6 month paper went off with a yield of -0.1%
Comments »Yearly Archives: 2012
Asia Trades Mixed While Europe and U.S. Futures Are Largely Unch
Flash: European Sovereign Yields Edge Higher
Yield Yield Change Yield Change (%)
Austria 10-Year 3.45 0.01 0.41 Mon 03:05 AM
Austria 2-Year 1.70 0.00 0.24 Mon 03:05 AM
Belgium 10-Year 4.65 0.01 0.28 Mon 03:05 AM
Belgium 2-Year 2.68 0.03 1.25 Mon 03:05 AM
Czech 10-Year 5.94 0.01 0.14 Mon 03:05 AM
Czech 2-Year 4.84 -0.01 -0.10 Mon 03:05 AM
Finland 10-Year 2.33 0.01 0.48 Mon 03:05 AM
Finland 2-Year 0.36 -0.00 -0.56 Mon 03:05 AM
France 10-Year 3.36 -0.01 -0.15 Mon 03:05 AM
France 2-Year 1.03 0.01 0.99 Mon 03:05 AM
German 10-Year 1.87 0.01 0.76 Mon 03:05 AM
German 2-Year 0.17 0.01 3.61 Mon 03:05 AM
Greece 10-Year 35.32 0.39 1.12 Mon 03:05 AM
Greece 2-Year 136.22 0.71 0.53 Mon 03:05 AM
Hungary 10-Year 10.07 -0.01 -0.10 Mon 03:05 AM
Italian 10-Year 7.14 0.01 0.13 Mon 03:05 AM
Italian 2-Year 5.07 0.04 0.72 Mon 03:05 AM
Poland 10-Year 5.94 0.01 0.14 Mon 03:05 AM
Poland 2-Year 4.84 -0.01 -0.10 Mon 03:05 AM
Spain 10-Year 5.71 0.01 0.09 Mon 03:05 AM
Spain 2-Year 3.76 -0.00 -0.03 Mon 03:05 AM
UK 10-Year 2.02 -0.04 -1.71 Mon 03:05 AM
UK 2-Year 0.40 -0.01 -2.66 Mon 03:05 AM
US 10-Year 1.96 0.01 0.36 Mon 03:05 AM
US 2-Year 0.25 -0.00 -1.49 Mon 03:05 AM
Remarkably Dry and Warm Winter Due to Record Extreme Jet Stream Configuration
Published: 4:06 PM GMT on January 06, 2012
Flowers are sprouting in January in New Hampshire, the Sierra Mountains in California are nearly snow-free, and lakes in much of Michigan still have not frozen. It’s 2012, and the new year is ringing in another ridiculously wacky winter for the U.S. In Fargo, North Dakota yesterday, the mercury soared to 55°F, breaking a 1908 record for warmest January day in recorded history. More than 99% of North Dakota had no snow on the ground this morning, and over 95% of the country that normally has snow at this time of year had below-average snow cover. High temperatures in Nebraska yesterday were in the 60s, more than 30° above average. Storm activity has been almost nil over the past week over the entire U.S., with the jet stream bottled up far to the north in Canada. It has been remarkable to look at the radar display day after day and see virtually no echoes, and it is very likely that this has been the driest first week of January in U.S. recorded history. Portions of northern New England, the Upper Midwest, and the mountains of the Western U.S. that are normally under a foot of more of snow by now have no snow, or just a dusting of less than an inch. Approximately half of the U.S. had temperatures at least 5°F above average during the month of December, with portions of North Dakota and Minnesota seeing temperatures 9°F above average. The strangely warm and dry start to winter is not limited to the U.S–all of continental Europe experienced well above-average temperatures during December.
December 2011 jet stream pattern the most extreme on record
The cause of this warm first half of winter is the most extreme configuration of the jet stream ever recorded, as measured by the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). The Arctic Oscillation (AO), and its close cousin, the North Atlantic Oscillation (which can be thought of as the North Atlantic’s portion of the larger-scale AO), are climate patterns in the Northern Hemisphere defined by fluctuations in the difference of sea-level pressure in the North Atlantic between the Icelandic Low and the Azores High. The AO and NAO have significant impacts on winter weather in North America and Europe–the AO and NAO affect the path, intensity, and shape of the jet stream, influencing where storms track and how strong these storms become. During December 2011, the NAO index was +2.52, which was the most extreme difference in pressure between Iceland and the Azores ever observed in December (records of the NAO go back to 1865.) The AO during December 2011 had its second most extreme December value on record, behind the equally unusual December of 2006. These positive AO/NAO conditions caused the Icelandic Low to draw a strong south-westerly flow of air over eastern North America, preventing Arctic air from plunging southward over the U.S. and Europe.
To read the rest and see all of the cool graphs, go here.
Comments »TEBOW 3:16-GOD FAVORS TEBOW
In Denver’s win versus Pittsburg, Tebow threw for 316 yards passing and averaged 31.6 yards per play.
Tebow 3:16.
Comments »Crack Spreads Break $19 to the Upside
Up 2.9% in tonight’s session, slowly but surely creeping higher.
Comments »FLASH: TEBOW WINS AGAIN
Tim Tebow threw for an 80 yard td against the Steelers, in overtime, on the first play in OT.
Gods loves Tebow time.
Comments »Report: Jay Z and Beyonce Reserve Entire Floor at Lennox Hill Hospital for Birth Delivery
It was a girl and it cost a cool $1.3 million for the entire floor.
Comments »A Modern Day Twilight Zone
Um…WTF?! White House Threw Secret ‘Alice in Wonderland’ Bash During Recession
It was the tea party the Obamas just couldn’t resist.
A White House “Alice in Wonderland” costume ball — put on by Johnny Depp and Hollywood director Tim Burton — proved to be a Mad-as-a-Hatter idea that was never made public for fear of a political backlash during hard economic times, according to a new tell-all.
“The Obamas,” by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, tells of the first Halloween party the first couple feted at the White House in 2009. It was so over the top that “Star Wars” creator George Lucas sent the original Chewbacca to mingle with invited guests.
The book reveals how any official announcement of the glittering affair — coming at a time when Tea Party activists and voters furious over the lagging economy, 10-percent unemployment rate, bank bailouts and Obama’s health-care plan were staging protests — quickly vanished down the rabbit hole.
“White House officials were so nervous about how a splashy, Hollywood-esque party would look to jobless Americans — or their representatives in Congress, who would soon vote on health care — that the event was not discussed publicly and Burton’s and Depp’s contributions went unacknowledged,” the book says.
However, the White House made certain that more humble Halloween festivities earlier that day — for thousands of Washington-area schoolkids — were well reported by the press corps.
Then the Obamas went inside, where an invitation-only affair for children of military personnel and White House administrators unfolded in the East Room.
Unbeknownst to reporters, the State Dining Room had also been transformed into a secretive White House Wonderland.
Tim Burton decorated it “in his signature creepy-comic style. His film version was about to be released, and he had turned the room into the Mad Hatter’s tea party, with a long table set with antique-looking linens, enormous stuffed animals in chairs, and tiered serving plates with treats like bone-shaped meringue cookies,” reports the book, which The Post purchased at a Manhattan bookstore.
“Fruit punch was served in blood vials at the bar. Burton’s own Mad Hatter, the actor Johnny Depp, presided over the scene in full costume, standing up on a table to welcome everyone in character.”
The Obamas’ daughters, Malia and Sasha, then 11 and 8 respectively, “sat at the table, surrounded by a gaggle of their friends, and then proceeded to the next delight, a magic show in the East Room.”
Kantor’s book details more personal aspects of the Obama White House, serving up glimpses of the first couple’s marriage, parenting, sometimes tense handling of staff issues and even the president’s sly sense of humor when it comes to race.
One morning during his Senate campaign, Obama didn’t show up to a meeting with donors. “After a frantic search, a white staffer named Peter Coffey called Obama’s barbershop to find that, yes, he was there.”
The president confronted Coffey about the call later that day.
“ ‘The relationship between a black man and his barber is sacred,’ Obama bellowed . . . ‘For failing to understand this truth, your punishment is to watch the movie “Barbershop.” And for further punishment, you will then watch the sequel, “Barbershop 2.” ’ ”
Often White House staffers found themselves in the middle of husband-and-wife quarrels.
“The advisors could feel hopelessly caught between husband and wife,” Kantor writes. “The Obama marriage was awkward for everyone: for the aides, for the president . . . and for the first lady.”
POST PHOTO COMPOSITE
TEA PARTY! Johnny Depp played host, as the Mad Hatter, at a 2009 White House bash, but a new book says it was kept quiet from the press for fear of backlash amid the recession.
Read more: http://trade.cc/wog#ixzz1isybd2Tk
Comments »A Look at Credit Unions
Can they really replace traditional banking and finance ? I’ve had good experiences with credit unions, but I’m sporting and 820+
Comments »State of the Nation: Upward Mobility is Up in Smoke
Jack Frost Has Gone on Holiday
Moody’s Picks Up a 50% Stake in Copal Partners
A Consistent 15 Year Cycle Suggests More Pain to Come ( S&P Chart Porn )
[youtube://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDod1HUdL6E 450 300]
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Not So Fun Times in PA
America’s Working age Population to Grow Until 2050
The Fear Trade in Oil Will Likely Progress
Brystol Myers To Buy Inhibitex for $2.5 Billion
HUGE PREMIUM: Bristol-Myers Squibb To Buy Inhibitex For About $2.5 Bln – Update
Biopharmaceutical firm Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY: News ) Sunday said it will acquire hepatitis C drug developer Inhibitex Inc. (INHX: News ) for $26.00 per share in cash pursuant to a cash tender offer and second step merger. The boards of directors of both companies have approved the deal, valued at about $2.5 billion. The lead HCV asset of Inhibitex is INX-189, an oral nucleotide polymerase or NS5B inhibitor in Phase II development that has exhibited potent antiviral activity.
The acquisition is expected to be dilutive to Bristol-Myers Squibb’s earnings through 2016, with an expected impact on earnings per share of about $0.04 in 2012 and around $0.05 in 2013. Inhibitex’s board agreed to recommend that its shareholders tender their shares in the offer. In addition, shareholders with beneficial ownership of about 17% of Inhibitex’s common stock reached agreements with Bristol-Myers to support the transaction and to tender their shares in the tender offer.
Also, the deal provides for both the parties to effect a merger to be completed following the tender offer closure, which would result in all shares not tendered in the tender offer being converted into the right to receive $26.00 per share cash, Bristol-Myers added.
Lamberto Andreotti, chief executive, Bristol-Myers Squibb stated, “The acquisition of Inhibitex builds on Bristol-Myers Squibb’s long history of discovering, developing and delivering innovative new medicines in virology and enriches our portfolio of investigational medicines for hepatitis C.” Commenting on the transaction, Russell Plumb, President and Chief Executive of Inhibitex said, “Bristol-Myers Squibb’s expertise in antiviral drug development, and its existing complementary portfolio, will assure that the potential of INX-189 is realized as part of future oral combination therapies for millions of patients in need around the world.”
The companies anticipate that the tender offer would close around 30 days after commencement of the tender offer. Citi is serving as financial advisor to Bristol-Myers Squibb in relation with the purchase and Kirkland & Ellis LLP is its legal advisor.
BMY ended Friday’s trading session at $34.22 on a volume of 7.91 million shares on the NYSE, while INHX closed at $9.87 on a volume of 2.99 million shares on the Nasdaq.
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