LIBOR, EURIBOR, 10 year yields for Italy, Spain, France, and Germany
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Monthly Archives: April 2012
$WMT Walmart Not the Only Company Bribing Foreign Countries for Access
It appears that the main problem for Walmart was that they did not note donate enough to Obama’s super PAC. Why else would the focus be placed on Walmart execs when five major Hollywood studios are allegedly guilty of the same crime?
The Hollywood studio run by one of President Obama’s biggest donors is under investigation by the Securities Exchange Commission for bribing Chinese officials to secure exclusive film rights in the communist country—rights secured in secretive negotiations that included Vice President Joe Biden.
The SEC is investigating at least five Hollywood studios—including 20th Century Fox, Disney, and DreamWorks Animation—for allegedly making illegal payments to Chinese officials, Reuters reported Tuesday.
DreamWorks Animation CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg is the largest donor to the Obama reelection super PAC Priorities USA.
Read the rest here.
Comments »Bullish Sentiment Drops to Lowest Level Since September
Via Bespoke, see the chart and read the analysis here.
Comments »Five Hedge Fund Managers Who Lost Their Superstar Status
From Institutional Investor, read about the 5 well-known fund managers who now have less than $1 billion AUM.
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New IMF Study of Banking Crises Contradicts Bailout Bill Premise and Details
Naked Capitalism has linked to the study, skimmed it, and offers some commentary about the bits that stick out, here.
Comments »Biased Media Ignores Shady Obama-Jon Corzine Connection
This is the 2nd report recently out on the continued bundling of donor funds by Corzine for Obama.
As chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Corzine helped Obama first win election to the Senate. He helped him win the presidency. He has been praised by Obama and by Vice President Joe Biden as a “go to guy” on financial, economic, and Wall Street issues. He’s as close to an insider as you can be without actually being in the White House or a member of the president’s cabinet.
To most of the media, however, he’s “Jon who?”
Perhaps the tide is turning…
Read the rest here.
Comments »Chart of the day: US Jobs Recovered Since Crisis Began by Industry
With all of the talk by the Obama administration of the number of jobs they’ve created, I was surprised by the actual numbers:
Manufacturing has recovered only 21 percent of jobs losses, financial services 11 percent, retail and wholesale trade 25 percent, with construction faring the worst in the private sector, recovering only 1.1 percent of the 1.95 million job lost during the housing bust led recession.
Read the rest and see the charts here.
Comments »Ritholtz: U.S. Economy Right Where It’s Supposed to Be
Read his commentary or watch his video with Aaron Task, here.
Comments »WikiLeaks: Obama Team Stole Election, Bribed Jesse Jackson & Took Russian Money In 2008
Karl Rove: OBAMA WINS
“Ever since Mitt Romney all but secured the Republican nomination, we were all waiting with bated breath.
Wait no more. Karl Rove has finally put out his inaugural 2012 electoral map. And who’s winning?
Barack Obama. Here it is, in all its glory:
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You can see there how it breaks down: Right now, 284 votes are either solidly for Obama or “leaning Obama.” Romney only has 172 solidly in his grasp or “leaning” toward him. The remaining 82 electoral votes are toss-ups.
Full article
Citi Loading Up on Carbon Credits
Citi to Purchase 1.17 Million Tonnes of Carbon Credits in Innovative Microfinance Deal with MicroEnergy Credits and Mongolia’s XacBank
Comments »FLASH: S&P CUTS SPAIN TO BBB+
S&P to assess the effect of Spain’s two notch sovereign downgrade to BBB+ on Spanish issuers/banks
Comments »EPIC CONFERENCE CALL IS ABOUT TO BEGIN: $MDRX
The stock is down 50%, after CFO and 4 directors left.
Comments »FLASH: SHARES OF MDRX PLUNGE AMIDST EXODUS OF CFO AND 4 BOARD MEMBERS
Unbelievable carnage, down more than 40%.
“Our overall results were primarily affected by lower than expected sales and an unfavorable sales mix, which directly impacted revenue and profit,” said Glen Tullman, Chief Executive Officer of Allscripts. “In addition, our investments in improving client experience and accelerating product development, as well as higher than expected software development expense, also put pressure on our bottom line.
Comments »EARNINGS SEASON: TECH STOCKS ARE BEATING DOWN BEARS IN AH’s TRADE
SWKS, AMZN, NXPI, KLAC, ARBA, N, WDC, STX, ZNGA all beat.
Comments »Market Update
Equities hit new highs for the day….
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CC5ca6Hsb2Q 450 300] Comments »Anti-bribery Laws For Foreign Places Reward ‘Clever Criminals’
Cambridge, Massachusetts (CNN) — Did Wal-Mart’s Mexican subsidiary pay bribes, in 2005 and earlier, to the Mexican officials who grant permits for stores like Wal-Mart? And did Wal-Mart cover up these actions for several years, after an internal investigation discovered the bribes, before finally reporting the internal investigation to the Department of Justice and the SEC last December?
The answer, according to recent news accounts, is yes. This could mean that Wal-Mart violated the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, adopted in 1977, which forbids U.S. companies from paying bribes to foreign officials.
If Wal-Mart violated the law, U.S. officials should prosecute. No one should be above the law, whether the law is sensible or not.
Yet the public and policymakers should also consider whether the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act is good policy. And despite good intentions — particularly, the goal of reducing corruption — it is not.
The act is difficult to enforce on a consistent basis, since companies that wish to pay bribes can circumvent the law in numerous ways, mainly with minimal risk of exposure. So, most violations go undetected. The act therefore hurts companies that break the law clumsily and get caught, thereby creating a competitive advantage for companies that break the law cleverly and get away with it.
Read the rest here:
Comments »Biden Attacks Romney Foreign Policy
Joe Biden is back from hiding to wage a campaign against Mitt Romney.
In a speech Thursday, he attached Mitt Romney’s foreign policy experience and world views as being part of the past, and having no place in today’s environment.
“Governor Romney wants to take us back to a world that no longer exists with policies that are dangerously divorced from today’s reality,” Biden said.
Specifically, Biden pushed that Romney is intentionally taking the US in a direction of war with Iran.
Comments »Fun With Corporations and Your Health
“(NaturalNews) An independent scientific panel has determined that perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), also known as C-8, a commercial substance produced by chemical giant DuPont, causes kidney and testicular cancer in humans. And because of how pervasive this chemical is — more than 99 percent of Americans have PFOA in their blood — the consumer advocacy organizationEnvironmental Working Group(EWG) is calling for the government to take action and stop ignoring the problem.
For more than 50 years, DuPont has been producing PFOAs for use in non-stick cookware, grease-resistant food packaging and stain-resistant furniture, carpeting and clothing. But this pervasive chemical continues to be exposed as a deadly toxin that can cause very serious health problems, especially since it is now also being found in drinking water supplies nationwide.
In 2009, individuals living near DuPont factories where PFOA was being produced filed a class action lawsuit against the company for poisoning their water. After ruling in favor of the plaintiffs, a U.S. District Court judge ordered that DuPont establish a scientific assessment panel to appraise the environmental and human health damage caused by PFOA exposure….”
Comments »Are North Korea’s Missiles In Military Parade Fake?
TOKYO – A half dozen ominous new North Korean missiles showcased at a lavish military parade were clumsy fakes, analysts say, casting more doubt on the country’s claims of military prowess after its recent rocket launch failure.
The weapons displayed April 15 appear to be a mishmash of liquid-fuel and solid-fuel components that could never fly together. Undulating casings on the missiles suggest the metal is too thin to withstand flight. Each missile was slightly different from the others, even though all were supposedly the same make. They don’t even fit the launchers they were carried on.
“There is no doubt that these missiles were mock-ups,” Markus Schiller and Robert Schmucker, of Germany’s Schmucker Technologie, wrote in a paper posted recently on the website Armscontrolwonk.com that listed those discrepancies. “It remains unknown if they were designed this way to confuse foreign analysts, or if the designers simply did some sloppy work.”
Read the rest here:
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