The Anti-Diogenes of Wall Street
Sorkin's Paradox: Elite Bank Officers are 'Worse' than 'Repugnant' but Never Criminal
by William K. Black, New Economic Perspectives
This is the third installment in my
Sorkin Saga. (Read Part 1, with the video, and Part 2.) The saga was
prompted by Andrew Ross Sorkin's (ARS) video in which he 'outed' himself
as the leader of an undercover effort by the journalists of the New York Time's 'Dealbook' and CNBC to discover and 'out' the 'criminal element' among the elite bankers.
Click on graphic to see larger view at Wikipedia.
Market Commentary: Middle Finger Negations Sink Financial Markets
Closing Market Commentary For 10-08-2013
It is always market changing when the
$VIX inches above 20 and earlier it was at 21 first time since the end
of June this year and closing at 20.38. Political rhetoric in Washington
today drove the markets down and nothing appears to be changing.
By 4:00 the markets closed down with
investors wondering who is going to blink first as the President took
another shot at the Republicans this afternoon.
What We Read Today 08 October 2013
Econintersect: Click Read more >> below graphic to see today's list.
The top of today's reading list
reports on the dark side of free trade with respect to cigarette
marketing........ and the last article shows proof that the argument
Obamacare is increasing part-time employment has no basis in fact.
Market Commentary: Averages Tank After Obama Speaks
Midday Market Commentary For 10-08-2013
The SP500 did break down and out of the
chart triangle this morning as predicted and most of the other indices
mostly on low volume. But that was because the White House says that
Obama told Boehner (again) he will negotiate after the debt ceiling is
raised and then the SP500 tanked
By noon the markets were racking up some
serious losses with the NASDAQ 100 leading the way at -2.10% off. Today
is not going to be one of those setting sunsets in the Caribbean when I
see the small cap leading the way down.
New $100 Bill Goes On Sale Today!
Econintersect:
The Federal Reserve on Tuesday began supplying financial institutions
with a redesigned $100 note that incorporates new security features to
deter counterfeiters and help businesses and consumers tell whether a
note is genuine (instructional graphics follows).
Government Shutdown Day 8 - No JOLTS or Trade Data
Econintersect:
It appears there still is not enough bipartisan support to break the
impasse to fund the government. Today, the BLS did not issue the August
Job Openings and Labor Turnover (JOLTS) report, whilst US Census did not
release the August trade data.
US Surveillance Plane Crash In Colombia Kills Five
There
was only one survivor after a Dash 8 plane crashed in northern Colombia
on Saturday. Five people died when the aircraft, on a US government
surveillance mission, came down in the jungle near the Panama border.
Market Commentary: Markets Open Flat, Sea-Sawing On Falling Volume
Opening Market Commentary For 10-08-2013
Premarkets were flat with SPY up +0.06%
at one point giving little hint of direction Mr. Market was going to
take at the opening.
Markets opened down, but flat with the
$NDX off -0.60%. The averages then proceeded to sea-saw up and down from
yesterday's closing numbers with the DOW down -0.10 and the $RUT in the
green at +0.07%. The trend for the small caps is down and the large
caps has a very slight positive trend on low volume.
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The Roots of the Government Shutdown
By George Friedman, Founder and Chairman, Stratfor
In
general, Stratfor deals with U.S. domestic politics only to the extent
that it affects international affairs. Certainly, this topic has been
argued and analyzed extensively. Nevertheless, the shutdown of the
American government is a topic that must be understood from our point of
view, because it raises the issue of whether theleading global power is
involved in a political crisis so profound that it is both losing its
internal cohesion and the capacity to govern.
Read more >>
September 2013 Small Business Optimism Index Again Declines Marginally
Econintersect:
The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB)'s August 2013
monthly optimism index declined marginally from a corrected 94.1 to
93.9.
NFIB reports usually contain blasts directed at Washington by NFIB chief economist Bill Dunkelberg.
The change in this month's Index was
little more than 'statistical noise,' but the drop in outlook for future
economic conditions is evidence that many owners are keeping an eye on
Washington.
Twitter Stock IPO: Five Reasons It Won't Be Like Facebook's
Money Morning Article of the Week
by David Zeiler, Associate Editor, Money Morning
With
the Twitter stock IPO now official as of today (Thursday), the
inevitable comparisons to Facebook Inc. (Nasdaq: FB) and its disastrous
IPO no doubt will accelerate.
According to the SEC filing, Twitter will
trade under the symbol TWTR, though no exchange, pricing, or share
information was listed.
But the Twitter stock IPO - which is on
track to start trading sometime late this month or in early November -
does not figure to have a lot in common with the Facebook IPO other than
that both are social media stocks.
In fact, many experts blame the rocky
Facebook stock offering and its months of subpar performance for the
delay in the Twitter stock IPO.
Housing Smoke and Mirrors (20)
'When the Audacity and Mendacity of HOPE (and HARP and HAMP) Meet the Audacity and Mendacity of the Fed'
Written by Adam Whitehead, KeySignals.com
The
mendacity being used by the Obama Administration to launch another
economic stimulus programme by stealth, to avoid the partisan politics
in Congress, through the various housing stimulus programmes was
introduced in Housing Smoke and Mirrors 'The Mendacity of HOPE (and HARP
and HAMP)'. Its successful execution was also seen to be dependent upon
the complicity of the Federal Reserve to provide monetary stimulus
through its balance sheet.
Read more >>
Ironies of New Social Movements
An Interview with Dr. Judy Hellman
by Allan J. Spessot, Institute for Advanced Development Studies
Social
movements generate a lot of excitement. Many people see them as the
most legitimate way of enacting change in society, as they are 'from
below', from the people themselves, more 'inclusive' and 'democratic'.
Movements that have come around since the 1960s differ from older styles
of public pressure where the voice of the poor and the oppressed was
expressed through leaders in trade unions or political parties.
Switzerland Investigating Forex Manipulation
Econintersect: Friday 04 October 2013 FINMA (Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority) announced an investigation into involvement of "several Swiss financial institutions" in possible manipulation of foreign exchange (Forex) markets.
Week Ending 07 October 2013: Almost a 6 Cent Gasoline Price Decline
Econintersect: Gasoline
prices fell an average of 5.8 cents nationwide this past week from last
weeks fall of 6.8 cent from the week before. Since September 2nd, gas
prices have declined 23.7 cents.
Average prices by region and a breakdown by grade follow after the "Read more>>".
Cable Still Has the Edge Over Netflix in the U.S.
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
Despite the rise of IP-based video
services such as Netflix, Hulu or Amazon Prime, Cable remains the most
popular type of Pay TV in the United States.
Mitchell: Debt Without Deficits and Deficits Without Debt
Econintersect: Occasional Global Economics Intersection
contributor Rodger Malcolm Mitchell makes a very simple point in a blog
post today (07 October 2013): The connection between federal deficits
and federal debt is a political choice, defined by law. There is no
economic connection between U.S. deficits and U.S. debt.
Global Infrastructure Demand to Drive USA Trade Higher
Econintersect:
U.S. business leaders expect trade to rise in the next six months as
global economic conditions improve and demand for infrastructure goods
soars, according to a U.S. HSBC Global Connections Trade Report. Econintersect is also seeing global activity increasing, and was one of the reasons for an improved October economic forecast.
August 2013 Consumer Credit Growth Remains Soft
Written by Steven Hansen
Econintersect analysis is that total consumer credit growth has
decelerated 0.3% month-over-month, and the year-over-year growth is
5.9% - relatively unchanged from last month. The seasonally adjusted
consumer credit headlines are showing a growth of only 5.5%. There was
significant backward revision to the data, but the overall "feel" of the
revised data does not negate past analysis.
Read more >>
Infographic of the Day: How Low Cost Airlines Survive
Low-fare
airlines or LFAs are the fastest growing segment of air travel. Also
called LCCs or low-cost companies, LFAs currently make up 35% of flights
scheduled for intra-EU point-to-point destinations. With the U.S.
leading the cheap flying revolution on the 1970s and Europe following
suit in the 1990s, many companies have joined in.
