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Politics : Sioux Nation -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Rock_nj who wrote (162750)	3/10/2009 4:19:32 PM
From: SiouxPal	2 Recommendations Respond to of 361849

I haven't forgotten Rudy and 9/11.

To: Rock_nj who wrote (162750)	3/10/2009 6:57:46 PM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361849

Stocks Post Best Rally of 2009 on Improving Citigroup Outlook By Rita Nazareth and Lynn Thomasson March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Stocks around the world staged the biggest rally of the year after Citigroup Inc. said it was having its best quarter since 2007, spurring speculation the worst of the banking crisis is over. Treasuries and gold fell. Citigroup jumped 38 percent as Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit wrote in an internal memorandum that the bank, which reported five straight quarterly losses, was profitable in the first two months of 2009. JPMorgan Chase & Co. climbed 23 percent and Bank of America Corp. surged 28 percent as Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke urged an overhaul of financial regulations. General Electric Co. rose 20 percent, its steepest advance since at least 1980. “If we’re not at a bottom, we’re pretty close,” said Michael Binger, Minneapolis-based fund manager at Thrivent Asset Management, which oversees about $60 billion. “It’s time to start putting money into stocks. Stocks are cheap and worldwide stimulus will eventually help lift earnings.” The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounded from a 12-year low, increasing 6.4 percent to 719.6 as all 10 industry groups rose more than 2.3 percent. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 379.44 points, or 5.8 percent, to 6,926.49. The S&P 500 and Dow posted their best gains since November, while the MSCI World had its steepest rally since December. Still, the advance only lifted the indexes to the highest levels since Feb. 27. About 16 stocks rose for each that fell on the New York Stock Exchange. Some 13.9 billion shares changed hands on all U.S. exchanges, the most since Feb. 27. About 1.1 billion Citigroup shares traded, the fourth-most ever for a single stock. ‘Heal Up’ The S&P 500 Financials Index, which sank to an almost 17- year low on March 6, rebounded 16 percent today for its steepest advance since Nov. 24. The gauge of 81 banks, insurers and investment companies has lost 81 percent since its February 2007 record. U.S. government programs meant to stabilize the banking system have totaled $11.6 trillion in the past 19 months. The funding may spark a rebound in stocks through April, investor Marc Faber told Bloomberg Television yesterday. “The system continues to heal up, which is good for stocks,” said Peter Sorrentino, who helps manage $15.5 billion at Huntington Asset Advisors in Cincinnati. “The fact that they’re trying everything they can to make the system reliable helps dissuade fears, bringing people back into the market.” The VIX, as the Chicago Board Options Exchange Volatility Index is known, dropped 11 percent to 44.37, the lowest in almost a month. The index measures the cost of using options as insurance against declines in the S&P 500. ‘Disappointed’ Citigroup, which has been rescued three times by the government, surged 40 cents to $1.45. JPMorgan rallied $3.60 to $19.50. Bank of America, the nation’s biggest bank by assets, advanced $1.04 to $4.79. Wells Fargo & Co. climbed 18 percent to $11.81. Citigroup’s Pandit said the company was profitable in January and February and he was “disappointed” with the current share price, which he said was based on misconceptions about the bank and its financial position. The bank, once the world’s biggest by market value, fell below $1 for the first time last week as investors lost confidence that the company can recover from five quarters of losses totaling more than $37.5 billion. “You have to be a little suspicious of what these major financial leaders say because some of the things they’ve said in the past haven’t been forthcoming,” said Randy Frederick, director of trading and derivatives at Charles Schwab & Co. in Austin, Texas. “Citigroup is the poster child for this whole financial meltdown.” Regulation Overhaul A revamp in regulation for the financial industry would help smooth out its boom-and-bust cycles, Bernanke said. He recommended lawmakers and supervisors rethink everything from the amounts firms set aside against potential trading losses and deposit-insurance fees to protections for money-market funds. “Governments around the world must continue to take forceful and, when appropriate, coordinated actions to restore financial market functioning and the flow of credit,” Bernanke said in remarks prepared for an address to the Council on Foreign Relations in Washington. “Until we stabilize the financial system, a sustainable economic recovery will remain out of reach.” The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission may consider at a meeting next month that the so-called uptick rule, which aimed to curb speculators who seek to drive down stock prices, be reinstated. The rule bars investors from betting against a stock until it sells at a higher price than the preceding trade. GE Recovers General Electric advanced $1.46 to $8.87, paring its 2009 loss to 45 percent. The cost to protect against a default by its finance arm fell to the lowest in seven days after the company yesterday sold $8 billion of government-backed debt. A gauge of European banks posted the biggest advance among 19 industry groups in the Stoxx 600, adding 13 percent. Barclays Plc gained 9.9 percent on speculation it has sufficient capital and won’t need to use the government’s asset protection program. Copper rose, driving up shares of its producers, on speculation China imported more metal last month, while inventories monitored by the London Metal Exchange declined for a ninth straight session. Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc., the world’s largest publicly traded copper producer, advanced 5.7 percent to $34.17. United Technologies Corp. increased 8.6 percent, the most since October, to $40.79. The maker of Otis elevators and Carrier air conditioners plans to cut 11,600 jobs as the weakening economy leads to lower sales and profit than previously projected. The U.S. jobless rate will reach 9.4 percent this year and remain elevated through at least 2011, a monthly Bloomberg News survey indicated. Office Depot Rallies Office Depot Inc. had the biggest gain in the S&P 500, surging 56 percent to 92 cents. The world’s second-largest office-supplies retailer said that first-quarter earnings before interest and taxes will be “significantly better” than the previous period. AT&T Inc. led a gauge of telecommunications companies in the S&P 500 up 6.1 percent, the steepest rally in three months. The second-largest telephone company advanced 6 percent to $23.02 after the Federal Communications Commission rejected M2Z Networks Inc.’s application for a license to operate a free nationwide wireless network. AT&T also said it plans to spend more than $17 billion in 2009, mainly on expanding its networks. Almost 3,000 jobs will be added this year, the company said in a statement. Rohm & Haas Takeover Rohm & Haas Co. added 5.4 percent to $78, the highest price since at least 1980. Dow Chemical Co., the largest U.S. chemical maker, agreed to complete its $15.3 billion buyout of rival Rohm & Haas by April 1 to settle a lawsuit. Dow rose 8.5 percent to $6.87. Treasuries fell, sending yields on 10-year bonds up 0.13 percentage point to 2.99 percent. Gold futures retreated 2.4 percent to $895.90 an ounce, a one-month low, as the rally in equities reduced the appeal of the precious metal as an alternative investment. Jeremy Grantham, who oversees $85 billion as chief investment strategist of Grantham Mayo Van Otterloo & Co., urged investors to start moving money from cash to stocks. Grantham, who last year reversed his decade-long bearish stance on stocks, said he expects equities to post annual returns of 10 percent to 13 percent after inflation in the next seven years. “Typically, those with a lot of cash will miss a very large chunk of the market recovery,” Grantham wrote in a March 4 commentary posted today on the Boston-based firm’s Web site. To contact the reporters on this story: Rita Nazareth in New York at nazareth@bloomberg.net; Lynn Thomasson in New York at lthomasson@bloomberg.net. Last Updated: March 10, 2009 16:47 EDT

To: Rock_nj who wrote (162750)	3/11/2009 12:29:57 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361849

Paulson May Make $428 Million Shorting Lloyds & HBOs (Update1) By Andrew MacAskill March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Paulson & Co., the hedge-fund firm that made more than $3 billion betting the U.S. housing market would collapse, may have made 311 million pounds ($428 million) since September by short selling Lloyds Banking Group Plc and HBOS Plc. Paulson, run by billionaire John Paulson, took short positions in Lloyds and HBOS valued at about 367 million pounds in September, based on the holdings and share prices on the dates they were reported. The position equaled 0.79 percent of London-based Lloyds, or 129.1 million shares, after the banks merged and holdings were diluted by a government investment. That position was worth about 56 million pounds on March 9, when it fell below the reporting threshold. Lloyds, which surrendered control to the government on March 7 in return for asset guarantees, is down 82 percent since Paulson first disclosed a short position in the bank. Paulson made at least 295 million pounds by shorting Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc when the fund closed its position in the bank in January after five months. “They have called the market right,” Leigh Goodwin, a financial analyst at Fox-Pitt Kelton Ltd. in London, said of Paulson’s firm. “They obviously have decided that the downside is limited, so there is not a great benefit from here on in holding that position.” Paulson’s potential profit from shorting U.K. banks stands at 606 million pounds. Armel Leslie, a spokesman for New York- based Paulson & Co., declined to comment. Lloyds closed at 43.7 pence a share on March 9, down 82 percent since Sept. 23, when Paulson’s short position peaked. Short sellers sell borrowed shares with plans to buy them back later at a lower price. Betting On Subprime Paulson’s Credit Opportunities Fund soared almost sixfold in 2007 on bets that subprime mortgages would plummet. Last year, his flagship fund returned 37 percent, compared with a loss of 19 percent for hedge funds on average. Paulson, which oversees about $30 billion, has held a short position of 1.17 percent in Barclays Plc since Oct. 30, according to regulatory filings. Shares of the third-largest U.K. bank have fallen 67 percent since that date. Prime Minister Gordon Brown’s government has taken control of four British banks since the run on Northern Rock Plc in September 2007 as it seeks to boost lending and stimulate economic growth. Lloyds agreed to buy HBOS in September in a government- brokered deal, saddling it with risky loans and investments that slashed profit and forced it to turn to the government for capital and asset guarantees. Ban Lifted The Financial Services Authority, the U.K. market regulator, lifted a short-selling ban on financial companies on Jan. 16. The restrictions were imposed in September as politicians and investors blamed hedge funds for destabilizing markets. Hedge funds are private, largely unregulated pools of capital whose managers can bet on falling as well as rising asset prices, and participate substantially in profits from money invested. Paulson had a short position of 1.76 percent in Lloyds on Sept. 23, when the stock traded for 261.75 pence, the firm said in a regulatory statement. It held a 0.95 percent position in HBOS on Sept. 19, when the stock traded for 216.83 pence. Paulson’s position in Lloyds Banking Group, created by the merger of the two banks, fell below the reporting threshold of 0.25 percent on March 9. To contact the reporter on this story: Andrew MacAskill in London at amacaskill@bloomberg.net Last Updated: March 10, 2009 23:08 EDT

To: Rock_nj who wrote (162750)	3/11/2009 12:32:06 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361849

Hedge Funds Lost $11 Billion in February on Economy (Update1) By Tomoko Yamazaki March 11 (Bloomberg) -- Investors pulled out a total of $11 billion from hedge funds in February as stocks worldwide tumbled amid signs a global recession is deepening. Redemptions were about a third of the value in January, after the industry lost about $400 billion from its June peak to December through market losses and withdrawals, a preliminary Eurekahedge report showed. The February figures were based on 41 percent of funds that disclosed estimates by March 10 to the Singapore-based research firm. The Eurekahedge Hedge Fund Index tracking more than 2,000 funds worldwide declined 0.5 percent last month, bringing its year-to-date loss to 0.4 percent. February’s drop compared with a 10 percent slide in the MSCI World Index, which tracks stocks in 23 developed nations. “It’s only natural that the redemptions are easing after what we saw last year,” said James Fiorillo, managing principal at Tokyo-based investment advisory firm Ottoman Capital Japan. “The fact of the matter is hedge funds have taken a lot of risk off the table now, and that’s why they are slowly starting to outperform.” The hedge-fund industry shrank more than 20 percent to $1.5 trillion at the end of December from a peak of $1.9 trillion in 2008 as the credit crisis crippled returns, prompting investors to withdraw funds. The global hedge-fund index slid 12 percent last year, the most since Eurekahedge first published the figures in 2000. The global economy is likely to shrink for the first time since World War II, and trade will decline by the most in 80 years, the World Bank said in a March 8 report. Its assessment is more pessimistic than an International Monetary Fund report in January predicting 0.5 percent global growth this year. Arbitrage Strategies By region, the Eurekahedge Latin American Hedge Fund Index was the best performer in February, gaining 0.7 percent in part because local currencies weakened against the dollar, Eurekahedge said. A measure tracking Japan-focused funds lost 2.1 percent, the biggest drop, as economic data signaled a deepening recession in the world’s second-largest economy. The Eurekahedge North American Index declined 0.9 percent, while measures tracking Asian and European funds fell 0.7 percent each because of slumping stock prices. Four of nine measures tracking different hedge-fund strategies gained in February. Managers that used so-called arbitrage had the biggest advance, a 1 percent gain, on further tightening of convertible arbitrage spreads, the report said. So-called macro funds that wager on trends in stocks, bonds and currencies worldwide, and multistrategy managers, who trade everything from equities to commodities, gained 0.8 percent and 0.5 percent respectively, by selling stocks and betting on currencies and commodities, the report said. Fixed Income Gains Managers investing in fixed income gained 0.7 percent as Treasuries rose in the second half of the month on signs of increased demand for government-backed debt. Those employing relative value methods that take advantage of price or spread differences fell 1.7 percent, the worst performance, while hedge funds investing in distressed debt fell 1.1 percent, and so-called long-short equity funds lost 1.2 percent. Eurekahedge plans to release a full report on March 17. Hedge funds are mostly private pools of capital whose managers participate substantially in the profits from their speculation on whether the price of assets will rise or fall. To contact the reporter on this story: Tomoko Yamazaki in Tokyo at tyamazaki@bloomberg.net Last Updated: March 10, 2009 22:17 EDT

To: Rock_nj who wrote (162750)	3/11/2009 7:17:44 AM
From: stockman_scott	Respond to of 361849

Vaunted Obama message machine is off-key _______________________________________________________________ Tue Mar 10, 2009 8:49pm EDT By Steve Holland - Analysis WASHINGTON (Reuters) - When billionaire investor Warren Buffett says President Barack Obama's economic message is muddled and undermining public confidence, it's worth listening. Halfway through his first 100 days in office, ace communicator Obama has struggled to find the right tone in talking about the economy, twinning bleak warnings with optimism about the future. On the campaign trail, Obama said a president must be able to do more than one thing at a time, and his White House has been doing that. He and his aides have interspliced comments about the economy while launching theme-of-the-day initiatives on healthcare, stem cell research and on Tuesday, education. Last week the White House spent some time accusing conservative radio talk show host Rush Limbaugh of being leader of the Republican Party. But Obama, together with Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, White House economic guru Lawrence Summers and others have so far failed to explain how they plan to rescue American banks, some of which are teetering on the brink of collapse. There is talk of "stress tests" for troubled banks, or nationalizing them or letting some fail -- but no clear plan. Buffett, an informal Obama adviser considered a financial seer on Wall Street, told CNBC on Monday the message has to be "very, very clear as to what government will be doing." "And I think we've had, and it's the nature of the political process somewhat, but we've had muddled messages and the American public does not know. They feel they don't know what's going on, and their reaction then is to absolutely pull back," he said. At the White House, spokesman Robert Gibbs reacted defensively, saying Obama has only been in office seven weeks and it should be no surprise that "all of the problems that took many years to take hold haven't necessarily been solved." Obama, at Tuesday's education event, rejected criticism that he is trying to do too many things at once, citing three predecessors who managed to juggle challenges on many fronts --Abraham Lincoln, Franklin Roosevelt and John Kennedy. "President Kennedy didn't have the luxury of choosing between civil rights and sending us to the moon. And we don't have the luxury of choosing between getting our economy moving now and rebuilding it over the long term," he said. Obama is benefiting from high popular support. Polls give him a 60 percent approval rating and experts say voters seem willing to give him time to get his sea legs. "You've got a public that is going to cut the president some slack and understands this is a deep-seated problem," said American Enterprise Institute political analyst Norman Ornstein. COULD BE A PROBLEM BY SUMMER "But if there's no sign of progress of any sort, no sign that the policies he implemented beginning in January and February are doing anything by June, July or August, then he's going to have a bigger political problem," Ornstein said. University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato said the administration has left the public confused about what will happen to the banks and may be inadvertently sending a message that "the problem may be too big for government to solve." "I can't figure out what they're talking about on the banks," he said. Tony Fratto, a former Treasury and White House spokesman for former President George W. Bush, said a muddled message was not the only problem. "It's not just a message problem. It's partially a fact problem, and that is the market is not getting clear information on what Treasury's intentions are for the rest of this program," he said. (Editing by Alan Elsner) © Thomson Reuters 2008.