Greece, Portugal, Spain and the U.S. stock market

hey... we're talking globalization here, right...?

Greece’s credit rating was lowered to junk status Tuesday by a leading credit agency, a decision that rocked financial markets and deepened fears that a debt crisis in Europe could spiral out of control.

[...]

“This is a signal to the markets that the situation is deteriorating rapidly, and it’s not clear who’s in a position to stop the Greeks from going into a default situation,” said Edward Yardeni, president of Yardeni Research. “That creates a spillover effect into Portugal and Spain and raises the whole sovereign debt issue.”

and here comes that pesky globalization thingy...

Stocks tumbled Tuesday in a global sell-off after Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of Greece and Portugal.

The Dow Jones industrial average lost 213.04 points, or 1.9 percent, to close at 10,991.99, while the broader Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 28.34, or 2.3 percent, 1183.71. The tech-heavy Nasdaq dropped 51.48, or 2 percent, to 2471.47.

Overseas markets also took heavy losses Tuesday, with London's FTSE and the Dax in Germany both down more than 2 percent.

so... whaddaya think... will THIS be the falling of the house of cards...? hmmmmm...?

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In 2010, there is absolutely no reason to equate a rising Dow Jones average with a good economy

by now, most everybody knows the dow is only an indicator of what's happening for the super-rich elites...

Dow Closes Above 11,000 on Earnings Optimism

The Dow industrials closed above 11,000 for the first time in almost 19 months on Monday as expectations of solid first-quarter earnings spurred buying in the financial, energy and industrial sectors.

The Dow Jones industrial average added 8.84 points, or 0.08 percent, to 11,006.19, according to the latest available figures.

i'm sure the chronically unemployed are cheered by this good news...

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The Dow takes another 280-point plunge and there's no end in sight

yowee-zowee...

6,594.44, down –281.40

and the rest of the world is pretty ugly as well...

Key Indexes	At close 03/05/2009	Change	% change	1 month	1 year

FTSE 100 Britain	3,529.86	–116.01	–3.18%	–16.53%	–39.70%
DAX Germany	3,695.49	–195.45	–5.02%	–18.07%	–44.71%
CAC 40 France	2,569.63	–106.05	–3.96%	–16.20%	–45.98%
FTSE Eurofirst 300 Europe	670.72	–25.51	–3.66%	–17.25%	–48.45%

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Dow ain't climbin' out of the cellar

i half thought it might take a jump back up but it looks like it might be establishing a new base... that tells me that it may well be poised to take another big drop...

6726.02, down -37.37

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Holy shit, Batman...! The Dow is at 6763.29...! Will we be taking to the streets...?

good... the fall of the house of cards may be picking up some steam...

In the United States, the Dow Jones industrial average fell below 7,000 for the first time since 1997 as investors reacted to reports that construction and industrial activity had continued to decline and to a $61.7 billion loss posted by the insurance giant, the American International Group. It was the largest quarterly loss ever for a company.

In Britain, the major stock market index lost 5.3 percent, and the performance of the major Italian index was worse, declining 6 percent. With the dollar also gaining, the losses were even greater for international investors in those markets.

In the United States, the Dow fell 299.64 points, or 4.24 percent, to 6,763.29, while the Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fell 34.27 points, or 4.66 percent, to 700.82. The Nasdaq composite ended 54.99 points, or 3.99 percent, lower, at 1,322.85.

Crude oil settled at $40.15 a barrel, down $4.61.

“It’s pretty despondent everywhere,” said Dwyfor Evans, a strategist at State Street Global Markets in Hong Kong. “O.K., there are signs that some of the leading indicators have stabilized to some extent, but it’s at a very, very low level, and we’re not seeing corporate investment picking up, or consumers starting to spend again — in other words, the traditional mechanisms by which economies come out of a recession are absent at this time.”

Hopes that the American economy, which led the world into recession, might lead it back out this year have been fading.

get a clue, people... our money-grubbing, super-rich, power-mad overlords have led us to this pretty pass, and now, in their endlessly, shamelessly, 100% self-serving, totally predictable, inimitable style, are trying to vacuum the last bit of our collective wealth into their bottomless money pits by suckering the entire world into continuing to throw money at them, all in the name of keeping THEIR status quo afloat...

tim and jim, in their comments on the previous post, are toying with the idea of taking to the streets... that's certainly an understandable reaction at this point, but with the military at the disposal of the elites to "quell domestic disturbances," we all need to realize that the simon legrees* who call the shots aren't going down without a bloody fight...

and, in case anyone doubts that, read this february 16th piece from chris hedges...

The specter of social unrest was raised at the U.S. Army War College in November in a monograph [click on Policypointers’ pdf link to see the report] titled “Known Unknowns: Unconventional ‘Strategic Shocks’ in Defense Strategy Development.” The military must be prepared, the document warned, for a “violent, strategic dislocation inside the United States,” which could be provoked by “unforeseen economic collapse,” “purposeful domestic resistance,” “pervasive public health emergencies” or “loss of functioning political and legal order.” The “widespread civil violence,” the document said, “would force the defense establishment to reorient priorities in extremis to defend basic domestic order and human security.”

“An American government and defense establishment lulled into complacency by a long-secure domestic order would be forced to rapidly divest some or most external security commitments in order to address rapidly expanding human insecurity at home,” it went on.

“Under the most extreme circumstances, this might include use of military force against hostile groups inside the United States. Further, DoD [the Department of Defense] would be, by necessity, an essential enabling hub for the continuity of political authority in a multi-state or nationwide civil conflict or disturbance,” the document read.

In plain English, something bureaucrats and the military seem incapable of employing, this translates into the imposition of martial law and a de facto government being run out of the Department of Defense. They are considering it. So should you.

i just want the bastards relieved of their command over us and the house of cards to finish collapsing so we can get on with re-building our world the way it's supposed to be, with dignity, respect, love, peace, and abundance for all... we're way, way overdue...

* Simon Le·gree (lə grē′)

noun

1. the villainous slave overseer in H. B. Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin
2. any cruel taskmaster

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Dow at 7243.73 at noon today, down -121.94 [UPDATE]

once again, i am sitting in kabul on monday night, 9 1/2 hours ahead of u.s. east coast time, watching the dow plunge... i'll update this post in the morning when i get up which will be approximately five hours after wall street's closing bell...

[UPDATE]

holy shit...! i knew it was going to continue to fall, but i wasn't expecting THIS...!

7,114.78, down -250.89

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The Dow is at 7345 at noon today [UPDATE]

it's currently 9:30 p.m. friday here in kabul... i'll have to wait to see what happened the rest of the day when i wake up in the morning... ain't lookin' good...

At midday, the Dow is down 121 to 7,345. The Standard & Poor's 500 index is down 13 at 766, and the Nasdaq composite index is down 8 at 1,435.

[UPDATE, 5:30 a.m., Saturday, 21 February, Kabul]

i see the dow closed at 7,365.67, down 100.28...

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Yikes...! Dow closes on Thursday at 7465.95

i guess we're going to have to hold our breath and see what's going to happen today...

Dow Jones Industrial Average ... 7,465.95 ... -89.68

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Stock market plunges

i've said repeatedly, we are far from seeing the worst of this... and, not only haven't we seen the worst of it, the full scope of the disaster isn't being accurately reported... if we were getting the real picture, the bottom would fall out lickety-split...


(Click on graph for larger image)

The next wave of losses for the banking sector could be coming from Eastern Europe.

Worries about the deteriorating financial situation in countries like Romania and Hungary led to a huge sell-off on Tuesday that began overseas and crashed ashore on Wall Street.

Every sector sank, with financial stocks leading the way and energy companies falling on tumbling oil prices. Rattled investors rushed to buy safer investments like gold and Treasury debt.

The losses on Wall Street were part of a global wave of selling that dragged down stock markets from Tokyo to London and Frankfurt to Brazil, highlighting fears about how banks, automakers — entire countries — will fare in a deepening global downturn.

The news helped send the Dow Jones industrial average to nearly the same low that it hit amid the credit crisis last fall. The Dow fell 297.81 points, or 3.8 percent, to 7,552.60, which was almost the same as the 7,552.29 close for the Dow on Nov. 20.

something else i've said repeatedly: let's get on with it... the era of capitalist greed deserves to die and the sooner the better...

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Happy Holidays from all of us here at the Bureau of Slow-Motion Financial Collapse

i don't know about you, but i'm finding this slow-motion train wreck increasingly painful to watch... how about we just get it the hell over with...?

The Dow Jones industrial average dropped 679.95 points or 7.7 percent, all but wiping out a 783-point gain built up last week. The S.& P. 500 gave back 80 points of the 96-point gain from the same period. The Nasdaq composite index was also off 9 percent.

[...]

“To find out that we are 11 months into the recession with no end in sight, I think that concerns people,” [Douglas M. Peta, an independent market strategist] said. “It makes them say, gee, we’re right back into the territory of the 1980, 1981 twin recessions” — and past the more modest dips of the early 2000s and 1990s.

The Institute for Supply Management recorded the worst reading on the health of the manufacturing industry since 1982. “However you look at the numbers, the message is the same: manufacturing is in free fall, with output collapsing,” Ian Shepherdson of High Frequency Economics wrote in a note to clients. “We see no prospect for near-term improvement.”

That view may be underscored on Friday, when the government is expected to report that employers shed more than 300,000 jobs in November, a fresh sign of the problems facing American workers and businesses.

let's be done with it already and move on to building something that works instead of this absurd, debt-based, funny-money economy... just take a look at this chart...

The US Federal Reserve is increasing the monetary base at an unprecedented rate in response to the present deflationary asset crunch, following the longest running inflationary boom in the country's history.

Newly printed dollars are being used to replace the capital losses of America's corporations. If it were possible to replace wealth simply by printing money, humanity would have eliminated poverty shortly after discovering the printing press.

uh, yeah...

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The financial meltdown is picking up speed

when you see a 40%, 5,200-point year-to-date drop, and a 444-point, 5% drop in ONE DAY, you know things are getting really, really serious...



it ain't pretty, but my hope is that it will keep on going and force the kinds of changes we so desperately need...

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For those who believe "the worst is over," check the 514-point Dow drop today

at the close today, 22 october...

Dow Jones Industrial Average 8,519.21 -514.45

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Dow down 679 to 8579

[T]he Dow fell 678.91, or 7.3 percent, to 8,579.19. The blue chips hadn't fallen below the 9,000 level since Aug. 6, 2003.

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Down another 508 points, Dow closes at 9447

let's do a little review of recent history...

Dow Industrials at Close, 15 September 2008
10, 917, down 504



Dow Industrials at Close, 17 September 2008
10, 610, down 449



Dow Industrials at Close, 29 September 2008
10, 471, down 672



and yesterday (drum roll, please)...

Dow Industrials at Close, 7 October 2008
9447, down 508



from the nyt...

In the last five trading days alone, the Dow has lost 1,400 points.

so, whaddaya think...? how's that bailout workin' for ya...?

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Wonderful news! [UPDATE - Dow closes down 777.68]

look, i don't wish anyone ill in a financial collapse... i've got a small nestegg - very small - tucked away in a 401K and my oldest son and his wife are watching theirs vanish before their eyes... but, let's get real... the bailout bill wasn't designed to do anything but preserve the status quo with a little window dressing thrown in to appease the masses and let our so-called progressive, liberal democrat congressfolks claim that they have the common good of the country at heart... horsehockey, as mash's colonel potter used to say...

meanwhile, take a look at the dow jones as of 3:37 p.m. edt...



[UPDATE]

yikeys...! now THAT'S a steep tumble...!

Dow Jones Industrial Average

29 Sep 16:30 10365.45 -777.68

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"Every market is just out of control right now." So, how's that bailout workin' for ya, eh...?

if this obscene bailout goes through, our government is going to have a revolt on its hands... i don't see how it can be avoided... anybody who's paying the slightest bit of attention can't fail to miss that this is robbery, pure and simple... i think the fall in stocks, the rise in oil prices and the fall of the dollar is testament to the fact that there's a hell of a lot of people out there who not only think the bailout is a bad idea and may not pass but also that things stand to get considerably worse...

Stocks fell sharply and oil prices suddenly spiked on Monday as investors anxiously waited for Washington lawmakers to hash out the details of the biggest government bailout in history — a politically fraught process that will create a new slate of winners and losers on Wall Street.

That uncertainty, about a shaken financial system still in flux, appeared to spook investors away from assets tied directly to the health of the American government. The dollar dropped sharply against the euro, and oil prices jumped, closing up more than $16 a barrel.

The Dow Jones industrials closed down 372 points after spending the day deep in negative territory. The broader Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index finished down 3.8 percent.

“What can I say? Every market is just out of control right now,” said Tom Bentz, an energy analyst at BNP Paribas.

ferchrissake, let's let the house of cards fall down already...

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"Lending locks up"

here's a quote to catch your eye...

"...buyers were at one point willing to accept interest rates for Treasury bills of only 0.2 percent, the lowest since World War II..."

front page of the wapo...

Markets in Disarray as Lending Locks Up
Federal Intervention Fails to Stem Crisis of Confidence on Wall St.

The flow of money through critical parts of the financial system all but stopped yesterday, prompting the stock market to plunge again as banks lost faith in one another and investors rushed to U.S. government securities to protect their savings.

Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley, the only major investment banks still standing amid the wreckage of Wall Street's old order, tottered.

In one of the most tumultuous days ever for financial markets, the Dow Jones industrial average fell 449 points, or 4 percent, and so much money fled into safe U.S. debt that buyers were at one point willing to accept interest rates for Treasury bills of only 0.2 percent, the lowest since World War II.

we b goin' DOWN...!

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The house of cards is falling faster and faster

we're in free fall now...



check the quote, "no end in sight..."

A.I.G. Bailout Fails to Stem Global Stocks Slump

One of the most stunning government bailouts in American history failed on Wednesday to stem the runaway fears engulfing the global financial system.

Investors embarked on a frenzied flight to safety on Wednesday, just hours after the Federal Reserve and the Treasury Department propped up American International Group, the ailing insurance giant, with an $85 billion loan. And many wondered which once-proud institution would be the next to fail.

“There’s a growing sense that there’s no end to this in sight,” Edward Yardeni, the investment strategist, said.

Investors, seeking security in a market that has so far refused to stabilize, poured money on Wednesday into ultra-safe government notes, driving the yield on short-term Treasury bills to the lowest levels in 50 years.

Stocks around the world plummeted. The Dow Jones industrial average lost more than 200 points, despite the federal government’s efforts to prop up A.I.G. The move avoided a potentially devastating collapse of the company, but investors appeared already to have shifted their attention elsewhere.

pretty stunning, eh...?

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C'mon, dammit, let's let the friggin' house of cards FALL already...!

geeeez, louise...! get 'er done, will ya...?

The churn of a rapidly changing financial landscape left Wall Street cold on Monday, as a late afternoon sell-off sent the stock market to its worst daily loss in seven years.

The Dow Jones industrial average plummeted more than 500 points — its worst session since the days after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.

The blue-chip index spent the entire day in negative territory, but the losses did not begin approaching dramatic levels until late in the afternoon. In the last 30 minutes of trading, investors seemed to give in to their fears about the health of the financial system, sparking a wave of selling that sent the Dow, already about 300 points lower, to a 504.48 point decline for the day.

The Standard & Poor’s 500-stock index fared even worse, losing 4.7 percent, and the technology-heavy Nasdaq composite index fell 3.2 percent. In Europe, benchmark stock indexes were off nearly 4 percent in London and Paris and almost 3 percent in Frankfurt.

meanwhile, hank paulson, the flaming bush mouthpiece that he is, tries to pour oil on the troubled waters...

In a briefing in Washington, Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson Jr. said the financial markets were going through a tough time “as we work off some of the past excesses,” but that Americans could “remain confident in the soundness and the resilience of our financial system.”

“Let me step back a bit and provide a little perspective,” Mr. Paulson said. “As I’ve long said, the housing correction is at the root of the challenges facing our markets and our financial institutions. I believe that we’ve taken very important steps with respect to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and they’re amongst the most important actions we can take to work through this turmoil.”

if hankie-poo is expecting us to swallow that enormous load of fresh, steaming shit, when every time we've watched yet another financial bridge burn in the past nine months, he's said the very same goddam thing, and, each time, the next bridge that catches fire is a bigger bridge and the span of water that it crosses is increadingly unnavigable, i ain't buyin' a single goddam syllable that passes his lying lips...

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Let's get on with the economic melt-down and the financial collapse

a follow-on from the previous post about the dow jones free-fall...

So much for that second-half rebound.

Truth be told, that was always more of a wish than a serious forecast, happy talk from the Fed and Wall Street desperate to get things back to normal.

It ain't gonna happen. Not this summer. Not this fall. Not even next winter.

This thing's going down, fast and hard. Corporate bankruptcies, bond defaults, bank failures, hedge fund meltdowns and 6 percent unemployment. We're caught in one of those vicious, downward spirals that, once it gets going, is very hard to pull out of.

Only this will be a different kind of recession -- a recession with an overlay of inflation. That combo puts the Federal Reserve in a Catch-22 -- whatever it does to solve one problem only makes the other worse. Emerging from a two-day meeting this week, Fed officials signaled that further recession-fighting rate cuts are unlikely and that their next move will be to raise rates to contain inflationary expectations.

and then there's that $142 a barrel oil...

Oil leapt to a new record high above $142 a barrel on Friday, extending gains after surging nearly 4 percent in the previous session, as tumbling global stock markets helped to trigger a wider commodities rally.

U.S. light crude for August delivery was $1.70 up at $141.34 a barrel by 8:12 a.m. EDT, off a record high of $142.26.

London Brent crude was $1.39 up at $141.22, off a record high of $142.13.

World stocks fell to a three-month low as a fast deteriorating global inflation picture intensified concerns over the outlook for corporate profits, hastening the rush of investors' funds into commodities.

i don't wish anyone any pain, but, c'mon... the house of cards is tumbling down and i'm sick and tired of watching those who continue to profit the most scrambling to preserve their super-rich, elite status at the expense of the peasantry...

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