STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday December 16

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday December 16, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON December 15, 2010

Dow 11,457.47 -19.07 (-0.17%)
Nasdaq 2,617.22 -10.50 (-0.40%)
S&P 500 1,235.23 -6.36 (-0.51%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.48 -0.06 (-1.56%)
30-Year Bond 4.56 -0.04 (-0.85%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. It's early, I know.

We had an automobile emergency to deal with. Please carry on in my absence.


P.S. Today, I lament the departure of the good Doctor. His wit around these parts will be sorely missed.

[hamerfan]

8. Can someone elaborate?

The departure of the good Doctor? I must've missed the memo. Has he been tombstoned? Or does he just no longer like our company?
PS... Sorry to hear about your car troubles, Ozy. Hope it's an easy and inexpensive fix.

[AnneD]

9. I am in mourning.......

for the good Doc. And if his ghost needs to contact me, please do. No posts today.

edited to add; Jimmy the Greek told me to wait under the old elm tree for a sign and reminded me to spay and neuter my blue dog democrat. Jimmy, who does he think he is-Bob Barker or what.

[hamerfan]

10. Oh my gosh....

I had no idea. He will indeed be sorely missed. Peace and condolences to all.
:grouphug:

[Demeter]

12. Doc is Tombstoned, not DEAD

You had me panicked for a moment there.

Whom did he tick off, and how? Any details?

Edited for grammar==it's dark and cold, and I just came in off the route.

[DemReadingDU]

22. yeh, what happened?

[hamerfan]

28. Thanks, Demeter,

for clarifying Doc's status for me. It'd still be nice to know what happened....
Hi Doc! (if you're reading this)

[bread_and_roses]

30. Just got here - state of disbelief - n/t

[tclambert]

38. Okay, how do we ask the adnministrators to unstone him?

I mean, where are we gonna get our RDA of dog pictures?

[Tansy_Gold]

13. Sympathy on the car issues, Ozy.

I hope it's an easy and affordable fix. (None of 'em are cheap any more.)

Probably no posts from me today either. The real world calls. But I will always give a K&R as long as I'm able. :hi:


Cloudy and much cooler here today, with rain expected. I may have to seek shelter from the storm also.



TG, TT

[Grinchie]

2. Am I reading the Gold Chart wrong?

Or did it rise 5 bucks in the first 4 hours of trading from 1380 to 1385?

I haven't really been following gold all that much, because it has always seemed flattish. Whats up with today?

Could it be the fact that the rest of the world knows that the US Dollar is going to be worth even less if the Tax cut package goes through?

For a country that imports Masking Tape and Toothbrushes from China with borrowed mony, it boggles the mind as to why anyone would continue to have confidence in the American Ponzi Scheme.

Unfortunately, despite what the powers that be think, we cannot export high tech weaponry as the sole durable goods export forever. Eventually, those durable goods may be turned upon us, because the buyers will be more skilled at operating them.

[Ghost Dog]

5. Your eyes don't deceive.

But that kind of rapid volatility hasn't been uncommon recently.

[Po_d Mainiac]

11. Correct

Part is the result of day-traders moving in to the PM paper/etf markets, due to the lack of volatility in equities.

Other rapid moves can be tracked with opposing movements in the 4X as CB's continue the race to the landfill.

$1380 in Au and $28 in Ag appear to be pretty hard bottoms.

Doc..RIP!...Get bored, u have my e-mail[/b}

[Ghost Dog]

3. The QE2 Grenade: Measuring the Treasury Yield Increases

The table above represents the percent change in each of seven maturities since the November 3rd FOMC press release announcing the details of the latest round of quantitative easing (aka QE2). The increases are absolutely stunning. Imagine, for example, buying a 3-year Note only to discover that, had you delayed a month or so, the yield would have been 140% higher yield.

...

As I've said elsewhere, it's probably too soon to write off the effectiveness of the new round of Fed Treasury purchases. But if a key objective was to keep interest rates low, the Fed's "Hail Mary" pass appears to have been a grenade.

/.. http://seekingalpha.com/article/242152-the-qe2-grenade-measuring-the-treasury-yield-increases?source=yahoo

...

Retail Investors Celebrate 32 Consecutive Weeks Of Equity Outflows By Pulling Money Out Of Taxable Bond Funds As Well

/... http://www.zerohedge.com/article/retail-investors-cap-32-consecutive-weeks-equity-outflows-pulling-money-out-taxable-bond-fun

[Ghost Dog]

4. Germany defiant as Europe suffers

Chancellor Angela Merkel pledged that no euro member would be "left on their own", but dug in her heels against the creation of eurobonds and demands to boost the EU's €440bn (£372bn) bail-out fund. "We must not make the mistake of thinking that collectivising risk is the answer," she told a stormy session of the Bundestag.

The defiant stand came as Moody's issued a downgrade warning on Spain owing to "high refinancing needs in 2011" and the risk of further bank bail-outs. It said central and regional governments must finance €200bn next year. Spanish lenders have to roll over a further €90bn.

"These needs are now rendered more challenging by the fragile confidence of international capital markets. Foreign investors have typically funded around 5pc of Spain's funding requirements. They may be less willing to do so in the immediate future given recent speculation about the treatment of bondholders should Spain be pushed to seek support from the EU/IMF," it said.

...

Foreign minister Guido Westerwelle issued a veiled threat that Germany may walk away from the project if the rest of the EU tries to bounce the country into a debt union. “Anyone who talks about entering a union of financial transfers is putting support for Europe at risk, especially in the countries that must bear most of the burden,” he said.

Germany’s political elite is bitterly divided about how to handle EU demands

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/economics/8204999/Germany-defiant-as-Europe-suffers.html (<-- Note: UK right-wing anti-EU source).

[Ghost Dog]

6. Currency War & Trade War (Willie)

...

The Competing Currency War has ramped up, heated up, and agitated every single major and secondary nation in the global economy. The primary detonation trigger for the currency war was QE1, the printing of $1.4 trillion of phony money by the venerable USDept Treasury, blessed and managed by the august USFed, and subsequent purchase of two gaggles of USTBonds and one gaggle of USAgency Mortgage Bonds. The world watched in horror, as the USGovt gradually lost its buyer base in Treasury Bond auctions. The totally lost USFed under the myopic stewardship of Professor Bernanke, the great student of Great Depression revisionist history, pounded the podiums about an Exit Strategy once again. Except this time after the nutty home buyer tax credit expired, the USEconomy slid further into recession. The lies told and reports published on price inflation, which rages higher at 8% according to Shadow Govt Statistics competent analysis, permit a 5% to 6% lie to be built into the GDP calculations. If price inflation is not really 2% to 3% as reported, then the GDP growth is not 3% as reported, but actually minus 2% to minus 3% instead. If simple annual GDP is compared to annual GDP from a year ago, then the GDP is running at a 7% recession. This revelation is astounding!!

So the USGovt refuses to effectively stimulate the USEconomy, since beholden to Wall Street for $trillion welfare programs. The USGovt conducts revolving door sessions on home loan modification, offering much sweeter incentives to the foreclosure mills run by the FDIC for the big banks. And the USFed admitted in August and September that the QE2 project would be unleashed. The engine for the global Competing Currency War is clearly the United States, where the asset bubbles were engrained in policy, where the multi-$trillion bond fraud originated for global export, where the criminal prosecution is nowhere, where the multi-$trillion monetary press is hard at work. The response from global trade partners is shock and horror, followed by hasty actions. The central banks around the world are busily responding to rising currencies. The December Hat Trick Letter gold report shows evidence in the TIC Report on USTBond holdings by major nations.

Some nations are reducing US$ exposure by USTBond sales. Other nations are quickly buying up USTBonds to prevent a fast rise in their native currencies. Other nations are part of the hidden US-UK network that conceals their vast USTBond purchases, all of which are denied by Bernanke before the USCongress. Why would the United Kingdom be so busy if not part of the illicit game of currency ruin in a desperate survival initiative? The United Kingdom, despite being locked in an intractable downward spiral with insolvent banks, wrecked home equity, and horrendous national deficits, has somehow seen fit to increase its USTBond holdings by more than triple, from $126.8 billion in September 2009 to $459.1 billion. And China is a currency manipulator!!

The Competing Currency War has a long way to go. Healthier nations with a brisk export trade must be careful not to suffocate under a strengthening currency, as the USDollar steers itself down into the devaluation morass. The brain trust of the Wall Street and London pedigree know full well that the game is over, the fiat USDollar is trash, and that the Paradigm Shift features a power handoff to China and the East from the insolvent West, whose flagship in the US & UK is preoccupied by war.

...

China has become the world's great creditor. So far they have not abused their role and position. They tend to cut trade deals more than weapons deals like the US has done with the entire Persian Gulf for five decades. The most clever action so far by China in the last two years was to establish a Dollar Swap Window for Greek Govt debt conversion. They obviously are using USTBonds in a dumping exercise. They are building a broader Dollar Swap Window for conversion of Portuguese and soon Spanish Govt debt. They have won a freeze on trade war decisions at the governmental level across the entire European continent in a brilliant stroke. They won access to world class German industrial products. They have an avenue to dump USTBonds and in a sense enter the EU as a member nation, its creditor partner. The maneuver essentially isolates the Untied States further. Just this week, the clownish notion of US insulation from PIIGS sovereign debt was smashed. The US banks are vulnerable, despite past denials.

/... http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article25035.html

[Festivito]

7. Debt: 12/14/2010 13,852,589,330,911.83 (UP 4,572,174,162.74) (Tue)

(Up little. Good day.)
Cat in bed.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,289,558,090,308.30 + 4,563,031,240,603.53
UP 270,507,131.41 + UP 4,301,667,031.33

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,216.28 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.65, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,918,592 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,553.75.
A family of three owes $133,661.25. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 5,936,812,055.75.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,353,662,174.22.
The average for the last 32 days would be 4,081,558,288.33.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 51 reports in 75 days of FY2011 averaging 5.71B$ per report, 3.88B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 768 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.9 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
12/14/2010 13,852,589,330,911.83 BHO (UP 3,225,712,281,998.75 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,290,966,300,020.10 ------------* * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,416,035,993,431.16 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
11/23/2010 -000,022,584,331.05 ----
11/24/2010 +000,282,063,227.86 ------------********
11/26/2010 +003,743,380,701.15 ------------*********
11/29/2010 +000,134,381,143.81 ------------******** Mon
11/30/2010 +065,487,463,946.10 ------------**********
12/01/2010 -005,680,380,232.98 --
12/02/2010 +000,827,003,518.64 ------------********
12/03/2010 -000,051,568,825.48 ----
12/06/2010 +000,077,038,802.53 ------------******* Mon
12/07/2010 +000,178,077,201.68 ------------********
12/08/2010 +018,541,141,818.10 ------------**********
12/09/2010 +000,426,018,289.04 ------------********
12/10/2010 +000,085,971,333.21 ------------*******
12/13/2010 -000,140,409,571.73 --- Mon
12/14/2010 +000,270,507,131.41 ------------********

84,158,104,152.29 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4659781&mesg_id=4659868

[Festivito]

40. Debt: 12/15/2010 13,879,785,054,580.12 (UP 27,195,723,668.29) (Wed)

(Up big. Good day.)
Big boy gets the boot.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,324,634,043,036.62 + 4,555,151,011,543.50
UP 35,075,952,728.32 + DOWN 7,880,229,060.03

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 311-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,216.20 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.65, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,925,792 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $44,640.19.
A family of three owes $133,920.56. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 4,125,976,958.47.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,025,716,436.21.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 52 reports in 76 days of FY2011 averaging 6.12B$ per report, 4.19B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 767 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.9 and 17.8T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
12/15/2010 13,879,785,054,580.12 BHO (UP 3,252,908,005,667.04 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,318,162,023,688.40 ------------* * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,528,014,982,187.71 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
11/24/2010 +000,282,063,227.86 ------------********
11/26/2010 +003,743,380,701.15 ------------*********
11/29/2010 +000,134,381,143.81 ------------******** Mon
11/30/2010 +065,487,463,946.10 ------------**********
12/01/2010 -005,680,380,232.98 --
12/02/2010 +000,827,003,518.64 ------------********
12/03/2010 -000,051,568,825.48 ----
12/06/2010 +000,077,038,802.53 ------------******* Mon
12/07/2010 +000,178,077,201.68 ------------********
12/08/2010 +018,541,141,818.10 ------------**********
12/09/2010 +000,426,018,289.04 ------------********
12/10/2010 +000,085,971,333.21 ------------*******
12/13/2010 -000,140,409,571.73 --- Mon
12/14/2010 +000,270,507,131.41 ------------********
12/15/2010 +035,075,952,728.32 ------------**********

119,256,641,211.66 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4661225&mesg_id=4661260

[xchrom]

14. recommend -- misissing doc. nt

[AnneD]

33. He is eating ...

the granite pizza. :evilgrin:

[Demeter]

15. Top 10 Fraud Recoveries All Came from Health Care Companies

http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Top_10_Fraud_Recoveries_All_Came_from_Health_Care_Companies_101215

Top 10 Fraud Recoveries All Came from Health Care Companies
Every one of the top fraud settlements reached last year by the federal government involved health care, including eight cases involving pharmaceutical companies. The largest amount recovered was $600 million from Allergan for illegally marketing Botox. Other drug makers who got busted were AstraZeneca ($520 million for illegally marketing the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel); Novartis ($423 million for unapproved promotion of Trileptal); and Forest Laboratories/Pharmaceuticals ($313 million for marketing the thyroid drug Levothroid without government approval and unlawfully promoting two antidepressants, Celexa and Lexapro, for pediatric use).

Taxpayers Against Fraud has calculated that the Department of Justice recovered $3.1 billion in Fiscal Year 2010 thanks to the False Claims Act and whistleblowers which means that it is bringing in $15 for every $1 it spends on investigations.

THAT'S ONLY BECAUSE NO ONE HAS TURNED OVER THE DUNG HEAP OF MORTGAGE FRAUD TO FIND ANY WORMS YET.

[Demeter]

16. (SEC) Regulator Is Slowed By Budget Impasse

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703734204576019991494057396.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTWhatsNewsCollection

...Agency officials recently postponed gathering testimony from witnesses in a number of probes into potential wrongdoing, according to people familiar with the situation. And some previously scheduled audits of financial firms outside Washington have been put on hold because the SEC won't pay travel costs for investigators until an agreement is reached on the agency's funding for the current fiscal year.

At least some of the cutbacks in enforcement-related spending at the nation's top regulator of financial markets and investing began shortly after the midterm elections in November. Republican gains in both houses of Congress have increased speculation that the 12% budget increase proposed for the SEC by President Barack Obama won't be approved.

In the meantime, the SEC is operating under the "continuing resolution" that temporarily extended last year's $1.1 billion budget at the agency. But even that spending level is stretching SEC officials as they continue revving up a broad crackdown on wrongdoing during the financial crisis and deal with a bigger workload triggered by the Dodd-Frank financial-overhaul law...

A hearing on the municipal-securities market, originally scheduled for Nov. 16, has been postponed indefinitely. The SEC initially blamed the delay on scheduling conflicts, but people familiar with the situation say the move was caused by the financial squeeze...

[Ghost Dog]

17. The U.S. Is Free Falling Into Bankruptcy (Durden)

... This is a question that we ask ourselves every day, and no matter how we spin it, we fail to see how an unwind to a previous “restore point” to borrow a computer analogy, is possible at this very late stage in the global Ponzi scheme. We tend to simplify the world: When everything else is stripped, the only two things that matter are a) where is the money coming from? and b) where is it going? And never in the history of the world have so many assets created so little cash flow. To a big extent, this is due to the fact that a bulk of asset purchases in the past three decades have been due not to asset turnover, but as a result of cheap credit resulting from an explosion of credit money through the quadrillion dollar derivative boom. As a result, most incremental dollars go not to organic business growth and economic output, but to satisfying what has become the biggest debt burden in the history of the world, whereby the labor and intellectual output of most goes to fund the living standards of a very few.

Indicatively, when looking at total exchange and OTC traded derivatives, which eventually are converted into some form of credit money, the total tally at last check is just over $1.3 quadrillion. This is about 20 times the total economic output in the world each year. It becomes very clear why the current status quo is unsustainable absent a major global corporate and sovereign liability restructuring: In the bankruptcy business, this process is known as “growing into your balance sheet.” Yet the main reason why the kleptocratic elite has been so opposed to this act is because no debt impairment is possible without eliminating the equity tranche below it. And in an ironic twist in which the Fed supports both the debt and equity markets, there is now about $13 trillion in equity capitalization in the US, which is backed by debt that for all intents and purposes needs to be impaired.

As a result, unless stakeholders in the liabilities of corporate America realize that the assets that collateralize these liabilities are woefully insufficient and come to a compromise in which either they alone or in combination with the creditors come to a consensual “restructuring” of the underlying claims, there is no other possible outcome than a free-fall bankruptcy. However, this will not be some Chapter 7 filed in the bankruptcy court of Southern District of New York. This will be the end of the current financial system. This is also what some consider a "deflationary death spiral." And yes, no matter how much paper the Fed prints, this outcome is inevitable: All the Fed does through money printing is dilute the claims on both sides of the ledger. The best the Fed could then hope for to counteract the deflationary outcome is to generate hyperinflation through a collapse in the reserve currency (i.e., the Zimbabwe outcome). And since this is far more palatable to the Fed, we believe that one way or another, whether by fire or ice (to paraphrase Robert Frost), the existing, very unstable financial system will reach a point when the global systematic reset is inevitable.


/... http://www.businessinsider.com/zero-hedges-tyler-durden-the-us-is-free-falling-into-bankruptcy-2010-12

[UpInArms]

23. "the total tally at last check is just over $1.3 quadrillion"

holy shit!

[Demeter]

25. You're such a party animal, UIA

Takes a real disaster to pull you out of the woodwork...

[Demeter]

24. Just VOID Those Specious Claims!

Declare illegal all those things that are or should be illegal, throw the biggest shits in prison, share the wealth and wipe out the debt.

[Tansy_Gold]

29. Nah, that's too easy. Makes too much sense. Never happen. n/t

[Ghost Dog]

35. That would be one outcome of a consensual “restructuring” of the underlying claims.

But not the only one?

[TalkingDog]

36. How are the rich supposed to make money off that!?

n/t

[Demeter]

18. Geithner Blocking Legal Help For Foreclosure Victims

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/14/geithner-blocking-legal-h_n_796773.html

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has authorized big payouts to banks in an effort to encourage mortgage modifications, but is preventing borrowers in danger of losing their homes from accessing legal assistance under the Obama administration's foreclosure relief plan -- even when banks are wrongfully or fraudulently attempting evictions...Democrats from foreclosure-battered states are pushing new legislation that would overrule Geithner's edict, but the legislation is doomed this session with apathy from leadership in both parties and a packed lame duck calendar.

The 2008 bank bailout bill gave the Treasury secretary broad discretion to spend money to fend off foreclosures. But while Treasury has approved $7.6 billion in expenditures to help states prevent and clean up foreclosures, the rules dictate that funding cannot be used for legal aid, dramatically blunting the impact of the program...a memo from Treasury General Counsel George Madison... contends:

Legal aid services are not necessary and incidental, as a matter of law, to the implementation or effectiveness of the HFA Hardest-Hit Fund, because: (1) Congress has provided other specific appropriations that fund the same type of legal aid services proposed by the state Housing Finance Agencies ("HFAs"); and (2) legal aid services are not necessary or essential to the implementation of a loan modification program...

What's more, the "other specific appropriations" Madison refers to are unlikely materialize. The Wall Street reform bill signed by President Barack Obama this summer did indeed provide $35 million in legal aid. But under Congressional budget rules, that $35 million must be appropriated by a separate bill in order to go out the door. The money has not yet been appropriated, and Congressional aides say it is unlikely to be...And as Gordon emphasizes, Treasury first denied the use of TARP funds for legal aid in the spring of 2010, well before the Wall Street reform bill passed. The Madison memo, dated Sept. 10, cites a fund that did not exist when states were requesting legal aid...


Now Sen. Brown and Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio) are pushing new legislation that would explicitly overrule Geithner's opinion. They're hoping to get the bill through during the lame duck session, but to get any traction they'll need help from top Republicans and Democrats in both the Senate Banking Committee and the House Financial Services Committee. With just a few days left in the lame-duck session, there's little prospect for the bill to move through both chambers.

The legal aid money at stake is a relatively small portion of the total hardest-hit funding. Ohio, for instance, requested $5 million in legal aid funding, out of $570.4 million. But without that legal aid money, it's unclear how much good the remainder will do.

The benefits to big banks are clear. Blocking legal aid will result in fewer challenged foreclosures, and bigger bank profits from the foreclosure process. It will also prevent the public release of loan documents which investors might use to sue banks where mortgages have been improperly handled. Greenwich Financial, a major hedge fund, is currently organizing investors who have lost billions on bad mortgage-backed securities in seeking redress from big Wall Street banks...

[xchrom]

31. +1

[4dsc]

19. Cramer says good times are just ahead

Did anyone else catch Cramer's show last night where he basically stated that millions of Americans are going to find work soon. He claims small businesses are hiring again that that should lead to a revival in the economy. He claims he relies upon "leading indicators" and not the lagging indicator we hear about in the news.

Oh boys good time are back..

[hamerfan]

21. I've got a fruitcake

that's not as nutty as Cramer!

[Demeter]

26. I've already eaten mine (sob)

and my Sis won't send me any more.

Neighbors and customers have been leaving cookie tributes on my porch. The carbohydrates have done a lot for my mood. I must have looked like death itself.

[Loge23]

27. ..and he bases this on what?

There are too many factors stacked against meaningful recovery right now.
Housing, unemployment, debt - just three that will take years to just get back to what used to be normal.
Must be a Cramer bubble!

[tclambert]

39. Didn't he recommend financial stocks back in early 2008?

Does anybody keep stats on this guy? In baseball, you can find out the likelihood of a particular batter hitting a double off a left-handed relief pitcher. With financial analysts/predictors, we get what? I want batting averages.

[Demeter]

20. Bank of America Discussing Settlement of Pimco/Fed/Blackrock Letter

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/12/bank-of-america-discussing-settlement-of-pimcofedblackrock-letter-updated-less-here-than-meets-the-wsjs-eye.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NakedCapitalism+%28naked+capitalism%29

The Wall Street Journal reports that Bank of America is in discussions with a group of investors headed by Pimco, Blackrock, and the New York Fed that sent a letter roughly 60 days ago that was setting the groundwork for possible litigation. The underlying issue is alleged breaches of representations and warranties in 115 Countrywide securitizations.

Note that this development is not unexpected, although the timing is interesting. These cases nearly always wind up being settled; the cost of pursuing them very far is extremely costly to both sides. Note the problematic issue is not the breaches of the reps and warranties, which most commentators focus on; it’s that it takes a great deal of forensic work to prove those rep and warranty failures were really what caused a particular loan to go bad. As a result, these cases tend to be fought on a loan by loan basis; even a process that constructed adequate samples for each of 115 trusts would involve a whole passel of loans...

[bread_and_roses]

32. Food prices rise sharply - stolen from LBN

posted by Newsjock.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/12/16/MN571GQRDL.DTL

Food prices rise sharply - and there's more to come

Stacy Finz, Chronicle Staff Writer

... Grocery prices grew by more than 1 1/2 times the overall rate of inflation this year, outpaced only by costs of transportation and medical care, according to numbers released Wednesday by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Economists predict that this is only the beginning. Fueled by the higher costs of wheat, sugar, corn, soybeans and energy, shoppers could see as much as a 4 percent increase at the supermarket checkout next year.

Since November 2009, meat, poultry, fish and eggs have surged 5.8 percent in price. Dairy and related products have gone up 3.8 percent; fats and oils, 3 percent; and sugar and sweets, 1.2 percent.

More hunger. What will it take?

[hamerfan]

37. But, but, but,

inflation is way down. Never mind those supermarket prices. And pay no attention to the gas pump prices either. :sarcasm:

[xchrom]

34. kick