Economy
Related: About this forumSTOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 6 September 2013
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 6 September 2013[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 5 September 2013
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 5 September 2013
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Dow Jones 14,937.48 +6.61 (0.04%)
S&P 500 1,655.08 +2.00 (0.12%)
Nasdaq 3,658.78 +9.74 (0.27%)
[font color=red]10 Year 2.99% +0.08 (2.75%)
30 Year 3.88% +0.07 (1.84%) [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
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout
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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
[/center][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
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
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."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
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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]
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)in piñata...
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Demeter
(85,373 posts)MAKES SENSE TO ME...
http://rt.com/business/russia-armenia-customs-eu-391/
Armenia has decided to hang its hat with its former Soviet ally Russia instead of joining a European free-trade agreement, President Serzh Sarksyan announced after meeting with Vladimir Putin. Armenia said it would join Russia in the Customs Union, as well as engage in the Eurasian integration process instead of negotiating a free trade agreement with the EU. The move is seen as a political victory for Putin, who has been rounding up former Soviet states to rival the EU, promising lower gas prices and other trade perks.
Russia is Armenias largest trading partner and the largest foreign investor in the small, landlocked Caucasus country. Trade in 2012 reached $1.2 billion and Russian capital investment was over $3 billion, or nearly half of Armenias foreign investment, Putin said. In July Armenia engaged in technical talks on a deep and comprehensive free-trade agreement' (DCFTA) with the EU, and observers largely expected the country to initiate a free trade agreement with the EU at the Vilnius summit in late November. The EU has stated both publicly and privately membership of the Russias Eurasian Customs Union is incompatible with DCFTA.
The three-member customs union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus was founded in 2010 as a counterweight to the EU. Putin hopes to expand it into a Eurasian Union- a political and economic union of post-Soviet states like Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, and Tajikistan. While President Putin said earlier the Eurasian Union would be built upon the 'best values of the Soviet Union', critics claim that the drive towards integration aims to restore the Soviet Empire. It has been suggested the Eurasian Union could also include other countries that have been historically or culturally close, such as Finland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Vietnam, Mongolia, Cuba and Venezuela. This is expected to incorporate the countries into a common body where Russian would be the common language of communication and economic cooperation.
Russia has so far failed to lure Ukraine away from an EU trading alliance and relations with Belarus have soured after they detained and jailed the CEO of Russias largest potash producer, Uralkali.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Argentina's Senate voted Wednesday to indefinitely open a bond swap of defaulted debt as part of a bid to signal the country's eagerness to accommodate "holdout" creditors ahead of a review by the U.S. Supreme Court. The government of President Cristina Fernandez said last week that it was reopening a bond exchange after a U.S. court ruled it was unfairly excluding holdout hedge funds that rejected restructuring plans in the past.
The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York issued a stay delaying implementation of its order to pay holdout creditors $1.33 billion pending a review by the U.S. Supreme Court, which starts its new term in October. Argentina has refused to pay holdouts unless they accept the same terms used in its last exchange in 2010. Around 93 percent of creditors accepted restructurings in 2005 and 2010 that gave them less than 30 cents on the dollar, while holdouts have fought for the full amount in the courts.
The new debt swap will apply the same terms as those of Argentina's 2010 exchange. Apart from being open-ended to encourage creditors to opt in without deadline pressure, the new swap will also offer bonds governed by foreign law, a government source told Reuters on Friday - part of Argentina's less defiant approach to holdout creditors it calls "vulture funds."
The legislation, approved 58-8 by the Senate late on Wednesday, is expected to be passed into law by the House of Representatives in coming weeks.
The defaulted debt swap will be the country's third in less than a decade as it continues to struggle with the legal and economic fallout of lingering unpaid debt in the market after its record $100 billion default in 2002. If Argentina refuses to pay the holdouts in full, U.S. courts could block payment overseas to bondholders who opted to restructure in the past - potentially triggering another debt crisis and undermining a recovery in South America's third-biggest economy.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)If the debt vultures have their way, there will never be a fresh start for indebted countries - and no one will agree to restructuring...A recent decision by a United States appeals court threatens to upend global sovereign debt markets. It may even lead to the US no longer being viewed as a good place to issue sovereign debt. At the very least, it renders non-viable all debt restructurings under the standard debt contracts. In the process, a basic principle of modern capitalism that when debtors cannot pay back creditors, a fresh start is needed has been overturned.
The trouble began a dozen years ago, when Argentina had no choice but to devalue its currency and default on its debt. Under the existing regime, the country had been on a rapid downward spiral of the kind that has now become familiar in Greece and elsewhere in Europe. Unemployment was soaring, and austerity, rather than restoring fiscal balance, simply exacerbated the economic downturn. Devaluation and debt restructuring worked. In subsequent years, until the global financial crisis erupted in 2008, Argentina's annual GDP growth was 8% or higher, one of the fastest rates in the world. Even former creditors benefited from this rebound. In a highly innovative move, Argentina exchanged old debt for new debt at about 30 cents on the dollar or a little more plus a GDP-indexed bond. The more Argentina grew, the more it paid to its former creditors. Argentina's interests and those of its creditors were thus aligned: both wanted growth. It was the equivalent of a "Chapter 11" restructuring of American corporate debt, in which debt is swapped for equity, with bondholders becoming new shareholders.
Debt restructurings often entail conflicts among different claimants. That is why, for domestic debt disputes, countries have bankruptcy laws and courts. But there is no such mechanism to adjudicate international debt disputes. Once upon a time, such contracts were enforced by armed intervention, as Mexico, Venezuela, Egypt, and a host of other countries learned at great cost in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. After the Argentine crisis, President George W. Bush's administration vetoed proposals to create a mechanism for sovereign-debt restructuring. As a result, there is not even the pretence of attempting fair and efficient restructurings. Poor countries are typically at a huge disadvantage in bargaining with big multinational lenders, which are usually backed by powerful home-country governments. Often, debtor countries are squeezed so hard for payment that they are bankrupt again after a few years.
Economists applauded Argentina's attempt to avoid this outcome through a deep restructuring accompanied by the GDP-linked bonds. But a few "vulture" funds most notoriously the hedge fund Elliott Management, headed by the billionaire Paul E. Singer saw Argentina's travails as an opportunity to make huge profits at the expense of the Argentine people. They bought the old bonds at a fraction of their face value, and then used litigation to try to force Argentina to pay 100 cents on the dollar. Americans have seen how financial firms put their own interests ahead of those of the country and the world. The vulture funds have raised greed to a new level. Their litigation strategy took advantage of a standard contractual clause (called pari passu) intended to ensure that all claimants are treated equally. Incredibly, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit in New York decided that this meant that if Argentina paid in full what it owed those who had accepted debt restructuring, it had to pay in full what it owed to the vultures. If this principle prevails, no one would ever accept debt restructuring. There would never be a fresh start with all of the unpleasant consequences that this implies...Countries would be well advised not to include pari passu clauses in future debt contracts, at least without specifying more fully what is intended. Such contracts should also include collective-action clauses, which make it impossible for vulture funds to hold up debt restructuring. When a sufficient proportion of creditors agree to a restructuring plan (in the case of Argentina, the holders of more than 90% of the country's debt did), the others can be forced to go along. The fact that the International Monetary Fund, the US Department of Justice, and anti-poverty NGOs all joined in opposing the vulture funds is revealing. But so, too, is the court's decision, which evidently assigned little weight to their arguments. For those in developing and emerging-market countries who harbor grievances against the advanced countries, there is now one more reason for discontent with a brand of globalization that has been managed to serve rich countries' interests (especially their financial sectors' interests).
In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, the United Nations Commission of Experts on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System urged that we design an efficient and fair system for the restructuring of sovereign debt. The US court's tendentious, economically dangerous ruling shows why we need such a system now.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, a Nobel laureate in economics, is University Professor at Columbia University. His most recent book is The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers our Future.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission said it was in contact with Nasdaq OMX Group after another brief outage in the system that was at the heart of the exchange's three-hour trading halt last month.
"As is our practice, we are in contact with them and monitoring developments," a spokesman for the securities regulator said.
Nasdaq's Securities Information Processor, which receives all traffic on quotes and orders, had a six-minute glitch for a small number of stock symbols between 11:35 a.m. and 11:41 a.m. EDT (1535 and 1541 GMT) on Wednesday.
spotbird
(7,583 posts)Not that I understood it in the first place, but the small fraction I can decipher reads it's time to do something.
Any ideas? Not to make money, I'm not that far gone, just to preserve what we have worked a lifetime to have.
Warpy
(111,529 posts)I have no idea what the real thing to do is. I'm afraid no one ever knows for certain until after a crash when they all count up what's left.
I certainly don't know beyond being so incredibly diversified my taxes take me almost a week.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)On a Friday in late March, representatives of about two dozen investment firms gathered at the New York offices of Barclays PLC to hear Puerto Rico government officials explain why the island's bondsrecently downgraded to near "junk"were still a good investment. The officials told the firms, major holders of Puerto Rico debt, that a controversial pension-overhaul proposal favored by investors would pass the island's legislature. Some investors also got private meetings with island officials that day, and at least one firm at the event sold Puerto Rico bonds. Slides from the meeting were posted online by the following Monday.
Puerto Rico didn't break any laws or regulations in holding the meeting, attorneys say. The event highlighted differences in the rules governing how companies and municipal-securities issuers interact with investors. Securities laws generally require firms to disclose what they say to investors if the information is both material and nonpublic. These regulations don't apply to municipalities, in part because of concerns about the federal government interfering in state and local affairs. This exception can give large money managers with access to public officials an edge in the $3.7 trillion municipal-bond market, according to industry executives and investors.
Puerto Rico's bonds are down 16.42% this year as the island's economic outlook has deteriorated. The bonds are on track for their worst year since 2008 when they fell 12.5%, according to the S&P Municipal Bond Puerto Rico Index. Investors and others have informed regulators including the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board about the Puerto Rico meeting, but regulators haven't said what they have done in response.
Lynnette Kelly, executive director of the MSRB, said the board is concerned about debt issuers disclosing material information to investors selectively....
AS WELL THEY SHOULD BE--MORE AT LINK
DemReadingDU
(16,001 posts)9/5/13 16 Major Firms May Have Received Early Data From Thomson Reuters
Rolling Stone has since learned that a whistleblower complaint has been filed to the SEC identifying 16 of the world's biggest banks and hedge funds as the allegedly even-earlier recipients of this key economic data. The complaint alleges that this select group of customers received the data anywhere from 10 minutes to an hour ahead of the rest of the markets.
The case became public thanks to a wrongful termination suit filed in April by a former Thomson Reuters employee named Mark Rosenblum. Rosenblum sold financial data for Thomson Reuters between 2005 and 2012 (he also had previously worked for the firm between 1998 and 2000). During the course of his job, Rosenblum became aware that Thomson Reuters was distributing access to a set of key economic numbers, the University of Michigan Survey of Consumers, in what he thought was an unusual fashion.
The survey, which gauges how American consumers feel about the economy, is an important indicator that financiers look at when making investment decisions about the U.S. economy. Among other things, the Federal Reserve looks at the Michigan Survey when it determines monetary policy. Any investor who knew the survey results in advance would have an inside advantage over other investors in the market.
Rosenblum learned that his employers at Thomson Reuters, who had a contract with the University of Michigan to release the data, were releasing the data in three "tiers."
The general public would get the information at 10:00 a.m. at a certain date each month.
Ordinary subscribers to Thomson Reuters would get the data a little earlier, at 9:55 a.m. exactly.
Then there was a third group of "ultra-low latency" subscribers algorithmic traders who use computer programs to make millions of calculations per second who would get the data two seconds early, at 9:54:58 a.m.
lots more...
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/blogs/taibblog/16-major-firms-may-have-received-early-data-from-thomson-reuters-20130905
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)While European Central Bank President Mario Draghi said yesterday that risks for euro-area growth remain on the downside and the euro fell to a six-week low against the dollar, investors are taking comfort from the region emerging from its longest recession and a sovereign-debt crisis. Thats making the euro a refuge for traders fleeing emerging-market nations missing out on a global recovery...
... The euro is perceived as a safe haven in the current environment, where were not in a G-10 crisis, but an emerging-market one, Sebastien Galy, a senior currency strategist at Societe Generale SA in New York, said in a Sept. 3 phone interview. People who were very, very negative on the euro zone were very, very wrong on that. These people have now changed their mindsets.
While the euro has fallen more than 2 percent versus the dollar since reaching a six-month high of $1.3452 on Aug. 20, it has remained within its past-years trading range of $1.2502 to $1.3711, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Thats up from as low as $1.1877 in June 2010, when the euro sovereign-debt crisis was deepening, and compares with $1.2043 last July, before Draghi said hed do whatever it takes to save the shared currency...
/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-06/euro-becoming-haven-with-breakup-a-memory-on-economy-currencies.html
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Save havens these days are arable farmland and fresh water reservoirs....and a little of the yellow for trade...
AnneD
(15,774 posts)it is time to look for tangible assets.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Anything tangible (not just your pension fund) could get 'confiscated' (or arbitralily taxed) at any time.
AnneD
(15,774 posts)learned from Cypress. Keep less in banks and as many assests as portable as you can.
Ghost Dog
(16,881 posts)Emerging markets, which helped pull the world out of a recession after the global financial crisis, now face an exodus of cash and sliding currencies in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserves eventual tapering of its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases in its most recent quantitative easing program. The prospect of U.S. military strikes against Syria is also adding to volatility as investors gauge whether oil flows from the region will be disrupted...
... China will contribute $41 billion to a pool of BRICS reserves, with Russia, India and Brazil each adding $18 billion and South Africa providing $5 billion, according to a statement issued yesterday.
An exit from monetary-easing policies poses a major challenge for the world economy, Chinese Vice Finance Minister Zhu Guangyao told reporters yesterday as the two-day forum opened. Developed economies are turning into global growth engines as some emerging-market counterparts decelerate, the International Monetary Fund said in a report for G-20 leaders.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel urged central banks to curb expansive policies, saying that scaling back monetary stimulus will be necessary, step-by-step. The BRICS countries, which also agreed to seed a new development bank with $50 billion of capital, are seeking a shield against unintended negative spillovers from unconventional monetary policies in developed economies, according to the statement...
/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-05/g-20-wrangles-over-stimulus-exit-as-syria-roils-markets.html
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The international community seems no closer in bridging deep divides over the conflict in Syria as the G20 summit in St Petersburg, Russia enters its final day Friday.
US President Barack Obama had arrived for the summit on Thursday with the hope of winning support for armed strikes against the regime of Syrian President Bashar-al Assad following his alleged use of chemical weapons.
The US, France and Turkey are currently the only G20 members to commit to using force in Syria. Russia and China strongly oppose military action, while a host of other countries remain concerned about supporting military strikes without a UN resolution.
The G20s formal programme for the St Petersburg summit centres around the global economy, but as tensions over the Syrian conflict threatened to torpedo discussions on other issues, host Russian President Vladimir Putin made a last-minute announcement for participants to air their views over dinner on Thursday evening.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Leaders of the worlds biggest economies at a Group of 20 summit in Russia discussed efforts to shield their economies from potential stimulus withdrawal as the fallout from the Syrian conflict amplified global risks.
The BRICS countries pledged yesterday in St. Petersburg to create a $100 billion pool of currency reserves to guard against shocks even as Russia said U.S. President Barack Obama sought to ease concern about an abrupt pullback of monetary stimulus. Chinese and Italian officials warned that military intervention in Syria would risk harming the global economy.
Emerging markets, which helped pull the world out of a recession after the global financial crisis, face heightened vulnerabilities after an exodus of cash and sliding currencies in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserves eventual tapering of its $85 billion in monthly bond purchases. The prospect of U.S. military strikes against Syria is also adding to volatility as investors gauge whether oil flows from the region will be disrupted.
Any political destabilization, an escalation of political tension always affects the mentality of investors, Andrey Kostin, chairman of state-run VTB Group, Russias second-biggest bank, said today in St. Petersburg. Investors are always afraid of war.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Promises of more welfare for Scandinavias richest citizens are failing to boost Labor Prime Minister Jens Stoltenbergs popularity.
Voters are instead poised to hand power to a Conservative-led opposition bloc that has promised tax cuts and more investments in infrastructure. Stoltenbergs government is heading for defeat on Sept. 9, as pledges to spend more of Norways oil wealth on benefits fail to resonate.
If you go back a few decades there was a need for redistribution of wealth and welfare services, but now people are pretty well off, Johannes Bergh, an election researcher at the Institute for Social Research in Oslo, said by phone. There isnt a need for a big expansion of welfare policies.
The opposition is leading in the polls by 16 percentage points after a campaign that has centered around how much of the nations oil and gas wealth the next government should spend on tax cuts, fixing roads, cutting waiting times for health care and other welfare services. Spending reductions havent featured on the agenda for the nation of 5.1 million people, who live in Europes richest economy per capita after Luxembourg.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) -- It's time to make Google, Apple and other multinational companies pay more taxes. That's the message from President Barack Obama and leaders of the world's other leading economies this week.
The head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, Angel Gurria, told The Associated Press on Friday that the leaders signed on to the new tax plan at the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, Russia.
The new rules would make it harder to hide money in tax havens and force companies to pay tax in the countries where they make profits.
But it may take years to get the new tax treaties and laws into place. And advocacy groups say poor countries should also be included.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- High tourism revenues helped Greece's battered economy shrink less than initially estimated in April-June, making a projected exit from recession next year more likely.
The country's statistical authority said Friday that the second quarter contraction was 3.8 percent, considerably better than last month's flash estimate of 4.8 percent.
The authority said the revision was based on data not available when the preliminary estimate was issued. These included a 5.3 percent turnover increase in accommodation and food services in April-June - compared to a 21 percent fall a year earlier - and a strong improvement in the external trade deficit.
Debt-crippled Greece is in a sixth year of recession, which hit a contraction of 9 percent in late 2010. The downturn was exacerbated by harsh austerity measures demanded by bailout creditors.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)HONG KONG (AP) -- China's yuan has joined the ranks of the most traded currencies for the first time, underlining the growing might of the world's second-largest economy.
The yuan became one of the top 10 traded currencies in 2013, rising to No. 9 on the list due to a "significant expansion" in offshore trading, the Bank for International Settlements said in a report Thursday. It's a sharp jump from the bank's last survey in 2010, when the yuan, also known as the renminbi, was No. 17 on the list.
Turnover in trades involving yuan surged to $120 billion a day on average in April 2013, three and half times more than the $34 billion in 2010. Still, that figure is dwarfed by the dollar, which accounted for about $4.7 trillion daily.
The Bank for International Settlements, which is an international organization of central banks, said the yuan along with the Mexican peso, which rose to No. 8, "saw the most significant rise in market share among major emerging market currencies."
xchrom
(108,903 posts)BERLIN (AP) -- Germany's exports dropped unexpectedly in July and industrial production fell, even as the economies of the countries using the euro showed signs of improvement, according to two reports Friday.
The Federal Statistical Office said German exports dropped 1.1 percent in July over June when adjusted for seasonal and calendar differences. Economists had predicted a 0.7 percent rise, the dpa news agency reported.
Imports increased by 0.5 percent.
Meanwhile, the Economy Ministry said industrial production dropped by 1.7 percent in July over June, and it revised June's growth downward from a 2.4 percent rise to a 2 percent rise.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)DUBLIN (AP) -- The Irish government says it wants the European Union to grant it a new precautionary line of credit worth a potential 10 billion euros ($13 billion) to ease its planned exit this year from an international bailout.
Finance Minister Michael Noonan says Ireland wants the credit line only as a safeguard "to give confidence to our lenders." He says the figure equates roughly to Ireland's forecast 2014 budget deficit.
Ireland plans to impose its sixth straight austerity budget in October and resume full-fledged borrowing from bond markets by year's end. It has spent the past three years dependent on 67.5 billion euros in loans provided by EU partners and the International Monetary Fund.
Noonan made Friday's reported comments to the Irish Independent newspaper.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)DemReadingDU
(16,001 posts)Apparently we don't have to do anything for Big Uncle to watch us nowadays.
DemReadingDU
(16,001 posts)9/6/13 How the NSA Made Sure It Can Decrypt Your Online Communication
In one of the more remarkable and alarming revelations to come from the documents leaked to the press by Edward Snowden, a joint report from The New York Times, ProPublica, and The Guardian suggests that the NSA works with internet companies to add vulnerabilities to secure network traffic and may be able to broadly decrypt online communications.
A less technical summary: the government has apparently introduced and/or pried open the online security systems that ensure privacy online. For privacy advocates, this is the worst-case scenario, which may be in part why The Times reports that the government asked they not publish the report. (The partner organizations "removed some specific facts."
more...
http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2013/09/how-nsa-made-sure-it-can-decrypt-your-online-communication/69094/
tclambert
(11,088 posts)If everybody is spying on everybody, we should have full employment.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)WASHINGTON (AP) -- The State Department ordered nonessential U.S. diplomats to leave Lebanon due to security concerns Friday as the Obama administration and Congress debate military strikes on neighboring Syria.
In a new travel warning for Lebanon issued early Friday, the department said it had instructed nonessential staffers to leave Beirut and urged private American citizens to depart Lebanon.
The step had been under consideration since last week when President Barack Obama said he was contemplating military action against the Syrian government for its alleged chemical weapons attack last month that the administration said killed more than 1,400 people near Damascus.
The U.S. closed 19 embassies and consulates across Africa and the Middle East last month for more than a week after a terrorist threat. Hezbollah, an Assad ally that has sent fighters into Syria, is based in Lebanon.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Last week we wrote about what you could do to stop the war in Syria. This week we can say many Americans are taking the action needed to stop this war.
If we succeed, and it is still a very big if, it will be a historic. We cannot remember when the American people stopped a war after a president said he wanted to bomb a country.
How close are we? The Washington Post is reporting that 180 members of the House of Representatives are leaning toward a no war vote. FireDogLake reports 216 are leaning no. To win requires 217 votes. We need to solidify those who are leaning toward voting no to war and convince enough undecided votes to vote no. Click here for an updated tally.
U.S. Secretary of State Kerry faces protesters against a military strike in Syria, as he arrives at a U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing in WashingtonThe media is reporting that Congress is being flooded with phone calls and that at constituent meetings people are telling their representatives to vote no on war. Immediately after the Presidents call for war, there were protests across the country. Hearings in Congress to authorize war were interrupted by protesters. Congress needs to hear from you. Call 202-224-3121. Take part in a historic moment stop a war!
Even before the war begins, members of the Armed Services are speaking out against the war. Top military leaders leaked to the media their concerns about the war while intelligence officials also leaked their concerns about the shaky intelligence.
If we are successful in stopping an attack on Syria, it will teach the movement something very important. Movements need to be independent of the two parties to win. As Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. explained: I feel someone must remain in the position of non-alignment, so that he can look objectively at both parties and be the conscience of bothnot the servant or master of either.
The only reason the antiwar effort has a chance is because opposition is coming from across the political spectrum, and both Republicans and Democrats in the House are opposing this war. Even the classified briefings are unconvincing...
Demeter
(85,373 posts)A right-left coalition is also developing around another issue where President Obama is leading in the wrong direction. He is pushing the secret globalization agreement; the Trans-Pacific Partnership, and is urging Congress to give him sole authority to negotiate it through Fast Track.
Under the Commerce Clause of the Constitution, Article 1, Section 8, Clause 3, Congress is given the responsibility to regulate Commerce with foreign Nations. Just as with war, where the Constitution gives Congress the power to declare war and they asserted that power when nearly 200 demanded Obama get Congressional approval; when it comes to trade, Congress needs to assert itself and fulfill its constitutional mandate by refusing to allow Fast Track, holding hearings, listening to experts and citizens and making amendments to the proposed TPP.
A bipartisan coalition is developing in Congress to stop Fast Track. For the Democrats, it is led by Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) and Rep. Rosa DeLauro; for the Republicans, by Rep. Walter Jones (R-NC), and Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN). These Members are all aware of the secrecy over the past four years of negotiations secret except for the more than 600 corporate advisers to the US Trade Representative for President Obama and therefore Congress has not played its role in designing the TPP.
Outside of Congress, we are also seeing views from across the political spectrum in opposition to the TPP. Mayor Bloomberg wrote an op-ed criticizing the TPP for risking U.S. public health and undermining our sovereignty. On the same day Jim Hightower wrote an excellent report on the TPP calling it a corporate coup détatagainst us.
1TPPpatentAnd, the TPP is a big deal, the largest trade agreement since the WTO, that will affect every aspect of our lives from the food we eat to whether water becomes a commodity; whether we have health careas a public good or whether workers get paid a fair wage and work in a safe environment; whether Big Banks and their economy-risking, derivative deals are regulated to whether we have Internet freedom or a clean environment. The list goes on and on.
As with stopping the war in Syria, stopping the global corporate coup of the TPP is possible. An overarching issue for our movement is putting people and planet before profits. To accomplish this, people must take action. On September 17, the anniversary of Occupy Wall Street, protests are planned to push Congress to oppose Fast Track. And, there will be atraining camp and protests in Washington, DC beginning on September 21. This will be something you will want to be part of, but space is limited, so register today.
Demeter
(85,373 posts)There may be another right-left alliance coming up if President Obama is foolish enough to appoint Wall Streets darling, Lawrence Summers to be Chairman of the Federal Reserve. Already we are hearing grumbling across the political spectrum. Ellen Brown has anexcellent article linking Summers, the global economy and war on Syria.
DemReadingDU
(16,001 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)JUST WHAT THE ECONOMISTS EXPECTED....HOW CONVENIENT!
Demeter
(85,373 posts)Demeter
(85,373 posts)duty calls. I'll be back to "KICK OFF" the Weekend (that's a hint, folks) tonight!
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The US added 169,000 new jobs in August, fewer than expected by many analysts.
The addition of new jobs helped the unemployment rate fall to 7.3%, down from 7.4% in July.
But the US Labor Department said this was because more Americans stopped looking for work.
The monthly data from the US Labor Department is is one of the most closely watched US economic indicators.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The struggling economy of Cyprus has suffered its worst annual contraction since the mid-1970s, according to official figures.
Its economy shrank 5.9% in the second quarter compared to the same period last year, more than expected.
And it fell 1.8% between April and June compared with the first quarter - the eighth successive quarterly fall.
In March, the European Union and the International Monetary Fund agreed a 10bn-euro (£8.5bn) bailout for Cyprus.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)Leaders of the Brics group of nations - Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa - have said they will set up a $100bn (£65bn) fund to guard against financial shocks.
The move comes as emerging economies across the world have been hit by speculation that US may scale back its key economic stimulus programme soon.
That has seen investors pull out money, hurting currencies of emerging nations.
The Brics leaders said the details of the fund were still being worked out.
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The U.S. economy added just 169,000 jobs in August, which was lower than 180,000 expected. Furthermore, the July number was revised down to 104,000 from an earlier estimate of 162,000.
And on top of that, the labor force participation rate fell, causing the unemployment rate to drop to 7.3% from 7.4% in July.
All of this reminds us that the jobs market remains weak four years into the economic recovery.
Calculated Risk runs a chart every month that puts the current jobs recovery into perspective.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/the-scariest-jobs-chart-ever-2013-9#ixzz2e7SLKFeU
xchrom
(108,903 posts)The August nonfarm payroll report is out, and it missed analyst expectations.
According to the BLS household survey, part-time jobs fell 234,000 to 27,999,000 in August.
Full-time workers climbed by 118,000.
That's different from what we've been seeing so far in 2013, where part-time jobs have been the major contributor to overall job growth.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/most-new-jobs-were-part-time-jobs-2013-9#ixzz2e7VNuUyC
xchrom
(108,903 posts)It has become something of a campaign issue in the German election. Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble not long ago suggested that Greece will soon need a third aid package to make up for a looming liquidity shortfall, prompting accusations from the opposition Social Democrats that Chancellor Angela Merkel has not been honest with voters about the looming costs of the euro crisis.
And Merkel? She has merely responded that the question of additional Greek funding won't be addressed until late 2014, insisting more recently that her government had always noted that Athens might need more assistance before it can stand on its own two feet.
Now, though, the head of the Euro Group has jumped into the debate, and indicated that a third aid package for Greece will likely become necessary. "It's clear that despite recent progress, Greece's trouble will not have been completely resolved by 2014," Jeroen Dijsselbloem, who chairs meetings of euro-zone finance ministers, told the European Parliament on Thursday. He added that it was "realistic to assume that additional support will be needed."
Merkel had been hoping to keep the issue of Greece off the agenda until after the German election on Sept. 22. But at a campaign event in August, Schäuble spilled the beans, saying that a third aid package would be necessary. In response, Merkel declined to be as clear, saying in a newspaper interview that "we in the euro zone have always said that we will have to re-evaluate the situation in Greece at the end of 2014 or the beginning of 2015."
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