Global Market Demise and I Know Why

Thursday’s global market demise had plenty good reason why investors might head for the door. The NIKKEI narrowed 0.34%, the DAX was down 1.8% and the FTSE fell 1.7%. On any given day there are a slew of reasons why stocks and the broader market might rise or fall, so looking across the globe for a common denominator can be difficult. However, we’re relatively confident we’ve identified the culprit for you.

Our founder earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. "The Greek" has written for institutional newsletters, Businessweek, Real Money, Seeking Alpha and others, while also appearing across TV and radio. While writing for Wall Street Greek, Mr. Kaminis presciently warned of the financial crisis.

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Global Market Demise – We Know Why

After taking back significant ground at the close, the Dow (NYSE: DIA, NYSE: DOG) was still down 0.5% and the S&P 500 Index (NYSE: SPY, NYSE: SDS) was short 0.3%. The slide in American stocks followed declines in Asia and Europe. After searching for drivers, I lean heavily towards Europe this time, given its degree of decline versus Asia. If the declines were equal between Asia and Europe, I would have pinned President Obama with the blame, and considered that his statement Wednesday evening with regard to nation building at home (versus in Afghanistan) took away a degree of certainty global markets have grown quite used to regarding the United States’ willingness to police the world. However, it looks as though this was not the case, despite my feeling that it should be considered overseas. We have evidence of it in Libya and now Afghanistan.

Given that the decline started before American markets opened, we can rule out the possibility of new labor market data in the U.S. driving it. Weekly Initial Unemployment Insurance Claims increased by 9K in the latest reported period, taking new benefits filers up to 429K. That certainly didn’t help matters, but it is not the source of the day’s demise either.

Thus, the day’s dastardly driver must have originated in Europe, and we can be fairly certain of that thanks to the decline of the euro as well. Europe’s most significant market moving news derived from the European Banking Authority (EBA). The EBA warned area banks to be more realistic about their Greek debt holdings. In other words, most of Europe’s financial institutions with exposure to Greece have not accounted adequately for the possibility of a Greek default. You can bet they have not even pondered a Portuguese pitfall.

The EBA will be announcing results to its latest stress testing of 91 European banks around July 13. The regulator said it had given its banks guidance to “address inconsistencies and excessive optimism” on sovereign exposures. If that did not feel like a slap to the face, we suppose European investors might still get it when they reach home this evening to their portfolio perusing wives.

The EBA test will consider how its banks might fair through a two-year recession. What’s new about the situation is that previously European politicians and also regulators like the EBA have not even given sovereign default a note of consideration. Given the latest uproar around the release of the current tranche of support to Greece, and debate about how well Greece is managing austerity (you should be envisioning rioting now), it would seem default is becoming digestible among despots. Its repercussions had neither been accounted for completely by trusting investors, and so the day drew market ire and capital withdrawal. More bad breath was borne from the mouth of the European Central Bank head, Jean-Claude Trichet. The ECB chief raised alarm in Europe when he said financial stability for the region was “flashing red.”



The day’s earnings included Lennar (NYSE: LEN), ConAgra Foods (NYSE: CAG), WellPoint (NYSE: WLP), Discover Financial Services (NYSE: DFS), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), Accenture (NYSE: ACN), Cyanotech (Nasdaq: CYAN), Finish Line (Nasdaq: FINL), H&R Block (NYSE: HRB), Micron Technology (NYSE: MU), Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD), TIBCO Software (Nasdaq: TIBX), Deutsche Bank (NYSE: DB), Banco Santander (NYSE: STD), ITA (Nasdaq: ITUB), UBS (NYSE: UBS), Westpac Banking (NYSE: WBK), Lloyds Banking Group (NYSE: LYG), Barclays (NYSE: BCS), Credit Suisse (NYSE: CS), Allied Irish Bank (NYSE: AIB), Banco Latinamericano (NYSE: BLX), National Bank of Greece (NYSE: NBG), Royal Bank of Canada (NYSE: RY), BBVA Banco Frances (NYSE: BFR), The Bank of Ireland (NYSE: IRE), Bank of Montreal (NYSE: BMO), Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (NYSE: CM), ING Groep (NYSE: ING), Citigroup (NYSE: C), SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average (NYSE: DIA), SPDR S&P 500 (NYSE: SPY), PowerShares QQQ Trust (Nasdaq: QQQ), ProShares Short Dow 30 (NYSE: DOG), ProShares Ultra Short S&P 500 (NYSE: SDS), ProShares Ultra QQQ (NYSE: QLD), NYSE Euronext (NYSE: NYX), The NASDAQ OMX Group (Nasdaq: NDAQ), Intercontinental Exchange (NYSE: ICE), E*Trade Financial (Nasdaq: ETFC), Charles Schwab (Nasdaq: SCHW), Asset Acceptance Capital (Nasdaq: AACC), Affiliated Managers (NYSE: AMG), Ameriprise Financial (NYSE: AMP), TD Ameritrade (Nasdaq: AMTD), BGC Partners (Nasdaq: BGCP), Bank of New York Mellon (NYSE: BK), BlackRock (NYSE: BLK), CIT Group (NYSE: CIT), Calamos Asset Management (Nasdaq: CLMS), CME Group (NYSE: CME), Cohn & Steers (NYSE: CNS), Cowen Group (Nasdaq: COWN), Diamond Hill Investment (Nasdaq: DHIL), Dollar Financial (Nasdaq: DLLR), Duff & Phelps (Nasdaq: DUF), Encore Capital (Nasdaq: ECPG), Edelman Financial (Nasdaq: EF), Equifax (NYSE: EFX), Epoch (Nasdaq: EPHC), Evercore Partners (NYSE: EVR), EXCorp. (Nasdaq: EZPW), FBR Capital Markets (Nasdaq: FBCM), First Cash Financial (Nasdaq: FCFS), Federated Investors (NYSE: FII), First Marblehead (NYSE: FMD), Fidelity National Financial (NYSE: FNF), Financial Engines (Nasdaq: FNGN), FXCM (Nasdaq: FXCM), Gamco Investors (NYSE: GBL), GAIN Capital (Nasdaq: GCAP), Green Dot (Nasdaq: GDOT), GFI Group (Nasdaq: GFIG), Greenhill (NYSE: GHL), Gleacher (Nasdaq: GLCH), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Interactive Brokers (Nasdaq: IBKR), INTL FCStone (Nasdaq: INTL), Intersections (Nasdaq: INTX), Investment Technology (NYSE: ITG), Invesco (NYSE: IVZ), Jefferies (NYSE: JEF), JMP Group (NYSE: JMP), Janus Capital (NYSE: JNS), KBW (NYSE: KBW), Knight Capital (NYSE: KCG), Lazard (NYSE: LAZ), Legg Mason (NYSE: LM), LPL Investment (Nasdaq: LPLA), Ladenburg Thalmann (AMEX: LTS), Mastercard (NYSE: MA), Moody’s (NYSE: MCO), MF Global (NYSE: MF), Moneygram (NYSE: MGI), MarketAxess (Nasdaq: MKTX), Marlin Business Services (Nasdaq: MRLN), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), MSCI (Nasdaq: MSCI), MGIC Investment (NYSE: MTG), NewStar Financial (Nasdaq: NEWS), National Financial Partners (NYSE: NFP), Nelnet (NYSE: NNI), Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS), NetSpend (Nasdaq: NTSP), Ocwen Financial (NYSE: OCN), Oppenheimer (NYSE: OPY), optionsXpress (Nasdaq: OXPS), PICO (Nasdaq: PICO), Piper Jaffray (NYSE: PJC), PMI Group (NYSE: PMI), Penson Worldwide (Nasdaq: PNSN), Portfolio Recovery (Nasdaq: PRAA), Raymond James (NYSE: RJF), SEI Investments (Nasdaq: SEIC), Stifel Financial (NYSE: SF), Safeguard Scientifics (NYSE: SFE), State Street (NYSE: STT), SWS (NYSE: SWS), T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW), Visa (NYSE: V) and Virtus Investment Partners (Nasdaq: VRTS).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Los Gatos Man Shoots 14 year old Girl

 Cecilia Mortensen 14 years old was shot by Jerry Wayne Steele the man who stalked and sexually assaulted her. The girl and her mother had to move

to Crescent City California to get away from this predator.  Some how he found out where they had moved too and this sick son of b---- shot Cecilia and her mother on June 14, 2011. Cecilia was taken off life

support on June 17, 2011, her mother survived. Jerry Wayne Steele the punk a-- coward shot and killed himself. I can’t for the life of me understand what the heck is wrong with our justice system. I know the

authorities had to have known that Jerry Wayne Steele was a menace to society, any time Cecilia and her mother had to move to get away from

this piece of scum. They found a kidnapping kit, stuff animal and flowers in his car, Really! I blame the authorities for Cecilia’s death too,because you’re innocent until proven guilty. I the case of sexual

assault, the law should be changed. The individual should be charged immediately no bail, get them off the streets so this kind of thing can stop happening. I live in San Jose near Los Gatos, I frequent Los Gatos

often I wonder if I have seen this scum in passing you never know.

LM

http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_18316005?source=rss

Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Statement 06-22-11

What follows is a verbatim copy of the Monetary Policy Statement of the Federal Reserve's Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC). The policy statement was released on June 22 at the conclusion of the Fed's two-day meeting. The Fed held rates steady and announced it would conclude its purchases of $600 billion of longer term Treasury securities by the end of this month.

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Federal Reserve Monetary Policy Statement

Release Date: June 22, 2011

For immediate release

Information received since the Federal Open Market Committee met in April indicates that the economic recovery is continuing at a moderate pace, though somewhat more slowly than the Committee had expected. Also, recent labor market indicators have been weaker than anticipated. The slower pace of the recovery reflects in part factors that are likely to be temporary, including the damping effect of higher food and energy prices on consumer purchasing power and spending as well as supply chain disruptions associated with the tragic events in Japan. Household spending and business investment in equipment and software continue to expand. However, investment in nonresidential structures is still weak, and the housing sector continues to be depressed. Inflation has picked up in recent months, mainly reflecting higher prices for some commodities and imported goods, as well as the recent supply chain disruptions. However, longer-term inflation expectations have remained stable.

Consistent with its statutory mandate, the Committee seeks to foster maximum employment and price stability. The unemployment rate remains elevated; however, the Committee expects the pace of recovery to pick up over coming quarters and the unemployment rate to resume its gradual decline toward levels that the Committee judges to be consistent with its dual mandate. Inflation has moved up recently, but the Committee anticipates that inflation will subside to levels at or below those consistent with the Committee's dual mandate as the effects of past energy and other commodity price increases dissipate. However, the Committee will continue to pay close attention to the evolution of inflation and inflation expectations.

To promote the ongoing economic recovery and to help ensure that inflation, over time, is at levels consistent with its mandate, the Committee decided today to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0 to 1/4 percent. The Committee continues to anticipate that economic conditions--including low rates of resource utilization and a subdued outlook for inflation over the medium run--are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate for an extended period. The Committee will complete its purchases of $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by the end of this month and will maintain its existing policy of reinvesting principal payments from its securities holdings. The Committee will regularly review the size and composition of its securities holdings and is prepared to adjust those holdings as appropriate.

The Committee will monitor the economic outlook and financial developments and will act as needed to best foster maximum employment and price stability.

Voting for the FOMC monetary policy action were: Ben S. Bernanke, Chairman; William C. Dudley, Vice Chairman; Elizabeth A. Duke; Charles L. Evans; Richard W. Fisher; Narayana Kocherlakota; Charles I. Plosser; Sarah Bloom Raskin; Daniel K. Tarullo; and Janet L. Yellen.



Article should interest investors in Bank of America (NYSE: BAC), J.P. Morgan Chase (NYSE: JPM), Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS), Citigroup (NYSE: C), Morgan Stanley (NYSE: MS), Wells Fargo (NYSE: WFC), TD Bank (NYSE: TD), PNC Bank (NYSE: PNC), State Street (NYSE: STT), Janus (NYSE: JNS), T. Rowe Price (Nasdaq: TROW), General Electric (NYSE: GE), Wal-Mart (NYSE: WMT), McDonald's (NYSE: MCD), Alcoa (NYSE: AA), American Express (NYSE: AXP), Boeing (NYSE: BA), Caterpillar (NYSE: CAT), Cisco Systems (Nasdaq: CSCO), Chevron (NYSE: CVX), DuPont (NYSE: DD), Walt Disney (NYSE: DIS), Home Depot (NYSE: HD), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), Intel (Nasdaq: INTC), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Kraft (NYSE: KFT), Coca-Cola (NYSE: KO), 3M (NYSE: MMM), Merck (NYSE: MRK), Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT), Pfizer (NYSE: PFE), Procter & Gamble (NYSE: PG), AT&T (NYSE: T), Travelers (NYSE: TRV), United Technologies (NYSE: UTX), Verizon (NYSE: VZ), Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM), Paychex (Nasdaq: PAYX), Manpower (NYSE: MAN), Robert Half International (NYSE: RHI), 51Job Inc. (Nasdaq: JOBS), Monster World Wide (NYSE: MWW), Korn/Ferry International (NYSE: KFY), Administaff (NYSE: ASF), Kforce (Nasdaq: KFRC), TrueBlue (NYSE: TBI), Dice Holdings (NYSE: DHX), Kelly Services (Nasdaq: KELYA), SFN Group (NYSE: SFN), CDI Corp. (NYSE: CDI), Cross Country Healthcare (Nasdaq: CCRN), On Assignment (Nasdaq: ASGN), AMN Healthcare Services (NYSE: AHS), Barrett Business Services (Nasdaq: BBSI), Hudson Highland Group (Nasdaq: HHGP), StarTek (NYSE: SRT), RCM Technologies (Nasdaq: RCMT), VirtualScopics (Nasdaq: VSCP), General Employment Enterprises (NYSE: JOB) and TeamStaff (Nasdaq: TSTF).

Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.