Gloom, Anger, Fear Spread Acroos Europe as Key Economies Teeter on the Edge of Collapse.
(DOW up 150 points in sympathy)
Anger and fear about Europe's seemingly unstoppable debt crisis coursed through the continent Wednesday. Striking workers shut down much of Portugal, Ireland proposed its deepest budget cuts in history and seething Italian and British students clashed with police over education cuts.
Tom DeLay Guilty of Money Laundering
(Culture of Corruption finally getting punished)
Jurors deliberated for 19 hours before returning guilty verdicts on charges of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering in a scheme to illegally funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002. He faces up to life in prison on the money laundering charge, although prosecutors haven't yet recommended a sentence.
College Costs: The Sequel
(Interesting take on college costs; now I know why college and dentistry seem so expensive)
Corporate Profits Were The Highest On Record Last Quarter
(Link winning "Let Them Eat Cake" prize of the day)
Irish Debt Crisis Forces Collapse of Government
Ireland's Political Crisis: Leaping Toward the Exit
Rogue Trader Jerome Kerviel
'I Was Merely a Small Cog in the Machine'
Signs of Swagger: Wallets Out Wall Street Dares To Celebrate
(Also, Let Them Eat Cake Award, 2nd Runner Up)
Fugitive Comverse Chief Forfeits 47 Million in Settlement
(A little jail time will make us cake eaters feel a bit happier)
North Korea's One Two Punch
Pakistan: Climate change threatens financial capital
Karachi threatened by rising seas and storms as coastal islands succumb to erosion.
Costa Rica: "For Sale," or just a scam?
An alleged Ponzi scheme reveals the Wild West world of Costa Rican real estate.
(Say it ain't so!)
Morning all!
ReplyDeleteIcan - good call last night!
"Cotton-Export limit may be increased on India's Record Crop". 27% increase, highest ever. http://noir.bloomberg.com/regions/news/regions/india.html
ReplyDeleteI Can
@Denise,
ReplyDeleteRe N.Korea. It is happening after the failed G-20, and currency tension between the U.S. and China. I wonder if China is not behind this provocation?
"China May Spurn Obama Appeal to Rein in N.Korea After Attack on South". Pres. Obama's call to China to put pressure on N. Korea may go unheeded. http://noir.bloomberg.com/news/regions/china.html
I Can
Interesting thought, I Can. A little proxy warning shot?
ReplyDeleteAll is well with the Wealthy
ReplyDeleteShares of Tiffany gain as the luxury jeweler steers fiscal-year outlook higher on the heels of third-quarter results.
ICan - Like I keep sayin', time to lose those bases in SK. Let China handle it.
@Thor,(11:03)
ReplyDeleteSo that China can, then, occupy N.Korea! Just like they did Tibet.
China, friend of N.Korea, HA!
I Can
ICan - We can't play world cop forever though, all it does is suck our finances dry and create terrorists. :-(
ReplyDeleteWhat a crazy day for statistics too
ReplyDeleteNew-home sales fall 8.1%
The median sales price slides a record 14%, hitting the lowest level since 2003.
Initial unemployment claims: Lowest since July 2008
A private survey found US consumer sentiment rose to its highest level since June.
U.S. durable-goods orders down 3.3% in October
Bull or Bear? Take your pick
@Thor: Holiday seasonal jobs driving down claims?
ReplyDeleteMannwich - I heard the job claims number this morning and at first was like COOL, then got to thinking about it.
ReplyDeleteI think you are right, but since many of these people are part time, temporary workers will they be able to collect unemployment after their jobs end?
Mutt
Manny & Mutt - Damn, that didn't occur to me. I think there's a very large part of me that refuses to believe it's Christmas already.
ReplyDeleteMy other half and his parents went to the big outlet Mall not too far away yesterday and said it was mobbed with people. Looks like the shoppers are out on the West Coast as well.
I'd be interested to see if the holiday shopping peters out earlier than usual this year, given that it's been pulled forward even earlier this year.
ReplyDeleteManny - We shall see my friend. I haven't been a big fan of Christmas in many years. I'm a scrooge, only get gifts for a very few, very close, set up friends. Can't get into this orgy of spending. I'd rather give people gifts from my trips, rather than buy them crap they don't need for a day that should be about family.
ReplyDeleteDo these big swings we've been having lately say anything to the traders? Down 200 one day, up 200 the next. Seems like the dynamic we've been stuck in the last month or so.
ReplyDeleteI'm the same way, Thor. Thankfully my wife is too. We do buy gifts through a local charity every year though, which goes straight to a struggling family who likely can't afford gifts, much less some of the necessities of living. We also buy for our nephews and nieces but not much for each other. Our dog gets some treats and maybe a toy but that's it, really.
ReplyDeleteOl' rock has been kind of tied up the last few days; this weekend we had an all hands, and after 2 days with no sleep some bright-eyed manager decided to take us to Harry Potter. Never in my life before have I been to an opening weekend. All I wanted was to just go home and sleep. No, Rock they said (they call me rock, too), you have to go. So I went. Sat down, 3rd row from the front, center. I saw the snake eat the lady, then, poke poke in the ribs "come on, Rock, time to go".
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good movie. Everybody said.
So I had a great idea. We actually bounced it around in the pits. I still think it's a great idea.
Why pat everyone down? simply make them strip down to their skivvies and don't let them suit up until they get to the other end.
Before this happens, we would all have to invest in Thor's company.
Obesity in the US at least by repeat travelers would drop like a stone. Average life span would increase. Valerie's Secret stock would skyrocket. As would Thor's.
And sky travel would blossom; profits to the sky! (so to speak). They'd have to warm the cabin, and would take a little more fuel, but the savings in equipment and personnel at the terminals would more than pay for that.
No more pat-downs, unless, well, never mind.
Also; insider trading? You think so? duh!
I had opportunity to do insider trading. I could have made a lot of money. I was tempted, but I still have to shave every morning, so I have to look at that rock, and like what I see.
I wish I could tell you what's in store for ol'Rock this weekend, but let me say this job does have some perks. (None financial, tho)
"Ireland in $20-billion austerity plan". www.thegblobeandmail.com/report-on-business/
ReplyDeleteDeep spending cuts, increased VAT, cut in social wellfare, Euro 2.8 billion by 2014. But no increase in already ultra-low corporate taxes.
Social welfare for the rich banksters! Same old story everywhere.
I Can
Interesting - NC links to a piece over at FT\Alphaville on Irish Forbearance
ReplyDeleteThe Code is heavily based on a pre-existing voluntary industry code but also prohibits a lender from initiating legal proceedings until six months have passed since arrears first arose. Mainstream mortgage lenders reinforced this commitment to helping borrowers in financial difficulties with the IBF Pledge to Homeowners to develop a sustainable arrangement with such customers and to monitor that arrangement thereafter.
Both take issue with the practice in Ireland of lenders not foreclosing on home owners quickly enough, thus drawing out the pain.
This contrasts very strongly with a piece in last weeks Bloomberg/Businessweek that explains the social reasoning behind this practice.
Then it was time to deal with home repossessions. In 2007 there were fewer than 10 cases heard in a week; now there are 90. According to the Independent Mortgage Advisers Federation, there are 700,000 active mortgages in Ireland; experts like Morgan Kelly warn that 100,000 of those mortgages are under water, and one in 20 mortgages is at least three months in arrears. In court, most lawyers requested that their clients' cases be deferred for six months, and the judge showed a bias toward granting debtors some breathing room. "There'd be a civil war in Ireland if legislators let financial institutions repossess people's homes," says Byrne, the repossessed-car auctioneer. Because of its history with landownership, when it comes to houses, Ireland maintains a relatively generous forbearance policy, although in 2009, repossession orders were up 27 percent from the year before.
Nice example of the different reporting styles - the blogs both seem to be basing their opinions on purely economic considerations while the author of the Bloomberg piece seems to have done his homework on the "why" of forbearance practices. I have to wonder if either Alphaville or Yves have even set foot in Ireland or know anything about it's history and society.
I have NEVER been a big fan of commercialized Christmas, the whole idea of "You have to get a gift for someone" is rediculus. And every year they seem to start the shopping season earlier and earlier.
ReplyDeleteI believe it peters out quickly and the last couple weeks before Christmas things will be flat.
Mutt
Trader Mark at fundmymutualfund.com
ReplyDelete"(Video) NY Times: WallStreet's Back, Baby!"
"Holday Trend Looks Intact".
What happens on Monday? Will the market go back down and resume downtrend? Or the U.S. recovery taking hold? Green shoots?
I Can
Happy Thanksgiving to all, in the U.S. who are celebrating. Lucky, you are living in one of the best countries in the world. You have freedom of speech.
ReplyDeleteI Can
ICan - Thank you! I think I live in the best country in the world as well. We're a little beaten down of late, but I still believe we'll pull out of it.
ReplyDelete"That which does not kill you makes you stronger"
And MAN I should have held on to that damn Ford stock I bought in 2008. What an idiot.
ReplyDeleteThor- How could you have known to hold onto it.
ReplyDeleteMutt
Mutt - Honestly? I got mixed up with a day trader and was stupid enough to think I could just follow him and make money. He ended up losing several 10's of thousands before his wife cut him off. My fault I know, but had I just stuck with my original plan in 2008 to buy up a bunch of DOW stocks that I thought might be "distressed" would have paid off nicely. I bought them all between September 2008 and April 2009.
ReplyDeleteI realize that much of the price increase would have been luck on my part, not a lot of people were expecting QE to goose the markets the way they did. Still, I've had similar opportunities in the past that I wasn't able to act on for financial reasons - Apple in the late 90's, PG&E in the early 00's.
Typical of my luck too - I tend to be one of those people who have to learn everything the hard way, in this case by losing a lot of money!
Thor - It's all about learning, I know I have more to learn (LOT AND LOTS MORE)
ReplyDeleteActually making money would be nice too, but learning is (for me) the biggest part of it.
Mutt
Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
ReplyDeleteVERY interesting (but long) video on money and the symbolism of "The Wizard of Oz". Well worth watching if you have the time.
ReplyDeletehttp://vimeo.com/14924997
Tom DeLay found guilty! Crime doesn't pay for Tom DeLay.
ReplyDelete