STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, January 10, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, January 10, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON January 10, 2011

Dow 11,674.76 -22.55 (-0.19%)
Nasdaq 2,703.17 -6.72 (-0.25%)
S&P 500 1,271.50 -2.35 (-0.18%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.33 -0.01 (-0.30%)
30-Year Bond 4.43 -0.01 (-0.16%)

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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. No reports today. nt

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil rises to near $89 after Alaska pipeline leak

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose to near $89 a barrel Monday in Asia after a pipeline leak cut Alaskan crude output.

Benchmark oil for February delivery rose 72 cents to $88.75 a barrel late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 30 cents to settle at $88.03 in Friday.

The 800-mile (1,300-kilometer) trans-Alaska pipeline, which normally carries between 630,000 and 650,000 barrels a day, was shut Saturday after a leak was discovered at a North Slope pump station, said Alyeska Pipeline Service Co., which manages the line. North Slope production was reduced to 5 percent of normal.

Alyeska Pipeline said cleanup crews have contained the leak, but the company didn't know when the pipeline would restart operations.

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

[Hissyspit]

6. Hi, Pale Blue Dot

Is Ozy coming back and when will that be? Thank you for doing this.

Great Luckovich cartoon.

[Pale Blue Dot]

7. Ozy "retired".

He needed a break. I have no idea if or when he will be back, but he's (of course) welcome back at any time.

[Hissyspit]

15. Oh, no. I must have missed that day.

I can understand needing a break. Thank you so much for taking over.

[hamerfan]

47. Link for Hissyspit

To Ozy's last work day here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4678199

[Hissyspit]

49. Thanks.

:thumbsup:

[CatholicEdHead]

36. Ozy said he would let Pale Blue Dot estabish himself

before he returns. I expect he still lurks daily.

[Po_d Mainiac]

23. Horizon oil sands disruption

The shutdown of Canadian Natural Resources Ltd.’s 110,000-barrel-a-day Horizon oil sands project after a fire may bring benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude back from a “supercontango” and narrow its discount to Brent oil, according to analysts at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

“The loss of this upgrader will further decrease flows to the region, and should lead to a tightening of WTI spreads,” analysts led by Lawrence Eagles said in a note to clients. “It is also important to recognize that there was already a supply bottleneck in Canada before the outage, therefore it is not simply a case of subtracting the capacity of the upgrader from Cushing flows,” the analysts wrote.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-07/canadian-oil-sands-fire-brings-wti-back-from-supercontango-jpmorgan-says.html

(RTTNews) - Canadian Natural Resources Limited (CNQ: News ,CNQ.TO: News ), Monday, issued a further update relating to the January 6 fire at the primary upgrading facility at the company's Horizon Oil Sands plant. The incident is being investigated by the company as also Occupational Health and Safety, or OH&S, and its causes are yet to be determined.
http://www.rttnews.com/ArticleView.aspx?Id=1523076

[tclambert]

43. "contained the leak" Where have I heard that before?

The PR department said it, so it must be true.

[mrdmk]

3. K & R, not sleeping well this morning on the west coast

[Demeter]

31. Don't think anyone is

This assassination attempt is giving me flashbacks to the 60's.

[hamerfan]

4. K & R!

Looks great, PBD!
:donut:
My first rec for your SMW as I just got back online after getting the computer back.

[Tansy_Gold]

18. Welcome back!

We missed you!


TG,TT

[hamerfan]

53. Thank you, Tansy!

:hug: :donut:
I'm just now able to read the rest of this thread. Gonna be really busy the next few days but I hope I can keep up with this!
hamerfan

[Festivito]

5. Debt: 01/06/2011 14,011,793,170,981.72 (UP 266,443,085.87) (Thu, DOWN some.)

(Sad times, good day.)
Sleepy for regular hours.
(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)
= 9,383,215,327,180.01 + 4,628,577,843,801.71
DOWN 1,749,774,139.62 + UP 2,016,217,225.49

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 $3,214.56 makes 1T$.
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 311,084,192 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 $45,041.8.
A family of three owes $135,125.41. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 24 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 24 reports is 7,373,684,746.71.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,898,947,797.37.
The average for the last 31 days would be 5,708,659,158.75.
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$/day.
There were 68 reports in 98 days of FY2011 averaging 6.62B$ per report, 4.59B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 745 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 18.3T$.
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)
01/06/2011 14,011,793,170,981.72 BHO (UP 3,384,916,122,068.64 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 +0,450,170,140,090.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,676,654,093,192.35 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ----
01/06/2011 -001,749,774,139.62 --

61,523,887,859.68 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=4686476&mesg_id=4686480

[Festivito]

54. Debt: 01/07/2011 14,009,422,364,546.03 (DOWN 2,370,806,435.69) (Fri, UP a little.)

(Good day.)
Going nuclear today.
(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)
= 9,383,237,402,043.07 + 4,626,184,962,502.96
UP 22,074,863.06 + DOWN 2,392,881,298.75

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 $3,214.49 makes 1T$.
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 311,091,392 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 $45,033.14.
A family of three owes $135,099.42. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 24 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 24 reports is 7,122,168,752.02.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,697,735,001.61.
The average for the last 31 days would be 5,513,937,098.34.
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$/day.
There were 69 reports in 99 days of FY2011 averaging 6.49B$ per report, 4.52B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 744 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 18.1T$.
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)
01/07/2011 14,009,422,364,546.03 BHO (UP 3,382,545,315,632.95 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 +0,447,799,333,654.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,650,977,341,250.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
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 ----
01/06/2011 -001,749,774,139.62 --
01/07/2011 +000,022,074,863.06 ------------*******

59,474,747,427.31 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=4690752&mesg_id=4690763

[Pale Blue Dot]

8. U.S. Stock-Index Futures Retreat on Renewed Debt Concern; Exxon Declines

U.S. stock-index futures fell, indicating the benchmark Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may decline for a third day, amid renewed sovereign debt concern in Europe.

ConocoPhillips and Exxon Mobil Corp. retreated after an oil leak forced the companies and partner BP Plc to shut down the Trans Alaska Pipeline System, which carries 15 percent of U.S. crude output. DuPont Co. declined after the company agreed to acquire Danisco A/S for $5.8 billion.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in March dropped 0.6 percent to 1,260.6 at 10:07 a.m. in London. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures slid 0.4 percent to 11,574 and Nasdaq-100 Index futures retreated 0.4 percent to 2,263.25.

Portugal and Ireland led a surge in the cost of insuring against default on European sovereign debt to record levels today, according to CMA. Treasury yields also declined amid concern Portugal will follow Greece and Ireland in seeking a bailout from the European Union.

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

[Pale Blue Dot]

9. Public pension funds seek foreclosure reviews

EW YORK (Reuters) - A coalition of seven major public pension systems, led by New York City Comptroller John Liu, has asked the boards of four of the largest U.S. banks to examine their mortgage and foreclosure practices.

In a letter dated January 6, the pension fund coalition urged the Audit Committees of Bank of America Corp (BAC.N: Quote) Citigroup Inc (C.N: Quote), JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N: Quote), and Wells Fargo L& Co (WFC.N: Quote) to launch independent examinations of their loan modification, foreclosure, and securitization policies and procedures.

"This will help to prevent future compliance failures and restore the confidence of shareholders, regulators, legislators and mortgage markets participants," the coalition said in the letter.

Bank representatives could not be reached for immediate comment on Sunday.

http://ca.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idCATRE7082MF20110109?sp=true

[Pale Blue Dot]

10. State (FL) guilty of 'delusional behavior' in slow response to foreclosure chaos, critics say

The moves by other states to address the foreclosure morass has Florida homeowner advocates and defense attorneys asking why more isn't being done here.

The Florida Attorney General's Office is investigating four so-called "foreclosure mill" law firms and is part of a 50-state coalition trying to work out solutions with the banks. Also, the Florida Supreme Court assembled a foreclosure task force in 2009 and requires mediation in all homesteaded foreclosures - a program that has logged minimal success in the year since it became mandatory.

But as hundreds of homes continue to sell at auction each day and the variations of alleged malpractice mount, critics charge that Florida is burying its head in its sandy beaches, waiting for an ocean breeze to blow the whole thing over.

"This collective turning of our backs and shutting of our eyes is not working," said St. Petersburg defense attorney Matt Weidner. "I think there is widespread delusional behavior to pretend nothing is wrong."

http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/real-estate/state-guilty-of-delusional-behavior-in-slow-response-1174621.html?viewAsSinglePage=true

[xchrom]

13. i think 'delusional' is accurate.

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/delusional
Definition of DELUSION
1
: the act of deluding : the state of being deluded
2
a : something that is falsely or delusively believed or propagated b : a persistent false psychotic belief regarding the self or persons or objects outside the self that is maintained despite indisputable evidence to the contrary; also : the abnormal state marked by such beliefs
— de·lu·sion·al \-ˈlüzh-nəl, -ˈlü-zhə-nəl\ adjective
— de·lu·sion·ary \-zhə-ˌner-ē\ adjective
See delusion defined for English-language learners »
Examples of DELUSION

1. He has delusions about how much money he can make at that job.
2. He is living under the delusion that he is incapable of making mistakes.
3. She is under the delusion that we will finish on time.
4. As the illness progressed, his delusions took over and he had violent outbursts.

[InkAddict]

30. Interesting examples of usage for, while there are those

entities that display these memes, when nothing is done about same, REALITY ensues.

[tclambert]

45. Someone on DU a while back said that real estate interests had taken over Florida politics.

Real estate agents were encouraged to run for offices at all levels and took over much of the political infrastructure, with an eye toward bending all rules, and laws, in favor of the real estate industry. They got rid of property taxes for one thing.

So the story went. If true, it might explain the state government being in denial that anything is wrong with the real estate business.

Can anyone confirm or refute this take on things? All I have is remembered hearsay.

[xchrom]

11. recommend

[Pale Blue Dot]

12. Deepening crisis traps America's have-nots

There is a telling detail in the US retail chain store data for December. Stephen Lewis from Monument Securities points out that luxury outlets saw an 8.1pc rise from a year ago, but discount stores catering to America’s poorer half rose just 1.2pc.

Tiffany’s, Nordstrom, and Saks Fifth Avenue are booming. Sales of Cadillac cars have jumped 35pc, while Porsche’s US sales are up 29pc.

Cartier and Louis Vuitton have helped boost the luxury goods stock index by almost 50pc since October. Yet Best Buy, Target, and Walmart have languished.

Such is the blighted fruit of Federal Reserve policy. The Fed no longer even denies that the purpose of its latest blast of bond purchases, or QE2, is to drive up Wall Street, perhaps because it has so signally failed to achieve its other purpose of driving down borrowing costs.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/8249181/Deepening-crisis-traps-Americas-have-nots.html

[Pale Blue Dot]

14. Krugman - Climate of Hate

When you heard the terrible news from Arizona, were you completely surprised? Or were you, at some level, expecting something like this atrocity to happen?

Put me in the latter category. I’ve had a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach ever since the final stages of the 2008campaign. I remembered the upsurge in political hatred after Bill Clinton’s election in 1992 — an upsurge that culminated in the Oklahoma City bombing. And you could see, just by watching the crowds at McCain-Palin rallies, that it was ready to happen again. The Department of Homeland Security reached the same conclusion: in April 2009 an internal report warned that right-wing extremism was on the rise, with a growing potential for violence.

Conservatives denounced that report. But there has, in fact, been a rising tide of threats and vandalism aimed at elected officials, including both Judge John Roll, who was killed Saturday, and Representative Gabrielle Giffords. One of these days, someone was bound to take it to the next level. And now someone has.

It’s true that the shooter in Arizona appears to have been mentally troubled. But that doesn’t mean that his act can or should be treated as an isolated event, having nothing to do with the national climate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/10/opinion/10krugman.html?_r=1

I had one conservative jerk tell me on Facebook that we can't criticize Palin because Lee Harvey Oswald was liberal and Sirhan Sirhan was Arab. I swear I'm not making this up.

I actually think that the rhetoric will get worse as the talk radio Republicans go on their rants today.

[rfranklin]

16. They are cornered rats...and acting accordingly...

Lee Harvey Oswald was a CIA operative not a liberal.

[xchrom]

17. +1

[AnneD]

38. Tansy....

where is your ITYS stamp.

How many times have I said...when folks have nothing to lose, they have nothing to lose. With all the RW inflammatory rhetoric, I am not surprised they fired the first volley. Nor am I surprised that the RW noise machine are trying to paint the attacker as a 'liberal'. The question I want to ask is where in the hell is the FCC. Why haven't they been fining and shutting down folks like Rush, Sarah, Glen for their incendiary speech (I can't remember Billo, Keith, or Rachel making remarks calling for anyone to be placed in the cross hairs).

The left has been complaining about this for some time and all this rewriting of history will not change that. The fact that the Rep. that was shot had complained about Palin and her cross hair web site only drives the point home. Sarah has blood on her hands and this time it won't wash off as easily.

However, the people voted for a change in 08 and people are still waiting. Bankers are getting richer, families are being kicked out of their homes, and boomers are being swindled out of their retirements. Frankly, everyone in Congress, not just Dems should be worried. Things are NOT better on Main Street. The people are not being listened to and Homeland Security won't be able to protect Congress. All our institutions of government and their corporate cronies will reap the whirlwind if they continue on their current path.

[Demeter]

19. this "Bears" Watching: Bears on China Currency Policies

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnAT7FZpmg0&feature=player_embedded

[Demeter]

20. Free Market Fraud By Dylan Ratigan

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dylan-ratigan/free-market-fraud_b_805936.html

This "pace" that we're operating at is working out just fine for the incumbent power structure, but it is strangling the rest of America. And it's not the first time a group of outdated industries has controlled our government for their own benefit, and at the detriment of everyone else...It took a courageous -- and at the time crazy -- leader by the name of Teddy Roosevelt to step up and change that. He took on the biggest financial giant there was, JP Morgan, and he won. Roosevelt's underlying premise -- if you're too powerful and you're profiting at the expense of the American people -- then you are an enemy of freedom and the government must break you up. It was that simple.

Here we find ourselves today in a similar situation, where six industries have a stranglehold over Washington. And the draining of our current and future wealth will only continue as both the media and the political class not only tolerates but spreads the phrase "free market" when the reality doesn't match the rhetoric.

Our politicians continue to take money from massive corporations to subsidize them in a rigged marketplace that only cares about protecting the incumbent structure. At the same time, the American people are drowning in a red sea of debt caused by perpetuating banking, health care, energy and defense systems that are expensive, ineffective and protected from competition.

So I have a challenge for those so-called free market Republicans who rode a wave of voter discontent into Washington. I challenge you to end massive corporate subsidies. To end tax loopholes. And to end rigged trade with China and release the true power of free markets.

This can no longer be simply a talking point to win votes. Because this broken system is not only costing American jobs... it's costing us the very prosperity and freedoms that this country was founded on.

[Karenina]

21. Bangladesh stock market crashes 9.25%

http://financialexpress.com/news/bangladesh-stock-market-crashes-9.25/735636/


Bangladesh police fired tear gas and water cannon to break up violent protests by investors on Monday after stock trading was halted for a second day when prices went into a free fall.

The benchmark index shed 9.25 percent in less than an hour of trading, its steepest-ever slide. That followed a 6.7 percent drop on Sunday after the market had been battered for weeks.

Hundreds of angry investors vandalised cars and blocked roads around the Dhaka Stock Exchange, the main bourse, before police moved in.

[Demeter]

22. Renews Commitment to Complete Destruction of the Middle Class - Meet the New Economic Death Squad

http://ampedstatus.com/obama-renews-commitment-to-complete-destruction-of-the-middle-class-meet-the-new-economic-death-squad

...If, on the other hand, you live in the real world, Obama’s latest cabinet appointments are yet another blatant sign that he is absolutely committed to destroying what is left of the middle class. Obama is doubling down on the side of the financial terrorists. Enter Bill Daley and Gene Sperling - a JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs one-two punch to send battered and bruised Americans to the canvas for a final ten-count...The announcement of Bill Daley, JP Morgan Chase’s czar of “government affairs” (lobbying), as Obama’s new Chief of Staff may sound bad on the surface, but if you dig into Daley’s background, it gets, as George W would say, “downright evil.” Other than spending the past seven years serving Jamie Dimon at JP Morgan, Bill Daley was also a Chamber of Commerce chair. While at the Chamber, Daley “played a major role in opposing the regulation of derivatives” and signed the now infamous Chamber of Commerce manifesto to destroy middle class America.

And we’re just getting warmed up… Daley was Clinton’s NAFTA czar (job exporting specialist) and he even has deep ties to the organization responsible for creating the explosion in CEO pay, all-time record-breaking inequality of wealth and shipping millions more jobs overseas, The Business Roundtable. They just released the following statement:

“Business Roundtable has a strong relationship with Mr. Daley and has worked with him in the past on many issues important to both business and the broader economy, such as the successful ratification of NAFTA. Mr. Daley can continue to be an important partner in our fight…. We look forward to continuing our work with Mr. Daley in his new position.”

Let’s also mention that he played a pivotal role in creating the housing crisis, was on the board of Fannie Mae, opposed financial reform, supported health insurance companies, fought for Pharma interests, lobbied for telecommunications companies and adamantly opposed the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. He even railed against post-Enron accounting and auditing laws… P.O.P… that was the sound of the vein in my head bursting.

But wait… it gets even better! As a board member of the think tank “Third Way,” Daley took a strong interest in cutting “entitlements” like Social Security and Medicare. He is a proud member of the Council on Foreign Relations and serves on the Boards of Directors of Merck & Co., one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, and he is on the board of . . . wait for it . . . Boeing. Yes, the Pentagon-Wall Street-Pharma nexus is complete. You may now run the White House.

Boeing certainly does love Wall Street. For those of you out of the loop, you may not recall that the most powerful and destructive WMD that Boeing executives ever helped develop was the CDO, that’s a Collateralized Debt (Damage) Obligation. Do you remember that guy Edward Liddy? Liddy and Bill Daley were both Boeing board members, before Liddy temporarily moved to Goldman Sachs where he oversaw their Audit Committee. Liddy was the person who had the most knowledge of Goldman’s CDO exposure insured through, what was that company’s name?… Oh, AIG. Yeah, that was it. Then, Hank “Pentagon-Watergate-Goldman” Paulson unilaterally made Liddy the CEO of AIG, before teaming up with Tim “Kissinger-Rubin-Summers-IMF” Geithner to flush $183 billion tax dollars down the “too big to fail” drain. And then… after the government was finished pumping our tax dollars to financial terrorists through the AIG SPV, Liddy scurried back to the board of Boeing where he could have cocktails with his ole pal Billy-Boy Daley. Yep, Goldman, JP Morgan, Boeing and the destruction of the US economy, birds of a feather…But I digress, this all happened so long ago, who even remembers this stuff? It all sounds too conspiracy theory for me anyway.

MORE AT LINK

[boomerbust]

28. Maybe true

But the middle class was destroyed long before Obama took office.

[Demeter]

24. Why the World Is Financially Doomed in Four Charts

http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjan11/why-financial-doom01-11.html

Though the complexities may appear endless, the global economy's coming implosion is really fairly easy to understand: here are four charts which do the heavy lifting. It boils down to these basics:

1. When money is dear and difficult to borrow, then productivity and capital accumulation are encouraged, speculation, malinvestment and debt-based consumption are discouraged.

2. When money is "free" (zero-interest rate policy) and liquidity is unlimited, then the opposite conditions hold: speculation in risk assets, malinvestment and debt-based consumption are all encouraged, and productivity and capital accumulation are heavily discouraged.

3. When debts exceed the value of the underlying assets, the only way out of the Tyranny of Debt is to write off the debt on both the borrower and lender's balance sheets, wiping out their capital via liquidation and bankruptcy.

4. The "extend and pretend" policy pursued by all major nations is simply transferring the impaired debt from private hands to the taxpayers (public debt), crippling the economy with higher taxes and higher debt service.

5. The Central State's "extend and pretend" policy requires heavy borrowing every year to prop up the status quo, pushing the Central State (or equivalent, i.e. the Eurozone) into an inescapable double-bind: either continue increasing public debt and cripple the economy with high taxes and high public-debt servicing costs, or let the financial status quo of "profits are private, losses are public" implode.

The first path leads to default, as the Tyranny of Debt cannot be masked for long, while the second path wipes out the Financial Power Elite which feeds the politicians.

Here are the charts. Note how the speculative economy created the illusion of rising wealth for the bottom 90%, an illusion stripped away by the Default Economy.

SEE LINK FOR CHARTS

[Po_d Mainiac]

25. Another food source under threat..Australia

(Reuters) - Australia's devastating floods are flushing toxic, pesticide-laden sediment into the Great Barrier Reef, and could threaten fragile corals and marine life in the world's largest living organism, environmentalists said on Monday.

Flood plumes from the swollen Fitzroy and Burnett rivers in Queensland state had muddied reef waters as far as the Keppel Island Group, about 40 km (24 miles) offshore, at the southern end of the World Heritage-listed reef.

"Toxic pollution from flooded farms and towns along the Queensland coast will have a disastrous impact on the Great Barrier Reefs corals and will likely have a significant impact on dugongs, turtles and other marine life," the World Wild Life Fund WWF.L said in a statement.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSLNE70303W20110110

[DemReadingDU]

29. 2 Killed, Hundreds Injured in Algerian Food Riots

1/8/11 Algerian state media says at least two people have been killed and 300 have been injured in rioting over soaring food prices.

The country's official press agency reported the deaths Saturday, the first since rioting began late Thursday and Friday. The news came as fresh rioting erupted across the county and as government officials were due to meet about the problems.

The unrest began this week after the sudden price hike of food staples such as flour, sugar and oil.

Protesters are also blaming government policies for continuing unemployment and economic problems, despite the country's oil and gas wealth.

In neighboring Tunisia, violent protests over unemployment have led to three deaths in recent weeks.


http://www.voanews.com/english/news/Two-Killed-Hundreds-Injured-in-Algerian-Food-Riots-113133109.html

[Demeter]

35. And so it begins

[xchrom]

26. kick

[Po_d Mainiac]

27. More from the Silver Bears

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AId_UiPtPpQ&feature=player_embedded

[Demeter]

33. Translation, please, Po?

Bernank is out of tricks, and it's all coming down, except silver?

[Po_d Mainiac]

41. Look for major, but short lived dip in "paper" metal

As the Morgue struggles to cover the short positions. We just had a prelude last week, which did not succeed in busting the $28.50 bottom.

At the same time "open interest" (buyers) out-weight sellers, the market dropped.....HMMMMM

The bit about the Morgue swapping T's for Chinese Ag is a new twist, but one that would explain Blythe Masters suicidal position.

[Pale Blue Dot]

32. I just found out the the father of 2 of my favorite students died suddenly last night.

Heart attack.

I teach the younger one now; the older one visits my room constantly. These girls remained hard-working and positive when both of their parents were laid off at the same time last year. The mother finally found a job - and now this. I'll be heading over to their house after school today.

Please spare a thought for Gianna, Clare and their mother today.

[Demeter]

34. It's going to be a hard week, and year PBD

Give those girls hugs for us, if you can do so safely.

[TalkingDog]

37. In my thoughts....

and as my MIL is wont to say: You'll earn your reward in Heaven.

[AnneD]

39. Bless you for your kindness....

This is one of the things teachers do that cannot be quantified when they do those bogus teacher evaluations. Kids are not widgets and bless you for being there for this family.

[DemReadingDU]

50. That is very kind of you to be there for support for the students

The mother must be beside herself with grief and shock. I'm sure she is appreciative too of your caring.
:hug:

[TalkingDog]

40. Stock takes a nose dive

But in a good way:

http://www.businessinsider.com/sarah-palins-intrade-odds-dive-in-immediate-wake-of-arizona-tragedy-2011-1?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+clusterstock+%28ClusterStock%29#ixzz1AdSrnQDf

[Demeter]

42. Getting Ready for the Annual Meeting

Our condo board's resident CPA is having parent-care issues and going crazy, so I am boning up on the hard numbers, in the hopes that I can sound informed and knowledgeable when the membership comes at me with questions...

Meanwhile, Sis is down in DC, dealing with our parent-care issues. She's about to throw in the towel. I keep telling her, she has to do the Mean Mommy routine (but since all her children have been dogs, this is problematic for her). It's terrible, watching a parent argue himself into an early grave "because the doctors don't know anything!"

Thing is, if the parental unit were well-informed on health care issues, he wouldn't be chronically ill and permanently impaired. If he followed doctor's orders, he might be healing. If pigs had wings, they'd be called pigeons...etc.

Add to that the nausea brought on by the flashbacks to the 60's, and it's gonna be a hard winter, and who knows how long it will last? Temperatures peak at 20F or so, down to single digits at night, every day for at least a week to come...not much snow, and lots of sun today. Snow maybe tomorrow.

[Pale Blue Dot]

46. Good luck Demeter!!!

I hope your dad is ok. :pals:

[Demeter]

48. He isn't. He could be, if he would get out of his own way.

But at 78, why start now?

[DemReadingDU]

51. He sure is stubborn

I'll probably be that way too at 78.

Good luck with the annual meeting.

[Demeter]

52. If you remember your grammar about comparative and superlative adjectives

There's Stubborn, Polish, and lastly, My Father.

I sincerely doubt that you would be that way at any age.

The Quebecois have a phrase for it--concrete head.

[tclambert]

44. I fell out of love with New Zealand Telecom recently.

It's a phone company, so I regarded it as "safer" investment. When my wife and I bought some, it was paying 10% dividends. Time passed, the share price went up (good) and the dividens went down (bad) until it was paying 5.5% dividends. Well, AT&T, the mother of all phone companies, was paying 5.9% dividends. So, we switched phone companies. We got in just a few days before the ex-dividend date (sweet). My wife is actually parking some of her money there until she finds another stock she likes. I'm thinking of it as a kind of savings account with a much better interest rate. Our credit union is currently paying about 0.1% interest on savings. That equals 1/59th what AT&T pays.

I still hope the "riskier" investments will make me rich one day, but it's good to have some "safer" income-producing investments, too.