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Tansy_Gold

(17,817 posts)
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 08:03 PM Jun 2014

STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 19 June 2014

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday, 19 June 2014[font color=black][/font]


SMW for 18 June 2014

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 18 June 2014
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Dow Jones 16,906.62 +98.13 (0.58%)
S&P 500 1,956.98 +14.99 (0.77%)
Nasdaq 4,362.84 +25.60 (0.59%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.58% -0.04 (-1.53%)
30 Year 3.40% -0.03 (-0.87%) [font color=black]


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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?
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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 - 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=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.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.








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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]


30 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 19 June 2014 (Original Post) Tansy_Gold Jun 2014 OP
Welcome Home, Tansy Gold Demeter Jun 2014 #1
The ride from the airport Tansy_Gold Jun 2014 #2
I think I have a topic for the weekend Demeter Jun 2014 #3
Dick Cheney: “My Thoughts and Prayers Are with the Iraqi Oil Wells” Demeter Jun 2014 #4
Why ISIS Won't Stop With Iraq Demeter Jun 2014 #6
Who is Behind ISIS? by PATRICK COCKBURN Demeter Jun 2014 #7
A climate fix would ruin investors By Martin Wolf Demeter Jun 2014 #5
CHINA SAYS MOVING 2ND RIG CLOSER TO VIETNAM xchrom Jun 2014 #8
NEW ZEALAND GROWS AT FASTEST RATE IN 6 YEARS xchrom Jun 2014 #9
FED SHARPLY CUTS FORECAST FOR US ECONOMIC GROWTH xchrom Jun 2014 #10
YELLEN: US ECONOMY STILL NEEDS HELP FROM FED xchrom Jun 2014 #11
EUROPE, SOME ASIA MARKETS RISE ON FED RATE PLANS xchrom Jun 2014 #12
Currency Probe Widens as U.S. Said to Target Markups xchrom Jun 2014 #13
Obama Distances U.S. From Maliki as Iraq Strikes Debated xchrom Jun 2014 #14
Stocks Rise With Bonds as Rupee Leads Currencies Higher xchrom Jun 2014 #15
Norges Bank Says Rate Cut May Be Warranted to Revive Economy xchrom Jun 2014 #16
Central Banks’ Finance Tomes Have Ways to Make You Richer xchrom Jun 2014 #17
Ex-Goldman Trader Says Bonus Cut to $8.25 Million Unfair xchrom Jun 2014 #18
Cook Couple Passed $6 Billion Fortune to Son to Avoid Tax xchrom Jun 2014 #19
Half-Price Kurd Oil Threatens Iraq Breakup With Turkish Help xchrom Jun 2014 #20
Abenomics Fails to Shake Japan Firms’ Addiction to Cash: Economy xchrom Jun 2014 #21
Norway’s PM Says Clearing Key Oil Hurdle to Save Investments xchrom Jun 2014 #22
Exxon, BP Evacuate Iraq Workers as Oil Drilling Continues xchrom Jun 2014 #23
Billionaire Foe Gets Long-Awaited Call to Talk: Argentina Credit xchrom Jun 2014 #24
Fed Says Economy Rebounding as It Trims Bond Purchases xchrom Jun 2014 #25
It's A Global Market Rally xchrom Jun 2014 #26
Business Confidence In Japan Is Defying Economic Headwinds xchrom Jun 2014 #27
PASS THE 28TH AMENDMENT! Demeter Jun 2014 #28
Citigroup’s Dark Pools: Here’s Why the Public Doesn’t Trust Wall Street DemReadingDU Jun 2014 #29
Privatizing the profits, Socializing the Losses Demeter Jun 2014 #30
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
1. Welcome Home, Tansy Gold
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 08:37 PM
Jun 2014

You should be defrosted by morning...

We are getting more dramatic storm clouds here. Three's the charm.

Tansy_Gold

(17,817 posts)
2. The ride from the airport
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 08:44 PM
Jun 2014

Thawed me out.

I still had on tee-shirt, sweatshirt, and lightweight denim shirt-jac. The latter two wouldn't fit in the suitcase. Temp was a moderate 98, but I was still, shall we say, toasty.

And now, I REALLY need a nap.

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
3. I think I have a topic for the weekend
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 10:18 PM
Jun 2014

I'm just trying to decide which angle to take, or to do a 360....

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
4. Dick Cheney: “My Thoughts and Prayers Are with the Iraqi Oil Wells”
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 10:24 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/borowitzreport/2014/06/dick-cheney-my-thoughts-and-prayers-are-with-the-iraqi-oil-wells.html?utm_source=tny&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=borowitz&mbid=nl_Borowitz%20%2885%29

JACKSON HOLE, WYOMING (The Borowitz Report)—Former Vice-President Dick Cheney broke his silence about the crisis in Iraq on Tuesday, telling reporters, “My thoughts and prayers are with the Iraqi oil wells.”

Speaking from his Wyoming ranch, Cheney said that he had planned to remain quiet about the current state of affairs in Iraq, but “thinking about those oil wells has kept me up at night.”

“If Dick Cheney won’t speak for the Iraqi oil wells, who will?” he said.


Cheney indicated that, as of now, there was no fighting near Iraq’s oil wells, but warned, “If the violence spreads, those wells could be in jeopardy. And it’s up to the international community to insure that that worst-case scenario doesn’t happen.”

The former Vice-President said that he expected to “catch hell” for inserting himself into the debate about Iraq, but was resolute in his decision to do so. “If I prevent one drop of precious oil from being spilled, it will have been worth it,” he said.


TOO LATE, DICK! THERE'S BEEN AT LEAST ONE PIPELINE BLOWN TO BITS ALREADY, AND A REFINERY CAPTURED BY ISIS...

MAYBE YOU CAN TAKE IT OFF YOUR TAXES AS A TOTAL LOSS DUE TO AN ACT OF ALLAH...
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
6. Why ISIS Won't Stop With Iraq
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 10:40 PM
Jun 2014
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Why-ISIS-Wont-Stop-With-Iraq.html

The slaughterhouse that Iraq has become in the past week is the stuff that nightmares are made of. And this is just the beginning.

The threat emanating from the group calling itself the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is so serious to the stability of the region -- and beyond – that even Iran said it would not oppose U.S. military intervention if it were aimed at the Islamists who have embarked on a rampage of murder and looting across Iraq. The stunning and unexpected victories by the Islamists are very worrisome. In a region that is no stranger to conflict, this one is particularly frightening and has far-reaching consequences, including the threat of spin-off groups similar to ISIS taking root in surrounding nations.

A militarily successful Islamist force straddling over parts of Iraq and Syria will pose a real threat to the security and stability of those countries’ immediate neighbors. Even Syria, where government forces are fighting their own civil war, has offered to send troops to Iraq. Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, and, of course, Israel, would be the first to feel the effect of a takfiri victory. But so would Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, the UAE, Oman and Yemen. If ISIS is successful in Iraq, there is little reason to believe they would stop. Left unchecked, the Islamists could eventually threaten the stability of countries in Central Asia... anyone who thinks ISIS will stop with Iraq is delusional.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
7. Who is Behind ISIS? by PATRICK COCKBURN
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 10:45 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/06/17/who-is-behind-isis/



With its multi-pronged assault across central and northern Iraq in the past one and a half weeks, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isis) has taken over from the al-Qa’ida organisation founded by Osama bin Laden as the most powerful and effective extreme jihadi group in the world. Isis now controls or can operate with impunity in a great stretch of territory in western Iraq and eastern Syria, making it militarily the most successful jihadi movement ever.

While its exact size is unclear, the group is thought to include thousands of fighters...Led since 2010 by Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, also known as Abu Dua, it has proved itself even more violent and sectarian than what US officials call the “core” al-Qa’ida, led by Ayman al-Zawahiri, who is based in Pakistan. Isis is highly fanatical, killing Shia Muslims and Christians whenever possible, as well as militarily efficient and under tight direction by top leaders. The creation of a sort of proto-Caliphate by extreme jihadis in northern Syria and Iraq is provoking fears in surrounding countries such as Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Turkey that they will become targets of battle-hardened Sunni fighters.

The Isis tactic is to make a surprise attack, inflict maximum casualties and spread fear before withdrawing without suffering heavy losses. Last Friday they attacked Mosul, where their power is already strong enough to tax local businesses, from family groceries to mobile phone and construction companies. Some 200 people were killed in the fighting, according to local hospitals, though the government gives a figure of 59 dead, 21 of them policemen and 38 insurgents. Isis specialises in using militarily untrained foreign volunteers as suicide bombers either moving on foot wearing suicide vests, or driving vehicles packed with explosives. Often more than one suicide bomber is used, as happened when a vehicle exploded at the headquarters of a Kurdish party, the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan in the town of Jalawla in the divided and much fought-over province of Diyala, north-east of Baghdad. In the confusion caused by the blast, a second bomber on foot slipped into the office and blew himself up, killing some 18 people, including a senior police officer.

The swift rise of Isis since Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi became its leader has come because the uprising of the Sunni in Syria in 2011 led the Iraqi Sunni to protest about their political and economic marginalisation since the fall of Saddam Hussein. Peaceful demonstrations from the end of 2012 won few concessions, with Iraq’s Shia-dominated government convinced that the protesters wanted not reform but a revolution returning their community to power. The five or six million Iraqi Sunni became more alienated and sympathetic towards armed action by Isis. Isis launched a well-planned campaign last year including a successful assault on Abu Ghraib prison last summer to free leaders and experienced fighters. This January, they took over Fallujah, 40 miles west of Baghdad, and have held it ever since in the face of artillery and air attack. The military sophistication of Isis in Iraq is much greater than al-Qa’ida, the organisation out of which it grew, which reached the peak of its success in 2006-07 before the Americans turned many of the Sunni tribes against it. Isis has the great advantage of being able to operate on both sides of the Syrian-Iraq border, though in Syria it is engaged in an intra-jihadi civil war with Jabhat al-Nusra, Ahrar al-Sham and other groups. But Isis controls Raqqa, the only provincial capital taken by the opposition, and much of eastern Syria outside enclaves held by the Kurds close to the Turkish border.

Isis is today a little more circumspect in killing all who work for the government including rubbish collectors, something that alienated the Sunni population previously. But horrifically violent, though professionally made propaganda videos show Isis forcing families with sons in the Iraqi army to dig their own graves before they are shot. The message is that their enemies can expect no mercy.

Who is Isis leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi? FIND OUT AT LINK



PATRICK COCKBURN is the author of Muqtada: Muqtada Al-Sadr, the Shia Revival, and the Struggle for Iraq.
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
5. A climate fix would ruin investors By Martin Wolf
Wed Jun 18, 2014, 10:34 PM
Jun 2014
http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/5a2356a4-f58e-11e3-afd3-00144feabdc0.html?siteedition=uk

Humanity is making risky climate bets and ExxonMobil will probably be proved right...How much of the world’s fossil fuel reserves will eventually be burnt? This is not just a question for those concerned with climate policy. It is also a question for investors even if they believe (absurdly, in my view) that the science of climate change is a hoax.

What, they must ask themselves, would it mean for my investments in fossil fuel exploration and production if policy makers acted on their expressed belief in the science of climate change? Where would that leave investments in companies that own reserves today and are investing in exploration and additional production for tomorrow? Might all this spending prove a disastrous waste of resources that would be better deployed elsewhere?

Unburnable Carbon 2013, a report produced by London-based non-governmental organisation Carbon Tracker and the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change and the Environment at the London School of Economics, raises precisely this question. The conclusion is quite simple: burning known reserves of fossil fuels is incompatible with meeting the climate targets governments have set themselves. This being so, prudent investors should apply a discount to both the value of those reserves and returns on new investments in this sector. It is possible that much of this additional spending would prove fruitless. At worst, these assets might be “stranded” forever.

In 2010, governments agreed that emissions should be kept at a level intended to prevent an increase in global average temperatures of more than 2C above pre-industrial levels. Using standard models, the report concludes that total emissions of carbon dioxide between 2013 and 2050 needed to deliver that outcome, at 80 per cent probability, would be 900 gigatonnes (billion tonnes) and 1,075 gigatonnes, even at 50 per cent probability. Then, between 2050 and 2100, emissions could be a further 75 gigatonnes, to stay below the 2C ceiling at 80 per cent probability, and 475 gigatonnes, to stay below it at 50 per cent probability. Carbon capture and storage would help, but not that much. Removing an annual flow of 8 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide in 2050 would require close to 3,800 such plants. Even so, unabated emissions must fall sharply. (See charts.)






...Something then will have to give: either the world will abandon its pledge to keep emissions below the level thought to produce a temperature rise of 2C or the fossil fuel companies are holding stranded assets and investing in unusable ones. Investors are implicitly betting on the former possibility....major energy producers do not believe governments will do what they promise...

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
8. CHINA SAYS MOVING 2ND RIG CLOSER TO VIETNAM
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 05:35 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_VIETNAM?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-19-04-33-16

BEIJING (AP) -- China said Thursday it was moving a second oil rig closer to the Vietnamese coast in disputed waters, near where ships from the two countries have been ramming each other in a tense confrontation.

The 600-meter (1,970-foot) -long rig was being towed southeast of its current position south of Hainan Island and would be in its new location closer to Vietnam by Friday, the Maritime Safety Administration said in a notice on its website. It asked vessels in the area to give it a wide berth.

Both installations will be inside what Vietnam claims as its continental shelf and exclusive economic zone.

The shifting of the rig came as officials from both sides said they made no progress in talks Wednesday over the deployment of another Chinese rig on May 1 that sparked the current standoff. Each country accuses the other of violating its territorial rights and instigating ramming of the other's ships around the rig.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
9. NEW ZEALAND GROWS AT FASTEST RATE IN 6 YEARS
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 05:41 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_NEW_ZEALAND_ECONOMY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-19-00-49-37

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) -- Building work in quake-damaged Christchurch helped drive New Zealand's economy to its fastest rate of growth in more than six years, according to figures released Thursday.

Government agency Statistics New Zealand said the economy grew 3.8 percent in the first quarter from the same quarter a year ago.

That's stronger growth than in most developed nations, including Australia, the U.S. and Europe, which has prompted the country's central bank to hike interest rates on three occasions this year to 3.25 percent.

New Zealand's Reserve Bank predicts economic growth will moderate next year. The 3.8 percent expansion in gross domestic product is the strongest since the third quarter of 2007.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
10. FED SHARPLY CUTS FORECAST FOR US ECONOMIC GROWTH
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 05:43 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FED_FORECASTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-18-17-23-24

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Federal Reserve has sharply cut its forecast for U.S. growth this year, reflecting a shrinking economy last quarter caused mostly by harsh weather.

At the same time, the Fed has barely increased its estimate of inflation despite signs that consumer price increases are picking up. Its benign inflation outlook suggests that the Fed doesn't feel rising pressure to raise short-term interest rates.

The Fed updated its economic forecasts Wednesday after a two-day policy meeting.

It expects growth to be just 2.1 percent to 2.3 percent this year, down from 2.8 percent to 3 percent in its last projections in March.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
11. YELLEN: US ECONOMY STILL NEEDS HELP FROM FED
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 05:44 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_FEDERAL_RESERVE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-18-17-16-48

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The U.S. economy still isn't healthy enough to grow at a consistently strong pace without the Federal Reserve's help.

That was the message Fed Chair Janet Yellen sent Wednesday at a news conference after the central bank ended a two-day policy meeting.

Yellen made clear that despite a steadily improving job market and signs of creeping inflation, the Fed sees no need to raise short-term interest rates from record lows anytime soon.

Her remarks followed a statement from the Fed that it would further slow the pace of its long-term bond purchases. The bond purchases have been intended to keep long-term loan rates low. But the Fed offered no clear signal about when it will start raising its benchmark short-term rate.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
12. EUROPE, SOME ASIA MARKETS RISE ON FED RATE PLANS
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 05:45 AM
Jun 2014
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2014-06-19-05-41-02

HONG KONG (AP) -- European and some Asian stock markets rallied Thursday after the Fed signaled that U.S. interest rates would remain at record lows.

Equity investors had been awaiting the Federal Reserve's economic updates and statements by Chair Janet Yellen, who made clear that although the world's largest economy was seeing a steadily improving job market and modest inflation, there was no need to raise short-term rates from record lows anytime soon.

In early European trading, France's CAC 40 rose 0.7 percent to 4,564.00, while Germany's DAX gained 0.7 percent to 10,003.00. The FTSE 100 index of leading British stocks added 0.7 percent to 6,824.03.

U.S. stocks were poised to open marginally higher as Dow futures edged up 0.1 percent to 16,828.00 and the broader S&P 500 futures rose 0.1 percent to 1,950.60.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
13. Currency Probe Widens as U.S. Said to Target Markups
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:00 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-19/currency-probe-widens-as-u-s-said-to-target-markups.html

U.S. prosecutors are broadening their investigation of the foreign-exchange industry as they question salespeople at the world’s biggest banks on their practices, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

The Department of Justice has been asking bankers and clients how much sales teams charge customers to exchange currency, the people said, asking not to be identified because the interviews are private. The move is the first indication prosecutors are probing sales practices.

According to more than a dozen current and former salespeople and traders interviewed by Bloomberg News, it’s common to charge what’s known as a hard markup, tacking on a small margin for a salesperson’s services. Some clients who make currency deals infrequently or in small amounts are known to pay little attention to the rates they get. The Justice Department is scrutinizing whether banks committed fraud by failing to disclose the practice properly to customers, the people said.

“Banks should always be transparent with their clients on pricing mechanisms,” said David Woolcock, chairman of the committee for professionalism at ACI, a Paris-based group representing 13,000 traders in 60 countries who helped write the industry’s code of conduct. “This does not sound like it is consistent with best practice nor ethical behavior.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
14. Obama Distances U.S. From Maliki as Iraq Strikes Debated
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:01 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-19/obama-distances-u-s-from-maliki-as-iraq-strikes-debated.html

The U.S. is distancing itself from Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, pressing for political change that could help blunt a Sunni insurgency as President Barack Obama weighs possible air strikes against the extremists.

Obama administration officials publicly urged Iraq’s leaders yesterday to make their Shiite-dominated government more inclusive as part of a broader strategy to roll back gains by the Sunni militants. The calls were made as Maliki warned that the violence could spill into neighboring countries and as militants attempted to seize a major oil refinery.

“Not enough has been done by the government, including the prime minister, to govern inclusively and that has contributed to the situation and the crisis that we have today,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said. Asked if Maliki should step down, he declined to voice support, saying, “that’s not, obviously, for us to decide.”

Iraq has asked the U.S. to use air strikes to help defeat the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, or ISIL, whose rapid military success has raised the specter of sectarian civil war in OPEC’s second-largest oil producer. The conflict threatens to draw in the U.S. as well as regional powers including Shiite-ruled Iran and Sunni Gulf Arab states.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
15. Stocks Rise With Bonds as Rupee Leads Currencies Higher
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:03 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/asian-futures-rise-with-global-stocks-dollar-holds-drop.html

Stocks approached a six-year high in Europe and bonds from Australia to Italy rose after the Federal Reserve said interest rates will remain low. India’s rupee and the Philippine peso led gains in emerging-market currencies.

The Stoxx Europe 600 Index advanced 0.8 percent at 10:10 a.m. in London. Standard & Poor’s 500 Index futures were little changed after the gauge closed at a record yesterday. Italian bonds rose for the first time in four days and Australia’s 10-year yield fell to the lowest this month. Corporate bond risk slid for a third day in Europe to within a basis point of a six-year low. The rupee strengthened the most in a month against the dollar. U.K. natural gas retreated for a third day.

U.S. policy makers said yesterday they expect rates to stay low for a “considerable time” after the end of bond purchases as growth in the world’s largest economy recovers. Jobless claims probably fell last week in America, economists said before a Labor Department report today.

“The Fed has removed one more potential obstacle for a continued cyclical bull market,” said Thomas Thygesen, head of cross-asset strategy at Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB in Copenhagen. “Having the Fed say that the long-term rate could be lower even if long-term growth isn’t is a bullish gesture for both stocks (MXAP) and bonds. That’s a big change from March and it means the Fed is willing to try harder to achieve its growth and inflation objectives.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
16. Norges Bank Says Rate Cut May Be Warranted to Revive Economy
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:04 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-19/norges-bank-signals-potential-cut-as-oil-industry-boom-fades.html

Norway’s central bank kept its main interest rate unchanged and said it may even need to ease policy as Scandinavia’s richest nation grapples with slowing petroleum investments. The krone fell as much as 1.9 percent against the euro after the decision.

The deposit rate was kept at 1.5 percent for a 14th consecutive meeting, Oslo-based Norges Bank said today. The decision was predicted by all 22 economists in a Bloomberg survey. The bank forecast the rate may decline to 1.43 percent in the fourth quarter, signaling a cut, and stay below the current level until the first quarter of 2016.

“The analyses imply that the key policy rate be held lower longer than previously projected,” Governor Oeystein Olsen said. “There are prospects that the key policy rate will remain at about today’s level to the end of 2015, followed by a gradual rise. A further weakening of the outlook for the Norwegian economy may warrant a reduction in the key policy rate.”

The economy of western Europe’s largest oil exporter is slowing as offshore investment abates and record household debt weighs on consumers. A key survey by Norway’s statistics agency showed last week that oil companies predict investments will drop by as much as 21 percent next year as the industry grapples with high costs.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
17. Central Banks’ Finance Tomes Have Ways to Make You Richer
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:07 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-19/central-banks-finance-tomes-have-ways-to-make-you-richer.html

Bank of England policy maker Andrew Haldane recently described Thomas Piketty’s bestseller on income inequality as “read by a few and understood by even fewer.”

The same arch comment can be made of the reports on financial stability that central bankers like Haldane regularly publish. Certainly in the years before 2008 one could imagine them gathering more dust than readers during the boom times.

The collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and subsequent financial crisis changed all that by showing central banks that stability in prices doesn’t translate into stability in finance. Accordingly, the BOE, Federal Reserve, European Central Bank and others all have been handed new powers to regulate or monitor financial companies and markets, while also increasing their communications on the topic.

In that spirit, Governor Mark Carney will next week use the release of the Bank of England’s Financial Stability Report to detail plans he may have for cooling the U.K. housing market. The Swiss National Bank published its report today, calling on the UBS AG and Credit Suisse Group AG to further boost their leverage ratios.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
18. Ex-Goldman Trader Says Bonus Cut to $8.25 Million Unfair
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:08 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/ex-goldman-trader-says-bonus-cut-to-8-25-million-unfair.html

Deeb Salem, a former Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) trader who said he helped the bank earn more than $7 billion, wants to be paid the almost $5 million difference between his 2010 bonus and what he told his mother to expect.

Salem said in an arbitration hearing that he was led to believe that his 2010 bonus would be $13 million, down from a $15 million award for 2009 when he was paid more than Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein. Instead, Salem said his bonus was unfairly docked because of a written warning he received about his 2007 self-evaluation.

Salem, 35, said the $8.25 million bonus for 2010 didn’t reflect his contributions, while Goldman Sachs argued he was aware that the firm could pay him whatever it wished and that the company considered his conduct in determining compensation. Salem said promises from executives kept him around for another year before a $3 million bonus led him to jump to a hedge fund.

“Let’s be very clear: I was one of the most sought-after investment professionals in the mortgage industry,” Salem said during the Feb. 25 hearing. “I had the opportunity throughout the course of my career and throughout -- from that day, from almost every month that I was at Goldman, to leave for other opportunities.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
19. Cook Couple Passed $6 Billion Fortune to Son to Avoid Tax
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:10 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/cook-couple-passed-6-billion-fortune-to-son-to-avoid-tax.html

Bill and Gayle Cook, the co-founders of medical-device maker Cook Group, passed ownership of the company to their son, Carl, to avoid estate taxes prior to Bill Cook’s death in 2011, according to a biography of the patriarch.

“We had to bypass Gayle to get the stock to Carl now. That took a long time and a lot of planning and work,” Bill Cook is quoted as saying in “The Bill Cook Story,” a 2008 biography written by Bob Hammel for Indiana University Press.

The company had revenue of about $2 billion in 2012, according to company spokesman Dave McCarty. The maker of needles, catheters and other medical products is valued at $5.8 billion, making Carl Cook the 251st richest person in the world, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. He’s never appeared on an international wealth ranking. The billionaire became chief executive officer of Cook Group upon his father’s death.

“It took us almost fifteen years to transfer the stock to Carl in an equitable way, so the taxes wouldn’t kill the company,” Bill Cook said in the book. “That can happen. You can kill your company by trying to get the stock transferred or to sell it to your children, because of the estate taxes.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
20. Half-Price Kurd Oil Threatens Iraq Breakup With Turkish Help
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:12 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/half-price-kurdish-oil-threatens-iraq-breakup-with-turkish-help.html

A tanker containing a million barrels of crude oil is floating around the Mediterranean, and its cargo is available at half-price. Yet if any country seizes the bargain, it may be pushing Iraq closer to disintegration.

The oil aboard the tanker is at the center of a fight over its ownership between the semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan, which pumped and shipped the crude from its territory in northern Iraq, and the central government in Baghdad, which claims the rights to all oil revenue.

Kurdish Peshmerga armed forces seized on the anarchy in northern Iraq, where militant Islamists routed the Baghdad government’s army last week, to occupy the region’s key oil hub, Kirkuk. The oil dispute has raised the possibility of the Kurdish region achieving financial self-sufficiency to go with those expanding territorial ambitions.

“If that tanker docks, Iraq’s Kurdistan Regional Government will take an important step toward independence and hasten the breakup of Iraq,” Nihat Ali Ozcan, an analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation in Ankara, said by phone June 13.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
21. Abenomics Fails to Shake Japan Firms’ Addiction to Cash: Economy
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:13 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/abenomics-fails-to-shake-japan-cash-lust-even-as-deflation-ends.html

Japanese firms boosted their cash stockpile to a record in the first quarter, underlining challenges Prime Minister Shinzo Abe faces a year and a half into his drive to reflate the economy.

Nonfinancial companies’ holdings of cash and deposits rose 4.1 percent to 232 trillion yen ($2.3 trillion) at the end of March, while they increased borrowing from private banks at the slowest pace since the final quarter of 2012, a Bank of Japan report showed yesterday. Households kept more than half of their assets in cash and deposits.

Firms’ reluctance to plow cash into projects at home increases the urgency for Abe to deliver on promises to boost the growth potential of Japan’s economy with his “third arrow” of Abenomics. With domestic prospects limited, direct investment overseas jumped 21 percent from a year earlier -- a 10th straight quarter of double-digit gains.

“Companies and households are still not convinced about Abenomics,” said Kazuhiko Ogata, chief Japan economist at Credit Agricole SA in Tokyo. “Abe has to show he can boost the economy by implementing, not just compiling, the growth strategy, and the BOJ may have to do more to boost the economy and sentiment.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
22. Norway’s PM Says Clearing Key Oil Hurdle to Save Investments
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:16 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/norway-s-pm-says-clearing-key-oil-hurdle-will-save-investments.html

Prime Minister Erna Solberg said Norway’s giant Johan Sverdrup oilfield is crucial to the nation’s economic health and pledged to protect the development from more political wrangling.

The 53-year-old premier, who took office in October, said this year that Norway faces a “hard landing” unless it can boost competitiveness, productivity and lower costs that are choking industries. A survey last week showed oil companies plan to cut investments by as much as 21 percent in 2015 from a record this year, as high exploration and development costs and political interference make projects less profitable.

Solberg is pinning her hopes on Sverdrup, the biggest discovery off Norway in at least 30 years, and on opening new oil fields, tempering talk that western Europe’s biggest crude producer needs to wean off its oil reliance.

“We know that Johan Sverdrup is going to be built” she said in an interview yesterday after a press conference in Oslo, pledging to protect it from delays due to political meddling. “Of course the companies have to make sure they can maintain focus. They know there will be no new policies that will affect the first phase.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
23. Exxon, BP Evacuate Iraq Workers as Oil Drilling Continues
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:18 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/isil-battles-elite-iraq-troops-for-nation-s-biggest-oil-refinery.html

Exxon Mobil Corp. and BP Plc began removing employees from Iraq, OPEC’s second-largest oil producer, after Islamist militants seized cities north of Baghdad and attempted to capture a refinery.

Exxon evacuated some workers from the West Qurna oil field, according to a person familiar with the company’s Iraq operations. BP Plc removed non-essential workers, Chief Executive Officer Bob Dudley said June 17. Malaysia’s Petroliam Nasional Bhd. moved 28 of its 166 Iraq employees to Dubai, the company said by e-mail yesterday. Royal Dutch Shell Plc isn’t evacuating staff yet and is ready to do so, Andy Brown, head of Shell Upstream International, said in an interview in Moscow.

The companies all said they’re continuing to pump oil and there are few signs Iraq’s production has been curbed after Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant fighters took northern cities including Mosul. Police near the Baiji refinery, the nation’s largest, said government forces are now in control after a battle with ISIL. Crude shipments from the south, where most production is located, may accelerate next month and Kurds are defending the Kirkuk oilfield in the north.

“The only infrastructure that is currently producing and supplying international markets is in the south and will remain untouched,” said Kyle Stelma, managing director of Dubai-based Dunia Frontier Consultants, which researches Iraq for clients.

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
24. Billionaire Foe Gets Long-Awaited Call to Talk: Argentina Credit
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:35 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-19/billionaire-foe-gets-long-awaited-call-to-talk-argentina-credit.html

Argentina finds itself at the place it tried to avoid for a decade: the negotiating table with billionaire Paul Singer, and potentially all the holders of defaulted debt the government likes to call “vultures.”

Less than 24 hours after the economy minister detailed plans to skirt the U.S. court order obligating Argentina to repay Singer $1.5 billion, a government lawyer said the nation will seek a deal with the hedge fund manager. A rally in the debt Argentina had refused to honor signals creditors, whose potential claims Citigroup Inc. estimates could be as high as $16 billion, expect to get repaid.

For President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, whose husband, the late ex-president Nestor Kirchner, was the architect of the hard-line stance against bondholders that resonated with recession-weary Argentines after the 2001 default, the decision to negotiate is a practical one. The country needs to regain access to overseas debt markets to stabilize foreign reserves that have plunged almost 50 percent since 2011. Disobeying the court order would jeopardize those efforts and put Argentina on course for another default.

“Cristina isn’t going to end her term with a default,” Diego Ferro, co-chief investment officer at Greylock Capital Management LLC, which owns the country’s international bonds, said by phone from New York. “Between defaulting and having to leave the country in a helicopter, or talking with the holdouts, they choose talking with the holdouts.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
25. Fed Says Economy Rebounding as It Trims Bond Purchases
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:42 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-18/fed-says-economy-rebounding-as-it-trims-qe-pace-by-10-billion.html

The Federal Reserve said growth is bouncing back and the job market is improving as it continued to reduce the monthly pace of asset purchases.

“Economic activity is rebounding in the current quarter and will continue to expand at a moderate pace,” Fed Chair Janet Yellen said at a press conference in Washington today. Even with declines in unemployment, “a broader assessment of indicators suggests that underutilization in the labor market remains significant.”

The Federal Open Market Committee trimmed bond-buying by $10 billion for a fifth straight meeting, to $35 billion, keeping it on pace to end the program late this year. Stocks rallied, sending one of the broadest measures of global equities to an all-time high, as Yellen emphasized the need to put more Americans back to work and downplayed concerns about asset-price bubbles and incipient inflation.

“The Fed isn’t going to withdraw stimulus at the first sign of inflation running a little above their target,” said Brian Jacobsen, who helps oversee $242 billion as chief portfolio strategist at Wells Fargo Advantage Funds in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin. “Investors like that because the Fed’s going to stay accommodative.”

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
26. It's A Global Market Rally
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:44 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.businessinsider.com/european-markets-june-19-2014-2014-6

Markets are up a healthy amount early in Europe's trading session.
Britain's FTSE is up 0.7%.

France's CAC 40 is up 0.7%.

Germany's DAX is up 0.8%.

Spain's IBEX is up 0.5%.

Italy's FTSE MIB is up 0.8%.

This follows huge gains in Asia where Japan's Nikkei closed up 1.6% and Australia's S&P/ASX closed up 1.6%.

All of this follows Wednesday Federal Reserve monetary policy announcement where Fed Chair Janet Yellen reiterated her dovish stance on monetary policy.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/european-markets-june-19-2014-2014-6#ixzz3554ENAmb

xchrom

(108,903 posts)
27. Business Confidence In Japan Is Defying Economic Headwinds
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 06:53 AM
Jun 2014
http://www.businessinsider.com/r-japan-business-mood-defies-economic-headwinds-backs-boj-optimism----2014-19

TOKYO/AKITA Japan (Reuters) - Confidence of Japanese manufacturers held steady in June while the service-sector mood rebounded from the prior month, an encouraging sign for the economy as it tries to hold its ground in the face of soft exports and weakening consumption.
The readings in Thursday's Reuters Tankan poll - which strongly correlates with the Bank of Japan's key tankan quarterly survey - reinforce policymakers' confidence that the world's third-largest economy can weather the pain of a recent national sales tax increase.

Still, the BOJ may face renewed pressure for additional stimulus if the weakness in exports persist, threatening to derail a recovery which kicked in last year following near two decades of economic stagnation.

In a speech on Thursday that underscored some of the uncertainties ahead, BOJ board member Yoshihisa Morimoto warned of risks to the export outlook as demand in emerging Asian markets fail to gather momentum.



Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/r-japan-business-mood-defies-economic-headwinds-backs-boj-optimism----2014-19#ixzz3556Obl00
 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
28. PASS THE 28TH AMENDMENT!
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 07:32 AM
Jun 2014

The constitutional amendment to overturn Citizens United and McCutcheon — to prevent a plutocratic takeover — is coming. Yesterday, in a truly historic moment for our democracy, the amendment was voted on for the first time in the United States Senate.

Here’s what will become the 28th Amendment:

To advance democratic self-government and political equality, and to protect the integrity of government and the electoral process, Congress and the States may regulate and set reasonable limits on the raising and spending of money by candidates and others to influence elections.

Congress and the States shall have power to implement and enforce this article by appropriate legislation, and may distinguish between natural persons and corporations or other artificial entities created by law, including by prohibiting such entities from spending money to influence elections.

Nothing in this article shall be construed to grant Congress or the States the power to abridge the freedom of the press.

Public Citizen worked very closely with key senators on that simple yet powerful language.

And at 3:49 p.m. Eastern time yesterday, the amendment was formally adopted by the Senate’s Constitution, Civil Rights and Human Rights Subcommittee.

Of course, there is an awful lot of work yet to do.

The amendment now moves to the Senate Judiciary Committee. That’s scheduled for July 10.

And then it goes to the full Senate, either later in July, or after the August congressional recess.

Between now and then?

Well, that will make all the difference.

See, pushers of plutocracy like the Koch Brothers — who together have more money than literally anyone else on the planet, and who just hired a top D.C. lobbying firm specifically to undermine efforts like ours that challenge their corruption of democracy — are going to fight the amendment tooth and nail.

But we can’t let them derail this.

And it will take everything we can manage to overcome their propaganda and corruption.

If the work we’ve done together over the past four years — since the Supreme Court first handed down its Citizens United travesty — is to count for something, it’s time to get serious.

We’re facing unbelievably well-funded opposition, which will stop at nothing to further cement the power and privilege of billionaires and Big Business.

We, of course, can’t outspend them.

But we do need modest resources to supplement the people power that will defeat them.

Please contribute whatever you can today. Maybe $28, or even $280, in honor of the 28th Amendment?

Whatever you can chip in, thank you.

Onward,

Robert Weissman
President, Public Citizen

https://secure.citizen.org/p/salsa/donation/common/public/?donate_page_KEY=8201&track=w14idMrkUp0619

DemReadingDU

(16,000 posts)
29. Citigroup’s Dark Pools: Here’s Why the Public Doesn’t Trust Wall Street
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 08:34 AM
Jun 2014

6/18/14 Citigroup’s Dark Pools: Here’s Why the Public Doesn’t Trust Wall Street
By Pam Martens and Russ Martens:

In 2008, the sprawling global bank, Citigroup, created under the controversial repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, blew itself up with toxic debt hidden in the dark in the Cayman Islands in an exotic framework called Structured Investment Vehicles or SIVs. The unwilling taxpayer was forced into servitude to bail out this hubris that had occurred at the hands of captured regulators, infusing $45 billion in equity, over $300 billion in asset guarantees, and $2.5 trillion in below-market loans. At the time of its implosion, Citigroup had over 2,000 subsidiaries, affiliates or joint ventures, many of which operated in the dark in foreign locales.

Flash forward to today: in March, the Federal Reserve said Citigroup had flunked its stress test and the Fed prevented it from boosting its dividend. (The so-called stress test is how the Fed measures a mega bank’s ability to withstand a major economic upheaval.) In rejecting Citigroup’s capital plan for 2014, the Fed said that Citigroup “reflected a number of deficiencies in its capital planning practices, including in some areas that had been previously identified by supervisors as requiring attention, but for which there was not sufficient improvement. Practices with specific deficiencies included Citigroup’s ability to project revenue and losses under a stressful scenario for material parts of the firm’s global operations.”

Most Americans, and, sadly, members of Congress, believe that Citigroup is the parent of all those branch banks holding FDIC-insured deposits across America and bearing that angelic red halo over the word “Citi.” But Citigroup is far more than that.

A recent record search by Wall Street On Parade suggests that Citigroup may be operating one of Wall Street’s largest collections of dark pools, trading stocks 24/7 around the globe in de facto unregulated stock exchanges which it operates under a dizzying array of different names.

more...
http://wallstreetonparade.com/2014/06/citigroup%E2%80%99s-dark-pools-here%E2%80%99s-why-the-public-doesn%E2%80%99t-trust-wall-street/

 

Demeter

(85,373 posts)
30. Privatizing the profits, Socializing the Losses
Thu Jun 19, 2014, 10:03 AM
Jun 2014

is what American Banksters do best!

Funny. All the other bankster mobs are shedding ancilliary operations. Why not CitiGroup?

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