STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, January 6, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, January 6, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON Wednesday, January 5, 2011

Dow 11,722.89 +31.71 (+0.27%)
Nasdaq 2,702.20 +20.95 (+0.78%)
S&P 500 1,276.56 +6.36 (+0.50%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.46 -0.00 (-0.06%)
30-Year Bond 4.55 +0.01 (+0.26%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Handy Links - Market Data and News:Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    
Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. Oil hovers above $90 amid improving US jobs market

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered above $90 a barrel Thursday in Asia after a better than expected U.S. jobs report bolstered investor optimism that crude demand will improve.

Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 1 cent to $90.31 a barrel late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 92 cents to settle at $90.30 on Wednesday.

Payroll processor ADP said Wednesday that private companies added 297,000 jobs last month, nearly triple the number that economists were expecting. The Labor Department releases Friday its monthly report on total U.S. payrolls and the unemployment rate.

Signs of a stronger U.S. labor market helped push the S&P 500 index up 0.5 percent Monday.

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

[jtuck004]

39. Is it an improving jobs market when we are replacing, wholesale,

millions of $50K/yr and $60k/yr jobs with minimum wage Dollar General jobs?

Or just a new way to define debtor's prison?

Morning everyone...

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Today's Reports

Jan 06 08:30 Initial Claims 01/01 415K 405K 388K
Jan 06 08:30 Continuing Claims 12/25 4000K 4070K 4128K


Read more: http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm#ixzz1AFmJKt8w

[Pale Blue Dot]

37. Jobless claims rise more than expected

WASHINGTON — More people applied for unemployment benefits last week, one week after applications fell to their lowest level in more than two years.

The Labor Department says applications rose by 18,000 to a seasonally adjusted 409,000 in the week ending Jan. 1. Applications fell to 391,000 in the previous week, the lowest point since July 2008.

Fewer than 425,000 people seeking unemployment benefits signals modest job growth. But economists say applications need to fall consistently to 375,000 or below to substantially bring down the unemployment rate. Applications for unemployment benefits peaked during the recession at 651,000 in March 2009.

Last week's increase isn't enough to reverse the downward trend. The four-week average, a less-volatile measure, fell to 410,750, its lowest level since late July 2008.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/40943614/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy/

I know this may be hard to believe, but perhaps we're not quite out of the woods yet.

[Demeter]

49. Nobody Could Have Expected.....

Irony goes down harshly on an empty stomach. doesn't do much for a full one, either...

[DemReadingDU]

45. Retailers report surprisingly weak December

1/6/11 Retailers report surprisingly weak December

Retailers are reporting surprisingly weak December revenue after a strong November pulled forward holiday spending and a blizzard in the Northeast took a bite out of sales after Christmas.

The results raise some worries that the holiday season might be less stellar than some had hoped, but some analysts still expect spending in November and December to show the largest annual increase since 2006.

As merchants report their figures Thursday, many retailers including Target Corp., Costco Wholesale Corp. and Macy's Inc. reported gains below Wall Street expectations. Bon-Ton Stores Inc.'s sales were virtually flat and company officials blamed the severe snowstorms.

The figures are based on revenue at stores opened at least a year and are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

"It's not shaping up to be a blowout holiday for retailers.

more...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Retailers-report-surprisingly-apf-712155941.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

[Pale Blue Dot]

47. That sure is "surprising"!

No one could have seen that coming...

[Pale Blue Dot]

54. The press changed the titles of BOTH of the above articles to reflect a more positive spin.

Wow. It seems pretty blatant to me. Both of the links above were posted with the original headline. Click on them now.

Does this happen all the time, or are we watching corporate spin taking place in real time?

[Ghost Dog]

67. I see a total rewrite of the 2nd article. Now reads:

December increase seals strong holiday for retail
December increase seals strong holiday for retail, but numbers disappoint investors

NEW YORK (AP) -- Retailers sealed their strongest holiday sales increase since 2006, as a robust November more than offset spending that tapered off in December.

The results reported Thursday suggest steadily improving consumer spending. For investors, whose expectations were riding high, the December figures were disappointing.

From Oct. 31-Jan. 1, holiday revenue at stores open at least a year rose 3.8 percent over last year, according to an index compiled by the International Council of Shopping Centers. The figure is the biggest increase since 2006, when it rose 4.4 percent.

The index tailed off to a 3.1 percent increase in December after a 5.4 percent rise in November.

/... same link.

[Festivito]

3. Debt: 01/04/2011 14,014,049,043,294.41 (UP 16,116,261,465.52) (Tue, DOWN a little.)

(Good day.)
Emergencies emergencies Tireder and tireder.
(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)
= 9,384,994,677,498.73 + 4,629,054,365,795.68
DOWN 85,302,113.98 + UP 16,201,563,579.50

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 $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,214.71 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.64, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,069,792 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 $45,051.14.
A family of three owes $135,153.42. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 7,849,448,013.14.
The average for the last 30 days would be 6,017,910,143.41.
The average for the last 32 days would be 5,641,790,759.44.
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$/day.
There were 66 reports in 96 days of FY2011 averaging 6.85B$ per report, 4.71B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 747 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 18.2T$.
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)
01/04/2011 14,014,049,043,294.41 BHO (UP 3,387,171,994,381.33 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 +0,452,426,012,402.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,720,161,401,322.77 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
12/15/2010 +035,075,952,728.32 ------------**********
12/16/2010 -002,942,603,716.29 --
12/17/2010 +002,071,215,295.43 ------------*********
12/20/2010 -000,083,147,973.47 ---- Mon
12/21/2010 +000,210,432,562.88 ------------********
12/22/2010 +000,569,620,034.56 ------------********
12/23/2010 +001,962,709,844.10 ------------*********
12/24/2010 -000,001,321,466.66 -----
12/27/2010 -000,059,144,170.26 ---- Mon
12/28/2010 +001,124,227,282.97 ------------*********
12/29/2010 +000,165,778,043.38 ------------********
12/30/2010 +000,091,969,590.77 ------------*******
12/31/2010 +062,732,309,679.32 ------------**********
01/03/2011 -005,396,108,430.64 -- Mon
01/04/2011 -000,085,302,113.98 ----

95,436,587,190.43 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=4683625&mesg_id=4683645

[Festivito]

78. Debt: 01/05/2011 14,011,526,727,895.85 (DOWN 2,522,315,398.56) (Wed, DOWN a little.)

(Good day.)
Sleep, glorious sleep.
(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)
= 9,384,965,101,319.63 + 4,626,561,626,576.22
DOWN 29,576,179.10 + DOWN 2,492,739,219.46

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 $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,214.64 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.64, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,076,992 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 $45,041.99.
A family of three owes $135,125.97. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 24 reports in the last 30 to 33 days.
The average for the last 24 reports is 7,417,291,204.32.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,933,832,963.45.
The average for the last 33 days would be 5,394,393,603.14.
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$/day.
There were 67 reports in 97 days of FY2011 averaging 6.71B$ per report, 4.64B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 746 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 18.0T$.
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)
01/05/2011 14,011,526,727,895.85 BHO (UP 3,384,649,678,982.77 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 +0,449,903,697,004.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,692,936,591,819.56 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
12/16/2010 -002,942,603,716.29 --
12/17/2010 +002,071,215,295.43 ------------*********
12/20/2010 -000,083,147,973.47 ---- Mon
12/21/2010 +000,210,432,562.88 ------------********
12/22/2010 +000,569,620,034.56 ------------********
12/23/2010 +001,962,709,844.10 ------------*********
12/24/2010 -000,001,321,466.66 -----
12/27/2010 -000,059,144,170.26 ---- Mon
12/28/2010 +001,124,227,282.97 ------------*********
12/29/2010 +000,165,778,043.38 ------------********
12/30/2010 +000,091,969,590.77 ------------*******
12/31/2010 +062,732,309,679.32 ------------**********
01/03/2011 -005,396,108,430.64 -- Mon
01/04/2011 -000,085,302,113.98 ----
01/05/2011 -000,029,576,179.10 ----

60,331,058,283.01 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=4684974&mesg_id=4684981

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. NJ Public Pension Slugfest Reporting Omits 15 Years of Governors Stealing From Workers

If you live in the world according to the mainstream media, the row between state executives and unions is all about (by implication) greedy unions trying to preserve their perquisites when budget “realities” demand that they suffer. Consider this excerpt from a recent article New York Times article about the fight in New Jersey:

Across the nation, a rising irritation with public employee unions is palpable, as a wounded economy has blown gaping holes in state, city and town budgets, and revealed that some public pension funds dangle perilously close to bankruptcy.

Um, the “wounded economy” trashed the state budget? Funny how the article fails to point fingers at the real perp, which is the global financial crisis, brought to you by your friendly TBTF banks. Andrew Haldane, Executive Director of Financial Stability for the Bank of England estimated that the costs of the financial crisis was 1 to 5 times global GDP. If you were, as economists recommend, to try to tax them to recoup the cost of the damage they did over a period of 20 years, the charge would be over $1.5 trillion a year. That’s more than the market cap of the biggest global banks. Funny, their staff and executives got record bonuses in 2009. So maybe the unions have the wrong strategy. They need to screw up in a particularly destructive manner.

And how exactly did the crisis “reveal” that some pension funds were close seriously under water? A more accurate rendition would be that, at least in New Jersey, the state has been raiding the pension kitty for over 15 years. This is not news to anyone who has been paying attention, any more than underfunding of corporate pensions. In the Garden State’s case, Governor Chris Christie skipped the required $3.1 billion pension fund contribution last year. He claimed this move was to force reform, but what impact does another $3.1 billion failure to pay have on an unfunded liability that was already over $50 billion?

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2011/01/nj-public-pension-slugfest-reporting-omits-15-years-of-governors-stealing-from-workers.html

[AnneD]

59. And they are trying to cover up this theft....

by blaming it on the teacher's plush retirement scheme.

This is like blaminmg the rape victim for the assualt... "Well judge, those teachers tempted me with that $109 billion dollar pension. They were just asking for me to rob them and give big tax cuts to my buddies".

Then they get the public so worked up that someone is getting something that John Q Public forgot the robbery/rape was the original crime.

[Pale Blue Dot]

5. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Advance Before Jobs Report; RIM, Monsanto Climb

U.S. stock-index futures gained, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index will extend a two- year high, before a report that may show jobless benefit claims held near a 30-month low.

Research In Motion Ltd. climbed as the company previews its PlayBook tablet to rival Apple Inc.’s iPad. Monsanto Co. advanced 0.5 percent before the world’s biggest seed company reports earnings.

Futures on the benchmark S&P 500 expiring in March rose 0.2 percent to 1,275 at 11:07 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures gained 0.2 percent to 11,690 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures increased the same amount to 2,275.25.

The S&P 500 yesterday rallied to the highest level since Sept. 2, 2008, extending last year’s 13 percent advance, after higher-than-estimated growth in payrolls and service industries bolstered optimism in the world’s largest economy.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-06/u-s-stock-index-futures-advance-before-jobs-report-rim-monsanto-climb.html

[Demeter]

50. See Max Keiser Rip into Monsanto

video library, below

[Pale Blue Dot]

6. Corporate America, paving a downward economic slide

The problem isn't due to the recession. Would that it were. The decade just concluded is the first in which Americans, on average, have seen their incomes decline. Median household income increased by about $4,000 per decade in the 1980s and '90s: from $42,429 in 1980 to $46,049 in 1990 to $50,557 in 2000 (in 2007 dollars). In 2009, the most recent year for which we have figures, it had declined to $49,777 - but 2009, of course, was a year of deep recession. If we go back to the peak year of the last decade, 2007, we find that median household income was just $50,233- roughly $300 less than it had been in 2000.

Until the housing and financial bubbles burst, of course, we enjoyed the illusion of prosperity through the days of wine and credit. Now we stand on unfamiliar terrain in which almost all the signs of long-term economic health point downward. Our private sector isn't creating jobs at a rate commensurate with our increasing population, much less at a level to significantly reduce unemployment. The share of our civilian population employed has dropped to 58.2 percent - the lowest level since the early '80s, when far fewer women had entered the workforce.

The social pathologies long associated with the inner-city poor - single-parent households, births out of wedlock, drug and alcohol abuse - now stalk the white working class in rural and post-industrial regions far removed from big cities. The middle is falling. Rich Lowry, editor of the conservative National Review, has noted that as wages and employment levels have fallen for the Americans who have graduated high school but not college, their level of out-of-wedlock births (44 percent) has approached that of Americans who haven't completed high school (54 percent). Americans with college diplomas or more, by contrast, have a rate of just 6 percent.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/04/AR2011010403742.html?wpisrc=nl_opinions

[Po_d Mainiac]

12. There is no mention of the loss of interest income to those that

played by the rules, and tried to plan for retirement the old fashioned way. :grr:

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. Gene Sperling 101

The clearest statement of Mr. Sperling’s economic views came in his book, “The Pro-Growth Progressive.” Noam Schieber, reviewing the book for The New York Times Book Review, wrote:

If you were inclined to identify Clintonism with a single person other than the big man himself, that person might well be Gene Sperling — a top campaign adviser in 1992; a tireless advocate of fiscal discipline during the first term; an inveterate policy wonk throughout all eight years of the administration. …

More than anything else, “The Pro-Growth Progressive” embodies the neoliberal idea that all problems are solvable if we just set aside ideology and focus on what works. Sperling notes at the outset that resolving trade-related issues requires “deep, honest exploration that does not easily fit within any right-left, pro-globalization-anti-globalization perspective.” Later he writes that “neither progressives nor conservatives have articulated a vision for retirement security” that guarantees a reasonable nest egg while also helping workers invest in equities. Much of the book employs this third-way tone. Yet while Sperling appears to chide both sides equally, his book functions primarily as a useful reproach to progressives who believe that ideological purity requires rejecting market-friendly means.

The book is available on Google Books. An excerpt is here. Mr. Sperling gave a speech to Google employees about the book that you can view here.

http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/05/gene-sperling-101/?ref=business

[bread_and_roses]

11. Oh joy. More Clinton re-treads

and "what works" begs the question of "what works for who (whom? - never could get it straight, which really annoys me).

[fasttense]

14. Good point - What works for whom?

Tariffs to protect our manufacturing base worked for decades until de-regulation became the fad. Globalization works for the uber rich but not so much for everyone else.

[Tansy_Gold]

16. it's "whom" in that instance

TG, your friendly grammar wonk

:hi:

[bread_and_roses]

43. TY!

"Whom" sounded right to me too, but I can never remember "the rule" - which always makes me uncertain. And a lifetime of being accused of being "snooty" due to my natural vocabulary has made me ultra-cautious.

You are a gem.

[Karenina]

63. Try this "donkey bridge"

(Eselsbrücke auf Deutsch.) For he? NOT! For HIM. For who? NOT! For WHOM!!! The rule has to do with the preposition, but maybe this will work for ya! :hi:

[Demeter]

60. "Friendly"?

If you say so, TG.

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. US FDIC sues 109 bank execs for negligence

WASHINGTON - US banking regulators have authorised lawsuits against 109 bank officials so far as they seek to recover at least $US2.5 billion in losses connected to recent bank failures.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp said the suits target bank directors and officers for "either gross or simple negligence." It is seeking to recoup money for its deposit insurance fund, which backs customer accounts.

The FDIC has previously said it was pursuing such legal actions but now has unveiled a website with updated numbers.

The website will be updated monthly with a running tally of the amount of lawsuits authorised and how much the agency is seeking to recover. So far, however, the FDIC has only filed suits against directors and officers from two banks.

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/US-regulators-want-25-billion-from-bank-execs-CSUX3?OpenDocument

[Po_d Mainiac]

10. Without indictments?

Unless the levees bankrupt the individuals, this will just be viewed as the cost of doing business....ala Mozillo,

[Pale Blue Dot]

9. John Taylor On Why "Gridlock" Will Lead To A Slowing US Economy, A Drop In Equities And Commodities,

For the next two years, trench warfare could be more likely than gridlock. I wish that we were like the British and could have another election quickly – like a few months from now, after we see how these guys work together – to roll the dice again. Back in 1950, when Labour was just barely holding on to power in London with a majority of five and decisions were difficult to make, they were gone by 1951, and the country went Conservative and off on a new tack. I choose that point in time to broadly compare the changes made by the Attlee Labour government, elected in 1945, with those of Obama. The Labour social and economic changes verged on the revolutionary, including the establishment of the National Health Service. Although the Obama administration’s health care overhaul was minor compared to Attlee’s universal creation, the American reaction appears to be more negative than the British one. The Labour expansion of government also dwarfed that under Obama, and despite much posturing, the Conservatives left most of the Labour directives alone. The 112th Congress just began today, but House Republicans have already laid out plans that are aimed at rolling back or not funding as many of the Obama programs as they can. As the Democrats control the Senate and the President has the veto as well, the programs are likely to survive the House challenges. However, these divisive tactics assure that pleasantries will be hard to come by in the Congress during the next year. Even the Fed looks like it will be dragged into this mud. If some decisions are necessary – the financial crises in state and municipal financing comes to mind – who is going to make the compromises to get the job done? God help the US if it goes into a recession and some real economic decisions, benefiting the workers or supplying capital or spending money, need to be made. It will be almost impossible to get a decision. Trench warfare is what we see and a deep recession is what we fear. Even growth below 2.5% would be very problematic and a big disappointment for the markets. Although we see equities down significantly, the dollar should rally and commodities decline as the US economy slows.

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/john-taylor-why-gridlock-will-lead-slowing-us-economy-drop-equities-and-commodities-and-spik

[Pale Blue Dot]

13. Exclusive: Volcker to step down from White House panel

The departure of Volcker, 83, as head of the President's Economic Recovery Advisory Board is among a series of changes under review at the White House.

The decision to leave the board was Volcker's. A source close to him said he was ready to continue to advise Obama on an informal basis as often as the president would like.

Volcker, who became a legendary figure on Wall Street when as Fed chief he broke the back of double-digit U.S. inflation in the early 1980s by sharply raising interest rates, began advising Obama during his 2008 presidential campaign and has wielded clout on issues ranging from financial regulation to fiscal policy.

The White House declined to comment on Volcker's exit. The formal announcement of Volcker's departure is likely to come on Friday when Obama is expected to make a number of announcements regarding his economic team.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70458G20110105

[xchrom]

17. since volker was ostensibly for stronger regulation

and that doesn't appear to be happening -- is there any real reason for him to hang around?

[Demeter]

24. Worse yet, Volcker wanted the bring back Glass Steagal

can't have that, wouldn't be prudent! (how's my Poppy impersonation coming?)

Yup, the government is a captive of the TBTF Zombie Banks.

[xchrom]

25. did you catch the thread re: der spiegal reporting on the insider theft

that the banks committed?

kpete posted

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x119155

(Quote from Der Spiegel: "From Wall Street to be thrown onto the street")
http://www.spiegel.de/wirtschaft/unternehmen/0,1518,735...
"The stockbrokers are celebrating the end of the crisis. While the crisis is beginning to repeat itself, the banks are just as shameless in their speculation as they were before the crash.

The lobbyists are just as powerful as they ever were. The last 2 years were nothing more than a monumental insider bank robbery, which is long since forgotten. Not a single defendant from senior management was criminally charged. Instead the US Dept of Justice would rather pursue many swindlers who are small fish whose unbridled avarice made them mini-Bernie Madoffs. Bernie Madoff whilst in jail was notified of his son’s suicide." (Block quote based on writer’s paraphrased interpretation of the German text of the German magazine Spiegel December 30th 2010)

[DemReadingDU]

27. and they are suckering in idiot investors again

Like my family. They tell me the worst is over, regulations have been put in place to prevent another meltdown. The stock market is going up, up, up, it's great!
:crazy:

[xchrom]

15. Recommend

[Demeter]

18. Baby, It's Cold Outside! And Snowing. Morning, PBD and All!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4LyMiqz34LM

[Pale Blue Dot]

19. We're getting the snow tomorrow, Demeter.

Looks like it won't be enough for a snow day, however. :-(

[Demeter]

21. We just have a dusting--but it covers the mud

[Demeter]

52. Slow but steady snow falling

Maybe the start of something big...

[Roland99]

32. Nothing here but loud, loud thunderstorms rolling thru about 2:30am

glad they woke me up because the wind was driving rain thru the screens. All the windowsills in the back of the house were wet.

[Demeter]

20. FRAUD BUSTIN' OUT ALL OVER: Retracted autism study an 'elaborate fraud,' British journal finds

http://www.cnn.com/2011/HEALTH/01/05/autism.vaccines/

The plan was to smear the vaccine manufacturers, sue for class action and reap the profits....

http://www.bmj.com/content/342/bmj.c5347.full

[Pale Blue Dot]

22. Andrew Wakefield has a lot to answer for.

He's probably responsible for hundreds (if not thousands) of deaths due to people not getting their children vaccinated. Not to mention all of the wasted time and false hope involving vulnerable parents who simply wanted answers.

I hate the man, and I don't feel much less strongly about his defenders.

[Demeter]

23. Who Wants a 30-Year Mortgage?

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/06/opinion/06mclean.html

AS we all move forward with our New Year’s resolutions, it’s a good time to remember the promises our politicians have been making about the American mortgage market. The Obama administration, at a conference last August on the future of housing finance, pledged to have, come January, a plan for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the mortgage giants that are now wards of the government. Congressional Republicans, in their recent position paper, made an even bolder resolution: to build a mortgage market that “does not rely on government guarantees” and “does not make private investors and creditors wealthy while saddling taxpayers with losses.”

This latter promise is pleasing populist rhetoric. The problem is, it may be neither politically nor practically feasible. Even if we forget about the gigantic near-term problem — namely, that the federal government is in the housing market mainly because most banks simply won’t issue mortgages that can’t be guaranteed by Fannie, Freddie or the Federal Housing Administration — there’s the fact that federal involvement in housing has been a constant since the 1930s. A market without government support would almost certainly involve the demise (for most of middle-class America) of that populist favorite, the low-cost 30-year fixed-rate mortgage.

For a homeowner, a mortgage with a 30-year fixed rate (especially one that he can pay off early without a penalty) is a wonderful thing. For lenders and investors, however, it is a financial Frankenstein’s monster, an unnatural product filled with the potential for losses. Absorbing some of the risk of those losses is a large part of what the government does in the housing market.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, for instance, were created by the federal government to buy up mortgages from lenders, thereby enabling them to turn around and issue more mortgages. Among other things, this allowed the lenders to get off their books the two kinds of risk that a mortgage carries. We’re all now sadly familiar with one kind, credit risk — that is, the danger that a borrower won’t pay back the mortgage. The second is interest-rate risk, the danger that interest rates will rise sharply after the mortgage has been made, thereby burdening the bank with money-losing loans. (Interest-rate risk was the root cause of the savings and loan crisis.) The longer a mortgage lasts, the more difficult it is to manage both of these risks. And 30 years is an awfully long time...

ANOTHER MUST READ!

ALL THESE FACT-FILLED ARTICLES COMING OUT ARE A GOOD THING, BUT WHERE WAS THIS INFORMATION 10 YEARS AGO? OR EVEN 5? AND WHEN WILL IT HIT THE MSM--JOE SIXPACK LEVEL?

[mbperrin]

28. 30 year mortgage is a 20 year mortgage with 10 more years of interest.

There's often little difference in the actual monthly payment, just make more of them.

If you must, a 20 year is the absolute max time for a "reasonable" chance to actually own a home.

$1654 a month for 30 years 5% $250,000; total payments: $595,639

$1962 a month for 20 years 5% $250,000; total payments: $470,973

Save: $125,000 or half the original loan.

Then go ahead and put $1654 a month for the remaining ten years in savings: total: $198,480 in cash without considering interest earned.
Most folks think it's okay to have a couple of hundred thousand dollars laying around.

[Roland99]

33. 40-year mortgages were popping up in CA prior to the housing bubble popping.

Trouble is, most people can't come up with a decent enough down payment to make the 15-year mortgage more affordable (or they are unwilling to "downsize" their target home)

[Demeter]

26. What Goldman FaceBook Fund Will Look Like As It Ignores SEC & Peddles Private Shares To The Public

W/O Full Disclosure

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/here%E2%80%99s-look-what-goldman-facebook-fund-will-look-it-ignores-sec-peddles-private-shares-publi?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+zerohedge%2Ffeed+%28zero+hedge+-+on+a+long+enough+timeline%2C+

Yesterday, I attempted to pull the wool from some of the more complacent eyes of news media consumers by outlining the potential goals for Goldman’s half billion “investment” in Facebook while at the same time pondering the market for a different type of media concern. A media concern that is heavy on the analysis and investigation, yet light on the political correctness and conflicts of interest (see Facebook Becomes One Of The Most Highly Valued Media Companies In The World Thanks To Goldman, & Its Still Private!). I definitely don’t want to be condescending, but there is obviously (at least to me) a need for such an entity amongst the mainstream rags for as I read through the comment sections of the articles written on the topic, I see such naivete as, “Wow!!! If Goldman is putting their money in this, it must be serious!” I say do myself, “It’s a damn shame if that is actually a real person’s viewpoint and not a Goldman equity underwriting employee”.

You see, this is not about Goldman’s attempt to create capital gains through investment, its about their attempt to create income through commissions, fees and spreads...

SCATHING ANALYSIS AND GRAPHIC PORN

[Tansy_Gold]

29. Can someone tell me how Facebook makes money? n/t

[Demeter]

31. As far as I can tell, they don't.

Not yet anyway.

[Tansy_Gold]

34. I mean, what do they do that would generate income? n/t

[Roland99]

36. ad revenue? I dunno

fees for apps like Farmville and Mafia Wars? dunno


I use Firefox with Ad Block Plus so I don't see any ads, if there are any at all.


But, yeah, wtf is making Facebook worth $50 billion?!?!

[Roland99]

35. Excellent analysis (and the links to the other articles, too). GS is set to make a FORTUNE

while the suckers, er, "shareholders" get left holding the empty bag.

[Tansy_Gold]

38. Are you saying, Roland, that there is no there there?

I'm totally serious with these questions. I know absolutely nothing about Facebook. I have never been there, have no account with them, nothing. I've presumed that it is a free service, so the users aren't paying for it and generating income, so the money to operate it must be coming from somewhere else. Where is it coming from? Advertising? Is the advertising effective?

I don't know -- and so I'm asking questions.


TG, TT

[Roland99]

40. It's free to sign up and do anything on there. (oh...there *is* ad revenue)

well, certain games require users to pony up actual funds to access certain features or buy virtual "assets" and perhaps FB is getting a portion of that revenue.

Their server farm and bandwidth costs must be tremendous, too, so that game/ad revenue is likely in place.


found this:

http://www.businessinsider.com/how-does-facebook-make-money-2010-5

Facebook expects revenues to reach $800 million in 2010.

Where did 2009's $500 million come from?

Self-service ads, which appear on the right side of the screen on Facebook, accounted for about $250 million to $300 million. They look like this:

*image here*

As a part of a 2007 ad deal, Microsoft sells some ads on Facebook. It's payment for the privilege reached $50 million in 2009.

So...$800 million in ad revenue is worth a $50 billion market cap?!?

[Roland99]

41. more here, too

http://www.brighthub.com/internet/web-development/articles/94317.aspx

Facebook Gifts

Ever notice how you can send virtual gifts to your friends, particularly on their birthdays, for the low, low price of just $1 per gift, which entitles them to put a small picture of the gift on their Facebook page? In 2009, Facebook earned between $30 and $50 million for these virtual goods.

Applications

Want to level up faster in your favorite Facebook game? Buy a premium item not available to other players? Many Facebook games now let you buy extra goodies using credits, which are sold by Facebook for ten cents each. As of this writing, there are over two hundred applications that accept Facebook credits, with more being added all the time.

[Hugin]

42. I don't buy it.

If GS is there with bells on... It must be more.

My guess is Selling People's Information as a Commodity. Yep, sounds much more in line with Goldman's M.O.

[Roland99]

44. Or GS is just really looking to make a very specific asset bubble w/FB "stock"?

[Ghost Dog]

66. Goldman Sachs Says It May Sell, Hedge Facebook Stake

Jan. 6 (Bloomberg) -- Goldman Sachs Group Inc. clients considering whether to buy shares in closely held Facebook Inc. should take heed: Wall Street’s most profitable securities firm could unload its own holdings without letting them know.

In the last sentence of a one-page investment profile sent to private wealth clients, the firm explains: “GS Group may at any time further reduce its exposure to its investment in Facebook (through hedging arrangements, sales or otherwise), without notice to the fund or investors in the fund.”

/... http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aXywvTed2M9A&pos=3

[Roland99]

71. Prepping themselves for the inevitable, precipitous drop in share price

once Facebook becomes old news.

[Demeter]

30. VIDEO LIBRARY

http://vodpod.com/watch/5255865-keiser-report-monsanto-and-the-seeds-of-evil-e109

[xchrom]

46. +1

[jtuck004]

75. Why Iraqi farmers might prefer death to Order 81 (Monsanto Seeds)

http://www.alternet.org/story/62273/?page=entire

"Seed Crack" (from the video in Demeter's post). Max is right on.

[Demeter]

48. 2011 – THE YEAR OF CATCH-22

http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=9053

COMPREHENSIVE WITH LOTS OF GRAPHIC PORN--A MUST READ!

As I began to think about what might happen in 2011, the classic Joseph Heller novel Catch 22 kept entering my mind. Am I sane for thinking such a thing, or am I so insane that asking this question proves that I’m too rational to even think such a thing? In the novel, the “Catch 22″ is that “anyone who wants to get out of combat duty isn’t really crazy”. Hence, pilots who request a fitness evaluation are sane, and therefore must fly in combat. At the same time, if an evaluation is not requested by the pilot, he will never receive one (i.e. they can never be found “insane”), meaning he must also fly in combat. Therefore, Catch-22 ensures that no pilot can ever be grounded for being insane – even if he were. The absurdity is captured in this passage:

There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one’s own safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn’t, but if he was sane, he had to fly them. If he flew them, he was crazy and didn’t have to; but if he didn’t want to, he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle. “That’s some catch, that Catch-22,” he observed. “It’s the best there is,” Doc Daneeka agreed. - Catch 22 – Joseph Heller

The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch 22. They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to recover in order to improve our deficit situation, but if the economy really recovers long term interest rates will increase, further depressing the housing market and increasing the interest expense burden for the US, therefore increasing the deficit. A recovering economy would result in more production and consumption, which would result in more oil consumption driving the price above $100 per barrel, therefore depressing the economy. Americans must save for their retirements as 10,000 Baby Boomers turn 65 every day, but if the savings rate goes back to 10%, the economy will collapse due to lack of consumption. Consumer expenditures account for 71% of GDP and need to revert back to 65% for the US to have a balanced sustainable economy, but a reduction in consumer spending will push the US back into recession, reducing tax revenues and increasing deficits. You can see why Catch 22 is the theme for 2011.

It seems the consensus for 2011 is that the economy will grow 3% to 4%, two million new jobs will be created, corporate profits will rise, and the stock market will rise another 10% to 15%. Sounds pretty good. The problem with this storyline is that it is based on a 2010 that gave the appearance of recovery, but was a hoax propped up by trillions in borrowed funds. On January 1, 2010 the National Debt of the United States rested at $12.3 trillion. On December 31, 2010 the National Debt checked in at $13.9 trillion, an increase of $1.6 trillion.

The Federal Reserve Balance Sheet totaled $2.28 trillion on January 1, 2010. Today, it stands at $2.46 trillion, an increase of $180 billion.


AND IT JUST GETS WORSE FROM THERE....HERE'S YOUR TALKING POINTS, DEBATERS!

[Roland99]

51. this is why bigger and better asset bubbles are needed more and more

to keep the house of cards from collapsing.

[xchrom]

56. you don't want to read too much of the comments.

some serious trash talk.

[Demeter]

53. U.S. Embassy Turned a Blind Eye as Suspected CIA Banker Allen Stanford Bilked Investors, WIKILEAKS

http://antifascist-calling.blogspot.com/2011/01/us-embassy-turned-blind-eye-as.html

While R. Allen Stanford was happily ensconced on the Caribbean island of Antigua, allegedly bribing officials there as he expanded his banking empire, secret cables released by the whistleblowing web site WikiLeaks revealed that U.S. Embassy officials held themselves at arm's length even as they provided the accused fraudster with political cover.

As Antifascist Calling reported last summer, Stanford International Bank (SIB) and Stanford Financial Group (SFG), once conservatively valued at $50 billion, were no more legitimate than penny stock frauds or advance fee scams on the internet. To make matters worse, for years federal regulators turned a blind eye towards the bank's reckless practices.

As it turns out, so too did the U.S. Embassy.

Cablegate file 06BRIDGETOWN755, "Cricket Breakfast Serves Up First Encounter with Allen Stanford," dated 03 May 2006, revealed that "Ambassador Kramer met controversial Texan billionaire Allen Stanford for the first time at an April 21 'Legends of Cricket' breakfast in Barbados."

The confidential embassy cable reported that "Stanford bent the Ambassador's ear concerning his significant new tourism and property investments in Antigua and plans for his Caribbean Star and Caribbean Sun airlines."...

THIS STORY HAS EVERYTHING: BFEE, CIA, DRUGS, AND DISAPPEARING MONEY

[Pale Blue Dot]

55. The AP is reporting that it's official: William Daley is the next Chief of Staff.

I have to be honest: there are days that I really, really dislike our President.

[xchrom]

57. oh well. -- what are you going to do? nt

[DemReadingDU]

58. Gene Sperling(?) to succeed Summers

1/6/10 Obama to Name Aides in Overhaul of Administration for Second Half of Term

President Barack Obama is undertaking a “major retooling” of his administration that will include an announcement tomorrow of several new top officials for his economic team.

Obama will name his choice to succeed Larry Summers, who returned to Harvard University last month, as director of the National Economic Council, according to an administration official. He also will appoint a deputy NEC director and fill the deputy position on the Council of Economic Advisers vacated by Austan Goolsbee when he was elevated to chairman, the official said on condition of anonymity because the decisions haven’t been formally announced.

Gene Sperling, a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, has emerged as the leading candidate to succeed Summers at the NEC.

Obama also is considering naming William Daley, a JPMorgan Chase & Co. executive and former Commerce secretary, to a top administration position, possibly White House chief of staff. Daley met with Obama and administration officials yesterday at the White House, the administration official said.

As part of the shift toward the next presidential race, press secretary Robert Gibbs announced yesterday that he will leave the administration early next month. He said he will serve as an outside adviser to Obama and work on the 2012 campaign.

Among the candidates Obama is considering to succeed Gibbs is Jay Carney, a spokesman for Vice President Joe Biden, as well as Bill Burton and Josh Earnest, who have served as deputies to Gibbs since the campaign, according to an administration official.

Senior adviser David Axelrod, the architect of Obama’s 2008 election, previously has said that he plans to leave the White House in the coming weeks and return to Chicago before rejoining Obama’s re-election effort.

Deputy chief of staff Jim Messina also is likely to leave the administration to begin setting up the re-election bid out of Chicago. Obama’s 2008 campaign manager, David Plouffe, will join the White House staff Jan. 10 as an adviser to the president.

Obama isn’t losing trusted advisers like Gibbs and Axelrod as much as he’s “repurposing” them into new roles, said Alan Schroeder, a journalism professor at Northeastern University in Boston. “The presidential campaign is on.”

more...
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Obama-to-Name-Aides-in-bloomberg-1027835473.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=8&asset=&ccode=

[TalkingDog]

74. Long as we're having fun, I'd rather have Gene Simmons. n/t

[Demeter]

61. the Days that I Like Him Disappeared with the IgNobel Prize

Have fun shuffling the deck chairs, Cap'n O.

[Demeter]

62. Geithner says U.S. could hit debt limit by March 31

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE7053C520110106

The United States may hit the legal limit on its ability to borrow by March 31 and faces serious consequences unless Congress acts by then to raise it, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday..."Even a short-term or limited default would have catastrophic economic consequences that would last for decades," Geithner said in a letter to U.S. Senate Majority leader Harry Reid that was issued by Treasury...Geithner said it was hard to pin down exactly when the current $14.3 trillion ceiling on the debt limit would be pierced but urged Congress to act before the end of the first quarter to avoid the risk of pushing the United States into default.

At a briefing later, a U.S. Treasury official urged lawmakers preparing for a new budget, and a likely fractious debate over spending, not to mix up the debt-limit issue with calls for greater restraint in government spending.

CONFIDENT CONGRESS TO ACT

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, expressed confidence that Congress will raise the debt limit if only because not doing so would have such a damaging impact.



"The Treasury department now estimates that the debt limit will be reached as early as March 31, 2011, and most likely between that date and May 16, 2011," Geithner wrote...He said Treasury could engage in extraordinary measures, such as suspending sales of state and local government securities and thus delay the date by which the debt limit is reached "by several weeks" but preferred not to do so. "Once these steps have been taken, no remaining legal and prudent measures would be available to create additional headroom under the debt limit, and the United States would begin to default on its obligations," Geithner said. If that happened, Geithner said, there would be consequences for the U.S. economy "potentially much more harmful than the effects of the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009."

The U.S. Treasury official said the department expected Congress to "do the responsible thing" and to lift the debt limit so that the United States can keep borrowing to fund its daily operating needs.

MY MONEY IS ON THE TEA PARTY

[Demeter]

64. Wikileaks trove used in fight over shipwreck trove

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/05/AR2011010504923.html

Deep-sea explorers in Florida are using some of the trove of recently leased WikiLeaks documents to try to force the U.S. government out of their legal battle with Spain over a shipwreck treasure.

Odyssey Marine Exploration of Tampa says documents released by Wikileaks show the U.S. State Department had offered to help Spain's side in the matter in exchange for help in returning a multimillion-dollar painting - seized by World War II-era Nazis - to a U.S. citizen.

Odyssey said Wednesday it filed a motion urging an appeals court to throw out a "friend of the court" brief by the U.S. government supporting Spain's bid for 17 tons of coins raised from a sunken Spanish galleon off Portugal in 2007.
ad_icon

A federal court ruled for Spain in 2009. Odyssey is appealing.

[Ghost Dog]

65. Markets Slide On Euro Worries

Markets in the U.S. are in negative territory today, with the NASDAQ an exception.

The selloff is a product of poor retail sales data this morning and worries over potential haircuts to bondholders in the eurozone.

/.. http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Markets-Slide-On-Euro-Worries-siliconalley-3437872883.html?x=0

[Demeter]

68. Break out the Anti-Depressionants!

[Ghost Dog]

70. November Factory Orders Prove Once Again Why Germany Will Never Let The Euro Dissolve

New November factory order data came in ridiculously strong, with a 20% y/y gain, strongly surpassing the 15.9% estimates. Sequentially, growth was a staggering 5.2%.

Do you think the country's growth would look anything like this if it returned to the Deutsche Mark? Ha!

Just ask Switzerland, where its own PMI was surprisingly weak (for December). That would be Germany if it had its own currency.


/... http://www.businessinsider.com/november-german-factory-orders-2011-1?sailthru_m=h2a#ixzz1AHYbm1O4

[Demeter]

77. Why? If the Euro Means Germany, and the Deutchmark means Germany, What's the Diff?

Germany and France are pulling the Euro wagon, and I hardly think France is pulling Germany.

[Ghost Dog]

69. Record high food prices stoke fears for economy

SINGAPORE/LONDON (Reuters) – Record high food prices are moving to the top of policymaker agendas, driven by fears they could stoke inflation, protectionism and unrest and dent consumer demand in key emerging economies.

The United Nations' food agency (FAO) said on Wednesday that food prices hit a record high last month, moving beyond levels of 2008 when riots broke out in countries as far afield as Egypt, Cameroon and Haiti.

...

In China, several cities have implemented direct controls to limit food price increases and the central government has vowed to eliminate speculation in the country's commodities markets. The cost of food rose 11.7 percent in the year to November, while non-food items were up just 1.9 percent. But, reflecting concerns that inflation is creeping beyond food to the wider economy, consumer goods prices and housing costs showed clear jumps.

...

Alongside bad weather in Australia, Europe, North America and Argentina, rising Asian demand is at the heart of the spike. China, for example, is expected to buy 60 percent of globally traded soybeans in 2011/12, double its purchase of four years ago.

/... http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20110106/ts_nm/us_food

See also: http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4685331

[Ghost Dog]

72. Renault says espionage threatens its 'strategic assets'

French carmaker Renault has said that suspected industrial espionage against its business poses a serious threat to its "strategic assets".

The statement comes a day after Renault suspended three senior managers after an investigation into the possible leaking of electric vehicle secrets.

Commenting on the matter, French Industry Minister Eric Besson warned the country was facing "economic war".

...

"The biggest advantage Western car makers have against rivals with lower labour costs elsewhere is their advanced technology. Hence the talk in France of an economic war."

/... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12125864

[xchrom]

76. ironic. wasn't there a news report yesterday about the french

were the best industrial espionage folks around?

[DoBotherMe]

73. K&R