A over reaction for sure, but someone has to be an example of the theft of a few pennies ….
Comments »Monthly Archives: April 2012
Crime Has Become One of the Top 20 Economies
Why Fannie and Freddie Are Not Going Away Anytime Soon
“WASHINGTON, April 23 (Reuters) – In considering how to fix the ailing U.S. housing market, Republicans and Democrats in Washington have found a rare point of agreement: they would prefer life without failed mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
But even with agreement that the system is broken, it is unlikely Congress will soon tackle the mammoth task of winding down two entities that have cost taxpayers more than $150 billion since their bailout in September 2008. Fannie and Freddie now support about 60 percent of all new U.S. home loans.
Already, lawmakers have taken tentative steps to scale back Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s involvement by reducing the size of loans that they can guarantee. Republicans and Democrats have unified behind preserving affordable homeownership.
But more dramatic actions could be politically treacherous in an election year. Home buyers still rely on the government backstop in nine of 10 new mortgages, and the fragile market must be weaned slowly from its dependence on federal programs providing financial backing.
Changing the present system might prove hard for lawmakers who are wary of risking harm to the housing recovery. Some would fear alienating the deep-pocketed housing lobby and various consumer groups rallying around the issue.
“There’s not a politician out there who is willing to take the risk of proposing something with a short transition period that would potentially be blamed for cratering the housing market,” said Douglas Elliott, a Brookings Institution fellow and former investment banker.
The Obama administration will release an updated plan in coming weeks that is expected to further define its goals for the federal government’s role in the housing finance system, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The administration in February 2011 offered three big-picture options for overhauling the mortgage market.
One would be to eliminate federal involvement altogether, but most experts say this could upend the housing market.
Another option creates a system that would help some types of low-income and veteran buyers and also provides an expanded guarantee the government would offer mostly in times of financial distress.
A third would include government reinsurance for some types of mortgages, but only if lenders first purchased a guarantee from a private insurer.
The administration has not endorsed a legislative plan at this point, but continues to consider these options, according to a U.S. Treasury official….”
Comments »Your Tax Dollars @ Work
Ron Paul attacks CISPA in urgent call to oppose ‘Big Brother’ bill
Caught on Tape: US border patrol beating immigrant to death
The Barter System Begins in Europe
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9y9R0v96K48 450 300]
Comments »Nigel Farage: Euro Break-Up Just a Question of How
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=llDYLb7HoIk 450 300]
Comments »Obama, Romney and Goldman Sachs – 2012
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWBzUuo9_eo 450 300]
Comments »Vermont Moves to End Corporate Personhood
“MONTPELIER, VT – With yesterday’s vote in the state house, Vermont is now the first state to call for an amendment to abolish the doctrine known as “Corporate Personhood” which gives corporations constitutional rights meant to protect people.
Hawaii and New Mexico have passed resolutions against the Citizens United v. FEC ruling by the Supreme Court, but the Vermont resolution goes beyond simply overturning that case and aims to remove corporations from the constitution altogether and make clear that money is not speech and that campaign spending and political contributions can be regulated by government.
Support for the resolution in the state legislature comes from a mandate set forth by Vermont’s citizens. Last month 65 town meetings passed similar resolutions, calling on the legislators in the state to stand up and urging Congress to send an amendment to the states for ratification.
“Americans of all political persuasions are tired of the big money in politics and tired of corporations running the country,” said David Cobb, spokesperson for the Move to Amend coalition, a grassroots national organization spearheading resolution efforts across the country. “We salute the good people of Vermont for standing up first to make clear that an amendment that addresses this issue at its core is what’s needed now.”
While Vermont is the first state to clearly call for an end to corporate constitutional rights, this is far from the first resolution passed. Nearly half of the states have seen passage of resolutions at the local level through city and county councils, and a handful of cities have also passed measures using the initiative process. This week Salt Lake City, Utah became the latest city to join the effort when Move to Amend volunteers turned in 11,400 signatures collected in 60 days to qualify a resolution for the ballot in their town.
“Communities across the country are standing up to show their outrage and to demand that their legislators pass an amendment to overrule the Court,” stated Kaitlin Sopoci-Belknap, National Field Organizing Director for Move to Amend. “We recognize that an amendment is a big task, but Move to Amend’s volunteers are ready to rise to the challenge.”
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Background on state resolution effort: The Vermonters Say Corporations Are Not People partnership, which worked together on town meeting proposals, also has worked to pass the resolutions at the state legislative level. The effort includes Move to Amend; Public Citizen; Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, a Move to Amend affiliate; Vermont Peace & Justice Center; VPIRG; Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield, founders of Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc.; Vermont Businesses for Social Responsibility; Rural Vermont; Vermont Workers Center; Common Cause Vermont; Occupy Burlington; Vermont Action for Peace; and the Safe and Green Campaign. ”
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Today’s 52 Week Highs and Lows
NYSE
New Highs 4 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Brinker Intl EAT 31.00 1,077,316 Kimco Realty Dep 6 Pfd I KIMpI 25.15 2,512 NextEra Engy Deb. G 2072 NEEpG 25.72 3,846 SandRidge Miss Tr II SDR 22.05 73,897 New Lows 51 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Allison Transmission ALSN 20.91 23,625 Arch Coal ACI 9.08 1,180,395 Artio Global Invs Inc ART 3.90 1,920 Barrick Gold ABX 38.90 1,311,228 Best Buy BBY 21.15 240,533 Bill Barrett BBG 20.58 82,065 BuildaBear BBW 4.30 4,868 CARBO Ceramics CRR 84.83 55,046 Checkpoint Sys CKP 10.45 17,973 Chesapeake Energy CHK 17.03 3,117,045 Chesapeake Engy 4.5% pfd. CHKpD 82.15 4,022 Cloud Peak Engy CLD 13.82 104,417 ConocoPhillips Wi COPw 54.04 2,323 DelhaizeGrp DEG 47.15 2,417 Enerplus ERF 17.73 284,168 Equal Energy EQU 3.00 15,929 Fortuna Silver Mines FSM 3.60 65,218 GFI Group GFIG 3.11 16,078 Gafisa GFA 3.93 454,385 Gold Field ADS GFI 12.29 430,626 Goldcorp GG 40.20 498,224 GrafTech Intl GTI 11.12 48,154 Great North Iron Ore Prop GNI 58.90 9,447 Harmony Gold Mining HMY 9.23 185,577 Harris Teeter Supermrkts HTSI 36.10 11,901 Hecla Mining HL 3.97 681,249 Hill Intl HIL 3.55 19,169 Infoblox Inc BLOX 20.06 85,987 Intermec Inc IN 5.09 74,046 Jaguar Mining JAG 2.92 259,026 KT Crp ADS KT 12.89 72,514 Kinross Gold KGC 8.80 758,386 McMoRan Exploration MMR 7.88 200,124 Modine Mfg MOD 7.52 10,926 Newfield Exploration NFX 31.86 224,389 Newmont Mining NEM 45.91 1,271,153 Nokia NOK 3.62 4,403,516 Nortel Inversora ADS NTL 16.10 4,154 No Amer Engy Ptnrs NOA 3.90 16,784 Nuveen Glbl Val Opp Fd JGV 15.20 9,794 Pampa Energia ADS PAM 7.10 400 Panasonic Cp PC 7.64 37,511 Promotora Info ADS B PRIS/B 3.31 6,350 Promotora de Info ADS PRIS 2.19 5,715 Pulse Electronics PULS 1.95 5,500 Quicksilver Resources KWK 3.74 134,269 STR Holdings Inc. STRI 3.77 8,465 SW Energy SWN 27.32 343,436 Transalta Corp TAC 16.47 8,556 USEC Inc USU 0.95 133,805 Ultra Petroleum UPL 17.76 241,017
NASDAQ
New Highs 8 COMPANY SYMBOL HIGH VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Allied Motion AMOT 8.25 3,075 Ardea Biosciences RDEA 31.64 3,240,866 ChemoCentryx CCXI 17.73 3,237 First Citizens Banc FCZA 6.93 500 HF Fincl HFFC 12.27 100 LCNB LCNB 14.49 375 Monarch Fincl Hldgs MNRK 10.00 1,290 Splunk SPLK 37.24 100,211 New Lows 30 COMPANY SYMBOL LOW VOLUME ------- ------ ---- ------ Apollo Grp (Cl A) APOL 34.42 122,679 CEVA CEVA 20.55 11,728 China TechFaith Wireless CNTF 1.31 24,439 Cresud SACIF y A CRESY 9.30 108,276 Echelon ELON 4.05 12,600 Education Management EDMC 11.90 9,500 Electronic Arts EA 14.58 398,781 EnerNOC ENOC 6.17 26,391 First Solar FSLR 19.55 836,989 Gentex GNTX 20.89 154,339 Infosys ADS INFY 44.82 277,876 InterDigital IDCC 30.69 37,263 James River Coal Co JRCC 4.33 112,206 Marchex (Cl B) MCHX 3.46 30,058 Microvision MVIS 2.08 38,502 NCI NCIT 5.58 11,126 NVECorp NVEC 47.29 974 OPNET Techs OPNT 22.18 8,791 Otelco IDS OTT 6.62 625,234 Pan American Silver PAAS 18.27 347,823 PwrShs Gbl Gld & Prec Mtl PSAU 35.54 652 PwrShrs Glbl Wind Energy PWND 6.35 1,200 RF Micro Devices RFMD 3.92 321,832 RealPage RP 17.17 11,504 Riverview Bancorp RVSB 1.87 27,902 STEC STEC 8.29 41,011 Torm A/S TRMD 0.40 13,400 Verastem VSTM 9.77 329 WebMD Health WBMD 22.43 53,251 Willdan Group WLDN 3.10 1,500Comments »
Today’s Heat Map and A/D Lines
Most Active Options Trades
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 5/19/12 9.0000 2962 0.1300 dn 0.0300 BAC 1/19/13 10.0000 2546 0.5900 dn 0.0800 MS 4/27/12 17.0000 2237 0.2700 dn 0.4000 MS 4/27/12 16.0000 2152 0.8800 dn 0.6500 XCO 5/19/12 6.0000 1844 0.3400 dn 0.1300 BAC 4/27/12 9.0000 1803 0.0100 dn 0.0300 ANR 4/27/12 16.0000 1569 0.2800 dn 0.3100 AAPL 5/19/12 600.0000 1516 18.6300 dn 0.1700 AAPL 5/19/12 665.0000 1505 4.9500 up 0.1000 AAPL 4/27/12 570.0000 1450 23.5500 dn 0.5000 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE MS 5/19/12 16.0000 3175 0.4200 up 0.1300 SYY 5/19/12 28.0000 2015 0.4500 up 0.2000 BX 5/19/12 13.0000 1791 0.2800 up 0.0900 AAPL 5/19/12 500.0000 1645 5.8000 up 0.1000 TIBX 5/19/12 31.0000 1628 0.6200 up 0.1700 EBAY 7/21/12 36.0000 1559 0.9700 up 0.1200 AAPL 5/19/12 495.0000 1396 5.3500 up 0.3600 JPM 5/19/12 45.0000 1070 3.0000 up 0.4600 INTC 5/19/12 27.0000 1058 0.4300 up 0.0400 XOM 7/21/12 80.0000 1010 1.5500 up 0.2000 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 346179 256600 602779
-CALLS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 4/27/12 10.0000 300 0.0100 dn 0.0100 WMT 5/19/12 60.0000 273 0.9100 dn 1.6800 MMR 11/17/12 11.0000 229 0.7200 dn 0.1500 BAC 4/27/12 9.0000 188 0.0200 dn 0.0200 WMT 5/19/12 62.5000 154 0.2200 dn 0.6100 UPS 5/19/12 77.5000 153 2.2500 dn 0.9000 DIA 6/16/12 133.0000 151 0.9500 dn 0.6300 BAC 4/27/12 11.0000 150 0.0100 up 0.0000 AA 4/27/12 12.0000 150 0.0100 up 0.0000 LVS 4/27/12 57.5000 115 1.2300 dn 0.7000 -PUTS- OPTION EXP.DATE STRIKE PRC. VOLUME LAST S/PRC. NET CHANGE BAC 4/27/12 6.0000 300 0.0100 up 0.0000 AA 4/27/12 7.0000 200 0.0100 up 0.0000 BAC 4/27/12 7.0000 150 0.0200 up 0.0100 BAC 4/27/12 5.0000 150 0.0100 up 0.0000 MS 5/19/12 16.0000 146 0.4200 up 0.1300 ANR 5/19/12 13.0000 112 0.2900 up 0.1200 SWN 5/19/12 28.0000 106 1.8200 up 0.1200 BX 5/19/12 13.0000 105 0.2800 up 0.0900 AA 4/27/12 8.0000 100 0.0100 dn 0.0100 AA 4/27/12 6.0000 100 0.0200 dn 0.0100 -VOLUME- CALLS PUTS TOTAL 19642 23465 43107Comments »
Doug and Jeff v. Goliath: County Clerks Sue Big Banks for Avoiding Fraudulent Mortgage Recording Fees
“Doug Welborn, state district court clerk of Baton Rouge, and Jeff L. Thigpen, register of deeds in Guilford County, North Carolina, are doing what millions of recession-weary Americans wish they could do: they are suing large banks and mortgage companies in court, alleging that their creation in 1995 of the Mortgage Electronic Registrations Systems, Inc., (MERS), to replace local county recording of property transfers, led to billions of dollars of fraud, victimizing not only millions of homeowners but state and local governments across the country. MERS, not coincidentally, was a key factor in the growth of the real estate bubble whose crash precipitated the Great Recession of 2007 to 2009.
Welborn’s action, filed in federal district court in Baton Rouge on behalf of court clerks across Louisiana, alleges that the 17 banks and mortgage companies violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act by controlling MERS in a scheme to cheat clerks of court of recording fees.
Historically, every time a mortgage was sold from one holder to another, it had to be recorded at the local courthouse. Welborn’s suit alleges that the banks used MERS to avoid recording fees on 10 to 12 mortgage transfers per property, each instance of non-paid fees costing local government. MERS was thus critical to the industry practice of bundling mortgages into securities that eventually were sold to investors. Although the complaint does not state a specific damage amount, attorneys for Welborn estimate statewide losses of $450 million; if proven, they could be trebled under RICO to $1.35 billion…”
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Government Math Screws Tax Payer
“Call it President Obama’s Committee for the Re-Election of the President — a political slush fund at the Health and Human Services Department.
Only this isn’t some little fund from shadowy private sources; this is taxpayer money, redirected to help Obama win another term. A massive amount of it, too — $8.3 billion. Yes, that’s billion, with a B.
Here is how it works.
The most oppressive aspects of the ObamaCare law don’t kick in until after the 2012 election, when the president will no longer be answerable to voters. More “flexibility,” he recently explained to the Russians.
But certain voters would surely notice one highly painful part of the law before then — namely, the way it guts the popular Medicare Advantage program.
For years, 12 million seniors have relied on these policies, a more market-oriented alternative to traditional Medicare, without the aggravating gaps in coverage.
But as part of its hundreds of billions in Medicare cuts, the Obama one-size-fits-all plan slashes reimbursement rates for Medicare Advantage starting next year — herding many seniors back into the government-run program.
Under federal “open-enrollment” guidelines, seniors must pick their Medicare coverage program for next year by the end of this year — which means they should be finding out before Election Day.
Nothing is more politically volatile than monkeying with the health insurance of seniors, who aren’t too keen on confusing upheavals in their health care and are the most diligent voters in the land. This could make the Tea Party look like a tea party….”
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