STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, May 17, 2011

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Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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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

May 17 08:30 Housing Starts Apr 530K 563K 549K
May 17 08:30 Building Permits Apr 570K 590K 594K
May 17 09:15 Industrial Production Apr 0.4% 0.5% 0.8%
May 17 09:15 Capacity Utilization Apr 77.5% 77.7% 77.4%

Read more: http://www.briefing.com/Investor/Public/Calendars/EconomicCalendar.htm#ixzz1MbhDIKCN

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) - The start of construction on new U.S. homes fell 10.6% in April to an annual rate of 523,000, while permits declined 4.0%, the government reported Tuesday. Housing starts in March were revised up to 585,000 from an original reading of 549,000, according to Commerce Department data. Economists surveyed by MarketWatch had expected housing starts in April to climb to an annual rate of 575,000 on a seasonally adjusted basis. Permits for new construction, viewed as a gauge of future demand, fell to an annual rate of 551,000 from March's upwardly revised level of 574,000. Permits for single-family homes, which account for three-quarters of the housing market, dropped 1.8% to an annual rate of 385,000 last month.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-housing-starts-decline-106-in-april-2011-05-17?reflink=MW_news_stmp

Futures have gone negative at this news.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/markets-stocks-starts-idUKWEN330220110517

May 17 (Reuters) - The S&P 500 and Dow index futures turned negative on Tuesday after data showed U.S. housing starts and permits fell in April.

S&P 500 futures SPc1 fell 1.3 points and were below fair value, a formula that evaluates pricing by taking into account interest rates, dividends and time to expiration of the contract.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2015073468_apushousingstarts.html

Construction of new homes plummeted in April, another troubling sign for the battered housing market.

Builders broke ground on 10.6 percent fewer new homes last month from the previous month. The seasonally adjusted rate fell to 523,000 homes per year, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That's down nearly 25 percent from one year ago and less than half the 1.2 million homes per year that economists consider a sign of a healthy market.

Tighter lending standards and high unemployment are weighing on the housing sector, which is in the midst of one of its worst years in history.

http://www.boston.com/business/ticker/2011/05/foreclosure_pro_1.html

Foreclosure petitions, the first step in the foreclosure process in Massachusetts, posted their highest monthly number so far this year, said the Warren Group, which added that the number of completed foreclosures dropped by double digits for the seventh straight month.

A Boston firm that tracks local real estate activity, the Warren Group counted 1,192 foreclosure petitions in the Bay State for April, down 51 percent from 2,431 petitions from April 2010. In the three previous months of 2011, petitions ranged from 694 to 1,048.

Foreclosure deeds, which represent completed foreclosures, decreased more than 62 percent to 518 in April from 1,375 in April 2010, the Warren Group said.

Two factors may skew comparisons with last year's data. Many US lenders temporarily stopped or dramatically slowed foreclosures last year following allegations of sloppy and fraudulent practices, a recent Globe story on foreclosures noted. In addition, a new state law extended the waiting period from 90 to 150 days before lenders can start foreclosure proceedings.

Industrial production in the U.S. unexpectedly stalled in April, reflecting a drop in automobile output after supplies of parts were disrupted by the Japanese earthquake and tsunami.

Output at factories, mines and utilities was unchanged after a 0.7 percent gain in March, figures from the Federal Reserve showed today. Manufacturing fell 0.4 percent, while it rose 0.2 percent excluding automobiles. Economists had forecast a 0.4 percent gain in industrial production, according to the median estimate in a Bloomberg News survey.

Production of automobiles and parts dropped 8.9 percent in April, a decline that may be temporary as Japanese manufacturers recover from the March disaster. Rising demand from overseas and business investment are likely to further power sales at companies like Caterpillar Inc. (CAT), one reason factories are at the forefront of the expansion.

“Manufacturing is still doing pretty well,” Scott Brown, chief economist at Raymond James & Associates Inc. in St. Petersburg, Florida, said before the report. “We’ve seen a pickup in exports. Production is still rebounding from the weak levels of the recession.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-17/u-s-april-industrial-production-stalls-on-autos.html

Should be a fascinating day in the markets.

SINGAPORE – Oil prices fell below $97 a barrel Tuesday in Asia, extending a two-week fall amid investor concern slowing U.S. economic growth could undermine demand for crude.

Benchmark crude for June delivery was down 50 cents to $96.87 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell $2.28 to settle at $97.37 on Monday.

In London, Brent crude for June delivery was down 34 cents to $110.50 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Crude has fallen about 16 percent from near $115 on May 2 as traders fret high fuel costs and tepid economic growth will hurt U.S. consumption. Crude surged 35 percent between February and the beginning of this month.

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

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_BRITAIN_BP_ROSNEFT?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-17-06-12-53

LONDON (AP) -- BP's hopes of making Arctic oil production the key to its recovery from the Gulf of Mexico spill were dealt a severe blow on Tuesday after it failed to secure a $16 billion share swap with Russia's state-backed Rosneft.

BP PLC revealed a midnight deadline for the deal expired after it failed to broker a settlement with its Russian partners in TNK-BP, its existing joint venture in the country, who have objected to the Rosneft deal.

The London-based company said that discussions would continue with all the parties, but a Rosneft official said the Russian company will now start considering partnership offers from other overseas oil companies.

The failure to shore up the deal to explore the Arctic's oil-rich Kara Sea, first announced by BP with much fanfare in January, is an embarrassing setback for Chief Executive Bob Dudley.

Treasuries fell as U.S. equity futures rose before a report that may show industrial production climbed for a sixth consecutive month.

U.S. 10-year bonds snapped a two-day gain. Industrial production probably rose for a sixth month in April, gaining 0.4 percent, according to the median estimate of 76 economists in a Bloomberg News survey before the Federal Reserve report today. European benchmark bunds and U.K gilts also slipped, while oil recovered from its lowest in a week.

“With global equities, while they’re not roaring back like they did yesterday, they’re still biased a little bit higher and the notion that the risk-on trade still exists is, on the margin, hurting the Treasury market and pushing yields a little bit higher,” said Ian Lyngen, a government bond strategist at CRT Capital Group LLC in Stamford, Connecticut.

The 10-year yield advanced two basis points to 3.17 percent as of 11:16 a.m. in London, according to Bloomberg Bond Trader prices. The 3.125 percent security maturing in May 2021 slipped 4/32, or $1.25 per $1,000 face amount, to 99 21/32. It declined to 3.13 percent on May 13, the lowest since Dec. 8. The two-year note yield added one basis point to 0.54 percent.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-17/u-s-treasury-yields-advance-before-release-of-industrial-production-data.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/markets-stocks-idUSN1712510620110517

NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures rose in a modest rebound on Tuesday from the previous session's losses and before major tech companies release earnings.

* Dell (DELL.O) reports earning, along with rival Hewlett-Packard (HPQ.N), which is set to bring forward its earnings release after reports its chief executive had warned of a tough July quarter. For details, see

* Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N) said that sales at its U.S. discount stores open at least a year fell 1.1 percent during its first quarter, marking its eighth straight quarterly decline as it works on bringing shoppers back to its biggest chain.

* Housing starts data is scheduled for release at 8:30 a.m. (1230 GMT), with economists predicting a rise to around 568,000 in April compared with 549,000 a month earlier.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/us-markets-global-idUSTRE71H0EB20110517

(Reuters) - World stocks dipped on Tuesday, with a key index hitting a one-month low on lingering doubts over the pace of the U.S. economy and worries over Greece's debt, while oil lost ground as the dollar inched higher.

World stocks as measured by MSCI were down 0.2 percent at 5 a.m. EDT, with the index hitting its lowest level since mid-April earlier, while the euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 index was down 0.1 percent, losing ground for the fourth consecutive session.

Euro zone finance ministers said on Monday they would consider asking Greece's private creditors to extend the maturities on their bonds to buy Athens more time to pay down its massive debt, eclipsing their green light for a bailout for Portugal.

"Markets are currently pricing the worst case scenario: a default of Greece and likely default of Ireland and Portugal. As long as we don't have a definitive plan to tackle Greece's debt problems, the sword of Damocles will remain over our heads," said Jacques Henry, analyst at Louis Capital Markets, in Paris.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/markets-global-idUKLDE74G1K020110517

PARIS, May 17 (Reuters) - World stocks hit a one-month low on Tuesday, hit by rekindled worries over Greek sovereign debt and lingering doubts over the pace of the global recovery, while oil slid ahead of key U.S. data.

A lower-than-expected ZEW index measuring German analyst and investor sentiment as well as stronger-than-expected UK inflation data also weighed on sentiment.

World stocks as measured by MSCI .MIWD00000PUS were down 0.4 percent at 1220 GMT after hitting their lowest level since mid-April earlier in the day, while the euro zone's blue chip Euro STOXX 50 .STOXX50E index was down 0.4 percent, losing ground for the fourth consecutive session.

Jean-Claude Juncker, the chairman of the 17-country Eurogroup, said earlier there was a need to move towards a "soft restructuring" of Greek debt, acknowledging for the first time that the country may have to cut a deal with its creditors.

WASHINGTON -- A set of confidential federal audits accuse the nation’s five largest mortgage companies of defrauding taxpayers in their handling of foreclosures on homes purchased with government-backed loans, four officials briefed on the findings told The Huffington Post.

The five separate investigations were conducted by the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s inspector general and examined Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Citigroup and Ally Financial, the sources said.

The audits accuse the five major lenders of violating the False Claims Act, a Civil War-era law crafted as a weapon against firms that swindle the government. The audits were completed between February and March, the sources said. The internal watchdog office at HUD referred its findings to the Department of Justice, which must now decide whether to file charges.

The federal audits mark the latest fallout from the national foreclosure crisis that followed the end of a long-running housing bubble. Amid reports last year that many large lenders improperly accelerated foreclosure proceedings by failing to amass required paperwork, the federal agencies launched their own probes.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/16/foreclosure-fraud-audit-false-claims-act_n_862686.html

Miller's hug fest
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4853486

AS IF THAT WILL HELP ANYONE--BETTER TO MAKE UNEMPLOYMENT INSURANCE GOOD FOR 5 YEARS...

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/white-house-threatens-to-hold-up-trade-deals-unless-congress-expands-aid-for-us-workers/2011/05/16/AFJKWq4G_story.html

The White House is threatening to hold up final passage of three coveted free trade agreements unless lawmakers agree to expand retraining assistance for American workers who lose their jobs because of foreign competition.

The move comes as administration officials begin talks on Capitol Hill to finalize the agreements the White House reached to expand trade with South Korea, Panama and Colombia. President Barack Obama has said the deals are an integral part of his economic agenda, and the pacts have broad Republican support...

OF COURSE THEY DO! ANYTHING TO LINE A PIRATE'S POCKET

:donut:

Why some are glued to the Ag market:
Comex currently is sitting on about 32M oz of deliverable. A contract is for 5,000 oz, so there is enough metal to cover 6,400 +/- contracts. There are currently over 120,000 open contracts!

Rather like Depression era meatloaf...emphasis on the loaf.

It's the difference/disconnect between the 'paper' and 'physical' markets.

Bodies will be leaving the trading pits feet first.

:hi: :donut:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/17/business/17bank.html?_r=1&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1305630192-6rTJWRxUZpON7017NPMs3w

The New York attorney general has requested information and documents in recent weeks from three major Wall Street banks about their mortgage securities operations during the credit boom, indicating the existence of a new investigation into practices that contributed to billions in mortgage losses.

Officials in Eric T. Schneiderman’s, office have also requested meetings with representatives from Bank of America, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, according to people briefed on the matter who were not authorized to speak publicly. The inquiry appears to be quite broad, with the attorney general’s requests for information covering many aspects of the banks’ loan pooling operations. They bundled thousands of home loans into securities that were then sold to investors such as pension funds, mutual funds and insurance companies.

It is unclear which parts of the byzantine securitization process Mr. Schneiderman is focusing on. His spokesman said the attorney general would not comment on the investigation, which is in its early stages.

Several civil suits have been filed by federal and state regulators since the financial crisis erupted in 2008, some of which have generated settlements and fines, most prominently a $550 million deal between Goldman Sachs and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

U.S. politicians facing budget deficits are gunning for hamlets such as Green Hills, a square- mile Pennsylvania borough with 29 residents that exists to allow alcohol at a golf course.

The town was created in 1978 so it could apply for a state liquor license for Lone Pine Country Club. It has an annual budget of about $10,000 to pay a solicitor and contract with a volunteer fire department in the surrounding township, according to Terry D. George, club pro and mayor. He was elected in 2005 with all five votes cast.

“I don’t think there’s any logical way to try to pretend that it makes any sense,” J. Bracken Burns Sr., a commissioner in Washington County, home to Green Hills about 35 miles (56 kilometers) southwest of Pittsburgh, said in a telephone interview.

Pennsylvania faces a budget deficit next year forecast at $4.2 billion. With shortfalls nationwide that could reach $112 billion in the next fiscal year, states including Ohio, New Jersey and Michigan are pushing school districts and local governments -- each with its own officials and budgets -- to share more services and to consolidate for the sake of efficiency and cost.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-17/golf-course-hamlet-of-29-shows-why-states-want-to-erase-towns.html

The yen weakened the most in six weeks versus the dollar after Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said the economy is in a “very severe” state, fueling bets monetary policy may be eased further.

The Japanese currency weakened against its 16 most-actively traded counterparts. The euro gained for a second day against the U.S. currency as European finance officials meeting in Brussels endorsed a bailout for Portugal, boosting confidence that the region’s debt crisis will be contained. The pound climbed as U.K. inflation accelerated more than economists forecast in April to the highest since 2008.

“Long-term investors see more yen weakness ahead,” said Neil Jones, head of European hedge-fund sales at Mizuho Corporate Bank Ltd. in London. “Central banks around the world are raising rates, except Japan. There’s potential for more easing-type measures. The market is getting a sense of this.”

The Japanese currency declined 1.1 percent to 81.70 per dollar as of 6:41 a.m. in New York, its steepest depreciation since April 1, based on closing prices compiled by Bloomberg. The yen weakened to 116.14 per euro from 114.37 yesterday. The European common currency rose 0.4 percent to $1.4213.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-16/euro-holds-gains-as-european-union-approves-portugal-aid-pressures-greece.html

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/ME18Ak01.html

Although talk of Iran's "economic crisis" is commonplace among the regime's critics, thanks to smart macroeconomic policies and rising oil revenues, the Iranian government is now earning high marks from outside observers such as the World Bank and Economist Intelligence Unit <1>. This is for implementing politically risky cuts in cumbersome subsidies, financial discipline, robust foreign exchange reserve, debt reduction and the pursuit of job growth in its mixed economy, thanks in part to its sanction-busting foreign trade and foreign investment.

Iran last year attracted about US$10 billion in foreign investments, and it has just concluded six new agreements with China worth $20 billion. The volume of Iran-China trade, currently at $30 billion, is expected to double by 2015.

Iran and its neighbors, above all Turkey and Iraq, are enhancing


their bilateral relations, with Tehran and Ankara signing an agreement for shared power generators, while energy and trade ties are expanding between Tehran and Baghdad.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/I/IRAN_NUCLEAR?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-17-07-01-16

VIENNA (AP) -- The leaders of earthquake-prone Iran have reviewed - and rejected - concerns by the country's top scientists about a plan to build a national nuclear reactor network, according to intelligence shared with The Associated Press.

An official from a member nation of the Vienna-based International Atomic Energy Agency says the Iranian decision was reached shortly after Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami that crippled the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear complex, spewed radiation into the atmosphere and evolved into the worst nuclear disaster since the 1986 Chernobyl catastrophe.

The review, said the official, included studying a 2005 report that focused on Iran's southwestern Khuzestan province - site of a planned nuclear plant near the town of Darkhovin on the northern tip of the Persian Gulf - that was updated in 2010 and early this year with a study of earthquakes that have hit other Iranian provinces in the last decade.

The official said Tuesday that the report warns that "data collected since the year 2000 shows the incontrovertible risks of establishing nuclear sites in the proximity of fault lines" in Khuzestan and 19 other Iranian provinces.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/the-dawn-of-new-energy-era-in-middle-east--400465.html

In just four months, 2011 has proved a memorable year for the Middle East. But while media attention has focused on the unfolding political changes, a more subtle shift is taking place in the region’s energy sector.

Historically, the Middle East has been focused on the extraction and exportation of fossil fuels. But as oil and gas reservoirs start to show their age and as new fields become harder and more expensive to develop, the region is eyeing alternative forms of energy to satisfy its growing energy needs. The obvious choice so far has been nuclear power.

Nuclear is branded as the most secure form of energy, requiring minimal fuel and minimal cost for 40-60 years. From an environmental point of view, nuclear is also the best choice, generating far less CO2 emissions than conventional fossil fuels. While renewable energy such solar and wind are equally environmentally friendly they have not been as reliable.

As a result, governments across the Arab world have been tripping over each other to adopt nuclear power programs. Even Saudi Arabia, the custodian of the world’s largest oil reserves recently made headlines when it declared that nuclear power is “a must”. The revolving doors at hotels in Riyadh have since been busy welcoming senior executives from foreign nuclear companies armed with shiny shoes and even shinier sales pitches.

http://www.arabianbusiness.com/lockheed-hopes-finalise-fighter-jet-sales-iraq-oman-400404.html

Lockheed Martin Corp says it hopes to sign sales contracts for up to 18 F-16 fighter jets to both Iraq and Oman by early 2012, and expects to book a total of about 100 additional orders by the end of the decade.

Lockheed is gradually winding down production of the popular multi-role fighter, which is in use by 25 countries worldwide, and was once produced at a rate of one a day, as it ramps up production of the new F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.

The company has delivered 4,475 F-16s and has a backlog of 65 orders, which means production at the company's Fort Worth, Texas plant will continue at the current rate of one to two planes a month for several years.

:spray:

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_CHINA_ENERGY_CRISIS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-17-05-55-25

SHANGHAI (AP) -- Much of central China is enduring its worst energy crisis in years, with factories and residents facing power cuts as supply runs short of demand - a problem worsening as drought dries rivers, reducing hydroelectric capacity.

Authorities are warning that manufacturers in booming industrial regions west of Shanghai may face even tighter power rationing when demand surges in the peak summer months while electricity generators curb output due to rising costs for coal and oil.

Though summer rains may eventually relieve the drought, with even the powerful Yangtze river running too low for shipping in some stretches, China appears to be hitting limits to its growth in a resource scarce-environment. The power crunch comes at time when worries over inflation make rising energy costs and crop failures less welcome than ever.

Hydroelectricity provides about one-fifth of China's power and with river beds running dry it has fallen by about 20 percent, according to a report by UBS analyst Tom Price.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/us-markets-japan-stocks-idUSTRE74F86O20110517

(Reuters) - Japan's Nikkei average was nearly flat on Tuesday after slipping earlier as a weaker yen offset losses in the utility sector which was dragged down by Tokyo Electric Power Co (9501.T).

The benchmark index was lower most of the day due to a pullback in other risk assets on volatile commodity prices and as investors factored in the expected end of the Federal Reserve's stimulus program in June.

But as the dollar rose above 81.00 yen and the euro climbed above 115.00 yen, the weaker yen lifted the mood in the market, analysts said.

"Investors started to shift to a 'risk-on' mood after the yen weakened in the afternoon," said Masatoshi Sato, a senior strategist at Mizuho Investors Securities.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-05/16/c_13877015.htm

BEIJING, May 16 (Xinhua) -- A 10-kilogram gold coin, the largest ever minted in China, has been auctioned for 7.70 million yuan (about 1.18 million U.S. dollars) at an auction in Beijing.

The large coin was auctioned off by China Guardian Auctions Co., Ltd. after twenty-two rounds of bidding on Saturday. Minted in 2000, the coin is the heaviest gold coin minted ever since the Chinese government started minting gold and silver coins in 1949, said Guo Xueguang, manager with the philatelic items and coin department in Guardian Auctions.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-05/17/c_13879114.htm

SEOUL, May 17 (Xinhua) -- South Korean shares ended 0.08 percent lower on Tuesday amid lack of momentum to move local stocks on either direction, analysts said.

The benchmark Korea Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI) fell 1. 77 percent, or 0.08 percent, to 2,102.41. Trading volume stood at 296.77 million shares worth 5.73 trillion won (5.27 billion U.S. dollars).

The KOSPI started higher on rebound from recent sharp declines, but swung back to the negative territory due to lingering uncertainties surrounding Greek debt problems.

European finance ministers approved a 78 billion euro (110 billion dollars) worth of bailout for Portugal at the regular meeting overnight, but delayed their decision on the expanded aid package for Greece.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/china/2011-05/17/c_13879464.htm

HONG KONG, May 17 (Xinhua) -- Hong Kong shares ended 0.26 percent lower on Tuesday as the market continued to be weighed by the weak U.S. economic data and concerns over Europe's debt crisis following the arrest of International Monetary Fund chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn on sexual assault charges.

Hong Kong stocks lost 59.55 points, or 0.26 percent, to close at 22,901.08 on Tuesday. The benchmark Hang Seng Index traded between 22,768.03 and 22,967.88. Turnover totaled 63.39 billion HK dollars (about 8.15 billion U.S. dollars).

The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index rose 56.42 points, or 0. 45 percent, to close at 12,733.21.

Three sub-indices lost ground, with the Properties sub-index falling the most by 0.94 percent, followed by the Commerce and Industry 0.30 percent, the Finance 0.14 percent. The Utilities gained 0.28 percent.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/bangladesh-rents-african-land-to-boost-food-output/441503

Dhaka. Bangladesh has leased tens of thousands of hectares of farmland in Africa as part of a government drive to improve food security in the poverty-stricken South Asian nation, an official said Tuesday.

Two Bangladeshi companies have leased 40,000 hectares of land in Uganda and Tanzania and another firm will sign a deal for a further 10,000 hectares in Tanzania this week, foreign ministry director Farhadul Islam said.

“The government strongly supports companies leasing farmland in Africa. The aim is to bring most of the farms’ output back to Bangladesh to ease food shortages,” he said.

Bangladesh’s 150 million citizens have been hit hard by sharp increases in the price of rice, the staple grain, which was up by an average 50 percent year-on-year in April, according to official figures.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2936271

Korea’s won dropped to a one-month low yesterday as concern that Europe’s debt crisis will worsen dimmed the outlook for exports and bolstered demand for dollars. Government bonds gained, pushing three-year yields to a two-month low.

The greenback strengthened against all 16 major currencies before European finance ministers meet this week to discuss further support for Greece, one of three nations to have sought bailouts. Korea’s won also fell after the central bank unexpectedly left its benchmark interest rate unchanged at 3 percent last week.

http://joongangdaily.joins.com/article/view.asp?aid=2936352

Rattled by the savings bank crisis and desperate to make enough money to cover rising living expenses, a 31-year-old advertisement-company employee sunk his entire 20 million won ($18,320) bonus from last year into the stock market this February.

“The jeonse price has doubled in just a year, and I have to make more to meet that rising price,” said the employee, who wished to be referred to only as Lee. “I decided to switch to the stock market because savings banks have become unreliable.”

Many Koreans find themselves in the same boat as Lee.

A huge amount of floating capital has yet to find alternative investments since a number of savings banks were closed down by financial authorities earlier this year. Savings banks offer relatively high interest on deposits.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-17-07-11-53

LONDON (AP) -- Uncertainty over the global economic recovery and Europe's debt crisis continued to weigh on stock markets Tuesday, but the euro remained buoyant despite fears about the long-term impact of the arrest of the International Monetary Fund's head Dominique Strauss-Kahn.

Investors worry that the U.S. economic recovery is slowing has soured market sentiment over the past few weeks, particularly in stock markets and in commodities, following bumper gains in the first few months of the year.

U.S. industrial production and housing figures later will be assessed to see if they confirm a loss in activity.

"Investors have little reason to be optimistic as they examine today's slate of economic events," said Chris Purdy, a trader at Spreadex.

Global systemic crisis - Confirmation of a Major Alert for the second half of 2011 – Explosive fusion of world geopolitical dislocation and the global economic and financial crisis

- Public announcement GEAB N°55 (May 16, 2011) -

Almost a year ago LEAP/E2020 identified the second half of 2011 as a new critical point in time in the development of the global systemic crisis. Just like our February 2008 anticipation highlighted a major shock affecting the US economy in September 2008, our team confirms in this GEAB issue that all the conditions have now been met for the second half of 2011 to be the stage for the explosive fusion of two fundamental trends underlying the global systemic crisis, namely world geopolitical dislocation on the one hand and the global economic and financial crisis on the other.

In fact, for several months the world has experienced an almost unbroken succession of geopolitical, economic and financial shocks which, according to LEAP/E2020, constitute the warning signs of a major traumatic event that we analyze in this issue.

At the same time the international system has now passed the stage of structural weakening to enter a phase of complete decay where old alliances are breaking down, whilst new communities of interest are emerging very quickly.

Finally, any hope for significant and lasting global economic recovery has now evaporated (1) whilst the Western pillar’s indebtedness, especially the US, has reached a critical level unparalleled in modern history (2).

Comparative progression of the United States and China’s share of world GNP (2001-2016) (in purchasing power parity) - Source: IMF / MarketWatch, 04/2011
Comparative progression of the United States and China’s share of world GNP (2001-2016) (in purchasing power parity) - Source: IMF / MarketWatch, 04/2011
The catalyst for this explosive fusion will obviously be the international monetary system, or rather international monetary chaos which has been further exacerbated since the disaster that struck Japan last March and in front of the inability of the United States to face the requirement for an immediate and significant reduction of its huge deficits.

The end of QE2, the symbol of and factor in the explosive fusion now underway, represents the end of an era, that where the "US Dollar was the currency of the United States and the rest of the world’s problem": from July 2011, the US Dollar will openly become the main threat weighing on the rest of the world and the United States’ crucial problem (3).

Summer 2011 will confirm that the US Federal Reserve has lost its bet: the U.S. economy has, in fact, never left the "Very Great Depression" (4) which it entered in 2008 despite the trillions of dollars injected (5), as the vast majority of Americans are perfectly aware of (6). Unable to launch a QE3 (even unofficially through its Primary Dealers as it used to do until the world became too closely interested in the US Treasury Bond market), the Fed will helplessly watch interest rates rise, US government deficit costs explode, the world dive into an intensified economic recession, stock exchange collapse and the US dollar show erratic behavior, making short-term saw-tooth movements, depending on the influence of these events, before suddenly losing 30% of its value as we anticipated in the last issue (7).

At the same time Euroland, the BRICS and commodity producers will rapidly strengthen their cooperation while launching a final attempt to salvage the international institutions created by Bretton Woods and the world dominated by the US /UK duo. This will be the last since it is unrealistic to imagine Barack Obama, who has shown no major international stature so far, proving himself to be a statesman and thus take major political risks in a presidential election year.

/Continues... http://www.leap2020.eu/GEAB-N-55-is-available-Global-systemic-crisis-Confirmation-of-a-Major-Alert-for-the-second-half-of-2011-Explosive_a6520.html

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-05-17-unemployment-economy-benefits_n.htm

Last month, Missouri became the first state to quit the federal program that provides an additional 20 weeks of extended benefits for people... who have exhausted their otherwise-maximum 79 weeks of benefits. BUT Missouri's Legislature reversed itself after a group of Republican lawmakers upset with federal spending backed off a fillibuster aimed at forcing cuts in benefits. That means thousands of people will be eligible after all to receive an unemployment check for 20 more weeks.

Governors and legislatures across the nation are moving to cut the length of time unemployed workers can receive benefits, despite historically high unemployment rates, amid concerns that states may need to boost taxes on employers to shore up unemployment trust funds exhausted by the jobless benefits...More than 8 million Americans are drawing unemployment, according to the Department of Labor. Benefit levels are set and administered by each state and vary widely. The initial benefits, generally for 26 weeks, are paid by states, largely from employer taxes. It's a program that has helped tide over those who lost their job through no fault of their own since it was created in 1935 as a response to the Great Depression. In times of high unemployment such as this one, the U.S. government has enacted a series of additional emergency programs and extensions providing additional weeks of benefits, up to 99 weeks in some states with the highest jobless rates, paid with federal dollars.

In late March, Michigan became the first state to reduce the basic 26 weeks of state-paid unemployment benefits to 20 weeks for workers who become unemployed starting next year...Missouri, while resuming the extended benefits, followed Michigan's lead and cut back the initial state-paid benefits to 20 weeks for the newly unemployed, starting immediately...In Florida, where the unemployment rate is 11.1%, the Republican-dominated legislature last week passed a law cutting maximum state benefits from 26 weeks to 23 weeks, with fewer weeks available when the jobless rate falls below 10.5%. Florida could provide as little as 12 weeks of checks to the jobless if unemployment falls to 5%. More than 1 million people are officially unemployed in Florida, according to the U.S. Department of Labor...The additional 20 weeks of extended federal benefits has ended in North Carolina, Tennessee and Wisconsin without those states' legislatures taking action required to remain in the program...In North Carolina, the legislature approved a technical change intended to keep the checks flowing, but packaged it with spending cuts that drew a veto by Democratic Gov. Bev Perdue. Arkansas and Illinois are among states that have cut benefits or are considering doing so this spring...

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/britain-auditors-idUSLDE74G17120110517

May 17 (Reuters) - Britain's competition authorities will probe the world's "Big Four" audit firms after finding anti-competitive behaviour.

Britain's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) said there are reasonable grounds for suspecting features of the market "restrict, distort or prevent competition" in the UK.

The "Big Four" auditors -- KPMG , Ernst & Young , Deloitte and PricewaterhouseCoopers -- check the books of most blue chip companies in the world.

In 2010, the four audited 99 of the FTSE 100 UK listed blue chip companies which change auditors every 48 years on average, a UK parliamentary report said in March that called for a competition probe of the sector.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/us-markets-forex-idUSTRE74562320110517

(Reuters) - The euro pulled away from a seven-week low against the U.S. dollar on Tuesday, but remained vulnerable on the downside as investors looked at opportunities to trim bullish bets while uncertainty over Greek debt lingers.

The yen was under broad pressure on talk of merger and acquisition flows, while sterling jumped against the U.S. dollar and the euro after UK inflation leapt in April to its highest annual rate since October 2008.

The euro drew some support from a solid response to a Spanish bond auction and a mixed German economic sentiment survey.

But concerns about the euro zone periphery were keeping the euro volatile, with a comment from the Eurogroup president on the possibility of a "soft" debt restructuring for Greece briefly knocking the shared currency down around 40 pips.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/markets-britain-stocks-idUKLDE74G17U20110517

LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 was marginally higher on Tuesday, as gains in heavyweight firms Vodafone (VOD.L) and BP (BP.L) supported an index otherwise mired in concerns over the outlook for global growth.

Vodafone, the world's largest mobile operator by revenue, added more than 5 points to Britain's top share index after surprising investors with an upbeat outlook and resilient full-year results.

Atif Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, said he remained a buyer of the telecoms firm: "Vodafone offers secure progressive growth in yield, with the potential for a substantial dividend uplift."

Vodafone's current dividend yield of 5.6 percent compared with nearly 3 percent for the FTSE 100, Thomson Reuters data showed.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/16/us-eu-finmins-idUSTRE74F3JA20110516

Reuters) - Euro zone finance ministers approved a 78 billion euro ($110 billion) bailout for Portugal but as a condition of the deal insisted that Lisbon ask private bondholders to maintain their exposure to its debt.

Following are some comments made by EU officials and finance ministers after their Monday talks.

FRENCH FINANCE MINISTER CHRISTINE LAGARDE

ON GREEK DEBTS:

"Restructuring, rescheduling: off the table.

"A restructuring or a rescheduling which would constitute a default situation, what we would call a credit event, are off the table for me."

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/markets-forex-idUSN1735408320110517

NEW YORK, May 17 (Reuters) - The euro traded higher in a choppy session on Tuesday but remained vulnerable against the dollar and weighed down by concerns Greece might restructure its massive debt, a scenario that could damage the euro zone's credibility.

Greece's Foreign Minister Spyros Kouvelis said it was open to a "soft" debt restructuring if needed. Kouvelis' comments came after euro zone officials, including Jean-Claude Juncker, chairman of euro zone finance ministers, said for the first time on Tuesday Greece may have to ask investors to extend the maturities of the Greek debt or agree to a soft restructuring. Click on . For Juncker's comments, see .

But key European Union officials including German Chancellor Angela Merkel were vehemently opposed to a debt restructuring of any euro zone country. Merkel on Monday said such a scenario could lead to massive investor flight from euro zone bonds.

"Greece is still a concern. We're not going to have a final resolution on it until the IMF has done its analysis in mid-June," said Mark McCormick, currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/17/inflation-rebounds-sharply-in-april-easter

Inflation in Britain jumped to its highest level in two-and-a-half years last month, owing to soaring travel costs around Easter and higher duty on alcohol and tobacco.

The annual increase in the consumer prices index to a 30-month high of 4.5%, from 4% in March, wrongfooted the City and intensifies the dilemma for the Bank of England over how much longer it can keep interest rates low to support the flagging economy.

Governor Mervyn King was forced to write another letter to the chancellor, George Osborne, to explain why inflation is so far above the Bank's 2% target. He blamed high commodity and import prices, and the increase in VAT to 20% in January.

"It is likely that had they not occured, inflation would have been substantially lower, and probably below the target," King wrote. "The monetary policy committee judges that attempting to bring inflation to the target quickly risks generating undesirable volatility in output," he warned.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/17/inflation-stays-high-bank-of-england

The City's instant response to the spike in inflation to 4.5% was to buy sterling assets in anticipation that the Bank of England would raise interest rates sooner than expected. The pound rose sharply on the foreign exchanges, gaining half a cent against the dollar.

Within half an hour, though, dealers were having second thoughts about the notion that the highest inflation rate in two-and-a-half years would trigger a policy response from Threadneedle Street. In the past, the Bank's nine-strong monetary policy committee has stuck to its guns despite struggling to keep inflation to the government's 2% target, pegging bank rate at 0.5%.

This looked a sound assessment when Mervyn King's explanatory letter to George Osborne was published an hour after the inflation figures came out. This read just like all the governor's five previous epistles issued at three-monthly intervals over the past fifteen months. Yes, inflation was still above target but the reason for the overshoot remain the same: the increase in VAT, dearer import prices caused by the depreciation of the pound over the past three years, and the impact of soaring world commodity prices on energy bills.

These factors would eventually unwind, King said, and acting to bring inflation down too quickly risked "undesirable volatility in output and would increase the chances of undershooting the target in the medium term." Stripped of the Bank Speak, that means a majority on the MPC fears that raising interest rates now would tip the economy into a double-dip recession and result in the fear of deflation quickly replacing the fear of inflation. The governor pointed out that the economy remained weak, with the level of activity 4% below its pre-recession peak in 2008. Unemployment remains high and wage growth low.

I changed all 3 litter boxes before the trash pickup. That's 60 lbs of saturated clay.

After 3 incredibly hot and humid July days, we are back in the 40's and 50's. At least it doesn't drop below freezing at night anymore. Unfortunately, most of the blooming flowers got blasted by the heat.

The settlement forced upon our co-op shell by the big old mean old NCB paid only half of the outstanding debt they legally owed us. But the exhaustion of the majority of the board and the perfidy of our legal team (the ones I've been advocating firing for 7 years) won out. We did finally cashier the worst of the lawyers...

So, our ex-president cost us a minimum of $3.1M in avoidable bills. Unfortunately, we have no way to collect or otherwise "reward" her...

But that's all in the past, now. It's time to look forward, if I may use such a vile and inappropriately employed phrase here...

:applause:

you really have had a go of it.

:-)

Have I told you lately what a great job you are doing here?

De Beers has ended a prolonged leadership search by hiring a French automotive executive with no experience in diamonds, mining, or South Africa

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/A1TNOO/BMAFD2/IEP5S/FXZXXI/KEXUVC/MQ/t?a1=2011&a2=5&a3=17

WELL, THAT MAKES SENSE....

Do they really care about the company, or the workers?

Why else put a know-nothing in charge? This way they can screw over the workers and the investors.

North American car loan providers step up sharply their exposure to risky subprime buyers as economic conditions improve and lenders seek better profit margins

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/0QSDPP/D47J5O/PNGIU/NSKEE1/GKM9ML/LE/t?a1=2011&a2=5&a3=16

THEY ARE CUCKOOS, LAYING HEIR EGGS IN OTHER PEOPLE'S NESTS NOW, PARASITES...

http://dealbook.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/a-once-tight-flock-at-goldman-now-scattered/



When Goldman Sachs went public 12 years ago this month, an elite group of 221 executives controlled the strategy and shares of the investment bank. While the clubby culture remains, the tight-knit group has lost its viselike grip on the company, as the wishes of the insular partnership have given way to the demands of the outside shareholders. The roughly 480 partners currently own less than 10 percent of the company, down from approximately 60 percent at the initial public offering in 1999...The diminished influence of the partnership has forced Goldman, albeit begrudgingly, to shed some of its secretive corporate personality, especially in recent years as its opaque business model has come under scrutiny in Washington. Although a small cadre of executives still steers strategy and runs the day-to-day operations, the financial firm now must act more like other publicly traded companies, responding to criticism over pay, adjusting strategy to placate shareholders and dealing with outspoken activists at annual meetings — all of which was unheard of a decade ago... the firm initially underestimated the public scrutiny that would come with an offering. At the time of the market debut, Goldman’s public relations department had just a handful of people. Reporters used to call Ed Novotny, the firm’s top spokesman at the time, Ed “No Comment” Novotny for his default response to most questions about the company....

Slowly, the public side of Goldman is winning out, as the firm has issued more stock and partners with large stakes leave the firm or sell shares. While the partners controlled the majority of the stock in 1999, today a vast array of institutions like Fidelity, State Street and Capital World Investors are the main owners...After the I.P.O, the partners also agreed to vote together on issues, casting all of their shares in the same way. The group, which currently owns 9.9 percent of the company, vote in lockstep with only 3.9 percent of their shares now, according to regulatory filings analyzed by The New York Times and Footnoted.com, a division of Morningstar.

But even with the partnership losing power inside Goldman, its reach outside the firm is significant, spanning a cross section of financial firms, government agencies, nonprofits and sport management. The prominent members of the original partnership class are well documented, including ex-New Jersey governor Jon S. Corzine and John A. Thain, who is now running the lender CIT Group... the lesser-known names have proved equally influential, according to a New York Times study of the original class of 221 partners. Roughly 100 are still working in the financial industry, including the hedge fund executives Peter L. Briger Jr. of the Fortress Investment Group, Eric Mindich of Eton Park Capital Management and Jonathan R. Aisbitt of the Man Group.

More than a dozen, including Suzanne M. Nora Johnson, who sits on the board of the insurer American International Group, spend a lot of their time as corporate directors or executives at nonfinancial companies. Others have moved into public service as diplomats, politicians and top government staffers. Philip D. Murphy, a former finance chairman of the Democratic National Committee, is now the ambassador to Germany. Malcolm B. Turnbull is a member of Parliament in Australia. And 26 more are retired and or managing their own money...A few members of the I.P.O. class used Goldman riches to indulge their passions. The onetime Goldman banker David M. Baum is publisher and editor in chief of the Golf Odyssey and Golf Vacation Insider newsletters. Lee G. Vance, once a trader at the firm, has written several financial thrillers...One former Goldman executive is even doing God’s work, as Mr. Blankfein once jokingly described the role of the investment bank. Gregory H. Zehner, a former pastor living in Utah, is writing a book about Christianity.

MORE AT LINK

http://blogs.hbr.org/hbr/hbreditors/2011/05/dominique_strauss-kahn_the_col.html

Here in France the chatterati are feverishly analyzing the shock arrest Friday of (undeclared) presidential front-runner Dominique Strauss-Kahn, known to folks on this side of the pond as DSK. The French, who are notoriously unsqueamish in these matters, suspect a sting, though it's not clear who would benefit most: Nicholas Sarkozy, the incumbent president, or one of DSK's socialist rivals.

Whatever the truth of the allegations against DSK, it's hard to see him emerging intact from this affair, and his chances of mounting a presidential bid in France look bleak. If that were the only consequence of his fall from grace it would be regrettable but not disastrous for the country. The socialists do have plausible candidates other than DSK.

The real problem is that DSK has a pretty important day job, and it is unlikely that the demands of a rape trial will let him pay it the attention it needs. As head of the International Monetary Fund, DSK is — or normally would be — a pivotal figure in the deepening European sovereign debt crisis.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/soundeconomywithjontalton/2015068106_fallout_from_imf_chief_scandal.html

Aside from the universal magnet of a Special Victims Unit sex scandal, what does the arrest of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn have to do with Seattle and the Northwest? As a world trade center, we should be concerned about anything that injects instability into the markets. As a region facing Asia, we should take note of what happens with China and the IMF.

China is now one of the top shareholders of the IMF (the U.S. being the largest). The top job at the IMF has historically gone to a European. But pressure has been growing to select a managing director from among the developing world, particularly the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). Strauss-Kahn has already announced he would be leaving the job, and it has been widely anticipated he would run for the French presidency. The allegations of sexual assault in New York, even if Strauss-Kahn is found not guilty, will wreck his career. They do nothing to help the institutional credibility of yet another bulwark of the global economy.





me: i wonder if we will see a push from china?

http://www.firstpost.com/world/us-vs-them-11018.html

I was being only halfways polemical yesterday when I pitched for RBI Governor D Subbarao to be made the IMF chief following the disgraceful (near-certain) end to Dominique Strauss-Kahn’s stewardship of the organisation.

But I gather from some of the responses that there are many who think the notion that a non-European would ever head the organisation is disingenuous.

That’s an entirely erroneous understanding of how the world is evolving.

Yes, I know how the old order works. The rich countries got the top jobs, and us poor countries got shafted. Under that old Bretton Woods arrangement, the US and the Europe pretty much carved up the world and played monopoly. An American has traditionally headed the World Bank whereas the IMF has always had an European on top.

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28103.htm

But I will say, the whole matter smells rather fishy, just like the Eliot Spitzer story smelled fishy. Spitzer, you may recall, was Wall Street's biggest adversary and a likely candidate to head the SEC, a position at which he would have excelled. In fact, there's no doubt in my mind that if Spitzer had been appointed to lead the SEC, most of the top investment bankers on Wall Street would presently be making license plates and rope-soled shoes at the federal penitentiary. So, there was plenty of reason to shadow Spitzer's every move and see what bit of dirt could be dug up on him. As it turns out, the ex-Governor of New York made it easy for his enemies by engaging a high-priced hooker named Ashley Dupre for sex at the Mayflower Hotel. When the news broke, the media descended on Spitzer like a swarm of locusts poring over every salacious detail with the ebullient fervor of a randy 6th-grader. Meanwhile, the crooks on Wall Street were able to breathe a sigh of relief and get back to doing what they do best; fleecing investors and cheating people out of the life savings.

Strauss-Kahn had enemies in high places, too, which is why this whole matter stinks to high-Heaven. First of all, Strauss-Kahn was the likely candidate of the French Socialist Party who would have faced Sarkozy in the upcoming presidential elections. The IMF chief clearly had a leg-up on Sarkozy who has been battered by a number of personal scandals and plunging approval ratings.

But if Strauss-Kahn was set up, then it was probably by members of the western bank coalition, that shadowy group of self-serving swine whose policies have kept the greater body of humanity in varying state of poverty and desperation for the last two centuries. Strauss-Kahn had recently broke-free from the "party line" and was changing the direction of the IMF. His road to Damascus conversion was championed by progressive economist Joesph Stiglitz in a recent article titled "The IMF's Switch in Time". Here's an excerpt:



So, Strauss-Kahn was trying to move the bank in a more positive direction, a direction that didn't require that countries leave their economies open to the ravages of foreign capital that moves in swiftly--pushing up prices and creating bubbles--and departs just as fast, leaving behind the scourge of high unemployment, plunging demand, hobbled industries, and deep recession.

I DON'T KNOW--IF THE STING OUTS A PIG BY USING TRUFFLES, IS IT A STING OR A COMEUPPANCE?

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article28107.htm

....The world's great, intergenerational banking families have embarked on a new spate of colonialism to disenfranchise their enemies and empower their allies. Those regimes in developing countries that endorse power-elite goals will be allowed to function. Otherwise they will be destabilized...Just as with the Gutenberg Press long ago, the elites have lost control of the ability to control society via fear-based promotions because of what we have taken to calling the Internet Reformation. The elites, therefore, are evidently and obviously doing what they can to combat this reformation – this awakening – by causing economic turmoil and military confrontations.

Hardly a whisper regarding what is evidently and obviously a deliberate policy of "neo-colonialism" has been heard from the West's mainstream media. Thus it was with interest that I read an article in yesterday's online version of The Hindu, India's "national newspaper" entitled The Manufacture of Consensus and Legitimacy. Author M.S. Prabhakara deals with many of the issues raised in these electronic pages in the past few weeks.

Prabhakara has pretty much figured it out – as we have over the past few months. He believes the recent conflicts in the Middle East and Africa raise important questions about the limits of national sovereignty, as United Nations resolutions were used to justify invasions into both Libya and the Ivory Coast...

Here is the answer I promised at the beginning of the article: We seem to be led, unfortunately, by beasts. Is that harsh?

it is an interesting intersection -- i'll say that.

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-mexico-billionaire-battle-20110517,0,7613785.story

Reporting from Mexico City—
In one corner: the world's richest man, with a fortune estimated at $74 billion. In the other: two of the biggest media moguls in Latin America, with power to shape public opinion.

The three Mexican billionaires are battling to expand their already expansive empires and amass an even more massive share of a telecommunications market projected to be worth $35 billion by 2015.

The dispute pits Carlos Slim Helu, who controls most phone service in Mexico, against a couple of TV barons who command most of the eyeballs in the Mexican market. They are Emilio Azcarraga Jean, chairman and chief executive of the nation's top media conglomerate, Grupo Televisa; and Ricardo Salinas Pliego, chairman of runner-up TV Azteca and Iusacell, Mexico's No. 3 mobile phone carrier. For years, these scions coexisted peacefully, content to count their profits. Now, technology is dissolving the neat barriers that used to divide their businesses.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/is-government-planning-to-cut-sbi-down-to-size-11154.html?utm_source=MC_HOME

Nobody, but nobody, expected the State Bank of India (SBI) to say that it had almost no profits to report in the last quarter of 2010-11. The reported net profit of Rs 20.88 crore is a fleabite when weighed against a loan-book of Rs 7,56,719 crore as on March 31, 2011. The shares duly tanked, and at the close of trading on Tuesday, the stock lost 8 percent and brought the market down with it.

What gives? Many reasons, really. First, the results came as a shock. If SBI was the toast of the market for much of the past five years when OP Bhatt was chairman, Tuesday’s results showed the price Bhatt paid for growth: huge bad loans. The bank’s bad loan and prudential provisioning was a humungous Rs 4,157 crore, up 76 percent from the fourth quarter figures of 2010.

Second, the new chairman Pratip Choudhuri, is in clean-up mode. By pushing all the bad numbers to the fourth quarter of 2010-11, when Bhatt was at the helm, he now starts with a cleaner slate in his term. No one will blame him for the losses of last year; his new loan-book now looks much healthier.

Third, all this provisioning and bad news means SBI needs more capital for growth this year. But will that be forthcoming? SBI’s capital adequacy is now below 12 percent, adequate to look solvent, but not enough to support robust loan growth beyond 2011.






:spray: they're 'surprised' in india too -- shocked even.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/commodity/comm_news.php?autono=153418&type=MKT

Mumbai – Gold, silver traded to assume a dull tone in major spot markets of Mumbai, Ahmedabad and New Delhi Tuesday. Market cues were limited as trading exchanges were closed on account of Buddha Purnima.

Earlier, last week silver had dipped sharply in spot and futures tracking a global slide and participants foreboded prices of the white metal to come down to Rs 49,000 in the downside.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/fii-view/commodity-prices-likely-to-head-lower-says-ubs_544105.html

Peter Hickson of UBS believes commodity prices are likely to head lower in the next one or two months. "There is a clear sign that there are risks in emerging markets (EMs), particularly in China, that's keeping investors cautious," he said.

Hickson said commodity prices could decline from current levels. "Brent crude could head lower to USD 105 a barrel," he said.

On the precious metals, Hickson said technicals don’t look so good for gold and silver right now. He advises going long on gold and short on silver.

He said copper will lead gains in base metals. "We see downside pressure in copper market," he said.

Below is a verbatim transcript of the interview. Also watch the video.

http://www.firstpost.com/world/chindia-energy-race-10157.html

A revolution in energy consumption is sweeping Asia. Rapid economic growth in China and India has yielded a corresponding spike in their energy consumption.

Despite the welcome surge of prosperity from this growth, the Asian energy revolution has the potential to seriously exacerbate states’ energy security concerns, imperilling strategic stability, and, ultimately, regional prosperity.

Energy security concerns have long been central to Asia’s strategic evolution. The conjunction of the post-1972 Sino-US-Japanese rapprochement with the 1970s oil shocks produced a benign but highly contingent regional security dynamic. In the wake of the oil shocks, Tokyo drew closer to America and its regional allies, while the contrast between Japan’s resource paucity and China’s (albeit temporary) fossil fuel abundance provided an early commercial focus for bilateral reconciliation.

India’s poverty and dependence on subsidised Soviet oil, meanwhile, muted its impact on global energy markets, removing an additional potential lateral pressure on Japan’s energy security. America’s status as the hegemonic protector of both the major OECD energy-consuming states and the major Persian Gulf energy suppliers provided an additional layer of reassurance, benefiting consumers and suppliers alike. First world energy super-consumers were all beneficiaries of a US-centred network of alliances, and were able to cooperate to ride out the decade’s energy shocks.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/business/2011-05/17/c_13879574.htm

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The world's emerging economies as a group will grow 4.7 percent annually between 2011 and 2025 on average, the World Bank projected Tuesday.

This growth rate is twice as quick as a 2.3 percent to be registered by advanced economies over the same period, the Washington-based agency said in a report released Tuesday.

The fast rise of emerging economies has driven a shift whereby the centers of economic growth are distributed across developed and developing economies, a truly multi-polar world, said Justin Yifu Lin, the World Bank' s chief economist.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/financial-regulation-derivatives-idUSN1714977120110517

WASHINGTON, May 17 (Reuters) - A new proposal from U.S. regulators for cracking down on the derivatives market will make U.S. firms less competitive with their international rivals, the New York congressional delegation wrote in a letter to Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and other regulators on Tuesday.

The lawmakers argued that without comparable rules in other countries, U.S. banks will lose business.

"We urge you to work closely with your international counterparts to ensure that they adopt as rigorous a regulatory regime for the over-the-counter swaps markets in their countries as we will have in ours," the lawmakers wrote. "Ideally, those rules would perfectly mirror the U.S. rules."

Last month, U.S. banking regulators and the Commodity Futures Trade Commission released proposals that lay out margin requirements for end users and major swap dealers, which include JPMorgan (JPM.N), Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N) and Goldman Sachs (GS.N).






:eyes:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/17/markets-precious-idUSL4E7GH05E20110517

SINGAPORE, May 17 (Reuters) - Gold and silver inched higher
on Tuesday, supported by light physical buying in Asia as
investors scrutinise the currency market for direction.

The euro held steady above a seven-week low hit on Monday
after euro zone finance ministers approved a three-year,
78-billion euro emergency loan programme for Portugal, easing
worries over the region's sovereign debt crisis.


"People don't have a clear idea where things will go from
here, and are following the euro closely," said Peter Fung, head
of dealing at Wing Fung Precious Metals in Hong Kong.

Physical buying in Asia helped offset the slightly stronger
dollar, which edged up 0.2 percent against a basket of
currencies.

PPT can't get purchase--pun intended.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stocks-tumble-on-housing-h-p-2011-05-17

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks extended losses into a third straight session Tuesday, after disappointing housing data and a lowered forecast from Hewlett-Packard Co. compounded worries that the economy was in for a so-called soft patch.

At last check, the Dow Jones Industrial Average /quotes/comstock/10w!i:dji/delayed DJIA -0.81% dropped more than 100 points to 12,441.3, after losing almost 170 points earlier in the session. Shares of Hewlett-Packard /quotes/comstock/13*!hpq/quotes/nls/hpq HPQ -8.04% led decliners, dropping 7.5%, after the computer company cut its forecast for the current quarter and full year. Read more on Hewlett-Packard’s results.

Alcoa Inc.’s /quotes/comstock/13*!aa/quotes/nls/aa AA -2.96% shares fell 3%.

Would Orwell be proud or disgusted?

http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/shares-close-higher-on-strong-materials/story-e6frfku0-1226057677703

THE share market closed higher after a stronger materials sector outweighed struggling gold, energy and financials.

At 16.13pm AEST, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was 33.9 points or 0.73 per cent higher at 4683.9, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 28.8 points or 0.61 per cent at 4753.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/shares-close-higher-on-strong-materials/story-e6frfku0-1226057677703#ixzz1MdTMBRGw

http://www.news.com.au/business/senate-banking-inquiry-recommends-banks-should-be-forced-to-be-more-transparent/story-e6frfm1i-1226051239382

BANKS should be forced to be more transparent about their huge profits and interest margins to test there is enough competition in the industry, a Senate committee report told the Government today.

And the Government should consider tax breaks for non-bank lenders to boost the range of options for borrowers.

The inquiry report on banking competition was released today after a week in which the four biggest financial institutions revealed half-yearly profit totals of close to $12 billion.

The Opposition-dominated committee said that during the global financial crisis "when the real economy slowed markedly, the profits of the major banks held up well".

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/senate-banking-inquiry-recommends-banks-should-be-forced-to-be-more-transparent/story-e6frfm1i-1226051239382#ixzz1MdUElK12

http://www.news.com.au/business/australian-dollar/dollar-down-as-market-awaits-rba-minutes/story-fn6t6wad-1226056758340

THE dollar was over US1c lower at noon (AEST), as European debt concerns hurt risk appetite and the market awaits minutes from the central bank's May board meeting.

At midday, the dollar was trading at US105.61c, down from US106.77c on Friday.

Since 7am, the local unit traded between US105.26c and US105.79c.

The currency opened the day one US cent weaker, after investors were spooked by reports from German newspaper Die Welt that Germany was backing a restructuring of Greek debt.

Read more: http://www.news.com.au/business/australian-dollar/dollar-down-as-market-awaits-rba-minutes/story-fn6t6wad-1226056758340#ixzz1MdVXEPXH

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 14-billion dollars. Good day.)
There are still libraries in Lansing, stinky person is here, but so is the library.
(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)
= 9,666,271,678,566.97 + 4,642,113,503,083.13
UP 162,115,757.85 + UP 423,724,328.44

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 $3.21 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,205.14 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.62, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ 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 311,998,592 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 $45,860.42.
A family of three owes $137,581.25. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 1,923,383,591.47.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,474,594,086.80.

There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 251 reports in 365 days of FY2010 averaging 6.58B$ per report, 4.53B$/day.
There were 154 reports in 225 days of FY2011 averaging 4.85B$ per report, 3.32B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 618 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.2 and 17.5T$.
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)
05/13/2011 14,308,385,181,650.10 BHO (UP 3,681,508,132,737.02 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 +0,746,762,150,758.40 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,211,414,155,674.74 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
04/25/2011 +000,297,069,525.13 ------------******** Mon
04/26/2011 +000,207,526,568.97 ------------********
04/27/2011 -002,332,483,455.54 --
04/28/2011 -007,710,203,842.40 --
04/29/2011 +013,870,888,452.00 ------------**********
05/02/2011 +043,070,259,587.79 ------------********** Mon
05/03/2011 +000,283,435,714.90 ------------********
05/04/2011 +000,080,372,925.23 ------------*******
05/05/2011 -017,721,236,989.45 -
05/06/2011 +000,087,184,054.82 ------------*******
05/09/2011 +000,429,272,774.96 ------------******** Mon
05/10/2011 +000,237,893,268.24 ------------********
05/11/2011 +000,200,317,592.65 ------------********
05/12/2011 -015,508,101,950.43 -
05/13/2011 +000,162,115,757.85 ------------********

15,654,309,984.72 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=4852460&mesg_id=4852475

(OVER the old debt limit of 14.294-trillion dollars by 52-billion dollars. Good day.)
Short lunch. Must get back to start something personal.
(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)
= 9,717,694,227,528.65 + 4,627,843,278,273.80
UP 51,422,548,961.68 + DOWN 14,270,224,809.33

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 $3,204.92 makes 1T$.
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 312,020,192 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 10/04/2010 04:37 -> 310,403,677
Currently, each of these Americans owe $45,976.31.
A family of three owes $137,928.93. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 22 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 22 reports is 1,827,314,764.10.
The average for the last 30 days would be 1,340,030,827.01.
The average for the last 31 days would be 1,296,804,026.14.
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$/day.
There were 155 reports in 228 days of FY2011 averaging 5.06B$ per report, 3.44B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 615 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 15.1 and 17.5T$.
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)
05/16/2011 14,345,537,505,802.45 BHO (UP 3,718,660,456,889.37 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,651,794,027,380.00 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
FY2011 +0,783,914,474,910.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof11 +1,254,950,804,133.36 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
04/26/2011 +000,207,526,568.97 ------------********
04/27/2011 -002,332,483,455.54 --
04/28/2011 -007,710,203,842.40 --
04/29/2011 +013,870,888,452.00 ------------**********
05/02/2011 +043,070,259,587.79 ------------********** Mon
05/03/2011 +000,283,435,714.90 ------------********
05/04/2011 +000,080,372,925.23 ------------*******
05/05/2011 -017,721,236,989.45 -
05/06/2011 +000,087,184,054.82 ------------*******
05/09/2011 +000,429,272,774.96 ------------******** Mon
05/10/2011 +000,237,893,268.24 ------------********
05/11/2011 +000,200,317,592.65 ------------********
05/12/2011 -015,508,101,950.43 -
05/13/2011 +000,162,115,757.85 ------------********
05/16/2011 +051,422,548,961.68 ------------********** Mon

66,779,789,421.27 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=4853644&mesg_id=4854344