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Tansy_Gold

(17,815 posts)
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:08 PM Nov 2015

STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 30 November 2015

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 30 November 2015[font color=black][/font]


SMW for 27 November 2015

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 27 November 2015
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Dow Jones 17,798.49 -14.90 (-0.08%)
[font color=green]S&P 500 2,090.11 +1.24 (0.06%)
Nasdaq 5,127.52 +11.38 (0.22%)


[font color=red]10 Year 2.22% +0.02 (0.91%)
30 Year 3.00% +0.01 (0.33%) [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)
Market Updates
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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.
09/08/14 Matthew Martoma, convicted SAC trader, sentenced to 9 years in prison plus forfeiture of $9.3 million, including home and bank accounts
08/03/15 Former City (London) trader Tom Hayes found guilty of rigging global Libor interest rates. Each fo eight counts carries up to 10 yr. sentence.
08/21/15 Charles Antonucci Sr, former pres. Park Ave. Bank sentenced to 2.5 years in prison for bribery, fraud, embezzlement, and attempt to steal $11MM in TARP bailout funds, as well as $37.5MM fraud on OK insurance company. To pay $54MM in restitution and give up additional $11MM.
09/21/15 Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn apologizes for VW cheating on air quality standards with emission testing avoidance device. Stock drops 20%, fines may total $18B.
09/22/15 Stewart Parnell, CEO Peanut Corp. of America, sentenced to 28 years in prison for selling salmonella-tainted peanut butter that killed nine.





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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]


14 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 30 November 2015 (Original Post) Tansy_Gold Nov 2015 OP
Hi! I'll be subbing for my mom for a bit Proserpina Nov 2015 #1
Hi! Hugin Nov 2015 #8
Hi and thanks. n/g kickysnana Nov 2015 #9
UMich Survey Director: We're Witnessing the Decline of American Economic Aspirations Proserpina Nov 2015 #2
Half of Gold Output May Not Be ‘Viable’ as Price Sags: Randgold Proserpina Nov 2015 #3
Why The Obamacare Exchanges Are Failing Proserpina Nov 2015 #4
part 2 Proserpina Nov 2015 #5
Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index Released On 11/25/2015 Proserpina Nov 2015 #6
Battered by increasingly aggressive NAFTA lawsuits, will Canada fare any better under TPP? Proserpina Nov 2015 #7
Why did Black Friday sales suffer this year? Proserpina Nov 2015 #10
All of this will drive markets in 'most important' week of year Proserpina Nov 2015 #11
Update from Mom Proserpina Nov 2015 #12
Tell mom hello DemReadingDU Nov 2015 #13
7 Critical Reforms Needed on Wall Street to Prevent Another Bust antigop Nov 2015 #14
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
2. UMich Survey Director: We're Witnessing the Decline of American Economic Aspirations
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:19 PM
Nov 2015
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-25/umich-survey-director-we-re-witnessing-the-decline-of-american-economic-aspirations

While U.S. consumers are more optimistic about the outlook for the economy and their personal finances than they were in the aftermath of the housing bust, their confidence doesn't measure up to previous cyclical peaks: November's final reading of the University of Michigan's index of sentiment came in at 91.3, a slight gain from October's print, but fell relative to the initial report for the month. A separate release showed the U.S. savings rate climbed to 5.6 percent in October to hit its highest level in nearly three years.

On a conference call following the release of this report, the director of the survey, Richard Curtin, told Bloomberg Intelligence Chief Economist Michael McDonough this relatively subdued confidence and high savings rate reflect the notion that future generations might not see an increase in their standard of living:

I think this is tied to a decline in economic aspirations. They don't expect to be in a situation where they once thought it was their right—that their living standards would always increase, their children would be much better off than they, and their grandchildren and so forth, and they bought things on credit with the intention of working more to pay off the increased debt, and we saw a rise in labor force participation and a rise in women entering the labor force and so forth …I'm not trying to say that the data predict this sort of secular stagnation, but it is now more consistent with the slow-growth economy, and I'll just give you this thought experiment: If we only grow at the 2 to 3 percent range over the next decade, well we've only have 2 percent growth over the past five years average, people cannot maintain the same material aspirations that they had prior to that. People would not maintain aspirations that were always frustrated that they could never accomplish. People lower their aspirations given the situation, and we've known this all over the world, that people can adapt to the worst conditions as easily as the best conditions.


And retailers, he noted, will face headwinds based on consumers' demands that purchases of durable goods would be contingent upon price discounts.

"In only nine surveys in our long history, and this goes back more than a half a century, have more consumers mentioned their insistence on price discounts than in this current survey," added Curtin.


As such, the holiday shopping season won't be terrible, according to the professor, but retailers will have to deal with more margin compression than they may have anticipated...
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
3. Half of Gold Output May Not Be ‘Viable’ as Price Sags: Randgold
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:23 PM
Nov 2015
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-11-27/half-of-gold-output-may-not-be-viable-as-price-sags-randgold

Half of the gold coming from mines may not be viable at current prices, underscoring the industry’s need for consolidation and output cuts, according to the best-performing producer of the metal in the past decade.

“The more we continue to produce unprofitable gold, the more pressure we put on the gold price,” Randgold Resources Ltd. Chief Executive Officer Mark Bristow said in an interview in Toronto on Friday. “In the medium term, it’s a very bullish outlook for the gold industry. The question is, how long are we going to supply it with unprofitable gold?”


Gold fell to a five-year low on Friday as a rising dollar and speculation that U.S. policy makers will boost interest rates next month curbed the appeal of bullion as a store of value. While industrial metal producers have promised output cuts, “we don’t have that psyche in the gold industry, we just send it off our mine and somebody buys it,” Bristow said.

Gold miners buffeted by the drop in prices are shortening the life of mines by focusing only on the best quality ore, a practice known as high grading, which will restrict future output and support higher prices, according to Bristow. He said in a presentation to bankers in Toronto that the industry life span is down to about five years because companies have been aggressively high grading at the expense of future production.

“The industry has moved away from looking at optimal life of mines because everyone is trying to demonstrate short-term delivery,” he said in the interview after the presentation. “Where is all this value that people promised in the gold industry? It’s not there.”


????

more
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
4. Why The Obamacare Exchanges Are Failing
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:33 PM
Nov 2015
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-27/why-obamacare-exchanges-are-failing
Submitted by Devon Herrick via The National Center for Policy Analysis,

I reported earlier this week that the Obamacare Marketplace is slowly failing. Three days later the largest health insurer in America, UnitedHealth Group, announced it expects to lose $500 million on exchange plans next year and may exit the market in 2017.

The issue for many insurers is they were encouraged to participate in the exchange in return for a temporary risk sharing program called Risk Corridors. Under this program, all insurers paid into a pot of money and the firms suffering excessive losses were to share the funds based on a formula. However, a budget deal passed late in 2014, the ‘Cromnibus’ Spending Bill, required the program to be budget neutral. The losses far exceeded the pot of money collected by the program. Insurers have only received about $0.13 cents on the dollar of what they would have gotten under an opened-ended program. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has affirmed insurers will get their money. But the question is: where it is going to come from? CMS has $363 million to divvy up while insurers have requested $2.87 billion.

Why are insurers losing so much money? In my original article, I stated the exchange plans are suffering adverse selection due to the perverse regulations which drive up costs – making health coverage a bad deal for all but the sickest enrollees. The only people enrolling are those who are eligible for the most generous subsidies. Consider what Larry Levitt, a health insurance analyst with the Kaiser Family Foundation, told Bloomberg.

“The ACA marketplaces are not yet profitable for most insurers,” “It’s going to take enrollment growth, especially among healthy people, to make it an attractive market for insurers. If enrollment stagnates, we could very well see insurers thinking twice about their participation.”


The solution cannot be gouging healthy people so runaway costs are covered. The Affordable Care Act was supposed to slow the growth in health expenditures. Just about any economist will tell you the current system is not accomplishing that. Slowing spending requires appropriately-designed health plans with positive incentives among enrollees. The ACA’s cost-control mechanisms are the opposite of that; they’re akin to pouring gasoline on a fire in hopes it will put it out.

Why not scrap the perverse ACA regulations and admit it was a pipe dream to ever assume young, healthy people could be coerced into paying several times their expected costs to cover other people’s excessive spending. Young people already have a lower demand for health coverage because they don’t expect to need care. As I reported earlier in the week, healthy people also know they’re getting a raw deal when they are expected to pay $5,000 for health plans that require an additional $6,000 in spending before the plans will begin to pay claims. Justice Roberts called the penalty a “tax.” I know people spending $5,000 for health plans they get no benefit from. They certainly think in terms of their $5,000 premiums as another Obamacare tax they can ill afford.
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
5. part 2
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:35 PM
Nov 2015

In addition to this disaster, and on top of enrollment projections that are proving way off, perhaps the biggest immediate crisis facing the Obama administration's signature health reform measure, as Eric Boehm (via reason.com) notes, is the utter collapse of many of the so-called cooperatives that were set up by states as part of the 2010 law.

The Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan, or Co-Op, portion of the health care law established nonprofit health insurers that would receive federal funding and were intended to compete with private, for-private insurers on the exchanges as a way to lower prices. They were supposed to be small-scale single-payer systems that would be free from the profit motive; a progressive's dream solution to the problem of providing health insurance for all.

Instead, they've turned into a nightmare. So far, 12 of the 23 co-ops have failed, defaulting on more than $1.2 billion in federal loans. Only two have been able to break even so far, and most of the remaining co-ops are eyeing massive premium increases—as high as 40 percent in some cases—to stay solvent.

A government program being poorly run is nothing new, of course. But the co-ops established under the health care law were subject to a series of regulations that make you wonder how they were ever supposed to succeed in the first place.

"It should be no surprise that so many of them are going belly-up," said John Davidson, director of health policy for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, on the latest edition of the Watchdog Podcast. "The rules that they put on these co-ops almost set them up to fail."


For starters, the co-ops were barred from hiring anyone who had served at an executive level at any health insurance company in the country. Think about that for a second. This was essentially a brand new business venture that was prevented from relying on the expertise of anyone who might have the slightest idea what they were doing. Another regulation prevented the co-ops from raising any capital aside from what was provided via those federal loans. Other rules prevented the co-ops from being allowed to turn a profit, and if one happened to accidentally make money anyway, it wasn't allowed to use its profits to help it grow.


It's the kind of business plan that would be laughed out of a business school classroom. "The co-ops were essentially amateur exercises," said Davidson.
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
6. Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index Released On 11/25/2015
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:46 PM
Nov 2015
http://mam.econoday.com/byshoweventfull.asp?fid=466962&cust=mam&year=2015&lid=0&prev=/byweek.asp#top


Prior Actual
41.2 40.9

The consumer comfort index fell for the fourth time in five weeks, down 3 tenths in the November 22 week to 40.9. This reading is important as it includes the immediate impact of the Paris attacks. Readings on consumer confidence, despite building strength in income, peaked at mid year and have since moderated but they do remain solid. The consumer sentiment report, to be released at 10:00 a.m. ET and which is expected to remain steady, will be very closely watched.

Definition

The Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index is a weekly, random-sample survey tracking Americans' views on the condition of the U.S. economy, their personal finances and the buying climate...
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
7. Battered by increasingly aggressive NAFTA lawsuits, will Canada fare any better under TPP?
Sun Nov 29, 2015, 10:49 PM
Nov 2015
https://citizenactionmonitor.wordpress.com/2015/11/10/battered-by-increasingly-aggressive-nafta-lawsuits-will-canada-fare-any-better-under-tpp/

Under NAFTA, Canada has been hit by 70 percent of all NAFTA investor lawsuits. Yikes!

“When the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) came into force 21 years ago, there was plenty of debate about its likely impact on jobs, energy and sovereignty…. Over two decades later, the ISDS (Investor-State Dispute Settlement) process in NAFTA has become notorious, more so elsewhere than in Canada, though this is changing…. Of late foreign investors targeted a broad range of government measures in North America—especially in the areas of environmental protection and natural resource management…. Canada has faced 36 ISDS claims, more than any other developed country in the world, and since 2005 we’ve been hit by 70% of all NAFTA investor lawsuits.” —Scott Sinclair, CCPA

Although a bit dated, Scott Sinclair’s review of two recent NAFTA defeats for Canada remains highly relevant as Canadians critically assess the pros and cons of TPP.

NAFTA lawsuit losses have left critics “to wonder why their government continues to give private, for-profit arbitrators the power to interpret treaties, to decide over questions of public law and to impose fines paid from public funds.”

If there’s any “good news” here, perhaps it’s that the lawsuit costs, “both financially and in public policy terms, are becoming clearer to more and more citizens. There is a powerful and growing global backlash against ISDS…. Canada should be seeking to disengage from this system,” says Sinclair.

Breaking news of the latest outrageous NAFTA lawsuit — On October 22, 2015 the CBC reported that “An American-owned water export company has launched a massive lawsuit against Canada for preventing it from exporting fresh water from British Columbia. Sun Belt Water Inc. of California is suing Canada for $10.5 billion US. So far no valid claim has been filed, no NAFTA Chapter 11 arbitration has occurred, and there has been no financial settlement.

more info from links in original post
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
10. Why did Black Friday sales suffer this year?
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 08:23 AM
Nov 2015
http://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2015/1129/Why-did-Black-Friday-sales-suffer-this-year

Despite a 10 percent drop in brick-and-mortar sales on Black Friday this year, analysts anticipate an overall rise in holiday spending – a significant portion of which will be online.

Thanksgiving dinner must have left American shoppers especially lethargic this year: Black Friday sales were down 10 percent from last year’s total revenue – $10.4 billion compared to 2014’s $11.6 billion.

These figures account for brick-and-mortar sales on Nov. 27, but Thanksgiving Day sales also fell this year, despite the sales and promotions beginning earlier. Sales on Thanksgiving fell to a total of $1.8 billion Thursday, down from just over $2 billion last year.

The decline, reported by research firm ShopperTrak, reflects the rising prevalence of online shopping. Retailers this year also offered deals before and after Thanksgiving, softening the impact of Black Friday specials. But financial analysts anticipate an overall increase in holiday sales because of pay rises, lowered unemployment, and lower gas prices.
Recommended: Black Friday trivia quiz

“This year, we saw Black Friday ads emerge before Halloween, as retailers aimed to get at the shopper’s wallet early,” Kevin Kearns, ShopperTrak chief revenue officer, said in a statement. “And from our data, we saw greater retail sales generated prior to the Black Friday weekend, which is a result of retailers successfully elongating the holiday season.”


Could it be a simple lack of money? As an underemployed Millennial, one of millions, I am willing to bet that after Cyber Monday, there will be even more pissing and moaning...
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
11. All of this will drive markets in 'most important' week of year
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 08:33 AM
Nov 2015
http://www.cnbc.com/2015/11/27/all-of-this-will-drive-markets-in-most-important-week-of-year.html



Markets could be in for macro overload in the week ahead with central bankers, next Friday's jobs report and OPEC dominating the headlines. "My guess is most of the action will be a tail wind for stocks," said Jack Ablin, CIO of BMO Private Bank. Central bankers in the U.S. and Europe are in high gear in the coming week, with the European Central Bank expected to expand its easing program and cut its already negative deposit rate. That coincides with a week that could bring the most important U.S. jobs report and other data the Fed will consider when it meets Dec. 15 and 16.

"I think people should be starting to shift their focus away from the December meeting because they're going to raise. They should be asking themselves if the economic data is good enough to augur a multi-rate hike cycle, rather than just a one and done,"
said Peter Boockvar, chief market analyst at Lindsey Group.

Next Friday's November employment report is expected to show 200,000 nonfarm payrolls and an unchanged unemployment rate of 5 percent, after October's surprisingly strong 271,000 jobs. Wages are projected to rise 0.2 percent, after October's unexpected 0.4 percent increase.

"The shift is really back to the economic data and away from all the earnings we've seen. We of course get 'Class A' type data. It's not just the jobs report, but the ISM manufacturing number and vehicle sales," said Boockvar.


and...Janet Yellen is giving TWO big speeches, no less!
 

Proserpina

(2,352 posts)
12. Update from Mom
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 08:50 AM
Nov 2015

She's not allowed to do anything but read DU including her emails....more than she could do all weekend. Supposedly her "transgressions" (not hers, IMHO) will be reviewed in the next 24 hours...

I sure hope so. I've got to go back to class. Stomach flu doesn't last that long...and Mom's already done all my mending....she says she's down to only one laundry basket, and one chair. Oh, and the big rose tree has two buds, now. She's supplementing the lighting to make the days seem longer.

antigop

(12,778 posts)
14. 7 Critical Reforms Needed on Wall Street to Prevent Another Bust
Mon Nov 30, 2015, 01:04 PM
Nov 2015
http://wallstreetonparade.com/

The problem with Wall Street is not just that individual participants serially disrespect the law. The bigger problem is that Wall Street as an industry has structured itself as an ingrained law-avoidance system. There’s simply no other industry in America where you could start the sentence – “Wall Street is the only industry in America where…” – and find endless ways to finish that thought.
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