longer redeem them in gold and silver coins with the same face value. -IndependentParty

Read the rest here.
http://www.independentamerican.org/blog.php?blog=534

[DemReadingDU]

63. Silver Certificate

An older dollar bill marked with 'silver certificate' at the top, is a real dollar. It used to be able to be excanged for silver.

more info...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silver_Certificate

edit to add: Silver Certificates were abolished by Congress on June 4, 1963


Hm, wish I had kept more of those older dollar bills with 'silver certificate'.

[roamer65]

64. Most older circulated $1 silver certs are now only worth...

about the same as the newer circulating FRN's. Redemption of silver certs for actual silver ended in June, 1968. After that they circulated on par with their $1 FRN counterparts. As a collector, I appreciate them for the history they represent.

Nonetheless, if you ever get one in circulation, you should take it to a coin and currency note dealer to make sure it is not a rare variety.

[ozymandius]

69. Closing: A Farewell to Arms and Legs and Eyeballs

My two cents says that the subprime fallout will take more than a week - as the blather writer asserts. Probably at least two years from now we'll sense some kind of picture of what we'll need to recover from.

Dow 13,716.95 Down 226.47 (1.62%)
Nasdaq 2,639.86 Down 50.72 (1.89%)
S&P 500 1,511.04 Down 30.53 (1.98%)
10-Yr Bond 4.944% Down 0.02
NYSE Volume 4,117,590,000
Nasdaq Volume 2,593,370,000

4:20 pm : The major averages took a beating Tuesday as everything from heightened subprime concerns to warnings further underscoring signs it may take longer than anticipated for the housing correction to subside ushered in the latest wave of widespread profit taking.

The Dow, S&P 500, and Nasdaq plunged 1.6%, 2.0%, and 1.9%, respectively, closing at session lows. Market breadth was also decidedly bearish, further dictating the conviction with which sellers feel the market has gotten ahead of itself. On the NYSE, where trading curbs were triggered late in the day for the first time since March 13, decliners outpaced advancers by a nearly 9-to-1 edge over advancers while the margin on weakness on the Nasdaq ended at 4.8 to 1. Of the 147 S&P industry groups, 142 finished in negative territory.

A sharp drop in Q2 earnings and soft Q3 guidance from Texas Instruments (TXN 36.46 -1.72), coupled with and American Express (AXP 61.17 -3.49) posting an 85% jump in loss provisions due to a higher rate of delinquencies Monday night initially set a negative tone.

Countrywide Financial (CFC 30.50 -3.56) badly missing analysts' expectations, slashing its full-year guidance, and spooking investors with a slew of negative remarks was an even bigger thorn in the market's side. Saying credit quality deteriorated and delinquencies rose across all mortgage product categories was one thing. In fact, an increasing number of delinquencies in the subprime mortgage market raising concerns about credit quality issues for all lenders played into our downgrade of the Financial sector back in April.

However, CFC management during its three-hour long conference call then said a housing recovery isn't likely until 2009 and that it hasn't seen this type of home price depreciation since the Great Depression. That pessimism exacerbated underlying mortgage troubles, left CFC shares posting their worst one-day decline (-10.5%) in 15 years, and earmarked Thrifts & Mortgage (-4.5%) as one of today's biggest laggards which contributed to the bottom falling out of the heavily weighted Financial sector (-2.9%).

Of the 10 economic sectors finishing lower, Utilities actually paced the way as not even its defensive characteristics were attractive enough to attract buyers. Energy (-3.0%) turned in the next worst performance as a 1.8% drop in crude futures gave investors an excuse to question valuations throughout this year's best performing sector.

An earnings shortfall from DuPont (DD 49.90 -3.36), the day's worst performing Dow component (-6.3%), weighed heavily on Materials (-2.3%), while the absence of leadership from Technology (-1.5%) took an even greater toll. The influential sector, already reeling from TXN results that failed to impress investors, got hit even harder from the biggest one-day drubbing in Apple (AAPL 134.88 -8.81) in seven years. AT&T (T 39.68 -0.35) said that only 146,000 iPhone subscribers were activated in Q2, which was viewed as a huge disappointment and caused collateral damage in Apple to the tune of a 6.1% sell-off in AAPL shares.

Adding insult to injury was more evidence that debt financing is becoming more expensive, which may stall the record pace of M&A activity that recently helped vault so many indices to historic highs. Reports that the proposed $3.1 bln LBO of General Motors' (GM 34.65 -0.47) Allison Transmission unit has been postponed acted as a headwind that garnered further attention following some negative comments about instability in the corporate credit markets from PIMCO's Bill Gross. Gross said that, "borrowers and lenders have bitten off more than they can chew," and that the cheap financing fueling the LBO buyout boom has come to an end. DJ30 -226.47 NASDAQ -50.72 SP500 -30.53 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 2536/525/2.51 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 2997/337/1.99 bln