STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday 13 March

[ozymandius]

Monday March 13, 2006

COUNTING THE DAYS
DAYS REMAINING IN THE * REGIME 1043 DAYS
DAYS SINCE DEMOCRACY DIED (12/12/00) 1908 DAYS
WHERE'S OSAMA BIN-LADEN? 1608 DAYS
DAYS SINCE ENRON COLLAPSE = 1569
Number of Enron Execs in handcuffs = 19
ENRON EXECS CONVICTED = 3
Other Arrests of Execs = 54


U.S. FUTURES & MARKETS INDICATORS
NASDAQ FUTURES-----------------------------S&P FUTURES




AT THE CLOSING BELL WHEN BUSH TOOK OFFICE on January 22, 2001
Dow - 10,578.24
Nasdaq - 2,757.91
S&P 500 - 1,342.90
Oil - $27.69/bbl
Gold - $266.70/oz.

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON March 10, 2006

Dow... 11,076.34 +104.06 (+0.95%)
Nasdaq... 2,262.04 +12.32 (+0.55%)
S&P 500... 1,281.58 +9.35 (+0.73%)
30-Year Bond 4.74% +0.03 (+0.53%)
10-Yr Bond... 4.76% +0.03 (+0.53%)
Gold future... 541.30 -5.70 (-1.05%)






GOLD, EURO, YEN, Dollars and Loonie


PIEHOLE ALERT

Heads Up!
Preliminary info on appearances by Bush & Co. throughout the country. Details & links are added as they become available so check back. And if you know more, are organizing something, or would like to, contact [email protected]

For information on protests and other actions Citizens For Legitimate Government

[ozymandius]

1. WrapUp by Tim W. Wood

THE DOW REPORT
A Look at Confirmations and Non-Confirmations

On January 6, 2006 the Secondary trend, according to Dow theory, turned bullish. This was originally reported to you here in the January 13, 2006 Market Wrap Up that followed. As of today, the Secondary Trend remains positive and it would take a break by both averages below their previous Secondary low points in order to officially turn the Secondary Trend back down. The blue line on the chart below shows that both averages have bettered their previous Secondary high points. The red line shows a very short-term non-confirmation beginning to form, which will require a little more time in order to tell if it is going to evolve into a more meaningful event. A move back above the most recent highs would serve to reconfirm the Secondary trend, while failure to do so will set the stage for more weakness to take root. In any event, as long as both averages hold above their previous Secondary lows, the averages will remain bullish at the Secondary level.

-cut-

The bottom line here is that yes, the Secondary Trend according to Dow theory remains bullish, while the Primary Trend remains bearish, and the Dow theory phasing continues to suggest that there is more downside on a larger scale yet to come. The fact that we are seeing these non-confirmations serves as little red flags that we simply have to be aware of and monitor as they could evolve into a much more meaningful decline; or if they hold above support they could be mended, resulting in yet more upside. These little red flags simply mean that this is, in fact. an opportunity for at least a correction, but perhaps a trend change.

more...

http://www.financialsense.com/Market/wrapup.htm

[Roland99]

2. Listening In (the numbers behind the lies...how the US is fudging numbers)

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=638927&mesg_id=638927

[JNelson6563]

3. I saw that!

Caught that yesterday (I think it was) and thought of this thread. I remember a long time ago Al Gore made one of his great Team Bush era speeches....how strongly he condemned the misAdministration for their bullshit numbers! Talked about the Clinton era and asserted that those were "honest numbers" and kind of left that hanging out there. Big applause. Many are wise to the game. Of course no hint of what's affot in the media who dutifully reports whatever the WH press office faxes over. Ugh.

Julie

[54anickel]

4. Thanks Roland99! Much better than the original link and I saved the

pdf file for future reference and to send to my "not so bright" future nephew-in-law. :evilgrin:

[Roland99]

5. Me, too. Note there are some other articles linked in that thread, too.

[54anickel]

9. Yep, great links. I used to follow and post the John Williams stuff

quite a bit when his Primer first came out. Then his more recent articles became subscription based - though he's always kept the primer available.

[Roland99]

23. Amazing that more people aren't aware of what's been going on.

Just more concerned with appearances than reality.

[54anickel]

47. Seems ignorance and blind trust is bliss these days. It's how smart

money begets more money.

[On the Road]

72. Hey, 54anickel,

I'm curious about the Ed Winslow book. I understand he recommends a way of investing that is less risky than the stock market. Can you briefly describe what his method is?

[54anickel]

74. I'm not an expert on Winslow's investment strategy, from what I understand

part of his plan is to use market linked vehicles that transfer the risk of loss to the issuer. I've read that he is also fond of SOME of the "socially responsible" funds. It's a more "conservative" approach to investing rather than trying to meet or beat the market average returns. Sort of like be willing to accept a lower return for the protection of your principal in investments other than the traditional CDs, Treasuries, etc. I think his philosophy is pretty close to that of John Hussman.

Here's a link to his investment company's website. I can't really vouch for him one way or the other aside from agreeing with his assessment that the markets are pretty much a rigged game.
http://www.protectmoney.com/index.html

[On the Road]

98. Hmmm, Some of These are Interesting:

especially for people afraid of losing their principal and being broke in retirement:

Equity Index Linked Notes
Issuers of principal-protected equity linked notes such as Merrill Lynch and Salomon Smith Barney promise to return at least the original investment, regardless of market performance, at maturity. Unlike bonds, however, principal-protected equity linked notes generally pay little or no periodic interest. Instead, at maturity, the issuer of the note repays the original principal of the note plus an amount based on the appreciation of the underlying stock index (such as the S&P 500)....

Market Index Linked Certificates Of Deposit
Unlike traditional CD's that pay a fixed rate of interest, the market rate CD is linked to the performance of a participating stock market index. If the market goes up, the investment does too. Yet, regardless of what the market does, the investor will get back the original principal amount at maturity. In addition, the principal is FDIC insured up to $100,000 per depositor per depository institution....

Equity Linked Index Annuities
These tax-deferred contracts are written and guaranteed by insurance companies.... The more attractive contracts offer annual compounding, no ceiling on the amount of gains as well as an annual reset provision. The reset provision allows the index credit to be added and "locked in" on each anniversary. It can never be taken away, regardless of future index performance. Annuities are designed for longer-term needs such as retirement. Most will allow for additional deposits of as little as $100....

For starters, I'm going to pass them on to my parents. I go to sites like Clearstation daily, but still can't manage to beat the market.

[54anickel]

99. Remind your parents to make sure they understand the fee structure

to any of these if they decide to invest (especially on the Annuities). Some of the "less scrupulous" insurance companies take advantage of the risk adverse, preying on their fears and loading up on the fees.

[UpInArms]

6. daily dollar watch

http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?s=NYBOT_DX

Last trade 90.75 Change +0.08 (+0.09%)

Right Back To Support

http://www.dailyfx.com/story/special-report/special-reports/7267-right-back-to.html

We broke the 200K barrier. In fact at 245K the NFPs exceeded most consensus calls of 210K but the figures from the month prior were adjusted downward to 173K from 190K originally reported and that muted some of the dollar rally. Still the greenback recovered almost all of its losses from last week as traders now bet that 5% Fed funds was a done deal.

To that end the statement earlier in the week by William Poole, the President of St. Louis Fed’s that the Central Bank was prepared to become even more aggressive player in its rate hike campaign if future US economic data proved robust started the dollar rally going by taking the EUR/USD down by 150 points in less than 24 hours on Tuesday.

Next week however, may not be as friendly to dollar bulls as they will face the prospect of poor Retail Sales comparison and the possibility of second consecutive month of TIC data not covering the record Trade Deficit reported this week. Should that be the case market jitters about the US balance sheet position may well reassert themselves. In short as we noted on Friday, “Although the (NFP) number did not hurt the dollar significantly in the short term, it did little to help it.”

...more...

The Dollar May Tumble, but It's O.K. to Shrug

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/12/business/yourmoney/12stra.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin

INVESTORS have no shortage of economic and geopolitical issues to worry about. But a declining dollar may not deserve a high place on their list.

Concern about the stock market fallout from a possible sharp fall in the dollar may trace back to memories of the 1987 stock market crash. Many people attributed that plunge — the largest one-day percentage drop in United States stock market history — to the Reagan administration's apparent willingness, and even eagerness, to let the dollar's foreign exchange value decline.

<snipping out spin>

According to the researchers, the domestic stock market has become increasingly dominated over the years by multinational companies whose costs of operations, as well as sales, are denominated in many currencies in addition to the dollar. That means these multinational companies are largely immune to the effects of currency fluctuations, the researchers say. When one part of such a company's operations is hurt by a change in the value of the dollar, other parts benefit, leaving relatively little net effect on the bottom line.

If the dollar fell in value against other major currencies, for example, the domestic sales of multinational companies based in the United States would probably suffer. That is because a declining currency is often associated with a weakening domestic economy, the researchers said. But these companies would make up for at least part of that domestic weakness by reaping higher sales overseas, because their goods and services would now be cheaper when priced in foreign currencies.

...more...

[54anickel]

78. Big Data Week...(Pfenning)

http://www.kitcocasey.com/displayArticle.php?id=599

snip>

The data cupboard is empty today, but will be restocked in time for tomorrow's 4th Quarter Current Account Deficit, which is expected to come in at $218 billion, surpassing the 3rd quarter's $193.8 billion deficit! This is most likely going to buy the Current Account Deficit at 7% of GDP! OUCH! That should hurt! It just needs to find the chink in the dollar's armor! Yes, the unprotected spot that would cause the dollar bulls much pain and keep them from underpinning an overvalued currency, based on the fundamentals!

We'll also see Retail Sales for February tomorrow... And here... I've got to believe that if it weren't for Valentine's Day, February's number would be really weak! The Butler Household Index (BHI) tells me that Retail Sales should come in around -1%! Oh, but don't let that awful showing in Retail Sales get in the way of the dollar bulls! They will find some good in the number to warrant (in their minds) support for the dollar.

I was reading a story over the weekend about the next G-7 meeting that will be held in Washington next month... There's already talk going around that the G-7 finance ministers will be talking "Global Imbalances"... Central bankers and economists have long cautioned that the gaping U.S. current account deficit could lead to a sudden drop in the dollar... And one source said... "We haven't decided anything but we are likely to talk about global imbalances."

Well... It about time, guys! Come on... If these guys were chicken farmers, they would have allowed the fox to eat all the chickens before they would have a meeting to decide to secure the hen house! G-7 should have dealt with this growing unsustainable problem years ago... It will be very interesting to see what comes of that meeting... I sure hope it's not all about China bashing!

Recall last week I wrote to you about the "Port Gate"? I said then that I didn't see the decision as favorable for the dollar... Well... There are stories going around that some of the Middle Eastern countries are talking about converting a larger portion of their dollar reserves to euros... Of course, they could also be doing that to have a large euro reserve ready for the opening of the Iranian Oil Bourse... Hard to say what the reason is, but I'm sure that the protectionism that the U.S. has now put in place is the number one answer... Survey says!

more...

[UpInArms]

7. Fannie finds new accounting errors, delays results

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-13T133445Z_01_N13260910_RTRIDST_0_FINANCIAL-FANNIE-FILING-UPDATE-1.XML

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - Fannie Mae, whose accounting problems will likely lead to an $11 billion profit restatement, on Monday said it has found more errors related to some investment securities, loans and mortgage-backed securities trusts.

Fannie Mae, which is the leading mortgage finance company in the United States, did not estimate how those errors might affect the magnitude of its expected earnings restatement. Some of the errors, Fannie said, may affect the timing of recorded losses.

<snip>

The company said it would not file 2005 results on time. It also said it does not expect to post 2004 results before the second half of 2006.

<snip>

For example, the company said it made wrong determinations of the initial cost basis of real estate assets at foreclose and the amounts charged-off against the allowance for loan losses. It also did not expense costs related to foreclosure activities in the proper period.

...more...

[54anickel]

Fannie Mae Warnings Documented

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/03/12/AR2006031200799.html

A recently released investigative report attributed Fannie Mae's accounting problems in large part to two executives, but documents within the study indicate that the board and former chief executive were informed about some of the policies and practices that got the company into trouble.

In a November 2003 meeting of the board's audit committee, attended by chief executive Franklin D. Raines and his successor, Daniel H. Mudd, the company's controller spelled out a policy related to interest income that regulators have since declared invalid.

In May 2003, a presentation for the company's Office of the Chair, an executive group that included Raines and Mudd, said one of Fannie Mae's goal in implementing a new accounting rule was to "Minimize earnings volatility."

In July 2003, an internal audit report, which included Raines and Mudd on its distribution list, cited problems with Fannie Mae's accounting controls that may have affected its books by as much as $155 million.

Those warning signs came against the backdrop of an accounting scandal at Fannie Mae's direct competitor in the mortgage industry, Freddie Mac, a company with a virtually identical business model and a similar government charter to keep the housing markets supplied with money. The problems at Freddie Mac had raised widespread concerns about Fannie Mae's accounting -- concerns that Raines sought to dispel.

more...

[UpInArms]

8. Treasury studying market impact of derivatives, hedge funds

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B0EB7B26F%2D0A14%2D4855%2DA4C7%2D83398824DA54%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. Treasury Department is examining if the growth of derivatives and hedge funds may be changing "the overall level or nature of risk" in markets and financial institutions, a top Treasury official said Monday. "We want to ensure that the magnitude of risk and exposure are properly measured," Treasury Undersecretary for Domestic Finance Randal Quarles said in prepared remarks to a banking conference. Separately, Quarles said the Bush administration is seeking a significant reduction in the portfolio holdings of mortgage giants Fannie Mae (FNM 53.93, +0.26, +0.5% ) and Freddie Mac (FRE 63.89, -0.12, -0.2% ) .

[54anickel]

25. Treasurys lower ahead of Fedspeak

Buying could ensue if benchmark yield rises to 4.8%

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Treasury prices were under pressure in the early going Monday, sending yields higher, ahead of speeches by San Francisco Federal Reserve President Janet Yellen and Fed Governor Mark Olson.

The speeches will be carefully parsed for clues about the central bank's leanings on monetary policy.

snip>

Dealers said there's speculation that a round of buying will take place if the yield returns to the 4.8% level it reached last week.
Treasury prices have been driven lower in recent weeks by a growing consensus that the Fed will need to keep lifting rates to cool the economy and inflation, as well as to keep pace with rising rates in other economies.

There are no data releases Monday to lend direction to trade.


Send in the clowns

[UpInArms]

62. Yellen spews:

12:44 PM ET 3/13/06 YELLEN: FED SHOULD TAKE MORE STEPS TO ENHANCE TRANSPARENCY

12:44 PM ET 3/13/06 YELLEN: FED SHOULD NOT SET TIMETABLE FOR INFLATION TARGET

12:44 PM ET 3/13/06 YELLEN: 1%-2% CORE PCE RATE A COMFORT ZONE FOR INFLATION

12:44 PM ET 3/13/06 YELLEN SAYS CORE PCE RATE OF 1.5% IS GOOD INFLATION TARGET

12:44 PM ET 3/13/06 FED'S YELLEN SUPPORTS SETTING SPECIFIC INFLATION TARGET

[Roland99]

64. Can I assume she's against the cessation of publishing M3?

:sarcasm:

[UpInArms]

70. Yield curve not implying recession - Fed's Yellen (so stop saying that!)

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-13T185203Z_01_CHB000148_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-FED-YELLEN-CURVE-URGENT.XML

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The flat U.S. Treasury yield curve remains a "conundrum" with several possible explanations, but is not pointing to recession down the line, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said on Monday.

There are many reasons why demand for long-dated Treasuries maturities has been so strong in recent years, holding bond yields at low levels even as short-term rates have risen, Yellen said in answer to an audience question at the National Association for Business Economics meeting.

Yellen, who said that she supports the adoption of formal inflation targets, said there was "no one right thing to do" in choosing which of several inflation indicators to use as a benchmark.

However, the core personal consumption expenditures (PCE) index is more comprehensive and less biased than the more popular consumer price index, she said.

...more...

[UpInArms]

71. Fed's Yellen: Economy is in good shape, to slow later in '06

I guess this "great economy" is just not sustainable :eyes:

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B3A05653A%2DD336%2D4BD7%2D944A%2D07EA2A6869B0%7D&dist=newsfinder&symbol=&siteid=mktw

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. economy "is in pretty good shape," but should slow later this year, San Francisco Fed president Janet Yellen said Monday. Yellen said the U.S. labor force "is close to full employment" but there have been no signs of wage pressures. Yellen said the Fed should be "sensitive to the possibility of overshooting" as it reviews the economic data to decide whether to hike rates further. Yellen is a voting Federal Open Market Committee member this year. She spoke to reporters after a speech to the National Association for Business Economics.

[UpInArms]

28. US Treasury's Quarles confident of debt limit hike

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-13T145219Z_01_WBT004958_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-TREASURY-CEILING-URGENT.XML

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Undersecretary Randal Quarles on Monday said he was confident that Congress will move to raise the statutory debt ceiling by the end of this week,

The Treasury has been using stop-gap measures for several weeks in order to remain just below the $8.184 trillion limit, including accessing federal employee pension funds and suspending sales of state and local government securities.

"We've been clear that we've run out of the ability to use the tools that we have to manage the debt ceiling around the middle of March," Quarles told reporters after a speech to the Institute of International Bankers.

"Since they (Congress) go out on recess at the end of this week, I think that's the time that they need to do that," said Quarles, the Treasury's head of domestic finance.

Asked what would happen if Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling by the end of the week, Quarles said: "At the moment we're confident that they will."

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

33. Ummmmmm....... Citibank???????.........

Um......Mr. Telephone Rep at Citibank? I have a little problem. Unable to make ends meet these days, and I've run out of my credit limit of $25,000. Tapped out all my home equity too with this Home Equity Loan which seems to increase more rapidly now that interest rates have been going up.

It's getting to be tough to make all my payments and also handle these higher monthly minimum payments you guys are saddling me with.

Could you Pretty Please increase my credit limit? I promise I'll pay ya back. Not sure when, but someday. I've been a good boy up until now, and I Really Really need this help, otherwise I've got Big problems.

[UpInArms]

59. Treasury debt limit hike deadline March 24-source

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-13T173335Z_01_WAT005051_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-TREASURY-LIMIT-URGENT.XML

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - The U.S. Treasury Department has informed Congress that it must have increased borrowing authority by March 24 at the latest, a Senate Republican aide said on Monday.

The aide, who asked not to be identified, said Republicans and Democrats were in negotiations on when this week the Senate would debate and pass a bill raising the current limit on federal borrowing.

No discussion on "if", only "when".

:banghead:

[UpInArms]

34. Treasuries fall amid global bond-market downdraft

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-03-13T150731Z_01_N13348933_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS.XML

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices fell on Monday, taking benchmark yields close to last week's highs amid expectations of higher rates around the world and on mortgage-related selling.

Selling began overnight in both Asia and the euro zone as bond investors in both regions dealt with views that their respective economies are growing enough to trigger increases in official interest rates, traders and analysts said.

On a day with no economic data, the Treasuries market also continued reacting to Friday's data showing solid payrolls growth of 243,000 jobs in February.

Two voting members of the Federal Reserve's policy-making commmittee, were slated to speak in separate appearances on Monday afternoon. San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen and Fed Governor Mark Olson were not scheduled to talk about the economy. But both will field questions from the audience, keeping open the prospect of material comments from the two.

<snip>

Monday's "resteepening" of the yield curve came largely from longer-dated securities, raising the question of whether some of the downdraft -- aside from the mortgage-related selling - may be because Asian players, who have been big buyers over the last few years, were perhaps bidding less aggressively.

...more...

[UpInArms]

54. US's Snow postpones Africa trip-spokesman

(maybe his credit card charge was "denied")

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-13T170719Z_01_WBT004963_RTRIDST_0_ECONOMY-SNOW-DEBT-URGENT.XML

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow is postponing a mid-March Africa trip to talk to Congress about raising the federal debt limit and proposals to change government reviews of foreign investment in the United States, a Treasury spokesman said on Monday.

"This is really the week it must be done," Treasury spokesman Tony Fratto told reporters at a briefing, referring to an increase in the $8.18 trillion debt ceiling.

[UpInArms]

79. US Treasuries slip on global liquidity concerns

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-03-13T204447Z_01_N13547963_RTRIDST_0_MARKETS-BONDS-UPDATE-1.XML

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury debt prices eased on Monday as sentiment toward bonds soured amid renewed signs of tightening monetary conditions globally.

The latest blow came from Japan, where comments from a central bank official were construed as a sign that interest rate hikes in that country might come sooner than expected.

Fearing a drying up of global liquidity, investors took benchmark 10-year notes <US10YT=RR> 3/32 lower for a yield of 4.78 percent.

That was up from 4.76 percent late Friday and ever closer to a peak near 4.81 percent hit last week, the highest in nearly two years.

The heaviness in Japan trickled through Europe, eventually hitting government debt in the United States, where strong jobs data late last week had already convinced Wall Street that the Federal Reserve would continue raising interest rates.

The market has almost fully priced in another two rate increases from the central bank by mid-year, which would bring the target federal funds rate to 5 percent from the current 4.50 percent.

...more...

[UpInArms]

92. Interest Rates Climb in Treasury Auction

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/business/3720193.html

WASHINGTON — Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills rose in Monday's auction to the highest levels in five years.

The Treasury Department auctioned $19 billion in three-month bills at a discount rate of 4.510 percent, up from 4.500 percent last week. Another $21 billion in six-month bills was auctioned at a discount rate of 4.645 percent, up from 4.600 percent last week.

The three-month rate was the highest since three-month bills averaged 4.520 percent on March 12, 2001. The six-month rate was the highest since these bills average 4.770 percent on Feb. 20, 2001.

...more...

[UpInArms]

10. UAE may convert holdings to euros

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/5Qj40qGW0zsFNJJk8874Wtr?siteid=mktw&dist=morenews

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The central bank governor of the United Arab Emirates suggested the country may switch up to 10% of its $22.5 billion in currency reserves into euros, in a sign of fallout from Congress' hostility to the acquisition of some U.S. ports by a Dubai-based firm.

The comments from UAE Central Bank Governor Hamad Saud al-Sayyari didn't have a huge impact on the euro, which rose about 0.2% at $1.1925.

Though al-Sayyari didn't link the forex move to Dubai Ports World's acquisition of Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation, the market interpreted the comments in that way.

"The talk has clarified just how damaging the rejection of Dubai Ports proposed takeover of U.S. ports from P&O could be. The failed Dubai Ports deal has further damaged the reputation of President Bush with his approval rate falling to historic levels," said currency analysts from BNP Paribas.

On Friday, trade talks between the U.S. and the UAE were postponed.

...more...

[ozymandius]

15. Dialing for Petrodollars

The port deal is off. Thank goodness nobody squawked about the chicken.

Yes, Church's Chicken has Arab owners, as do Caribou Coffee and Loehmann's. Arab companies have large stakes in DaimlerChrysler, Saks, and Tiffany, among others. They have gobbled up American real estate, including some of the fanciest New York hotels, and poured billions into U.S. treasury bonds.

But given the petrodollars now washing over the Middle East, the big question is why Arab companies haven't invested more in America. Compared with the British and the Japanese, with direct American investments in 2004 totaling more than $420 billion, the $8 billion or so Arab companies have put in seems rather chintzy. Most of their money has gone to other Arab countries, Europe, and Asia.

more...

[ozymandius]

11. Oil Prices Rise on Nigeria, Iran Concerns

LONDON - Oil prices rose Monday amid lingering concerns about unrest in Nigeria and the possibility of U.N. sanctions against Iran.

-cut-

Oil prices are likely to remain volatile because of anxiety about potential supply disruptions due to Iran's nuclear dispute and violence in Nigeria's oil delta, said Sucden Commodity brokers.

"The only thing that is keeping the price of oil high is the threat of a loss of production from these two sources, as the world doesn't currently have enough spare capacity to cover any major supply problem from each supplier," it said.

Kuwaiti oil minister Sheik Ahmed Fahd Al Ahmed Al Sabah has said he believes political turmoil and extremism have added $5 to $8 to the price of a barrel of oil.

more...

[UpInArms]

37. April Crude @ $60.15 bbl - April NatGas @ $6.95 mln btus

10:21 AM ET 3/13/06 APRIL CRUDE CLIMBS 19C TO $60.15/BRL IN EARLY NY TRADING

10:21 AM ET 3/13/06 APRIL NATURAL GAS RISES 30.4C, OR 4.6%, TO $6.95/MLN BTUS

[UpInArms]

48. April Crude $60.80 bbl - April Nat @ $6.97 mln btus

11:18 AM ET 3/13/06 APRIL CRUDE UP 84C, OR 1.4%, AT $60.80/BRL AFTER $60.90 HIGH

11:18 AM ET 3/13/06 APRIL NATURAL GAS UP 4.9% AT $6.97/MLN BTU AFTER $7.02 HIGH

[54anickel]

12. Toon link is broken - I think this is the one Ozy had posted....

on edit - Oh sure, it works great on preview.

It's the last one on this page
http://www.anntelnaes.com/date/mar2006.html

[ozymandius]

16. I have the same broken link.

I wonder if Elad has made a change to the software.

[54anickel]

18. Yeah, here I thought maybe mine would work since it was a jpeg rather

than the gif in your opening post (since it worked so well in preview mode). Oh, well...it is a great toon - as usual.

[UpInArms]

13. Gasoline prices rise to $2.35/gallon: survey

http://today.reuters.com/news/newsarticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyid=2006-03-12T210105Z_01_N06121781_RTRUKOC_0_US-ENERGY-GASOLINE-RETAIL.xml

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The average retail price of a gallon of gasoline in the United States rose during the past two weeks due to federal regulations and a seasonal increase in demand, according to an industry analyst.

The national average for self-serve, regular unleaded gasoline was $2.35 per gallon on March 10, a rise of nearly 11 cents from two weeks earlier, according to the nationwide Lundberg survey of about 7,000 gas stations.

The latest results reverse several weeks of declining prices. The average price of gasoline had fallen about 9 cents between January 20 and February 24, Lundberg said.

"We're leaving our low winter-demand period and entering the spring and summer driving season," said survey author Trilby Lundberg.

The U.S. government also has introduced lower sulfur requirements for gasoline and diesel, as well as regulations that make it more expensive for refineries to produce gasoline, Lundberg said.

The price per gallon is about 38 cents higher for self-service, regular unleaded than a year ago. On March 4, 2005, the average was about $1.97 per gallon.

...more...

[UpInArms]

14. Consumers Face Higher Min. Payments

http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=77215

NEW YORK (AP)- Making the minimum payment on your credit card bill might not be as easy as it used to be — and two of the nation's largest banks say their own finances might suffer as a result.

Both Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. said in recent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that delinquencies and charge-offs might spike in the second half of the year. That's when the banks believe new federal guidelines that require significantly increased monthly minimum payments will begin to hurt customers already struggling to pay bills.

The new requirements imposed by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency — which regulates banks and some credit card companies — are designed to help customers avoid getting deeper into debt. However, a new spate of defaults as customers adjust to the new minimums could hurt profit at the nation's card issuers — especially those that cater to borrowers with weaker credit.

"Banks will not only have increased losses, but reduced revenue as well," said Lehman Brothers analyst Jason Goldberg. "For some customers, the banks will have to reduce interest payments in order to keep them from defaulting. There's a bit of uncertainty because it's hard to predict human behavior."

Banks have instituted the new minimum balances at a time when American families continue to reel from credit card debt. The Federal Reserve said last month in its survey of consumer finances that 46.2 percent of all families now carry a credit card balance — up from 44.4 percent in 2001.

...more...

[ozymandius]

17. pre-open blather

09:02 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +4.6. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +6.5. Futures trade continues to suggest an upside start for stocks. Gains in foreign markets are contributing to the positive tone. Asian markets fared especially well - with the Nikkei extending its recent rally and jumping 1.5%. Also, the DAX has risen 0.7% after Germany's Merck KGaA offered approximately $17 billion for German drug company Schering AG (SHR). Another factor helping to underpin the bullish bias is crude's decline. Futures contract for April delivery are currently trading at $59.84 per barrel.

08:30 am : S&P futures vs fair value: +3.8. Nasdaq futures vs fair value: +5.0. The cash market is still headed for a higher start. In addition to the flurry of news on the M&A front, a host of analyst upgrades is helping to feed the positive disposition. Citigroup upgraded Apple (AAPL) to Buy from Hold, J.P. Morgan raised its view on Citrix Systems (CTXS) to Overweight from Neutral, and CIBC upgraded Nucor (NUE) to Sector Perform from Sector Underperform. CIBC also upgraded GNA and IPS, saying that, with a strong Q1 under way, they expect most steel-related stocks to offer a robust Q2 outlook.

[ozymandius]

19. Markets are open for bidness.

9:31
Dow 11,084.58 +8.24 (+0.07%)
Nasdaq 2,271.64 +9.60 (+0.42%)
S&P 500 1,281.58 0.00 (0.00%)
10-Yr Bond 47.83 +0.28 (+0.59%)
NYSE Volume 2,152,072,000
Nasdaq Volume 50,838,000

[54anickel]

20. Bernanke, `Less Diplomatic,' May Face G-10 Barrage on Deficit

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=ai21HEkph0y4&refer=us

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. current account deficit swelled to a record last year. The gap between the views of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and other central bankers about it may be just as large.

Bernanke, meeting the world's central bankers for the first time since taking office Feb. 1, may find himself under fire for his view that the deficit doesn't threaten the global economy. Bank of Canada Governor David Dodge says the deficit risks an ``outright recession,'' while European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet says the world economy will have to ``pay a price'' for U.S. profligacy.

The dispute may turn Bernanke into a more controversial figure on the world stage than his predecessor, Alan Greenspan, and help determine the path of interest rates, economic growth and currencies around the world, say former central bankers from the U.S., Canada and Europe.

``Bernanke's view is diametrically opposed to the view typical outside the U.S. that, by running a larger current account deficit, the U.S. is imposing a risk on the global economy,'' said former Fed Governor Laurence Meyer, now vice chairman at Macroeconomic Advisers LLC, a St. Louis forecasting firm. ``He's throwing it back in their face.''

Bernanke, Trichet and Dodge are among policy makers gathered in Basel, Switzerland, today for the bi-monthly meeting of central bankers from the Group of 10 nations. The gathering marks Bernanke's first international meeting since being sworn in Feb. 1; Trichet will brief reporters at 1 p.m. local time after chairing the talks.

more...

[54anickel]

21. Uranium May Lead Rally in Metals on Nuclear Revival

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000082&sid=ag5rXrCA9E_s&refer=canada

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Nuclear energy's revival can best be seen in uranium, which outperformed the metals markets in 2005 and may do so again this year.

Uranium is poised to climb 27 percent to $50 a pound in the next six months because ``there's not a lot of uranium available,'' said Jean-Francois Tardif, who put 8.4 percent of his C$300 million ($259 million) Sprott Opportunities Hedge Fund LP into uranium. The Toronto-based fund jumped 39 percent in 2005, when its peers on average returned 9.3 percent, according to Hedge Fund Research Inc. of Chicago.

Wellington Management Co. of Boston, which oversees $521 billion, in the fourth quarter raised its stake in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan-based Cameco Corp., the largest uranium producer. The fund holds 13.6 percent of Cameco worth C$2 billion, according to Bloomberg data. The Anglican Church in Sydney took uranium off a list of unethical investments last year, and its funds benefited from a 23 percent gain in BHP Billiton, the No. 4 uranium miner.

Uranium last year gained 76 percent, beating all but one of the 19 commodities in the Reuters/Jefferies CRB Index. Only sugar jumped more.

Not even zinc, the favorite this year among commodity specialists surveyed by Bloomberg News in January, will keep pace with uranium. Analysts surveyed then said zinc would offer the best return from the six primary London Metal Exchange markets, advancing 21 percent.

more...

[UpInArms]

22. The Fed has the leash, but is the dog on it?

http://bostonworks.boston.com/news/articles/2006/03/12/the_fed_has_the_leash_but_is_the_dog_on_it/

''Due to the present financial situation, the light at the end of the tunnel will be turned off." Anonymous

Here's a pretty mental picture: the economy as a cruise ship, with the Federal Reserve holding the rudder, steering into the endless dawn of economic progress. Pretty, but . . . HA!

Here's the more accurate image: the economy as a dog, with the Fed holding a choke chain. OK, big deal. But here's where it gets interesting: Unlike the old ''invisible hand" of capitalism, in this new version, the Fed hand is seen, but it's the dog that's invisible. The Fed has hold of the chain, but isn't quite sure where the dog is or where it's headed. So, the big question becomes, Do you jerk the chain every so often, just to be sure the dog knows you're there? Or, do you jerk it just to be sure that the dog is still there?

<snip>

Back to the economy and the choke chain. The Fed watches the rate of employment, wanting to keep the economy moving ahead and near full employment. Not at full employment, but near full employment. Oh no, you don't want everyone working, because then working people might get a big head and start to demand wage increases and start to feel like they deserve to see their incomes rise like the incomes of executives.

No, we can't have that, because if wage increases catch on, then there's inflation. So if the economy does well, and gets close to full employment, then the Fed raises interest rates, jerking the chain and getting the dog to heel.

<snip>

So, we could say that the working class is the neck of the economy, right where the choke chain is jerked.

...more...

[UpInArms]

24. Bush censure sought over spying

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/4801578.stm

The US Senate will be asked on Monday to censure President George W Bush over a wiretapping scheme approved by him soon after the 9/11 attacks.

The unusual request will be tabled by Senator Russ Feingold, a Democrat.

Mr Feingold alleges Mr Bush violated the constitution when he ordered wiretapping without warrants, but the White House denies the law was broken.

The BBC's Justin Webb says the motion has no chance of passing in the Republican-controlled Senate.

<snip>

Senator Feingold says what the president did by consciously and intentionally violating the constitution and the laws of the country with his illegal wiretapping had to be answered.

...more...

The Presidential Oath of Office

The oath to be taken by the president on first entering office is specified in
Article II, Section 1, of the Constitution:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the
office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my
ability, preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United
States.

The Constitution granted the presidency powers of its own, such as the
power of commander in chief. Believing, however, in balanced
government, the framers created a strong Congress and a judiciary to
check the chief executive.

It should be noted that although the Supreme Court determines
presidential power by its interpretation of the Constitution, the Court
has seldom directly checked the exercise of presidential power. In
many cases, the Court has affirmed it. In United States v.
Curtiss-Wright Export Corporation (1936), for example, the Court
acknowledged a broad presidential power to make executive
agreements. The Court's rulings against the president have occurred
mainly in civil liberties cases, such as Ex Parte Milligan (1866), striking
down a presidential authorization of the trial of civilians by a military
tribunal in an area far removed from the theater of war.

[54anickel]

29. Oh that Russ, I'll bet he's doing this just for me today since it's my

birthday! Thank you Russ, it makes my day. It was March 13, 1848 when the voters ratified the WI Constitution as part of the prerequisite to becoming a State in the Union. Somehow, Russ bringing the Constitution (that GD peice of paper) to light on this date just seems appropriate. B-)

[UpInArms]

31. Happy Birthday 54anickel!

:grouphug:

:toast:

[54anickel]

35. Why thank you UIA. I quit counting long ago, but I still like to

celebrate the anniversary of my 29th birthday.

[ozymandius]

45. Happy Birthday 54anickel!

:toast: :toast: :toast: :toast: :party: :party: :party: :party:

I hope your day is grand!

Ozy :hi:

[54anickel]

61. Thanks Ozy! So far my day has been full of "grands"

A grand pile of laundry, another grand pile of junk from a hall closet, and now I'm about to put away a grand pile of clean dishes so I can start up the second grand pile of dirty ones!

Then it's on to preparing for the new flooring in the kitchen and laundry room. That's our last home improvement project for the year. There's still a bath and bedroom to do, but I think we'll hold off for a while. There's still plenty of junking out projects for me to work on for the spring and summer and those don't cost any money. Maybe I'll just hold a summer-long rummage sale. Captialism at it's finest!

[mojavekid]

63. HAPPY BIRTHDAY 54anickel!!!

And Many, Many Happy and Healthy Returns!

:party: :toast: :party: :toast: :party: :toast: :smoke:



- mojavekid

[54anickel]

66. Hey Mojavekid, thanks for stopping by! Good to "see" you again.

[MARALE]

69. Happy Birthday

Have a great one! I don't usually post anymore (new job and all), but I wanted to wish one of my favorite posters Happy Birthday!:party: :party: :party: :party: :party: :party:

[54anickel]

75. Oh, thank you Marale - you are too kind.

:blush: :hug:

I've missed your posts and wondered where you'd gone.

Hope the new job is going well for you! :toast:

[54anickel]

38. A Lawless and Incompetent Leadership (Nader)

http://www.counterpunch.com/nader03112006.html

George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, two top outlaws smashing our country's rule of law and democratic liberties, are testing the American people's resistance. Every day they are testing. Every day they think by flaunting the words, "war on terror", they can get Americans to concede more and more of what makes the United States a constitutionally-abiding government under the rule of law.

You know what? With not enough exceptions, they are right. Day by day, we're giving up what our forefathers fought to bequeath us since that famous Declaration of Independence of 1776. They were determined that people in this country would not be arrested without charges and jailed indefinitely, that they would not be tortured, or sent to be tortured in dictatorial regimes, or deprived of habeas corpus to take their incarceration to our courts of law, or be snooped on at the whim of the President and his deputies or that people in faraway lands would be destroyed in the tens of thousands due to a fabricated war-invasion-quagmire.

They instituted a constitution so that people would not be jailed without "probable cause", or be lied to about taking this country and its soldiers to war, or have shoved aside the checks and balances represented by American courts and the Congress. All these are being done by two pro-Vietnam war draft dodgers!

What does all this tell you about all of us out there in the great United States of America? A giant yawn of "who cares" by citizens, nearly two-thirds of whom now have turned against these two White House fabricators in poll after poll regarding the war, the surrender to Big Business, the gross incompetence in managing taxpayer dollars and the Katrina disaster.

But listen, the rumble of resistance and opposition is getting louder and not just from the increasing number of public demonstrations around the country.

more...

[UpInArms]

41. When Nader comes out with a column that is entitled "I was WRONG"

I will listen to him - until then he is just another sack of shit financed by GOPpiggies to destroy our country.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/politics/july-dec00/nader.html

RALPH NADER: On the real, important issues of corporate power, the only difference between Gore and Bush is the velocity with which their knees hit the floor when big corporations knock on their door

SPOKESMAN: First, that our government is irretrievably corrupt.

Politics: Try to Guess Who's Backing Nader

July 19 issue - In his run for the White House, Ralph Nader is getting help from an unexpected source: Republicans. Of the $1 million that Nader has raised for his campaign so far, about $50,000 is from donors who have also given to President George W. Bush's campaign. One in 10 of Nader's biggest contributors—individuals who've written checks of $1,000 or more—are longtime GOP donors.

Among the notable: Richard Egan, Bush's former ambassador to Ireland. Egan raised more than $100,000 as a Bush Pioneer in 2000 and at least $200,000 this cycle as one of the Rangers, the Bush campaign's most elite fund-raising circle. In 2001 Egan contributed $100,000 of his own money to help pay for Bush's Inauguration, while he and his family rank among the biggest contributors to the Republican Party in general, giving nearly $1 million to the GOP since 1999, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. And according to Nader's campaign-finance reports, Egan, his son John and his daughter-in-law Pamela each contributed the maximum $2,000 donation to Nader's effort. Egan declined to comment to NEWSWEEK.

Another $2,000 contributor to Nader was Houston businessman and longtime Bush-family pal Nijad Fares, the son of Lebanese Deputy Prime Minister Issam Fares. In 2000 Fares gave $200,000 to the Bush Inaugural fund. "Republicans are giving money to Nader because they want to prop up his candidacy," says Democratic National Committee Chairman Terry McAuliffe.

...more...

Nader makes me :puke:

[54anickel]

44. Nader is a "full of himself" fool and readily made himself a tool for

the "GOPpiggies". True enough, he shares a huge amount of responsibility for this mal-admin in power. But, right now I won't tune out anyone that is willing to speak out against this mal-admin. I'll question their motives, I certainly won't congratulate or fawn over them, but I'll damn sure use them and their words if it helps take this cabal out.

Hell, I'd post an article by Rush if it spoke out the truth against Bushco. :evilgrin:

[UpInArms]

46. I agree and understand -

I just cannot get over my disgust for those that have played a willing part in the destruction of our country.

It would do a world of good for Nader to come clean and start with the shit in his own nest (jmho).

:hi:

[54anickel]

50. Well, your first link does point out a problem that the Dems haven't

been willing to address, and that is the divide that is happening in the party. They have taken the "liberal" votes that Nader was after for granted as they continue to bow to the corporate elitist. If you believe in the Plutocracy (and I do) then you have to take 2004 (starting with the primaries) as a shining example of them in action.

From the pbs segment:

...He's generated passion among some of the same groups that protested the World Trade Organization in the streets of Seattle last November, supporters of the consumer, environmental, and human rights movements, death penalty opponents, labor and anti-globalism activists.

RALPH NADER: There are people in the Northwest who don't like corporate globalization. All these are unique positions that are either ignored by Bush-Gore or they have the opposite position that's not very popular with these people.

:hi: backatchya

[54anickel]

40. On Torture and Being "Good Americans"

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0303-28.htm

snip>

Bush Embraces Torture

To ask what it means to be a "good American"is not to compare Bush to Hitler or Republicans to Nazis. The question does not arise only when leaders engage in mass murder on the scale of a Hitler or Stalin, which Bush has not. It requires only that they engage in actions that are clearly evil, which Bush has.

Every generation or so an evil arises which is so monstrous, so degrading to the human spirit, so morally bankrupt that even to debate it is a sign of moral corruption. Native American genocide, slavery, totalitarianism, and Jim Crow laws are evils so unspeakable that we cannot understand today how anyone with a shred of decency could have once supported them. Today, torture, a practice far more degrading to us than to our victims, represents such an evil.

The issue has become urgent because Bush has chosen to demand the legal right to torture anyone he wishes. When torture was revealed at Abu Ghraib, the administration—falsely and shamelessly—attempted to shift its own responsibility onto foot-soldiers like Lynndie England. Since then, however, leaks have revealed that the CIA has tortured terrorist suspects all around the world, using techniques like "waterboarding." In response, Senator John McCain proposed an amendment, attached to the 2006 Defense bill, that would ban torture.

Bush's first response to McCain's amendment was to threaten to veto the Defense Bill if it passed. When it became clear that McCain's amendment would pass by an overwhelming majority (it passed in by a 90-9 margin in the end), Bush reversed course and said he would support the amendment. Yet when he actually signed the bill, Bush added something called a "signing statement" in which he reserved the right to do whatever he chooses as Commander-in-Chief to "protect the American people from further terrorist attacks." In short, even as he signed McCain's amendment, Bush let it be known that he intends to ignore it as he sees fit.

Bush's demand is unprecedented. No leader in all human history, not even Hitler, Stalin, or Mao, has publicly demanded the right to torture. All others have behaved as Bush did before the amendment when he secretly tortured on a scale unseen in American history even while saying he wasn't. Forced into the open by the McCain amendment, however, Bush chose to openly demand the legal right to torture. Most experts assume he will continue to torture.

It is important to understand what this means. Bush justifies his right to torture on the grounds of saving American lives in a global "war on terrorism." Unlike previous wars, however, this war will never end. On the contrary, Bush's bungling of the war on terror—including the increased Muslim hatred of the United States that the practice of torture has caused—makes it more likely that there will be another domestic 9/11, leading in turn to more demands to torture. Bush's assertion of his right to torture, therefore, would make torture a permanent and growing instrument of U.S. state policy.

more...

[54anickel]

42. Iraq through the prism of Vietnam (Gen Odom)

http://www.niemanwatchdog.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=background.view&backgroundid=0078

Those who say Iraq is nothing like Vietnam have another guess coming, says retired Gen. William Odom. He lists striking similarities and asserts that only after it pulls out of Iraq can the U.S. hope for international support to deal with anti-Western forces.

By William E. Odom
[email protected]

The Vietnam War experience can’t tell us anything about the war in Iraq – or so it is said. If you believe that, try looking through this lens, and you may change your mind.

The Vietnam War had three phases. The War in Iraq has already completed an analogous first phase, is approaching the end of the second phase, and shows signs of entering the third.

snip>

Will Phase Three in Iraq end with helicopters flying out of the “green zone” in Baghdad? It all sounds so familiar.

The difference lies in the consequences. Vietnam did not have the devastating effects on U.S. power that Iraq is already having. On this point, those who deny the Vietnam-Iraq analogy are probably right. They are wrong, however, in believing that “staying the course” will have any result other than making the damage to U.S. power far greater than changing course and withdrawing sooner in as orderly a fashion as possible.

But even in its differences, Vietnam can be instructive about Iraq. Once the U.S. position in Vietnam collapsed, Washington was free to reverse the negative trends it faced in NATO and U.S.-Soviet military balance, in the world economy, in its international image, and in other areas. Only by getting out of Iraq can the United States possibly gain sufficient international support to design a new strategy for limiting the burgeoning growth of anti-Western forces it has unleashed in the Middle East and Southwest Asia.

more...

[UpInArms]

26. Third U.S. case of mad cow disease

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=16582

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture routine tests have revealed a third U.S. case of mad cow disease.

The officials are waiting for the results of more detailed testing at government laboratories in Iowa, to confirm the presence of mad cow disease.

The suspect animal was found when a brain sample yielded an "inconclusive" result during a rapid-screening test.

The department has not said where the cow was from.

The suspected case is a major setback for officials as it follows months of work in trying to reopen beef trade with Japan and South Korea.

...more...

[UpInArms]

27. Hong Kong suspends imports of beef from U.S. processing company

http://thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2006/3/12/apworld/20060312143550&sec=apworld

HONG KONG (AP) - Hong Kong has suspended imports from a U.S. beef processing company after discovering its products contained bones, which are prohibited under regulations aimed at protecting against mad cow disease, the government said.

Imports from Swift Beef Co., based in Colorado, have been suspended, Hong Kong's Food and Environment Hygiene Department said in a statement late Saturday.

Hong Kong partially lifted a two-year ban on imports of U.S. beef in December which was imposed after mad cow disease was detected in a cow in Washington state.

But only boneless beef from cattle less than 30 months old without the animal's brain, spinal cord or other parts with a high risk of mad cow disease can be allowed into the territory.

The government said Swift's products violated a pact between Hong Kong and the U.S.

"The decision was made following discovery of beef imports with bones from that plant during inspections,'' the statement said.

...more...

[OrangeCountyDemocrat]

30. Happy Birthday 54ANickel

Hope it's a good one! Glad to have your daily input. :-)

[54anickel]

39. Thank you OCD. Right now I'm just hoping the power stays on for the

day - that alone would make it a good one. It's a breezy one out there! Weather sure has been strange so far this year.

[Roland99]

56. Well, hey! Happy Birthday!

Don't take any wooden nickels.

[Roland99]

57. oops...

[UpInArms]

32. Former Bush Adviser Arrested in 'Theft Scheme'

and now even "petty" thieves are shown to be a part of this maladministration :eyes:

http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1172159,00.html

There’s no quicker way to get a smirk in Washington than to leave a $161,000-a-year White House job, without having something new, and say you're doing it to spend more time with your family. That's what Claude A. Allen, President Bush’s domestic policy adviser, told his bosses before he resigned in February. And that's what the White House told the press when his departure was announced three days after Bush had released his new budget and Allen, one of the administration’s most senior African Americans, had told reporters, "The safety net is tight and strong." The White House threw him a farewell reception in the Roosevelt Room, with family and staff enjoying soft drinks and desserts. White House officials and reporters were abuzz about what might be "the real reason" for Allen's departure: Was he protesting something in the budget? Was he running for office?

It turns out that Allen, a 45-year-old father of three who is a nationally prominent conservative, knew that he was under investigation by police in suburban Montgomery County, Md., where he lives. He was arrested Thursday and charged with "theft" and "theft scheme" following a bizarre incident at a Target store that detectives allege was part of a year-long spree of fraudulent refunds at Target and Hecht’s stores that netted him more than $5,000 in credits to his credit cards. "He would buy items, take them out to his car, and return to the store with the receipt," a police statement said. "He would select the same items he had just purchased, and then return them for a refund." The police said that in 25 incidents during 2005, Allen "obtained refunds for items ranging from clothing, a Bose theater system, stereo equipment, and photo printer to items valued only at $2.50."

Allen’s lawyer told reporters that it was a misunderstanding on the part of Target officials, and that the investigation had nothing to do with his client’s departure from government. White House officials learned about the arrest Friday night from news accounts, and Bush was asked about it Saturday morning when he met briefly with reporters following a Roosevelt Room briefing by military officials on efforts to combat Iraqi insurgents' improvised explosive devices. "If the allegations are true, something went wrong in Claude Allen's life, and that is really sad," Bush said. "When I heard the story last night, I was shocked."

...more...

[54anickel]

36. Plain Talk: Primary Bear Market May be Returning

http://www.kitco.com/ind/GoldReport/mar102006.html

snip>

All of this has me thinking that between Dow Theory and my PTI and the Lowry's statistics — something is wrong. The most negative possibility is that the primary bear market has resumed.

The situation is very complex. We're dealing with the whole world, with suspect currencies, with a fragile oil situation, with questionable energy in general, with brutal world competition, with ridiculous levels of debt, and with a shaky real estate boom. I could go on and on, but much of it is condensed into the movements of the stock averages. And in that area, as I said, I don't care for what I'm seeing.

Why the steady distribution as seen in the Lowry's statistics? Why the movement to the "safety" of the big-cap stocks? Why the selling into every rally? Why has my PTI finally broken down? Why has the Dow gone nowhere over six years?

snip>

My sense is that the U.S. and the world economy is at the "creaking stage." Strains are beginning to show in the fabric of the world economy. I think its time to get defensive.

Let me put it this way -- if the bear market is about to resume, it's catching people at a very unfortunate time. Everybody, it seems, has real estate, homes, stocks, mutual funds, cars, things. But few people have liquidity -- savings, cash, gold. I don't care for the picture, but I'm sure the bear loves it.

more...

[54anickel]

43. Gold Demand Rises 13% in Saudi Arabia

http://www.arabnews.com/?page=6§ion=0&article=79141&d=13&m=3&y=2006

JEDDAH, 13 March 2006 — Gold demand increased by 13 percent in Saudi Arabia, while it rose just five percent worldwide in 2005.

In Saudi Arabia, which represents a major market in the region, gold jewelry demand rose by 12 percent during the year compared to 2004, and by 13 percent in terms of both gold jewelry and retail investment sectors, according to the annual review of the regional office of World Gold Council (WGC) in Dubai.

This demand increase is due to the Kingdom’s strong economy and the high spend capability. Also, it is expected that the demand will continue to grow similarly in 2006, especially in the context of the biggest budget ever announced by the Kingdom in addition to the increase of marketing activities by large scale gold jewelry manufactures and the WGC across the region.

The increase in gold demand prevailed in the Kingdom’s neighboring Gulf countries including Turkey and Egypt. In the UAE, the total percentage of gold demand in 2005 remained positive to reach eight percent in spite of the small decrease in sales during the Q4 of the same year.

As for the other Gulf states like Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar and Oman, the total increase in demand reached five percent. This increase is also due to high oil prices and strong economy conditions in those countries as well as tourism, especially in UAE, in addition to the increase of marketing activities which were put forward by gold jewelers and the WGC, such as Dubai Shopping Festival, Dubai Summer Surprises, gold festivals and gold jewelry exhibitions in Kuwait and Bahrain in cooperation with several official sectors, such as Dubai government, Gold & Jewelry Committee in Dubai, Dubai Metals and Commodities Center, Ministry of Commerce and Industry in Kuwait, tourism sector in the Ministry of Information in Kuwait etc. Likewise, the growth remained on the rise in Turkey, for the third year in succession, and in Egypt to reach an extra seven percent in Turkey and four percent in Egypt.

more...

[Roland99]

60. Trinkets and baubles or do they know something we don't?

[54anickel]

77. Gold futures end more than $6 higher

http://www.marketwatch.com/News/Story/Story.aspx?guid=%7B577D64C9%2DB26D%2D4BA7%2DAA82%2DD487A6BF9405%7D&siteid=mktw&dist=moreover

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Gold futures closed Monday with a gain of more than $6 an ounce, recouping part of last week's losses of nearly 5%, as some weakness in the U.S. dollar and ongoing tension over Iran's nuclear-refining program helped renew investment demand for the precious metal.

"The marginally weaker dollar, coupled with the relentless violence in Iraq and the 'in-your-face' defiance emanating from Iran ... are keeping gold bugs on the alert," said Jon Nadler, an investment products analyst at bullion dealers Kitco.com.

Overall, the price action in metals reflects "a 'catching our breath' attitude from the trading pits," he said.

snip>

Eye on the dollar

The dollar's recent strength "has certainly been one of the contributing factors in gold's six-week decline," said Dale Doelling, chief market technician at Trends In Commodities.

However, Doelling sees the dollar as having reached "an extremely overbought condition," raising prospects for what he said could be "a significant decline ... just the tonic for what currently ails the precious-metals markets."

more...

Where's that damned blue-light special of $480 they were yackin' about last week? :evilgrin:

[UpInArms]

49. WHO MADE MONEY FROM THE BIRD FLU? (Rumsfeld)

http://www.freemarketnews.com/WorldNews.asp?nid=9303

The avian flu has turned out to be profitible for U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who has already cleared over $5 million in capital gains by selling some shares in Gilead Sciences, the biotechnology firm that developed the drug Tamiflu, while he was serving as a board-member for that enterprise reports an article in the London Independent.

The multinational chemical company Roche Pharmaceuticals then bought up the rights to make and sell the drug, with about 20 percent of all sales passing back to Gilead and its stockholders. The repeated warnings of the United Nations and other authorities of an impending global epidemic of avian flu outbreaks have led over 60 countries to order large supplies of Tamiflu despite the fact that it has yet to prove its reliability at curing or stopping the H5N1 bird flu virus.

However, this has not stopped Gilead's worth from skyrocketing in the last few years, with commensurate acceleration in the share price. Rumsfeld reportedly sold a portion of his holdings in 2004, reaping the multi-million in profit, according to his financial disclosure reports, and still holds at least five times that amount in Gilead shares, while other data indicates it could be as much as $95 million, which is even now generating its own multi-million-dollar income-stream in dividends.

[porkrind]

51. Real inflation much higher than official figures

(cross-posted from the economy forum)

No surprises here, just depressing to see some actual numbers. The government is printing money (increasing M3) to pay for its spending habit. This makes the wage you work for and each dollar you have saved worth less. They soon will hide the crime by discontinuing publishing the M3 numbers.

March 07, 2006
Is the Inflation Camp on the Bubble?
by Kevin Duffy
http://www.safehaven.com/showarticle.cfm?id=4729


<snip>
...
This brings us back to our original inflation-deflation debate. After throwing the inflation switch on full throttle, the Fed has backed off somewhat with 14 "measured" rate increases over the past 20 months. Why? Perhaps they no longer believe their own sales literature. As the table below shows, the official inflation measures are grossly understated. Over the last five years, prices for practically everything have exceeded the CPI, driven by rapid growth in money and credit. (The lone exceptions: grains and large-cap equities, which were held back by the deflating 2000 technology balloon.) Notice that the inflation aggregates still experienced strong growth in 2005 despite higher rates.

Inflation in the United States, 2000-2005 (all figures annualized)


Category , Source/Index , Last 5 Years (2000-2005) , Last Year (2005)

Housing , OFHEO Index , 9.10%, 11.60%
Large-cap Equities , S&P 500 Index , -1.10%, 3.00%
Small-cap Equities , Russell 2000 Index , 6.80%, 3.30%
Credit-related Equities , Bearing Credit Bubble Index , 8.00%, -4.50%
Commodities , CRB Index , 7.80%, 16.90%
Oil , West Texas Intermediate , 15.60%, 30.20%
Grains , Dow Jones-AIG Grains Index, -6.40%, -4.70%
Gold , London PM Fix , 13.50%, 17.80%
Luxuries , Forbes CLEWI , 4.60%, 4.00%
Fed Holdings of U.S. Gov't Securities , Federal Reserve , 7.60%, 3.70%
Money Supply , M3 , 7.20%, 7.30%
Mortgage Credit , Flow of Funds , 11.70%, 12.90%
Official Inflation , Consumer Price Index , 2.40%, 2.90%

[54anickel]

52. Mid-cap CFOs Get Big Pay Packages

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5621140/c_5621196?f=home_todayinfinance

Proxies for Sherwin-Williams, Kirby, TCF Financial, Kaman, and Timken are released.

Stephen Taub, CFO.com
March 13, 2006

You didn't have to work for a large company to have earned large sums of money in 2005. Just ask the finance chiefs at several mid-cap companies whose incentive pay dwarfed salaries.

For example, Sean Hennessy, chief financial officer and senior vice president of finance for Sherwin-Williams, a $6.1 billion (in market capitalization) building-materials company, earned $3.8 million. According to the company's recently filed proxy, nearly $2.1 million of the total was the result of realized gains on exercising stock options. Otherwise, his salary was a little more than $432,000 and his bonus was $519,000.

Norman Nolen, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Kirby Corp., a $1.5 billion provider of marine transportation and diesel engine services, took home a package totaling $5.5 million. Exercised options accounted for $4.5 million of the earnings, or about 80 percent of the total. He also earned $176,601 in long-term incentive plan (LTIP) payouts for the 2003–2005 performance period. His salary was $277,160, up less than $8,000 from the previous year.

Neil Brown, chief financial officer — he added the title of president at the beginning of this year — of TCF Financial, the $3.4 billion holding company for TCF Bank, earned a little more than $3 million. The bulk of his pay, $2.3 million, was from LTIP payouts. His salary was $300,000, the same as the previous two years.

more...

[54anickel]

53. Capital One to Buy North Fork, Join Top 10 U.S. Banks

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aVkUBC1Q9yto&refer=us

March 13 (Bloomberg) -- Capital One Financial Corp., the fourth-largest issuer of Visa and MasterCards, will buy North Fork Bancorp for $14.6 billion, almost doubling the company's deposits and giving it more than 50 million customer accounts.

Capital One of McLean, Virginia, will pay $31.18 in cash and stock for each share of North Fork, the two companies said in a statement yesterday. That's 23 percent more than Melville, New York-based North Fork's closing price on March 10.

The acquisition will increase Capital One's deposits to more than $84 billion and boost its assets to about $146 billion, ranking ahead of Cleveland-based National City Corp., the eighth- biggest U.S. bank as of Dec. 31. Chief Executive Officer Richard Fairbank is making his biggest purchase four months after completing the $4.8 billion takeover of New Orleans-based Hibernia Corp.

``If they can get it executed well, it's a great diversification play for Capital One,'' said David Hendler, an analyst at CreditSights Inc. in New York. Shares of North Fork rose 19 percent to $30.05 today in trading before exchanges opened.

snip>

Yield Curve

North Fork shares fell during the past three months, as a combination of rising short-term interest rates and falling long- term borrowing costs made lending less profitable. As recently as last week, two-year notes yielded more than 10-year Treasuries, widening a gap that opened in December.

``The flat yield curve was really hurting them,'' Hendler said.

more...

[54anickel]

55. Serial Restaters: Nortel Finds Errors

http://www.cfo.com/article.cfm/5620512/c_5621196?f=home_todayinfinance

The announcement comes a month after the company agreed to settle lawsuits stemming from a prior accounting scandal.

Stephen Taub, CFO.com
March 13, 2006

Just when you thought it was safe to declare Nortel Networks to be over its accounting scandal, it stuns Wall Street with yet another restatement.

Officials at the telecom-equipment maker said the company will revise its results for 2003, 2004, and the first nine months of 2005, and adjust its financials for periods prior to 2003, primarily due to revenue-recognition errors. The company explained that revenue incorrectly recognized in prior periods should have been deferred to future periods.

The revisions will reduce revenues by $396 million for the nearly three-year period and have a negative impact on Nortel's earnings-loss ratio of $279 million. In addition, the company said that for periods prior to 2003, it will cut revenue by $470 million and take a $99 million hit to its net earnings/loss.

Officials at Nortel said the errors were identified primarily through two efforts, the first being an extensive contract review undertaken as part of remedial efforts to compensate for previously reported internal-control deficiencies; the second was via discussions with its independent auditors that were held as part of the company's 2005 audit.

more...

[Roland99]

58. 12:43pm Eastern - Nothing to write home about

DJIA 11,087.30 +11.00
Nasdaq 2,270.91 +8.87
S&P 500 1,283.94 +2.36
Russell 2000 731.49 +5.15
30 Yr Bond 4.77 +0.03
10 Yr Bond 4.78 +0.02

[54anickel]

65. Merck bids $17.4 billion for Schering

http://today.reuters.com/News/newsArticle.aspx?type=businessNews&storyID=2006-03-13T171358Z_01_FAB010983_RTRUKOC_0_US-SCHERING-MERCK.xml

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Drugs and chemicals group Merck (MRCG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) unveiled a 14.6-billion-euro ($17.4 billion) cash bid for rival Schering (SCHG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) on Monday, marking the first big all-German move in the industry's consolidation.

Schering at the weekend rejected the unsolicited offer of 77 euros a share, a 15 percent premium to its share price on Friday, saying the bid undervalued the company.

snip>

The head of Schering's supervisory board, Giuseppe Vita, said he expected a white knight to emerge. "Not yet, but I think they will be knocking on our door soon," he told reporters in Milan, when asked if a white knight had already appeared.

Schering's supervisory board was called for a meeting on Tuesday to discuss the bid, a source close to the matter told Reuters, amid expectations it would formally reject the offer.

Any deal between the similar-sized rivals would create the first big all-German pharmaceuticals combination, with annual sales of 11.2 billion euros, at a time when the country's industry, once a world leader, has shrunk in prominence.

But some analysts questioned the price Merck was paying.

more...

[UpInArms]

67. Fitch cuts Ford's ratings deeper into junk status

http://today.reuters.com/investing/financeArticle.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=2006-03-13T182051Z_01_WNA4731_RTRIDST_0_AUTOS-FORD-FITCH-URGENT.XML

NEW YORK, March 13 (Reuters) - Fitch Ratings on Monday cut its ratings on Ford Motor Co. (F.N: Quote, Profile, Research) deeper into junk status, citing increased potential for strikes and supply disruptions at the automakers' parts suppliers.

With a number of major suppliers in bankruptcy and the industry as a whole suffering financial stress, it will be difficult for Ford to reduce costs in this area, Fitch said in a statement. Coupled with other pressures on Ford's profit margins, supplier troubles will challenge Ford's ability to stabilize cash flows, the rating agency said.

Fitch cut the long-term ratings on Ford and its finance arm Ford Motor Credit Co. by one notch to "BB," two steps below investment grade, from "BB-plus." The outlook is negative, meaning another rating downgrade is likely over the next two years.

[54anickel]

68. What, we're not worthy?

http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/politics/20060313-9999-1m13letter.html

San Diego's congressional delegation sat down a few weeks ago with Homeland Security officials to get to the bottom of why their region was no longer eligible for some $15 million in federal funds to fight terrorism.

The region's two Democrats – Susan Davis and Bob Filner – and two Republicans – Duncan Hunter and Darrell Issa – posed what seemed to be a reasonable question:

How does a county of 3 million people – with an international border, an international port, hordes of tourists, military bases galore and a nuclear power plant – no longer qualify as a high risk for terrorism?

snip>


San Diego received nearly $15 million under this program in fiscal 2005. Despite outcries from county supervisors, the congressional delegation, the state's two U.S. senators and Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chertoff insisted the awards were calculated using “disciplined” analysis and “the best computer modeling we have.”

According to Filner's recounting of the meeting, San Diego's military bases and ships, which could be sitting ducks for a terrorist, aren't factored into Chertoff's “disciplined” analysis.

“I asked whether anyone has the (same) concentration of nuclear things that are a perfect target for terrorists,” Filner said. “Does any other city have three nuclear carriers in their harbor, a dozen or more nuclear submarines and a nuclear power plant?

“They said, 'We don't have those figures, but all those military assets are invisible to us' ” in the Department of Homeland Security's risk calculations.

more...

[UpInArms]

73. Delta says it likely will end pilot pension plan

http://today.reuters.com/misc/PrinterFriendlyPopup.aspx?type=bondsNews&storyID=uri:2006-03-13T193256Z_01_N13282835_RTRIDST_0_AIRLINES-DELTA-UPDATE-2.XML

WASHINGTON, March 13 (Reuters) - Bankrupt Delta Air Lines Inc. <DALRQ.PK> said on Monday that it was in a "race against time" to restructure and that it was probable the company would terminate its pilots' pension plan to save money.

"It looks more likely than not," a lawyer for the airline, Jack Gallagher, said about pension prospects at an arbitration hearing on the fate of the pilots contract.

United Airlines <UAUA.O> and US Airways <LCC.N> terminated their pension plans in bankruptcy. Northwest Airlines <NWACQ.PK> could also do the same in its restructuring. Pilots are the only major union at Delta, which sought bankruptcy protection last September, the same time as Northwest.

Some Wall Street analysts expect Delta and Northwest to dump some or all of their traditional pensions to lower costs and attract financing because bankruptcy law allows it and rivals have done it.

Although there is no disclosed timetable for dropping the pilots' plan, it is clear that the airline believes it cannot be saved even if Congress approves pension reform legislation that includes special help for struggling airlines.

...more...

[UpInArms]

76. 3:26 EST mad cow chasing the buyers away?

Dow 11,059.12 -17.22 (-0.16%)
Nasdaq 2,264.11 +2.07 (+0.09%)
S&P 500 1,282.17 +0.59 (+0.05%)
10-Yr Bond 4.775 +0.20 (+0.42%)

NYSE Volume 1,730,580,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,417,781,000

3:00 pm : The Dow is back in the red, and its counterparts are hanging on to modest gains. Today's surge in energy prices continues to occupy traders' attention. Also continuing to stunt the stock market is the bond market. Currently, the benchmark 10-year note is down four ticks and yielding 4.77%. Participants within both the equity and Treasury markets had no economic data with which to contend today, but await a fair amount in the four sessions ahead. Tomorrow's calendar features Retail Sales, the Current Account, and Business Inventories. On Wednesday, Import and Export Prices, the NY Empire State Index, Net Foreign Purchases, and Crude Inventories are on the docket. Thursday features CPI, the Philly Fed, and Initial Claims, followed by Capacity Utilization, Industrial Production, and the U of M's Sentiment report on Friday. DJ30 -12.97 NASDAQ +3.99 SP500 +1.29 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1333/1653/1.27 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1350/1869/1.11 bln

[54anickel]

80. Count-down to War with Iran? Mixed Signals from Crude Oil, Gold, and Tel A

Count-down to War with Iran? Mixed Signals from Crude Oil, Gold, and Tel Aviv

What a cluster-f*ck!!!

http://www.kitco.com/ind/Dorsch/mar132006.html

big snip>

Until recently, increases in OPEC oil output from 23.5 million bpd to a record 28 million bpd had failed to stop US crude prices from climbing by $45 per barrel to as high as $70 per barrel. But for now, it looks as if Riyadh has capped oil prices at $70 /barrel. But the slide in crude oil prices is also linked to expectations of a coordinated round of tightening by the Bank of Japan, the Fed, and the European Central bank, making hedge funds jittery. Still, buoyant Asian and European equity markets signal that liquidity in Euros and Japanese yen still remains abundant and cheap.

But Israel is not the only country in the region that fears the possibility of a nuclear armed Iran. If the Ayatollah gains nuclear invincibility, he could terrorize the entire Persian Gulf region, including the Arab oil kingdoms and gain total control over the world’s oil jugular in the Strait of Hormuz. Therefore, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and the UAE might like to see oil prices fall into the $50 to $55 per barrel range to help reduce the potency of Iran’s “Oil Weapon” in the months ahead.

And if war does comes to the Persian Gulf this year, it is better that prices should start to shoot higher from a lower level than a higher level. The International Energy Agency says it would be able to plug the supply gap for a number of months were Iran to stop its oil exports. "The IEA would be capable of compensating for a number of months" said President Claude Mandil on March 9th. "According to my knowledge, OPEC would not be able to compensate in totality."

With OPEC pumping oil at full throttle, US crude-oil inventories have climbed to 335.1 million, their highest level since May 1999. The latest weekly gain was the biggest since Oct. 29, 2004, and left supplies 14% above the five-year average. The last time crude oil stocks were this high was in May 2005, when spot crude oil prices hovered around $48 per barrel. The $12 per barrel difference might represent what’s left of the Iranian “War Premium” plus instability in Iraq and Nigeria.

US crude oil and gasoline inventories might be high because market participants can't rely on global spare oil production capacity, of which there is very little, to deal with any future disruptions in petroleum supplies, the US Energy Information Administration said on February 23rd. "Market participants are concerned about being able to get needed supplies, should something cause a drop in supply.”

“As a result, many of them may be storing up additional inventories as a buffer should there be a supply problem at some point in the future. Thus, until either spare capacity increases significantly across the entire supply chain, or many of the perceived uncertainties in the market are removed, oil markets could see high inventories coexist with high prices for the foreseeable future," the US EIA said. The US Strategic Petroleum Reserve located in Louisiana and Texas, has been filled up to capacity at 700 millions barrels, as a buffer in case of a national emergency.

snip>

Central bankers are not happy to see gold prices move swiftly higher, because it’s a clear signal in the marketplace, that they have abused and violated the public trust over the purchasing power of their currency. Higher gold prices put pressure on central bankers to restrict their money supply and raise short term interest rates, which runs counter to their primary mission of pumping up equity markets.

more...

[UpInArms]

81. The Fruits of NAFTA

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=13114

But it was the economic argument that our elites -- Bush I and James Baker, Dole and Gingrich, Clinton and Carter -- used to sell NAFTA.

In one of the big propaganda pieces of that great debate, "NAFTA: An Assessment," an October 1993 paper published by the International Institute of Economics, Gary Hufbauer and Jeffrey Schott wrote: "Our job projections reflect a judgment that, with NAFTA, U.S. exports to Mexico will continue to outstrip Mexican exports to the United States, leading to a U.S. trade surplus with Mexico of about $7 to $9 billion annually by 1995."

The authors further predicted the U.S. trade surplus with Mexico would rise to $9 billion to $12 billion a year between 2000 and 2010.

And what happened? Charles McMillion of MGB Services, using Commerce Department data through 2005, has tallied the results.

A year after NAFTA passed, the U.S. trade surplus had vanished. From 1995 through 1998, we ran $20 billion trade deficits with Mexico. From 1999 through 2005, the U.S. trade deficit with Mexico grew every year, from $27 billion in 1999 to last year's $54 billion.

<snip>

For U.S. companies, it was one sweet deal. At zero cost, they were allowed to rid themselves of their American workers; get out from under contributing to Social Security and Medicare; and slough off the burden of environmental, health-and-safety, wage-and-hour and civil-rights laws -- and were liberated to go abroad and hire Mexicans who would work for one-fifth to one-tenth of what their unwanted American workers cost.

I will always say there were 4 things Clinton did wrong:

NAFTA
GATTS
Welfare Reform
Greenspan (his ass should have been kicked to the curb)

[54anickel]

83. So what's the answer to Pat's closing question?

But why did the liberals, who paid the price of mandating all those benefits for American workers and imposing all those regulations on U.S. corporations, go along? That's the mystery....

[UpInArms]

84. no mystery here - easy answer: DLC

http://www.dlc.org/

http://www.dlc.org/ndol_ka.cfm?kaid=137



From left to right: U.S. Sen. Tom Carper is vice chair of the DLC; U.S. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton is chair of the DLC's American Dream Initiative; Al From is founder and CEO of the DLC; Iowa Gov. Tom Vilsack is chair of the DLC; (Not pictured: Bruce Reed is DLC president; Pennsylvania State Representative Jennifer Mann is chair of the DLC's State Legislative Advisory Board (SLAB); Columbus (OH) Mayor Michael Coleman is chair of the DLC's Local Elected Officials Network(LEON).)

[54anickel]

85. Yeah, so how the hell do we get rid of them anyway? And once

that's accomplished, how do we keep them out of the DNC or whatever else takes it's place? These "Corporatists" seem pretty adapt at infiltrating.

Shit, they've probably got everything all lined up should Bushco go down.

[UpInArms]

87. we need to reclaim our flag and our country for the citizens

and clear up that crap about "corporate personhood" - get the Fairness Doctrine back and....

How to do all that? I wish I knew :(

[54anickel]

90. Certainly have our work cut out for us...

Wish I knew the answers as well. Perhaps we're destined to live through it all blowing up in their faces. "Destroy the village in order to save it" takes on an entirely new meaning in that context.

Damn it, this was suppose to be a Happy Day! :cry:

[UpInArms]

94. oh 54anickel

I didn't mean to change your day :(

You know that somehow this once-great country of ours will finally get angry at the abuse that this mal-administration has heaped on it and

the sleeping dragon will awake.

Hang in there for the '06 GOP November bar-b-que!

:pals:

[54anickel]

95. That will be a happy day. Right now I just feel stuck with this "it don't

get any better than this" attitude. Just seems like we're on a downhill slide.

[UpInArms]

96. here's another thing we can do

http://johnconyers.com/index.asp?Type=SUPERFORMS&SEC={29336D51-F9AE-474D-8C08-8D69902D5149}

[54anickel]

97. Thanks - Done!

[ramapo]

86. #5 & #6 Clinton Wrongs

CAFE cave-in

HealthCare debacle...sure the Republicans are to blame even more but he allowed them to demonize it

[UpInArms]

88. thanks for those additions to the list -

I was merely hitting the high notes - there were things that should have happened that did not - and now the pal-ing around with the Demon Spawner just really makes me gag.

[54anickel]

82. Tripwires (Roach)

http://www.morganstanley.com/GEFdata/digests/20060313-mon.html#anchor0

On the surface, the global economy seems to be off to a great start in early 2006. The Great American Growth Machine has revved up again after a Katrina- and energy-related sputter in the final period of 2005. Japan is back, and even Europe is stirring. For China, India, and the rest of the developing world, vigor generally remains the name of the game. The global growth dynamic looks synchronous and increasingly powerful. With inflation remaining low, isn’t this the best of all possible worlds?

Beneath the surface, the answer is a resounding “no.” Contrary to widespread expectations, synchronous growth in an unbalanced world compounds the imbalances -- it doesn’t resolve them. When imbalances reach the magnitude they are today, rebalancing actually requires an asynchronous global growth outcome. Excessive growth in the deficit country (the United States) needs to slow, while lagging growth in the surplus countries (especially Japan and Europe) needs to pick up. The latter seems to be happening, but the former is not. America’s record $68.5 billion trade deficit in January 2006 says it all: US imports and exports are now so far out of balance, that sustained solid growth in the US economy can only beget larger and larger external deficits. This could well be a major -- yet largely unappreciated -- point of vulnerability for the global economy and world financial markets.

snip>

Meanwhile, there’s another very important shoe about to fall in the arena of global capital flows -- the likely shrinkage of current-account surpluses by the world’s largest biggest savers. Japan, China, and even Germany are all making determined efforts to stimulate internal consumption in order to promote balanced and sustainable economic expansions. This will have the effect of drawing down their excess saving, reducing their trade and current account surpluses, and leaving them with less external capital available to fund America’s saving shortfall. Japan is leading the way in that regard; on the back of a marked pickup in domestic demand, its trade balance has gone from surplus to deficit for the first time in five years. China is also increasingly focused on transforming its export-led economy into a consumer-driven growth dynamic; that emphasis is very much in evidence at this year’s National People’s Congress currently in session in Beijing. These developments in both Japan and China are further examples of the pitfalls of a renewal of synchronous growth in an unbalanced world: Unless the deficit nation (the United States) starts saving again, a drawdown of saving elsewhere in the global economy will only complicate the world’s current-account financing tensions.

To me, all this speaks of an increasingly treacherous endgame for the current state of tranquility in world financial markets -- especially the all-important expectational underpinnings of the dollar and longer-term US real interest rates. Investors are nearly unanimous these days in dismissing the mounting economic and political tensions of an unbalanced world -- arguing that it is in everyone’s best interest to keep the game going. The retort of increasingly smug US fund managers is typically something along the lines of, “What else are the Chinese going to buy -- euros?”

At the same time, I worry about an even more treacherous aspect of the endgame. An earlier era of globalization was brought to a tragic end by two world wars in the first half of the 20th century. While history rarely repeats itself, the rhymes never cease to amaze me. The current wave of globalization is occurring against the backdrop of a very different mosaic of geopolitical risks than those which prevailed a century ago. Nation-specific rivalries have given way to threats coming from the amorphous terrorist ranks. Yet there is a worrisome common thread: In both cases, the integration of economies and capital markets clashed with the fragmentation of geopolitical order. Add in the current tensions associated with widening income disparities, real wage stagnation in developed countries, and the growing outbreak of trade frictions and protectionism, and today’s world looks far from secure. The tripwires of globalization are now being set.

more...

[ozymandius]

89. final numbers

Dow 11,076.02 -0.32 (-0.00%)
Nasdaq 2,267.03 +4.99 (+0.22%)
S&P 500 1,284.13 +2.55 (+0.20%)
10-Yr Bond 47.75 +0.20 (+0.42%)
NYSE Volume 2,049,113,000
Nasdaq Volume 1,697,152,000

blather later

[ozymandius]

91. blather

4:20 pm : Some carryover momentum from Friday and a flurry of merger and acquisition deals had initially helped the equity market rise. Sharp rebounds in energy prices and rising bond yields took the steam out of the market, however. Last week, the indices closed in mixed fashion for the third consecutive time. The trend continued today.

This Merger Monday featured a host of deals. Amongst them were McClatchy's (MNI 51.55 -1.51) $6.5 billion purchase of Knight Ridder (KRI 63.92 1.08), Pinnacle Entertainment's (PNK 29.00 +1.04) approximate $2.1 billion cash acquisition of Aztar (AZR 37.21 +6.51), and Watson Pharmaceuticals' (WPI 29.00 -0.55) $1.9 billion cash agreement to buy Andrx (ADRX 23.73 +2.14). Further on the healthcare front, German drug company Schering AG (SHR 101.19 +21.49) received, and then rejected, an unsolicited $17 billion bid from Germany's Merck KGaA. As a side note, neither of those drugmakers are related to the similarly named U.S. pharmaceuticals. Despite the merger-related attention, the Healthcare sector spent the session near unchanged territory.

Occupying much of the M&A spotlight was Capital One's (COF 83.10 -6.82) $14.6 billion purchase of North Fork Bancorp (NFB 29.20 +3.80). NFB shares surged, and that deal spurred buying across the regional banking industry. Today's robust M&A front is reflective of what we believe will be a main theme of 2006, and the action supports our bullish view on the investment banking and brokerage industry. Like Healthcare, the Financial sector also finished in flat fashion. Rising interest rates continue to trouble investors, and extended weakness in the Treasury market was an overhang there as well as on the broader market. The yield on the benchmark 10-year note recovered somewhat from its session high, yet remained a level not seen since June of 2004. Bond traders lacked much of a catalyst, and technical factors, global interest rate worries, and anticipation ahead of the week's economic data contributed to that market's weakness. In particular, participants (in both markets) await Thursday's CPI report. One caveat to the 10-year's rise was an improvement in the yield spread; the curve showed a decidedly steeper inclination, and that is a good thing for the stock market.

Spikes in prices across the energy complex were the second factor that stifled today's advance. Geopolitical tensions continue to support energy prices, which rebounded from oversold levels today. In particular, crude oil gained more than 3% and closed at $61.85 per barrel. Expectations for colder temperatures, and thus higher demand, prompted the price gains. In addition, traders are mindful of the fact that crude oil inventory is near a seven-year high, and that OPEC is pumping at its highest levels in 25 years. The Energy sector benefited, but leadership was limited to its 1.6% gain. Recoveries in metal prices had helped the Materials sector, but a sharp drop in PD, which announced a two-for-one stock split, left the sector unchanged. Upgrades on several steel stocks did little to attract buyers. Industrials was another sector that finished flatly. Boeing (BA 74.84 +0.05) had given it an early boost, but its gain was erased intra-day. As a side note, Barron's featured the company in a positive light, and reiterated the long-term bullish view we continue to hold on the stock.

The Technology sector also spent much of the day on the flat line. Largely to Apple's (AAPL 65.66 +2.47) credit, it managed to rise to a 0.2% gain. The stock enjoyed some renewed buying interest following an upgrade at Citigroup, and after Bear Stearns and Piper Jaffray issued some positive comments. The semiconductor group, however, capped the Tech sector's advance. Advanced Micro Devices (AMD 34.03 -2.60) was the sore spot; the stock dropped about 7% following an analyst downgrade. Comments from Deutsche Bank, which suggested that Intel (INTC 19.73 -0.12) will narrow or close its price/performance gap versus rival AMD, added to its troubles. DJ30 -0.32 NASDAQ +4.99 SP500 +2.55 NASDAQ Dec/Adv/Vol 1405/1599/1.68 bln NYSE Dec/Adv/Vol 1441/1820/1.51 bln

[allisonthegreat]

93. it really helps to see the comparison...

Like when Bush fist took office and now. Here we go again...