STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 25 April 2014

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 25 April 2014[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 24 April 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 24 April 2014
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Dow Jones 16,501.65 0.00 (0.00%)
[font color=green]S&P 500 1,878.61 +3.22 (0.17%)
Nasdaq 4,148.34 +21.37 (0.52%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.68% -0.04 (-1.47%)
30 Year 3.45% -0.04 (-1.15%) [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
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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
6/4/12 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.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.








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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]

1. You picked this cartoon just for me, didn't you?

So sweet of you!

[Tansy_Gold]

8. I didn't at first

And then about 5 seconds after I posted the thread . . . . . .

[Demeter]

2. Government Is Now a Protection Racket for the 1% By Bill Moyers and Michael Winship

http://vimeo.com/92306306

[Demeter]

3. Game Changer: China Refused 8 Shipments of US GMO Corn

http://humansarefree.com/2014/04/game-changer-china-refused-8-shipments.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FYTqom+%28Humans+Are+Free-Blog%29

Never say never. Though already reported by "Natural Society" in the past, let’s not forget when China destroyed three shipments of US GMO corn. According to a law on Chinese books ,the Ministry of Agriculture must require environmental and food safety testing to verify data provided by the seed developer.

This means that China is upholding the scientific method and is actually testing the claims of companies like Monsanto, Dow, and Syngenta, saying that ‘GMO is safe for humans and the environment” when we all know this to be untrue.

The Chinese Minister of Agriculture is unable to issue a safety certificate unless these strict scientific proofs are utilized and therefore, three shipments of imported US GMO corn without relevant safety certificates and approval documents were destroyed.

This is a big concern for US exporters who have grown GMO crops, since China is a big consumer of genetically modified crops. The country, like our own, is already consuming large amounts of GM soybeans, even though experts are re-igniting the questions about just how safe these crops really are: MORE

[Demeter]

4. The real IRS scandal that's costing Uncle Sam trillions

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2014/04/20/1292876/-The-real-IRS-scandal-that-s-costing-Uncle-Sam-trillions?detail=email











MUCH TEXT BLAMING THE GOP AT LINK

[Demeter]

5. How Greek Premier Got Back on the Bond Wagon With Dimon's Help

WHEN NATIONS TREAT SOVEREIGN DEBT SOLD TO FOREIGNERS AS THEY TREAT ADDICTION, WE WILL GET SOMEWHERE...

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-23/samaras-met-dimon-for-greek-bonds-on-way-to-a-400-return.html

Shut out of international bond markets for four years, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wasn’t going to take any chances with his country’s return.

He began months ago lining up investors for the April 10 debt sale, which proved irresistible to the likes of BlackRock Inc. and Invesco Ltd. The keystone for his pitch was a September meeting with investors at JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s headquarters in Manhattan hosted by Chief Executive Officer Jamie Dimon, according to two people with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified because the event was private.

The charm offensive paved the way for a 3 billion-euro ($4.2 billion) offering that drew orders for almost seven times that amount. While the nation remains blighted by deflation and the highest unemployment in Europe, the sale underscored Greece’s strengthening ties across the euro area as it seeks to overcome the stigma of starting a region-wide financial crisis and carrying out the biggest-ever restructuring.

“This trade is not without risk,” Mark Nash, a London-based money manager at Invesco, which oversees $787 billion including $177 billion of fixed-income assets, said in a telephone interview on April 17 after buying the new government notes. “It relies on European growth continuing to improve. The fundamentals in Greece are not terribly rosy, but there’s no doubt they are doing a lot better.”

BETTER COMPARED TO WHAT? A TOTALLY SUPINE ECONOMY, OR A HEALTHY ONE?

MORE DRUG-PUSHING AT LINK

[tclambert]

10. Those taxes owed that aren't collected--I wonder how much of that poor people owe

Oh, yeah, poor people don't have money. It's those rich "job creators" who must owe the money. Well, no wonder they lobby to reduce IRS enforcement.

[Demeter]

6. There's Only One Legal Way to Opt Out of Obamacare By Mark Nestmann, HumansAreFree.com;

ACTUALLY, THERE'S TWO MORE: MEDICARE (IF YOU LIVE THAT LONG) AND MEDICAID, IF YOUR ARE STONE BORKE, ALTHOUGH THERE ARE GOTCHAS TO THAT, TOO...

http://humansarefree.com/2014/04/theres-only-one-legal-way-to-opt-out-of.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FYTqom+%28Humans+Are+Free-Blog%29

In 1965, when I was nine years old, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed a new entitlement called “Medicare” into law. Proponents of LBJ’s “Great Society” celebrated. No longer would America’s senior citizens be denied health care if they couldn’t afford to pay for it. It would be guaranteed. And the cost? Why, only about $1 billion annually. Sure, that was a lot of dough, even in the 1960s. But compared with the defense budget (which was then at $62 billion), it was a mere drop in the bucket. Still, my father, a dedicated physician who practiced medicine for 40 years, grumbled. “It’s socialized medicine,” he announced at dinner. I had no idea what he was talking about at the time, but it turned out he was right...Fast-forward to 2014. Medicare now costs the federal government nearly $700 billion annually. Other federal health care spending comes to another $300 billion. That’s $1 trillion in total health care-related spending by the feds.

And, of course, on top of all this, we now have the so-called “Affordable Care Act,” better known as “Obamacare.” Unlike Medicare, Obamacare proponents claim that it won’t add one dime to federal spending. We’ll see about that. But one thing is for certain. Even if Obamacare doesn’t increase federal spending, unless you qualify for subsidized coverage, it will increase your own spending. One big reason health insurance has become so expensive is that not enough young and healthy people have signed up for Obamacare. That saddles older folks with higher premiums – even though proponents claimed this wouldn’t be a problem. Sound familiar? In any event, my monthly health insurance premium recently increased by 25%. And my agent predicts that at the end of 2014 my premium will double. Can’t you just purchase a high-deductible insurance policy and pay for medical care out of my pocket like I used to? Nope. The high-deductible policy I used to have is no longer Obamacare compliant.

And it’s a big no-no to have a non-compliant policy. If you have a very low income, you’re looking at a $95 fine. Otherwise, you get penalized 1% of your taxable income. That penalty increases to 2% in 2015 and 2.5% in 2016. Another reason Obamacare policies cost more is that they must provide a mandated set of benefits – some of them surprising. I just received a letter from my insurance carrier informing me that I was now covered for reconstructive surgery after mastectomy (breast removal). That’s great, but mastectomy is performed only in the event of breast cancer –and 99% of the victims are female. With those odds, it’s ironic that Obamacare calls policies that offer benefits like reconstructive breast surgery for men “minimum essential coverage.” If you’re over 65, Medicare is considered minimum essential coverage. But I’m too young for Medicare – and so are most of my clients.

So what options are left? It turns out that the only way that an American citizen or resident can opt out of minimal essential coverage is by leaving the US and becoming a bona fide resident of another country. You qualify as “bona fide” if:

• You're physically present in a foreign country or countries for at least 330 full days during any period of 12 consecutive months.
  
• You have a "tax home" outside the United States; i.e., another country that can tax your income on the basis of residence or other ties.
  
• You haven’t claimed to be exempt from paying income tax in that country.

These are the same requirements that you need to meet in order to qualify for the “foreign earned income exclusion” (FEIE). This rule allows you to earn up to $99,200 per year tax-free (2014, adjusted annually for inflation) if you live and work outside the US. Once you’re living abroad, you can purchase medical insurance locally or opt for an international health insurance plan. A local plan is much more affordable. For instance, the annual premium for Mexico’s basic – but quite affordable – insurance coverage is only a few hundred dollars annually. International health insurance coverage is more expensive because you can use it in more than one country. Annual premiums start at around $4,000. But most plans exclude the US from coverage because costs are so much higher here than in other countries.

There is, of course, one solution available by which you can not only opt out of Obamacare, but also out of US tax, health care, and other laws… permanently. That solution is expatriation – giving up your US citizenship and passport. Yes, it’s a radical step – one that you shouldn’t take without a great deal of advance preparation and, yes, soul-searching. But it’s the only way to permanently sever your obligations to your Big Brother in Washington, DC.



Mark Nestmann is a journalist with more than 20 years of investigative experience and is a charter member of The Sovereign Society Council of Experts. He has authored over a dozen books and many additional reports on wealth preservation, privacy and offshore investing. Mark serves as president of his own international consulting firm, The Nestmann Group, Ltd.

[Demeter]

7. Funnies that aren't, so much

NOTE: I LIVED IN NH FOR 29 YEARS...FOR CHEAP CAR INSURANCE. WHEN THE OLD MAN OF THE MOUNTAIN FELL DOWN, I LEFT.

[Demeter]

17. Variations on the theme

It must be an Engineering thing....I have the same problem

[DemReadingDU]

9. 52 Year-Old French Banker Jumps To Her Death In Paris

4/24/14 52 Year-Old French Banker Jumps To Her Death In Paris

There have been 13 senior financial services executives deaths around the world this year, but the most notable thing about the sad suicide of the 14th, a 52-year-old banker at France's Bred-Banque-Populaire, is she is the first female. As Le Parisien reports, Lydia (no surname given) jumped from the bank's Paris headquarter's 14th floor shortly before 10am.

This is the 14th financial services exective death in recent months...

1 - William Broeksmit, 58-year-old former senior executive at Deutsche Bank AG, was found dead in his home after an apparent suicide in South Kensington in central London, on January 26th.

2 - Karl Slym, 51 year old Tata Motors managing director Karl Slym, was found dead on the fourth floor of the Shangri-La hotel in Bangkok on January 27th.

3 - Gabriel Magee, a 39-year-old JP Morgan employee, died after falling from the roof of the JP Morgan European headquarters in London on January 27th.

4 - Mike Dueker, 50-year-old chief economist of a US investment bank was found dead close to the Tacoma Narrows Bridge in Washington State.

5 - Richard Talley, the 57 year old founder of American Title Services in Centennial, Colorado, was found dead earlier this month after apparently shooting himself with a nail gun.

6 - Tim Dickenson, a U.K.-based communications director at Swiss Re AG, also died last month, however the circumstances surrounding his death are still unknown.

7 - Ryan Henry Crane, a 37 year old executive at JP Morgan died in an alleged suicide just a few weeks ago. No details have been released about his death aside from this small obituary announcement at the Stamford Daily Voice.

8 - Li Junjie, 33-year-old banker in Hong Kong jumped from the JP Morgan HQ in Hong Kong this week.

9 - James Stuart Jr, Former National Bank of Commerce CEO, found dead in Scottsdale, Ariz., the morning of Feb. 19. A family spokesman did not say whatcaused the death

10 - Edmund (Eddie) Reilly, 47, a trader at Midtown’s Vertical Group, commited suicide by jumping in front of LIRR train

11 - Kenneth Bellando, 28, a trader at Levy Capital, formerly investment banking analyst at JPMorgan, jumped to his death from his 6th floor East Side apartment.

12 - Jan Peter Schmittmann, 57, the former CEO of Dutch bank ABN Amro found dead at home near Amsterdam with wife and daughter.

13 - Li Jianhua, 49, the director of China's Banking Regulatory Commission died of a sudden heart attack

14 - Lydia _____, 52 - jumped to her suicide from the 14th floor of Bred-Banque Populaire in Paris

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-04-24/52-year-old-french-banker-jumps-her-death-paris-after-questioning-her-superiors

[Demeter]

18. I have to wonder if anyone in law enforcement is getting concerned

Or if we need to have some thriller films espousing conspiracy theories to get an investigation going. There's no reason for people well up the food chain to go killing themselves.

[DemReadingDU]

22. Is it suicide?

Perhaps these bankers didn't jump, but were pushed



and what did they know that someone is fearful of us finding out

[xchrom]

11. FTSE index slips from highs on Ukraine tension

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/uk-markets-britain-stocks-idUKBRE8710BE20140425

(Reuters) - Britain's top share index slipped from a seven-week peak on Friday after growing tensions in Ukraine eclipsed encouraging updates from betting agency William Hill and media group Pearson.

The two companies were the top gainers on the FTSE 100 index, with Pearson rising 3.8 percent after saying it had made a "solid" start to the year and William Hill up 2.6 percent after its first-quarter results.

But the blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.2 percent at 6,691.07 points by 1017 GMT after climbing to its highest since early March on Thursday, following an escalation in tensions in Ukraine and the prospect of more sanctions against Russia.

Ukrainian forces killed up to five pro-Moscow separatists in the east of Ukraine on Thursday, prompting Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to say on Friday that Kiev's interim government would face justice for a "bloody crime".

[xchrom]

12. ECB finalises legal framework for banking supervision

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/uk-ecb-banks-supervision-idUKBREA3O0YA20140425

(Reuters) - The European Central Bank has finalised rules for how it will supervise commercial banks in the 18-nation euro zone from November, it said on Friday.

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) framework regulation gives the central bank wide-ranging powers, including the right to demand that lenders increase their capital buffers, and spells out how the SSM will cooperate with national supervisors.

"The SSM Framework Regulation lays the basis for the work of the SSM when it takes over as supervisor of euro area banks in November 2014," the ECB said in a statement.

The document also forms the basis for defining which euro zone banks will qualify for direct supervision by the ECB. Those that do not match the criteria as outlined in the document will continue to be supervised by their national authority.

The list will be published in September.

[xchrom]

13. Exclusive - Obama plans to call EU leaders in Russia sanctions push: sources

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/uk-ukraine-crisis-usa-sanctions-idUKBREA3O0J320140425

(Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama is expected to speak to several European leaders on Friday to try to nudge the EU toward fresh sanctions against Russia over Ukraine, sources familiar with the matter said.

Disagreements among European Union nations on whether to impose new economic sanctions on Russia have held up punitive steps by the United States, said the sources on condition of anonymity, but Washington could also act on its own.

U.S. officials have grown increasingly impatient with what they describe as Russia's failure to live up to its commitments in an April 17 agreement reached in Geneva to try to de-escalate the crisis in Ukraine.

The United States is also frustrated at the reluctance of some European nations, notably Germany and Italy, to impose a new round of economic sanctions on Russia but it would much prefer to act in concert with the EU rather than on its own.

[xchrom]

14. Thai government wants more troops in Bangkok as crisis heats up

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/25/uk-thailand-protest-idUKBREA3O0IC20140425

(Reuters) - Thailand's government is to ask the army to deploy more troops in the capital, Bangkok, as fears mount that the country's lengthy political crisis could move into a more violent phase.

Surapong Tovichakchaikul, a deputy prime minister, voiced concern on Friday about the potential for clashes between pro- and anti-government groups if Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra is ousted in May as a result of legal cases brought against her.

Yingluck, who has faced six months of street protests aimed at forcing her out, has been charged with abuse of power for her transfer of National Security Council chief Thawil Pliensri in 2011, which opponents say was done for personal and party political reasons. If found guilty, she may have to step down.

Yingluck's ousting would be the latest twist in nearly a decade of confrontation between her brother, ousted premier Thaksin Shinawatra, and the Bangkok-based royalist establishment, who see Thaksin, a populist former telecoms tycoon, as a threat to their interests.

[xchrom]

15. Fast-Food CEOs Make 1,200 Times as Much as One of Their Workers—and They Want to Keep it That Way

http://www.thenation.com/blog/179525/most-unequal-industry-america-also-one-fighting-minimum-wage

David Novak is the chief executive of Yum! Brands, the parent company that runs Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC. Last year, while Yum! Brands and other restaurant companies lobbied against raising the minimum wage, Novak made at least $22 million—more than 1,000 times what the average fast-food worker makes in a year. In return for paying him so much, Yum! got a tax break.

The National Restaurant Association, which represents Yum! and other restaurant companies, is expected to launch a lobbying blitz in Washington next week against a minimum wage increase. For years the restaurant industry has fought to keep the wage floor low, all while rewarding its CEOs with increasingly large pay packages. As a result, the food industry is now the most unequal sector in the American economy. Thanks to a tax loophole that encourages companies to raise “performance pay” for executives, taxpayers are effectively subsidizing the imbalance.

While inequality between low-level workers and CEOs manifests in all areas of the economy, a new report from Demos concludes that the gap within the food industry is exceptional. Between 2009 and 2012 the CEO-to-worker pay ratio in food services and accommodation was about twice as large as most other sectors. In 2012, fast-food CEOs earned 1,200 times as much as the average employee.

[xchrom]

16. Your Government Owes You a Job

http://www.thenation.com/article/179476/your-government-owes-you-job

Involuntary unemployment is barbaric. In the wealthiest country in history, almost 30 million people wish they had full-time work. But, as always, there aren’t enough jobs. And because economic security requires decent work, it’s unsurprising that 50 million people are poverty-stricken and 16 million children are hungry.

This is a disgrace and an economic error: the US government can easily afford a Job guarantee (JG) program, becoming our employer of last resort.

A right to a job may sound outlandish, but it’s common sense. You need dollars to eat, and unless you steal the dollars, you generally have to earn them. If the government wants to protect property with cops, courts, and prisons, issue a single, common currency, and tax and fine us in it, it should at least guarantee we can work for our own dollars. Politicians ramble about equality of opportunity and the dignity of work, but to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps, we need boots. And lest our boots stomp each other’s necks in senseless competition for too few jobs, we need a job guarantee.

A job guarantee isn’t that radical. Thomas Paine proposed one in 1791. In 1944, FDR included the right to a living wage job in his Second Bill of Rights and his Republican opponent promised state-ensured employment. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights enshrined the right to work and philosophers Rawls and Dewey advocated government provide enough work. LBJ deliberated a JG and Martin Luther King Jr., demanded one.

[xchrom]

19. Russia's currency ratings downgraded by S&P

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27159423

The credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's has cut Russia's foreign currency ratings to one notch above "junk" status.

The move comes as foreign investors continue to take money out of the country amid tensions over Ukraine.

S&P downgraded Russia's foreign currency rating to 'BBB-/A-3' from 'BBB/A-2'

Russia's central bank also raised its key interest rate on Friday from 7% to 7.5%.

[xchrom]

20. Tokyo consumer price growth at 22-year high

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27152845


Consumer prices in Tokyo rose at their fastest pace in 22 years in April, surging 2.7% from a year earlier, according to preliminary data.

That is up from a 1% annual increase in consumer prices in Tokyo in March.

The data comes after Japan increased its sales tax to 8% from 5% from 1 April, pushing up prices.

The inflation rate in Japan's capital city is seen as a leading indicator of the trend that is likely to follow across the country in coming months.

[xchrom]

21. South Korea economic growth beats forecasts

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-27122703


South Korea's economy grew more than forecast in the first quarter, helped by a jump in construction and exports.

Asia's fourth-largest economy expanded by 3.9% in the January-to-March quarter from a year earlier. Many analysts had forecast growth of 3.7%.

Compared with the previous three months, the economy grew by 0.9%.

Analysts said a recovery in key markets such as the US had helped South Korea's exports sector - one of the biggest drivers of the economy.

[xchrom]

23. How Obama Shocked Harper as Keystone Frustrator-in-Chief

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-24/how-obama-shocked-harper-as-keystone-frustrator-in-chief.html

On Thursday, Nov. 10, 2011, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, seated in his Ottawa office across from Parliament Hill, took an urgent call from U.S. President Barack Obama. Harper’s advisers were listening intently around a muted speakerphone in an adjoining room.

The State Department, Obama said, would be making an announcement later that day putting the Keystone XL pipeline project on hold. There was no choice, according to the president. Nebraska wanted the route changed to protect a key aquifer under millions of acres of prime farmland. This would necessitate a new environmental assessment. He assured Harper the call wasn’t a game changer; neither a yes nor a no, just a delay.

Harper was far from assured -- he was irritated. The project had already undergone three years of study and was, so the Canadians believed, on the cusp of approval. Delay, he told Obama, served no one’s interest.

By the time Harper hung up, according to people with knowledge of the episode, he had sized up the potential economic calamity for Canada and its oil ambitions. Western Canada’s land-locked Alberta oil sands hold roughly 168 billion recoverable barrels of heavy crude known as bitumen. America gobbles up almost all of Canada’s oil exports. An energy research group in Calgary had run the math: If Keystone died, it could cost Canada C$632 billion ($573 billion) in foregone growth over 25 years -- 94 percent of it from the economy of Alberta, the province Harper calls home.

[xchrom]

24. U.S. Said to Ask BofA for More Than $13 Billion Over RMBS

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-24/u-s-said-to-ask-bofa-for-more-than-13-billion-over-rmbs.html

U.S. prosecutors are seeking more than $13 billion from Bank of America Corp. to resolve federal and state investigations of the lender’s sale of bonds backed by home loans in the run-up to the 2008 financial crisis, according to people familiar with the matter.

The settlement would come on top of the $9.5 billion the bank agreed last month to pay to resolve Federal Housing Finance Agency claims, said two people who asked not to be named because the negotiations are private. A deal could come within the next two months, the people said.

If the Justice Department gets its way, the case against Bank of America will eclipse JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s record $13 billion global settlement over similar issues in November. That settlement, which included a $4 billion agreement with the FHFA, encompassed loans JPMorgan took over with its purchases of Washington Mutual Inc. and Bear Stearns Cos.

Bank of America, the second-biggest U.S. lender, is among at least eight banks under investigation by the Justice Department and state attorneys general for misleading investors about the quality of bonds backed by mortgages amid a drop in housing prices. Many of the loans in question were inherited by Bank of America when it purchased subprime lender Countrywide Financial Corp. and Merrill Lynch & Co., the people said.

[xchrom]

25. Traders Bet Silver Streak to End With Gold on Inflation

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/traders-bet-silver-streak-to-end-with-gold-on-inflation.html


Options investors are bargain hunting after a two-month slump in precious metals prices.

While silver has wiped out almost all of a 15 percent gain through the first two months of the year, the cost of bullish contracts on an exchange-traded fund tracking the commodity has climbed to a three-year high relative to bearish ones. Traders are betting prices will rise with gold amid quickening inflation, a return of overseas demand and as the conflict in Ukraine continues.

Both silver and gold had their worst performances in more than 30 years in 2013, falling 36 percent and 28 percent, respectively. Investors lost faith in precious metals as a store of value amid an improving U.S. economic outlook and the prospect of the Federal Reserve cutting back on its monthly bond purchases.

“Silver is a precious metal, but it’s also an industrial metal and it’s taken a real punch in the face in the past few months,” Mark Sebastian, director of trading and investments at Swan Wealth Advisors Inc., said by phone from Chicago. His firm manages about $1 billion. “You’re probably seeing some pressure on puts and a bid on calls because the metal’s cheap. None of the precious metals are having the best years right now.”

[xchrom]

26. Europe Banks Face Toughest Simulated Slump in Stress Test

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/europe-banks-face-toughest-simulated-slump-in-stress-test.html

European Union officials are preparing to pit the bloc’s banks against the toughest simulated recession that they have ever faced in a stress test, three people briefed on the matter said.

The European Banking Authority and the European Central Bank will next week unveil an adverse scenario for the stress tests, which start in May, that assumes the 28-nation bloc’s economy undershoots EU growth forecasts by a greater margin than in the exams held in 2010 and 2011, said the people, who declined to be named as the details aren’t yet public. Those previous tests were criticized for failing to uncover weaknesses at banks that later failed.

This time around, the stress test’s adverse scenario is predicated on economic output that misses the European Commission’s growth forecasts by 2.2 percentage points in 2014, 3.4 points in 2015 and 1.4 points in 2016, the people said, citing an EBA document. That probably translates into two years of recession followed by anemic growth in the last year covered by the exercise. The EBA plans to announce the details in London on April 29. A spokesman for the EBA and a spokeswoman for the ECB declined to comment.

The ECB is running an assessment of 128 banks from Deutsche Bank AG to Bank of Valletta Plc as it prepares to assume full oversight of euro-area lenders in November, seeking to prevent a repeat of the financial crisis that threatened to splinter the currency bloc. The exam, which applies to banks in the entire EU, requires banks to maintain a capital pass mark of 5.5 percent of risk-weighted assets.

[xchrom]

27. Corporations From GE to Apple Putting $2 Trillion to Work

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/corporations-from-ge-to-apple-putting-2-trillion-to-work.html

Corporate America is putting its record $2 trillion cash pile to work.

Apple Inc.’s quarterly results this week showed the iPhone maker reduced its cash holdings for the first time since 2006, cranked up a share buyback program by $30 billion and raised its dividend. General Electric Co. is considering tapping its $57 billion in overseas cash to acquire France’s Alstom SA, according to a person familiar with the situation.

The steps are encouraging investors who have pushed companies to reward them with higher payouts, as well as economists who consider the piles of cash a missed opportunity to start long-awaited spending on tools, facilities or new businesses to help accelerate growth and create jobs. Signs that the U.S. is rebounding from a winter slowdown and Europe is recovering from its recession are also beginning to encourage companies to pursue acquisitions.

[xchrom]

28. FCA Said to Observe Banks’ London Gold-Fixing Calls

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-24/fca-said-to-observe-banks-london-gold-fixing-calls.html

Regulators are stepping up their scrutiny of how gold prices are set, with officials from Britain’s Financial Conduct Authority visiting Societe Generale SA (GLE) to observe the so-called London fixing process, two people with knowledge of the matter said.

Investigators visited the French bank’s U.K. offices in recent weeks for the morning and afternoon conference calls, during which the reference price used by miners, jewelers and central banks is set, the people said. The watchdog is visiting all five member banks involved in the London fixing as part of its review of gold benchmarks, according to one of the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private.

The century-old London fixing is led by representatives of Barclays Plc (BARC), Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), Bank of Nova Scotia, HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA) and current chairman Societe Generale. They hold conference calls at 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m. where they discuss buying and selling the metal, starting from the dollar spot price, until a rate is agreed upon.

The FCA’s visits are the first indication the regulator is looking at the London gold fixing in particular. In November, a person with knowledge of the matter said the agency was reviewing gold benchmarks as part of a wider look at how financial rates are set in the wake of the London interbank offered rate-manipulation scandal. The watchdog hasn’t leveled any accusations that the process is being manipulated.

[xchrom]

29. Yellen Concerned Fed Model Fails to Predict Price Moves

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/yellen-concerned-fed-model-fails-to-predict-price-moves.html

Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen is concerned that the standard models central banks use to forecast inflation may be broken.

Behind her disquiet: the failure of the models to foresee the path of prices in the U.S. during the last recession and its aftermath and in Japan during its deflationary period from 1998 to 2012. U.S. inflation has been higher than the simulations suggested, while Japanese price declines proved more persistent.

Yellen alluded to her concerns in a speech last week, saying the Fed has to “watch carefully” to see if inflation picks up as the central bank projects -- and hopes -- during the next few years.

If it doesn’t look as if this is happening, Yellen suggested the Fed would keep short-term interest rates near zero as it seeks to avoid Japan’s experience of a prolonged period of falling prices and wages and a stagnant economy.

[xchrom]

30. Housing in U.S. Cools as Rate Rise Hits Sales: Mortgages

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-04-25/housing-in-u-s-cools-as-rate-rise-hits-sales-mortgages.html

After a roller-coaster decade of boom-bust-boom, the U.S. housing market is going downhill just when many economists thought annual sales would be heading up.

Sales of previously owned properties in March tumbled 7.5 percent from a year earlier to the slowest pace in 20 months, while purchases of new houses sank 14.5 percent from February, according to reports this week. Mortgage applications to buy homes plunged 19 percent from a year earlier, indicating slowing demand during what is typically the busiest season for deals.

The housing market’s underlying fragility is emerging as outside influences that fueled a two-year rebound are receding. Mortgage interest rates are rising from record lows as the central bank withdraws its stimulus, and investors, who had helped drive national prices up more than 20 percent as they went on a buying spree, are now retreating.

“The very low rate environment and the high level of investment activities really masked how weak the housing market was,” Sam Khater, deputy chief economist at Irvine, California-based CoreLogic Inc., said in a telephone interview. “Once it goes back to the normal owner-occupied purchase market, you really realize how weak the market is.”

[Demeter]

31. Holy Moly! down 91 points at open!

I'm guessing somebody ran out of jelly beans finally.

It's an April Shower day in Ann Arbor...42F....pneumonia weather, in other words. A good day for curling up at a warm terminal. Drowning one's germs in alcohol, preferably.

I don't know about anybody else, but I thought this week would never end. I am exhausted mentally and emotionally. And yet, there's no break...another comes rolling in like clockwork.

We'll have some fun...after all it's name is WEE! Of course, that could be taken another way...

Whatever. See you tonight on the thread.

[antigop]

32. The Stealthy, Ugly Growth of Corporatized Medicine

http://www.democraticunderground.com/101691516

Posted in Good Reads forum.

[Tansy_Gold]

33. Gee, you don't think they might

PROFIT from everyone being FORCED to buy their products?

[xchrom]

34. US, JAPAN SAY PACIFIC TRADE TALKS MAKE HEADWAY

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_UNITED_STATES_JAPAN_TRADE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-04-25-01-00-15

TOKYO (AP) -- Closing two days of around the clock negotiations, U.S. officials said Friday that they reached a breakthrough with Japan to move forward a stalled regional trade pact even though gaps remain that could still upend a final agreement.

Japanese officials were more restrained in assessing the status of the Trans-Pacific Partnership talks. Chief negotiator Akira Amari said, "There was progress of course, but it's not something like a basic agreement."

The trade negotiations were a central issue in President Barack Obama's visit this week to Tokyo, including in his lengthy discussions with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. Senior U.S. officials said Obama and Abe discussed the trade deal extensively during a private sushi dinner Wednesday and ordered their teams to launch into immediate negotiations.

U.S. officials said the teams narrowed their differences on market access issues related to agriculture and automobiles, two key sectors that had deadlocked negotiations. While both countries kept key details of the negotiations private, a senior Obama adviser said there was particular progress on the parameters for tariffs on six products of concern to Japan: beef, pork, dairy, sugar, rice and wheat.

[Demeter]

35. Meaning they did squat

The Japanese have enough real problems not to set themselves up for more.