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STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Monday, 28 July 2014
[font size=3]STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday, 28 July 2014[font color=black][/font]
SMW for 25 July 2014
AT THE CLOSING BELL ON 25 July 2014
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Dow Jones 16,960.57 -123.23 (-0.72%)
S&P 500 1,978.34 -9.64 (-0.48%)
Nasdaq 4,449.56 -22.54 (-0.50%)
[font color=green]10 Year 2.47% -0.03 (-1.20%)
30 Year 3.24% -0.04 (-1.22%) [font color=black]
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[font size=2]Market Conditions During Trading Hours[/font]
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(click on link for latest updates)
http://tools.investing.com/market_quotes.php?
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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
Wall Street on Parade
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Essential Reading:[/font][/font]
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Matt Taibi: Secret and Lies of the Bailout
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[font color=black][font size=2]Handy Links - Government Issues:[/font][/font]
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LegitGov
Open Government
Earmark Database
USA spending.gov
[/center][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
10/26/12 UPDATE: Former Goldman Sachs director Rajat Gupta sentenced to two years in federal prison. He will, of course, appeal. . .
11/20/12 Hedge fund manager Matthew Martoma charged with insider trading at SAC Capital Advisors, and prosecutors are looking at Martoma's boss, Steven Cohen, for possible involvement.
02/14/13 Gilbert Lopez, former chief accounting officer of Stanford Financial Group, and former controller Mark Kuhrt sentenced to 20 yrs in prison for their roles in Allen Sanford's $7.2 billion Ponzi scheme.
03/29/13 Michael Sternberg, portfolio mgr at SAC Capital, arrested in NYC, charged with conspiracy and securities fraud. Pled not guilty and freed on $3m bail.
04/04/13 Matthew Marshall Taylor,fmr Goldman Sachs trader arrested, charged by CFTC w/defrauding his employer on $8BN futures bet "by intentionally concealing the true huge size, as well as the risk and potential profits or losses associated."
04/04/13 Matthew Taylor admits guilt, makes plea bargain. Sentencing set for 26 June; faces up to 20 years in prison but will likely only see 3-4 years. Says, "I am truly sorry."
04/11/13 Ex-KPMG LLP partner Scott London charged by federal prosecutors w/passing inside tips to a friend in exchange for cash, jewelry, and concert tickets; expected to plead guilty in May.
08/01/13 Fabrice Tourré convicted on six counts of security fraud, including "aiding and abetting" his former employer, Goldman Sachs
08/14/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout charged with wire fraud, falsifying records, and conspiracy in connection with JP Morgan's "London Whale" trade.
08/19/13 Phillip A. Falcone, manager of hedge fund Harbinger Capital Partners, agrees to admit to "wrongdoing" in market manipulation. Will banned from securities industry for 5 years and pay $18MM in disgorgement and fines.
09/16/13 Javier Martin-Artajo and Julien Grout officially indicted on charges associated with "London Whale" trade.
02/06/14 Matthew Martoma convicted of insider trading while at hedge fund SAC (Stephen A. Cohen) Capital Advisors. Expected sentence 7-10 years.
03/24/14 Annette Bongiorno, Bernard Madoff's secretary; Daniel Bonventre, director of operations for investments; JoAnn Crupi, an account manager; and Jerome O'Hara and George Perez, both computer programmers convicted of conspiracy to defraud clients, securities fraud, and falsifying the books and records.
05/19/14 Credit Suisse, which has an investment bank branch in NYC, agrees to plead guilty and pay appx. $2.6 billion penalties for helping wealthy Americans hide wealth and avoid taxes.
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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]
24 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
= new reply since forum marked as read
I DON'T THINK small c capitalism WILL EVER END. THE PROPER QUESTION IS WHEN WILL REASONABLE STANDARDS AND CONSTRAINTS BE PLACED ON MONOPOLIES. CRONY CAPITALISM ISN'T CAPITALISM AT ALL--IT'S THUGGERY.--DEMETER
http://newleftreview.org/II/87/wolfgang-streeck-how-will-capitalism-end
There is a widespread sense today that capitalism is in critical condition, more so than at any time since the end of the Second World War. [1] Looking back, the crash of 2008 was only the latest in a long sequence of political and economic disorders that began with the end of postwar prosperity in the mid-1970s. Successive crises have proved to be ever more severe, spreading more widely and rapidly through an increasingly interconnected global economy. Global inflation in the 1970s was followed by rising public debt in the 1980s, and fiscal consolidation in the 1990s was accompanied by a steep increase in private-sector indebtedness. [2] For four decades now, disequilibrium has more or less been the normal condition of the ‘advanced’ industrial world, at both the national and the global levels. In fact, with time, the crises of postwar oecd capitalism have become so pervasive that they have increasingly been perceived as more than just economic in nature, resulting in a rediscovery of the older notion of a capitalist society—of capitalism as a social order and way of life, vitally dependent on the uninterrupted progress of private capital accumulation.
Crisis symptoms are many, but prominent among them are three long-term trends in the trajectories of rich, highly industrialized—or better, increasingly deindustrialized—capitalist countries. The first is a persistent decline in the rate of economic growth, recently aggravated by the events of 2008 (Figure 1, below). The second, associated with the first, is an equally persistent rise in overall indebtedness in leading capitalist states, where governments, private households and non-financial as well as financial firms have, over forty years, continued to pile up financial obligations (for the us, see Figure 2, below). Third, economic inequality, of both income and wealth, has been on the ascent for several decades now (Figure 3, below), alongside rising debt and declining growth.
MORE AT LINK
http://www.pieria.co.uk/articles/cheer_-_inequality_is_falling_globally_and_similar_nonsense
I bet you think that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. A few well-known facts might lead you to this conclusion. For example, in the United States income after tax per household is now over 100% greater than forty years ago (1972), while average weekly earnings in the private sector are 14% lower (see chart below).
Average household income up, wage earning income down - how do you get that result? Rich households take all the increase in income, that's how. We find similar outcomes in Europe -- UK real wages falling after 2008, real wages in Germany frozen since the late 1990s, and even worse news from the euro crisis countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, among others). Falling wages amidst rising incomes for the rich appears to have been a global phenomenon over the last several decades.
As I write in my new book, Economics of the 1%, I never fail to be impressed by the proclivity of members of the mainstream economics profession to deny and distort reality in the interests of the rich. The New York Times provided a platform for this prominent feature of the profession in an article titled "Income Inequality is not Rising Globally - It's Falling". In this for-the-rich-to-feel-good contribution, we are told by someone identifying himself as a "professor at George Mason University" (whose economics department makes the one at the University of Chicago look left-wing),
MORE
I bet you think that the rich are getting richer and the poor poorer. A few well-known facts might lead you to this conclusion. For example, in the United States income after tax per household is now over 100% greater than forty years ago (1972), while average weekly earnings in the private sector are 14% lower (see chart below).
Average household income up, wage earning income down - how do you get that result? Rich households take all the increase in income, that's how. We find similar outcomes in Europe -- UK real wages falling after 2008, real wages in Germany frozen since the late 1990s, and even worse news from the euro crisis countries (Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain, among others). Falling wages amidst rising incomes for the rich appears to have been a global phenomenon over the last several decades.
As I write in my new book, Economics of the 1%, I never fail to be impressed by the proclivity of members of the mainstream economics profession to deny and distort reality in the interests of the rich. The New York Times provided a platform for this prominent feature of the profession in an article titled "Income Inequality is not Rising Globally - It's Falling". In this for-the-rich-to-feel-good contribution, we are told by someone identifying himself as a "professor at George Mason University" (whose economics department makes the one at the University of Chicago look left-wing),
MORE
http://www.businessinsider.com/something-is-off-in-europe-2014-7
The UK remains one of the few advanced economies that is advancing at a solid pace. During Q2, real GDP rose 3.1% y/y, the best since Q4-2007. The same can’t be said for the Eurozone. The region’s July flash PMIs look solid. The composite output index, which was 54.0 this month, has been hovering around that level since February. It has been looking good since last summer, yet the “hard” data, such as industrial production and retail sales, have been quite soft. (Click to add Markit PMIs to MyPage.)
Weighing on the Eurozone is that bank loans continue to fall in the region. They declined by €243 billion at an annual rate over the three-month period through June. While the ECB has been providing easy monetary policy, bank regulators (including the ones at the ECB) continue to subject the banks to stress tests that discourage risky lending.
Even Germany, the Eurozone’s strongest economy, is showing the negative effects of tough lending standards, particularly on its large trading partners in the region. The strong euro is another headwind. The uncertainty caused by the Ukrainian crisis, with the potential for shortages and higher prices of natural gas this coming winter, is also weighing on the Eurozone. No wonder that Germany’s Ifo business confidence index fell from a recent peak of 111.3 during February to 108.0 in July. Both its present and expectations components fell sharply this month.
Read more: http://blog.yardeni.com/2014/07/something-is-off-in-europe-excerpt.html#ixzz38lN2jFd1
The UK remains one of the few advanced economies that is advancing at a solid pace. During Q2, real GDP rose 3.1% y/y, the best since Q4-2007. The same can’t be said for the Eurozone. The region’s July flash PMIs look solid. The composite output index, which was 54.0 this month, has been hovering around that level since February. It has been looking good since last summer, yet the “hard” data, such as industrial production and retail sales, have been quite soft. (Click to add Markit PMIs to MyPage.)
Weighing on the Eurozone is that bank loans continue to fall in the region. They declined by €243 billion at an annual rate over the three-month period through June. While the ECB has been providing easy monetary policy, bank regulators (including the ones at the ECB) continue to subject the banks to stress tests that discourage risky lending.
Even Germany, the Eurozone’s strongest economy, is showing the negative effects of tough lending standards, particularly on its large trading partners in the region. The strong euro is another headwind. The uncertainty caused by the Ukrainian crisis, with the potential for shortages and higher prices of natural gas this coming winter, is also weighing on the Eurozone. No wonder that Germany’s Ifo business confidence index fell from a recent peak of 111.3 during February to 108.0 in July. Both its present and expectations components fell sharply this month.
Read more: http://blog.yardeni.com/2014/07/something-is-off-in-europe-excerpt.html#ixzz38lN2jFd1
http://www.businessinsider.com/profit-margins-are-getting-ever-fatter-2014-7
Profit margins are still getting wider.
"With earnings growth (6.7%) rising at a faster rate than revenue growth (3.1%) in Q2 and in future quarters, companies have continued to discuss cost-cutting initiatives to maintain earnings growth rates and profit margins," said FactSet's John Butters on Friday.
This comes at a time when profit margins are already at historic highs.
Ever since the financial crisis, sales growth has been weak. However, corporations have been able to deliver robust earnings growth by fattening profit margins. Much of this has been done by laying off workers and squeezing more productivity out of those on the payroll.
Stock market bears have warned that these margins are doomed to revert, leading to a correction in profits and stock prices.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/profit-margins-are-getting-ever-fatter-2014-7#ixzz38lPG7XO3
Profit margins are still getting wider.
"With earnings growth (6.7%) rising at a faster rate than revenue growth (3.1%) in Q2 and in future quarters, companies have continued to discuss cost-cutting initiatives to maintain earnings growth rates and profit margins," said FactSet's John Butters on Friday.
This comes at a time when profit margins are already at historic highs.
Ever since the financial crisis, sales growth has been weak. However, corporations have been able to deliver robust earnings growth by fattening profit margins. Much of this has been done by laying off workers and squeezing more productivity out of those on the payroll.
Stock market bears have warned that these margins are doomed to revert, leading to a correction in profits and stock prices.
Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/profit-margins-are-getting-ever-fatter-2014-7#ixzz38lPG7XO3
http://www.businessinsider.com/3-reasons-yellen-remains-dovish-2014-7
What makes Janet Yellen and a number of other FOMC members so dovish with respect to monetary policy and in particular the trajectory of rate normalization? A Credit Suisse report sites 3 key factors, which Yellen calls “unusual headwinds":
1. Tighter fiscal policy.
The combination of lower government spending and tax increases has created a drag on economic growth (see chart). This drag is now diminishing, but given the tepid recovery Yellen still views it as a headwind.
2. Relatively tight credit in the mortgage market.
Janet Yellen: - " ... it is difficult for any homeowner who doesn't have pristine credit these days to get a mortgage. I think that is one of the factors that is causing the housing recovery to be slow. It’s not the only one, but I would agree with that assessment."
A recent study by Goldman compared current lending conditions in the mortgage market with the 2000 - 2002 period (supposedly "pre-bubble" period). The results indeed seem to point to tighter lending standards at this time (see chart).
Read more: http://soberlook.com/2014/07/3-reasons-yellens-fomc-remains-dovish.html#ixzz38lQFjVaB
Read more: http://soberlook.com/2014/07/3-reasons-yellens-fomc-remains-dovish.html#ixzz38lPyJDpU
What makes Janet Yellen and a number of other FOMC members so dovish with respect to monetary policy and in particular the trajectory of rate normalization? A Credit Suisse report sites 3 key factors, which Yellen calls “unusual headwinds":
1. Tighter fiscal policy.
The combination of lower government spending and tax increases has created a drag on economic growth (see chart). This drag is now diminishing, but given the tepid recovery Yellen still views it as a headwind.
2. Relatively tight credit in the mortgage market.
Janet Yellen: - " ... it is difficult for any homeowner who doesn't have pristine credit these days to get a mortgage. I think that is one of the factors that is causing the housing recovery to be slow. It’s not the only one, but I would agree with that assessment."
A recent study by Goldman compared current lending conditions in the mortgage market with the 2000 - 2002 period (supposedly "pre-bubble" period). The results indeed seem to point to tighter lending standards at this time (see chart).
Read more: http://soberlook.com/2014/07/3-reasons-yellens-fomc-remains-dovish.html#ixzz38lQFjVaB
Read more: http://soberlook.com/2014/07/3-reasons-yellens-fomc-remains-dovish.html#ixzz38lPyJDpU
more kabuki 
