STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Friday, 16 March 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Friday, 16 March 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 15 March 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 15 March 2012
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Dow Jones 13,252.76 +58.66 (0.44%)
S&P 500 1,402.60 +8.32 (0.60%)
Nasdaq 3,056.37 +15.64 (0.51%)


[font color=green]10 Year 2.28% -0.02 (-0.87%)
30 Year 3.41% -0.02 (-0.58%) [font color=black]


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

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[div]
Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = [/font][font color=red]12[/font]
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



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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]

[rfranklin]

1. First rec! Bend over Mr. Santorum, it's only two fingers!

Geez, I hate Republicans!

[Tansy_Gold]

2. LOL!! and I was just going to say. . . .

That if women really DID rule the world, we wouldn't rule it like that!

But I think the guys here know that already.



Guys? Guys?



[font size=3][font color=purple]GUYS????[/font][/font size]





:crickets:

[Demeter]

3. Nasty little cartoon you got there

not half as nasty as the GOP legislation, though.

[Fuddnik]

6. If women ruled the world....

She'd be putting that glove on a jackhammer.

Deservedly so.

[Po_d Mainiac]

14. If woman held all the cards there wood never be any problems

I've been trained well...Had to comply in order to survive as the sole externally plumbed life form in the house (even the 70lbs of Doberman was one of them)

20 or so years ago when the bathroom was a maze of nylons hanging from every splinter, there was one occassion that stands out. Boxes of tampons were stacked atop my razor and toothbrush. All three ladies of the house were in ill spirits, and the dog was in heat too boot. Their ire was aimed at each other till they realized I was now under the communal roof. The dog was backing me into a corner and all the ladies suddenly grew man-flesh tearing steelie claws and fangs which were all aimed in my direction.

It was early spring and the temp outside was a bit below the freezing mark. To moi, it seemed to be quite roasty in comparision. I slept quite well that night, in the back of the truck

[Demeter]

19. Poor Baby!

[Demeter]

4. (Are the Ides of March Over, Yet?)

That plus Mercury and Mars retrograding have GOT to explain it. Nobody but Job should have so much bad luck in one day....and he got a recovery package! I get to spend my birthday present getting cars fixed.

We had continuous rolling thunder and lightning flashes, and hail the size of small bubble gum balls, which melted quickly, since it's still unseasonably warm.

There were two tornadoes sighted to the west and north, and west and south of us. It rained an awful lot (so much for the back yard drying out a bit...)

the primroses I planted last fall are ready to burst into bloom, the snowdrops have given it up for the year after a 2.5 month run, the daffs will be blooming by Sunday, and small oriental iris and crocus are in full bloom. Wish I had planted some.

As for the storm, as of right now, it's subsiding, and although the sky has a yellow hue, it's more likely due to sunset....

[Fuddnik]

5. Glad to see you withstood natures onslaught.

It can get scary.

One morning, 2 or 3 years ago, I had just poured my first cup of coffee, and took my laptop out to the lanai, to log on to SMW, and before I could sit down, tree branches were flying by. I guess the funnel was just coming down, as the tornado touched down about 1/2 mile east of here. It scared the shit out of my wife, who was just backing out of the driveway, and lightning struck the tree across the street.

The BIL was flying to St. Louis today. I hope he had an early flight. I guess they were getting baseball sized hail this afternoon.

[DemReadingDU]

13. Glad your area was bypassed by the tornados

So sorry to hear of the troubles with the cars.

[Ghost Dog]

7. UK unemployment remains high

According to the British Office for National Statistics (ONS) the jobless rate remains at its highest rate in 16 years, as UK unemployment rose by 28,000 in the past three months to January. The current unemployment rate is 8.4%.

Unemployment rose by 28,000 to 2.67 million during the three months to the end of January, the highest total since 1995, while youth unemployment rose 16,000 to 1.04m.

The number of people working part-time hit 1.48m, the highest since current records began and the total number of jobs lost during 2011 in public sector was 270,000.

/... http://www.neurope.eu/article/uk-unemployment-remains-high

[Ghost Dog]

8. UK Budget 2012: Britain's economy needs to be modernised

The budget is almost upon us and already the speculation is rife. Cameron and Osborne have been negotiating through the media with Clegg and Alexander – not on how to support British business through an active industrial strategy but on how to cut the 50p top rate of tax for the richest 1% while slashing tax credits for working people. Meanwhile Vince Cable, an increasingly ineffectual business secretary – at odds with the roadblocks to reform in Downing St – watches from the sidelines.

Aside from arguing about the tax burden on the top 1%, Cable pointed out in his leaked letter to the prime minister that, beyond deficit reduction, the government has failed to look "beyond the electoral angle" and has no "compelling vision of where the country is heading". So the government is long on short-term tactics and short on long-term strategy – that is what Cable is saying.

This is deeply worrying. In the context of the biggest squeeze on living standards in a generation and in an age of increasing global competition, we need to reform and modernise our economy so it secures jobs and investment at home and ensures we can pay our way in the world. While governments such as those in Germany, the US and Singapore have placed a strong partnership between productive business and active government at the heart of business policy, the dominant view of Britain's Conservative-led administration is that the best it can do is step back when industry is crying out for it to step up, creating the conditions for our enterprises and wealth creators to prosper and grow...

/... http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/mar/16/budget-2012-britain-economy


Comment on the Guardian article from bailliegillies (and see below):

Funny isn't it how the political parties make various demands while in opposition but quietly forget them once in power. How long was nuLabour in office and just how much change did it bring about? Well apart from fiddling with the usual, health, education and human rights.

I expect a lot of talk and vague promises (as ever) from NuBluerLabour while in opposition but no action if and when they return to power.

[Ghost Dog]

9. UK Lib Dems drop opposition to scrapping 50p tax in new Budget deal

The Liberal Democrats have dropped their opposition to scrapping the 50p top rate of tax and offered the Conservatives a Budget deal that would cut taxes for the highest earners...

... Senior ministers will spend the weekend in 11th-hour talks about the Budget package before Mr Osborne presents his package next Wednesday.

Senior Conservatives are committed to scrapping the 50p rate eventually, but have not yet decided if now is the right time for what would be highly controversial move for their party.

Despite mounting economic arguments against the 50p rate, some Conservatives feel that scrapping the rate at a time of rising unemployment and falling household incomes would be a political mistake, allowing Labour to paint the Tories as the party of the rich. One comprimise which has been suggested is to reduce the rate to 45p...

/... http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/budget/9147491/Lib-Dems-drop-opposition-to-scrapping-50p-tax-in-new-Budget-deal.html


I'll add this comment on the Telegraph's article, out of the many at link for those interested, because it illustrates the most common attitude amongst the "haves" in UK society (have well-paying jobs, perks, nice housing, new car, vacations ...). Some of these may be struggling, but still essentially feel this way. Blair's NewLabour fucked up massively by failing, as usual, to do what a truly left-leaning government should when it had the chance, instead being perceived as having increased the cost and especially the degree of intrusion into private lives of State bureaucracies.

Comment from cargill55:


I have absolutely no idea what all the fuss is about amongst the socialists but i have a feeling it is to do with envy about anyone who has some money and high taxation and high spending , creating the big state , is the totem of socialism.
What they choose to ignore is that even if they get higher taxes these taxes are wasted because they are simply thrown at a ravenous state which proceed to waste the taxes it is given.
Look at the figures.
£600 billion taxes raised in the uk.
£720 billion state spending so £120 billion deficit of which £90 billion is structural.
£1000 billion state debt and rising.
£1000 billion unfunded public sector pensions.
£1600 billion gdp annually.
Now the socialists could talk about reducing the size of the state which costs us £720 billion a year but that does not compute because the state MUST ALWAYS have more money.
They could talk about economic growth so more taxes are raised that way but economic growth comes from the business sector and that is a dirty word.
So they grab the first thing in sight which is actually a completely irrelevant issue of £1 billion here or there for the state but which really portrays their distorted view of society and economy.
Soak the rich whatever effect it has on the entrepreneurial ( another dirty word to the left) dynamism of this country because it makes the left feel good.
I have a message to the left.
There are really critical fundamental economic problems in the uk just now.
You penalising entrepreneurs and business leaders with spiteful taxes will not resolve them.
Does anyone notice that the left always talks in vague generalisations and never in context.
Get a life.

[Demeter]

20. UK has no business in the war business, then

If you can't afford public health measures, it's time to cut the NATO expeditions, and leave the Falklands alone.

[Ghost Dog]

10. Miners keep FTSE on track for weekly gain

LONDON, March 16 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares posted modest gains on Friday morning, supported by miners which extended their recent advance, with trade set to be volatile due to futures and options expiries...

... UBS said an upgrade of its British GDP estimates for 2012 and 2013 provided the catalyst for its RBS recommendation upgrade. "A more positive view on the UK combined with improving economic momentum in the U.S. where growth expectations are already well embedded will pave a way for improved performance in RBS's core business and should contribute to lower losses in the non-core division," the bank said in a note.

Investors have a number of further U.S. economic releases to digest on Friday, including consumer prices data and industrial output figures.

Volumes recently have been at a very low ebb, with money managers sticking firmly to the sidelines, waiting for the next drivers to push the market higher.

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/16/markets-britain-stocks-idUKL5E8EG0SG20120316

[Ghost Dog]

11. UBS ups 2012 Europe, UK GDP estimates

Economists at UBS have upgraded their 2012 eurozone GDP growth forecast to -0.4 percent from -0.7 percent, and for the UK to +0.6 percent from -0.1 percent.

"Europe is still in a recession, but a milder one. But the big variances across countries are getting wider: Germany is upgraded to +1.0 percent and Spain is cut further to -2.0 percent. We continue to see higher economic growth outside Europe," the broker says in a strategy note...

... "With 90 percent of European results in, we have seen small net beats (6 percent by company count). But, there has been a big gap between internationally exposed stocks that have beaten and the domestics that have missed," UBS adds. The broker says, based on its sample, household products, media, autos, semis and pharma have beaten; IT hardware, investment banks and materials have missed.

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/03/16/markets-europe-stocksnews-idUKL5E8EG0KB20120316?rpc=401&feedType=RSS&feedName=marketMovers&rpc=401

[Ghost Dog]

12. Jesse's Café: An Anecdotal Peek at the Mispricing of Counter Party and Derivatives Risk

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2012/03/anecdotal-peek-at-pitfalls-of-counter.html

Here is an entertaining excerpt from Janet Tavakoli, Collateralized Debt Obligations & Structured Finance, John Wiley & Sons, 2003. She reiterates the incident in the expanded second edition, Structured Finance, 2008.

This is a nice example of the mispricing of risk and the related fallacy of netting in the derivatives markets which I discussed the other day, Critical Mass: The Mispricing of Desrivatives Risk and How the Financial World Ends.

It makes the assumption about risk in Black-Scholes look like a firecracker.

Not everyone has a Tavakoli-class analyst watching their back. I suspect that there are a lot of unintended bagholders blissfully walking around out there. They are one flick of a button away from financial evisceration. They just don't know it. The implosion of MF Global was just a taste.

And that is what keeps the Fed and the ECB awake at night.

[center][/center]

http://jessescrossroadscafe.blogspot.com/2012/03/anecdotal-peek-at-pitfalls-of-counter.html

[DemReadingDU]

16. a lot of unintended bagholders blissfully walking around out there

They are one flick of a button away from financial evisceration. They just don't know it. The implosion of MF Global was just a taste.



Coyle: I want to tell you my secret now. I see dead people.

Malcolm: Dead people like, in graves? In coffins?

Coyle: Walking around like regular people. They don't see each other. They only see what they want to see. They don't know they're dead.

&feature=player_embedded#!

[Demeter]

21. But...they ARE the Smartest Guys in the Room

Wiseguys, in fact. With all the implications of the term.

[Demeter]

30. Goldman, Roiled by Op-Ed, Loses $2.2 Billion

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/goldman-stunned-by-op-ed-loses-2-2-billion-for-shareholders.html

Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) saw $2.15 billion of its market value wiped out after an employee assailed Chief Executive Officer Lloyd C. Blankfein’s management and the firm’s treatment of clients, sparking debate across Wall Street.

The shares dropped 3.4 percent in New York trading yesterday, the third-biggest decline in the 81-company Standard & Poor’s 500 Financials Index, after London-based Greg Smith made the accusations in a New York Times op-ed piece. Smith, who also wrote that he was quitting after 12 years at the company, blamed Blankfein, 57, and President Gary D. Cohn, 51, for a “decline in the firm’s moral fiber.” They responded in a memo to current and former employees, saying that Smith’s assertions don’t reflect the firm’s values, culture or “how the vast majority of people at Goldman Sachs think about the firm and the work it does on behalf of our clients.”

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker, 84, whose “Volcker rule” would limit banks like New York-based Goldman Sachs from making bets with their own money, called Smith’s article “a radical, strong” piece. “I’m afraid it’s a business that leads to a lot of conflicts of interest,” Volcker said at a conference in Washington sponsored by the Atlantic magazine.

Goldman Sachs slid $4.17 to $120.37 yesterday, leaving the shares still up 33 percent this year. The stock advanced 0.5 percent to $120.98 at 9:33 a.m. in New York today.

[Demeter]

65. Bless You, Greg Smith! By Eric Fry

http://dailyreckoning.com/bless-you-greg-smith/

...Some investors seem to be worrying that a Day of Reckoning for Goldman may be arriving sooner, rather than later. During the last several months, Goldman’s stock (NYSE:GS) has been trailing noticeably behind both the S&P 500 Index and the Financial Select Sector Index.

[Ghost Dog]

43. The Real Deal: Italy Pays Morgan Stanley Billions to Unwind Derivatives

When Morgan Stanley (MS) said in January it had cut its “net exposure” to Italy by $3.4 billion, it didn’t tell investors that the nation paid that entire amount to the bank to exit a bet on interest rates.

Italy, the second-most indebted nation in the European Union, paid the money to unwind derivative contracts from the 1990s that had backfired, said a person with direct knowledge of the Treasury’s payment. It was cheaper for Italy to cancel the transactions rather than to renew, said the person, who declined to be identified because the terms were private.
Enlarge image Italy Said to Pay Morgan Stanley $3.4 Billion

The cost, equal to half the amount to be raised by Italy’s sales tax increase this year, underscores the risk derivatives countries use to reduce borrowing costs and guard against swings in interest rates and currencies can sour and generate losses for taxpayers. Italy, with record debt of $2.5 trillion, has lost more than $31 billion on its derivatives at current market values, according to data compiled by the Bloomberg Brief Risk newsletter from regulatory filings.

“These losses demonstrate the speculative nature of these deals and the supremacy of finance over government,” said Italian senator Elio Lannutti, chairman of the consumer group Adusbef.

/... http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-16/italy-said-to-pay-morgan-stanley-3-4-billion-to-exit-derivative.html

[Po_d Mainiac]

15. R/E the toon

Last edited Fri Mar 16, 2012, 09:29 AM - Edit history (1)

Kinda the right idea, but the wrong exam.

Turn your head and cough.

[xchrom]

17. good morning -- it's friday!

[xchrom]

18. Goldman Sachs Takeaway: Fix Our Financial System or Get Ready for the Next Horrific Collapse

http://www.alternet.org/economy/154568/goldman_sachs_takeaway%3A_fix_our_financial_system_or_get_ready_for_the_next_horrific_collapse/

Greg Smith's mea culpa about Goldman should not come as a surprise to anybody who has a remote connection with the financial services industry. But to suggest that the allegations made by Mr. Smith are unique to Goldman's culture is ludicrous. They are symptomatic of a much broader problem embedded in Wall Street culture as a whole. Goldman's major sin was being more astute at exploiting this system than most of its competitors.

The toxic derivatives sold to what employees of Goldman derisively referred to as "muppet" clients (since when was being a "muppet" such a bad thing?) were certainly neither a trend unique to GS, nor was it a recent phenomenon. The truth is that this activity has been embedded in Goldman's culture since the days when Robert Rubin was co-CEO of the company and advocated GS taking proprietary positions (trading for its own account), even if it meant betting against their clients.

Goldman was a successful company and success tends to breed imitation. Eventually, everybody on Wall Street was doing the same shitty business. Goldman, for example, wasn't the only one selling these toxic mortgage products, which helped to blow up the world's global economy in 2008, but they were smart enough to hedge them.

[Roland99]

22. Today's Reports

[Roland99]

23. U.S. consumer prices climb 0.4% in February

[Roland99]

24. Energy prices for consumers rise 3.2%

[Roland99]

25. Consumer price index up 2.9% in past 12 months

[Po_d Mainiac]

48. Too keep the number within the FED's target range,

Several new items have been factored into the CPI equation.

Porcelain bowl deposits (including second hand tissue sheets)
Airborne Pollen and rhinovirus
Freeze dried cockroach
Fillet O’rodent’
Pink slime

Items no longer priced include:
Gasoline and heating/diesel fuel
Beef and poultry
Green vegetables
Bank service charges/fees

[Roland99]

26. Inflation-adjusted U.S. wages dip 0.3% in February

[Roland99]

27. EURUSD spiking up on the news

[Roland99]

44. Feb. industrial output (flat) below consensus 0.4% gain

[Roland99]

45. Jan. output up revised 0.4% vs flat prev estimate

[xchrom]

28. The Banality of Corporate Evil

http://inthesetimes.com/article/12847/the_banality_of_corporate_evil

Were it not a matter of life and death, it would be amusing to watch the Supreme Court contort itself–and the Constitution–in slavish fealty to Corporate America.

In June, the Court’s Republican majority is expected to rule that, under international law, corporations are not people. And as such they cannot be held responsible for their complicity in the gross abuse of human rights.

On February 28, the Court heard arguments in Kiobel v. Royal Dutch Petroleum. The case is brought by 12 Nigerians granted political asylum in the United States. All are Ogoni, an indigenous people who live in the Niger River delta, where Shell discovered oil in 1958.

In the early ’90s, the Ogoni began protesting the environmental devastation of their lands at the hands of Shell. In response, Nigeria’s military junta sent in troops and an estimated 2,000 Ogoni were killed. Charles Wiwa, one of the 12 now suing Shell, says that after he led a demonstration in his town, soldiers seized him and for two hours tortured him before a crowd of thousands. “They started beating me – horsewhipping me, clubbing me, [kicking me with their] boots,” he said in a deposition.

[Demeter]

29. Dibs on the Popcorn Concession!

[xchrom]

32. i'll bring the beer! -- hey how's it going? nt

[Demeter]

53. Today has been better than yesterday

I am groggy for lack of sleep, though. The rumor is the so-called paper I regularly throw Weds and Sat nights is unlikely to last more than a year. Nobody wants to buy it, and I can understand why. But these two nights of doing NYTimes reminds me why I was so glad to get out of the daily grind....

So, coming to a fork in the road. I hope I don't end up impaled on the tines.

[xchrom]

56. please take care of your self the best you can.

you and we all pull for you around here.

[Demeter]

31. Solar industry more than doubles capacity

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/solar-industry-more-than-doubles-capacity/2012/03/14/gIQARjr0CS_story.html

The solar energy industry installed a record 1,855 megawatts of photovoltaic capacity in 2011, more than double the previous annual record of 887 megawatts set in 2010, according to a new U.S. Solar Market Insight report.

The record level of solar installations is enough to power more than 370,000 homes and marks the first time the U.S. solar market has topped one gigawatt in a single year. GTM Research and the Solar Energy Industries Association estimate the U.S. solar market’s total value surpassed $8.4 billion in 2011.

Rhone Resch, president of the SEIA, said that another 3 gigawatts of solar capacity is under construction and that utilities and independent power producers are “finding that solar is an option for them.”

[Demeter]

33. U.S. May Sanction India Over Level of Iran-Oil Imports

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/u-s-may-sanction-india-over-level-of-iran-oil-imports.html

India has failed to reduce its purchases of Iranian oil, and if it doesn’t do so, President Barack Obama may be forced to impose sanctions on one of Asia’s most important nations, Obama administration officials said yesterday.

A decision to levy penalties under a new U.S. law restricting payments for Iranian oil could come as early as June 28, according to several U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
Enlarge image U.S. President Barack Obama.

Barack Obama., U.S. president. Photographer: Joshua Roberts/Bloomberg
Argus Media's Barbajosa on Oil Supply

Play Video

March 15 (Bloomberg) -- Alejandro Barbajosa, an oil markets specialist and business development manager at Argus Media Inc., talks about oil supply disruption and the role of the International Energy Agency. He speaks from Singapore with Caroline Hyde on Bloomberg Television's "First Look." (Source: Bloomberg)

“Given the level of trade, and in particular oil, between Iran and India, targeting an Indian entity that facilitates Iran’s access to the international financial market should be top of mind for the U.S. Treasury,” Avi Jorisch, a former Treasury Department official who is now a Washington-based consultant on deterring illicit finance, said in an interview.

The U.S. law, which targets oil payments made through Iran’s central bank, applies to any country that doesn’t make a “significant” reduction in its Iranian crude oil purchases during the first half of this year. If India fails to cut Iranian imports sufficiently, Obama may be compelled to bar access to the U.S. banking system for any Indian bank processing oil payments through Iran’s central bank, the U.S. officials said.

While India hasn’t asked its refiners to stop purchasing Iranian crude, the government has told processors in the South Asian nation to seek alternate supplies and gradually reduce their dependence on the Persian Gulf state due to increasing pressure from the U.S. in recent weeks, three Indian officials with direct knowledge of the situation said today. India hasn’t significantly cut imports this year because refiners’ annual crude term deals with Iran typically run from April to March, they said. The planned reductions will start only when new annual contracts begin next month, the Indian officials said, declining to be identified because they aren’t authorized to speak to the media...

YEAH, THERE'S THIS THING CALLED A CONTRACT....WHICH DOESN'T INVOLVE ASSASSINATION, BY THE WAY...

[xchrom]

34. The Layer Ploy

http://inthesetimes.com/article/12905/the_layer_ploy


Oil pumps in operation at an oilfield near central Los Angeles on February 2, 2011. (MARK RALSTON/AFP/Getty Images)

Of all the political tactics used to protect business interests, none is as powerful as the layer ploy—the one in which an ugly corporate giveaway is hidden one layer beneath something popular. It’s the oldest trick in the book: Offer up Mom and apple pie, and few are likely to notice the noxious serving plate.

Whether it’s a lobbyist-written trade deal lurking beneath a bill extending unemployment benefits or a corporate subsidy undergirding a must-pass defense spending bill, this is the way some of the most corrupt policy has become law in recent years. It’s also the way oil and gas business allies are now advancing that industry’s interests in the face of proof that drilling may be endangering Americans’ health.

The situation is harrowing. In just the last year, the Environmental Protection Agency and Duke University have both uncovered evidence linking groundwater contamination to the controversial drilling practice known as hydrofracking. The incriminating findings are so clear that according to Pittsburgh’s CBS affiliate, fossil fuel firms in Pennsylvania acknowledge that the “natural gas exploration industry is partly responsible for rising levels of contaminants found in area drinking water.”

In response, many communities are trying to slow the drilling boom. That has created a serious problem for oil and gas companies, who want to drill as much and as quickly as possible. So their political allies are working to tie drilling to Mom-and-apple-pie initiatives as a means of crushing any opposition.

[Demeter]

35. Euro Area Countries Formally Approve Second Greek bailout

http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20120314-708151.html

The euro zone countries Wednesday finally signed-off on Greece's second bailout program, ending a protracted and dramatic negotiating process that started last July. The hope is that the EUR130-billion package, funded mostly by euro-zone countries as well as the International Monetary Fund, will be enough to keep Greece funded until 2014-2015. But talk of a third Greek bailout has already started with the ink still wet on the second one, especially following a report by European Union experts highlighting the risks to structural-reform implementation and predicting "at best stagnation" for 2013. Greece has been in a recession for five consecutive years.

A statement from Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of the Eurogroup of euro-zone finance ministers said that "euro area member states have today formally approved the second adjustment program for Greece" and added that "all required national and parliamentary procedures have been finalised." Since negotiations to secure the fresh funding started last summer, Greece has gone through one of the most tumultuous periods in its modern history, seeing its prime minister step down and get replaced by an unelected former central banker. With snap elections coming up, most likely in late April or in May, it is difficult to draw a line under Greece's sovereign-debt crisis after securing the new aid.

It also said the 17 countries had authorized the transitional euro-zone rescue fund, the European Financial Stability Facility, to release the first instalment of Greece's bailout. The first instalment will be "for a total amount of EUR39.4 billion, which will be disbursed in several tranches," the statement said. The announcement formalised a political decision to grant Greece a fresh EUR130 billion package taken at a euro-area finance ministers' meeting Monday in Brussels.

Juncker expressed the conviction that the program would "allow the Greek economy to return to a sustainable path, which is in the interest of everyone," and called on Greece to remain committed to the structural reforms and fiscal targets set as conditions for the aid. He called the second bailout a "unique opportunity for Greece that should not be missed...The Greek authorities should... continue demonstrating strong commitment and to keep up the implementation momentum by rigorously pursuing the adjustment effort in the areas of fiscal consolidation, structural reforms and privatization, strictly in line with the new programme," Juncker's announcement said.

Discussions to add fresh euro-zone and International Monetary Fund cash to Greece's first bailout approved in May 2010 had started in July 2011 but it took months of talks to finalize it.

[Demeter]

39. IMF approves €28bn loan to Greece

Fund contributes smaller share than in previous eurozone rescues after emerging market states say it is becoming too exposed to debt crisis

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/XHKZHX/EKRAI/B5QO9S/EXT2IP/MQ/t?a1=2012&a2=3&a3=16

[Demeter]

36. It's a good thing Scott Adams has no children

[xchrom]

40. traylor

[Demeter]

42. It's really a nasty, evil little Libertarian scribble

Disrespecting the single mother, working to feed her kid, evidently with inadequate health benefits or sicktime...

Scott should stick to the stuff that makes him look smart.

[xchrom]

46. Does he have a some of that streak in him?

Other than the toons from him that you post here, I don't actually know anything about him.

[Demeter]

52. He is a Libertarian

Some poor woman did marry him, though.

[xchrom]

54. oy -- cannot abide libertarians. nt

[xchrom]

37. recovery for the 1%, recession for the rest

http://www.nationofchange.org/recovery-1-recession-rest-1331826118

Re­cov­ery [ri-kuhv-uh-ree] noun: term used by the 1% to char­ac­ter­ize the 99%’s en­dur­ing re­ces­sion.

Some­time last No­vem­ber I lis­tened to a lec­ture given by econ­o­mist Richard Wolff. Dur­ing the Q&A por­tion of his pre­sen­ta­tion Dr. Wolff re­sponded to a ques­tion posed by a crest­fallen col­lege stu­dent con­cern­ing the du­ra­tion of the great re­ces­sion. Dr. Wolff gra­ciously ac­knowl­edged the stu­dent’s un­ease and then re­sponded by re­fram­ing her orig­i­nal in­quiry. He gen­tly of­fered the fol­low­ing provo­ca­tion: “We must not ask whether we will sur­face from this cri­sis, for we surely will, but rather on whose terms will we emerge?”

The most re­cent Em­ploy­ment Sit­u­a­tion Sum­mary is­sued by the Bu­reau of Labor Sta­tis­tics (BLS) last week un­der­scores the wor­ries ex­pressed pre­sciently by Dr. Wolff more than six months ago. The BLS noted that al­though the United States added 227,000 jobs last month, the av­er­age weekly wage only in­creased by 0.1%. How could this be? Well, nearly 160,000 of the newly cre­ated jobs were cat­e­go­rized by the BLS as "low-wage," pay­ing no more than 200% of the poverty in­come rate for an in­di­vid­ual (up to $21,000 an­nu­ally). Fur­ther, part-time work (with­out med­ical in­sur­ance or a pen­sion) in­creased to a record 28 mil­lion jobs dur­ing Feb­ru­ary and now ac­counts for roughly 20% of total em­ploy­ment.

[Demeter]

38. Geithner calls for reforms to boost growth

The US must prop up short-term growth, make structural reforms and increase tax revenues to tackle its fiscal problems, says the Treasury secretary

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/XHKZHX/EKRAI/B5QO9S/II8MJI/MQ/t?a1=2012&a2=3&a3=16


STFU, TIMMY! ROLL OVER, PLAY DEAD

[Demeter]

41. Icelanders disappointed with Haarde trial

Many Icelanders feel trial of ex-prime minister Geir Haarde for not doing enough to prevent implosion of economy has been a disappointment

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/CTBPCC/XHKZHX/EKRAI/B5QO9S/QNZI1I/MQ/t?a1=2012&a2=3&a3=16

[xchrom]

47. Four Shocking Misconceptions About White-Collared Crime

http://www.businessinsider.com/four-shocking-misconceptions-about-white-collared-crime-2012-3?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warroom

The most recent issue of Psychology Today has a short column on four major myths that are widely when it comes to white-collared crime—usually described as an illegal act committed for financial gain.

1. White-collared crimes are nonviolent—since white-collared crime is usually characterized as non-violent, many are prone to this myth. But criminals in general have a sense of entitlement and need for control.
2. White-collar criminals are highly paid—you may be thinking of famous Ponzi schemers like Bernie Madoff or Allen Sanford here, but white-collared criminals also depend on poorly paid underlings.
3. White-collar criminals are otherwise upstanding citizens—about 40% of white-collared criminals have a record. So, no.
4. It's all about cash—Yes, there are poorly paid white-collar criminals, but the mastermind of the crime could be very rich. Researchers say "peer pressure, company culture, and pure hubris" cause people to commit white-collared crimes.


Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/four-shocking-misconceptions-about-white-collared-crime-2012-3?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=warroom#ixzz1pHttLZuP

[Fuddnik]

49. Roland had better cover his ass!

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/16/10716675-bear-bites-florida-woman-in-rear-end-as-she-walks-her-dog


And you thought killer bees were bad? Now it's killer beans.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46758094/ns/us_news-life/#.T2NOV_UU6So

[Po_d Mainiac]

58. She was dumping dog shit onto the bruin's buffet

It had every right to retaliate!

[xchrom]

50. 5 Signs That A War With Iran Is Close

http://www.businessinsider.com/5-signs-that-a-war-in-iran-is-close-2012-3



The clock is ticking closer to the midnight hour regarding a strike in Iran. Israel might do it alone, but will likely have the backing of the US.

Is a war imminent, or are these moves just meant to scare Iran? Here are 5 signs that have piled up very recently.

1. SWIFT Cuts Iran Off: The international institution responsible for around 80% of the world’s financial transactions announced that it will cut off Iranian financial institutions from its system from Saturday. This unprecedented move is a big blow to Iran, and follows up on EU sanctions.
2. Majority in Israeli cabinet for strike: Israeli newspaper Maariv (Hebrew link, quote in English) by Ben Caspit saying that 8 out of 14 Israeli cabinet members now support a strike on Iran’s nuclear facilities. The cabinet can give Prime Minister Netanyahu the green light for a strike, at the time he sees fit.
#3 Netanyahu preparing Israeli public: The Israeli Prime Minister continues the tough rhetoric against Iran also after coming back from his long visit in the US. Analysts see this as a preparation of the Israeli public for a war.

Read more: http://www.forexcrunch.com/5-signs-that-a-war-in-iran-is-close-34677/#ixzz1pI3V5BHU

[xchrom]

51. Right-to-Work Laws, Explained

http://motherjones.com/politics/2012/03/what-are-right-to-work-laws

On Wednesday the New Hampshire House of Representatives passed a right-to-work law, returning the issue to Democratic Gov. John Lynch's desk for the second time in two years. The bane of organized labor for over half a century, right-to-work laws regained momentum in the United States after Republicans won historically sweeping victories on the state level in the 2010 midterm elections. In February, Indiana became the first state in a decade—and the first Rust Belt state—to enact one of the laws.

Jimmy Hoffa, the president of the Teamsters, has said that right-to-work proponents are waging a "war on workers," and Martin Luther King Jr. called right-to-work a "false slogan" and said the laws "rob us of our civil rights and job rights." But proponents of the laws believe they're necessary for the growth of manufacturing and business that can bolster states' weak economies. A lack of nationwide right-to-work legislation, they argue, has resulted in "abuses of workers' human rights and civil liberties."

So what is a right-to-work law, anyway?

The basics

No American worker can be forced to join a union. But most unions push companies to agree to contracts that require all workers, whether they're in the union or not, to pay dues to the union for negotiating with management. State right-to-work laws make these sorts of contracts illegal, meaning that workers in unionized businesses can benefit from the terms of a union contract without paying union dues. (Under federal law, unions must represent all workers covered by a contract, even if some of those workers are not members of the union and do not pay for the union's representation.)

Unions are fighting the expansion of these laws, which currently apply in 23 US states. A coalition of lawmakers, manufacturers, tea partiers, and big conservative think tanks want to see them passed in the rest of the US.

[Demeter]

55. It's silly

It's not like New Hampshire is a hotbed of union power and organizing. Or even jobs. The whole state is a suburb of Boston.

[xchrom]

57. has any one told new hampshire that?

well said, demeter!

[Loge23]

63. It's really the "Right to hire and fire at will" law

It gives business the "right" to terminate employment at will - which means without reason and at any time.
Another fun little "right" that business enjoys in &quot no) right to work" states is the "no compete" contract.
I have no idea how a state that is deemed a "right to work" state can enforce a no-compete, but that they do.
I know of several cases where employees of a wholesale distributor were effectively barred from working for a competitor for at least one year - even after being terminated (isn't that a pleasant term?) from their former employer.
So, you're not good enough for us, but you can't work for our competitors either! Let's face it folks, wholesale distribution is moving boxes - no trade secrets that aren't already well know.
Oh you can contest this all you want, but who has the coin for that in that situation?

[Demeter]

59. It's 70F out there

I am fighting the urge to get the shorts out. Mostly because I'd be crushed when it got cold again.

Want to see our tornado?

&feature=related

http://classic.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=2052

[Fuddnik]

60. It's 85 out here. And I'm putting long pants on.

But, I'm getting on the motorcycle in a minute.

I'm not going to venture out tomorrow. Too many old, drunken, snowbird amateurs out tomorrow.

[Po_d Mainiac]

61. The kid with the chainsaw

Could write the manual, on How not to operate a chainsaw

[DemReadingDU]

62. That's really scary

Thankfully, no one died. I feel bad for the people who have lost their houses, and sorting thru the remnants. Over 100 homes damaged, 13 destroyed. It is devastating and so emotional. Hopefully volunteers will show up by the dozens to help with the cleanup, as did volunteers to help with my daughter's property two weeks ago when the tornado struck their area.

[Ghost Dog]

64. LEAP/E2020: The five devastating storms in summer 2012 at the heart of the world geopolitical swing

- Public announcement GEAB N°63 (15 mars 2012) - ... Global systemic crisis – The five devastating storms in summer 2012 at the heart of the world geopolitical swing

In its January 2012 issue, LEAP/E2020 signalled the current year as that of the world geopolitical swing. The first quarter 2012 has, to a large extent, started to establish that an era was in fact coming to an end with, in particular, the Russian and Chinese decisions to block any Western attempt at interference in Syria (1); their stated desire, associated with India (2) especially, to ignore or circumvent the oil embargo fixed by the United States and the EU (3) against Iran; the increasing tensions in relations between the United States and Israel (4); the acceleration of the policy of diversification out of the US Dollar led by China (5) and the BRICS (but also by Japan and Euroland (6)); the premise of change in Euroland’s political strategy at the time of the French electoral campaign (7); and the intensification of actions and statements fuelling the rising strength of trans-bloc commercial wars (8). In March 2012, we are far from March 2011 and the “hustling” of the UN by the USA/UK/France trio to attack Libya. March 2011 was still the unipolar world of after 1989. March 2012 is already the post-crisis multipolar world hesitating between confrontations and partnerships.

[center][/center]
Thus, as anticipated by LEAP/E2020, the handling of the “Greek crisis” (9) has quickly caused the disappearance of the so-called “Euro crisis” from the media headlines and market participants’ concerns. The mass hysteria maintained by the Anglo-Saxon media and the Eurosceptics during the second half of 2011 on this subject hasn’t lasted long: Euroland is increasingly asserting itself as a sustainable structure (10); once again the Euro is in vogue in the markets and for emerging countries’ central banks (11), the Eurogroup/ECB functioned effectively and private investors will have to accept a haircut of up to 70% on their Greek assets, thus confirming LEAP/E2020’s 2010 anticipation which then spoke of a 50% haircut when almost no-one imagined such a possibility without a “catastrophe” signalling the end of the Euro (12). Ultimately, markets always yield to the law of the strongest… and the fear of losing more, whatever the students of ultra-liberalism may say. It’s a lesson which political leaders will jealously guard because there are other haircuts to come, in the United States, in Japan and in Europe. We will come back to this in this GEAB issue...

... Contemporaneously, and that contributes to explaining the gentle euphoria which feeds the markets and many economic and financial players these last few months, due to it being an electoral year and from the need to make a good impression at all costs against a Eurozone which isn’t collapsing (13), the US financial media have given us a remake of the “green shoots” story from the beginning of 2010 and the “recovery” (14) from the beginning of 2011 in order to paint a picture of an America “exiting the crisis”. However, the United States at this beginning of 2012 really resembles a depressing scene painted by Edward Hopper (15) and not a glowing 60s chromo in the style of Andy Warhol. Just as in 2010 and 2011, the spring will for that matter be the moment of the return to the real world.

In this context all the more dangerous, as all the players are lulled by a dangerous illusion of a “return to normal”, in particular of the “restarting of the US economic engine” (16), LEAP/E2020 considers it necessary to alert its readers to the fact that summer 2012 will see the shattering of this illusion. In fact, we anticipate that summer 2012 will see the crystallization of five devastating shocks which are at the heart of the current process of world geopolitical swing. The black clouds which have been accumulating since the beginning of the crisis around economic and financial issues have now been joined by the dark clouds of geopolitical confrontation.

Therefore, in LEAP/E2020’s view, five devastating storms will mark the summer of 2012 and thus accelerate the process of world geopolitical swing:

. US relapse into recession against the background of European stagnation and BRICS slowdown
. dead end for the central banks and interest rate increases
. storm on the foreign exchange and Western sovereign debt markets
. Iran, the war « too far »
. new crash in the markets and financial institutions...

/More... http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-63-is-available-Global-systemic-crisis-The-five-devastating-storms-in-summer-2012-at-the-heart-of-the-world_a9601.html

- Posted same here: http://www.democraticunderground.com/11168635

[Demeter]

66. If you don't mind, GD, I will repost this on the weekend thread

It's seminal.

[Ghost Dog]

67. Of course, D. (Looked, but didn't find yet the Weekend Thread). Or I'll post myself...

Your call

Stay cool.

[Demeter]

68. Carry on

I'm going to my fainting couch....