STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday October 14

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Thursday October 14, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON October 13, 2010

Dow 11,096.08 +75.68 (+0.68%)
Nasdaq 2,441.23 +23.31 (+0.95%)
S&P 500 1,178.10 +8.33 (+0.71%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.43 +0.01 (+0.29%)
30-Year Bond 3.81 -0.01 (-0.21%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. Today's Reports

08:30 Initial Claims 10/09
Briefing.com 450K
Consensus 450K
Prior 445K

08:30 Continuing Claims 10/02
Briefing.com 4450K
Consensus 4450K
Prior 4462K

08:30 PPI Sep
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.2%
Prior 0.4%

08:30 Core PPI Sep
Briefing.com 0.1%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.1%

08:30 Trade Balance Aug
Briefing.com -$40.0B
Consensus -$44.5B
Prior -$42.8B

11:00 Crude Inventories 10/09
Briefing.com NA
Consensus NA
Prior 3.09M

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm

[Roland99]

27. U.S. weekly jobless claims rise 13,000 to 462,000

[Roland99]

30. 4-week average of claims rises 2,250 to 459,000

[Demeter]

39. "Nobody Could Have Expected--NBCHE!"

Pronounced "nibchee". Condi's contribution to the language. Goes well with "nucular".

[Roland99]

28. U.S. Aug. trade gap widens 8.8% to $46.3 bln

[Roland99]

29. U.S. producer prices increase 0.4% in September

[ozymandius]

2. Oil rises above $82 amid weaker US dollar

Oil jumped above $80 last month and has managed to hold its ground, buoyed by a global stock rally and falling dollar. The euro rose to $1.3993 on Wednesday from $1.3914 on
Tuesday while the dollar rose slightly to 81.88 yen from 81.84 yen.

Some analysts expect a slowing global economy to undermine commodity prices in the fourth quarter and keep oil from rising above $85.

"Double-dip recession and deflation will continue to be the dominant themes for financial markets up to the end of the year," Bank Sarasin said in a report. "As the economic headwind picks up, commodity prices are unlikely to climb any further in the fourth quarter," it said.

In other Nymex trading in November contracts, heating oil rose 1.26 cents to $2.266 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.14 cent to $2.138 a gallon. Natural gas jumped 1.6 cents to $3.645 per 1,000 cubic feet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[ozymandius]

3. Currency News

Dollar hits fresh 15-year-low against yen

TOKYO – The dollar fell to a fresh 15-year-low against the yen in Tokyo on Thursday amid growing speculation that the U.S. Federal Reserve will ease monetary policy next month.

The U.S. currency was quoted at 81.07 yen briefly in late Thursday trading in Tokyo and is currently trading around 81.10 yen.

Dollar-selling accelerated in Asia following Singapore's surprise move to widen the trading band of the Singapore dollar. The island nation's central bank, known as the Monetary Authority of Singapore, said Thursday that it will continue with a "modest and gradual" appreciation of the Singapore dollar.

The dollar has been under intense pressure as investors bet that the Fed will enact a bond-buying program in early November. Buying bonds would drive interest rates and yields even lower, and tends to encourage dollar-selling.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101014/ap_on_bi_ge/as_japan_dollar

Euro tops $1.41 for 1st time since January

BERLIN – The euro rose above $1.41 for the first time since January on Thursday as the dollar continued to sag under expectations that the U.S. Federal Reserve may soon take new measures to support the American economy.

The dollar, which would lose appeal to investors if the Fed seeks to further depress U.S. market rates, also hit a new 15-year low against the Japanese yen.

The 16-nation euro rose as high as $1.4103 in morning European trading before slipping back to $1.4084, still well above the $1.3965 it bought in New York late Wednesday.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101014/ap_on_bi_ge/dollar

[Po_d Mainiac]

12. This is starting to get very scary ....Morning all

I've watched these markets for a lot of years. Never have they all jumped and fallen so dramatically. You know something is is in the oven but the cook won't tell you what.

You think you smell smoke, but the cook seems unconcerned. You really don't want the kitchen to get ruined, but what you really want is just a good meal.
:scared:

[Demeter]

18. It's the Instability

The market is having mood swings, since there is no good information and denial is the order of the day. One of these days it will swing too far, and we will see the most splendorous crash that the next intelligent species to come along will be writing about it for 500 years...

[Tansy_Gold]

24. Exactly. And it's really really scary for those of us

who can see it coming and can't do a friggin' thing about it.

:scared:


TG

[Po_d Mainiac]

25. Or just trying to cover our ass

and those of our kids...plus their kids
:grr:

[Dr.Phool]

4. Good Morning. The Unnamed retreiver.

Another refugee from Georgia.

Lab-Golden mix.

[ozymandius]

6. What a lovely face.

Now Sara has another roommate. How did she welcome the new arrival?

[Dr.Phool]

7. She's still curious.

We brought him home from the rescue about 9:00 last night. He's 10 weeks old, and was just neutered an got all of his shots yesterday.

OK, he just woke up, they went outside, and are playing together.

[Po_d Mainiac]

16. Pretty cool pup! n/t

[DemReadingDU]

20. ah he's cute

any name yet?

[Dr.Phool]

32. We're leaning towards Elmer, in tribute to The Fudd.

[Tansy_Gold]

35. he looks more like a Bugs to me. n/t

[Tansy_Gold]

23. Puppies! Puppies! Puppies!

He's adorable, and he'll be a good playmate for Sara for many years to come. Oh, okay, I'm sure Sara will let you play with him, too, Doc!

Good choice, my friend. Good choice.


TG

[Dr.Phool]

33. He's chasing her all around the yard and lanai, right now.

[kickysnana]

44. Now how can I keep my funk going after seeing that?

:hi:

[Tansy_Gold]

54. Dogs're good for ya. Yeah, they are! n/t

[ozymandius]

5. Wall Street rises on earnings and weak dollar

NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. stock indexes hit their highest level in five months on Wednesday as stronger-than-expected earnings and lingering U.S. dollar weakness increased demand for equities.

Completing a bullish trifecta, the S&P 500 broke a short-term technical barrier and triggered more buying of stocks as money managers chased performance. The S&P 500 is up 12.3 percent since September 1.

Despite posting strong results that helped lift sentiment, Dow components JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and Intel Corp (INTC.O) saw their shares slide.

About 9.18 billion shares traded on the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq -- the highest day for volume since July 16, and above the year's average so far of about 8.78 billion.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101013/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

[ozymandius]

8. Florida’s 30-Second Foreclosure Dash Hits Fraud Wall

From Bloomberg:

Oct. 13 (Bloomberg) -- Home to more foreclosures than 47 U.S. states, Florida sought to clear out its backlog with a system of special court hearings that dispensed with cases quickly, sometimes in less than a minute.

Florida’s legislature appropriated $9.6 million this year to pay semi-retired judges and case managers to clear the backlog of foreclosures. Some judges have been churning through cases at a rapid clip, such as those last week in Tampa who considered dozens of foreclosures per day, sometimes in as little as 30 seconds.

The goal is to clear 62 percent of the backlog by next July, according to Craig Waters, a spokesman for the Florida Supreme Court. J. Thomas McGrady, chief judge of Florida’s Sixth Judicial Circuit, said he once thought that was achievable. Now that Charlotte, North Carolina-based Bank of America, New York- based JPMorgan and Detroit-based Ally Financial Inc. have put the brakes on foreclosures or evictions to look for irregularities, he said he’s “very doubtful” his courts can resolve that many cases. The circuit, which covers the area around Clearwater and St. Petersburg, has a backlog of 33,000 foreclosure cases, he said.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=aP3c6dLuEGb0&pos=12

The nature of these 30-second foreclosure hearings looks to be premised on outright fraud. The attorneys who represent the banks in these foreclosure cases based on faked affidavits should be censured, at the least, and perhaps barred from practicing law for a few years.

[ozymandius]

10. Naked Capitalism: Wells Fargo Outed as Member of Robo Signer Club

There’s nothing like a bank being shown to be a liar.

I was told yesterday that Wells Fargo has been making the rounds among policy types in DC this week to tell its story that (of course) the foreclosure crisis is overblown. Moreover, Wells reportedly said that it was not like the other major servicers, that it ran a tight shop and hadn’t engaged in the bad practices of other firms, particularly the use of improper affidavits, aka robo signers.

This was a particularly stupid claim to make, since there are depositions which attest to the Wells’ use of robo signers. And in an interesting bit of synchronicity, the Financial Times got hold of one and made it the subject of its lead article today.

From the Financial Times:

Legal documents obtained by the Financial Times suggest that Wells Fargo, the second-largest US mortgage servicer, also used a “robo signer”.

Unlike its rivals, Wells Fargo has not halted foreclosures. The San Francisco-based bank said on Tuesday it was reviewing some pending cases, but it has maintained that it has checks and balances designed to prevent serious procedural lapses.

In a sworn deposition on March 9 seen by the FT, Xee Moua, identified in court documents as a vice-president of loan documentation for Wells, said she signed as many as 500 foreclosure-related papers a day on behalf of the bank.

http://www.nakedcapitalism.com/2010/10/wells-fargo-outed-as-member-of-robo-signer-club.html

This perversion of the "justice" system renders me speechless.

[Dr.Phool]

11. They lied through their teeth about sub-prime too.

Last year, I was listening to a guest on Democracy Now, talking about how they maneuvered people into sub-prime loans, and then denied ever making any to Congress.

The woman who was in charge of the program said that she was watching hearings on c-span, and listening to her boss tell Congress that her division didn't exist.

[Po_d Mainiac]

13. One of the places I bought a couple years ago

was assigned to WF by MERS. :grr:

[Demeter]

41. The Banks’ Herd Mentality On Foreclosures

http://blogs.forbes.com/walterpavlo/2010/10/14/the-banks-herd-mentality-on-foreclosures/?partner=yahoofpapp

This whole financial mess started with every large bank imitating the others’ bad behavior. Banks gave loans to individuals who could not afford them, then bundled those loans and sold them to other banks who were doing the same exact thing. When it all came crashing down, no one within the banking system seemed to know who started it all or who was to blame.

So I, like everyone else, gave all these banks a second chance through a bail out (like we had a choice). I assumed from all of the hearings with bank executives who apologized profusely about their missteps that we would see some improvement. An improvement would have been the banks acting responsibly. A big step in that direction would have been addressing the large amount of non-performing loans in their portfolio by foreclosing on homes. However, it appears banks all move together in the same reckless manner as we hear about the abuses in these banks’ foreclosure processes. Goldman, JPMorgan Chase, GMAC, Bank of America, et al have all been accused of hiring less than stellar staff to review foreclosure cases and using robo-notary signatures to speed up the process. Rather than take the time to do it right the first time, they all had a shotgun approach to “efficiently” cleanse the books of these properties without regard for accuracy or the law. Banks are all doing the same thing and are all being found out at the same time. Are these folks hanging out at the same clubs and bars?

When a federal prisoner is released from prison, they are not allowed to socialize with other convicted felons while they are on a probationary period (usually 3-5 years). It seems logical that a group of felons would only spawn more bad ideas thus leading to future failure (i.e. prison). I think the same rule should start to apply to bankers….STOP HANGING OUT TOGETHER. At least stop hanging out together for a few years so you stop passing around the same stupid ideas...

Has the cost of doing something right become too expensive? Are we destined to see all the banks continue to make the same mistakes, and worse, at the same time? I am waiting to see one of these large institutions set an example for conducting business with some integrity and responsibility so that we will begin to close this dark chapter of our economic history. Currently, fear is driving the banking herd to act as one, meaning that courage is called for. Where is it and who will exhibit it?

[Hugin]

57. Perhaps some of their Loan Officers still need a mansion to move into before the moratorium?

They've got to stall a little while longer. ( :sarcasm: related to a recent story of a Wells Fargo Agent moving into a foreclosed mansion.)

[Po_d Mainiac]

14. One thing that's been accomplished

I know one willing and able buyer that just walked away from the Fl RE market

ME!

[Festivito]

9. Debt: 10/12/2010 13,612,664,732,574.96 (DOWN 1,387,758,139.76) (Tue)

(Down a lot. Good day.)
Doc said cancer, and I only told Dave!?
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,005,344,956,401.17 + 4,607,319,776,173.79
DOWN 2,308,905,840.19 + UP 921,147,700.43

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,220.98 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,464,992 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,846.05.
A family of three owes $131,538.16. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 32 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 7,768,287,973.53.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,696,744,513.92.
The average for the last 32 days would be 5,340,697,981.80.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 258 reports in 377 days of FY2011 averaging 6.60B$ per report, 4.52B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 831 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 18.1T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
10/12/2010 13,612,664,732,574.96 BHO (UP 2,985,787,683,661.88 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,051,041,701,683.20 ------------* BHO
Endof11 +50,242,068,332,808.30 ------------* * Way too many *s still * * *

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
09/21/2010 +000,509,875,602.04 ------------********
09/22/2010 -000,022,020,658.96 ----
09/23/2010 -008,701,405,875.05 --
09/24/2010 +000,034,117,767.19 ------------*******
09/27/2010 -000,066,407,812.28 ---- Mon
09/28/2010 +001,463,391,855.14 ------------*********
09/29/2010 +000,391,315,850.35 ------------********
09/30/2010 +058,907,978,013.89 ------------**********
10/01/2010 -005,585,417,177.51 --
10/04/2010 +000,259,208,393.70 ------------******** Mon
10/05/2010 +000,697,809,032.26 ------------********
10/06/2010 +000,102,633,566.23 ------------********
10/07/2010 -010,581,200,428.89 -
10/08/2010 -000,047,594,597.51 ----
10/12/2010 -002,308,905,840.19 -- Tue

35,053,377,690.41 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4573841&mesg_id=4573866

[Festivito]

67. Debt: 10/13/2010 13,612,299,748,993.36 (DOWN 364,983,581.60) (Wed)

(Down a lot again. Good day.)
Tires and tired.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,009,424,488,282.75 + 4,602,875,260,710.61
UP 4,079,531,881.58 + DOWN 4,444,515,463.18

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,220.90 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.66, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,472,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,843.86.
A family of three owes $131,531.58. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 7,675,307,277.27.
The average for the last 30 days would be 5,628,558,670.00.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 259 reports in 378 days of FY2011 averaging 6.57B$ per report, 4.50B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 830 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 18.3T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
10/13/2010 13,612,299,748,993.36 BHO (UP 2,985,422,700,080.28 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,050,676,718,101.60 ------------* BHO
Endof11 +46,377,293,845,669.20 ------------* * * Still too many to show. * * *

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
09/22/2010 -000,022,020,658.96 ----
09/23/2010 -008,701,405,875.05 --
09/24/2010 +000,034,117,767.19 ------------*******
09/27/2010 -000,066,407,812.28 ---- Mon
09/28/2010 +001,463,391,855.14 ------------*********
09/29/2010 +000,391,315,850.35 ------------********
09/30/2010 +058,907,978,013.89 ------------**********
10/01/2010 -005,585,417,177.51 --
10/04/2010 +000,259,208,393.70 ------------******** Mon
10/05/2010 +000,697,809,032.26 ------------********
10/06/2010 +000,102,633,566.23 ------------********
10/07/2010 -010,581,200,428.89 -
10/08/2010 -000,047,594,597.51 ----
10/12/2010 -002,308,905,840.19 -- Tue
10/13/2010 +004,079,531,881.58 ------------*********

38,623,033,969.95 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4574960&mesg_id=4574980

[Demeter]

15. I'm Starting the Day Off With a Bang

The water main blew on my street--I called the prop. manager and 911. This may or may not blow the budget....in any event, I expect to be waterless. The whole place--all 360 homes. Cause the idiot who built this place didn't put any shutoffs in...he's the same design genius who designed no place to put a mop, bucket, vacuum cleaner, trash can, or any other sign of long-term occupation.

This is the second water break I've discovered while on a paper route. I'm a Jonah! whimper

[Po_d Mainiac]

17. Chit like that ain't supposed to happen without

some help from mother nature...How much moving did last summer's heat cause?

[Demeter]

19. I suspect that the double-bottom dump truck with the boulders did it

We've been lining the pond with boulders to stop the erosion. The truck took out several concrete sidewalk slabs, the ashphalt and a good piece of lawn further up the street.

Or, it could be the earthquake in Arkansas which just went off...

Besides, the mains are 40+ years old, and, as I mentioned earlier, designed by a moron.

[DemReadingDU]

21. that's bad with water issues

I miss electric too during power outages. Hope they get those water pipes fixed soon!

[Demeter]

22. I Liked this Dilbert

It's rather a paradigm of modern American business practices...

[InkAddict]

40. In other news....

Spit-shakes to replace signatures.

[Demeter]

42. Yeuck

[Hugin]

52. !

:spit: :shake: :)

[Roland99]

26. Futures - Jobsless claims up? pfffft

S&P 500 1,176 +1.20 +0.10%
DOW 11,054 +10.00 +0.09%
NASDAQ 2,061 +4.50 +0.22%

[Roland99]

31. Ok, now they turn red a bit. NASDAQ still positive (on Yahoo buyout talk)

S&P 500 -0.60 -0.05%
DOW -6.00 -0.05%
NASDAQ +2.50 +0.12%

[Demeter]

43. Wall Street flat, bank shares drop on mortgage probe

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101014/bs_nm/us_markets_stocks

...The KBW bank index (.BKX) tumbled 2.2 percent on increasing worries that a joint investigation into home foreclosure procedures by attorneys general from all 50 U.S. states would cause uncertainty and threaten the recovery of the fragile housing market.

Bank of America Corp (BAC.N) lost 4.1 percent to $12.74 and Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) slipped 4 percent to $24.80.

"There are more concerns about litigation and the consortium of attorney generals," said Stephen Massocca, managing director at Wedbush Morgan in San Francisco.

Markets were supported by another slide in the dollar, which fell to a 2010 low against a basket of major currencies. The prospect of additional Fed stimulus has created an inverse correlation between the dollar and equities, with a decline in the greenback sparking a move into equities...

THE PERPS ARE GETTING NERVOUS--AT ALL LEVELS. GOOD

[Tansy_Gold]

34. Speaking of futures. . . .

What's the news on the grandbaby? or did I miss it?



Tansy Gold, who misses a lot of things. . . . . . . .

[Roland99]

36. Hope it's today

They started the process at 1am but not much has happened. The next phase (Pitocin) starts at 1pm but if she's not dilating much on her own by then, that won't help much and they might have to try again tomorrow.

I'll post major updates as I get them.


Thanks for asking. :)

[Roland99]

59. UPDATE: Looking like tomorrow at this point

kinda figured being a first-time mommy. The little one is being a little stubborn. :)

[Roland99]

37. Actually, I've been thinking of making a stock purchase in the baby's name

not sure which company, though.

Thought it would be interesting to buy a few shares of something (MSFT, Google, Bob's Wind Turbines, whatever) and see what happens over the next 18-19 years. :)

[InkAddict]

38. When doing that, I should think you'd want to go to the office of

the Registered Transfer Agent and watch whilst he/she signs off, electronically or otherwise, on your purchase...hehehehe. Hey, maybe you could get some bearer certs, and I'll (as)sign them, hehehehe. I didn't sleep in the Holiday Inn, but I did work in Trust Admin once upon a document...

[Hugin]

55. I know a person who talked to a guy who heard about Trusts once...

So, I'm guessing I'm overqualified? :shrug:

[Demeter]

45. Well, the Week Has Staggered to Another Thursday

and when Thursday arrives, can Friday be far behind?

I need a theme for the Weekend thread, assuming the world doesn't end before then. After last weekend's spectacular bombshell of foreclosure fraud, it had better be a blockbuster.


So, the floor is open for nominations. Something stupendous, timely, historical, life-changing, pithy, you know the guidelines...it helps if it's something I can at least fake.

[Roland99]

49. We should all "Change the Locks"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC_K5BbVJqo&feature=rec-LGOUT-real_rev-rn-1r-5-HM

[Viva_La_Revolution]

51. ooohhh! ohhh!

tie it in to the foreclosure stuff during the depression, when neighbors would help by buying the furniture as it was auctioned off, or surround the house and not let the officials throw the family out. And the tent cities and migrations of the suddenly homeless to "somewhere better". There's a treasure trove online from the photographers and journalists that FDR sent out across the country.
And the music from that time was awesome.

on edit:

Hooverville outside of Seattle





Tent city Sacramento April 2009

[Hugin]

53. Didn't we already do "The Grapes of Wrath"?

:sigh: Well, unfortunately, theres always more where that came from... Or so it would seem.

[Demeter]

66. This is a great suggestion

I would like to do it over the next two weekends, since black Thursday (Oct. 24) and Black Tues (Oct. 29) will fit in nicely with the season of spooks and trick or treat. There's too much history to fit it into one weekend...

But that still leaves this weekend...

[Demeter]

46. Why Germany Has It So Good -- and Why America Is Going Down the Drain

http://www.alternet.org/economy/148501/why_germany_has_it_so_good_--_and_why_america_is_going_down_the_drain

While the bad news of the Euro crisis makes headlines in the US, we hear next to nothing about a quiet revolution in Europe. The European Union, 27 member nations with a half billion people, has become the largest, wealthiest trading bloc in the world, producing nearly a third of the world's economy -- nearly as large as the US and China combined. Europe has more Fortune 500 companies than either the US, China or Japan.

European nations spend far less than the United States for universal healthcare rated by the World Health Organization as the best in the world, even as U.S. health care is ranked 37th. Europe leads in confronting global climate change with renewable energy technologies, creating hundreds of thousands of new jobs in the process. Europe is twice as energy efficient as the US and their ecological "footprint" (the amount of the earth's capacity that a population consumes) is about half that of the United States for the same standard of living.

Unemployment in the US is widespread and becoming chronic, but when Americans have jobs, we work much longer hours than our peers in Europe. Before the recession, Americans were working 1,804 hours per year versus 1,436 hours for Germans -- the equivalent of nine extra 40-hour weeks per year.

In his new book, Were You Born on the Wrong Continent?, Thomas Geoghegan makes a strong case that European social democracies -- particularly Germany -- have some lessons and models that might make life a lot more livable. Germans have six weeks of federally mandated vacation, free university tuition, and nursing care. But you've heard the arguments for years about how those wussy Europeans can't compete in a global economy. You've heard that so many times, you might believe it. But like so many things, the media repeats endlessly, it's just not true...

[tclambert]

62. Well, those Germans are famous for their laziness.

Or not. Germany is more liberal than America. Germany treats workers better than America does. I'm having trouble wrapping my brain around those facts. That whole Hitler, goose-stepping, Nazi youth interlude has me confused.

[Demeter]

47. Invasion of the Robot Home Snatchers

http://www.truth-out.org/robert-scheer-invasion-robot-home-snatchers64179

The Titanic that is the U.S. housing market has just sprung its biggest leak, and even some of the largest banks responsible for this mess, like Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase, are now imposing a temporary moratorium on foreclosures. They have done so very reluctantly and only after courts throughout the nation, and the attorneys general of 40 states, questioned the legality of a securitized system of homeownership that has impoverished tens of millions... Fully 65 million homes in question are tied to a computerized program, the national Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems (MERS), that is often identified in foreclosure proceedings as the owner of record.

MERS was the result of a partnership formed back during the Bill Clinton years between Fannie Mae, an ostensibly government-sponsored agency that morphed into a very much for-profit mega-Wall Street hustler, and Countrywide, the largest and most rapacious of the private mortgage marketers. The scam of computerized credit approval and mortgage certification they came up with was subsequently embraced by Freddie Mac, the other huge housing agency, and the leading Wall Street banks joined in the feeding frenzy. MERS owners now include Wells Fargo, AIG, GMAC, Citigroup, HSBC, the two housing agencies and Bank of America. But the courts are increasingly challenging MERS claims to the right of foreclosure since this whole racket, which bypasses the power of counties to register property ownership, was never authorized in the law.

Yet the White House on Tuesday once again manifested an indifference to the suffering of victimized homeowners when press secretary Robert Gibbs warned of the "unintended consequences to a broader moratorium." Which presumably would be worse in his view than the intended consequence of evicting people from their homes, which has already affected some 20 million Americans and threatens many more. What arrogance for an administration featuring Timothy Geithner and Lawrence Summers, who created this mess back in the Clinton era, to evince such slight compassion for the victims of their folly.

The disastrous disarray in the housing industry is a direct result of decisions taken during the deregulation frenzy of the Clinton presidency, when the securitization of mortgage and other debts was removed from any regulatory supervision. Instead of mortgages being between customers and banks and then being properly recorded by local government agencies, they became poker chips in the Wall Street casino...To engage in the recklessness of turning people's homes -- their castles and nest eggs -- into playthings of Wall Street market hustlers, or securitization of the assets, as it was termed, homeownership record-keeping had to be mangled beyond recognition. Throughout the preceding centuries of this nation's history, the origination of housing loans was between the homebuyer and a lender, both of whom expected to be connected through decades of payments. Until the nuttiness that began in the 1990s when homes became ciphers in a marketable security, the verification of homeownership was a straightforward transaction dutifully recorded by local county governments. If the house was sold, the physical records were changed and available for all to see...

[Demeter]

48. Don't Cut Social Security, DOUBLE It

http://www.truth-out.org/dont-cut-social-security-double-it64139

...But the New America Foundation just released a study that I authored that proposes a different approach: doubling the current Social Security payout and making it a true national retirement system. Creating a more robust system of "Social Security Plus" not only would be good for American retirees, but also would be good for the greater macro economy.

Here's the dilemma that the US faces. Since WW II, retirement has been conceived as a "three-legged stool," with the three legs being Social Security, pensions and personal savings centered around homeownership. But, today, most private sector employers have quit providing pensions, and state and local government's public pensions are drastically underfunded.

In addition, a collapsed housing and stock market, combined with increased inequality even before the Great Recession, have drastically reduced Americans' personal savings. In short, the "retirement stool" no longer is stable and secure, and suddenly Social Security, which always has been viewed as a supplement to private savings, is the only leg left for hundreds of millions of Americans.

Studies show that people in the bottom two income quartiles depend on Social Security for 84 percent of their retirement income, and even the second-richest quartile depends on Social Security for 55 percent of its retirement income. Only the richest 25 percent of Americans don't rely heavily on Social Security...

[Tansy_Gold]

56. Jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs jobs

Jobs are even more important than doubling social security.

If SS payments were doubled, most of that money would still end up in China, NOT circulating through the economy.

The problem is that this country is no longer CREATING WEALTH. The U.S. economy just moves it around, and generally it moves it from the workers' pockets to the aristos' bank accounts. I believe Kevin Phillips' "Bad Money" said something like 25% of the U.S. economy is in the FIRE sector and only 20% in manufacturing, and that's not good.



TG, who works freelance in the FIRE sector

[Viva_La_Revolution]

50. I have a Gold question...

If you bought back at $800 or so, would you continue to keep it all there, or take a little certain profit now?

Yesterday closed at $1371..


My imaginary stocks have done pretty well so far, someday I might play with real money.

[Juneboarder]

58. I have gold, and I'm holding on to it.

I know of a few locals around my town that sell coins and metals and all their frequent customers are telling them now that they'll stop buying gold when it hits $2500/oz... Everything is speculation, but my assumption is we're not done with the upward trend.

One other thing I have been paying attention to is that silver is increasing almost two fold when compared with gold.

[Dr.Phool]

60. I bought at about $770, sold at 1100.

Oh well.

[Demeter]

61. I'm not selling until I have to

It's my hard saving.

[Po_d Mainiac]

65. Exactly!

And PM's are one of those things you just don't want to be without

[Roland99]

63. Better to sell a bit short of the peak than be forced to dump it on a freefall

[Po_d Mainiac]

64. It depends on what you think the US dollar will do.

I'm going to use the term precious metals (PMs) because the same argument applies to all. First answer the following questions.

If you are holding hard (physical possession)

Is the form of PM in an easy to identify form (coins/bars) or jewelry
What are you going to get in return?
What are you going to do with it?
Will selling make a major change in your life?
Do you think that the area in which you reside is stable, or could riots erupt at short notice?

You may find that you can answer your own question.

Please mail me before you sell, if this is a first of a kind event. If you have bullion, you should be able to get no less than melt/spot pricing

There are several threads on the subject in the 'economy' forum