UK Police Arrest Over 200 as London Riots Continue
August 8th, 2011Via: AP:
Violence and looting spread across some of London’s most impoverished neighborhoods on Monday, with youths setting fire to shops and vehicles, during a third day of rioting in the city that will host next summer’s Olympic Games.
Skirmishes broke out between police and groups of youths across Britain’s capital, and also spread to the nation’s central city of Birmingham – where police said dozens of people were involved in damaging shops across the city center.
In the Hackney area of east London and districts in the city’s south, vehicles and buildings were set ablaze as authorities struggled to halt groups of rampaging young people.
Hundreds of youths attacked shops and set fire to cars in Hackney, while police in riot gear were pelted with fireworks, bottles and lumps of wood.
Thick smoke billowed from a high street in the Peckham district of south London, where a building was set ablaze along with a bus – which was not carrying passengers. In nearby Lewisham, lines of cars were torched.
Home Secretary Theresa May, the Cabinet minister responsible for policing, and London’s Mayor Boris Johnson cut short vacations in an attempt to deal with the crisis – while police confirmed they had made more than 200 arrests.
DJIA 10,906 HOLDS OR THIS COULD GET WEIRD
August 8th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
Update: Close:
DJIA 10,809.85 -634.76 (-5.55%)
Nasdaq 2,357.69 -174.72 (-6.90%)
S&P 500 1,119.47 -79.91 (-6.66%)
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Update: DJIA: 10,840.
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Update: DJIA back over 11,000 on probable PPT bounce.
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Update: Bank of America down 18.25% [EMERGENCY???]
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Update: Greece Bans Shortselling
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Update: German DAX down 5%.
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Update: DJIA: I think the squid is on the bid. 10,967.
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Update: Spot gold new high at $1720.36.
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Update: DJIA sees the pivot around 10,900.
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Update: NASDAQ got down 6%.
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Next pivot/support is 10,000.
S&P 500 DOWN 5%
August 8th, 2011That is all.
NASDAQ DOWN 5%
August 8th, 2011That is all.
DJIA: Next Leg Down
August 8th, 2011Warning: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument.
The DJIA has been trying to find support around 11,070. This level has broken down.
AIG Is Suing Bank of America for $10 Billion
August 8th, 2011Via: New York Times:
The American International Group is planning to sue Bank of America over hundreds of mortgage-backed securities, adding to the surge of investors seeking compensation for the troubled mortgages that led to the financial crisis.
The suit seeks to recover more than $10 billion in losses on $28 billion of investments, in possibly the largest mortgage-security-related action filed by a single investor.
It claims that Bank of America and its Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial units misrepresented the quality of the mortgages placed in securities and sold to investors, according to three people with knowledge of the complaint.
S&P Downgrades Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac
August 8th, 2011They’re just getting started: Muni Market Prepares for Lost AAA Ratings; “Hundreds and Hundreds” of Downgrades.
Via: CNBC:
Standard & Poor’s downgraded the ratings of government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac Monday, citing their reliance on U.S. government.
Both Fannie and Freddie were lowered to AA+ from triple-A. The Federal Home Loan Banks were also cut to AA-plus.
Fannie and Freddie own or guarantee about half of all U.S. mortgages, or nearly 31 million home loans worth more than $5 trillion. As part of a nationalized system, they account for nearly all new mortgage loans. Their downgrade might force anyone looking to buy a home to pay higher mortgage rates.
An Investment Manager’s View on the Top 1%
August 8th, 2011Via: Who Rules America:
I sit in an interesting chair in the financial services industry. Our clients largely fall into the top 1%, have a net worth of $5,000,000 or above, and if working make over $300,000 per year. My observations on the sources of their wealth and concerns come from my professional and social activities within this group.
Work by various economists and tax experts make it indisputable that the top 1% controls a widely disproportionate share of the income and wealth in the United States. When does one enter that top 1%? (I’ll use “k” for 1,000 and “M” for 1,000,000 as we usually do when communicating with clients or discussing money; thousands and millions take too much time to say.) Available data isn’t exact, but a family enters the top 1% or so today with somewhere around $300k to $400k in pre-tax annual income and over $1.2M in net worth. Compared to the average American family with a pre-tax income in the mid-$50k range and net worth around $120k, this probably seems like a lot of money. But, there are big differences within that top 1%, with the wealth distribution highly skewed towards the top 0.1%.
JAPAN: TRADING IN RICE FUTURES HALTED ON DISORDERLY PRICE INCREASE
August 8th, 2011But this rice thing…
There is definitely potential for a wildcard result here.
—Toshiso Kosako: Come the Harvest Season in the Fall, There Will Be Chaos
Via: Bloomberg:
Rice futures in Tokyo surged in their first trading on the bourse since 1939, triggering a suspension of trade, on concern radiation from the stricken Fukushima nuclear plant may spread to crops and curb supply.
No deals were concluded on the Tokyo Grain Exchange after prices hit 18,500 yen per 60 kilograms from the opening, compared with the bourse’s reference price of 13,500 yen. The surge triggered trade to be suspended.
The exchange listed rice contracts today for the first time since the start of World War II to boost flagging volumes and profit. The resumption comes as fallout from the Fukushima Dai- Ichi power plant may spread after it was found cattle had been fed cesium-tainted rice straw.
“People are very concerned that rice supplies may be smaller on fear of radiation contamination,” Nobuyuki Chino, chairman of the exchange’s rice futures trading committee, told reporters in Tokyo. “This was reflected in the prices,” said Chino, who is also president of Tokyo-based grain company Continental Rice Corp.
Commercial stockpiles of rice, a Japanese staple, may drop to the lowest level in four years in 2012, after the March earthquake and nuclear disaster curbed production, possibly spurring the government to release its reserves, according to the agriculture ministry.
Spot Gold: $1715
August 8th, 2011Melt up. $1715.35, new high.
