STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Tuesday, 4 September 2012

[Tansy_Gold]

[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, 4 September 2012[font color=black][/font]

SMW for 31 August 2012

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 31 August 2012
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Dow Jones 13,090.84 +90.13 (0.69%)
S&P 500 1,406.58 +7.10 (0.51%)
Nasdaq 3,066.96 +18.25 (0.60%)



[font color=green]10 Year 1.55% -0.09 (-5.49%)
30 Year 2.67% -0.09 (-3.26%) [font color=black]


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

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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Market Data and News:[/font][/font]
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Economic Calendar
Marketwatch Data
Bloomberg Economic News
Yahoo Finance
Google Finance
Bank Tracker
Credit Union Tracker
Daily Job Cuts
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Economic Blogs:[/font][/font]
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The Big Picture
Financial Sense
Calculated Risk
Naked Capitalism
Credit Writedowns
Brad DeLong
Bonddad
Atrios
goldmansachs666
The Stand-Up Economist
The Automatic Earth
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Videos:[/font][/font]
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Charlie Rose talks with Roubini
Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
William Black: This Economic Disaster
Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn
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[font color=red]Partial List of Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 [/font][font color=red]
2/2/12 David Higgs and Salmaan Siddiqui, Credit Suisse, plead guilty to conspiracy involving valuation of MBS
3/6/12 Allen Stanford, former Caribbean billionaire and general schmuck, convicted on 13 of 14 counts in $2.2B Ponzi scheme, faces 20+ years in prison
6/4/12 Matthew Kluger, lawyer, sentenced to 12 years in prison, along with co-conspirator stock trader Garrett Bauer (9 years) and co-conspirator Kenneth Robinson (not yet sentenced) for 17 year insider trading scheme.
6/14/12 Allen Stanford sentenced to 110 years without parole.
6/15/12 Rajat Gupta, former Goldman Sachs director, found guilty of insider trading. Could face a decade in prison when sentenced later this year.
6/22/12 Timothy S. Durham, 49, former CEO of Fair Financial Company, convicted of one count conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, 10 counts of wire fraud, and one count of securities fraud.
6/22/12 James F. Cochran, 56, former chairman of the board of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and six counts of wire fraud.
6/22/12 Rick D. Snow, 48, former CFO of Fair, convicted of one count of conspiracy to commit wire and securities fraud, one count of securities fraud, and three counts of wire fraud.
7/13/12 Russell Wassendorf Sr., CEO of collapsed brokerage firm Peregrine Financial Group Inc. arrested and charged with lying to regulators after admitting to authorities he embezzled "millions of dollars" and forged bank statements for "nearly twenty years."
8/22/12 Doug Whitman, Whitman Capital LLC hedge fund founder, convicted of insider trading following a trial in which he spent more than two days on the stand telling jurors he was innocent




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[font size=3][font color=red]This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.[/font][/font][/font color=red][font color=black]

[Demeter]

1. I survived the Labor Day Barbecue

barely...I really need a hot tub now. My back is killing me.

We ran out of food. The weather was perfect, which means we didn't get any of the rain that was promised. I found my watermelon knife, which had been hiding amongst the grilling tools since the Memorial Day barbecue, apparently...

...and when I went for a final dip in the pool, I got cramps in my toes. It felt like they were braiding themselves. We have got to get a new heater next spring.

Everybody had a good time. People came to set up, people stayed to clean up. We met new people (only 2 months here) and old people, and grandchildren and had a really nice time.

[Fuddnik]

4. I skipped the BBQ.

We were invited next door to the BIL and SIL's house. My wife accepted, as usual. I heard the guest list, all right-wing Republicans, and decided, since I haven't been drinking, and I decided my back was hurting from wrestling with a cultivator in 90 degree heat all morning, so I declined.

I just don't need that shit right now. The gatherings usually go like, they'll ask me a question about something they know nothing about, and I'll explain what I know with facts (those sneaky, deceptive things) to the best of my ability. They then tell me I'm wrong, and start parroting Bill O'Reilly and Fox News talking points. Fuck 'em. I don't need that shit right now.

So, I started with a few cocktails and floated quietly in my 86 degree pool for a couple of hours. I should have run up to the fish store and grabbed a bag of top neck clams. Maybe this week-end. I used to throw a clam bake for about 40-50 people every year when we lived in Cleveland. The Fudd used to walk around with a plastic cup in his mouth begging for beer. And stealing anything that was left unattended. He had more than one hangover.

[Demeter]

8. How do you know when a dog has a hangover?

Besides gulping water, I mean?

[Fuddnik]

9. When he looked like me in the morning.

This one idiot was feeding him Blatz. That stuff will kill you.

I supplied two kegs of Molson Ice.

[DemReadingDU]

12. I'm ready to go live in a cave

Why can't people just all get along.

[Demeter]

14. Some people are into Coercion

It feeds their egos to push others around. Especially if the other people didn't ask for it.

And it's just as bad from the Food Nazis of the Left as it is from the Religious Nazis on the Right.

My ex-friend is trying to "educate" me about "ethical eating". I told her she didn't have a clue what ethics is. Ethics means seeing that all are fed, not hoarding food or resources, not extorting the last penny for daily bread...

As long as one is eating, one is destroying another life. Ethics doesn't enter into it. Survival depends of consuming, and the only alternative is death. If one wishes to analyze to the last gene where one's food came from and how it was "raised" and handled, one probably has too much free time and money, or a head full of junk.

My ex-friend is anorexic, by the way. It's what is eating her, not vice versa.

[Warpy]

18. It's one of those situations where running out of food

could be a good thing or a bad thing. It's a good thing because you've gotten more popular. Also, it tends to wind the party down and get people out of there earlier.

It's a bad thing because some folks are going to go away hungry and grumpy and won't be back next year, when you'll overbuy for the occasion.

I got used to cold water swimming in New England. A ten minute dip in 60F water would cool me off for hours, great when it was muggy and in the 90s. Toe cramps stink, though, I get those too when my feet get chilled.

I'm glad you had a great day, I had a quiet one. It's a good thing, because it looks like we're all gonna get bit by the bears today.

[Demeter]

32. I try to get RSVP

and then add a little extra for the uncouth or undecided. People are getting better at committing, after the food runs out a couple of times. It's a training process.

But it's the other 99% that I'd really like to ask why they don't come out. In a community of 360 households, more participation is needed. I'm trolling for candidates for the next board election, committee members, feedback, etc.

Most of the Board wants to get off the board, and does their job at the end of a long stick, with minimal engagement. If this is an experiment in democracy, it's an epic failure.

[Demeter]

2. In Italy, world’s oldest bank faces uncertain future

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/worlds-oldest-bank-meets-a-formidable-foe/2012/09/01/c42e85b6-f1dd-11e1-adc6-87dfa8eff430_story.html

Tucked away in this Tuscan city, the oldest bank in the world has survived the Borgias, pestilence and too many wars to count. Now, a mundane foe has proved far more dangerous: Italian government debt.

The 540-year-old Monte dei Paschi Bank, Italy’s third-largest, is on the ropes as it struggles to deal with holdings of Italian bonds, once considered a prudent place to tuck cash.

The euro crisis upset that calculation. Across Europe, banks are confronting the same problem as seemingly safe bets that governments would repay their debts turned out to have been major gambles.

At the heart of the crisis, the tangled relationship between governments and the financial sector amplifies the financial problems on both sides. And in Siena, bountiful profits that once poured from Monte dei Paschi’s treasure-filled Gothic palazzo have dried up. Last week, the bank announced that it had lost $2 billion in the first half of 2012. Analysts and the bank’s current management say a long-
prudent institution — based in the same building since 1472 — got caught up in the froth of the cheap-credit years before the crash and then made poor decisions about how to recover...Monte dei Paschi was lending money when Christopher Columbus was still dreaming of the shortest route from home to the shipyard, not India. But the bank’s financial situation deteriorated after it purchased a rival in 2007 in an ill-fated attempt to expand its reach across all of Italy. That decision resulted in massive debts from which the bank is still struggling to recover. The bank now appears to be the worst-off in Italy, with major capital shortfalls and a plunging share price....

Banks' website: http://english.mps.it/

[Demeter]

3. The global economy, Summertime blues: The slowdown is spreading around the world

http://www.economist.com/node/21561933



NOT for the first time, the recent behaviour of financial markets has been at odds with economic fundamentals. The living has been easy on American and European stock exchanges this summer, despite plenty of gloomy data. Investors may have been placing too much faith in the capacity of central banks to counteract economic weakness. The global economy expanded by just 2.8% in the year to the second quarter, according to The Economist’s measure of world GDP (see chart). That is the slowest rate since the end of 2009, when recovery from savage recession in the wake of the financial crisis was getting under way. The most perturbing aspect of the current slowdown is that the weakness is so widespread, affecting emerging economies as well as rich countries.

The most fragile economy in the rich world is that of the troubled euro area, where GDP shrank by 0.2% (an annualised decline of 0.7%) in the second quarter, leaving it 0.4% smaller than a year earlier. Beset by fears about a possible Greek exit and a bigger bail-out for Spain (which this week received a rescue request of its own, from Catalonia’s regional government), the euro zone is sliding ever deeper into the mire. A composite index of output in manufacturing and services from Markit, a research firm, based on purchasing-manager reports in July and August, is pointing to a further fall in GDP in the third quarter. The big bright spot within the 17-country area has been Germany’s continuing strength. Its economy, which makes up over a quarter of the euro zone’s output, expanded by 0.3% in the second quarter, leaving it 1% bigger than a year earlier. But the German light is dimming, too. A business-climate survey conducted by Munich’s Ifo Institute for Economic Research found expectations for the next six months at their lowest since mid-2009.

The euro zone’s troubles are hurting other rich countries. Bolstered by reconstruction work following the catastrophic earthquake and tsunami of March 2011, the Japanese economy grew by 3.5% in the year to the second quarter. But the value of exports to the European Union fell by a startling 25% in the year to July. On August 28th the government highlighted the risk to recovery from a further slowdown in overseas economies. America has been doing a lot better than Europe. In the second quarter its GDP grew at an annualised rate of 1.7%, according to revised figures published on August 29th. But the recovery has been slowing: growth is down from 2% in the first quarter and 4.1% in late 2011. Although there are signs that the housing market is at last coming up for air—home prices rose by 1.2% in the year to the second quarter—consumer confidence fell sharply in August.

Making matters worse, the slowdown is also affecting emerging economies. Among the four BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Brazil’s fall from grace has been particularly marked: its growth in early 2012 was anaemic. A wider slowdown in Latin America is under way as Chinese demand for commodities from the region slackens. Flagging imports suggest that China’s slowdown will prove to be more severe than previously expected. The country’s exporters are also having a hard time. In August new export orders for manufacturers were at their weakest since March 2009, according to Markit. Chinese GDP grew by 7.6% in the year to the second quarter, its slowest rate since the financial crisis. Industrial production grew by only 9.2% in the year to July, well down on the 14% rate a year ago. The Shanghai stockmarket, which has plumbed a three-year low, reflects this sense of weakness....

[Fuddnik]

5. Stocks' activity to pick up as Wall Street returns from vacation

By Angela Moon, Reuters
NEW YORK -- Marking the end of the summer doldrums, Wall Street is likely to kick off September with heavy trading volume while it hopes that the European Central Bank will hint at further stimulus measures to boost the global economy.

On Friday, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said that the central bank stands ready to bolster the economy if necessary, although he stopped short of giving an explicit signal of more monetary easing.

Stocks rallied after Bernanke's speech to an annual conference of central bankers in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, with major indexes gaining more than 1 percent in the late morning session. At the end of the day the Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.7 percent, while the Standard & Poor's 500 Index was up 0.51 percent and the Nasdaq Composite Index up 0.6 percent.

"This (Bernanke speech) was in line with what we were expecting. He left the door open but didn't announce anything explicit. He doesn't intend to front-run his own FOMC (policy) meeting," said Liz Ann Sonders, New York-based chief investment strategist at Charles Schwab Corp, which has $1.6 trillion in client assets.

Investors are now awaiting comments from European Central Bank President Mario Draghi after the bank's meeting on Thursday. Many investors will look to the ECB meeting to glean strong clues on what to expect from the Federal Open Market Committee's own policy meeting the following week on Sept 12-13.

(snip)

The all-important U.S. non-farm payrolls report is due on Friday. With Bernanke citing poor improvement in the labor market as part of the reason the U.S. economy faces "daunting" challenges, Friday's data could be a game changer, according to market participants.

(snip)

http://marketday.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/09/03/13595292-stocks-activity-to-pick-up-as-wall-street-returns-from-vacation?lite

[Po_d Mainiac]

6. How have the last 5 years treated your balance sheet?

The performance of the following asset classes have

Lumber +10% (raw land assesed for tree value is similar)
Corn +100%
Fuel +55%
S&P 500 +.3%
R2K 3%
Silver +240%
Gold +260%
Real Estate ?
T-Bills +18% (but yields are near zilch)

[Fuddnik]

7. I don't have a sheet left to balance.

[Po_d Mainiac]

13. Use the ABCD rule of investing. n/t

[Demeter]

15. What is that, Po?

[Po_d Mainiac]

16. ...

Anything
Bernanke
Can't
Destroy

[Warpy]

19. Good one.

Unfortunately, his reach seems limitless at this point.

[Tansy_Gold]

20. As long as he can't get

your loom, you're safe.

[Warpy]

21. I dunno, whenever he's on my TeeVee

I can see his eyes drift over to the studio.

It's creepy.

[Tansy_Gold]

30. TURN OFF THE TEE VEE !!!! ;-) n/t

[AnneD]

37. Or ...

your garden, and maybe your hip pocket if you screw your pants on in the morning. Tansy, I thing your gemstones might be safe...Who wants a bunch of rocks.

[Tansy_Gold]

22. Clever, clever, and you know

how I love the clever!

And that might become a mantra for all of us before TSHTF and TEOTWAWKI.

[Po_d Mainiac]

43. I can't claim copyrights. n/t

[Demeter]

23. I'll be your straight man anytime

Is there anything Bernanke can't destroy? Or steal?

[jtuck004]

35. My software changed the title on mine to "Unbalanced Sheet".n/t

[jtuck004]

10. $2.6 Trillion for 2 Million Jobs. $1.3 million. That's what I call minimum wage.

Here.

Anyone find these economic stimulus packages put out by the government and the Federal Reserve ridiculous at this point? The reality is a direct jobs program would be much cheaper and much more effective to get the economy moving. Yet, magically that idea has been dismissed and worse since 2008
...
...
Hello! The problem is labor, yet U.S. citizens hires are considered a by product of economic activity, instead of the top focal point, the most important element of economic activity. In other words, what is an economy good for if the top priority isn't to provide work and income for the people who live in that economy? Really, let's get down to basics here.

Honestly, you can read through these various economic models, if you have the time and the advanced mathematics in some cases and nowhere is labor a primary variable. Uh huh. Stocks are, equities are, even GDP is, but people? Hell no, especially the American people, ya know, the citizens who make up this country. We are an after thought an effect, a consequence in most of these macro economic models. Nice huh?
...
...
This is the fundamental problem, the blind spot. U.S. labor is the economy. The economy is not Wall Street, hedge funds, the financial sector and even politicians. The economy is for the people and when you don't share the wealth, put U.S. labor first and foremost, not only in consideration, but also labor's effect in macroeconomic models, this is the kind of crap we get. Round about astronomical spending which might help hire some people as an afterthought. Come on Economists, here's the variable you are missing, it's called L for labor. We're not an expense, we are the economic creation engine.
...

Labor is the economy. So the investment with the best return has to be in people. Leaving them unemployed for years is no different than letting your factory age and fall into disrepair, but the costs are likely to be far greater.

[Demeter]

11. The Little 1%er Ego Can't Handle It

Last edited Tue Sep 4, 2012, 05:23 AM - Edit history (1)

That would mean they are insignificant in every way, parasites on the economy, the least useful members of society, the ones who would NOT BE MISSED IN ANY WAY.

It would also mean that FDR was right. Like the Civil War, some insults to the malware of the ego just cannot be assimilated.

ANONYMOUS IS NOT A FAD

[Egalitarian Thug]

34. Exactly. And we used to talk about this very topic a mere century ago.

Capital vs. Labor.

[just1voice]

36. Good article, it easily details what a fraud the economy is in the U.S.

The FED cares about banks, the government cares about banks; nobody cares about the people. The FED and the government publish their faked stats and programs for 1 reason only, to enrich themselves. The idea of any benefit to overall society is only put forth to further their corrupt goals. Therefore, the bullshit premise that something like "quantitative easing" is done for the overall benefit to society is indeed ridiculous, it is never intended to be anything but a propaganda tool that makes life easier for corrupt banks.

Still, that doesn't stop moronic propaganda recitals day in and day out from those that are able to eek out a modest living in the corrupted, predatory capitalist model by repeating the bullshit premises of the elite. Most people are so brainwashed now they don't even know they're just tools that repeat what is actually anti-American propaganda. These people have convinced themselves that "it's just the way it is" when in fact, reality is nothing like that. The reality is, as the article clearly states, labor is the real resource.

[Roland99]

17. US Futures - meh

DOW +0.1%
[font color="red"]S&P 500 -0.1%
NASDAQ -0.1% [/font]

[Demeter]

24. Broke 13K, and seems stuck underneath it

Rejoice with me--it rains (a little)!

[Demeter]

25. Why You’re a Lot Poorer Than You Thought You Were By Mike Whitney

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article32330.htm

According to a report by Sentier Research “real median annual household income… has fallen by 4.8 percent since the ‘economic recovery’ began in June 2009.” That’s worse than the 2.6 percent decline that took place during the recession itself. (between July 2007 to June 2009) All told–from the beginning of the slump in 2007 until today–median household income has dropped an eyewatering 7.2 percent. (“Changes in Household Income During the Economic Recovery: June 2009 to June 2012?, Sentier Research)...The Sentier Research report comes on the heels of a similar report from the Fed which was released in June showing that middle class families saw a nearly 40 percent decline in their net worth between the years 2007 to 2010. The Fed’s 80-page tri-annual Survey of Consumer Finances, points to the Great Recession as the putative cause of the overall decline in wealth, but the Fed’s lopsided policies could be as easily blamed. Low interest rates, lax lending standards and outright fraud generated asset-price bubbles that wiped out 2 decades of economic gains for working people in the US.

The Fed’s survey found that the median net worth of families in the US fell by 38.9 percent between 2007 and 2010, from $126,400 to $77,300. Also, the median value of a US home dropped by 42 percent, from $95,300 to $55,000 in the same period. Plunging housing prices have increased the burden of mortgage debt leaving more than 20 percent of all homeowners with negative equity which greatly increases the probability of default.

Is it any wonder why consumer confidence is at its lowest point since November 2011? Or why mom and pop investors are still fleeing the stock market in record numbers 4 years after Lehman Brothers failed? Or why the yields on 10-year Treasuries are still hovering below 2 percent? Or why bank deposits now vastly exceed loans?

All of these are signs of extreme distress, which is why working people have grown so gloomy about the future. Did you know that (According to the Pew Research Center) 61 percent of all Americans were “middle income” back in 1971, while, today, the number has been shaved to 51 percent? That explains why 85 percent of the people surveyed said “that it is harder to maintain a middle class standard of living today compared with 10 years ago.” The majority of the people also admitted that they’ve had to reduce their spending in the past year. What all of these reports indicate is that the US middle class is being drawn-and-quartered by economic policies which serve to enrich the few at the cost of the many...

[DemReadingDU]

26. AntiSec hackers leak 1,000,001 Apple device IDs allegedly obtained from FBI breach

9/4/12 AntiSec hackers leak 1,000,001 Apple device IDs allegedly obtained from FBI breach

During the second week of March 2012, a Dell Vostro notebook, used by Supervisor Special Agent Christopher K. Stangl from FBI Regional Cyber Action Team and New York FBI Office Evidence Response Team was breached using the AtomicReferenceArray vulnerability on Java, during the shell session some files were downloaded from his Desktop folder one of them with the name of ”NCFTA_iOS_devices_intel.csv” turned to be a list of 12,367,232 Apple iOS devices including Unique Device Identifiers (UDID), user names, name of device, type of device, Apple Push Notification Service tokens, zipcodes, cellphone numbers, addresses, etc. the personal details fields referring to people appears many times empty leaving the whole list incompleted on many parts. no other file on the same folder makes mention about this list or its purpose.

http://thenextweb.com/apple/2012/09/04/antisec-hackers-leak-1000001-apple-device-ids-allegedly-obtained-fbi-breach/

9/4/12 From Karl Denninger

The hacker group that got the file released at least part of it.

Now here's my question -- How did the FBI obtain the file?

That's what you ought to be wondering. More to the point: Is Apple providing the FBI with every customer's registration and sale details? And if they're not -- who is?

Let's be real here folks -- 12 million UDIDs is a hell of lot of them. Are you willing to believe that there was no "official transfer" from "somewhere" to the FBI of that data?

I'm not and you shouldn't be either.

http://market-ticker.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=211056




And, if the FBI already has 12 million UDID from Apple, wouldn't it also have UDID from other manufacturers?

[Demeter]

27. Dumbest Idea in the World: Corp. America's False - and Dangerous - Ideology of Shareholder Value

http://www.alternet.org/economy/dumbest-idea-world-corporate-americas-false-and-dangerous-ideology-shareholder-value?akid=9298.227380.9PBxL4&rd=1&src=newsletter701550&t=9&paging=off

For at least the past two decades, Americans have been duped into believing that the sole purpose of a corporation is to maximize value for its shareholders. That belief, first promoted in business schools, has been absorbed in the media, in academic circles, and in the political realm -- even progressives like Al Franken have repeated it as if it were indisputable fact. But in reality, it has no basis in the law or American precedent. The maniacal quest to raise share price is bad for everyone -- even shareholders themselves. This is why scholars, journalists (most recently, Joe Nocera of the New York Times ) and even corporate leaders are coming to the realization that the American corporation has made a wrong turn based on a false ideology. No less than Jack Welch, the former CEO of General Electric and a former enthusiast for shareholder value ideology, has done an about-face, calling it "the dumbest idea in the world."

Fortunately, there's new movement aimed at challenging the destructive ideology shareholder value. AlterNet has been on the forefront of this movement, publishing a series of articles, "Corporations for the 99%" in partnership with William Lazonick, one of America's top authorities on the American business corporation, who, along with AtlerNet's Lynn Parramore and journalist Ken Jacobson, set about debunking this dangerous myth. Cornell University law professor Lynn Stout's new book, “The Shareholder Value Myth,” is a welcome contribution to this movement -- a must-read for anyone who seeks to understand the relationship between corporations and the public and to learn how to overturn a myth that has done incalculable damage to our society and economy. Below is an excerpt from the Introduction to Stout's book. ~Editor

***********************************************************

The Dumbest Idea in the World

The Deepwater Horizon was an oil drilling rig, a massive floating structure that cost more than a third of a billion dollars to build and measured the length of a football field from bottom to top. On the night of April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon was working in the Gulf of Mexico, finishing an exploratory well named Macondo for the corporation BP. Suddenly the rig was rocked by a loud explosion. Within minutes the Deepwater Horizon was transformed into a column of fire that burned for nearly two days before collapsing into the depths of the Gulf of Mexico. Meanwhile, the Macondo well began vomiting tens of thousands of barrels of oil daily from beneath the sea floor into the Gulf waters. By the time the well was capped in September 2010, the Macondo well blowout was estimated to have caused the largest offshore oil spill in history.1

The Deepwater Horizon disaster was tragedy on an epic scale, not only for the rig and the eleven people who died on it, but also for the corporation BP. By June of 2010, BP had suspended paying its regular dividends, and BP common stock (trading around $60 before the spill) had plunged to less than $30 per share. The result was a decline in BP’s total stock market value amounting to nearly $100 billion. BP’s shareholders were not the only ones to suffer. The value of BP bonds tanked as BP’s credit rating was cut from a prestigious AA to the near-junk status BBB. Other oil companies working in the Gulf were idled, along with BP, due to a government-imposed moratorium on further deepwater drilling in the Gulf. Business owners and workers in the Gulf fishing and tourism industries struggled to make a living. Finally, the Gulf ecosystem itself suffered enormous damage, the full extent of which remains unknown today.

After months of investigation, the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling concluded the Macondo blowout could be traced to multiple decisions by BP employees and contractors to ignore standard safety procedures in the attempt to cut costs. (At the time of the blowout, the Macondo project was more than a month behind schedule and almost $60 million over budget, with each day of delay costing an estimated $1 million.) Nor was this the first time BP had sacrificed safety to save time and money. The Commission concluded, “BP’s safety lapses have been chronic.”

Why would a sophisticated international corporation make such an enormous and costly mistake? In trying to save $1 million a day by skimping on safety procedures at the Macondo well, BP cost its shareholders alone a hundred thousand times more, nearly $100 billion. Even if following proper safety procedures had delayed the development of the Macondo well for a full year, BP would have done much better. The gamble was foolish, even from BP’s perspective...This book argues that the Deepwater Horizon disaster is only one example of a larger problem that afflicts many public corporations today. That problem might be called shareholder value thinking. According to the doctrine of shareholder value, public corporations “belong” to their shareholders, and they exist for one purpose only, to maximize shareholders’ wealth. Shareholder wealth, in turn, is typically measured by share price—meaning share price today, not share price next year or next decade.

[Demeter]

28. 8 Ways to Improve Society Without the Political Process By J.G. Vibes

http://www.activistpost.com/2012/09/8-ways-to-improve-society-without.html

INTERESTING WEBSITE!

...Typically, those who have found themselves “in charge” are no more qualified or knowledgeable than those who are not, yet nonetheless these false prophets continue to swindle generation after generation of people. The worst thing about this whole situation is that these so called “authorities” maintain a monopoly on problem solving, meaning they are really the only ones who are allowed to solve problems. Thus over time people begin to believe that those in authority are the only ones who are actually capable of solving problems, when in reality, they are no more qualified than anyone else. If we apply this understanding to the realm of government, it is not difficult to see that the current system of electoral politics is not an effective or moral way for people to actually create meaningful change in their communities and the planet as a whole. Year after year, administration after administration the faces change, but the oppression continues to escalate. Even if your vote is actually counted, which it probably isn’t, it still won't matter who wins in the end anyway because they are all going to carry out the exact same policies with just slightly rhetoric behind them. It should be obvious by now that this system is not only inherently corrupt, but is also failing miserably and currently in the process of collapse...


(1) Opt Out in Every Way Possible – Non-Compliance is a long-term strategy and won't achieve overnight results, but this is still a necessary part of this social evolution that I am speaking of. Opting out is a way of pulling your support out of the system, and putting your support in something that will eventually outshine the system and make it obsolete. That is a lot of the idea behind pulling yourself out of the political process and refusing to vote. Voting takes a lot of time and energy, especially if you are donating money to political parties and campaigning for candidates. Opting out will instantly free up that time, energy and money for causes that will be more effective in achieving your goal of improving society.

(2) Be Your Own President – Presidents are not “leaders” as the masquerade to be, they are appointed masters who seek to control the thoughts and actions of large groups of people. You have the choice to disobey any random code or policy that doesn't stand up to the non-aggression principle and natural law. Exercising that choice is a way of finding freedom in a seemingly unfree world. If you break government laws and no one gets hurt in the process, and no property has been damaged or stolen, then you have done nothing wrong. Be your own master instead of letting someone else control your behavior.

(3) Campaign for Philosophy – After watching puppet after puppet go through office we should all know by now that “getting the right guy in there” isn’t any kind of possibility, and even it was a possibility, it would be like giving a really nice guy a sledgehammer to repair a complicated supercomputer. What really needs to happen is an advancement of philosophy and a change in the way that this species looks at the world. All of the answers for exactly how the future will be built is not yet known and truly unpredictable, but the problems in our current system are obvious enough that they are easy to identify. The fundamental flaws with our traditional way of life as a species is that it has been acceptable for people to force their will on one another, through both private and political means. As a result violence has plagued our species for ages when we could have easily shed this neurotic tendency just after the stone ages. For centuries humanity has been trapped in this loop of violence because a philosophical advancement has failed to occur. We have known the path to take for ages, we all talk about it in every culture, in the hypocritical rhetoric of every government. Equal rights and universal standards, peace, freedom and justice. These are the ideals that we all speak of, but many fail to live by. These are the ideals that will change the world if embraced, but it is not going to happen by voting an aristocratic liar into a position of power. It will only happen through intelligent people talking about these ideas and coming up with new ways to actually integrate them into society.

(4) Support or Start Mutual Aid Groups – As an article pointed out this week, mutual aid groups were one of the most popular ways that people ensured the welfare of their families and neighbors before the government created programs to make everyone depend on them for help. Years later we can see the results of this approach, as these programs are in total disarray because their purpose was never actually to help people, and those involved have no real incentive to make these programs productive because they aren’t even a part of the community that depends on them. This is what makes mutual aid groups different. First off, these are all programs which are joined by choice and funded voluntarily and they allow people to directly interact with whoever they are helping and with whoever is helping them. These programs are highly efficient and realistic even in today's world. As I pointed out last week a variation of this idea is already becoming popular among jobless people in Spain, who have been using mutual aid organizations called time banks, to help each other weather the tough times.

(5) Support or Create Alternative Currency - There are alternative currencies popping up all over the world, and all over the Internet as well. Bitcoin has been the primary currency used online, but the market is open to competitors so Bitcoin will have to actually continue to satisfy customers, or it will surely give way to a more user friendly currency, something that the Federal Reserve System has never had to do because they monopolize the currency. For close communities and urban markets coupon based, community backed currencies are starting to develop, which allow people to opt out of the Federal Reserve System, and barter with their neighbors using a mutually agreed upon medium of exchange which has no tie to politics at all. In Baltimore many use “Bnotes” to trade amongst themselves, out west they have something called mountain hours that works in much the same way. If there is one of these currencies in your community see what you can do to get involved, if not there are plenty of places online that will tell you how to start this kind of project yourself.

(6) Support or Create a Community Garden – Food prices are getting high and quality is getting lower, making times extremely tough for anyone trying to be healthy. If there is already a garden in your community, try to get involved and support them as much as possible. If there isn’t one in your community, think about starting one yourself!

(7) Support or Create Alternative Media – It's no secret that the mainstream media is a dying entity that has totally lost the confidence of the general population. CNN has been reporting an 80% decrease year after year, and the outlets on either side of the aisle aren’t doing much better either. They are all losing their audience to the people-powered alternative media which is run by large networks of individual activists, most of which really need and deserve some support from the people who appreciate their media. Cancelling your cable subscription and putting that money towards your favorite alternative media organization is a big step in shifting the control of information back into the hands of free people exchanging ideas, instead of government monopolists.

(8) Act with Kindness and Compassion in Your Own Life – Self-explanatory, be excellent to each other.

**********************************************************

J.G. Vibes is an author and artist with an established record label and event promotion company that hosts politically charged electronic dance music events. You can keep up with him and his new 87 chapter book Alchemy of the Modern Renaissance, as well as his show Voluntary Hippie Radio at www.aotmr.com

I CONSIDER OUR LITTLE THREAD AN ALTERNATE MEDIA...SORTING OUT THE BEST IN COMMERCIAL AND PRIVATE THOUGHT AND PRACTICE...AND PHILOSOPHY

[Tansy_Gold]

31. Regarding #4 and our own little cyber community

To everyone who frequents the SMW, lurkers and posters alike:

If you haven't already, you might want to think about contacting another and swapping personal email, phone, address, whatever. I'm not normally very paranoid, but I do like knowing I can get in touch with a few DUers outside the normal channels.

[AnneD]

38. I am game....

I have been a contact person for several folks here and am very discreet, as some can vouch. I too like to get in touch with some folks on occasion, esp if situations change. Learned my lesson after a few folks got tombstoned.

[Tansy_Gold]

39. I have a few

And I think they know I have never shared anything without permission.

I think the world of you folks.

[AnneD]

41. I second that.....

[bread_and_roses]

44. and me three (n/t)

[DemReadingDU]

40. good idea

anything could happen from 1 day to the next

[bread_and_roses]

45. These are good.

Not enough, but good, and yes to SMW & WEE being a haven of sanity and fellowship. Thanks to all of you. I am sorry about being MIA but it's been one of the hard times, without much sight of getting better soon - but this too, shall pass, one way or another. Everything always does. I'll be around when I can be.

[Demeter]

29. Matt Taibbi Reveals How Romney Made His Fortune -- It Ain't Pretty, and He Shouldn't Be Proud of It

"Earned" is a very generous way to put it....

http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/matt-taibbi-reveals-how-romney-made-his-fortune-it-aint-pretty-and-he-shouldnt-be?akid=9312.227380.g72oPv&rd=1&src=newsletter702836&t=4&paging=off

[Demeter]

33. Trying for a little levity-levitation post-Europe

But nobody's laughing or flying.

The fairies need to go on a diet, or weight training. Or both.

[AnneD]

42. How does that saying go....

if frogs had wings, they wouldn't bump their asses on the ground. If fairies weren't so full of buck shot (BS for short), they wouldn't bump their asses on the ground.

AnneD, keeping it real.