STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, April 1, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, April 1, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON March 31, 2011

Dow 12,319.73 -30.88 (-0.25%)
Nasdaq 2,781.07 +4.28 (+0.15%)
S&P 500 1,325.83 -2.43 (-0.18%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.48 +0.02 (+0.43%)
30-Year Bond 4.52 +0.01 (+0.22%)

---

Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

---

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

---

---

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. Today's Oodles of Reports

Apr 01 08:30 Nonfarm Payrolls Mar 175K 185K 192K
Apr 01 08:30 Nonfarm Private Payrolls Mar 200K 203K 222K
Apr 01 08:30 Unemployment Rate Mar 9.0% 8.9% 8.9%
Apr 01 08:30 Hourly Earnings Mar 0.1% 0.2% 0.0%
Apr 01 08:30 Average Workweek Mar 34.3 34.3 34.2
Apr 01 10:00 ISM Index Mar 59.0 61.4 61.4
Apr 01 10:00 Construction Spending Feb -1.0% -0.7% -0.7%
Apr 01 15:00 Auto Sales Apr NA NA 4.61M
Apr 01 15:00 Truck Sales Apr NA NA 5.61M

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm#ixzz1IGhVecve

[Pale Blue Dot]

34. Unemployment Dips Slightly but Critics Demand More Help From Policy Makers

The U.S. unemployment rate dipped slightly to a two-year low of 8.8 percent with the addition of 216,000 new jobs last month, according to Labor Department statistics released this morning.

"There is no question the labor market has been picking up speed over the last few months," Leo Abruzzese, director of global forecasting at Economist Intelligence Unit, said Thursday before release of the March report.

The February data had been an encouraging sign that labor markets were moving toward recovery, Abruzzese said.

While rising gas and food costs could affect the job market, Abruzzese said he doubts that such headwinds "will dramatically slow down the economy or knock the economy off track."

http://abcnews.go.com/Business/unemployment-rate/story?id=13268569

[hamerfan]

54. How can these people

look themselves in the mirror each morning?
"While rising gas and food costs could affect the job market, Abruzzese said he doubts that such headwinds "will dramatically slow down the economy or knock the economy off track." "

:wtf:

[PonyJon]

81. Abruzzese probably right.

Toward the beginning of April I bought puts on the S&P and
DOWJ indexes.  Well, I'm going under the bus.  I was of your
opinion at the time but I've learned the costly way!  Business
always "passes through" to the consumer.  P&G,
Archer Daniels Midland, General Mills et.al. never take it in
the margins unless they're vigorously trying to capture market
share.  They have all recently raised product selling prices
by at least 5% and are shrinking and skimping their products
by about the same percent.  The federal gov. lies about
inflation by not including food and fuel in their
"core" estimates, thus precluding COLA increases. 
Conditions have never been better for business.

[tclambert]

68. 216,000 is above the number needed to make up for population growth.

which is very good news. 100,000 to make up for population growth plus 116,000 fewer unemployed. Just another ten million to go!

[Demeter]

76. I haven't any confidence in these numbers

I believe the evidence of my eyes.

[xchrom]

2. recommend

[Pale Blue Dot]

3. Oil above $107 as Gadhafi pushes back Libya rebels

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose above $107 a barrel Friday in Asia as investors worried a prolonged civil conflict in Libya will keep the OPEC nation's crude exports off the market longer than expected.

Benchmark crude for May delivery was up 53 cents to $107.25 a barrel at last afternoon Singapore time — after earlier in the session touching $107.65, the highest since September 2008 — in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose $2.45 to settle at $106.72 on Thursday.

In London, Brent crude was up 39 cents at $117.75 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange.

On Thursday, forces loyal to Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi continued to push back rebels, recapturing the key oil town of Brega. Most of Libya's 1.6 million barrels a day of crude output capacity has been shut down since the uprising began in February.

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

[hamerfan]

4. CEO pay soars while workers' pay stalls

"The heads of the nation’s top companies got the biggest raises in recent memory last year after taking a hiatus during the recession.
At a time most employees can barely remember their last substantial raise, median CEO pay jumped 27% in 2010 as the executives’ compensation started working its way back to prerecession levels, a USA TODAY analysis of data from GovernanceMetrics International found. Workers in private industry, meanwhile, saw their compensation grow just 2.1% in the 12 months ended December 2010, says the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Two years of scaling back amid tough economic times proved temporary as three-quarters of CEOs got raises in 2010 — and, in many cases, the increases were substantial."

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/management/2011-03-31-ceo-pay-2010.htm

I know this isn't new to most of us here. It still sucks!

[xchrom]

6. agreed. it's terrible. nt

[rfranklin]

11. When will the workers revolt?

I suspect not until conditions are as miserable as they were in one hundred year sgo.

[Po_d Mainiac]

42. When they realize iShit is toxic..n/t

[Hawkowl]

79. So in another 4 -8 years then?

Seriously. I see Obama being not re-elected and then someone like Governor Walker as president and waging full scale war on workers. So about 2015 we should have riots in the streets. And yes, that's my best case scenario.

[Robbien]

29. I expect the TEPCO execs got paid handsomely

and promptly bailed when the shit hit the fan claiming the job was too stressful.

Based on what I see of the level of work they do, many of these bonus baby execs would be overpaid if they were paid minimum wage.

[tclambert]

69. Hmm, kinda makes me wish I were a CEO. How does one get one of those jobs?

I mean, are they hard? From what I've heard, it sounds like you can be an idiot and wreck the company and it's all okay.

[xchrom]

5. Italy Inc. tries to keep the French at bay

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/italy-inc-tries-to-keep-the-french-at-bay-2011-04-01

LONDON (MarketWatch) — Italians are famously welcoming people. But the recent Gallic landgrab for some of their highest-profile firms, including jeweler Bulgari SpA and now dairy king Parmalat SpA, is putting their hospitality to the test.

It all happened quickly: over a few months, French firms have approached a handful of Italian corporations including insurer Premafin Finanziaria SpA /quotes/comstock/23g!pf (IT:PF 0.54, -0.01, -2.43%) , power company Edison SpA /quotes/comstock/23g!edn (IT:EDN 0.79, -.00, -0.38%) , Bulgari /quotes/comstock/23g!bul (IT:BUL 12.24, +0.01, +0.08%) and, most recently, Parmalat /quotes/comstock/23g!plt (IT:PLT 2.38, +0.02, +0.85%) .

[xchrom]

7. Sprint or Verizon, want a prepaid deal?

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sprint-or-verizon-want-a-prepaid-deal-2011-03-24

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — As the need for more airwaves fuels the planned $39 billion megamerger between AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA, investors are trying to place bets on how rival carriers will react.

AT&T’s /quotes/comstock/13*!t (T 30.61, -0.10, -0.33%) stunning news was greeted with dismay by Sprint Nextel Corp. /quotes/comstock/13*!s/quotes/nls/s (S 4.64, +0.08, +1.75%) investors, who had been counting on Sprint’s merger talks with Deutsche Telekom AG’s /quotes/comstock/11i!dteg.y (DTEGY 15.42, +0.10, +0.65%) T-Mobile to help it become the best value-option carrier for consumers. See Sprint shares sink on AT&T merger news.

T-Mobile and Deutsche Telekom, though, were courted by the better-looking guy, who came in with a bigger diamond and a surer thing. The proposed merger with AT&T will take at least one year, possibly longer, to pass muster with regulators. But at least AT&T’s and T-Mobile’s networks are compatible, which might have been another attraction point. (Sprint carried plenty of baggage from its previous marriage; its merger with Nextel was one of the worst and costliest deals in telecom.)

[xchrom]

8. Exposed: The US-Saudi Libya deal

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MD02Ak01.html

You invade Bahrain. We take out Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. This, in short, is the essence of a deal struck between the Barack Obama administration and the House of Saud. Two diplomatic sources at the United Nations independently confirmed that Washington, via Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, gave the go-ahead for Saudi Arabia to invade Bahrain and crush the pro-democracy movement in their neighbor in exchange for a "yes"

[Demeter]

26. Once a Clinton Always a Clinton

Good thing I don't do breakfast.

[xchrom]

9. China forges uranium pact with Kazakhstan

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/China_Business/MC31Cb01.html

China forges uranium pact with Kazakhstan
By Farkhad Sharip

Future prospects for cooperation between China and Kazakhstan were high on the agenda during President Nursultan Nazarbayev's visit to Beijing on February 21. This overshadowed all other complicated and long-drawn out issues like the water sharing on Ili and Irtysh Rivers, on which a preliminary agreement was reached and the talks on transborder rivers, as it was disclosed to journalists, will be finalized during the trip by Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kazakhstan scheduled for June.

Nazarbayev said after his talks with Hu that Kazakhstan will deliver uranium fuel pellets "worth billions of dollars" to Chinese nuclear power plants. Nazarbayev declared that the joint development of nuclear energy has become much more promising

[Pale Blue Dot]

10. Timothy Geithner to step down in May: Source

WASHINGTON - Sources close to the Obama administration have announced that Secretary of the Treasury Timothy Geithner will leave the post in May. No reason for the resignation was given, although Geithner is rumored to have a position waiting for him at investment bank Goldman Sachs.

Geithner has steered the U.S. Economy through nearly two years of recession. The start of the recovery gives him a great opportunity in the private sector, says Mount Holyoke economist Gertrude Wellthorpin.

"There is suddenly a lot of money to be made this economy. It makes sense for Geithner to use his expertise in the derivatives department of a major financial firm."

A spokesman for Geithner would neither confirm nor deny the rumors.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/30322/ns/business

[DemReadingDU]

12. Well, Well, Well

always wondered how long he would stay, since Summers and Romer already left.

[AnneD]

25. He can always do...

a stand up routine in Shanghai. (humming Billy Joel)

[rfranklin]

13. Mission accomplished!

Now the payoff.

[DemReadingDU]

14. The deed is done

Our money has been stealthily stolen to their super rich friends, and the market is set for the downturn.

edit for spelling

[xchrom]

15. It'll be a surprise to see how he fucks us all from Goldman's. Nt

[PJPhreak]

16. "There is suddenly a lot of money to be made this economy"

"It makes sense for Geithner to use his expertise in the derivatives department of a major financial firm."


I give up. They Won.

[fasttense]

22. I'm sure our good Democratic President will appoint another neo-con, Wall Street tool in his place.

[Demeter]

27. This could be a sign of **** hitting fan...

but if it were, one would hope he had foot assist...

It must have been yesterday's quotes...

"Tightly controlled exchange rate regimes are the main flaw in the international monetary system and the solution is simple, U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told a G20 meeting on Thursday.


In a thinly veiled swipe at the Chinese hosts of the seminar of the Group of 20 wealthy and developing economies, Geithner said that countries should have flexible exchange rates and permit free flows of capital to be major players in the global currency order.

He also used his speech to call for a stronger International Monetary Fund and to defend U.S. policies, acknowledging that past failures had caused much damage but saying the government was aiming to stabilize debt levels to avoid future problems."

[Pale Blue Dot]

32. Ok, I'm sorry - April fools!

I guess my prank was a little too well written - and none of you bothered to click on the link! :-)

[Demeter]

35. You got my hopes up.

We've been praying for this jerk to leave for too long.

[AnneD]

39. I am serious about the gig...

in China:evilgrin:

[Tansy_Gold]

45. And I'm serious about. . . . .

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=439x788237




TG, TT

[Ghost Dog]

70. Diplomatic services around the world will be paying great attention to this, TG. But,

1. Surely some kind of name will have to go on an independent candidate and/or registered `party list somewhere; and

2. Does your campaign have planks on:

2.1. Corporate Personhood. Campaign finance. Too big to fail, and grass-roots entrepreneurship?

2.2. Regulation of the MSM and other corporate and/or otherwise partisan media that don't reflect the true values of your communities, your culture?

3. Could one possibly create, precisely for the MSM as well as alternative media, a sort of Tansy-Gold-as-Max-Headroom virtual campaign, given the technical resources?

[Tansy_Gold]

75. Here goes

Not a complete answer to all your questions, but maybe this will spark some discussion.


1. The name is Tansy Gold. The campaign is based right here and has no expenditures (DU and my yahoo email account are free; no, I'm not giving out my yahoo address :evilgrin: ) and will accept no contributions. No party is involved.

2.1 Corporations are chartered by the states, not the federal government. A president can use the bully pulpit to suggest federal legislation, but it will remain up to the states to take it further than that. The president can suggest and support and drum up grassroots support for federal legislation that will counter existing court decisions regarding corporate personhood but has little power to do more than that. However, the president SHOULD AT LEAST TRY. Corporations cannot vote, therefore they should not be allowed to contribute to campaigns. Any corporation that can't remain profitable without government handouts should fail. The government should not be in the business of big business, and vice versa. Small business, start ups, etc., is a different matter.

2.2 Media -- because of the necessity to fairly distribute the limited bandwith for broadcast/cable/satellite, etc -- needs to be regulated. We used to have an FCC for that, which kept the megalopolies cut down to size. That whole issue needs to be revisited. We should have a free market in the sense that the powerful are LESS protected (and more regulated) and the less powerful are MORE protected.

2.3 Max Headroom?! Well, all I can say is what I told Fuddnik a couple weeks ago: I'm better looking (or at least I was!) than Lewis Black.

[xchrom]

40. d-u-u-u-d-e, bummer. nt

[tclambert]

71. It said Error 404.

page not found.

[Po_d Mainiac]

41. dead link

Too bad the same can't be said bout turbo boy.

[Fuddnik]

48. Rumor floating around last year said Jamie Dimon was set to replace him.

[xchrom]

17. Pakistan ready for Middle East role

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/MD02Df01.html

ISLAMABAD - With a broad Sunni Muslim bloc of countries lining up against an emerging Shi'ite crescent in the Middle East, Sunni-majority and nuclear-armed Pakistan could play an important - albeit somewhat reluctant - role.

A step in this direction is Pakistan's decision to keep two army divisions on standby for deployment to Saudi Arabia in the event of trouble there. This followed a visit by Saudi Prince and secretary general of the National Security Council Prince Bandar Bin Sultan to Pakistan.

Earlier, Pakistan's Fauji Foundation, an armed forces entity, organized the recruitment of over 1,000 ex-army personnel for service in Bahrain's National Guard. The small Persian Gulf state, which is headquarters to the United States 5th Fleet, is


suppressing protests with the help of Saudi invasion forces. Bahrain's ruling elite is Sunni, although about 70% of the population is Shi'ite.



i have to wonder how much this will wind up costing saudi arabia?

[AnneD]

43. And our leaders think this....

is better than the sweet deal they currently have with SA? There are more radicals in Pakistan than you can shake a stick at. A larger role for a country that would drop a bomb on India in a NY minute. How many freely elected leader have they had.......that wasn't in the military!
I can think of few things that could destabilize the area-but then maybe that is what TBTB really want.

Now in full disclosure, I admit I am married to an Indian and as a musician, he walks between the Indian and Pak. community. He holds very strong view, one of which is the US has a better friend in India than Pakistan. And yet the US has never seemed to be as interested.

[xchrom]

44. i'm tellin ya -- i think this will be the strangest article i'll read all week.

what kind of music does your husband play?

and does he cook?

ok -- now i want indian food.

[AnneD]

46. He has been playing the sitar....

since he was 4, he is now 56. He is very, very good. He has been doing more collaborations with western musicians. He loves that, but our bread and butter are still weddings. Considering his skill, he can be had for a song but we still have folks that complain if he charges anything over $100.

There is another sitar player, an ex student that does it for cheap but if you know the real thing, his is a poor offering. We have had folks come back and tell us they were sorry they didn't hire hubby because the wedding music left a bad taste in their mouth. Oh well....

Indian food....mmmmm with beer. I don't like the fried stuff but I do have a weakness for the sauces, esp cashew. I make tandoori chicken and butter chicken and several veggie dishes. Hubby makes a wicked potato curry and aloo gobi. I don't mind eating veggies if they are cooked Indian style.

[xchrom]

47. now i want potato curry.

i've been a ravi shankar fan since 1967.

i love the sitar -- and you're a lucky person to have a great sitar player in the family. that's wonderful.

now i want tandoori chicken.

and it's only 10am here.

damn you!:toast:

[xchrom]

18. Philippine chill in Arab spring

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/MC29Ae01.html

MANILA - Strong foreign remittances have helped the Philippines absorb a series of global economic shocks, including the 2008-9 global financial crisis, and avoid a national unemployment crisis. Now, as instability spreads across the Middle East and North Africa, that economic lifeline is in jeopardy as overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) lose their jobs and return home.

Among Asia-Pacific countries, economic analysts believe the Philippines stands to lose the most from spiraling strife in Arab countries. Manila estimates there are more than three million OFWs in the Middle East and North Africa working in a wide range of industries. Independent monitoring groups estimate there are potentially hundreds of thousands more that are not legally registered.

[xchrom]

19. Even Funds That Lagged Paid Richly

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/business/01hedge.html?_r=1&ref=business

Ten years ago, when the hedge fund industry was much smaller than it is today, it took 25 hedge fund managers to earn a combined annual payday of $5 billion.

Last year, it took only one.

John Paulson, who rose to fame in 2007 with a prescient bet against subprime mortgages, earned a record $4.9 billion in 2010 as a result of a big wager that his fund, Paulson & Company, made on gold. The metal soared last year, lifting the values of some hedge funds by more than 30 percent.

[xchrom]

20. Many Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet the Basics

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/business/economy/01jobs.html?ref=business

Hard as it can be to land a job these days, getting one may not be nearly enough for basic economic security.
Multimedia

People rely on food banks, like the Community Food and Outreach Center in Orlando, Fla.

The Labor Department will release its monthly snapshot of the job market on Friday, and economists expect it to show that the nation’s employers added about 190,000 jobs in March. With an unemployment rate that has been stubbornly stuck near 9 percent, those workers could be considered lucky.

But many of the jobs being added in retail, hospitality and home health care, to name a few categories, are unlikely to pay enough for workers to cover the cost of fundamentals like housing, utilities, food, health care, transportation and, in the case of working parents, child care.

[wobblie]

23. 2,3 or more jobs for everyone

It is not just "jobs" it is the type of job. Michigan last week reported that there are 3,890,000 (approx) pay role jobs in Michigan. Our labor force is 2.2 million of which only 1.8 million are working (the other 400,000 are our unemployed). In other words there are nearly 2 jobs for everyone who is currently working---since at my daughters job she only get 7-14 hours a week (at min. wage) she needs another 2 or three jobs to make ends meet. The only jobs being created are low wage, part-time, and contingent mainly in the health care industry (haven't figured out how to outsource aids, and attendants-though they are working at ways to automate).

[hamerfan]

24. Welcome, wobblie!

:hi:
Unfortunately, the problem you mention isn't just in Michigan. It's everywhere in the USA.

[wobblie]

31. Many Low-Wage Jobs Seen as Failing to Meet Basic Needs

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/01/business/economy/01jobs.html?hp

[AnneD]

37. Welcome to SWT....

My Nurse friends laugh and think I am crazy.... But I tell them the only reason we have a job is that they haven't figured a way to outsource our patients other than medical tourism.

It kills me that many of our ER Cat scans are ready read overseas on the late night shift (how/who do you sue for a wrong reading or missed problem). I am not saying this from a sue happy point of view, but from a responsibility point of view based on the ability to practice medicine in the US according to our standards of practice.

[rfranklin]

28. It's time for a living wage to be mandatory...

This is the richest nation in the world. There is no excuse for Americans to be working for crumbs that don't even satisfy basic needs.

[Tansy_Gold]

30. The nation isn't rich. The rich are rich. The poor are still poor and

there are more and more of them every day. That does not make for a rich nation.




TG

[rfranklin]

33. The USA is the wealthiest nation in the world...

The problem is the distribution of that wealth.

[tclambert]

72. According to 2008 tax figures, the bottom 50% of filers had AGIs of less than $33,048.

http://www.taxfoundation.org/news/show/250.html

The bottom 50% had average Adjusted Gross Incomes of $15,355.

HOW CAN ANYBODY LIVE ON THAT?

The top 1% had average AGIs of $1.2 million. Now THAT I could live on. And, of course, the top 1% have thousands of pages of loopholes written into the tax code for them. Poor people not so much. In fact, the section of the tax code devoted to poor peope just says, "Sucks to be you."

[Pale Blue Dot]

21. U.S. Stock Futures Advance Before Employment Figures; NYSE Surges on Offer

U.S. stock-index futures climbed, indicating that the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may extend the best first-quarter rally in 13 years, before a report that may show U.S. employment continued to improve last month.

NYSE Euronext surged 12 percent in early New York trading after Nasdaq OMX Group Inc. (NDAQ) and IntercontinentalExchange Inc. (ICE) offered to buy the company for about $11.3 billion. Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Chevron Corp. (CVX) climbed in Germany as crude oil rallied to a 30-month high.

Futures on the S&P 500 expiring in June gained 0.4 percent to 1,326.4 at 7:48 a.m. in New York. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures also increased 0.4 percent to 12,303 and Nasdaq 100 Index futures climbed 0.5 percent to 2,348.

“The jobs report should be similar to what was seen in February and would be consistent with the stronger tone in the U.S. economy over the last two quarters,” said Ioan Smith, a London-based director at Knight Capital Europe Ltd. “It has the potential to set off repositioning as the new quarter gets underway.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-01/u-s-stock-index-futures-climb-before-employment-figures.html

[Hotler]

36. k&r Good morning everyone. n/t

[xchrom]

38. U.S. Economy Added 216,000 Jobs in March; Rate at 8.8%

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/04/02/business/economy/02jobs.html?ref=business

he United States economy added 216,000 jobs in March, the Labor Department reported Friday, adding to hopes that hiring was finally on a steadier track despite concerns about overseas turmoil.
Multimedia



The gain in jobs slightly exceeded economists’ expectations. The unemployment rate continued to decline, to 8.8 percent, from 8.9 percent the previous month.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

49. NYSE Euronext gets rival bid from Nasdaq and ICE

US exchanges Nasdaq and ICE have mounted a $11.3bn (£7bn) bid for NYSE Euronext, topping a previous offer from Deutsche Boerse.

The bid compares with Deutsche Boerse's offer of $10.2bn.

But the move could raise competition questions, as it would bring together the two largest US stock exchanges.

The Deutsche Boerse bid itself is also likely to raise regulation issues, as a deal would create a massive presence in certain European financial products.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-12940388?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

[Demeter]

50. Nasdaq and ICE launch bid for NYSE

Nasdaq OMX, and IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) on Friday sought to break up a plan to create the world’s largest exchange by making an $11.3bn cash and share offer for NYSE Euronext weeks after it had agreed a merger with Deutsche Börse.

The move is a sign that a wave of exchange consolidation, triggered five months ago, has become a battle between the world’s biggest bourses for pole position in an industry pressured by competition.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/TPS2SX/9MEOW/NSXG4N/QFD5WH/6C/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=1

IT'S EITHER SHEER MADNESS, OR APRIL FOOL'S.

[Demeter]

51. Price of thermal coal at all-time high

The price of thermal coal under annual contracts has been settled at an all-time high of $130 a tonne, up almost a third from a year ago, amid strong demand in Asia and supply disruptions in Australia earlier this year.

Xstrata and Chugoku Electric closed a deal for the fiscal year starting April 1 with the London-listed miner supplying thermal coal to the Japanese power company at a price more than 32 per cent higher than the $98 a tonne level of 2010-11, people familiar with the talks said.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/73UJGG/40HY7W/B49CK/ZBN501/401FDS/JY/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=1

[Demeter]

52. Stablising nuclear plant to take years, says Japan minister

Japan’s quake-crippled atomic power station will take years to fully stabilise but officials hope to prevent further deterioration of the plant and stem leakage of radioactive material into surrounding areas within weeks, Yukio Edano, Japan’s chief cabinet secretary tells FT

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/P75VYY/S390NJ/VTVRG/BMOSRC/V1945R/OS/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=31

[tclambert]

73. Well U-238 has a half-life of 4.5 billion years, so in just 45 billion years,

the radiation will have mostly faded away. 1/1024th of its present intensity.

[Demeter]

53. Grain prices surge as inventories fall further

Corn and soyabean prices surged on Thursday after the US government said inventories were even lower than earlier believed, suggesting that supplies will fall to critically low levels before the northern hemisphere harvest.

The declines in grain and oilseed stocks suggest that demand – from livestock farmers in developed and emerging markets, and from the ethanol industry for corn – has not yet been tempered by surging prices over recent months.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/2SRI11/0GUMYZ/YGZ3O/26UW4V/BM6PNE/LE/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=31

[Demeter]

60. US farmers flourish as grain prices soar

US farm income will rise 20 per cent this year to $94.7bn, after climbing 27 per cent last year, the US Department of Agriculture estimates. The corn and soyabean producing heartland – states such as Iowa, Illinois and Indiana – will enjoy the strongest gains

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/OZMCDD/TPSO3J/Q38E1/8AGIQX/8ABSDG/ID/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=31

[Demeter]

64. Corn Gains to One-Month High on Concern Higher Acreage Won't Boost Stocks

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-04-01/corn-extends-advance-on-concern-higher-u-s-acreage-won-t-boost-stockpiles.html

Corn rose to the highest price in almost a month in Chicago, extending yesterday’s jump, on concern increased plantings in the U.S. will fail to rebuild global inventories.

U.S. stockpiles on March 1 dropped to 6.52 billion bushels, the lowest for the date since 2007, the Department of Agriculture said yesterday. Higher profits will spur farmers to sow corn on about 92.178 million acres, the second-largest area since 1944, at the same time that increasing food and biofuel demand cuts world inventories, the USDA said.

“Corn is very much supported by cattle feed, but also by ethanol in the U.S.,” said Jonathan Bouchet, an analyst at OTCex Group in Geneva. “Corn is still a needed commodity. It has the consumption behind it.”

May-delivery corn gained 35 cents, or 5 percent, to $7.2825 a bushel at 11:13 a.m. London time on the Chicago Board of Trade. The grain touched $7.34, the highest level for the most- active contract since March 4. Corn is set for a 5.6 percent advance this week after climbing yesterday by the maximum allowed by the exchange.

[Demeter]

55. Opec set for £1trillion export revenues

Opec, the oil producers’ cartel, will reap $1,000bn in export revenues this year for the first time if crude prices remain above $100 a barrel, according to the International Energy Agency.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/KC2844/TPSTNR/7ZY85/GKARLX/IYZNRT/QR/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=29

WELL, I'M GLAD. THERE WILL BE SO MUCH MORE FOR THE PEASANTS WHO HANG THEM FROM THEIR OWN PALACE BALCONIES TO USE TO BUILD UP DEMOCRACIES...

[Demeter]

56. Desmond Lachman: Portugal will follow Greece and Ireland

After effectively losing Greece and Ireland, the IMF and EU look set to lose yet a third country, Portugal. Indeed, they appear set to do so by prescribing the same failed policy approach of savage fiscal retrenchment in the most rigid of fixed exchange rate systems that has had such dismal results to date in Greece and Ireland.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/OZMCDD/5CBKM8/T10SH/LQ4TJQ/XTJXAY/QR/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=31

[Demeter]

57. Alan Greenspan: Dodd-Frank fails to meet test of our times

The financial system on which Dodd-Frank is being imposed is far more complex than the lawmakers, and even most regulators, apparently contemplate. We will almost certainly end up with a number of regulatory inconsistencies whose consequences cannot be readily anticipated.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/EB8122/KEWJ7Q/NRHD3/A76IDO/6VTX7Q/UP/t?a1=2011&a2=3&a3=29

IS THERE A NEED FOR A SECOND BANANA ON THE CHINA COMEDY GIG?

[Demeter]

58. Goldman made multiple trips to Fed window

Goldman Sachs turned to the Fed’s discount window on multiple occasions following its conversion to a bank holding company at the height of the financial crisis

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/UXDMSS/S39CMT/JQU4J/5CTDHX/V19W89/1G/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=1

[Demeter]

59. Ally Financial unveils $5bn flotation

The home and auto lender announced plans for an initial public offering that will see the US Treasury reduce its 74 per cent stake in a $5bn flotation

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/UXDMSS/S39CMT/JQU4J/5CTDHX/S3IMHQ/1G/t?a1=2011&a2=4&a3=1

[Demeter]

61. WTO ruling against Boeing unlikely to have big impact

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014647971_boeingwto01.html

The World Trade Organization (WTO) ruled against Boeing and Washington state Thursday, finding that about $5 billion in government subsidies to the company, including a small amount of the state's ongoing business- tax reductions, were illegal under international trade agreements.

But the ruling is unlikely to significantly change either Boeing's behavior or the burden on state taxpayers anytime soon.

First, the ruling against Boeing is far less sweeping and considerably smaller in value than a corresponding WTO ruling against Airbus in 2010.

Second, the WTO takes years to handle appeals and counter-appeals, and ultimately has only weak enforcement powers...

[Demeter]

62. Gold, Silver Prices End Quarter With a Pop

http://www.thestreet.com/story/11067733/1/gold-prices-climb-ahead-of-jobs-report.html

Gold prices settled at a record high Thursday as the first quarter wrapped up and investors bought gold as protection as the U.S dollar weakened.

Gold for June delivery jumped $15 to $1,439.90 an ounce at the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. The gold price has traded as high as $1,441 and as low as $1,421.70 while the spot gold price was up more than $13, according to Kitco's gold index. Gold rose 1.3% for the quarter more than the 0.9% average.

Silver prices closed 37 cents higher at $37.88 another 31-year record close. Silver popped 22% in the first quarter.

GO TO LINK TO VOTE ON FUTURE OF SILVER PRICES...

[tclambert]

74. Gold and silver are up, but I still don't know why. Who's buying it?

Silver is up so much since August of last year, someone with deep, deep pockets must be buying it up.

[Demeter]

63. Plunge in 10 ETFs triggers 'flash crash' memories

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/03/31/usa-markets-etfs-idUSN3128578120110331

Ten new exchange-traded funds suffered their own mini "flash crashes" just after the stock market opened on Thursday, suggesting recent measures put in place to protect against violent market moves may not be enough.

Nasdaq OMX Group Inc (NDAQ.O) said it canceled trades in 10 new ETFs sponsored by Scottrade affiliate FocusShares, some of which briefly plummeted as much as 98 percent.

The latest abrupt share drop comes on the heels of several sudden and unexplained plunges that remind investors of the May 2010 flash crash, which wiped out nearly $1 trillion in market capitalization in a few minutes and have kept retail investors wary of trading stocks.

"I would be surprised if this (a flash crash) doesn't happen again in the future, unless they really address these issues," said James Dailey, portfolio manager of TEAM Asset Strategy Fund in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.

Mechanisms implemented after the May 6, 2010, flash crash, including single-stock trading halts on shares that have a price change of 10 percent or more during a rolling five-minute period, did not cover these new ETFs.

The New York Stock Exchange later said the errors occurred after market orders were entered that were intended to be limit orders. Under a market order a stock is immediately bought or sold at the best available price, while a limit order is meant to protect an investment by selling a share at a specific, requested price.

A FocusShares spokeswoman said a mispricing by a market maker triggered the faulty trades....

SEE LINK FOR DEFINITION OF EFTS

[Hawkowl]

80. Hahaha!

Accident by a market maker my ass! This is just another case of unarmed robbery. Anyone who invests in todays stock market is truly playing Russian roulette. It is a con game and it WILL blow up.

[Demeter]

65. Bank of Japan Said to Consider Supporting Loans for Companies After Quake

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-03-31/bank-of-japan-is-said-to-consider-emergency-program-to-avert-cash-shortage.html

The Bank of Japan is considering offering temporary loans to banks to aid companies with cash- flow shortages in the wake of the record March 11 earthquake, three people familiar with the matter said.

The plan may be presented to the central bank’s board as early as this month, the people said, speaking on condition of anonymity because the discussions weren’t public. BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa and his colleagues are scheduled to meet on April 6-7 and on April 28.

Companies may face funding challenges as they fix damage and pay wages while production is suspended due to power cuts, particularly smaller firms with less cash on hand or lines of credit. The BOJ effort would help avoid a jump in bankruptcies amid calls from lawmakers and business leaders for the central bank to do more to support the economy after the disaster.

“With sales plunging, companies are running out of cash on hand and they are asking for loans to stay in business,” said Hiroshi Shiraishi, an economist at BNP Paribas SA in Tokyo. “The Bank of Japan will probably give some support to accommodate such demand.”

[Demeter]

66. Fed takes unprecedented step of naming banks that drew ‘discount window’ loans during crisis

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/fed_takes_unprecedented_step_of_naming_banks_that_drew_discount_window_loans_during_crisis/2011/03/31/AF2Pkp9B_story.html?wprss=rss_homepage

The Fed was compelled to name the banks that drew emergency loans during the financial crisis after the Supreme Court rejected a bid by major banks to keep that information secret. It’s the latest sign of how the Fed is becoming more transparent — either by choice or by force.

The central bank lent up to $110 billion through its emergency “discount window” at the height of the crisis. After Lehman Brothers collapsed in September 2008, banks turned to the Fed as a lender of last resort because their credit had frozen up. The Fed argued then that naming those banks could have stirred a panic, leading to a run on those banks and defeating the program’s purpose.

The documents released Thursday showed that a range of large and small institutions borrowed from the program from August 2007 through March 2010.

Most of the lending took place in the two-month stretch between September and October 2008. The specific program that the banks drew from has been redacted from the documents, but the data points to most of the loans being through the “discount window.” In many cases, those loans were paid back the following day.

[xchrom]

67. and so much of it to foreign institutions. nt

[Festivito]

77. Debt: 03/30/2011 14,210,139,988,236.73 (DOWN 5,604,209,451.53) (Wed, UP a little.)

(Good day.)
Computer farked 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)
= 9,590,804,946,759.17 + 4,619,335,041,477.56
UP 670,089,469.30 + DOWN 6,274,298,920.83

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,208.40 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.63, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,681,792 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 $45,591.82.
A family of three owes $136,775.46. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 28 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 1,505,470,474.72.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,053,829,332.30.
The average for the last 28 days would be 1,129,102,856.04.
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$/day.
There were 125 reports in 181 days of FY2011 averaging 5.19B$ per report, 3.58B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 662 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.0 and 17.6T$.
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)
03/30/2011 14,210,139,988,236.73 BHO (UP 3,583,262,939,323.65 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 +0,648,516,957,345.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,307,782,814,535.50 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
03/10/2011 -020,814,859,511.27 -
03/11/2011 +000,832,058,508.78 ------------********
03/14/2011 +000,380,093,829.66 ------------******** Mon
03/15/2011 +066,006,214,426.70 ------------**********
03/16/2011 +001,148,655,957.01 ------------*********
03/17/2011 -014,916,428,437.31 -
03/18/2011 +000,616,236,061.23 ------------********
03/21/2011 -000,100,873,734.64 --- Mon
03/22/2011 +000,366,066,174.28 ------------********
03/23/2011 -000,063,255,741.95 ----
03/24/2011 -015,763,143,549.40 -
03/25/2011 -000,034,574,737.25 ----
03/28/2011 +000,227,402,237.21 ------------******** Mon
03/29/2011 +000,181,007,415.32 ------------********
03/30/2011 +000,670,089,469.30 ------------********

18,734,688,367.67 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=4794838&mesg_id=4795019

[Festivito]

78. Debt: 03/31/2011 14,270,114,530,800.38 (UP 59,974,542,563.65) (Thu, UP big. Q2 ends.)

(Good day.)
Of in search of phoney things.
(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)
= 9,651,643,154,138.73 + 4,618,471,376,661.65
UP 60,838,207,379.56 + DOWN 863,664,815.91

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,208.33 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.62, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,688,992 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 $45,783.18.
A family of three owes $137,349.55. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 28 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 4,191,825,321.11.
The average for the last 30 days would be 2,934,277,724.78.
The average for the last 28 days would be 3,143,868,990.83.
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$/day.
There were 126 reports in 182 days of FY2011 averaging 5.62B$ per report, 3.89B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 661 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.2 and 17.7T$.
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)
03/31/2011 14,270,114,530,800.38 BHO (UP 3,643,237,481,887.30 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 +0,708,491,499,908.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,420,875,810,256.26 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
03/11/2011 +000,832,058,508.78 ------------********
03/14/2011 +000,380,093,829.66 ------------******** Mon
03/15/2011 +066,006,214,426.70 ------------**********
03/16/2011 +001,148,655,957.01 ------------*********
03/17/2011 -014,916,428,437.31 -
03/18/2011 +000,616,236,061.23 ------------********
03/21/2011 -000,100,873,734.64 --- Mon
03/22/2011 +000,366,066,174.28 ------------********
03/23/2011 -000,063,255,741.95 ----
03/24/2011 -015,763,143,549.40 -
03/25/2011 -000,034,574,737.25 ----
03/28/2011 +000,227,402,237.21 ------------******** Mon
03/29/2011 +000,181,007,415.32 ------------********
03/30/2011 +000,670,089,469.30 ------------********
03/31/2011 +060,838,207,379.56 ------------**********

100,387,755,258.50 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=4794838&mesg_id=4795019