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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:36 AM
Original message
STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday March 1
Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday March 1, 2010

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Name(s): David Safavian, James Fondren

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

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

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON February 26, 2010

Dow... 10,325.26 +4.23 (+0.04%)
Nasdaq... 2,238.26 +4.04 (+0.18%)
S&P 500... 1,104.49 +1.55 (+0.14%)
Gold future... 1,119 +10.00 (+0.90%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.61 -0.02 (-0.50%)
30-Year Bond 4.55 -0.02 (-0.44%)




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


Market Conditions During Trading Hours



GOLD, EURO, YEN, Loonie, Silver and US$



Handy Links - Market Data and News:
Economic Calendar    Marketwatch Data    Bloomberg Economic News    Yahoo! Finance
    Google Finance    Bank Tracker    Credit Union Tracker    Daily Job Cuts

Handy Links - Economic Blogs:
The Big Picture    Financial Sense    Calculated Risk    Naked Capitalism    Credit Writedowns
    Brad DeLong    Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

Handy Links - Government Issues:
LegitGov    Open Government    Earmark Database    USA spending.gov









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
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:39 AM
Response to Original message
1. Today's Reports
08:30 Personal Income Jan
Briefing.com 0.3%
Consensus 0.4%
Prior 0.4%

08:30 Personal Spending Jan
Briefing.com 0.6%
Consensus 0.4%
Prior 0.2%

08:30 PCE Prices - Core Jan
Briefing.com 0.0%
Consensus 0.1%
Prior 0.1%

10:00 Construction Spending Jan
Briefing.com 0.3%
Consensus -0.5%
Prior -1.2%

10:00 ISM Index Feb
Briefing.com 59.1
Consensus 57.8
Prior 58.4

http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:41 AM
Response to Original message
2. Oil rises above $80 as regional stocks gain
SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose above $80 a barrel Monday in Asia as crude traders followed regional stock markets higher. ...

Oil traders, who often look to equities as a measure of overall investor sentiment, were cheered by a jump in all the major Asian stock indexes Monday. Equity markets were boosted by hopes that Greece's debt-ridden economy would soon be rescued and a slowdown in Chinese manufacturing growth that eased fears of more government steps to cool the economy.

This week, investors will be eyeing U.S. jobs data to get a better sense of the recovery in the world's largest economy. The Labor Department is scheduled to announce February's unemployment rate on Friday. Joblessness was 9.7 percent in January.

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



Recovery will not take hold if energy prices continue to track the irrational la-la land of stock markets.
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hamerfan Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 07:05 AM
Response to Reply #2
12. This reminds me
of that story having something to do with a goose that laid golden eggs, and what happens when you kill it.
Jeez, these "leaders of industry and business" need to get the hell out of the way and let people with common sense lead.
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CatholicEdHead Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:59 PM
Response to Reply #2
29. I see no reason they will stop doing it
They have been slowly rising since Fall 2008. All trying to push the limit on "how much the market will bear".

At those income levels they have money (mostly ours now) to play with.
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:45 AM
Response to Original message
3. Payrolls, quake, ISM may steer stocks
....When trading resumes on Monday, Wall Street will watch copper prices and mining stocks such as Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold (FCX.N) for impact from the massive earthquake that struck Chile, the world's top copper producer, early on Saturday. ...

More news on Greece's debt problems could also fire up investors after a week of little market movement, with U.S. stocks ending Friday's choppy session slightly higher in light trading volume due to a heavy winter snow storm that hit much of the U.S. Northeast.

The Institute for Supply Management will give Wall Street vital information on manufacturing and services this week, when it releases its February indexes on those sectors.

But February's non-farm payrolls report from the Labor Department will be the main event as job losses continue to give investors reason to question the sustainability of the economy's recovery. ...

Although February was sweet, the final week of the month went down in the loss column. For the week, the Dow slid 0.8 percent, while the S&P 500 shed 0.4 percent and the Nasdaq slipped 0.3 percent. Lingering concerns about Greece's fiscal deficit problems and its effects on the euro were among factors keeping investors on edge.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100228/bs_nm/us_column_stocks_outlook
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:50 AM
Response to Original message
4. Senate impasse puts federal employees out of work
WASHINGTON – Two thousand federal transportation workers will be furloughed without pay on Monday, and the Obama administration said they have a Kentucky senator to blame for it.

Federal reimbursements to states for highway programs will also be halted, the Transportation Department said in a statement late Sunday. The reimbursements amount to about $190 million a day, according to the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.

The furloughs and freeze on payments were the result of a decision last week by Republican Sen. Jim Bunning to block passage of legislation that would have extended federal highway and transit programs, the department said. Those programs expired at midnight Sunday.

The extension of transportation programs was part of a larger package of government programs that also expired Sunday, including unemployment benefits for about 400,000 Americans. ...

Furloughs will affect employees at the Federal Highway Administration, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Research and Innovative Technology Administration. LaHood said construction workers will be sent home from job sites because federal inspectors must be furloughed.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100301/ap_on_bi_ge/us_transportation_furloughs
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:54 AM
Response to Original message
5. Fed may not lose bank supervision role: Dodd
...As he searches for compromises to win support for a landmark financial regulation bill, Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd told Bloomberg TV the Fed may retain some of its historic role in supervising banks.

That would be a big change from Dodd's initial regulatory reform proposal released in November, which called for creating a new super-cop for banks that would have taken over the banking oversight duties of the Fed and other agencies. ....

Banking committee members have criticized the Fed ever since the financial crisis, saying the central bank failed to keep a close enough eye on the U.S. banking industry.

There had been a growing consensus on stripping the Fed of its banking supervision and consumer protection roles, leaving it focused chiefly on monetary policy and acting as the lender of last resort. But Dodd's comments suggested he may be open to allowing the Fed to oversee banks, after all.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100227/bs_nm/us_financial_regulation_fed



And why this shift in attitude? Could it be that Dodd has a post-retirement job lined up that needs the blind eye of the Fed to assist his future employer?
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 06:27 AM
Response to Reply #5
10. Banking System Remains in Perilous Health
Another offering from The Big Picture -

Starting off this terrific article from Floyd Norris is this simply astounding statistic:
More than $1 in every $10 that American banks have outstanding in loans is lent to a troubled borrower, a ratio far higher than previously seen in the quarter-century that such numbers have been compiled.

The problems are greatest in construction loans for single-family homes, where nearly 40 percent of the loans either are delinquent or have been written off as uncollectible. But they are also high in mortgage loans for single-family homes, where $1 in every $8 of loans is troubled.
Amazing . . .

That is what happens when we elected to go Japanese rather than Swedish on the financial sector — We saved the Banks, but sacrificed the Banking System.

More information available at the above link...
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 06:53 AM
Response to Reply #5
11. Financial Reform Endgame
Edited on Mon Mar-01-10 06:54 AM by ozymandius
So here’s the situation. We’ve been through the second-worst financial crisis in the history of the world, and we’ve barely begun to recover: 29 million Americans either can’t find jobs or can’t find full-time work. Yet all momentum for serious banking reform has been lost. The question now seems to be whether we’ll get a watered-down bill or no bill at all. And I hate to say this, but the second option is starting to look preferable.

The problem, not too surprisingly, lies in the Senate, and mainly, though not entirely, with Republicans. The House has already passed a fairly strong reform bill, more or less along the lines proposed by the Obama administration, and the Senate could probably do the same if it operated on the principle of majority rule. But it doesn’t — and when you combine near-universal Republican opposition to serious reform with the wavering of some Democrats, prospects look bleak. ...

There’s no question that consumers need much better protection. The late Edward Gramlich — a Federal Reserve official who tried in vain to get Alan Greenspan to act against predatory lending — summarized the case perfectly back in 2007: “Why are the most risky loan products sold to the least sophisticated borrowers? The question answers itself — the least sophisticated borrowers are probably duped into taking these products.”

Is it important that this protection be provided by an independent agency? It must be, or lobbyists wouldn’t be campaigning so hard to prevent that agency’s creation.

And it’s not hard to see why. Some have argued that the job of protecting consumers can and should be done either by the Fed or — as in one compromise that at this point seems unlikely — by a unit within the Treasury Department. But remember, not that long ago Mr. Greenspan was Fed chairman and John Snow was Treasury secretary. Case closed. The only way consumers will be protected under future antiregulation administrations — and believe me, given the power of the financial lobby, there will be such administrations — is if there’s an agency whose whole reason for being is to police bank abuses.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/01/opinion/01krugman.html?ref=opinion



This is one time when I agree that "no bill (on this issue) is a better option than the bill being considered". Too much has been compromised in the bill's creation with great deference toward the people who created this mess-upon-mess. The latest salvo is Senator Dodd's "aw shucks" moment that, in sum, shows an institutional inertia to any substantive change.
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Demeter Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 07:05 AM
Response to Reply #11
13. I don't think we have EVER had such a totally dysfunctional, captivated Government
Good morning Ozy and all!

How long can a country last with such non-government? I can't think of any historical example that ended without blood and revolution. Even if we are purged by such a fire, what guarantee is there that the evil-intentioned among us will be ousted? And how many good citizens will die for the vanity and greed of these anti-democratic, anti-good government traitors and fools? And I'd have to start at the top, and include Obama in the list.

It's going to be a long week.
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Tansy_Gold Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 07:48 AM
Response to Reply #13
14. Hello, Ozy, Demeter, Anne, and everyone
I didn't plan to miss the Johnny Cash WEE week-end but circumstances have just had me far too busy. So I come back for a quick fix on Monday morning and it appears the government has gone to hell in a handbasket.

And I'm not surprised.

Didn't we, really, see this coming? Isn't this the expected result when the leader won't lead but lets the least and worst among him call the tune?

We've watched de facto control of our country slide from the hands of one selfish greedy no-nothing ME! ME! ME! ME! two-year-old -- Max Baucus, Joe Lieberman, Olympia Snowe -- to another. Now we see the senile sniveling Jim Bunning take us all hostage. What a complete and total asshole. Or, since an asshole actually does serve a useful bodily function, maybe he should be compared to a ruptured appendix? Over-due for removal before it poisons the entire body?

It would be nice to say he and he alone bears responsibility for anything that happens while this government shut-down that he engineered imposed like some alien despot endures, but he's not the only one. The buck stops at the top, and we appear to be entering another of those "while God and all His saints slept" period not at all unlike the bitter and eventually bloody war over who would succeed Henry I of England, his legitimate daughter and rightful heir Matilda, or her ambitious cousin Stephen of Blois.

Matilda's greatest triumph came in April 1141, when her forces defeated and captured King Stephen at the Battle of Lincoln. He was made a prisoner and effectively deposed. Her advantage lasted only a few months. When she arrived in London, the city was ready to welcome her and support her coronation. She used the title of Lady of the English and planned to assume the title of queen upon coronation (the custom which was followed by her grandsons, Richard and John).<2> However, she refused the citizens' request to halve their taxes and, because of her own arrogance <2>, they closed the city gates to her and reignited the civil war on 24 June 1141.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empress_Matilda



What was that saying about not learning the lessons of history?




Tansy Gold, returning to the insanity of the software conversion that will not convert but planning on a brief and much needed vacation from it in a few days



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Loge23 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 09:03 AM
Response to Reply #13
20. We have the government we deserve.
Excuse me if I have wrote this before - but I'm sticking to this opinion which has become a mantra of sorts for me.
Obama recently extended the poorly-named "Patriot" Act for another year - or, you may say that you were up for parole and it was denied.
As Tansy pointed out, Weiner is chastised and dismissed as a extremist while baseball-player-turned-cretin, Jim Bunning, is essentially allowed to completely disrupt the dysfunctional government. This isn't merely an observation - this is exactly what has happened.
My point is we, as a people, allow this to occur. The American people have apparently decided that the Bill of Rights and Constitutionally-protected freedoms are worth sacrificing in order to be protected from black, brown, poor, gay, and intelligent people.
This behavior will lead to the installation of people into government on the basis of fabricated perceived threats - and we all know which side of the political spectrum excels at this sort of thing.
Facts mean nothing anymore. It's all fear all the time. "Socialists!!!", "Government take-over!!!", "Soft on terrorists!!!".
They're winning. This is the government that the American people have brought into. This is the government that corporations and the uber-wealthy want us to have. And this is the government that the American people deserve.
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Dr.Phool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 09:33 AM
Response to Reply #20
23. It's worse than your example.
You went up for parole, and it was GRANTED. You had a release date set. And just as you're packing up your toiletries, and other personal belongings to leave, the guard, that you always thought was one of the good ones, comes up laughing, and tells you they changed their mind. In fact it was all a big joke on you, just so you'd behave. They never really had any intention of letting you go in the first place.

And, if you complain, you're going into "the hole" for 30 days, and shipped to a higher security joint.
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DemReadingDU Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 10:03 AM
Response to Reply #20
24. Where are people's critical thinking skills?

It seems as though many, if not most citizens, would rather tune into mindless TV, iPods, hobbies, vacations, anything except to think critically. They do not want to wake up to see what their country has really become. Even in my own circle of family and friends, it will be the implosion of the global financial Ponzi that will hit them full-blast that they realize what happened, maybe. And then it will be too late.


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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 05:58 AM
Response to Original message
6. Prudential Plc Agrees to Buy AIA for $35.5 Billion
March 1 (Bloomberg) -- Prudential Plc, Britain’s biggest insurer, agreed buy an Asian life insurance unit from American International Group Inc. for $35.5 billion in cash and stock to gain more than 20 million customers in the region.

Prudential will pay $25 billion in cash and $10.5 billion in stock and other securities for AIA Group Ltd., the London- based insurer said in a statement today. Credit Suisse Group AG, JPMorgan Cazenove and HSBC Holdings Plc agreed to underwrite in full a $20 billion rights offer to finance the acquisition. The insurer will also sell about $5 billion of senior debt.

Prudential Chief Executive Officer Tidjane Thiam is trying to boost the insurer’s sales in Asia as growth in the U.K declines. By acquiring AIA, Thiam gets a business with more than 90 years in Asia and more than $60 billion of assets in 13 markets in the region. The purchase price is about 50 percent more than Prudential’s market value. ...

AIG said last May that it would pursue an IPO of AIA after an auction of the business failed to turn up bids that matched what AIG executives thought the company was worth. That included a bid from Prudential that valued AIA at about $15 billion, one of the people said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aD2lQEiDG2Qs
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 06:01 AM
Response to Original message
7. HSBC Posts Smaller-Than-Estimated Gain in 2009 Profit
March 1 (Bloomberg) -- HSBC Holdings Plc, Europe’s biggest bank, posted full-year net income that missed analyst estimates after costs for bad loans climbed and profit in Asia fell.

Earnings increased to $5.83 billion from $5.73 billion a year earlier, the London-based lender said today in a statement. That was less than the $7.76 billion median estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The bank dropped in London trading.

Loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions rose to $26.5 billion in 2009 from $24.9 billion in the previous year, the company said. Pretax profit in Hong Kong declined to $5.03 billion from $5.46 billion, and fell 11 percent in the rest of Asia-Pacific to $4.2 billion. ...

The bank’s North American unit posted a loss of $7.74 billion from a loss of $15.53 billion, the bank said.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=asqJARajlNpA&pos=2
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 06:13 AM
Response to Original message
8. Former Enron CEO could see new trial
HOUSTON — It's a 28-word word law that federal prosecutors have used for more than two decades to send high-profile public officials and corporate executives, including former Enron Corp. CEO Jeff Skilling, to prison.

But the law's future could be in doubt as Skilling's appeal of his criminal convictions — in which he challenges the statute's constitutional validity — is set to be heard by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday. ...

The law at issue is a short addendum to the federal mail and wire fraud statute that makes it illegal for officials, executives and others to scheme to deprive those they serve and possibly others of "the intangible right to honest services."

Skilling's lawyers say the law is unconstitutionally vague. Daniel Petrocelli, Skilling's main attorney, said in his Supreme Court brief that prosecutors have given it "whatever meaning is necessary to prosecute whatever defendant happens to be in the government's sights" and that the law "facilitates opportunistic and arbitrary prosecutions."

But federal prosecutors argued that the law is appropriate for cases involving bribes, kickbacks or conflicts of interest. They argued that Skilling feigned loyalty to Enron and its shareholders and intended to deceive them, hiding the sale of large chunks of company stock.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5h_Nfe3Uyc1dzRHMbl26jxjYBr4PwD9E5B3PG0
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fasttense Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 07:55 AM
Response to Reply #8
15. Who knows what bizarre ruling the Unelected Dancing Supremes will make next?
Edited on Mon Mar-01-10 07:56 AM by fasttense
They could declare all CEOs gods and above any laws. They may decided Corporations are sovereign entities and can make their own laws. Whatever they rule, it wont be based on previous legal precedent and settled law. It will be radically bizarre and neoconish.

It will be just another stake in heart of Democracy.
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Tansy_Gold Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 08:27 AM
Response to Reply #15
17. We no longer have a democracy in any sense of the word
We have a hostage-ocracy, in which any one of the 100 senators (or however many it is of these often feeble-minded and feeble-bodied spoiled brats can drag themselves to the chamber) can dictate to the rest of us like some kind of oriental potentate.

Today it's Jim Bunning, with help from Jon Kyl. A few months ago it was Max Baucus and Joe "The Fucking Traitor" Lieberman and Olympia "I Might or I Might Not but I Probably Won't Maybe" Snowe. Who will it be next?

Anthony Weiner calls them on their know-nothingness and is chastised. Bunning holds the country at fiscal gunpoint and OUR ELECTED LEADER DOES NOT ONE FUCKING THING.

Oh, fuck them all, sideways, with a long ocotillo branch.




Tansy Gold, who is off her meds for another few hours.
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Dr.Phool Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 08:40 AM
Response to Reply #17
18. I don't know what an ocotillo is.
But, I hope it's something like a bougainvillea.
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Tansy_Gold Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 08:46 AM
Response to Reply #18
19. It's worse than a bougainvillea.
Much worse. The thorns are shorter but tougher and closer together.





:evilgrin:
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Po_d Mainiac Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 09:17 AM
Response to Reply #19
21. !
:hide:
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Tansy_Gold Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 09:32 AM
Response to Reply #21
22. I think the only thing comparable from northern climes is the old
standby, the multi-flora rose.

We had a multi-flora hedge in our back yard when I was growing up in the chicago suburbs. It had to be trimmed two or three times a summer and just got thicker and thicker and thicker, as the canes tended to grow back inside the hedge and weave back and forth through it. When my dad finally had enough of it and decided to remove it, he couldn't even cut it into pieces. Had to call a tree removal company, who cut it up with 24-inch chain saws and hauled it out with log chains.

Then it was a matter of digging out the root remnants for several years to keep them from growing back. Thorny bits were still getting stepped on in the yard a full 10 years after the hedge was gone.


I read this and fully understood, especially the last picture.

http://crookedriver.wordpress.com/pasture-restoration/multiflora-rose/



Ocotillos aren't at all as nasty in terms of our desert environment, but they are definitely one of (many) plants to be careful around. They can inflict serious damage. Driving your vehicle up alongside one is the equivalent of getting keyed.



TG
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Warpy Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 12:06 PM
Response to Reply #19
26. Or pyracantha
Worst fight I ever lost in my life was with a pyracantha bush I inherited and which had overgrown so much it prevented me from getting from the front yard to the back. I dressed in a leather jacket, leather gloves, and a bicycle helmet and still ended up with multiple war wounds.

I did, however, manage to cut a small doorway through the inch long thorns.
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ozymandius Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 06:21 AM
Response to Original message
9. What Warren Buffet says:
This is excerpted from his letter to shareholders (pdf). The first point is about risk management.

It’s my job to keep Berkshire far away from such problems. Charlie and I believe that a CEO must not delegate risk control. It’s simply too important. At Berkshire, I both initiate and monitor every derivatives contract on our books, with the exception of operations-related contracts at a few of our subsidiaries, such as MidAmerican, and the minor runoff contracts at General Re. If Berkshire ever gets in trouble, it will be my fault. It will not be because of misjudgments made by a Risk Committee or Chief Risk Officer.

In my view a board of directors of a huge financial institution is derelict if it does not insist that its CEO bear full responsibility for risk control. If he’s incapable of handling that job, he should look for other employment. And if he fails at it – with the government thereupon required to step in with funds or guarantees – the financial consequences for him and his board should be severe.

It has not been shareholders who have botched the operations of some of our country’s largest financial institutions. Yet they have borne the burden, with 90% or more of the value of their holdings wiped out in most cases of failure. Collectively, they have lost more than $500 billion in just the four largest financial fiascos of the last two years. To say these owners have been “bailed-out” is to make a mockery of the term.

The second point focuses on the financial press.

Last year we saw, in one instance, how sound-bite reporting can go wrong. Among the 12,830 words in the annual letter was this sentence: “We are certain, for example, that the economy will be in shambles throughout 2009 – and probably well beyond – but that conclusion does not tell us whether the market will rise or fall.” Many news organizations reported – indeed, blared – the first part of the sentence while making no mention whatsoever of its ending. I regard this as terrible journalism: Misinformed readers or viewers may well have thought that Charlie and I were forecasting bad things for the stock market, though we had not only in that sentence, but also elsewhere, made it clear we weren’t predicting the market at all. Any investors who were misled by the sensationalists paid a big price: The Dow closed the day of the letter at 7,063 and finished the year at 10,428.


Additional links and commentary can be found at The Big Picture
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UpInArms Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 08:26 AM
Response to Original message
16. dollar watch


http://quotes.ino.com/chart/?acs=NYBOT_DX&v=i

Last trade 80.533 Change +0.171 (+0.21%)

Euro Surges to Highest in Seven Weeks Against Pound on Greek Bailout Chatter

http://www.dailyfx.com/forex/fundamental/daily_briefing/session_briefing/euro_open/2010-03-01-0613-Euro_Surges_to_Highest_in.html

Key Overnight Developments

• British Pound Dragged Lower as EURGBP Spikes on Greek Bailout Chatter
• Australian Manufacturing Growth Accelerates, Current Account Gap Widens
• Chinese PMI Figures Disappoint, Reveal Largest Slowdown in Fifteen Months

Critical Levels



The Euro traded slightly lower against the US Dollar, slipping 0.2 percent. British Pound losses were significantly more substantial as the UK unit slid 0.5 percent against the greenback following an early spike in EURGBP (see below). We remain short EURUSD at 1.4881 and GBPUSD at 1.5765.

Asia Session Highlights



The Euro surged against the British Pound in early trading, sending the UK unit sharply lower against most major currencies as the markets digested emerging details of a German-led bailout of the debt-ridden Greek economy. The Wall Street Journal features a story saying German and French officials are hashing out a plan to offer as much as 30 billion euros in aid, likely via the sale of Greek government debt to state-owned banks in the Euro Zone’s top-two economies. This reinforces a story that emerged from Bloomberg News late Friday that cited an anonymous source claiming that German state-owned bank KfW Group to buy up to 25 billion euros in Greek bonds to stave off a default should the troubled southern European country fail to set its own house in order. The Financial Times offered a bit more detail, saying a plan whereby the Berlin administration would offer guarantees on purchases of Greek bonds by major German banks started to take shape after a meeting between Deutsche Bank CEO Josef Ackermann and Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou. The news also helped underpin risk appetite, with the MSCI Asia Pacific regional benchmark stock index rising 0.8 percent.

...more...


Daily Sound Bites 03.01

http://www.dailyfx.com/forex/fundamental/article/daily_sound_bites/2010-03-01-1112-Daily_Sound_Bites_03_01.html



...more...
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Festivito Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 11:59 AM
Response to Original message
25. Debt: 02/25/2010 12,433,661,592,275.45 (UP 31,880,425,405.43) (Thu)
(Up a goodly amount. Debt seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat. Good day all.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,928,696,226,219.39 + 4,504,965,366,056.06
UP 34,823,775,896.06 + DOWN 2,943,350,490.63

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 309-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.24 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.71, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 10 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 308,832,798 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 11/07/2009 08:19 -> 307,879,272
Currently, each of these Americans owe $40,260.17.
A family of three owes $120,780.52. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 5,648,917,639.43.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,330,836,856.90.
The average for the last 31 days would be 4,191,132,442.16.
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$/day.
There were 100 reports in 148 days of FY2010 averaging 5.24B$ per report, 3.54B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 1,060 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.9 and 17.9T$.
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)
02/25/2010 12,433,661,592,275.45 BHO (UP 1,806,784,543,362.37 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 +0,523,832,588,763.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,291,884,424,991.56 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
02/04/2010 -009,677,289,403.68 --
02/05/2010 -000,081,816,346.60 ----
02/08/2010 +000,119,837,978.11 ------------******** Mon
02/09/2010 +000,368,016,270.35 ------------********
02/10/2010 -000,056,577,287.25 ----
02/11/2010 +007,265,093,186.33 ------------*********
02/12/2010 -000,104,736,856.82 ---
02/16/2010 +030,097,605,306.92 ------------********** Tue
02/17/2010 +000,408,694,886.67 ------------********
02/18/2010 +015,224,901,067.79 ------------**********
02/19/2010 +000,114,262,910.59 ------------********
02/22/2010 -000,206,249,204.22 --- Mon
02/23/2010 +000,404,218,476.39 ------------********
02/24/2010 -000,081,552,792.52 ----
02/25/2010 +034,823,775,896.06 ------------**********

78,618,184,088.12 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=4284312&mesg_id=4284352
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Festivito Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 04:42 PM
Response to Reply #25
28. Debt: 02/26/2010 12,440,068,020,714.47 (UP 6,406,428,439.02) (Fri)
(Up some. Debt seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat. Good day all.)

= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 7,936,671,001,094.13 + 4,503,397,019,620.34
UP 7,974,774,874.74 + DOWN 1,568,346,435.72

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 309-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.24 each THAT'S 1B$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.71, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 10 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 308,841,438 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 11/07/2009 08:19 -> 307,879,272
Currently, each of these Americans owe $40,279.79.
A family of three owes $120,839.37. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 5,703,544,170.11.
The average for the last 30 days would be 4,372,717,197.08.
The average for the last 31 days would be 4,231,661,803.63.
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$/day.
There were 101 reports in 149 days of FY2010 averaging 5.25B$ per report, 3.56B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 1,059 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 13.9 and 17.9T$.
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)
02/26/2010 12,440,068,020,714.47 BHO (UP 1,813,190,971,801.39 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 +0,530,239,017,202.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,298,907,659,590.51 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
02/05/2010 -000,081,816,346.60 ----
02/08/2010 +000,119,837,978.11 ------------******** Mon
02/09/2010 +000,368,016,270.35 ------------********
02/10/2010 -000,056,577,287.25 ----
02/11/2010 +007,265,093,186.33 ------------*********
02/12/2010 -000,104,736,856.82 ---
02/16/2010 +030,097,605,306.92 ------------********** Tue
02/17/2010 +000,408,694,886.67 ------------********
02/18/2010 +015,224,901,067.79 ------------**********
02/19/2010 +000,114,262,910.59 ------------********
02/22/2010 -000,206,249,204.22 --- Mon
02/23/2010 +000,404,218,476.39 ------------********
02/24/2010 -000,081,552,792.52 ----
02/25/2010 +034,823,775,896.06 ------------**********
02/26/2010 +007,974,774,874.74 ------------*********

96,270,248,366.54 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=4287836&mesg_id=4288136
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Roland99 Donating Member (1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore Mon Mar-01-10 04:41 PM
Response to Original message
27. At the close - Stocks Marching in tune
Dow 10,404 +78 +0.76%
Nasdaq 2,274 35 1.58%
S&P 500 1,116 11 1.02%
GlobalDow 1,905 +13 +0.67%
Gold 1,118 -1 -0.05%
Oil 78.81 -0.85 -1.07%


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