In Memory of "Handsome" May You RIP
Asian stocks fell, while the Australian dollar rose and gold rebounded from the biggest drop in three years after better-than-expected data on Chinese manufacturing boosted speculation that the nation will refrain from additional steps to ease monetary policy.
The MSCI Asia Pacific Index (MXAP) slid 0.6 percent as of 1:14 p.m. in Tokyo, led by raw-material producers. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index retreated 0.6 percent. Australia’s currency advanced 0.2 percent and the dollar weakened against most major peers. Australia’s 10-year bond yield gained eight basis points to 4.05 percent. Gold jumped 1.3 percent after a 4.9 percent plunge yesterday.
ECB hands out $712 billion in loans to banks
FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank’s second offering of unlimited low-interest loans was gobbled up yesterday by 800 banks, who borrowed $712.4 billion. More than $1.3 trillion has been pumped into Europe’s financial system in this way in just over two months in an attempt to stabilize banks, governments, and businesses.
The first offering, on Dec. 21, attracted 523 banks that borrowed $657.9 billion and helped ease the eurozone debt crisis because banks used some of the money to buy government bonds. That helped lower the borrowing costs of heavily indebted countries such as Italy and Spain and gave investors confidence that Europe was getting control of a government debt crisis after more than two years.
How the banks deploy the money this time is an open question, although the central bank enticed more smaller banks to participate, in the hope that they would help boost the eurozone economy by lending to small- and medium-size businesses.
The central bank’s president, Mario Draghi, assured bankers there was no stigma associated with the borrowing - an effort to convince those who feared it would make their financial institutions look desperate in the eyes of investors. The three-year loans cost banks 1 percent.
The central bank’s first round of ultracheap loans helped relieve the pressure on hard-pressed governments such as those in Spain and Italy, which had been struggling to maintain large amounts of debt.
Fannie Mae Challenges Bank of America on Rift
By NICK TIMIRAOS
Fannie Mae challenged Bank of America Corp.'s assertion that the two decided by mutual consent in January not to renew their loan-purchase agreement in the middle of a battle over who should pick up the multibillion-dollar tab for bad mortgages.
Rather the mortgage-finance company said in interviews and filings Wednesday that it alone opted against renewing its contract with Bank of America because the bank was resisting demands to buy back defaulted mortgages. "We felt like we had to take that step," Susan McFarland, Fannie's chief financial officer, said in an interview.
The termination means that Bank of America will stop selling Fannie Mae most mortgages after years of being one of its biggest customers. Last week, Bank of America characterized the cancellation as mutual and said that it had pared ties to Fannie after the company changed its policies concerning certain buy-back demands.
Ms. McFarland also pushed back against that assertion. "We have not changed our position on buyback requests. From our vantage point, it's a change in their behavior," she said. Bank of America declined to comment.
Fannie Mae ramped up its dispute with Bank of America as it reported a $2.4 billion net loss for the fourth quarter, compared with from a year-earlier profit of $73 million. The company has reported losses in 17 of the last 18 quarters amid continuing deterioration in housing markets.
36 comments:
"GAW Benton and GWG took a real tumble possibly on the China news"
Well, BTC is at 0.65 today, I'm still holding for the long haul (when the 'spinout' happens, still pending), since I bought mid-30s, and have little time to actively trade.
On GWG, while flat today, it still looks to be in an overall downtrend, looking at my long term chart:
http://stockcharts.com/h-sc/ui?s=GWG.V&p=D&st=2011-01-01&en=%28today%29&id=p48535932693
The trade was to buy around 0.40 back in early Jan (when indicators turned upwards from a bottom, like PPO crossed 0 upwards etc) as I mentioned then, and with trailing stops, be out in the mid 0.60s for a ~50% gain.
With 'RISK ON' wobbling back and forth these days, there is nothing I would call a 'long term' investment (as in 'just buy it and hold it'), possible exception the shiny metals (though they suffer the same fate on days like yesterday), even they are dependent on the perception of continuation of massive printing (a fairly safe bet, shorter term, but not long term).
""Due the challenging economy as well as the increased cost of Oil and materials for the product we make, the March merit pay increases will be put off for six months."
So in a nutshell, although the cost of almost everything that I buy is going up, my income will not increase anytime soon."
Raise? What is that? At my work, no one has had one for 6+ years, and there is little prospect of one anytime soon. "Raise" is apparently in the dictionary beside the Edsel and the rotary dial telephone.
No soup for you!
Today, just having a job is supposed to be good enough, as there are armies of unemployed who would be happy to have your job for less than you get paid now.
Keeping pace with higher consumer price costs on everything you need to buy? What? The PTB can't hear you, they are deaf.
Another bailout or two, and the price of gas goes up as oil is bought by Banksters.... the "elites" could hardly care.
"And now we are dealing with the aftermath - no Manufacturing jobs and no construction jobs, either."
Jobs - not many around here either, welcome to The Great Recession after the bursting of the bubble.
aka 'The New Normal' - unless real estate starts to boom again (which it will, in about, 0h, 8-10 years) or manufacturing comes back from China (which some will, as the oil price and trade pressures rise, in a few years).
In the mean time, not so much.
"Speaking of up and down...I was saddened to hear of the death of Davy Jones (of the MONKEES). He was part of my innocence and childhood and he was only 66. Gee that counts as young in my book."
Yeah, sad news. My thoughts exactly.
When we were young and innocent, and times were much better. And that is not the rose colored glasses of time passed either - the '60s were so innocent compared to today, and the economy was so much stronger (even though we had problems then, they pale in comparison to today's).
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-02-29/wall-street-bonus-withdrawal-means-trading-aspen-for-cheap-chex.html
"You are expected to feel sympathy for someone paid $350,000 a year who won't get a bonus and is 'stressed' because his 3 kids in private school won't get their summer home?"
A perfect argument why every Bankster should be shot on sight. The poor poor dears. 'Bonus' that, scumbags.
Manipulation of prices. How come gold and silver suddenly sunk yesterday? You could say it was Bernanke's testimony, but....is it because someone is playing with Mr. Market and the issues with Greece and the entire Euro? Who knows what? When did they know it? How do they know it? And on it goes. We are kept in the dark. Some mysterious entity types something into a computer and...voila!
Mr. Chu (the current Secretary of Energy) admits that the Obama administration is perfectly happy with gas prices being high...so as to get us off oil. Fine. Guess that is why we exported more OIL this year than ever before....HUH???? What?? You didn't know? But surely the media/newspapers etc. keep you informed...about Idol and Whitney. Surely you're read some of the current ethical issues being touted? Surely you've heard that mob rule on campuses allows professors to enjoin students to protest so they can get more money. You haven't?
Strange things are afoot as Mr. Holmes would say. Like how come Bloomberg just reported that we sold a BOAT LOAD of wheat to Iran? Aren't there sanctions? The lies spill from both sides of the 'beast's mouth'.
Jesse has it correctly. It is fast becoming time to know and understand freedom. I am afraid that more and more I speak to people willing to give UP their freedom and rights in order to have the government take care of them. Enjoy that...because, in the end, "some pigs are better than other pigs," as my friend Napoleon the pig would say.
"If you take a moment and read these, please stop and whisper to God, or the wind, or whomever or whatever you believe in for this young boy and his family and then stop and count your blessings!"
Indeed, the long term effects of this crisis period won't be seen for a while, but it won't end well, I am sure.
A generation raised on parental job loss, decline into poverty and a hard scrabble existence for basic survival does not augur well for the future of our society. I work with many young people, and they are a very cynical lot (believe no one, least of all "leaders") yet they are also detached, preferring the distraction of video games, drugs or 'social media' over ugly reality - a rather depressing mix.
"He says "“People who don’t have money don’t understand the stress.”
Are you freaking kidding me?
He is right. Not having money is less stressful than having it. Poor street people beg for a living, eat at soup kitchens, live in boxes and get health care at free clinics. They don't have the kind of stress compared to him who has to pay $32,000-a-year for his 10 year old to go to Poly Prep Country Day School in Brooklyn."
I don't think he understands the anger a statement like that would make to the average American.
The poor guy should do us all a favor and jump off the Brooklyn Bridge. That would certainly relieve my stress."
Well said, Queen, perhaps you can expand that into one of your rants and make a post.
The so-called "elites" are so clueless about "people" (see the link I posted the other day about how the "rich" cheat more than poor people) they will cause the revolution that will sweep their power structures away. "People who don't have money" may be slow to awaken, but they are doing so (exactly as predicted in "The Fourth Turning" and previous periods of Kondratiev Winter) and the status quo interventionists will fail in the end.
'Manipulation of prices. How come gold and silver suddenly sunk yesterday? You could say it was Bernanke's testimony, but....is it because someone is playing with Mr. Market and the issues with Greece and the entire Euro? Who knows what? When did they know it? How do they know it? And on it goes. We are kept in the dark. Some mysterious entity types something into a computerand...voila!,'
I wouldn't go with the manipultion meme if I were you. With respect, it is the viewpoint of the loser in the market and does not lead to productive investing/trading decisions. Prices are what they are, there's no point in fighting/railing against them.
There are plenty of good cuases for moral indignation, but stockmarket prices are not one of them, especially if you've got skin in the game.
it's worth thinknig also what manipulating actually means in thsi contect. Every time I buy or sell, I could be said to be manipulating the price.
Indeed!: "it is the viewpoint of the loser in the market and does not lead to productive investing/trading decisions."
A standard argument for the losers, in any trade: "IF it wasn't for those damn manipulators, I would have/should have/could have...." - whatever.
The price is the price. Period. Like it, or not. Just deal with it.
I do not mean to insult anyone with the above comment.
But if you are trading, the price date is the only thing that is concrete, the only evidence you have to go on. The media, headlines, conspiracies, the internet...who knows if what they say is true, or not, and if that did or did not affect the price.
Certainly a price can react to a sudden headline, like the shiny metals did yesterday, but over long terms one day or one week price moves do not matter much, they are blips on the chart.
As Shaza and others have suggested, for better trading performance, it would probably be good to not read any news or watch any medias - just the price action of the trades you are in, or want to be in.
WHich is part of that famous "emotional detachment" we are supposed to have, as trades, but our brains don't want us to have. Humans are emotional, and your emotions will almost always lead you to bad trading decisions.
So I would use technical analysis as my framework, it works (why ask why), with some fundamentals (about 80% technical/20% fundamental), and try and check your emotional bias at the door.
Great comments GAW & CL. Mugabe I question whether manipulation of PM prices is actually taking place.
Because most of my PM purchases are from private sellers, I am not likely having an effect on the spot price.
Now, as a citizen, there is nothing wrong with keeping up with the news, and if you review the stories we cover here, a normal person would be quite justified in getting very angry about the systemic corruption and vacuous "culture" we suffer under today.
But reading the (bad) newsflow every day also requires some discipline, or you will get depressed by the fact that so little has changed in the past 5 years - like the Banksters still being in control of the levers of power.
I am optimistic on the longer time frame (say 10 years out) as history will not be denied, and 'This Time Is NOT Different', despite what the MSM tell you. Which is why faith in the institutions of Government and the MSM are at all time lows - the people can't be fooled forever. And that will turn to anger towards the end of this crisis, which will be a main factor in actually getting to the end of it.
Mammoth - I would not be worried about silver/gold prices yet, they should have a few years to run yet.
There will be a time to worry, when you see headlines like:
"Fed raises interest rates (again)"
"Economy is actually recovering!"
"Washington moves to balance Budget"
"Unemployment plunges!"
etc
Those things will kill the shiny metals prices like RAID, but they are not close yet. They will be close in about 4-5 years, IMHO.
Long term charts say gold etc move in roughly 20 year cycles, 1981 high to 1997 low, to.... 2014-2018 period for the next US $ high in prices. Results in other currencies will vary, depending on the strength of the currency.
That goes the same for the market speculators that always get the blame. I agree it is the losers who are always claiming the markets are manipulated.
I had to go to the doctor today for my annual check up and blood test. 162.00. That is half what one month health insurance premium would be if I could get any. Dr said the insurance companies don't want to insure a 56 year old woman and will find anything to disqualify you. I don't know how to fix health care in the US. Smarter people than I have tried and nothing changes. It just keeps going up.
On a personal note as the year from hell continues my favorite cat was killed last night (how is unimportant). He was a blue point Siamese we called "Handsome," He would cuddle in your lap as long as you let him. So as tears flow from my eyes as I type I think back on this past year when I lost my job, my Dad and Partner lost their mind and this is the second cat I've lost in 6 months.
I want to grab that poor rich guy around the neck and say "stress? you don't know the meaning of stress." Then I could choke the life out of him and toss him off the bridge myself. Doing the whole world a favor.
Sorry to share my grief. There must have been good things that happened to me this past 12 months, but right now I cannot think of any.
I am in the 4th stage of grief "Depression."
GAW brought up raises. Before I was dropped to Part Time, I hadn't had a raise in 3 years and actually took pay cuts as used to pay managers bonuses for working so many free hours and working weekends on call.
It's funny the last article about BofA and Fannie suing each other when they should all be in jail and their doors closed. The financial part of this country is a joke.
cl - "Mr. Chu (the current Secretary of Energy) admits that the Obama administration is perfectly happy with gas prices being high...so as to get us off oil. Fine. Guess that is why we exported more OIL this year than ever before....HUH???? What??"
I would have to blame that on the general useless cluelessness of Obama and his mis-Administration, really.
Since his "Energy Plan" seems to be MIA, unless you really think very expensive and unreliable solar/wind etc will be able to keep the lights on. They might, except for the fact they require massive Government subsidies to install and work effectively - and given the BUdget situation, not exactly realistic.
In the real world, we still need nuclear power, and natural gas generating stations, and oil for gasoline.
IF Obama had any vision at all, he would have already encouraged all vehicles to switch to natural gas (for say 20 years) on the way to better/cleaner sources - the technology which will be there by then, not so much yet.
But I don't see car dealers selling natural gas cars (or 'dual fuel' models now, though they have been available on commercial vehicles for years), or natural gas pumps at gas stations (which would drive employment, it has to be filled by trained people, lots of local job potential there).
Instead he pushes "solutions" like the 'Volt', which needs those nuclear power stations running to recharge (the ones he doesn't want) - idiocy.
Queen - "the year from hell continues my favorite cat was killed last night (how is unimportant). He was a blue point Siamese we called "Handsome," He would cuddle in your lap as long as you let him."
So sad to hear, the loss of a pet is horrible, my sympathies to you.
They are the best friends you could ever have, always glad to see you, and unconditional in their love.
I'm going to go give my own pets some lovin', to thank them for just being themselves.
The government doesn't want to fix anything. They want obedience. They want to encourage dependence. Why do you think they have a war on drugs? To make sure everyone has access, but only when it benefits them. The get to create a police state without being accused of doing so.
cl - "I am afraid that more and more I speak to people willing to give UP their freedom and rights in order to have the government take care of them."
If those people are counting on the Government, there is a minor issue called the deficit, that strongly suggests the "care" you get from them will be more like "Don't Care".
If the Budget situation wasn't so bad, and the economy was healthier (more taxes being paid), maybe, but we all know those aren't happening anytime soon.
They might as well plan on winning the lottery.
"Dr said the insurance companies don't want to insure a 56 year old woman and will find anything to disqualify you."
Sad, isn't it. The 'medical industrial complex' in the USA is so well entrenched, like the other ones, that only a Greece style economic meltdown will cure that problem.
For you as individual, I don't know what to say, except to express my sympathy (again). I am just glad to live in Canada, the more stories I read about the "US Medical Lack of Care" system.
Not that I use our medical system much at all (knock on wood), but it is good to know I won't go bankrupt if I have to.
About the only thing I can see you CAN do is: become a health/fitness freak, and work out (a lot) - as the healthier/fitter you are, the less "care" you will need.
"They want to encourage dependence."
More like the illusion of dependence, the myth that "We're from the Government and we're here to help!" (just like Katrina, cough).
As real dependence would cost (a lot of)money, that Governments won't have in the future. They just want you to think they can - kind of like pyramid power.
It's faith based, like paper money (it has value because everyone agrees it has value), or religion. They'd just rather you believed that than the alternative.
That reminds me GAW that dumb American's retirement plan is winning the lottery.
Queenbee, you just described one of my sisters perfectly.
Very sorry to hear about your cat. Sometimes I think that my two cats are the only two sane creatures in my house.
Lately, Nadia has taken to lugging around the orange tabby - what a hilarious sight! He just puts up with it. Need to get a photo of that to cheer you up.
Hang in there Bee...
Losing a pet is one of the 'markers' in stress evaluation. Pets give unconditional love (although, they say that whereas dogs come when you call, cat's say 'take a message').
My sympathies to you and Yvonne, Queen. It is gut-wrenching to lose a friend and many times pets make better friends than humans. There's a song by Linda Eder that I love. It was released after 9/11 but the lyrics are so beautiful. One of the stanzas says, "Every now and then it seems, we live our lives to such extremes. Racing all around, never homeward bound, losing what we've found."
The good news is that you know what you have and were given Handsome to share for a time. He will live in your memory and has returned your love and care by allowing you beautiful memories to look back on...so cry if you want to in his honor and memory. Tears are cleansing and a fitting tribute to a friend who asked for little and gave so much more.
by the way, I'm not thinking of gold/silver 'manipulation' so much as a sign of a roller coaster ride of markets and who pulls what string at what time. I agree with Shaza. IF I played the market, I think you'd have to do it on sheer guts and discipline.
As the Civil War saying went, "No guts, no glory." Well, I think you'd have to parlay that to "No guts, no gains...or losses.
Queenbee,
Very sorry to hear your news. Thanks once again for providing this forum. Take care.
having admitted I don't know nuttin' about nuttin', would I be correct in saying that Louise Yamada would be an example of a technician who looks mainly at charts?
As I said, I don't trade...but this woman seems smart, savvy, and without an ax to grind on anything but numbers, IMO.
Share Traders More Reckless Than Psychopaths, Study Shows
http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,788462,00.html
Yes, Louis Yamada is just that. From the few interiews I've seen with her, she 's medium to long term in her outlook. She seems v balanced.
Re: Not seeing any natural gas pumps at the gasoline station -- Shaza can attest that Australia has those! And lots of privately-owned cars that run on natural gas. Same models as the standard cars, just different fuel tanks and fuel delivery systems under the hood. The government even had a scheme (what North Americans would call a "program") that gave government subsidies to people who converted their cars to run on gas instead of petrol. And in Melbourne, the taxi fleet all ran on natural gas because it put out less air pollution than petrol.
If Australia can do this, with its small population needing to have natural gas supply infrastructure strung out over a vast, empty landscape, why can't the U.S.? Because it's dominated by oil company interests, of course. So is Australia, where there's a duopoly between the two supermarket chains that dominate the petrol station market. (One of the many odd things about the place -- every major business activity is a duopoly, and the grocery chains with their owned-and-operated filling stations run the fuel market.) I suppose that when the natural gas system was set up side-by-side to the petrol one, the domination was not so complete. Maybe Shaza can give us a history lesson.
Bukko-I can't speak on natural gas and cars but I CAN speak on a subject I have hammered over and over again----WATER!! A recent report from American Water suggested that all of us can expect an increase from an 'average' of $400 per year water bill to $900 in the near future. Part of this increase is due to the antiquated and aging pipes/systems that haven't been touched since the 19th century.
Much as I don't want to hear this, I expected it. I think you could then use this info and say the same about transportation here in the US as well. My visit to London gave me a respect for the 'tube' but I was aware it hasn't been updated in some time. Still, it is a great people mover. The USA has few such mass transportation devices. Wasn't it Walt Disney who hoped to see the mono-rail and other transportation innovations put to work? Our dependence on everyone having 1,2,3 or more CARS has to do with our dependence on gas, auto makers, etc. Couldn't we somehow come up with a solar powered mono-rail?
Also, our once urban development changed to suburban which influenced everything from cultural changes to housing to transportation. I think self-sufficient communities for aging populations or even younger ones would be a great idea. Community garden areas. Local business. Health care. etc. We have NURSING homes. But what about places for those aging who could help each other? Small 2 room, tiny kitchen area with a screened back porch with an 'option' of laundry/meals if NEEDED? And maybe a bell pull (also if needed with someone on call). Many people are forced to stay in homes they can no longer care for or afford because they don't want to move into care or assisted living because of costs. Oh, and able to have say, 2, small animals. Many can't stomach the idea of leaving our companions behind. Look at Katrina and how many stayed. I admit, I probably would have been one of them had I been forced to choose.
Just talking off the top of my head here ;-) Sorry if I'm boring....
Re: solar-powered monorails -- Vancouver has a semi-nice monorail system. (OK service downtown, gets directly to the airport and several suburbs up the river, but not so good around the fringes of town.) To make it work with solar, there would have to be a way to store the electricity for the night, though. If the world had turned to solar power in a big way starting in the 1970s, maybe there would have been enough R&D to have developed high-efficiency power storage methods, like massive capacitors. Can you imagine what would have happened if power technology had been upgraded the way computer technology has been?
Hi Bukko.
Check yer email.
CL, of course they have to raise the water rates.
Big Ag doesn't want folks growing their own food.
A few years ago Seattle voters approved a new monorail line.
But once they decided to use a foreign company to build it - and they realized how much it would cost - they killed the project.
One thing we do really well here in the Pacific NW is agree to disagree on how to solve transportation issues.
On Tuesday I had to drive to the Seattle airport and it sucked. Let's just say that a visit to the dentist would've been preferable to driving in Seattle's traffic.
(Not that a monorail at the other end of town would really improve things, anyway.)
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