STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, June 7, 2011

[Pale Blue Dot]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, June 7, 2011

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON June 6, 2011

Dow 12,089.96 -61.30 (-0.51%)
Nasdaq 2,702.56 -30.22 (-1.12%)
S&P 500 1,286.17 -13.99 (-1.09%)
10-Yr Bond... 3.03 +0.03 (+0.03%)
30-Year Bond 4.29 +0.02 (+0.56%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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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:
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Brad DeLong      Bonddad    Atrios    goldmansachs666    The Stand-Up Economist

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

Handy Links - Videos:
The Coming Collapse of the Middle Class    Charlie Rose talks with Roubini    Charlie Rose talks with Krugman
    William Black: This Economic Disaster    Bill Moyers with Kevin Drum and David Corn

Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren
Dishonorable Mention: former House majority leader, Tom DeLay

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

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 12

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

Read more: du

[Pale Blue Dot]

1. One late in the day report.

Jun 07 15:00 Consumer Credit Apr $6.5B $6.0B $6.0B

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/investor/calendars/economic/#ixzz1OaQYP5ew

[Pale Blue Dot]

2. Oil hovers above $99 ahead of OPEC meeting

SINGAPORE – Oil prices hovered above $99 a barrel Tuesday in Asia amid expectations that OPEC will raise its production quota this week.

Benchmark crude for July delivery was up 18 cents at $99.19 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost $1.21 to settle at $99.01 on Monday.

Brent crude was up 33 cents to $114.81 a barrel on the ICE futures exchange in London.

Analysts are looking for clues on what the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will do about oil production when the cartel meets Wednesday in Vienna.

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

[xchrom]

19. Energy woes deepen

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MF08Dj01.html

Here's the good news about energy: thanks to rising oil prices and deteriorating economic conditions worldwide, the International Energy Agency (IEA) reports that global oil demand will not grow this year as much as once assumed, which may provide some temporary price relief at the gas pump.

In its May Oil Market Report, the IEA reduced its 2011 estimate for global oil consumption by 190,000 barrels per day, pegging it at 89.2 million barrels daily. As a result, retail prices may not reach the stratospheric levels predicted earlier this year, though they will undoubtedly remain higher than at any time since the peak months of 2008, just before the global economic meltdown. Keep in mind that this is the good news.

As for the bad news: the world faces an array of intractable


energy problems that, if anything, have only worsened in recent weeks. These problems are multiplying on either side of energy's key geological divide: below ground, once-abundant reserves of easy-to-get "conventional" oil, natural gas, and coal are drying up; above ground, human miscalculation and geopolitics are limiting the production and availability of specific energy supplies. With troubles mounting in both arenas, our energy prospects are only growing dimmer.

[xchrom]

24. OPEC split over increasing oil production

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_OPEC_MEETING?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-07-07-50-52

VIENNA (AP) -- Mideast turmoil, a faltering world economy and divisions on whether to raise crude production promise to make this week's OPEC meeting one of the more volatile in recent history.

In the end, the 12-nation group will probably opt to increase output levels to reduce international concerns about the high price of oil. But some influential members are looking to raise the cost of crude.

Iraqi oil minister Abdul-Karim Elaibi told reporters Tuesday that a price of between $100 and $120 a barrel is "reasonable." That is at or above present prices and is considered too high by major oil-consuming countries struggling with their economies. And it goes against efforts by OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia to push prices downward.

OPEC oil ministers usually face easier choices at the regular meetings, where they seek agreement on how much to pump and sell to the rest of the world. But the mixed signals ahead of Wednesday's meeting are making decisions difficult

[oberliner]

3. Yesterday was pretty ugly

Hopefully today is a little brighter.

[Demeter]

5. I wouldn't bet on it

There's nothing left to lie with. The Truth is seeping out. The Market is dying, along with the rest of the economy.

[Po_d Mainiac]

14. technical stops are taken out

and the insider selling vs buying continues.

The dixie is not showing any signs of "safe haven"

The financial sector is in for some serious bloodletting as the reality of further deflating of the housing bubble continues. The consumer is again deleveraging as inflation cranks up the cost of nessesities. Margins at the retail level are far too thin.

IMHO, Gonna see a down trend in equities till the next round of FRN printing as PM's start reacting more like currency. YMMV

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. U.S. Stock Futures Gain; International Paper Climbs on Temple-Inland Bid

U.S. stock futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may rebound from a 2 1/2-month low, amid speculation that recent declines may have been overdone.

Alcoa Inc. (AA) led gains among Dow Jones Industrial Average companies trading in Europe. Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) advanced in early New York trading. International Paper Co. (IP), the world’s largest pulp-and-paper maker, rallied 2.7 percent after making a $3.31 billion hostile takeover bid for Temple-Inland Inc. (TIN)

S&P 500 futures expiring this month climbed 0.7 percent to 1,293.5 at 6:17 a.m. in New York after the gauge declined for four straight days. Dow futures advanced 65 points, or 0.5 percent, to 12,152.

“Stocks had a legitimate pause, but that doesn’t call into question our investment in equities,” said Jacques Porta, a Paris-based fund manager at Ofi Patrimoine, who helps oversee about $425 million in stocks. “The drop was due to bad economic figures. Now the question is: Will we have bad news all year? I say ‘no.’ There are buying opportunities.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/u-s-stock-futures-gain-international-paper-climbs-on-temple-inland-bid.html

[Demeter]

6. Good Morning, PBD and All

Don't know about you, but I'm getting an increased volume of spam these days. Again.

[DemReadingDU]

7. About the same spam volume

Not that we get that much with AOL. A lot of people don't like AOL, but they do a good job at filtering out the spam.

[Demeter]

8. Dilbert Mocks Reality, and it bites back!

Key White House economics adviser Goolsbee resigns

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/key_white_house_economics_adviser_19iFuON2lqDBki5HwBgTAK

Key White House economics adviser Dr Austan D. Goolsbee has resigned from his role as chairman of the president's Council of Economic Advisers, it was announced Monday.

A statement from the White House said Goolsbee will return to his position as an economics professor at the University of Chicago Graduate School of Business in the fall term.

"Prior to his time in the Obama Administration, he was a professor at the University of Chicago for fourteen years," the statement said.

President Barack Obama described Goolsbee as "one of America's great economic thinkers."

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/key_white_house_economics_adviser_19iFuON2lqDBki5HwBgTAK#ixzz1OaVYgF2r


THE IRONY! IT BURNS!

[Demeter]

13. QE2 Has Failed. Time To Move On By Mike Whitney

GOOD NIGHT, GOOLSBEE!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28263.htm

Was Friday's job's report the final nail in the coffin for QE2?

It should be. After all, how is Fed chairman Ben Bernanke going to convince people that his bond purchasing program is working when payrolls rose by a measly 54,000 and the unemployment rate climbed back to 9.1 percent? It'll take a lot more than fast-talk to sell that load of horse-manure. The truth is, QE2 has been a total bust and the BLS's report is just the icing on the cake. Just look at the data; it's as grim as anything we've seen in the last two years. Here's a clip from an article titled "Disastrous US jobs report points to deepening slump" that will give the reader some idea of how bad things really are:

"The Economic Policy Institute (EPI), a liberal Washington think tank, explained Friday that the official unemployment figure masked an even grimmer reality. It pointed out that the labor force participation rate remained at its lowest point of the recession and that the labor force in May was smaller than it was a year ago, by about 500,000 workers, even though the working-age population grew by 1.9 million in that period.

“Consequently,” it noted, “the proportion of the population that is in the labor force is now 0.7 percentage points below where it was a year ago. If the labor force participation rate had held steady over the last year, there would be roughly 1.8 million more workers in the labor force right now. Instead, they are on the sideline. If these workers were in the labor force and were counted among the unemployed, the unemployment rate would be 10.1 percent right now instead of 9.1 percent. In other words, the improvement in the unemployment rate over the last year (from 9.6 percent to 9.1 percent) is due to would-be workers deciding to sit out the economic storm”. ("Disastrous US jobs report points to deepening slump", World Socialist Website)

So, the only reason the stats look as good as they do (which isn't very good at all) is because people are throwing in the towel and calling it "quits" altogether. So much for the American dream, eh? And there's an interesting twist to the BLS report that readers may not have noticed. The reason the jobs picture is so bleak, is because the "austerity crazed" government has been laying people off while the economy is still struggling which is making things even worse. This is from the Streetlight blog:

"The government sector of the economy continued to make the jobs picture worse. May was the seventh month in a row during which government layoffs undid some of the work of the private sector in creating jobs. Since January 2009, government employment has shrunk in 21 of 29 months -- and without temporary hiring for the Census, it would probably have shrunk in 25 of the last 29 months.

This steady reduction in government employment is a form of contractionary fiscal policy.....If government employment were simply keeping up with population growth in the US, we would expect to see about 17 to 18 thousand more state and local government jobs each month. Instead employment has shrunk by an average of 15 thousand jobs per month since the start of 2009....

In other words, in the absence of the sharp cutbacks in government spending that have been prevalent in the US over the past year or two, about 1.3 million additional people would be working now compared to 8 months ago, rather than the actual job growth we've experienced over that time of about 1 million - a 30% difference. That's a pretty tough headwind to fight, especially for an economy that's already struggling." ("Contractionary Fiscal Policy and the US Job Market", The Streetlight blog)

So, if the government hadn't been foolishly slashing jobs in the middle of a Depression, 1.3 million more people would still be working today. How's that for shooting yourself in the foot? Remember, the easiest way to prime the pump is to make sure that people aren't fired during a slump. That's Rule #1. But, of course, the deficit hawks have already won that scrimmage, so it's probably pointless to even talk about it.

And this isn't just about employment either; it's about distribution, too. As economist David Rosenberg points out in a recent post at Zero Hedge "the labor share of national income has fallen to its lowest level in modern history - down to 57.5% in the first quarter from 57.6% in the fourth quarter of last year, 57.8% a year ago, and 59.8% when the recovery began." What does that mean? It means all the gains in productivity are going to the fatcats in the front office while workers are scraping by on fewer and fewer crumbs. It means working people are getting reamed again bigtime.

THEN WHITNEY RIPS INTO QE2 AND BERNANKE'S LYING. A THING OF BEAUTY!

[Roland99]

28. No need for QE3, Fed's Fisher says ... ... Fisher: QE2 could be partly to blame for oil spike

[Demeter]

53. linkies?

Not that I don't believe, you, Roland, but the forms must be met...

[Roland99]

77. They were ticker headlines on MarketWatch...looking for links ... got it

Fed's Fisher says he would oppose QE3
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/feds-fisher-says-he-would-oppose-qe3-2011-06-07

Richard Fisher, the president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, said he would oppose any effort at the central bank to launch another round of asset purchases, known as quantitative easing, or QE3. "To ask the Fed to print more money in this case is just not the answer," Fisher said during an appearance on the CNBC cable television channel. The Fed has already filled the economy's gas tank and now investors and businesses have to step on the pedal. "We just have to be patient," he said, agreeing with the sentiment that the Fed should step back and let the economy heal itself. The weak May unemployment report was not a game-changer, and growth should pick up in the second half of the year, he said. Fisher, who opposed the Fed's current $600 billion asset purchase program, or QE2, said it may have been partly to blame for higher commodity prices.

[Demeter]

107. Thanks!

It's like the 6 blind men describing an elephant by the little piece they are touching...

[Demeter]

87. Obama’s head of economic council, Austan Goolsbee, to leave, plans return to academia

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/obamas-head-of-economic-council-austan-goolsbee-to-leave-plans-return-to-academia/2011/06/06/AGt9GdKH_story.html?hpid=z1

Goolsbee, chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers since September, is leaving to preserve his tenured professorship at the University of Chicago. Goolsbee stopped teaching at the university in 2007, when he began to advise Obama’s presidential campaign. The school rarely allows professors to take more than two years of leave...Goolsbee, who is regarded as one of the administration’s most effective speakers on economic policy given his background as a star lecturer, spent Friday answering questions about the unexpected news that the economy added only 54,000 jobs in May as the unemployment rate inched back up to 9.1 percent.

Goolsbee, 41, has often had the ear of Obama, urging the president to adopt more of a market-driven approach to economic policymaking. He got to know the president at the university, where Obama taught law before running for the Senate in 2004.

A member of the council since the beginning of the administration, Goolsbee replaced the first chairman, Christina Romer, who argued strongly last year that the White House needed to spend government money to stimulate the economy. Goolsbee has maintained that the private sector must drive the economy’s growth now that the recession has passed...“Since I first ran for the U.S. Senate, Austan has been a close friend and one of my most trusted advisers,” Obama said Monday night. “Over the past several years, he has helped steer our country out of the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression.”

Goolsbee’s departure further elevates the profile of Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner, who is the only original member of the president’s economic team to endure. Geithner now is a principal force shaping Obama’s thinking on the deficit, financial regulation, unemployment, Middle East sanctions and China. Geithner’s former counselor, Gene Sperling, directs the National Economic Council.

[Demeter]

9. Geithner urges Europe to unite on financial regulations MUST READ

The US and Europe should join forces on financial regulation to prevent Asian markets from undercutting global rules, Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, will say on Monday.

In outspoken remarks, Mr Geithner warns any jurisdiction looking to lure new business with softer regulations to look at the fall-out in the UK’s painful experience in the financial crisis.

“The United Kingdom’s experiment in a strategy of ‘light touch’ regulation to attract business to London away from New York and Frankfurt ended tragically,” he says in a prepared speech to a banking conference in Atlanta.
“That should be a cautionary note for other countries deciding whether to try to take advantage of the rise in standards in the United States.”

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/M2ZOXX/3O8U0T/CWSVD/FXZVTB/M9IFLE/SN/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=6

GEITHNER IS INSANE. WORRYING ABOUT THE CHINESE, WHEN IT'S THE AMERICAN PEOPLE BEING RAPED BY THE BANKSTERS THAT HE SHOULD BE ADDRESSING.

[Demeter]

10. Only accurate economic forecasts can calm markets

Financial market participants spend much of their time responding to economic statistics. Better than expected data releases are regarded as good, and poorer ones bad. It would seem obvious in principle. For equity markets in general, stronger growth would imply stronger company earnings and vice versa.

Yet there is a body of literature that aims to refute this simple notion, by showing that historically there is no correlation between stock markets and countries’ real gross domestic product growth. In fact, some countries which typically have slower growth have had much more rewarding
stock markets.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/LQI4JS/LSLXF/LQX5TB/ZBLOCZ/T3/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=6

ONLY EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT OF THE LAW CAN CALM THESE MARKETS!

[Demeter]

86. Geithner warns on light-touch oversight

Tim Geithner, US Treasury secretary, warned overseas markets against undercutting American financial regulations financial regulations, urging them to avoid following the “tragic” example that the UK set in light-touch oversight

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/6NPSBB/A7AOX4/PNGIU/YH3RPT/YH16EH/RF/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[Demeter]

91. Lack of Senate confirmation creating a personnel gap, Geithner says

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/vacancies-in-top-economic-policy-jobs-can-be-harmful-geithner-says/2011/06/06/AGpqcZKH_story.html

The federal government faces huge gaps of leadership in economic and financial policymaking, with about a dozen senior positions vacant or staffed by temporary caretakers, at a time of economic duress and efforts to write hundreds of new financial regulations.

The void atop much of the government’s financial machinery was underscored Monday when Nobel laureate Peter Diamond withdrew his nomination to serve on the Federal Reserve. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor blamed Republicans for blocking his nomination, saying they failed to understand the centrality of unemployment in the Fed’s thinking. Diamond won his Nobel in part for his work on joblessness.

[Demeter]

97. Geithner Urges Rules on Swaps to Avoid ‘Race to the Bottom’

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-06/geithner-urges-global-regulators-to-avoid-race-to-the-bottom-.html

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said he wants global minimum standards on derivatives trading and urged regulators to avoid a “race to the bottom” in which financial risk moves to the least-supervised economies.

“We need global minimum standards for margins on uncleared derivatives trades,” Geithner said today in a speech in Atlanta. “Without international consensus, the broader cause of central clearing will be undermined. Risk in derivatives will become concentrated in those jurisdictions with the least oversight. This is a recipe for another crisis.”

The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and Securities and Exchange Commission are writing new regulations required by the Dodd-Frank Act, the financial overhaul enacted last July, after largely unregulated derivatives helped fuel the 2008 credit crisis. Dodd-Frank seeks to reduce risk and boost transparency in the $601 trillion global swaps market by having most swaps guaranteed by central clearinghouses and traded on exchanges or other venues.

“We don’t want to see another race to the bottom around the world,” Geithner said in his remarks at the International Monetary Conference. “As we act to contain risk in the U.S., we want to minimize the chances that it simply moves to other markets around the world.”

TIMMY'S ALL OVER IT, ISN'T HE?

[Demeter]

11. Venezuela's foreign minister says relations with Washington are 'frozen' following sanctions

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/nationworld/sns-ap-lt-venezuela-us,0,1037574.story

Venezuela's relations with the U.S. are frozen and President Hugo Chavez's government sees no possibility of improving them after its state oil company was hit with sanctions by Washington, the country's top diplomat said Sunday.

Foreign Minister Nicolas Maduro said Venezuela had been trying to establish a dialogue with U.S. officials since Barack Obama assumed the presidency after George W. Bush, but those attempts were spurned.

"We've made every effort to establish a relationship of fluid communications," Maduro said. "It's been impossible."

Tensions between the two countries reached their highest point while Bush was in office. Chavez expressed hope that would change when Obama became president, but he's repeatedly lamented that improving relations has not been possible.


MORE PROOF THAT "HOPE AND CHANGE" IS A VAUDEVILLE ROUTINE

[Demeter]

12. Unemployment Now Worse than During Great Depression

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28259.htm

Despite the Republican rhetoric of "jobs jobs jobs," the country is stunningly lacking them. We knew it was bad, but the latest US Unemployment Report, released Friday, proves that we are in the worst slump since the 1930s. This puts it in perspective:

About 6.2 million Americans, 45.1 percent of all unemployed workers in this country, have been jobless for more than six months - a higher percentage than during the Great Depression...

Here's another problem: more than 1 million of the long-term unemployed have run out of unemployment benefits, leaving them without the money to get new training, buy new clothes, or even get to job interviews.

[Po_d Mainiac]

17. That so-called 'bikini line', is looking like a fat assed momma bear.

[Demeter]

15. Treason in Greece Video MAX KEISER MUST SEE & HEAR!

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28261.htm

THE GRIMMEST REPORT AND PROGNOSTICATION YET.

[Demeter]

16. Will Greece let EU Central Bankers Destroy Democracy? By Michael Hudson

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28258.htm

When Greece exchanged its drachma for the euro in 2000, most voters were all for joining the Eurozone. Their hope was that it would ensure stability, and that this would promote rising wages and living standards. Few saw that the stumbling point was tax policy. Greece was excluded from the eurozone the previous year as a result of failing to meet the 1992 Maastricht criteria for EU membership, limiting budget deficits to 3 percent of GDP, and government debt to 60 percent.

The euro also had other serious fiscal and monetary problems at the outset. There is little thought of wealthier EU economies helping bring less productive ones up to par, e.g. as the United States does with its depressed areas (as in the rescue of the auto industry in 2010) or when the federal government does declares a state of emergency for floods, tornados or other disruptions. As with the United States and indeed nearly all countries, EU “aid” is largely self-serving – a combination of export promotion and bailouts for debtor economies to pay banks in Europe’s main creditor nations: Germany, France and the Netherlands. The EU charter banned the European Central Bank (ECB) from financing government deficits, and prevents (indeed, “saves”) members from having to pay for the “fiscal irresponsibility” of countries running budget deficits. This “hard” tax policy was the price that lower-income countries had to sign onto when they joined the European Union.

Also unlike the United States (or almost any nation), Europe’s parliament was merely ceremonial. It had no power to set and administer EU-wide taxes. Politically, the continent remains a loose federation. Every member is expected to pay its own way. The central bank does not monetize deficits, and there is minimal federal sharing with member states. Public spending deficits – even for capital investment in infrastructure – must be financed by running into debt, at rising interest rates as countries running deficits become more risky.

This means that spending on transportation, power and other basic infrastructure that was publicly financed in North America and the leading European economies (providing services at subsidized rates) must be privatized. Prices for these services must be set high enough to cover interest and other financing charges, high salaries and bonuses, and be run for profit – indeed, for rent extraction as public regulatory authority is disabled....

MUCH MORE AT LINK

[Demeter]

18. The Creeping Nausea of American Exceptionalism By James Howard Kunstler

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28266.htm

...The Irish gaze longingly at little Iceland, out there in the North Atlantic now free of debt obligations from the simple act of raising the middle finger in the direction of the London banks. Ireland is sore tempted to do likewise, and the act would have an appealing historical symmetry to it. They may toss out their parliament to get to it. Staying sober is another matter. In Portugal, they are too busy having lunch, which is a very serious affair, they will assure you, and undertaken in spirit of absolute Iberian fatalism (that beefsteak died for you!). Oh, for the days of Salazar when lunch was decreed eighteen hours a day! Belgium, of course, will always be hopeless - Europe's doormat. And what can you say about a people who slather mayonnaise on their French fries - apart from their amazing failure to discover the miracle of ketchup, despite being overrun by American GIs sixty-odd years ago - and speaking a language that nobody has ever written rock and roll song in.

Europe is held together with baling twine, masking tape, and spit. It's been a fun half-century catering to harmless clownish tourists from Houston, with their "big boss" belt buckles and decoupaged wives. But lately the Chinese visitors look more like bargain-hunters at the preview of an estate auction, sizing up the merchandise, and even the waiters in the cafes know the score. The Grand Palace of Euroland is closing for business.

Anybody who thinks that Germany is going to run some kind of halfway house for crackhead countries "in recovery" will be disappointed. The compressive contraction that grips the OECD like economic Lou Gehrig disease will be with us as far ahead as anyone can see.

For sure, there are features of European life that dispose many of its countries to face the long emergency on much better terms than the train wreck across the Atlantic. They know how to get by on much less oil - though the coming energy crisis will still be hard on them. They have excellent public transit already in place (yes, it depends on the energy situation). Their agriculture is scaled much more intelligently. Their cities, too, with some exceptions. But they have a long history of brawling amongst themselves and the recent half-century of peace and prosperity is already taking on the shimmer of a fading mirage. Europe is burning down financially from the outside in while the monster that was known as the global economy lies gasping on the rocky shore of Fukushima. The Euro and the weak political union that went with it, is toast. You can include the outsider England in all that, since their practical circumstances are no better than Spain's or Italy's - perhaps a little worse, even... poor tattered Old Blighty!

A RIGHTEOUS RANT...HE GOES ON...

[Fuddnik]

43. Mayonnaise on French Fries?

Sounds like Freeper Fries. Something Alan Greenspan and Ayn Rand would eat! Yech!!!!

Well, I didn't make it to SC this morning. My back raised a serious objection about 100 miles up the road. So. I'll give it another shot next week.

So, I'm going to head over to the gym and see if the steam room will do any good. Otherwise, I'll get some pain management therapy from my favorite bar maid.

[Demeter]

45. It's the truth!

I knew a couple of Belgians in college....all they ate was "French" fries.

Sorry to hear about your back. You'd do better to try a masseuse, or a physical therapist, even a sports med. doctor.

[xchrom]

20. Mexican trick, Fed style

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MF08Dj04.html

While the recent financial crisis had unique features, it could have been avoided or significantly mitigated if only some lessons from recent mistakes would have been absorbed. Here is a brief reminder of the Mexican situation in 1994, which, surprisingly perhaps, has parallels with both what led to the crisis and what is now plaguing the US.

A massive printing of pesos preceded the steady outflow of capital and the devaluation at that time. Why did the Mexican government allow this to happen? And once financial markets unearthed the policy, why did the central bank not sell bonds and absorb the unwanted peso liquidity? It is not the case that Mexico's central bankers did not know what they were doing. The story was different.

The Mexican government faced a dilemma, a very inconvenient


one. And just before elections. Between June 1991 and July 1992, the government sold 18 banks that it owned. The government provided full insurance coverage for almost all depositors under FOBAPROA (Fondo Bancario de Proteccion al Ahorro), but did not impose regulations on the quality of the bank loans. The consequences were as expected: delinquent loans increased, and, to keep the banks solvent, the government faced an unexpected US$70 billion bill. This sum seems like peanuts now, but not then, and certainly not for Mexico.

[Demeter]

23. Not much difference from developments in US, Is There?

[xchrom]

25. indeed. nt

[Demeter]

21. ANOTHER MAX KEISER REPORT: Gaddafi's Stolen Billions

MAX REPORTS THAT LIBYA HAS MARKED BANKSTERS FOR DEATH BY ASSASSINATION...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28262.htm


...HENCE THE WAR ON GADDAFI...

[xchrom]

22. Main Cause of Foreclosures Turns from Bad Mortgages to Unemployment

http://www.allgov.com/Top_Stories/ViewNews/Main_Cause_of_Foreclosures_Turns_from_Bad_Mortgages_to_Unemployment_110607

While the Obama administration has continued to focus its mortgage relief program, the Home Affordable Modification Program, on the problem of risky loans, the biggest cause of foreclosures these days is actually unemployment.

With the nation’s jobless rate continuing to hover above 9%, millions of homeowners are at risk of facing foreclosure. And although the housing program run by the Department of the Treasury is supposed to provide help to the unemployed, the assistance is often insufficient.

For instance, the program allows the jobless to postpone mortgage payments for three months. But the average length of unemployment is now nine months.

The Wall Street bailout allocated $46 billion to the Treasury Department to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, but so far it has only spent $1.85 billion. Last year the Department of Housing and Urban Development received $1 billion to give two-year loans to unemployed homeowners, but thus far applications have been accepted in only five states.

[Loge23]

101. 1+ in 5 nationwide mortgages are underwater.

Mortgages are in the news today once again for all the wrong reasons.
There's this little rollcall of percentages of underwater mortgages here:


...and this no-brainer from the Wall St. Journal about secondary (home-equity) loans and the effect that they are having on the increasingly hopeless mortgage market. The quick quote form the article is that "nearly 40% of homeowners who took out second mortgages....are underwater.."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304906004576369844062260756.html?mod=ITP_pageone_0

Throw that in with the staggering real unemployment numbers and, well, I think I'll go for some ice cream.

[xchrom]

26. Ford, GM, Honda see mixed China sales in May

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_AUTO_SALES?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-06-07-07-47-56

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Foreign automakers are seeing mixed sales trends in China as the world's biggest market for new vehicles cools after years of torrid growth.

General Motors Co. said Tuesday that its total sales in China fell 3 percent in May from a year earlier to 190,674 vehicles. Its sales in the first five months of the year edged up nearly 5 percent to 1.08 million.

GM's flagship joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp. fared well. Its sales climbed 11 percent to 92,519 on robust demand both for fuel-efficient Chevrolet models and for pricier Buicks and Cadillacs.

Ford Motor Co. said its sales in China climbed 14 percent from a year earlier to 45,162 vehicles in May. Sales in January-May climbed 15 percent to 230,068, helped by strong demand for the Ford Focus and Mondeo models.

[Demeter]

27. If Yemen Falls, so Does the Dollar Reserve? By Anthony Wile

IT MIGHT BE WORTH IT...

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28260.htm

How is it that the world's fortunes hang on the life or death of a murderous thug that the US has been supporting for 30 years? And why, in fact, if Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh is so important, isn't it common knowledge? Saleh was wounded yesterday when opposition forces blew up his palace...In my opinion, this story is so big it should be on the front pages of the New York Times and The Wall Street Journal: "US dollar hegemony hangs in the balance." Or how's this: "Future of the world's monetary system may be decided in Yemen's Sana’a." How can one silly, little and desperately poor country full of people in ankle-length white robes be in the position to shake the foundations of the current monetary system of the Anglo-American empire?

First, context. It hasn't been a good year for the West's power elite. Yemen is only one country in tumult. Other countries verging on civil war are Bahrain and Syria. (Libya is already convulsed.) But in fact there are hundreds of places in the Middle East, Africa and Europe now where people are demonstrating and marching – or fighting with various levels of efficiency and organization...In Afghanistan, the Obama administration is said to be desperately searching for Mullah Omar, the one-eyed leader of the Taliban, now and again reported dead or missing. US officials, in turn, wish to find Omar so that they can work out a deal where the US declares victory and Omar retains the territory. Some victory...Libya is currently in a stalemate; China is Pakistan's new best friend; Pakistan's generals are again denying what Ms. Hillary Clinton – US Secretary of State – said only a week ago, that the Pakistan army was about to launch a significant attack against the Pashtun/Taliban. It's not true, the generals say...Meanwhile, Egypt's youths sleep on the streets; Tunisian youth are no happier; Iran is gaining considerable regional influence because of the "color revolutions" that the CIA apparently triggered. Iraq is destabilizing again, and even the Palestinians are resurgent.

The Arab Awakening is truly a regional if not global phenomenon. Of course, we have our own name for it: The Internet Reformation. It's really the same thing. Just as the Gutenberg press spawned the Renaissance and Reformation, so the Internet has now spawned a truly significant social convulsion. The world will never be the same.

America's CIA-sponsored AYM youth movements were behind the initial color revolutions. But notice how the mainstream press has stopped celebrating them. Perhaps they haven't worked out as planned. Either Western elites are encouraging a series of Arab Islamic Republics (so as to buttress what seems to be an essentially phony "war on terror") or they are trying to create controllable regulatory democracies that will likely be run by dependable militaries with a constitutional façade. Neither of these options looks to be feasible in the near term...Alternatively, the West seeks generalized chaos for some reason – or, more intriguingly, it has simply lost control of the situation. As we've stated before, Yemen is important because it may well indicate how much control the West actually has over the Arab Awakening. So far, what's been most apparent is dithering. The West hasn't shown a firm hand...Yemen may be spinning out of Western control. After Saleh was wounded, he was quoted as saying, "I salute our armed forces and the security forces for standing up firmly to confront this challenge by an outlaw gang that has nothing to do with the so-called youth revolution." It's interesting that the words Saleh used were "outlaw gang" as the tribal opposition to his rule denied making the attack. Apparently, it was what one might call "an inside job." That means that individuals nominally allied with Saleh tried to knock him off. And why not? He is a thoroughly despicable man. He has ruled Yemen for about 30 years through a mixture of truculence and torture; like Gaddaffi, his favorite method of staying in power is one of "divide and conquer" in which he set various tribes against each other. Yup ... Yemen is another "tribal backwater" like Afghanistan – a place where the Anglo-American elite (exaggeratedly) has no interest. It is like a kid kicking a stone past the house of a pretty girl. He just happened along the way ... and thus the US just "happened' into Afghanistan and Iraq. In fact, the US is intensely interested – mesmerized in a kind of Ted Bundy (bad) way...Yemen has never presented the same kind of problem as Afghanistan. In part that's because Yemen is even more difficult to subdue militarily than the stiff-necked Pashtun Taliban. The West has wanted as little to do with Yemen as possible (outside of controlling the coastline). Here's a description of Yemen by Paul Herman of the New Zealand Post in a recent article entitled "Cry, cry and cry again for my beloved Yemen."....If the Anglosphere elites had only used their tremendous industrial and monetary advantages to build a free-market instead of a phony one (disguised as a free one)! But the elites chose to propagate a central banking economy in order to chase after world government, and now they are in danger of an eroding dollar reserve, which could eventually result in the creation of an entirely new (and uncontrollable) currency. Anyway, if Saudi Arabia falls, the dominoes may simply keep tumbling. Who pays any attention to funny little countries like Yemen anyway?

......................................................................
Anthony Wile is an author, columnist, media commentator and entrepreneur focused on developing projects that promote the general advancement of free-market thinking concepts. He is the chief editor of the popular free-market oriented news site, TheDailyBell.com.

[Demeter]

47. Saleh Is Gone. What Next For Yemen?

...A second plane followed him, reportedly carrying 24 members of his family. This is one indication that to all intents and purposes the Saleh era is finished. He is unlikely ever to return to Yemen as president – and the Saudis and Americans will be working behind the scenes to ensure that he doesn't.

It's also worth mentioning that others injured by the explosion include the prime minister, deputy prime minister, the heads of both houses of parliament and the governor of Sana'a, the capital. Some of them have also been flown to Saudi Arabia for treatment. One of Saleh's nephews, the commander of the special forces, is said to have been killed. So, even discounting Saleh himself, what's left of his regime is in serious disarray....

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28247.htm

[xchrom]

29. Light-weight BRICS

http://www.economist.com/blogs/dailychart/2011/06/imf-influence

How IMF voting shares compare with global economic heft

MANY argue that IMF vote-shares (and the amounts countries are required to put into the fund's kitty) should reflect countries' relative economic heft. At the moment, however, that is far from being the case. Taken together, the economies of the European Union countries amount to just under 24% of the global economy. The economies of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa together make up about 21% of world GDP. But the European countries have 32% of the votes in the IMF, while the BRICS have 11%. No wonder the BRICS' representatives to the fund issued a rare joint statement deploring Europe's lock on the top job at the IMF, which is made possible in part by the fact that Europe and America between them have nearly 50%of the votes in the IMF's board. Proportionately, sub-Saharan Africa, (excluding South Africa) is the most over-represented region, with 3.1% of the vote but a mere 1.35% of the world economy.

[xchrom]

41. S.Africa says BRICS still talking about IMF head

http://af.reuters.com/article/topNews/idAFJOE7560AG20110607

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - The BRICS group of countries are still talking about a possible candidate to head the International Monetary Fund, South Africa's Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said on Tuesday.

Friday June 10 is the deadline for countries to name candidates to replace Dominique Strauss-Kahn who stepped down last month to fight sexual assault charges.

Emerging economies would like a candidate from their group to head the fund but are yet to rally behind one nominee.

French Finance Minister Christine Lagarde has emerged as an early front-runner in the race, at this stage competing against Mexico's central bank chief Agustin Carstens, the only two officially declared candidates.

[Demeter]

82. IMF supports UK push on bank rules

Officials at the European Commission have said they plan to introduce harmonised rules, which will apply to everyone in the same way

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/406HCP/OFBYP/40H1BV/UUNHD4/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[Demeter]

30. Carstens slams Europe over IMF

Agustín Carstens, the leading emerging markets candidate to head the International Monetary Fund, has lashed out at Europe, accusing its governments of not playing fair over the fund’s leadership succession and failing to tackle their own debt problems.

Mr Carstens, Mexico’s central bank governor, is battling against Christine Lagarde, the French finance minister, to lead the IMF. Ms Lagarde is currently considered a shoe-in having already secured the support of several European countries, including the UK.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/NA70KK/18BLZP/B49CK/XTNRJS/3OGMMN/E4/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[xchrom]

31. Lagarde Seeks to Charm India in IMF Bid

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/lagarde-seeks-to-charm-india-in-imf-bid/445509

France's Christine Lagarde brought her IMF roadshow to India on Tuesday in the latest leg of a world tour aimed at overcoming opposition in emerging countries to her bid to lead the institution.

The French finance minister, who has already traveled to Brazil to press her case, was expected to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee and the influential policy adviser Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

India appears resigned to the idea of Europe's continuing its stranglehold on the managing-director position at the Washington-based lender, but it has joined other emerging countries in criticizing the selection process.

"She'll be received warmly, but I'm not sure she will receive open Indian support," Brahma Chellaney from the Centre for Policy Research think-tank in New Delhi told AFP.

[xchrom]

74. No assurance given to Lagarde for IMF chief's post: Pranab

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/No-assurance-given-to-Lagarde-for-IMF-chiefs-post-Pranab/articleshow/8761643.cms

NEW DELHI: Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday said India has not given any assurance to his French counterpart Christine Lagarde on support for her candidature to the post of IMF's managing director.

"There is no assurance (on supporting Christine Lagarde). We are working on a consensus," Mukherjee said after meeting Lagarde who is in India to seek support for her candidature.

"It would be difficult to say at this moment (whether there will be any common candidate from BRICS Countries) because there was divergence of views in respect of South African candidature. So it is not possible to say whether there will be a common candidate or not," he said.

The vacancy arose last month following exit of Dominique Strauss-Kahn who is facing charges in a sexual assault case.

[xchrom]

32. asia: Rupiah Trades Near Seven-Year High on Capital Inflows

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/rupiah-trades-near-seven-year-high-on-capital-inflows/445548

The rupiah traded near a seven-year high as global funds increased ownership of the nation’s debt.

Overseas investors boosted holdings of Indonesian government bonds by 15 percent this year to 225.65 trillion rupiah ($26.5 billion) as of June 3, official data show.

The currency pared earlier losses after the finance ministry sold 7 trillion rupiah of debt in an auction today, more than its target of 5 trillion rupiah, the debt management office said in a statement on its Web site.

“There’s strong demand for Indonesia’s bonds as we can see from today’s auction,” said said Mika Martumpal, a currency analyst at PT Bank Commonwealth in Jakarta. “Inflation is manageable and that’s helping the bond market.”

[xchrom]

38. Malaysia to Offer Illegals Amnesty to Work

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/international/malaysia-to-offer-illegals-amnesty-to-work/445386

Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia is to offer amnesty to some of its two million illegal immigrants in a plan to ease labor shortages in the plantation and service industries, a senior minister said on Monday.

" not legalizing them to be citizens but legalizing them to stay legally," Hishammuddin Hussein, who is responsible for internal security, told reporters.

With one of Asia's largest populations of foreign laborers, Malaysia relies heavily on immigrants, especially from neighboring Southeast Asian countries, to clean homes, care for children and work in construction, plantations and factories.

Many of the illegals are poorly paid Indonesians who work long hours in menial jobs shunned by locals.

[Demeter]

40. I Bet They Will Be Sorry

Trying to have their cake and eat it too.

[xchrom]

42. ...

:spray:

[xchrom]

44. New imported car sales jump 31%

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110607a2.html

Sales of new imported vehicles in Japan, including those built abroad by Japanese automakers, rose 31.0 percent in May from a year earlier to 19,238 units, up for the 19th consecutive month, an industry body said Monday.

Of the total, sales of Japanese-brand cars, trucks and buses rose 296.1 percent to 4,626 units, while sales of foreign brands gained 8.1 percent to 14,612 units, according to the data released by the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

Volkswagen was the top manufacturer, securing a 20.1 percent share of the market for imported vehicles with 3,859 units, up 6.2 percent from a year earlier.

[xchrom]

46. Quake levels playing field for imported cars

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nb20110607n1.html

The record March 11 earthquake had an unexpected side effect for Bayerische Motoren Werke AG dealer Jun Kubota: His showroom in central Tokyo had its best April in at least three years.

Kubota wasn't alone. Across the country, as Japanese carmakers reeled from output disruptions following the quake, BMW deliveries surged 56 percent in April, while sales of Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus brand fell 45 percent. Sales of all imported foreign brands rose 21 percent, even as the overall auto market shrank 47 percent.

"Customers have told me some Lexus models won't arrive until November," said Kubota, sales manager at the BMW dealership in Tokyo's Aoyama district. "So we're hearing some people say, 'You know, I've always wanted to try a BMW.' "

[xchrom]

58. HK shares slip, domestic plays drive Shanghai gains

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/markets-hongkong-china-stocks-update-idUSL3E7H71CJ20110607

* Hang Seng Index loses ground, down 0.4 percent

* Coal selloff seen abating; China Shenhua down, Yanzhou, China Coal up

* Harbin Pharma slumps in Shanghai on reports of environmental violations

By Vikram Subhedar and Clement Tan

HONG KONG, Jun 7 (Reuters) - Hong Kong shares fell a fourth consecutive session on Tuesday and commodity-related stocks underperformed, but Chinese coal firms pared losses late in the session, suggesting investors may find some value in the sector.

The string of losses in the broad market has been exacerbated by weak U.S. jobs data last week and raised the risk the Hang Seng index, down 0.4 percent on the day, may test a low for the year plumbed in March.

The Hang Seng Index cut early losses to close down 0.4 percent at 22,868.7, falling further below its 200-day moving average at 23,091.8, a level that may cap any near-term rebound.

[xchrom]

66. China agrees to halt subsidies to wind power firms

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-china-windpower-idUKTRE7561B920110607

(Reuters) - China has agreed to stop subsidizing wind power companies that use home-made parts rather than imports, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Trade Representative's office confirmed late on Monday.

The decision is a victory for the United Steelworkers union, which last year urged President Barack Obama's administration to challenge a swath of Chinese clean energy measures that it said violated World Trade Organization rules.

China's ministry of commerce could not be reached for comment.

USA Today, quoting U.S. Trade Representative Ron Kirk, reported on its website that China had agreed to stop providing the subsidies ranging from $6 million to $22 million.

[xchrom]

96. China agrees to invest in Cuban oil refinery

http://www.salon.com/wires/techbiz/2011/06/07/D9NN32701_cb_cuba_china/index.html

Cuba and China have signed a series of economic accords that include the expansion of an oil refinery in Cienfuegos.

Officials say the refinery agreement is a joint plan by Cuban-Venezuelan oil company Cuven Petrol SA and China's Technip Itali SA. They also plan a liquid natural gas project.

Precise details are not available. The accords were signed during a visit by Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping, who is widely expected to be the nation's next leader.

[Demeter]

108. I'd say the war has been declared

[xchrom]

111. they feel that it's time to compete & be a presence where ever we are.

combine that with the fact that india & china & us are eating up resources at an incredible level.

[Demeter]

33. WikiLeaks Cables Reveal "Secret History" of U.S. Bullying in Haiti at Oil Companies’ Behest

http://www.democracynow.org/2011/6/3/wikileaks_cables_reveal_secret_history_of

AUDIO REPORT

[xchrom]

34. oh demeter!-- NZ Inventor Readies 'Jetski For the Skies'

Whizzing around with your own personal jetpack may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but New Zealand inventor Glenn Martin aims to have his "jetski for the skies" on the market within 18 months.

After 30 years of painstaking development, Martin's jetpack last month soared 1,500 metres (5,000 feet) above the South Island's Canterbury Plains as its creator watched anxiously from a helicopter hovering nearby.

The May 21 flight, featuring a remote-controlled jetpack carrying a dummy pilot, was a milestone in Martin's dream of building the world's first practical jetpack.

"The first people using these in cities will be medical personnel doing emergency response," he said.








WANT!

[Demeter]

36. You can have it

I've never even wanted to ride a motorcycle...

[Fuddnik]

51. You should try an ultralight.

It's like riding a motorcycle through the sky.

Matter of fact, when I was learning to fly, my second student solo cross-country flight was Cleveland to Ann Arbor to Columbus, and back to Cleveland. I'll never forget that wind shear on final approach into Ann Arbor.

[Demeter]

52. It's Really Windy Here Lately

More than before--I've been here since 1996 and this year is like living in a wind tunnel. The jet stream parked on us all winter.

[Po_d Mainiac]

61. I do miss N-8013-L n/t

[Fuddnik]

70. Good old N-621-CA.

C-152. Destroyed in a windstorm in 1988.

[Po_d Mainiac]

59. If the fukkers are as loud ...I can see the future moniker

Skeet!

[Demeter]

68. Tom and Ray Magliozzi--Save the Skeet!

[Demeter]

35. Wikileaks Tiananmen cables

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wikileaks-files/8555896/Wikileaks-Tiananmen-cables.html

1. From 89BEIJING18828 - July 7, 1989. A Chilean diplomat provides an eye-witness account of the soldiers entering Tiananmen Square: HE WATCHED THE MILITARY ENTER THE SQUARE AND DID NOT OBSERVE ANY MASS FIRING OF WEAPONS INTO THE CROWDS, ALTHOUGH SPORADIC GUNFIRE WAS HEARD. HE SAID THAT MOST OF THE TROOPS WHICH ENTERED THE SQUARE WERE ACTUALLY ARMED ONLY WITH ANTI-RIOT GEAR--TRUNCHEONS AND WOODEN CLUBS; THEY WERE BACKED UP BY ARMED SOLDIERS.

2. From 89BEIJING18828 - July 7, 1989. A Chilean diplomat provides an eye-witness account of the soldiers entering Tiananmen Square: ALTHOUGH GUNFIRE COULD BE HEARD, HE SAID THAT APART FROM SOME BEATING OF STUDENTS, THERE WAS NO MASS FIRING INTO THE CROWD OF STUDENTS AT THE MONUMENT.

I'd say China was getting even....for the slander.

[Demeter]

37. Wikileaks: no bloodshed inside Tiananmen Square, cables claim

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/wikileaks/8555142/Wikileaks-no-bloodshed-inside-Tiananmen-Square-cables-claim.html

[Demeter]

39. The John Edwards Case; Justice or personal vendetta? By Mike Whitney

Don't they have anything better to do then waste their time on a dead-end case like this? We're only talking about a measly million dollars here. It'll cost more than that just to bring the case to court. And what difference does it make anyway? Even if Edwards is guilty, he's small potatoes. Why not go after the big fish, instead of making a laughingstock out of the DOJ?

Hey, Eric Holder: Have you ever heard of George Bush or Dick Cheney or the big Wall Street bankers? Those are the guys you need to nail, not some washed up ex-senator whose life is already in a shambles.

Is this a personal vendetta? Is that it? Is this some kind of political assassination?

Why else would the DOJ devote so much time and money to a crime that is so trivial? It just doesn't add-up...Don't get me wrong, Edwards could be guilty as Hell, but that's not why the DOJ and the media launch a no-holds-barred Blitzkreig like this. They save that for the people they really hate. Like Clinton...Like any profit-driven business, the media is entirely agenda-driven. When they're given a job, they do it, regardless of who gets hurt in the process, and regardless of whether they're innocent or not. It doesn't matter; it's their job. (BUT WHO GAVE THEM THIS JOB?--DEMETER) So, now Edwards is in their crosshairs, so Edwards will have to be destroyed. We've seen it all before. The media will carry out their mission with the coldblooded indifference of a Mafia hit man. And then they'll boast about it to their miscreant buddies over drinks.


http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28251.htm

BREAD AND CIRCUSES...PLAYING TO OBAMA'S DESIRED BASE--THE TEA PARTY!

PLUS SUPPRESSING THE LEFT THROUGH SHAMING

PLUS PUTTING CHAFF IN THE RADAR IN GENERAL.

[xchrom]

48. Investing Insights Back To Paying More Taxes Abroad Than To Uncle Sam; Someone Say Jobs, Repatriati

http://www.businessweek.com/investing/insights/blog/archives/2011/06/back_to_paying_more_taxes_abroad_than_to_uncle_sam_someone_say_jobs_repatriation_fair_trade.html

Back in 2002 S&P Indices deleted the foreign issues from the S&P 500, in effect making the S&P 500 a pure U.S. play, which fit well with S&Ps other country indices. But being an American company doesn’t mean that you’re not a global one. While globalization is apparent in almost all company reports, exact sales and export levels are difficult to obtain. Many companies tend to categorize sales by regions or markets, while others segregate government sales. Additionally, intra-company sales, and hence profits, are sometimes structured to take advantage of trade, tax and regulatory polices. The resulting reported data available for shareholders is therefore significantly less than the desired level for analysis. Traditionally, creating a report with half the data is unacceptable. However, with the utmost of notice and caution, S&P has created annual reports on foreign sales, not as an exact value, but as a starting point to permit a rare glimpse into the sales composition. The 2010 report is not due out until July 2011, due to fiscal reporting, manual data checks, and an enormous amount of research.

I’ve done an initial overview of the data, and a first glance is available. Overall reporting has remained the same - poor at best. Lots of nice pictures, messages from senior management, and few (if any) tabular tables, which are not required under GAAP via the FASB. Investors need to be careful of what data and statistics they use. To illustrate, based on the current (incomplete data), 2010 foreign sales appear to be 24.6% of total sales; however, if I only utilize the companies which report foreign sales, the rate is 41.6%, and if I eliminate some of the stranger values, such as companies reporting foreign sales of over 100% of total sales or reporting no foreign sales even as they have major foreign facilities, the rate is calculating to 47.0%, slightly ahead of the 46.6% rate for 2009 - this adjusted rate is the one S&P uses, although in the report I show them all.

[Demeter]

49. Undermining International Law: International Law and the Problem of Enforcement

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28255.htm

Part I – Anthropomorphizing the Nation State

One of the defining characteristics of modern Western culture is individuality. Most people in the West take it for granted that they have the right to free expression and personality development. However, in practice, this right is not open ended. It is fine if you want to express yourself as a musician, a painter, a film maker, a writer, etc. Equally legitimate is your desire to express yourself as an engineer, accountant, bus driver or auto mechanic. Things become very different if you have a great desire to express yourself as a thief or want to develop your personality as a serial killer. There are rules, in the form of laws, against these latter avenues of expression. If you choose to ignore these laws there are police forces and courts systems that will seek to force you to do so. Another way of saying this is that within states or nations, people usually must confine their right of self expression to activities that do not impinge in a harmful or unwanted way on others in the community

It was at the end of the 18th and throughout the19th centuries that Western leaders of both established nations and aspiring nationalities began to apply this language of self expression to the nation state. In other words, they claimed the same right of self expression for the collective as for the individual. This represented a melding of romanticism and politics that allowed for the anthropomorphizing of the nation. That is, something that was not a human being (the nation) was being treated as if it was. The French Revolutionaries spoke of “France” as the growing embodiment of human freedom with a mission to export liberty to others, German nationalists such as Herder and Fichte believed that the “German nation” embodied a volkgiest, or “spirit of the people” that had to be free to create a unified and enduring state. Italian, Russian and other nationalists made the same argument for their nationalities or ethnic groups. In each case, the claim that the collective, with its unique cultural personality, had the right to unfettered development led to a serious and continuing problem.

Part II – The Problem



One half of the problem expresses itself in the form of “exceptionalism.” That is the assertion that the nation has rights because its culture and people are, in some way, superior to others and/or because they are “God blessed.” Being superior to others means the nation, striving to realize its uniqueness, has priority claims to a “homeland” and its resources. Those who stand in the way of this goal can be evicted or otherwise persecuted. Or, perhaps, the nation in question has evolved a special way of life (democracy, capitalism, communism, or some religion) that its leaders feel it must share with others–whether they want this gift or not. So it sends out missionaries and diplomats and then usually follows them up with gunboats. Empire building based on a claim of superiority often results. It turns out that almost all great powers, Western and non-Western, have expressed some form of exceptionalism.

The second half of the problem lies in the fact that these anthropomorphized nation states, with their insistence on the right of self expression, are acting in an arena of international relations that lacks sufficient rules to limit their behavior. There is nothing to actually force them to confine their acts of self expression to activities that do not impinge in a harmful or unwanted way on other states or populations. Certainly, traditional diplomacy and the use of standard treaties has not been able to do so. Until the end of the Second World War there were a few Geneva conventions that, with mediocre success, sought to ameliorate the treatment of civilians and prisoners during wartime. Come the world wars of the 20th century even these were ignored. The horrors of WWII gave new impetus to establishing enforceable international rules or laws, including laws against genocide and crimes against humanity, but over time these too have been eroded. And, here again, exceptionalism has been the motivator. We can see how this has taken place by looking at the case of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Part III – Undermining International Law

CONTINUES AT LINK--A MUST READ FOR THOSE INTERESTED IN LAW AND ORDER ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE, AND WHY BUSH ISN'T IN THE HAGUE.

[xchrom]

50. south asia: Hot money is flowing, but rest of India story has gone cold

http://www.firstpost.com/business/hot-money-is-flowing-but-rest-of-india-story-has-gone-cold-21519.html

Have long-term foreign investors stopped buying the India story? For a country that has successfully retained the mantle of being one of the most sought after emerging market destinations for some years now, recent trends throw up some worrying signals.

Foreign direct investment (FDI) — money that goes into real projects and companies rather than just to the stock markets — has started tapering down. Inflows have shown a declining trend through almost the whole of 2010-11, and the recently-released Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) figures show a dramatic fall of 28% from the year before — a drop of $11 billion (nearly Rs 50,000 crore).

While a decline was understandable when the world was in the throes of a recession and risk-aversion was at its highest, 2010-11 was the year the world economy was on the mend and cautious optimism had returned.

FDI and foreign institutional investment (FII) flows have been robust in the rest of the emerging markets. But in India the two appear to have delinked from each other: FDI is down, but FII inflows have held up well.

[xchrom]

72. Sensex gains 75 pts on fag-end buying in RIL, Infosys

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/Sensex-gains-75-pts-on-fag-end-buying-in-RIL-Infosys/articleshow/8757180.cms


MUMBAI: Carrying forward its modest gains since yesterday, the BSE benchmark Sensex rose marginally by over 75 points to 18,495.62 as investors purchased blue chips like RIL and Infosys amid firm global cues.

The Bombay Stock Exchange benchmark, Sensex, which had gained 44 points in the previous session, rose by 75.51 points, spurred by the gains in top rank heavy weights RIL and Infosys.

It moved in a range of 18,355.30 and 18,545.95 during intra-day trading.

Broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty rose by 24.10 points to 5,556.25 following a better trend in Asia and higher opening in Europe.





um -- what?

[Demeter]

54. The PPT Must Be Front-Running Today

getting in before the bell to register SOME positive action....I'll bet that it ends up in negative territory again, though. There's too much bad news.

[xchrom]

55. Gold hits one-month high on weak US outlook

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/commodities/gold-hits-one-month-highweak-us-outlook_555182.html

Gold rose to its highest price in more than a month on Monday, as fears of a slowing US economy and expectations that Federal Reserve monetary policy would remain easy prompted safe-haven demand.

Bullion has gained nearly 6% in the past three weeks, boosted by a string of disappointing US economic indicators including Friday's weak jobs data.

"A lot of people are taking their risk off by getting out of the S&P 500 and other riskier assets. There is too much uncertainty with the US currency and the euro," said Phillip Streible, senior market strategist with Lind Waldock, a unit of futures broker MF Global.

"So, people think the safest place is the gold market at the moment."

[Demeter]

69. Ain't seen nothing yet

I expect my old wedding ring will pay off the entire US debt someday soon.

[xchrom]

71. sigh. ain't that the way? nt

[xchrom]

56. UPDATE 1-GM CEO says U.S. economic outlook uncertain

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/gm-idUSN0711072120110607

* High unemployment, volatile oil prices main risk

* Will not increase market share at cost of profit margins

DETROIT, June 7 (Reuters) - The U.S. economy is on increasingly unsteady footing, hurt by stubbornly high unemployment and volatile oil prices, the head of General Motors Co (GM.N) told reporters on Tuesday.

"We are tied to the economy, so I am concerned about it," said Daniel Akerson, who has served as chief executive of the largest U.S. automaker since September 2010.

Ahead of the company's first meeting with shareholders since emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, Akerson said the company wants to grow profitably and will not price vehicles to gain market share at the cost of profit margins.

[xchrom]

57. China warning, uncertain U.S. outlook hit dollar

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/06/07/us-markets-forex-idUSTRE74U02L20110607

(Reuters) - The dollar hit a record low against the Swiss franc and fell against other currencies on Tuesday after a senior Chinese currency regulator warned about the risks of investing too heavily in dollar-denominated assets.

In an article posted on the website of the China Finance 40 Forum, a Beijing-based think tank, Guan Tao said his country must be alert to the risk of holding too many dollars at a time when Washington is pursing loose monetary and fiscal policies.

"The United States may find it hard to resist the policy temptation of weakening the dollar abroad and pushing up inflation at home," Guan said.

While Guan's comments did not reflect a new concern and were later removed from the website at his request, traders said they did add to existing pressure on the dollar and underscored recent moves by China and others to add more euros, yen and other currencies to their dollar-heavy portfolios.

[xchrom]

60. India's $4.1 billion aircraft order with Boeing is boost for Long Beach factory

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-cargo-jets-20110607,0,6717873.story

Boeing Co's beleaguered jet-making complex in Long Beach received a major boost with a year's worth of new work after India's government approved the purchase of 10 C-17 military cargo aircraft for $4.1 billion.

The deal should keep things humming at the sprawling plant through 2014, Boeing spokesman Jerry Drelling said.

The company received formal approval Monday from Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's Cabinet committee on security. The deal would be India's largest defense contract with a U.S. company.

All that remains to make it official is for the two governments to sign a letter of acceptance, which Boeing said it hopes will be completed by the end of the week.

[xchrom]

62. Glaeser: Housing Market Has Persistent Case of the Blahs

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/housing-market-has-persistent-case-of-the-blahs-edward-glaeser.html

The seasonally adjusted S&P/Case- Shiller index of housing prices in 20 cities has now fallen for nine consecutive months, but before we get all hot and bothered about another collapse, we should recognize the relatively modest nature of the current double dip.

The seasonally adjusted decline since last June has been only about 4 percent, whereas the decline from April 2006 to May 2009 was 32 percent. The current drop seems less like a second big bust, and more like just another phase of a long period of the housing blahs.

The Case-Shiller 20-city series began in January 2000. From then until April 2006, the peak of the bubble, prices rose 105 percent, before beginning their spectacular 32 percent decline in nominal terms, or 36 percent in real terms.

Even the Great Depression didn’t see such drops in housing prices. From 1925 to 1933, nominal prices fell 30 percent, according to the data compiled by Robert Shiller, who created the index with Karl Case, a fellow economist. Correcting for the depression’s deflation, that price fall ended by 1932 and was only 13 percent.

[xchrom]

63. Fed to Back Three Percentage Point Bank Surcharge

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/fed-is-said-to-back-3-percentage-point-capital-surcharge-for-largest-banks.html

The Federal Reserve supports a proposal at the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision that calls for a maximum capital surcharge of three percentage points on the largest global banks, according to a person familiar with the discussions.

International central bankers and supervisors meeting in Basel, Switzerland, have decided that banks need to hold more capital to avoid future taxpayer-funded bailouts. Financial stock indexes fell in Europe and the U.S. yesterday as traders interpreted June 3 remarks by Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo as leaving the door open to surcharges of as much as seven percentage points.

“A seven percentage-point surcharge for the largest banks would be a disaster,” said Jason Goldberg, senior analyst at Barclays Capital Inc. in New York. “It will certainly restrict lending and curb economic growth if true.”

[xchrom]

64. europe: Tuscany Seeks Ruling to Annul Swap Contracts With BofA, UBS, Deutsche Bank

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/tuscany-seeks-ruling-to-annul-swaps-with-banks-including-bofa.html

The region of Tuscany is seeking an Italian court’s permission to annul derivative contracts with Bank of America Corp. (BAC), UBS AG (UBSN) and Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), saying they violated Italy’s municipal financing rules.

Tuscany, with a population of 3.7 million, estimates the swap contracts hid at least 5 million euros ($7.3 million) of costs, according to a statement posted on the region’s website late yesterday. The municipality said it plans to continue making payments under the contracts.

The move to annul the swaps follows lawsuits by the three banks and New York-based JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), which have filed claims against the region at the High Court in London, documents showed. In court papers filed in December, Bank of America’s Merrill Lynch asked that, even if the transaction were ruled void, the issue of payment recovery be decided under English law.

Dozens of disputes are emerging between local governments in Germany and Italy and the banks that created swap deals for them. While municipalities are increasingly filing suits at home, claiming they weren’t properly advised of risks or that swaps were unlawfully settled, banks are turning to U.K. courts where they expect to get swifter rulings.

[Demeter]

73. Thank God there are still some governments who won't roll over and play dead

for banksters.

These One World idiots are looking less like a conspiracy theory, and more like an actual conspiracy at the bankster level.

[xchrom]

81. Junk Bonds Weigh Heavy on ECB

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,766856,00.html

European bankers from countries with ailing economies need fresh infusions of cash from the European Central Bank, but the ECB has turned into the dumping ground for European banks' junk bonds. The practice could harm the central bank's reputation as well as the euro.

Portuguese bond from the year 1943. It will be roughly 8,000 years before this money is due for repayment on Dec. 31, 9999.

But this bizarre bond is now extremely valuable for a Portuguese bank, because the document can be submitted to the ECB as collateral in return for a fresh loan in euros. Since the international capital markets are practically closed to banks from Portugal, Greece and the other ailing economies in the euro zone, the financial institutions in these countries desperately need such cash injections from the ECB.

Many of the submitted securities are not really secure -- and it is difficult to say what they are actually worth. As a result, the ECB is slowly degenerating from the guardian of the euro to the bad bank of the euro system, where Europe's banks can dump their junk bonds.

SPIEGEL reported in May that the ECB and, especially, its member national central banks don't scrupulously examine the securities submitted by European banks. This has resulted in junk bonds worth hundreds of billions of euros on their balance sheets.

[Demeter]

104. I say, lock up all the bankers in insane asylums

if the guillotine doesn't appeal.

[xchrom]

65. FDIC Sues Mortgage Broker Amerifund for $1 Million on Behalf of Downey S&L

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-07/fdic-sues-mortgage-broker-amerifund-for-1-million-on-behalf-of-downey-s-l.html

The U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., receiver for Downey Savings & Loan Association, sued Amerifund Financial Inc. and affiliated individuals in federal court seeking more than $1 million in damages.

The FDIC alleges breach of contract, professional negligence and civil fraud in the complaint against Amerifund, a mortgage broker, filed June 3 in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana, California.

Amerifund, based in Spring Valley, California, and its agents, processing mortgages for Downey in 2004 and 2005, “caused borrowers’ financial statements to be altered or misstated” in loan applications, the FDIC said. Had true income and debts been disclosed, borrowers wouldn’t have qualified for Downey loans, according to the complaint.

Downey Financial Corp., the S&L’s parent, sought Chapter 7 liquidation in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Wilmington, Delaware, in 2008, citing as much as $50 million in assets and $500 million in debts. U.S. Bancorp subsequently acquired Downey.

[Demeter]

75. wow

That's a find, xchrom!

[xchrom]

84. thanks! nt

[Demeter]

67. Hot and Humid Already 80 and 80%

Why couldn't we stay like the last few days?

[xchrom]

76. i'm schvitzing thinking about it. nt

[Demeter]

78. Obama's rating on economy hits new low: poll

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_poll_obama

...The ratings boost Obama received after the killing of Osama bin Laden has dissipated with his job approval rating back to 47 percent. Forty-nine percent disapprove of his performance.

Obama's approval rating bounced to 56 immediately after bin Laden was killed last month.

Fifty-nine percent, a new high, gave Obama negative marks for his handling of the economy, up from 55 percent a month earlier.

Obama's approval rating on the deficit issue hit a new low of 33 percent, down 6 points since April...

[Demeter]

79. Barclays ordered to pay $1bn to Lehman trustee

Barclays will be required to pay $1bn to Lehman Brothers’ bankruptcy trustee under a decision made on Monday by a federal judge in New York

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/406HCP/OFBYP/40H1BV/A72WT3/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[Demeter]

80. Goldman pulls out of Litton with $264m sale

Goldman Sachshas agreed to sell its Litton Loan mortgage servicing division to Ocwen Financial for $263.7m

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/406HCP/OFBYP/40H1BV/KEDJ2H/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[Demeter]

83. Microsoft’s foreign tax planning under scrutiny

US securities regulators prodded Microsoft earlier this year into disclosing details of how it uses foreign tax planning to reduce its US taxes, the software company has disclosed

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/G8OTZZ/406HCP/OFBYP/40H1BV/YH16QY/CM/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[Demeter]

85. Mining sector feels heat as Peru turns left

Shares in mining companies operating in Peru fell on Monday after a leftwing former coup leader won a narrow victory in the country’s presidential election.

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/6NPSBB/A7AOX4/PNGIU/YH3RPT/HDWQOY/RF/t?a1=2011&a2=6&a3=7

[Demeter]

88. Favorable weather pressures corn, wheat prices

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jch5s4Vd0tgdwEc05QzPkHC_LGWg?docId=b120227168ed472abecb8057fa57567e

Corn and wheat prices fell sharply Monday after favorable weather helped crops in parts of the United States and Europe. Wheat settled down 3.8 percent, while corn fell 2.9 percent.

Corn prices have more than doubled and wheat prices have risen 72 percent from a year ago because of supply concerns. Corn is in short supply globally and wheat stockpiles have grown tighter after a drought damaged at least a third of Russia's crop last summer and the U.S. winter crop was affected by dry conditions.

In Europe, rain fell last weekend on wheat fields in a region that has been plagued by a drought. "It definitely helped out the summer crops," said Northstar Commodity analyst Jason Ward.

Meanwhile, a few days of sunshine helped farmers in Ohio and Indiana plant corn in fields left soggy by heavy rains. Ward estimated Ohio farmers have completed planting about 80 percent of the expected corn acreage. That's up from 19 percent completed a week ago. In Indiana, he projected corn planting was about 90 percent complete, compared with 59 percent a week ago.

[Demeter]

89. Tepco’s Government Support at Odds With Market Seeing Default More Likely

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-06/tepco-s-government-support-at-odds-with-market-seeing-default-more-likely.html

The Japanese government’s commitment to support Tokyo Electric Power Co. contrasts with investors selling its shares at a record pace and betting on a 54 percent likelihood the utility will default on its debt in five years.

Liquidating Tokyo Electric would cause huge problems and must be avoided, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yukio Edano said yesterday. The company’s shares fell an unprecedented 28 percent to 207 yen yesterday after the head of the Tokyo Stock Exchange said it needs to be restructured. The stock rose today.

Political bickering over the future of Prime Minister Naoto Kan has cast doubt over whether his administration can implement its plan to ensure that Tokyo Electric compensates victims of a disaster at its atomic plant. Tepco, as the utility is known, has slumped 90 percent, erasing about 3.1 trillion yen ($39 billion) in market value, since a March 11 earthquake and tsunami triggered the worst nuclear crisis in 25 years.

“Speculation that it’s just a matter of time before Tepco goes bankrupt has been dominating the stock market, in stark contrast with the government’s efforts to keep it alive,” said Yasuhide Yajima, an economist at NLI Research Institute in Tokyo. “The market doesn’t trust the government’s ability to move ahead with plans to keep Tepco afloat.”

[Demeter]

90. Goldman Survey Shows EU-Tested Banks May Need to Raise $42 Billion

FOR PETE'S SAKE, JUST SHUT THEM DOWN, ALREADY!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-06/goldman-sachs-survey-shows-eu-tested-banks-may-raise-42-billion.html

[Demeter]

92. IMF lends Egypt $3 billion

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/3/12/13722/Business/Economy/IMF-lends-Egypt--billion.aspx

Egypt, on Sunday, finalised an agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a $3 billion loan. The stand-by-agreement is expected to be submitted to the IMF executive board for approval in July. The reimbursement should start after three years for five years with an interest rate of 1.5 per cent. “The low interest rate is very important, it helps contain the debt increase. If we compare it with a 7 per cent interest rate when borrowing from the open market, we can see how beneficial this loan is,” said Samir Radwan, Egypt’s minister of finance.

IMF interference in the country has caused some economists and activists to worry about what conditions the fund will impose, a point that didn’t escape the minister. “The history is that the IMF imposes conditions on the borrower countries but, in this case, there are no conditions. It is a response to Egypt’s demands and it aims to help Egypt reforming its economy by reducing the deficit in the coming years and increasing tax revenue,” explained Radwan.

During a press conference held to announce news of the deal, Radwan and Ratna Sahay, deputy director of the IMF’s Middle East and Central Asia department, tried to allay fears over the loan. “The agreement doesn’t include any conditions concerning the raising of any prices but is helping our plan to increase spending on health, education, salaries and housing to which the budget put aside LE10 billion,” said Radwan.

[Demeter]

93. Troubles in Euro Zone Offer Chance to Fix Its Flaws

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576361900423678140.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

THE LUNACY IS STRONG IN THIS ONE...

"All would require European governments to sacrifice a bit more autonomy."

[xchrom]

94. World stocks shrug off US economy pessimism

http://www.salon.com/wires/techbiz/2011/06/07/D9NMV4RG0_world_markets/index.html

World stock markets climbed Tuesday, shrugging off pessimism about the health of the U.S. economy as retail sales in Europe beat expectations.

Oil prices hovered above $99 a barrel ahead of an OPEC meeting this week where the cartel may boost production to tamp down crude prices. The dollar weakened against the euro but strengthened against the yen.

European shares were higher in early trading as official figures showed retail sales in the 17 countries using the euro common currency rose by more than anticipated in April despite concerns about the debt crisis.

Eurostat, the EU's statistics office, said Tuesday that retail sales rose by 0.9 percent in April from the previous month, three times what was expected by analysts.

[Demeter]

105. More Central Bank Bubble Blowing, You Betcha

Europe can't pull itself out of the mud, let alone the US or the world.

[Demeter]

95. Portuguese opposition wins election victory

http://www.dw-world.de/dw/article/0,,15133401,00.html


Portugal's opposition has beaten the ruling Socialist party, vowing to honor the country's international debt obligations. A planned coalition would have enough seats to push through austerity measures...Prime minister-in-waiting, Pedro Passos Coelho, vowed to honor Lisbon's 78-billion-euro ($114 billion) bailout deal with the European Union and International Monetary Fund (IMF) after his Social Democrats (PSD) won the poll.

"I want to guarantee to those who are watching us from abroad that Portugal does not intend to be a burden for the future to other countries that lent us the means that we needed today to face up to our responsibilities," Passos Coelho told supporters.

I WONDER IF THEY DO RECALLS IN PORTUGAL?

[Demeter]

98. No Mas!

I need some food and stuff...keep your cool, everyone!

[xchrom]

99. Airlines lose economy passengers as soaring fuel bills force up ticket prices

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/07/airlines-lose-economy-passengers

That back-of-the-cabin pilgrimage to Ibiza or Miami this summer will be a little less cramped than usual, according to the airline industry's leading trade body, as economy class passengers balk at higher fares due to rising fuel costs and aviation taxes.

The International Air Transport Association said leisure travel fell 3.5% worldwide between last November and March this year, with Europe suffering the most as recession-hit passengers declined to accept ticket prices driven higher by the increasing cost of oil. IATA's chief economist, Brian Pearce, said carriers have had no choice but to hike fares because the cost of jet fuel has risen by more than 50% over the past 12 months.

With no sign of a significant decline in an oil price that is staying stubbornly above $100 a barrel, airlines are fighting to stay profitable and have pushed up ticket prices in order to recoup costs, with an inevitable consequence for discretionary spenders, said Pearce.

"If they have got a nice fat margin they can lower fares to stimulate demand but when fuel prices are up by 50% that's not possible," he said.

[Loge23]

100. More TSA for me than fares

We avoid air travel whenever possible. It's not the fares in our case - it's the TSA. he last time I flew we were in and out quickly and unmolested. But I can only imagine my outrage if we were subject to a pat-down. My wife fears that I would end up in jail - she's probably right.
Combine that little annoyance with the generally unpleasant experience of flying these days (including fares, seating, baggage woes, etc.) and you have plenty of other folks, I'm sure, who avoid the airport.

[Fuddnik]

102. Yeah, I've pretty much told the airlines to shove it.

I remember when flying used to be enjoyable, instead of being crammed into a sardine can, after being molested.

And who knows what you're going to wind up paying? The last time I flew, an Allegiant $19 fare wound up being over $50 each way after they got through adding on fees. I'll pay the fare. Just tell me what it is without getting cute.

I booked my dad on a flight, and at the end of the process, after you've entered all of your CC info, ID, Address, etc., You see the fees. And if you go back to decline one of them, you have to re-enter it all again. And you can only decline one at a time, and can end up entering the same info 6 times just to get close to the published fare. And that was before you even got to baggage fees.

[Demeter]

106. You know where this is all going

a general strike of all people, not going to work, buying stuff or paying loans and taxes, against all banksters and any client nations that back them, bloody revolution, and then, quien sabe?

Apocalypse soon, in a war theater near you.

[hamerfan]

109. I can only hope

That I will see this happen in my lifetime.

[DemReadingDU]

115. People really have to be desperate

I don't doubt that people some day will have a general strike of everything. But people have to lose everything first. No money, no income, charge cards disallowed, no food, no shelter, basically nothing. Then people will be desperate enough. At the rate we've been going for the past 3 years, unless things move quickly soon, I don't see a bloody revolution happening for many years, maybe not even during my lifetime.

[Demeter]

116. It won't be a linear rate of change

It will be exponential.

[Demeter]

103. Weekly Standard: Key To Economy? Oust Obama by Fred Barnes

LIKE THAT'S GOING TO HELP---

http://www.npr.org/2011/06/07/137029514/weekly-standard-key-to-economy-oust-obama?ft=1&f=1001



I CAN'T FAULT HIS DESCRIPTION OF THE ILLNESS, BUT HIS DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENTS ARE POSITIVELY NON-CURATIVE....

[StarburstClock]

112. Barnes has been a lying propagandist his entire life

NPR plays the media game, puts a pathological liar on the air as "the other side" to a story. Guess what NPR, your entire paradigm is wrong and not worth a listen.

[bread_and_roses]

114. agree 100% on NPR

I call them the three-syllable FOX. They've substituted endless anecdote for reporting. Endless "features" instead of news. FAIR did a devastating study on them way back - can't remember the year - and I think they've just gotten worse since then. Their interviewers sound so subservient half the time that you'd think HS newspaper students getting a "big break" by interviewing some "name." Not to mention their asinine "commentaries."

[wordpix]

117. yeah, we should have a repug back in as pres, like Mitt-the-Tax-Haven-Maven

:sarcasm: Maybe then we can have 10 endless wars going on at the same time, with no regulations for any industries, particularly those with P.O. boxes offshore.

[Festivito]

110. Debt: 06/03/2011 14,344,694,392,217.24 (DOWN 12,044,824.26) (Fri, UP some.)

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 51-billion dollars. Good day.)
Hot day, but my end is fine.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,741,263,236,751.71 + 4,603,431,155,465.53
UP 5,646,446,089.80 + DOWN 5,658,490,914.06

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,203.59 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.61, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 312,149,792 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,954.52.
A family of three owes $137,863.57. (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 560,954,405.20.
The average for the last 30 days would be 430,065,043.98.
The average for the last 31 days would be 416,191,978.05.
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$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 168 reports in 246 days of FY2011 averaging 4.66B$ per report, 3.18B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 597 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.6 and 17.4T$.
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)
06/03/2011 14,344,694,392,217.24 BHO (UP 3,717,817,343,304.16 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,783,071,361,325.50 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,161,874,174,324.42 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
05/13/2011 +000,162,115,757.85 ------------********
05/16/2011 +051,422,548,961.68 ------------********** Mon
05/17/2011 -009,024,423,933.79 --
05/18/2011 +009,842,715,417.27 ------------*********
05/19/2011 -002,359,793,261.41 --
05/20/2011 +001,132,579,417.77 ------------*********
05/23/2011 -001,060,800,214.98 -- Mon
05/24/2011 -004,058,498,841.79 --
05/25/2011 +010,640,781,539.65 ------------**********
05/26/2011 -005,228,052,393.61 --
05/27/2011 +000,285,108,497.37 ------------********
05/31/2011 +005,592,179,988.61 ------------********* Tue
06/01/2011 +013,072,944,722.02 ------------**********
06/02/2011 -000,912,177,803.85 ---
06/03/2011 +005,646,446,089.80 ------------*********

75,153,673,942.59 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=4874179&mesg_id=4874224

[Festivito]

113. Debt: 06/06/2011 14,344,658,255,226.84 (DOWN 36,136,990.40) (Mon, DOWN some.)

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 51-billion dollars. Good day.)
One salad does it.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 9,738,557,389,966.16 + 4,606,100,865,260.68
DOWN 2,705,846,785.55 + UP 2,669,709,795.15

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 312-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.20 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,203.37 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.61, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 12 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 312,171,392 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,951.23.
A family of three owes $137,853.68. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 21 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 21 reports is 1,046,254,746.04.
The average for the last 30 days would be 732,378,322.23.
The average for the last 31 days would be 708,753,215.06.
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$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 169 reports in 249 days of FY2011 averaging 4.63B$ per report, 3.14B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 594 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.8 and 17.4T$.
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)
06/06/2011 14,344,658,255,226.84 BHO (UP 3,717,781,206,313.76 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,783,035,224,335.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,147,822,718,402.86 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
05/16/2011 +051,422,548,961.68 ------------********** Mon
05/17/2011 -009,024,423,933.79 --
05/18/2011 +009,842,715,417.27 ------------*********
05/19/2011 -002,359,793,261.41 --
05/20/2011 +001,132,579,417.77 ------------*********
05/23/2011 -001,060,800,214.98 -- Mon
05/24/2011 -004,058,498,841.79 --
05/25/2011 +010,640,781,539.65 ------------**********
05/26/2011 -005,228,052,393.61 --
05/27/2011 +000,285,108,497.37 ------------********
05/31/2011 +005,592,179,988.61 ------------********* Tue
06/01/2011 +013,072,944,722.02 ------------**********
06/02/2011 -000,912,177,803.85 ---
06/03/2011 +005,646,446,089.80 ------------*********
06/06/2011 -002,705,846,785.55 -- Mon

72,285,711,399.19 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=4875489&mesg_id=4876053