STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Tuesday, May 31, 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 31 09:00 Case-Shiller 20-city Index Mar -3.7% -3.4% -3.33%
May 31 09:45 Chicago PMI May 63.0 62.5 67.6
May 31 10:00 Consumer Confidence May 67.5 66.3 65.4

Read more: http://www.breifing.com/investor/calendars/economic/#ixzz1NvZZfyEG

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/money_co/2011/05/case-shiller-index-shows-home-prices-slide-into-double-dip.html

An index of home prices in the nation's largest American cities plumbed new depths in March, pushing past a low set during the worst of the Great Recession.

The ominous new drop for the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller index of 20 cities, a key measure that is closely watched by economists, casts further doubt about the future of the housing market’s recovery. The index pushed below its previous bottom hit in April 2009, confirming a much-feared double-dip in home prices.

"This month's report is marked by the confirmation of a double-dip in home prices across much of the nation," said David Blitzer, chairman of the S&P index committee, said. "Home prices continue on their downward spiral with no relief in sight."

5/31/11 Consumer Confidence falls unexpectedly in May

A monthly survey shows consumers are losing faith that the economy will keep improving. The Conference Board's Consumer Confidence Index fell to 60.8 from a revised 66 in April on worries about jobs and inflation for groceries and gasoline. Economists had expected an increase to 67.

Results from the survey have been choppy in recent months, rising in April but falling in March. But before that the measure had risen for five consecutive months and hit a three-year high in February.

The index is still far from the reading of 90 that indicates a healthy economy. It hasn't approached that level since the recession began in December 2007.

The Conference Board says dimmer expectations of business and job conditions six months from now were behind the decline.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Consumer-Confidence-falls-apf-1525822108.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=

whatever :eyes:

this coming!

When economists are surprised that people who are out of work or frightened of becoming unemployed lack confidence in the economy and are holding on to their money instead of spending it, it's a clear sign that those economists are utterly incompetent and should be replaced by economists who are not surprised by such findings.

The amazing thing is that never occurs to any of the people who eagerly await their next stunning prognostication.

5/31/11 Chicago PMI Plummets From 67.6 To 56.6, Biggest Monthly Drop Since Lehman Bankruptcy

The May Chicago PMI is out and contrary to the herd of clueless Wall Street idiots, better known in polite circles as economists, it came at 56.6 on expectations of 62.0, a collapse drop from the 67.6 before. This is the worst monthly drop since the economy imploded back in October 2008, and the second largest two month drop since 1980! A quick look at the New Orders index indicates it was the lowest since September 2009. But the good news: the economy is still in expansion... for about 1 more month.

The release says it all: "NEW ORDERS and PRODUCTION posted their largest declines in several years...but remained positive" and "INVENTORIES accelerated buildup" - thank god for artificial economic expansion. And from the respondents: "Fuel cost are going to have a major impact on business activity in a negative way that will slow recovery to a crawl." Uh, what recovery? Just you wait until QE3 is announced in 3 months. And elsewhere, the May consumer confidence completed the trifecta of bad news, coming at 60.8 on expectations of 65.4, and down from 66.6.

click to see graphs...
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/timber-part-2-chicago-pmi-plummets-676-566-idiot-consensus-was-620

Housing never recovered. Shit costs more to produce. (Wunner if fuel increases and devalueing the FRN might have anything to do with that? Nah) And maybe everyone but the banksters are getting antsy. Hmm, and the anul-ists nevah saw this coming.

After all, they still have jobs, so it's NOT a Depression!

SINGAPORE – Oil prices rose to near $102 a barrel Tuesday in Asia as a weakening U.S. dollar made crude cheaper for investors with other currencies.

Benchmark oil for July delivery was up $1.27 to $101.86 a barrel at late afternoon Singapore time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

The benchmark contract last settled Friday up 36 cents at $100.59. Markets in the U.S. were closed Monday for the Memorial Day holiday.

In London, Brent crude for July delivery was up $1.04 to $115.72 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

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

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-30/saudi-iran-feud-draws-sectarian-line-across-mideast-oilfields.html

Diners at Shayan in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital, are assured by a sign near the cash register that they can enjoy the restaurant’s Persian food without worrying about Iranians profiting. The establishment is Saudi- owned, it says.

Saudi fulmination against Iranian interference in the Persian Gulf finds its mirror image in Tehran. There, buses bring doctors and schoolgirls to join protests outside the Saudi embassy, as clerics, ministers and state-run media denounce the deployment of Saudi troops to Bahrain.

The Gulf, home to three-fifths of the world’s oil reserves, has largely escaped the violence that accompanied uprisings in Egypt, Libya and other countries this year. The main exception, though, carries the risk of a wider conflict. Bahrain’s Saudi- backed rulers are using force to suppress an opposition that mostly shares Iran’s Shiite faith -- exacerbating the rivalry between the region’s two most powerful and oil-rich countries.

U.S. stock-index futures advanced, indicating the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index may rebound from four weeks of declines, amid speculation the European Union will pledge further aid to Greece.

Schlumberger Ltd. (SLB), the largest oilfield services provider, climbed in early New York trading as crude rose for a second day in New York. Alcoa Inc. (AA), the biggest U.S. aluminum producer, gained 1.3 percent in German trading. Barrick Gold Corp. (ABX) advanced as the precious metal increased for a third day.

June contracts on the S&P 500 gained 1 percent to 1,343.3 at 6:25 a.m. in New York. The benchmark gauge completed the longest streak of weekly declines in 15 months last week amid concern Europe’s debt crisis was worsening and is headed for a monthly drop of 2.4 percent. The U.S. market was closed for a holiday yesterday. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures added 114 points, or 0.9 percent, to 12,542 today.

“Speculation that European officials will provide further assistance to Greece is a positive trigger for an upward move in equity markets today,” said Jens Finkbeiner, who manages about $200 million at F+M Financial GmbH in Frankfurt. “I’m expecting the markets to rise further in the next few days, though the question remains to know whether this is sustainable.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-31/u-s-stock-index-futures-rally-schlumberger-alcoa-barrick-gold-advance.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/markets-bonds-idUSN3128836120110531

NEW YORK, May 31 (Reuters) - U.S. government debt prices fell on Tuesday as a report that Greece is closer to receiving fresh aid from its neighbors improved risk appetite and reduced safe-haven bids for bonds.

The price fall marked an end to an otherwise solid month for Treasuries. The benchmark 10-year yield is on track for its second monthly decline, with the Federal Reserve concluding its second round of bond purchases, known as QE2, in June.

"While the market is down on the news on Greece, there are enough reasons that we could see bids developing today," said Brian Edmonds, head of rates trading at Cantor Fitzgerald in New York.

"Fundamentally, the U.S. economy is clearly weakening with the global economy. You also have month-end buying and the Fed buying the long end of the curve," he said.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/A/AS_INDIA_GERMANY?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-31-07-02-08

NEW DELHI (AP) -- Visiting German Chancellor Angela Merkel and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Tuesday reviewed regional security and pledged to work together against terrorism and promote stability in South Asia.

The situation in Afghanistan with a projected withdrawal of NATO forces by 2014 and the efforts to engage with sections of the Taliban figured prominently in the talks between Merkel and Singh, the leaders said.

"We discussed the developments in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Terrorism is a serious challenge which will have to be fought on all fronts and not selectively," Singh told a news conference after the talks. He did not elaborate.

Merkel said Germany, which was hosting the next Afghanistan conference by the end of the year, would insist on reconciliation of all the forces in the war-torn country provided "they fulfill the condition of renouncing the use of force."

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/W/WORLD_MARKETS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-31-06-57-35

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) -- European stocks rose Tuesday on hopes that a new aid deal for Greece would keep the country from defaulting on its debts, and as falling unemployment in Germany underlined the strength of the eurozone's largest economy.

The German DAX 30 blue chip index was up 2.1 percent at 7,313 while Britain's FTSE 100 rose 1.1 percent to 6,002.54 after being closed on Monday for a bank holiday. France's CAC 40 traded 1.6 percent higher at 4,005.96.

EU officials offered no details as the talks continued, but top European Central Bank official Lorenzo Bini Smaghi gave a preliminary view of what might come of the talks, sketching out euro60-70 billion in new funding. Half of that would come from measures such as privatization and getting Greek banks to roll over current bond holdings, and the other half from additional loans from the eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

A deal would not solve Greece's deeper economic problems but would remove the fears of an imminent default stoked last week by news the IMF would withhold further loans. "A solution to Greece's medium-term problem isn't immediate but renewed EU efforts should reduce tensions, near term," said analysts at Credit-Agricole.




:shrug:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MF01Dj06.html

Former United States secretary of state Henry Kissinger once complained that Europe didn't have a single telephone number. He didn't know who to turn to as the authentic voice of Europe. The same can be said today about BRICS, the grouping that has come to personify the best and the brightest emerging powers in the global order. BRICS comprises Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.

Dominique Strauss-Kahn's summary exit from his job as the managing director of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) over allegations of sexual assault has badly exposed the BRICS as an empty vessel that periodically makes a lot of noise.

Hardly six weeks have passed since China hosted the BRICS


summit in a trail of glory led by nobody other than President Hu Jintao, while, today, BRICS leaders would turn red in the face with embarrassment if they recalled that the People's Daily hailed their forum as the "anchor of the global economy and politics".

Strauss-Kahn cannot become the president of France, as he was reported to have wanted. But, equally, his contribution to the making of the world order will exceed present President Nicolas Sarkozy's. Thanks to the manner in which he quit his job at the IMF, a mad scramble followed to grab his job, which, in turn, has brought to the surface the fault lines in the international system. But for Strauss-Kahn, the birth pangs of the multipolar world wouldn't have been so audible.

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-31/bank-of-ireland-to-impose-up-to-90-losses-in-bondholder-deal.html

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- Bank of Ireland Plc will seek to impose losses of as much as 90 percent on 2.6 billion euros ($3.7 billion) of subordinated debt as it offers bondholders an exchange for cash or equity.

The lender, ordered to raise 5.2 billion euros of capital, said in a statement it expects to offer to pay cash of 10 percent of nominal value for Tier 1 securities and 20 percent for Tier 2 debt, with no settlement of accrued interest. The Dublin-based bank said it may also offer an equity-swap alternative at a premium to the cash offer with a payment of accrued interest.

“We were expecting the terms of the offer to be bad, but this is worse than expected,” said Stephen Lyons, a fixed- income analyst with Dublin-based securities firm Davy. “Another approach would have to been to engage with subordinated bondholders and not leave such a bad taste in the mouths, particularly for investors that might take the equity alternative, who the bank may wish to participate in a subsequent share sale.”

Bank of Ireland’s 747 million euros of lower Tier 2 senior subordinated 10 percent bonds due 2020 were quoted at 30 cents on the euro, down from 52.5 cents, according to Jefferies International Ltd.

http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/worldnews/uk39ssercotobuyintelenetforupto36634m_548419.html

Britain's Serco is to buy Indian outsourcing company Intelenet for up to 385 million pounds (USD 634 million) as part of a drive into higher-growth overseas markets.

London-based outsourcer Serco, which wants to bolster its international businesses after recent strong growth, said the deal would provide access to markets that are forecast to grow by around 15% per year in the medium term.

"The international BPO (business process outsourcing) market is growing quickly as companies seek out new ways to improve their service and reduce costs," Chief Executive Chris Hyman said in a statement on Tuesday.

Intelenet, which provides outsourcing services such as accounting to the private sector in India and internationally, operates in seven countries, working mainly in the financial services, travel, healthcare and telecom sectors.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0531/breaking11.html

Greece has agreed with EU, IMF and ECB inspectors on a value-added tax cut, a German coalition source said today, a move aimed at winning opposition support for more austerity and avoiding a debt default.

Increasingly urgent talks between the EU-IMF bailout troika and the Athens authorities come as the country faces a multibillion-euro funding shortfall as early as next month and a longer-term cash crunch next year in view of its exclusion from private debt markets.

To secure any new loan package, sources say the country may have to offer collateral and accept external supervision over tax collection and its stalled €50 billion privatisation programme.

The initiative is hampered by the lack of an advanced land registry in the country, leading to legal uncertainty over the ownership of many public assets.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0531/breaking20.html

Lending to households continued to fall in April, but the pace of decline moderated slightly, new data showed today.

Figures from the Central Bank revealed an annual drop of 4.6 per cent in lending, compared with a 5 per cent drop in March.

The loss of Irish private-sector resident deposits also slowed in the year to April, showing a fall of 9.1 per cent compared with 10 per cent in the 12 months ending March.

However, a drop in lending to the non-financial corporate (NFC) sector picked up pace, accelerating from 1.3 per cent in March to 2.2 per cent in April.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2011/0531/breaking35.html

Euro zone inflation slowed in May largely thanks to lower oil prices, but the dip is likely to be temporary and may not stop the European Central Bank from raising interest rates in July.

European Union statistics office Eurostat estimated that inflation in the 17 countries using the euro was 2.7 per cent year-on-year this month, down from 2.8 per cent in April.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected inflation to stay at 2.8 per cent year-on-year. The ECB wants to limit price growth to just below 2.0 per cent over the medium term.

"I think they are still on target to increase interest rates by a further quarter point this summer, probably in July. Then I think we'll get one more this year bringing the refi rate to 1.75 per cent," said Martin van Vliet, economist at ING.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2011/may/31/europe-dry-spring-power-blackouts

One of the driest springs ever recorded in northern Europe could lead to power blackouts this summer, with nuclear reactors going offline because of low river levels. The exceptionally dry weather will also raise food prices and has already forced water restrictions on millions of people, say governments, farm groups and meteorological organisations across the continent.

Large parts of southern Britain, northern France, Germany, Switzerland, Austria and other northern and eastern European countries have had their driest three-month spells in more than 50 years, receiving just 25-60% of their long-term average rainfall since February. This has led to parched soils and difficult growing conditions for farmers, as well as to river levels that are dangerously low for wildlife.

Patchy rain has moistened soils in parts of northern Britain, France and Germany over the past few weeks, but with summer approaching and temperatures soaring to over 30C in France, it is not expected that any rains will compensate for months of exceptionally dry weather.

Last week the European Union warned that soils were now "critically dry" in six countries. The French wheat harvest is now expected to be 11.5%-13% down on average despite an increase in the area planted this year and German output is expected to fall 7-9%. In south-east England, many farmers expect crops to fail dramatically unless steady rains come soon.

http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/0,1518,765601,00.html

It wasn't all that long ago that Europe's top monetary policy experts and the leader of the European Union's most important member state were politely exchanging compliments. Jean-Claude Trichet, president of the European Central Bank (ECB), praised German Chancellor Angela Merkel for having made Germany into an "example for all of its neighbors." Merkel, for her part, thanked the Frenchman for his decidedly "successful actions."

A few years and a crisis later, the relationship has cooled off considerably. Merkel feels that the Frankfurt-based monetary watchdogs are pressuring her inappropriately, while Trichet and his fellow bankers have taken to characterizing the Berlin government's proposals as "incorrect," "illusory" or simply as a "catastrophe."

Today, members of the German government and the ECB seem to have trouble spending time in the same room together. At a recent meeting of finance ministers in Luxembourg, Trichet stormed out of the room after being confronted with yet another crisis plan from Germany that he didn't like.

The controversy revolves around the future of the common currency, which instruments ought to be used to rescue the euro and, not least, a workable plan to support ailing Greece. While Merkel has long advocated a cautious restructuring of Greece's debt, Frankfurt-based Frenchman Trichet categorically rejects any form of debt deferral for Athens.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/markets-britain-stocks-idUKLDE74U20U20110531

LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - Banks and energy stocks, buoyed by hopes of a second bailout for Greece, helped Britain's FTSE 100 higher on Tuesday, but traders remained concerned about buying momentum in the short-term.

"Uncertainty for the near term outlook still remains bearish until the markets can pick up positive momentum and clear hurdles to give the bulls a chance to see higher prices for June," Sandy Jadeja, chief technical Analyst at City Index said.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE closed up 51.12 points, or 0.9 percent, at 5,9899.99, but drifted away from a session high of 6,009.98. The index fell 1.3 percent in May.

"Although the first few days of June look positive it will be the closing prices for the week ahead that may provide a clue for the monthly outlook," Jadeja said, warning the FTSE had formed a double top at around 6,100, signalling the potential for further declines.

LONDON — A new rescue package for Greece is taking shape, one that would offer billions of euros in fresh loans in return for accelerated privatization and tougher tax collection measures on the part of the beleaguered Greek government.

While the agreement for as much as €60 billion, or $86 billion, would, in theory address Greece’s need for cash this year and next, it puts off for the time being a restructuring, hard or soft, of Greece’s mammoth debt burden.

At the deal’s heart would be an informal understanding that the private sector holders of Greek government bonds might be persuaded to roll over their debts, or extend new loans at the time their older obligations come due.

By taking on more dubious Greek risk — backed by new funds from Europe and the International Monetary Fund — exposed banks would not just step back from the precipice of a “haircut,” or a forced loss on their bonds, they might also hope that in another two years, Greece will be in a better position to repay its debts in full.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/01/business/economy/01euro.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

i hope all had a nice weekend.:hi:

and today I think it is Monday!

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_CARE_FRAUD?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-05-31-06-39-24

WASHINGTON (AP) -- It's getting personal now. In a shift still evolving, federal enforcers are targeting individual executives in health care fraud cases that used to be aimed at impersonal corporations.

The new tactic is raising the anxiety level - and risks - for corporate honchos at drug companies, medical device manufacturers, nursing home chains and other major health care enterprises that deal with Medicare and Medicaid.

Previously, if a company got caught, its lawyers in many cases would be able to negotiate a financial settlement. The company would write the government a check for a number followed by lots of zeroes and promise not to break the rules again. Often the cost would just get passed on to customers.

Now, on top of fines paid by a company, senior executives can face criminal charges even if they weren't involved in the scheme but could have stopped it had they known. Furthermore, they can also be banned from doing business with government health programs, a career-ending consequence.

But the law-breaking corps should be reduced to corpses.

Still waiting for the fraudsters and banksters to go to jail from the CDO/real estate debacle leading to the Big Recession. No one's been held accountable yet and it's :grr: maddening

I wonder if that technique would work...

We had a superior barbecue--the food disappeared, the conversation was lively, the band was excellent. I got to schmooze with new people, and found a way to lever out the latest would-be dictator who has taken to personal attacks. Turns out, I'm not the only victim....so all is good.

Amazingly enough, not a single other board member attended. More fools they. Granted, people do like to do family things on holidays, but there's no law against bringing your family to these events...

The grandpuppy has been surprisingly easy to handle. I will miss him when he returns to his parents.

So, another week begins.

The lawns are like pudding with 4 inches of turf on top. Walking on them, one feels as if at any moment one will sink into the bog, never to be seen until someone starts cutting turves for peat in 10,000 years...

Got a little glow but no serious burn.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-31/uganda-s-annual-inflation-accelerated-to-16-in-may-as-food-prices-jumped.html

Inflation in Uganda, where protests erupted last month over the rising cost of living, accelerated to the highest level in 17 years in May as food prices surged.

The annual inflation rate increased to 16 percent, the highest since May 1994, from 14.1 percent in April, the Uganda Bureau of Statistics said in a statement handed to reporters today in Kampala, the capital. Prices rose 1.1 percent in the month, while the cost of foods including bananas, potatoes and bread jumped 35 percent from a year earlier, it said.

“The increase in prices of these food items is primarily attributed to transport costs and reduced supplies to the market,” the bureau said. “Likewise, prices for petrol, diesel and paraffin went up in most centers.”

Opposition groups including the Forum for Democratic Change began so-called walk-to-work protests in April over rising prices. Police sprayed teargas and fired rubber bullet to quash the twice-weekly demonstrations. Yesterday, the FDC called off the protests because of the crackdown by the authorities, spokesman Wafula Ogutu told reporters.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-31/south-africa-s-economy-expanded-faster-than-expected-4-8-in-first-quarter.html

South African economic growth unexpectedly accelerated to the fastest pace in a year in the first quarter as the lowest interest rates in three decades spurred manufacturers to restock to meet rising demand.

Gross domestic product rose an annualized 4.8 percent from a revised 4.5 percent in the final quarter of 2010, Statistics South Africa said in a report released in the capital, Pretoria, today. The median estimate of 18 economists surveyed by Bloomberg was for growth to slow to 4.2 percent.

The Reserve Bank cut its benchmark interest rate three times last year to a 30-year low of 5.5 percent to help spur consumer spending, which accounts for two-thirds of demand in the economy. Faster growth in Africa’s biggest economy may prompt the government to increase its 3.4 percent forecast for 2011, Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan told lawmakers in Cape Town today.

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE74U0DE20110531

OHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's economy posted surprisingly strong quarterly growth of 4.8 percent in the first three months of this year due to a surge in manufacturing output, suggesting the recovery is gaining momentum.

Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan said the economy was on track to achieve this year's GDP target growth of 3.4 percent but said he was concerned about the impact of the rumbling debt crisis in Europe.

Africa's largest economy came out of recession in the third quarter of 2009 but its recovery has been slow, leading the central bank to leave its repo rate unchanged at 5.5 percent this year after reducing it by 650 basis points in the two years to December 2010.

The key manufacturing sector surged by 14.5 percent in the first quarter after 4.1 percent growth in the fourth quarter of 2010, data showed on Tuesday. Analysts, however, said the data did not change their view that rates would stay on hold until late this year or early next year and the rand was little changed after the data.

http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE74U09Z20110531

CAIRO (Reuters) - Billions of dollars in aid for Egypt will offer short-term relief to its battered economy but will not be enough to reassure investors worried about what the government will look like after a September election.

Pledges of support from the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Western states and wealthy Gulf Arabs have provided welcome respite for Egypt after tourists and investors fled in the wake of protests that ousted Hosni Mubarak on February 11.

Commitments could top $25 billion, including soft loans and bond purchases. But what is not clear is when this money will land, what strings will be attached and whether Egypt's interim government can find enough viable projects to absorb the funds.

Adding to the uncertainty, Egypt holds a parliamentary vote in September whose outcome is far from clear. The group seen most likely to dominate is the Muslim Brotherhood, which has done little to outline economic policy or a national programme.

http://robertreich.org/post/5993482080

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Kaffee: I want the truth!
Col. Jessep: You can't handle the truth!

Memorable quotes from A Few Good Men (1992)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104257/quotes

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READ IT AND WEEP.

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/05/23/I-Want-a-Refund-Grads-Who-Would-Return-Their-Degree.aspx?utm_source=The+Fiscal+Times+Latest+News&utm_campaign=f3958f6d32-Latest_News_from_the_Fiscal_Times_05_24_11&utm_medium=email

As college graduates across the country don their caps and gowns and shuffle across the stage to accept their degrees, many are questioning the worth of the thin piece of paper in their hands. If there was a return counter at the other side of the stage where they could exchange their education and degree for a full refund, how many would walk over and demand their money back?

A lot, as it turns out. A majority of Americans (57 percent) say the higher education system fails to provide students with good value for the money, according to a recent Pew study. The average annual cost of a four-year public college this year, including room and board, was $20,339, up nearly 8 percent from the year before. That means a four-year degree costs $81,356. That number rises to $129,316 for out-of-state tuition and $161,904 for private colleges. To finance that, the average student walks away with $24,000 in debt. “A lot of students feel as though they’ve been taken for a ride by the current system,” says Naomi Schaefer Riley, author of The Faculty Lounges and Other Reasons Why You Won't Get the College Education You Paid For.

It’s a concept certain to horrify the many parents who believe their college degree gave them a fulfilling career and financially stability, and who hoped it would do the same for their children. But a four-year college diploma has less weight in the still-troubled job market. A combination of strained state budgets, questionable management, and lower academic standards has diluted the value of a degree.

True, college grads do have a lower unemployment rate — 4.5 percent in April versus 9.7 percent for high school grads. But that doesn’t measure the number of grads who are underemployed, or who did not qualify for jobs in their chosen field. Some graduates complain they didn’t learn the right skills. Others say they got little career guidance during their four years, which left them feeling unprepared as they navigated the tough job market. “There is a sense that the higher education industry is pulling one over on them,” says Riley.

VIGNETTES FOLLOW

seems to me that jump is cost should make people very angry.

Selection of schools. I was the first in my family to go to college. Money was such an issue that I didn't make it all the way. I ended up reworking things and becoming a cracker jack Nurse thanks to our local community college. I was a kid that loved learning and would have been the perpetual student if I could. I came out with some knowledge and a whole lot of wisdom and most importantly, I learned how to think.

So fast foreword to my daughter's senior year. We managed to save up enough to pay for her education in Texas. As some of you know, she was one of a very few that was accepted into an elite school in a special field. That was part luck, part talent. This was the industry think tank- a place where the connections she made were as important as the classes she took. She proved to me that she was committed and would try her best. At this point, we made a calculated gamble. We would pay for her first year, but she would have to do so well that she got scholarships, grants and loans for the remainder. Sure enough, the school realized her talent and invested heavily. She took advantage of every break and opportunity that came her way. She will start her last year in September.

She got an offer of an internship at Capitol Records but turned them down because it was non paying and the drive was too far. She called me this weekend to tell me that she had received an internship at a company this last week. I can't name names or even tell you the movies they helped produce as that might give it away, but suffice it to say, it is an important company.

There was another guy interviewing for the same internship. She said that the initial person interviewing would not even look at her (this is a male dominated field) unless she asked questions. She told me she had a lot of questions. She then said that this guy came in and said he would talk to her for a minute while they were waiting to be interviewed. She said that he went to the same school and they spent time talking about the teachers etc. She said she couldn't help but notice an Oscar on the guy's back desk. Turns out the guy was president of the company. When the HR lady came back he told her that she had already been interviewed. She was offered the position before she left. I am certain the school helped open the door for her.

Time will tell if it was worth the money. She said the wages she will get are such she should be able to pay back. In his first year out, her boyfriend has been able to pay a large portion of his debt.

Most schools sell you a line of bull. They need numbers and they want your money. That was the hard lesson I learned. But I also learned that contacts in some fields means everything. I went so far and it is my hope that my daughter go further, but for most kids, college is an oversell. I feel it is a crime to push college degrees as a road when an AD is cheaper and a better opportuny for a job. I want my plumber to have a degree for the local community college, not Havard. It seems a cruel disappointment that these kids graduate with degrees and no jobs.

it went well but she's not living high off the hog 3 yrs. out. Still struggling with low-paid internships, but just accepted a "real" job---it's way up north, though. Long dark winters---I told her to bring lots of books.

WHEN THEY TOOK OUR FREEDOMS AND RIGHTS AND JOBS AWAY--WHAT DISTINGUISHED US FROM THE REST OF THE WORLD? IT CERTAINLY WASN'T HEALTH CARE!

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/05/24/Better-Life-Index-US-Doesnt-Rank-at-the-Top.aspx?utm_source=The+Fiscal+Times+Latest+News&utm_campaign=c91f38bb46-Latest_News_from_The_Fiscal_Times_05_25_11&utm_medium=email

Is it better to go to school in the U.S. or Australia? What country has the best job market? What citizens are the healthiest or happiest?

The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has created a new interactive index to measure the well-being of 34 OECD-member countries that extends beyond GDP, including housing, jobs, community, income, education, environment, government, health, safety, life satisfaction and work-life balance.

The index was created to determine how countries are progressing in the wake of the Great Global Recession, says OECD spokesperson, Romina Boarini. The OECD wanted to take a broad measure of each nation’s health, because “well-being is about people’s life and whether they have good living standards,” she says, “but it’s also about other important capacities like freedom and opportunities, which have no price and market.”

The U.S. scored well only when it came to income and, ironically, housing, but ranked seventh overall, well behind Australia and Canada, which ranked first and second respectively. The index found that the U.S. ranked low on work-life balance and safety, and in the middle range for health, environment and jobs. Here’s how we stacked up in all 11 categories:

ARE THEY REALLY, THOUGH?

http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2011/05/26/Made-in-America-Manufacturing-Jobs-Are-Coming-Home.aspx?utm_source=The+Fiscal+Times+Latest+News&utm_campaign=0009440eb5-Latest_News_from_The_Fiscal_Times_05_27_11&utm_medium=email

...Some interesting figures support the study’s argument. U.S. manufacturing grew at an estimated annual rate of 9.1 percent in the first quarter of this year, compared with a disappointing 1.8 percent for the economy as a whole. There are also some curious cases of prodigal industrial companies already returning home:

* Caterpillar, which has a major presence in China, is building its next plant to make excavating equipment in Texas, tripling its capacity for such equipment in the U.S.
* Ford is repatriating 2,000 jobs from China after reaching an agreement with the United Auto Workers that it says it can live with.
* NCR has already brought its production of automated teller machines back from China to shrink the time from production to market, to stitch divisions closer together and lower operating costs.
* The toy maker Wham-o (and this is my favorite) is repatriating half of its production of Hula Hoops and Frisbees, most from China, some from Mexico.

“It’s very early days, but this trend’s beginning,” says Hal Sirkin, a senior partner at Boston Consulting. “It’s all based on simple economics: wage rates, relative exchange rates, and productivity levels. Over four or five years, manufacturers will be indifferent to producing in China or the U.S. If it’s for the Chinese market, make it in China; if they’re producing for U.S. consumption, make it in the U.S.”

million of jobs need to come home!

http://www.truthout.org/wrong-question-wrong-answer/1306256990


...Today’s education policymakers — corporate CEOs, hedge fund managers, members of Congress, state governors and legislators, big-city mayors, (non-educators all) — are asking, "How can math, science, and other school subjects be taught better?"

And then, certain they know more about educating than educators, they turn up the volume on the media megaphones they've monopolized and answer their own question: "Standards! Rigorous standards!"

Wrong question, so wrong answer.

Standards, certainly. But not standards for school subjects, not standards that fall into the Tyson & Jones (BUGGY WHIP) trap. Standards shouldn't say what to teach, they should say what teaching should produce — the qualities of mind, emotion, and spirit most likely to see the young through whatever lies ahead for them....


WELL, YES AND NO. IT WOULDN'T HURT TO EXPAND A CHILD'S CAPACITY TO LIVE, BUT COULD HE ALSO, PLEASE! KNOW HOW TO SPELL, READ WITH COMPREHENSION, WRITE/SPEAK GRAMMATICALLY AND CLEARLY, AND ADD, SUBTRACT, MULTIPLY AND DIVIDE WITH ACCURACY?

For years education has been underfunded. The last true good push education got was after Sputnik. Then after the late 70's they started cutting back. The GOP wet their pants thinking about all those students being active in things like the anti war movement. So there was soon an anti-intellectual backlash. Less free money meant more borrowed money and we know about the relationship between a borrower and lender. Then business saw a way to make a profit and they got in on the act. Politician said hey, our kids are doing ok, we don't need to give them money even though there are more students. They can make do. Soon the make do meant make do with even less.

Well, it reached a point where it became noticable on routine test scores. So then the battle cry became let's reform education (no mention of increasing to adequate funding levels). So to prove they had fixed things, they came up with dumbed down tests. They decided to make them really important so the teachers would make sure they taught the test instead of giving the kids an education. They are getting rid of teachers that remember what is a real education.

When the kids did not show an adequate level of improvement (due to large classes, crumbling schools, poor equipment, poverty at home, and boredom with teaching to the test), politicians and business leaders that had never taught in a classroom decided it was the teachers fault and started a program of demonizing public educators and tying their jobs to the kids test results.

The business leaders decided they could do it for even less and opened charters which siphoned off needed school funds and they cherry picked the good students. They did this with the blessings and campaign donations to the politicians.....they didn't even have to meet the same requirements as the public school.

Folks, don't be hoodwinked into thinking that test results are the same thing as an education. A monkey can be trained to do a task correctly and a parrot can be taught to spout the right answer. Take the time and look at your child's text books. Find out how many times the practice test and test are given and how much time and days are devoted to 'testing strategies'. Every day devoted to this useless activity is a days education robbed.

Politicians don't want you to realize how much they have underfunded education. They are fooling you with bogus feel good test results.

and every generation since has suffered more for it.

Everything you said is rue, and there's more--bringing in the disabled and forced mainstreaming, ending tracking and trying to palm off "gifted" education instead--but only in the suburbs with pretensions to it.

There would be a nifty pilot program, it would work great, and then the money would be yanked--because it was supposed to spontaneously repeat its success year after year, with no further input nor maintenance of resources.

Never put a bean counter in charge of anything that requires quality results...

The frijole czar......:spray:

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/MF01Dj02.html

LONDON - The sex scandal in the top couloirs of the International Monetary Fund and the power struggle to find a successor to now former managing director Dominique Strauss-Kahn has fascinated the Chinese. But despite calls and expectations that China will play a prominent role in determining the new IMF chief, Beijing has been reluctant to comment publicly, and it appears far from ready to take its battle for global recognition to the high echelons of the organization.

China has indeed given its backing to an effort by emerging nations to break the tradition of a European always heading the IMF. In a joint statement with Brazil, Russia, India and South Africa earlier, China slammed Europe's renewed push to lock the IMF top job, calling its stranglehold "obsolete".

By a convention dating back to its 1945 founding, the head of the


IMF has always been European while the World Bank president has been a US citizen. But in the aftermath of the financial crisis some of the pillars of the Bretton-Woods system of monetary management established by world powers after the end of World War II have been repeatedly criticized in China as antiquated.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/business/citigroup-targets-commodities-equities-in-asia-markets-growth/444285

Singapore. Citigroup is looking to boost its Asia markets division by up to 150 positions this year, building on the expansion of its equity, commodity and FX businesses as it seeks to take advantage of a pick-up in client trading activity.

Citi plans to keep hiring at about the same pace as in 2010 by pushing further into Asian equity markets and building a stronger commodities team to compete in a market where the bank has typically lagged rivals.

"Commodities is a space where we have not been punching our weight in Asia in the breadth and depth or products, but that is changing fast," said Rodrigo Zorrilla, Citi's Asia Pacific head of Markets, in an interview with Reuters.

Citi is adding about 10 more hires in commodities this year after nearly doubling its team to 40 last year when it hired Rob Biro, a longtime Goldman Sachs energy trader, to lead its Asia oil products team.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/may/31/japan-unemployment-credit-rating-threat

Japan's hopes of bouncing back from the economic turmoil caused by the earthquake and tsunami in March have been knocked by the threat of a credit rating downgrade from Moody's, and a rise in unemployment.

Moody's warned on Tuesday that the devastation that struck Japan nearly three months ago is making it even harder for the country to recover from the financial crisis. It put Japan's Aa2 rating – the rating agency's third-highest grade – on review for a possible downgrade, adding that there was a "low chance" of a multi-notch downgrade.

"The much larger than initially expected economic and fiscal costs of the 11 March earthquake are magnifying the adverse effects imparted by the global financial crisis from which Japan's economy has not completely recovered," Moody's said.

Tom Byrne, the ratings agency's senior vice-president and regional credit officer, added that a downgrade was likely even if Japan's government manages to agree a new fiscal plan.

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20110531b1.html

Imports of water and cigarettes hit record highs in April as shortages ensued following the March 11 disasters and nuclear crisis at the Fukushima No. 1 power plant in Fukushima Prefecture, Tokyo Customs said Monday.

Imports of water rose about 2.3 times from a year ago to hit about 96,000 kiloliters, while cigarettes rose about 1.4 times to roughly 11 billion, the customs said.

Water imports from South Korea, in particular, jumped about 15.7 times from a year ago.

http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/home/perfect-storm-looms-for-worlds-food-supplies-oxfam/444239

Paris. Oxfam called on Tuesday for an overhaul of the world's food system, warning that in a couple of decades, millions more people would be gripped by hunger due to population growth and climate-hit harvests.

A "broken food system" means that the price of some staples will more than double by 2030, battering the world's poorest people, who spend up to 80 percent of their income on food, the British-based aid group predicted.

"The food system is buckling under intense pressure from climate change, ecological degradation, population growth, rising energy prices, rising demand for meat and dairy products and competition for land from biofuels, industry, and urbanization," Oxfam said in a report.

It added: "The international community is sleepwalking into an unprecedented and avoidable human development reversal."

:(

How did I miss that? I know Michelle is into that kind of thing...

:spray:

Get married.!

:spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank: :spank:

Lone Star, the US investment fund, Shinsei Bank and other creditors are taking over control of the bank from Japanese group Advantage Partners

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/PRS6YE/6ADGM/0GUIOZ/5C89SP/E4/t?a1=2011&a2=5&a3=31

AIG is one step closer to regaining its independence, with the hope that as the government withdraws, investors’ attention will return to the core insurance businesses

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/3JFELL/PRS6YE/6ADGM/0GUIOZ/40GQ9U/E4/t?a1=2011&a2=5&a3=31

Small refinery at Tobruk, the maritime export terminal near the Egyptian border, shut down late last week after using up the last oil in storage...
Libya’s western-backed rebels have used up their stock of crude oil, with no certainty about when production can resume from vulnerable south-eastern oil fields, the main exporting company under opposition control has said

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/V1PAM4/ULCJB/D42LKQ/40GQ4S/D5/t?a1=2011&a2=5&a3=31

ENDING NOT WITH A BANG, BUT A WHIMPER?

The country’s commercial property market is stabilising as businesses begin to hire again, highlighting the role of job creation in the wider economic recovery

Read more >>
http://link.ft.com/r/5F39HH/V1PAM4/ULCJB/D42LKQ/D4ZUJG/D5/t?a1=2011&a2=5&a3=31

OH, REALLY? WHAT KIND OF TELESCOPES ARE THEY USING IN THE UK? ROSY-COLORED?

Carry on, marketeers! Have a good day! Make good decisions! (Jamie Lee Curtis, Freaky Friday)

:hi:

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-30/rising-rents-risk-u-s-inflation-as-fed-s-restraint-questioned.html

May 31 (Bloomberg) -- For all the attention given to almost $4-a-gallon gas, the biggest threat to containing U.S. inflation may be the shift away from homeownership, which is pushing up the cost of leases across the nation’s 38 million rented residences.

Shelter represents about 40 percent of the consumer price index excluding food and energy and accounted for almost one quarter of the 1.3 percentage point rise in April. That share has grown as falling home prices shake Americans’ confidence in housing as an investment.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and his colleagues say they will hold interest rates at record lows for an “extended period,” based on an assessment that slack in the economy from 9 percent unemployment will help subdue core inflation and any threat of accelerating prices likely will be “transitory.” Not everyone agrees with that judgment.

“They should have looked at rents,” said Maury Harris, chief U.S. economist in New York at UBS Securities LLC, whose team at UBS was the most accurate inflation forecaster over 2009 and 2010, according to Bloomberg calculations. “They’re putting too much weight on the ‘slack is all that matters’ theory. It matters but, for heaven’s sake, it’s not all that matters.”

regular maintenance and at least painting over the wear and tear at the end of the lease, if not making repairs.

I've been thinking of renting out my place while I'm helping my sick mother in another state but I'm not sure I can get enough rent to cover all this.

http://www.firstpost.com/business/three-sensex-cos-highlight-tough-business-environment-17836.html

Three companies, Mahindra & Mahindra, Hindalco and Reliance Communications, which together make up 4.4% of the BSE Sensex value, reported a drop in profitability for the quarter ended March 2011. Companies claim that rising input costs (in case of M&M and Hindalco) and high interest rates (in case of Reliance Communication) have hurt performance.

Mahindra & Mahindra

As expected by the street, M&M reported a decline in operating margins. For the fourth quarter ended March 2011, the company’s operating profit margin declined to 13.78% in the fourth quarter from 15.73% in October-December and 16.22% in July-September.

M&M’s full year (2010-2011) net profit was up 27.5% to Rs 2,662.1 crore while revenue rose 26.3% to Rs 23,493.7 crore. Full-year operating margin declined to 14.71% against 15.9% a year ago.

According to the company management, the drop in the operating profit margin is due to rising input costs and employee costs. Besides, the company has not been able to pass on the rise in costs to customers due to rising interest rates and competition.

http://www.firstpost.com/economy/indian-economy-is-caught-in-the-classic-wage-price-spiral-17870.html

If any more proof is needed that runaway inflation isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, here it is. The Hindu Business Line reports that the Centre is about to raise minimum support prices (MSP) for kharif crops by 15-17 percent on the recommendations of the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices (CACP).

The rise is intended to compensate farmers for rising input costs, including fertiliser and labour. The agriculture ministry has proposed raising the MSP for paddy to Rs 1,160 from Rs 1,000 a quintal for crops coming to the market in the 2011-12 season — that is, towards the year-end. The oilseeds hike (soya and groundnut) recommended is 17 percent, while cottonseed (kapas) gets 10-12 percent and coarse grains 11.4 percent. Price hikes in pulses are reportedly lower, the newspaper reported.

While there is little doubt the government is going to accept the recommendations given its political inability to withstand any pressure group— least of all farmers, whose cause Rahul Gandhi is now championing in Uttar Pradesh over compensation for land acquisition — raising MSPs by 15-17 percent is not going to do the cause of lowering food price inflation (8.55 percent around mid-May) any good.

On the contrary, the government is setting itself up for the classic wage-price spiral — where prices and wages chase each other till growth comes down and lowers inflationary expectations.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/31/markets-precious-idUSLDE74U0YM20110531

* Gold torn between risk aversion and pickup in stocks, oil

* Silver set for worst monthly slide since 2008

* Coming Up: U.S. consumer confidence; 1400 GMT



(Updates prices)

By Amanda Cooper

LONDON, May 31 (Reuters) - Gold steadied around its highest
in nearly four weeks on Tuesday, but gave up earlier gains after
a report that Germany could smooth the way for Greece to get a
bailout, which encouraged investors to seek out riskier assets.

The Wall Street Journal reported Germany is considering
dropping its insistence on an early rescheduling of Greek bonds
to allow for a new package of aid loans to prevent Athens from
defaulting on its debt.

The drop in the dollar against the euro did little to whet
demand for gold, which usually moves inversely to the U.S.
currency, as the resulting improvement in risk appetite left
bullion somewhat sidelined.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/arts/design/not-all-art-market-prices-are-soaring.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

As all the talk of record prices demonstrates, contemporary art has soared in value over the last 10 years, outperforming stocks as an investment and drawing attention to possible bonanzas to be found in the market.

But not all boats have lifted with the tide.

Prices for the work of a variety of artists, including some top names like Larry Rivers, Eric Fischl and Francesco Clemente, have declined or stayed flat at auction in recent years, according to data compiled by Artnet, a company that tracks such sales.

For example, a Dutch Masters painted cigar box, created by Rivers and valued as high as $40,000 last year, sold in September for less than $4,000. Last month Mr. Fischl’s untitled painting of robed figures in a church sold for $194,500, $70,000 less than it fetched six years ago.

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/finance/2011/0530/1224298056713.html

WHEN CHRISTINE Lagarde launched her bid to be the new head of the IMF last week, she declared that she would bring to the job all her “experience as a lawyer, a minister, a manager and a woman”.

The first three strands of her experience are self-explanatory – and formidable. But what did Lagarde mean by the fourth? What exactly is her experience as a woman? And how does it make her a better candidate for a job that involves flying round the world rescuing countries that are going down the financial plughole?

The most obvious thing that sorts out a woman’s experience from a man’s is that women bear children. On two occasions, Lagarde has spent the best part of a year with a growing lump in her abdomen and then endured the tricky business of getting it out. For most women this is a very big deal, although it’s not obvious how such an experience sets anyone up for running the IMF.

As children grow up, however, a mother (or, in truth, a father) can find herself doling out pocket money. Human nature being what it is, this often gets blown instantly on sweets, leaving nothing to spend on, say, a sibling’s birthday present. The mother then faces the tricky decision of whether to bail the child out and what conditions to impose on any loan extended.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/obama-to-pick-former-edison-ceo-as-commerce-chief-2011-05-31

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — President Barack Obama plans to nominate John Bryson -- the former CEO of energy giant Edison International -- to lead the U.S. Commerce Department, according to an official familiar with the nomination.

Bryson served as head of the California-based electric power generator and distributor between 1990 and 2008. He also has served on the board of the Walt Disney Company /quotes/comstock/13*!dis/quotes/nls/dis DIS +0.02% since 2000 and the Boeing Company /quotes/comstock/13*!ba/quotes/nls/ba BA +0.60% since 1995. He also serves as a senior advisor to mega-buyout shop Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. Read about Locke's background

In 1970 he also co-founded the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental action group. He was also a member of a United Nation’s energy and climate change advisory group.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/business/market-up-in-early-trade/story-e6freqmx-1225844189730

ENERGY and materials stocks lifted the Australian share market amid investor optimism about the Euro debt crisis on expectations that Germany will provide aid to heavily indebted Greece.

At 4.15pm, the benchmark S&P/ASX200 index was up 40.8 points, or 0.87 per cent, to 4708.3, while the broader All Ordinaries index was up 42.8 points, or 0.9 per cent, to 4788.9.

On the ASX 24, the June share price index futures contract was up 49 points at 4711, with 27,918 contracts traded.

Ord Minnett private client adviser Jon Hancock said that, in the absence of offshore leads from the US and UK, the local market was anticipating a strong session on those markets on Tuesday night on the outcome of the Greek debt negotiations.

http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/breaking-news/dollar-firmer-despite-weak-trade-data/story-e6freonx-1226066670106

THE dollar did well to finish the day higher after disappointing local trade data and news that Japan's credit rating may be downgraded.

At 5pm AEST today, the domestic currency was trading at 107.03 US cents, up from 106.84 cents yesterday.

Since 7am AEST, it traded between 106.85 US cents and 107.57 cents.

The local currency reached 110.11 US cents on May 3, a record high since the currency was floated in December 1983.

:kick:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-31/buyout-firms-morphing-into-asset-managers-as-takeovers-dwindle.html

After making their founders billionaires, buyout specialists such as Carlyle Group and KKR & Co. are turning into asset managers that run hedge funds and strip malls as fresh capital and takeover targets become scarce.

Stephen Schwarzman’s Blackstone Group LP (BX), the biggest private-equity firm, is earning twice as much from owning property, including office buildings in India and senior communities, as from buyouts. New York-based KKR, whose co- founders Henry R. Kravis and George R. Roberts helped pioneer leveraged buyouts in the 1980s, now owns a stake in a 5,500-mile U.S. pipeline and lends to distressed companies.

The firms have little choice if they want to grow. Takeover candidates are expensive after a two-year, 95 percent rally in stocks, and commitments from backers such as pension funds have waned amid the weakest fundraising environment since 2003.

“The large-cap leveraged buyout business has become mature,” said Colin Blaydon, director of the Center for Private Equity and Entrepreneurship at Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business in Hanover, New Hampshire. In the future, private- equity firms will look “more like the large money-management enterprises, with a big emphasis on assets under management.”

Let me get this straight . . . .
We're going to be "gifted" with a health care plan we are forced to purchase and fined if we don't,
Which purportedly covers at least ten million more people, without adding a single new doctor,
but provides for 16,000 new IRS agents,
written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it,
passed by a Congress that didn't read it but exempted themselves from it,
and signed by a President who smokes,
with funding administered by a treasury chief who didn't pay his taxes,
for which we'll be taxed for four years before any benefits take effect,
by a government which has already bankrupted Social Security and Medicare,
all to be overseen by a surgeon general who is obese,
and financed by a country that's broke!!!!!

'What the could possibly go wrong?'

An infomercial producer and a shill!

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:


http://www.cleveland.com/consumeraffairs/index.ssf/2011/05/find_em_list_em_sue_em_ftc_sue.html


Find 'em, list 'em, sue 'em: FTC sues maker of get-rich-quick infomericals
Published: Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 2:20 PM Updated: Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 2:39 PM
Sheryl Harris, The Plain Dealer By Sheryl Harris, The Plain Dealer


Russell Dalbey, CEO of the company behind the "Winning in the Cash Flow Business" infomercials, hawked a "wealth-building" system that he said would help consumers earn money easily by brokering sales of privately held mortgage notes.

"Find 'Em," "List 'Em," and "Make Money," Dalbey urged would-be entrepreneurs in 30-minute infomercials that aired on cable stations since at least 2002. He guaranteed that buying his materials would teach consumers how to make money fast by ferreting out privately held, seller-financed mortgages and then earning commissions by hooking the note holder up with a buyer.

(snip)

On Tuesday, the agency said it had filed suit against Dalbey and his Colorado-based company, the Dalbey Education Institute, accusing him of violating the FTC Act by misleading consumers about their potential earnings.

In an unprecedented move, the FTC said it also sued a shill who mislead potential buyers about her earnings.

(snip)

that the Greece domino won't fall just yet. There is nothing else in the news today that warrants any rise in stocks at all, let alone a 1% jump.

Sometimes I really wish I had the money and courage to short everything.

Just in case anyone still has even the most remote inklings that the "markets" have anything to do with our economy or any other country's economy. It's not "people" trading anymore, it's a few elites who are never held accountable for their corruption.

Everything goes up except my meager wages.
:tinfoilhat:
hamerfan