STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 26 July 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 26 July 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 25 July 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 25 July 2012
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Dow Jones 12,676.05 +58.73 (0.47%)
[font color=red]S&P 500 1,337.89 -0.42 (-0.03%)
Nasdaq 2,854.24 -8.75 (-0.31%)



[font color=green]10 Year 1.40% -0.02 (-1.41%)
30 Year 2.45% -0.03 (-1.21%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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[font size=2]Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold[center]

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."



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[font size=3][font color=red]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.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Tansy_Gold]

1. the problem with the thread

is not in the template.

yes, I was very careful NOT TO TOUCH THE WHITE SPACE.

Something in this computer is screwing it up, but I don't know what.

Will head to the other computer and repost in 30 minutes or so.

My apologies.

[tclambert]

2. Tansy, when your computer keep repeating,

"YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. RESISTANCE IS FUTILE." You should not trust it.




However, you should bear in mind that resistance is futile.

[Tansy_Gold]

3. Yes, but....

resistance is also irresistible.

[DemReadingDU]

4. Looks ok to me

[Tansy_Gold]

6. It's fixed now.

I just have to make sure I use the template from my laptop. Something on my other computer (windows 7) corrupts the file. I don't even have to touch it, but just looking at it in edit mode on this computer removes all the "white space." I have no idea why.

[Hugin]

10. I've noticed that with Windoze(7) MS has Officeized Wordpad with many...

Last edited Thu Jul 26, 2012, 08:56 AM - Edit history (1)

"The application is smarter than the user" features. My working theory for now is that possibly the editor in DU3 inherits these enblunderances ( Coined a new word there! ) in an unknown manner.

WARNING: IN THIS POST HUGIN IS USING CRITICAL THINKING, WHICH HAS BEEN DETERMINED BY THE TEXAS REPUBLICAN PARTY TO BE HARMFUL TO CHILDREN AND BABY RABBITS.

[Fuddnik]

11. Seek help immediately!!!

Otherwise, Louie Gohmert will show up on your doorstep to save you!

Or Ben Bernanke.

[Tansy_Gold]

25. That's pretty much the same conclusion I came to

but in more (???) coherent language.

In other words, I cannot use a page that was posted from the Vista OS as a template for a page to be posted from W7, because W7 alters it in such a way that DU3 removes the white space.

There used to be a similar problem with MSWord years ago, in that one could only revise a .doc file two or three times before it had to be given a new name.

I hate MS anything. . . .

[Hugin]

50. Interesting hypothesis, Tansy.

Yep... Gotta be the Vista OS.

Back 9 months ago when I rejiggered the template for DU3, I used Wordpad for XP. Oh, and I used an Android phone.

[Tansy_Gold]

51. They shoulda left XP alone. . . . . n/t

[westerebus]

5. Kinky...

[Tansy_Gold]

7. What can I say?

[westerebus]

22. You can leave your hat on..

[Po_d Mainiac]

8. 11 International Agreements That Are Nails In The Coffin Of The Petrodollar

Is the petrodollar dead? Well, not yet, but the nails are being hammered into the coffin even as you read this. For decades, most of the nations of the world have used the U.S. dollar to buy oil and to trade with each other. In essence, the U.S. dollar has been acting as a true global currency. Virtually every country on the face of the earth has needed big piles of U.S. dollars for international trade. This has ensured a huge demand for U.S. dollars and U.S. government debt. This demand for dollars has kept prices and interest rates low, and it has given the U.S. government an incredible amount of power and leverage around the globe. Right now, U.S. dollars make up more than 60 percent of all foreign currency reserves in the world. But times are changing. Over the past couple of years there has been a whole bunch of international agreements that have made the U.S. dollar less important in international trade. The mainstream media in the United States has been strangely quiet about all of these agreements, but the truth is that they are setting the stage for a fundamental shift in the way that trade is conducted around the globe. When the petrodollar dies, it is going to have an absolutely devastating impact on the U.S. economy. Sadly, most Americans are totally clueless regarding what is about to happen to the dollar.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/11-international-agreements-that-are-nails-in-the-coffin-of-the-petrodollar

[Fuddnik]

9. Haven't posted one of these in a while

[kickysnana]

12. My siamese cat always waits patiently behind me while I read SMW

We enjoyed this.

[xchrom]

13. ...

they never notice to ottoman isn't big enough for both.

[xchrom]

14. i hear the Anglo Saxons are wanting their due recognition...

[xchrom]

15. CHART OF THE DAY: The US Garbage Indicator Is Sending An Ominous Sign For The Economy

http://www.businessinsider.com/chart-of-the-day-the-us-garbage-indicator-economy-2012-7

Among the 21 categories of items shipped by rail, none have a tighter correlation to GDP than waste.
According to a 2010 piece on Bloomberg, economists Michael McDonough and Carl Riccadonna note that waste has an 82 percent correlation to US economic growth.
This should be pretty intuitive. The more you produce, the more you throw out.
McDonough, a Bloomberg BRIEF economist, tweeted out an update on the indicator.
And frankly, it stinks. Waste carloads are way down.

[bread_and_roses]

37. What a perfect commentary on this rotton culture

The more we throw away, the better! Yayyyyyyyy huge garbage mats at sea! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy polluted earth and water! yayyyyyyyyyyyy WE'RE #1!!!!!!!!!!!!! In garbage!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[xchrom]

39. Right? Nt

[Demeter]

44. That Goes Without Saying--We've Been #1 in Garbage for Years

Just look at Congress, and recent elections.

[xchrom]

16. so it's going to be 100 here -- feel like 105 to 109. nt

[kickysnana]

33. Heat has broken, dew points are falling. Going to be our best day for quite a while.

Weathermen urging us to turn off the AC and open up the windows. Wish I could send you some.

[xchrom]

34. me too.

looks we're going to break for 100 degree days.

[Demeter]

35. It's 73F here

and 95 % humidity. Ick.

[xchrom]

17. MORGAN STANLEY: Europe Will Get Worse

http://www.businessinsider.com/morgan-stanley-europe-worse-2012-7

Earlier today, Citi's Chief Economist Willem Buiter published a research note in which he raised the odds of a Greek exit from the eurozone to 90 percent.

Morgan Stanley's Global Cross-Asset Strategy Team led by Greg Peters is also worried about a Greek exit from the euro. They're also concerned about Spain, which is getting worse and is also much bigger than Greece.
From their latest note to clients:

Stress has returned to Europe, but the stakes are higher. Spain (let alone Italy) is not Greece: its economic size, the cost of a rescue, and the increased market skepticism about temporary fixes suggest that the policy response needs to include some of the political and institutional reforms that prior crises have not changed.

Conditions will likely worsen in the near term. Rating agencies have put investors on notice about further potential downgrades (not just to sovereigns, but also the European Financial Stability Facility, EFSF); Spain is struggling to maintain access to markets; and the price action is becoming disorderly. Our colleagues in Europe are not convinced that support from the EFSF (or the European Stability Mechanism, ESM) would be effective. Ending the cycle of crises requires concrete steps to fiscal union and the ECB to act as a sovereign backstop, as the Fed does for the US Treasury. These may come, but the crisis might have to intensify first. Aggressive ECB action, were it to come, could spark a material rally. If it does not come, then we may be nearing a messy Eurozone divorce scenario.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/morgan-stanley-europe-worse-2012-7#ixzz21jKh5zh6

[Demeter]

38. olly olly oxen free!

Olly olly oxen free (and variants: ollie ollie umphrey, olly-olly-ee, ally ally in free, ally alley ocean free, etc. ) is a catchphrase used in such children's games as hide and seek to indicate that players who are hiding can come out into the open without losing the game, that the position of the sides in a game has changed (as in which side is in the field or which side is at bat or "up" in baseball or kickball), or, alternatively, that the game is entirely over. It is thought to derive from the phrase "All ye, all ye 'outs' in free,","All the outs in free" or possibly "Calling all the 'outs' in free;" in other words: all who are "out" may come in without penalty. However, this may not be the etymology at all--"Olly olly oxen free" is suspiciously close to the German phrase "Alle, alle auch sind frei," meaning "everyone, everyone is also free." Various calls used for such purposes have gone by the collective name of "ollyoxalls" in some places.

The phrase can also be used to coordinate hidden players in the game kick the can, in which a group of people hide within a given radius and a "seeker" is left to guard a can filled with rocks. The seeker has to try to find the "hiders" without allowing them to sneak in and kick the can. In many areas the phrase used is "All-y all-y in come free" which is a way to tell the remainder of hidden players that it is time to regroup in order to restart the game. The phrase is announced by a hider who successfully sneaks in and kicks the can.

[xchrom]

18. Citi Ups The Odds Of A Greek Exit From The Euro To 90%

http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-greek-exit-euro-90-percent-2012-7

Citi's Chief Economist Willem Buiter just ramped up his odds of a Greek exit from the euro. Here's an excerpt from Buiter's note via FT Alphaville's Kate Mackenzie:
We now believe the probability that Greece will leave EMU in the next 12-18 months is about 90%, up from our previous 50-75% estimate, and believe the most likely date is in the next 2-3 quarters. As before, for the sake of argument, we assume that “Grexit” occurs on 1 January 2013, but we stress this is an assumption rather than a forecast of the precise date. Even with the Spanish bank bailout, we continue to expect that both Spain and Italy are likely to enter some form of Troika bailout for the sovereign by the end of 2012.
...
Over the next few years, the EA end-game is likely to be a mix of EMU exit (Greece), a significant amount of sovereign debt and bank debt restructuring (Portugal, Ireland and, eventually, perhaps Italy, Spain and Cyprus) with only limited fiscal burden-sharing.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/citi-greek-exit-euro-90-percent-2012-7#ixzz21jLerMIK

[Demeter]

19. The story of management

I have been away, and will continue to be away until late today, sorry.

[xchrom]

20. Mitt Romney Is Not Impressed With UK Olympic Preparations

http://www.businessinsider.com/mitt-romney-is-not-impressed-with-uk-olympic-preparations-2012-7

Mitt Romney, the Republican presidential nominee, has questioned Britain's preparedness to host the Olympics and asked whether the country is genuinely prepared to "celebrate" the Games.

Mr Romney, who was chief executive of the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, spoke on the first day of a visit to Britain.
He will meet the British political leadership in London on Thursday, including David Cameron, the prime minister, and Nick Clegg, the deputy prime minister. Mr Romney is then expected to attend the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.

But he told US television there were "disconcerting" signs about Britain's readiness. "It's hard to know just how well it will turn out," he said. "There are a few things that were disconcerting: the stories about the private security firm not having enough people, supposed strike of the immigration and customs officials, that obviously is not something which is encouraging."


'Mr Romney may Kiss Our Ass...'

[xchrom]

21. George Osborne reeling as economy enters the disaster zone

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/jul/25/george-osborne-under-pressure-economy


George Osborne was coming under intense pressure from business, the City and the opposition on Wednesday to rethink his hardline austerity approach after news of a deepening double-dip recession dealt a severe blow to the government's deficit reduction strategy.

The Bank of England is expected to embark on further emergency measures to stimulate growth this autumn following the release of official figures showing a shock 0.7% contraction in economic activity in the three months to June.

Although the decline was almost certainly exaggerated by the extra bank holiday for the Queen's diamond jubilee, the City was left stunned by the data from the Office for National Statistics.

Evidence that the economy is now smaller than when the coalition came to power in May 2010 prompted immediate calls for a change of course.

[xchrom]

23. Evita fits the bill – Eva Perón to become first woman on Argentinian banknotes

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/26/eva-peron-evita-argentina-banknotes


Argentina's president Cristina Fernández de Kirchner unveils the new 100 peso bank note featuring the image of Eva Peron (not to scale) Photograph: Marcos Brindicci/Reuters

Argentina's former first lady Eva Perón, an icon of film, stage and song as Evita, is to become the first woman to grace its national currency.

President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner revealed the new 100peso note on the eve of the 60th anniversary of Perón's death from uterine cancer at 33.

Fernandez, whose party was inspired by Eva's husband, Juan Perón, said the initial printing would be commemorative, but that she wants all new 100-peso notes to carry the former first lady's image, replacing that of Julio Argentino Roca, a 19th-century president.

"After 200 years it's the first time that a woman appears on a bill, and if you have to honour the gender, who better than the figure of Eva?" she said.

[Roland99]

24. "Just a little pin prick. There'll be no more....aaaahhhhhhhhh"

S&P 500 +1.3%
DOW +1.1%
NASDAQ +1.3%

[Demeter]

40. It's positively shameful

The dollar drops like a stone and gold and silver take flight. Uncle Ben must have debased the currency again...

[xchrom]

26. Jobless Claims In U.S. Decrease, Extending July Volatility

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-26/jobless-claims-in-u-s-drop-extending-annual-july-volatility.html

Fewer Americans than forecast filed first-time claims for unemployment insurance payments last week, extending the period of volatility typically seen in July.

Applications for jobless benefits decreased by 35,000 in the week ended July 21 to 353,000, Labor Department figures showed today. Economists forecast 380,000 claims, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey. Changes in the annual auto plant shutdowns that occur this time of year have made it difficult to adjust the data for seasonal variations, the Labor Department has said.

Statistical noise aside, slowing economies in Europe and China, which have reduced global demand for goods, may continue to curb employment. The U.S. presidential election and a looming battle over tax cuts and government spending may also be making businesses reluctant to hire.

“All in all, the labor market is gradually healing,” said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist at Moody’s Analytics Inc. in West Chester, Pennsylvania. “We’ve got to take this report with a grain of salt. The jobs market is still tough and we’re setting ourselves up for a soft second half of the year.”

[Demeter]

41. Healing?

[xchrom]

45. i love that...well played...

[xchrom]

27. U.S. Durables Orders Rose 1.6% In June On Aircraft Demand

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-26/u-s-durable-goods-orders-rose-1-6-in-june-on-aircraft-demand.html

Orders for U.S. durable goods climbed more than projected in June as a surge in demand for aircraft and military hardware overshadowed a slump in business equipment spending.

Corporate spending is contributing less to the expansion as cooler demand from U.S. consumers and weaker overseas sales crimp profits at companies such as Xerox Corp. (XRX) Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke told Congress last week manufacturing has slowed and that policy makers stand ready to employ more stimulus if needed to help spur the world’s largest economy.
Business investment, “which was a pillar of strength, has been chopped a bit,” said Tom Porcelli, chief U.S. economist at RBC Capital Markets LLC in New York, who correctly projected the gain in durables orders. “Global activity has shifted lower. It is difficult for demand to gather much momentum at this stage.”

Bookings for goods meant to last at least three years rose 1.6 percent for a second month, a Commerce Department report showed today in Washington. The median forecast of economists surveyed by Bloomberg News called for a 0.3 percent gain. Orders excluding the volatile transportation category unexpectedly dropped 1.1 percent in June, the most in five months.

[xchrom]

28. Shell May Trim 2012 Alaska Drilling For Inspections, Ice

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-07-26/shell-may-trim-2012-alaska-drilling-for-inspections-ice.html

Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA) may have to scale back its Arctic oil-exploration this year after unrelenting ice and trouble passing U.S. Coast Guard inspections delayed the planned July start of drilling.

The company’s fleet remains in Dutch Harbor, Alaska, days away from the Chukchi and Beaufort seas off the state’s north coast, waiting for ice to break up and the U.S. to issue final permits for drilling five test wells. Arctic conditions require Shell to quit work by late October, before ice reforms.

Europe’s biggest oil company has spent about $4.5 billion since 2005 on leases, permits and equipment to reach an estimated 20 billion barrels in fields off Barrow, Alaska -- the northernmost U.S. city. In comparison, Shell today reported second-quarter earnings excluding one-time items and inventory changes, fell 13 percent to $5.7 billion.

“They should have started drilling by now, because their window of opportunity is very short,” said Tad Patzek, professor and chairman of the Petroleum & Geosystems Engineering Department at the University of Texas at Austin. He estimates that if the rigs get on site by mid-August, they will drill three wells “at best” this year.

[xchrom]

29. ECB will act to save euro, says Mario Draghi

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18998083

The European Central Bank is ready to do "whatever it takes" to support the euro, its president has said.

Mario Draghi's strong message of support prompted a rally in European share markets and the euro.

They also triggered a fall in bond yields. Spain's 10-year yield, which had hit a record high of 7.6% earlier, fell back to 7%.

Bond yields are an indication of the interest rate a country would have to pay to borrow money.

[Demeter]

42. What's Italian for "Cutting your losses"?

Better yet, what's the Bankster phrase? 10-20 in Sing-sing?

[xchrom]

30. South Korea economic growth slows as exports weaken

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-18993596

South Korea's economic growth slowed in the second quarter, as investment dipped and its exports sector was hurt by the eurozone debt crisis.

Gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 0.4% in the April to June period. In the previous three months it grew 0.9%.

The economy grew 2.4% from the same period the previous year.

The data may prompt the central bank, which cut interest rates earlier this month, to ease its policy further

[xchrom]

31. Italy's borrowing costs surge again

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0726/breaking18.html

Italy's two-year yield hit an eight-month high of 4.86 per cent at a sale of zero-coupon paper today, tracking Spain's borrowing costs higher as investors fret about the two economies most vulnerable to the worsening debt crisis.

This was the highest yield Italy has paid to borrow on this maturity since a euro lifetime high of 7.81 per cent it paid at the height of the crisis in November, when the country was seen on the brink of financial collapse.

The yield at a similar sale a month ago was 4.71 per cent.

[xchrom]

32. Ireland issues first new long-term bonds since 2010

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2012/0726/breaking25.html

Ireland has re-entered the primary bond markets for the first time since it was shut out in 2010.

The National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA) today announced details of a new sale of Irish Government bonds for terms of up to eight years.

NTMA said this would be “the first occasion” it has offered bonds with long-term maturities [two years or more] to new investors since September 2010.

The new Irish five-year bond will have a 5.5 per cent yield, while the eight-year bond will have a 5 per cent yield.

[bread_and_roses]

36. I see we're back to irrational exuberance (n/t)

[Demeter]

43. More than irrational--it's outright open-market fraud, and the cop is on the take...

It's also an insult to intelligence.

[Demeter]

46. Spain Will Have To Cede Most Control Of Banks: WSJ

http://m.foxbusiness.com/quickPage.html?page=32811&external=1586671.proteus.fma

Spain will likely have to cede most control over its banks to Europe in exchange for assistance, according to a draft agreement of the bank bailout agreement, The Wall Street Journal reported. The requirements could mean holders of junior bonds and preferred shares issued by banks that are bailed out will face losses, said the newspaper in its online edition. The bailout agreement is expected to be signed off by EU officials on July 20. European Union officials agreed this week to give Spain more leeway on its deficit targets and said some 30 billion euros ($37 billion) would be available by the end of this month for banks. Many individuals in Spain have bought preferred shares of local banks, the newspaper reported.

[Demeter]

47. Ireland shows sharp GDP fall

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/ireland-shows-sharp-gdp-fall-7939644.html



The Irish economy contracted by 1.1 per cent in the first three months of 2011, official figures showed yesterday. Consumer spending fell by 2.1 per cent as the government continued to impose deep cuts and tax rises.

The sharp drop in output casts doubt on the European Commission's forecast that Ireland, alone of the eurozone states that have been bailed out, will register growth in 2012. The commission predicted in its spring forecast that Ireland would grow by 0.5 per cent this year.

However, Ireland's Central Statistics Office also said that the economy expanded in the final three months of 2011 by 0.7 per cent, having previously recorded a 0.2 per cent decline. That means Ireland avoided a technical recession last year, defined as two quarters of negative growth. Growth for 2011 as a whole was revised up from 0.7 per cent to 1.4 per cent.

Last week Ireland successfully sold €500m of three-month bills, its first capital markets auction since applying for a bailout in November 2010.

[Tansy_Gold]

48. Totally off topic but good for a chuckle anyway

http://tucsoncitizen.com/arizona-news/2012/07/25/pinal-county-supervisor-hopeful-john-enright-quits/

A Pinal County (AZ) supervisor candidate has withdrawn from the race in the wake of voter-fraud allegations involving a former companion who, records show, has continued to vote by absentee ballot in the five years since her death.

John Enright, 66, had been seeking the Republican nomination for county supervisor of District 5, an area that includes Apache Junction and Gold Canyon.

He withdrew from the race Wednesday in a letter to Pinal County Elections Director Steve Kizer. In a written statement issued hours later through his attorney, Enright said he entered the race “wanting to bring a voice to Pinal County government” but was leaving it “for several reasons, including an almost year-long battle with cancer.”

His statement made no mention of the scandal unleashed in an anonymous, undated letter sent several weeks ago to the Pinal County Recorder’s Office. As recently as this year, the letter alleged, someone had been filling out and mailing in absentee ballots addressed to a woman who died on Feb. 3, 2007. The woman, Sheila Nassar, and Enright lived together at the time of her death.

*********


Enright is an acquaintance of mine, and frankly one of the smarmiest, dumbest, and most obnoxious pukes around. Good friend of Bryan Martyn (R-Foreclosure) and Sheriff Paul Babeu (R-Nekkid Photos).

[DemReadingDU]

49. lol!

[Tansy_Gold]

52. And the worst of it is

The Pinal County Dems have no clue what to do with a silver-plattered gift like this. The puke candidate for county recorder is blaming it on the dem candidate because she works in the recorder's office.

I mean seriously -- The former supervisor Bryan Martyn got foreclosed on his $850,000 home because he had no freakin' money but he was a "war hero" from Iraq. So he leaves the supervisor position to get appointed director of state parks WITH NO FUCKING QUALIFICATIONS.

Paul Babeu runs the sheriff's department with all the finesse and charm of his mentor Joe Arpaio with the added attraction that Babeu's gay and has photos of him with his probably undocumented Mexican lover plastered all over the internet. I mean, how many ways can you BE a hypocrite, Paul? Oh, and then there's the icing on the cake that Paul's brother Shaun is justice of the peace and 90% of the cases that come before him have to be tried by a freelance justice because of conflict of interest.

I grew up in the Richard J. Daley era of Chicago, complete with 1968 Dem convention and everything, and I swear to the great goddess, Daley must be shakin' his head in amazement at the follies down here. Worse yet, I don't think Arizona is alone. They're all fucking crooks.

[Fuddnik]

54. And I thought Florida and Lousiana had the most corruption.

Arizona seems to put even us to shame.

But then again, he probably breed a better class of corrupt politician here, because there's a lot more corporate money to spread around.

And think about it. And think about it. The best Florida Dems could find to run against a KNOWN swindler, Rick Scott, was a former BofA executive who could make John Kerry look exciting.

[Demeter]

53. omg

Did it take 5 years for them to figure it out? Who is the stupid one, here?

[Tansy_Gold]

56. Well, that's the whole issue

The elections dept. can only remove names if they have evidence the registered voter has died -- obituary, whatever. If no one presents proof, then the name remains. Enright's "companion" -- whenever I heard him speak of her, he always referred to her as his wife so I believed they were married but apparently not -- died in 2007 and it would have been up to him or someone else to inform county elections. All the votes she cast after her death were done by mail-in ballot, which had to have come to the house he was living in with her at the time, and which to my knowledge he now shares with a woman to whom he supposedly is actually married.

One day within the past week he was parading around the coffee shop with some woman I'd never seen before -- I know his current wife and this most definitely wasn't her -- and apparently they were doing some kind of campaigning thing, but I don't know what it was. He knows I'm far left and would never support him, so he doesn't even speak to me, though his wife will say hello and be perfectly friendly. And just Tuesday he was offering to give some of his campaign signs to another friend of mine after the election because she uses them in her artwork. So whatever this was, it all developed in the past 48-72 hours.

I just think it's hysterical, because I don't think there's a goooper in this county who isn't filthy filthy dirty. But then again, when it comes to goooopers, they don't care about ANYTHING, because no matter how great the sin, IOKIYAR.

I should go see if one of Enright's (former??) friends still has a website live. That's another hysterical story. . . . . . .

[just1voice]

55. LOL! I have a drummer/friend in Apache Junction

He agrees with your last statement, "they're all crooks".