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Vi, to your point re. GS, here are a few thoughts on this subject provided today on ZeroHedge. Two
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One month ago Zero Hedge proposed the following questions to Goldman Sachs in response to their vehement denials of HFT abuse:
1. Regarding revenue percentages - We are happy to read Goldman's broad generalizations: yet, if on 98% of SLP trades, which amount to anywhere between 600 million and 1 billion weekly, Goldman collect the generous $0.0015 rebate, it is a little troubling to see how this gift from the NYSE to Goldman could be so marginal. Also, could Goldman account for Implementation Shortfall costs associated of its SLP monopolization? We would be surprised if "slippage" profits did not fall under the HFT revenue umbrella. Maybe in their next 10-Q Goldman can provide some much needed detail to further elaborate this issue.
2. Regarding Flash - Perhaps Mr. Tusar can clarify some of the numerous questions we have had regarding use of Flash on SIGMA X. Furthermore, it is our understanding that Goldman does in fact allow external liquidity providers on SIGMA X, which are known as XLPs. Can Goldman please clarify who these are? By what definition would XLPs not be part of "client order flow." And, additionally, we would be excited to find out specifics on how GS' Dark Pool Flash knowledge is kept isolated from Goldman SLP trading flow.
3. Regarding Physical separation - It is refreshing that Goldman believes in the concept of Chinese walls. Since we are on the topic, would it be possible for Goldman to provide a snapshot of its trading floor and to distinguish where the flow traders and major fixed income and equity account salespeople sit in relation to prop traders and their analysts? We believe Goldman's credibility of a "force for good" would benefit significantly if readers knew that Goldman's prop traders were not constantly within earshot of hearing how many million shares of company X Fidelity may be buying, or how many million notional in CDS of company Y Och-Ziff may be a size buyer of.
Today, question 3 gets broad exposure in an interview in Daily Finance, where none other than former Council of Economic Advisors Chair (where he was succeeded by San Fran Fed's Janet Yellen), and 2001 Nobel Prize Winner in Economics Joseph Stiglitz discusses the implications how Goldman Sachs could potentially be abusing what is affectionately known on Wall Street as Information Asymmetry:
The main problem that Goldman raises is a question of size: 'too big to fail.' In some markets, they have a significant fraction of trades. Why is that important? They trade both on their proprietary desk and on behalf of customers. When you do that and you have a significant fraction of all trades, you have a lot of information. That raises the potential of conflicts of interest, problems of front-running, using that inside information for your proprietary desk. And that's why the Volcker report came out and said that we need to restrict the kinds of activity that these large institutions have. If you're going to trade on behalf of others, if you're going to be a commercial bank, you can't engage in certain kinds of risk-taking behavior.
Stiglitz' other contention that Goldman is a market behemoth whose break up (and not merely in the context of too much risk) deserves close scrutiny, is well known and is shared by many finance professionals. Zero Hedge has repeatedly attempted to draw the attention of Chrstine Varney to the issues of not only market dominance by various HFT and related topics as the new paradigm that needs careful anti-trust evaluation, but of Goldman Sachs, as the biggest purveyor of such dominance, desperately begging a review of Monopolist status. And while Goldman's control of the equity market is second to none, would a Goldman overture to do a roll up of virtually the entire fixed income industry pass anti-competitive muster? The collapse of FI powerhouses Bear and Lehman allowed it to do just that, and at essentially no cost to it whatsoever. Net result: in the world of capital markets, Goldman has domination over both Fixed Income and Equity product trading, and not only that, but it is the venue through which the bulk of all other financial participants trade (see REDI, Sigma X, Sonar, Etc.) as well as having an infinitely backstopped balance sheet to trade out of its own account, which probably does not even need the Fed's daily liquidity pump to have a 99.999% profitable trading days ratio.
One hopes that anti-trust regulators wake up to this issue before it is too late. However, if the SEC is any proxy for government agency efficiency, it probably already
OT: Gosh, I'm so very, very distressed to read that ratings at CNBS have dropped off a cliff! This is horrible news and must be corrected quickly to preserve the integrity of financial reporting. I'm going to suggest right away that the likes of Steve Lies-man be replaced by a busty blonde bimbo who has the ability to stimulate a rise in the size of their audience. ZeroHedge provided this story about the network's "challenge." Two
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CNBC continues to bleed viewers. Whereas the last time we provided an update of CNBC's Nielsen score, the GE subsidiary was down 28% YoY, the September decline is even more pronounced: at 37% in total vierwers and 26% in the 25-54 demographic. We are, however, confident that the company will take appropriate measures to address the growing lack of interest of the general public in its content by continuing to provide hard hitting, probing and objective reporting (on issues such as pornogprahy) day after day.
Welcome back, NM. Might you be a day early as far as shorting? JesseL on "Jesse's Americain Cafe" had this to say (sell Rosh Hashana, which is tomorrow, and buy Yom Kippur?). Two
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16 September 2009
Stock Market Rally: Shenanigans Abounding
This is just an opinion, and it could be wrong, as all opinions may be.
To be long US equities at this point seems risky, bordering on reckless, for anything but a daytrade. And there is plenty of that going on.
The US markets in general have every mark of a maturing Ponzi scheme in the steady run ups on weakness, and the ramps into the close with the selling after hours on weak volumes.
But why?
Thursday is option expiration, a quadruple witch as we recall. September is one of the big ones, often setting up declines in the month of October. Further, we have Rosh Hoshanah beginning at sundown on Friday September 18. As the saying goes, Sell Rosh HaShana and Buy Yom Kippur.
The government is anxious to encourage 'confidence' to the extent of skewing the statistics to create hope in the public, the consumers. The banks are flush with liquidity, but really have no place to put it but for a minimal return at Treasury, or in some hot money trades. They certainly are not interested in making new loans, but the credit card business is reaping some nicely usurious returns between fees and 26% interest at the drop of a hat.
Where is Goldman Sachs business revenue and profit coming from now? How much real investment banking is being done? How much M&A activity and IPOs are there to sustain it at this size, unscathed by the recent market downturns?
Obama and his team have NO credibility for reform on Wall Street after their handling of Goldman Sachs and the AIG payouts. We hear that Goldman had shopped the idea of those derivatives to the London office of AIG which was up for a quick quid, became their biggest customer, and then when the music stopped they managed to obtain the 100 cents on the dollar payouts from the government even as AIG became hopelessly insolvent.
Bonds, stocks, metals, sugar, cocoa, and oil are all moving higher, while the dollar sinks. Is the dollar funding a new carry trade?
The markets are increasingly the flavor of choice, and if the markets do not show a way, they will make one. Volatility is a screaming buy. Put vertical spreads are remarkably cheap.
Be careful. October looks to be the stormiest of months, if we hold out until then. The market is overdue for a correction, which can be up to 20%. Given the distance we have come on thin volume, what may make this correction shocking is the speed with which it will come.
Watch the VIX.
We remain guardedly 'optimistic' on the markets for next year ONLY because of the Fed's and Treasury's willingness to continue to debase the dollar to cover the massive unrealized losses in the banks' portfolios, even as they return to manipulating markets in business as usual.
Inflation is good for financial assets, and we think another bubble is in the cards, at least for now given Obama's unwillingness to reform, unless some exogenous event or actor intervenes. The other troubling thing is the lack of vigor in the real economy. The stagnation in median real wages is strangling the middle class. There can be no resurgent economy without them.
As much of an outlier it might seem, it is possible that Bernanke and the Treasury might lead the US into a stagnation similar to Japan, but with stagflation, because of their policy errors driven by the distorting demands of an outsized and corrupting financial sector.
Wall Street is throwing buckets of money at Washington to fight even a moderate reform such as a financial 'consumer protection agency.' These fellows will never quit, until they are stopped. And it does not appear that Obama and his cronies have the traction or the fortitude to get the job done.
Until the banks are restrained, and the financial system is reformed, and balance is restored to the economy, there will be no sustained recovery.
Posted by Jesse at 2:45 PM
FYI...I posted McHugh's analysis on POKERSAM's site earlier. Sure would be interested in your thoughts, as well. TIA. Two
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Prices continue to follow the exact path we have been annotating for a Rising Bearish Wedge termination pattern for the final wave C-up for this Bear Market rally that started back in March 2009. This pattern has served us well so far in tracking prices. This week's large price rally follows that pattern closely. If a Rising Wedge is occurring, each of the five component waves should be three wave moves. So far we can label three waves for the first two component waves, (A) up and (B) down. The rally from the September 2nd bottom has seen wave a-up and b-down of (C ) up of C-u p. This week's rally looks to be a good portion of wave c-up of (C ) up. The upper boundary of this Rising Wedge suggests wave (C ) up could top around 1,080 to 1,100 in the S&P500, to be followed by a wave (D) corrective decline. Wave (E) up of C-up will eventually finish (B) up. There is also the possibility that this pattern will morph into something else, but so far so good. The 30 and 60 minute Full Stochastics suggest an overbought market exists very short-term, meaning markets are vulnerable to a short-term decline, while the 15 minute FS gives indecisive guidance.
Our next phi mate turn date is approaching, around September 25th +/- a few days. There is an associated Fibonacci Cluster turn window with several (7) prior tops or bottoms a Fibonacci number of trading days from this window, with many of those prior turns major turns, suggesting this coming late September turn could be meaningful. It is hard to tell at this point whether it will be the top of wave C-up and (B) up, or the top of (C ) up, or whether it will be a bottom, perhaps wave (D) down and mark the kickoff to a final large price move, wave (E) up.
FYI...the latest McHugh prognostication. Anyone agree, disagree...especially with his projected SPX top of between 1080-1100 top followed by a corrective wave (d) decline? Two
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Prices continue to follow the exact path we have been annotating for a Rising Bearish Wedge termination pattern for the final wave C-up for this Bear Market rally that started back in March 2009. This pattern has served us well so far in tracking prices. This week's large price rally follows that pattern closely. If a Rising Wedge is occurring, each of the five component waves should be three wave moves. So far we can label three waves for the first two component waves, (A) up and (B) down. The rally from the September 2nd bottom has seen wave a-up and b-down of (C ) up of C-u p. This week's rally looks to be a good portion of wave c-up of (C ) up. The upper boundary of this Rising Wedge suggests wave (C ) up could top around 1,080 to 1,100 in the S&P500, to be followed by a wave (D) corrective decline. Wave (E) up of C-up will eventually finish (B) up. There is also the possibility that this pattern will morph into something else, but so far so good. The 30 and 60 minute Full Stochastics suggest an overbought market exists very short-term, meaning markets are vulnerable to a short-term decline, while the 15 minute FS gives indecisive guidance.
Our next phi mate turn date is approaching, around September 25th +/- a few days. There is an associated Fibonacci Cluster turn window with several (7) prior tops or bottoms a Fibonacci number of trading days from this window, with many of those prior turns major turns, suggesting this coming late September turn could be meaningful. It is hard to tell at this point whether it will be the top of wave C-up and (B) up, or the top of (C ) up, or whether it will be a bottom, perhaps wave (D) down and mark the kickoff to a final large price move, wave (E) up.
Mr. Bear...of course, of course. Thanks for steering me in the right direction! Two
Thanks, Lindy, this is an interesting indicator. Two
Thanks, capt_jmj. Can't seem to find anything like it on prophet.net's charting system? But I'm always looking for new ideas. Two
blasher, you might enjoy RobotTrader's market analysis on ZeroHedge. Two
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/o-team-cranks-hellbot-6th-gear-pinned
Good morning, Lindy. What does "PPO" stand for, please? I'm trying to find its equivalent on prophet.net's charting system in order to set up a chart like yours. Thanks for posting that chart. Two
OT: Now you can get yourself a new car and drive it free for 59 days just for the price of insurance (from Denninger's site). Two
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60 Day Insurance-Only Lease Program (GM)
Since our nation is now one of grift, fraud and corruption, reaching to the heights of our government including Congress and certain "favored" organizations, I am coming around to the idea that individual consumers should avail themselves of every opportunity to act exactly like Wall Street and Congress!
Specifically, you can drive a brand new car for the price of insurance only for 60 days.
All you have to do is buy a GM car and be "dissatisfied" with it between 31 and 59 days after the purchase.
Don't trade in another vehicle, and you'll have to pay the registration fees, but even sales tax is refunded.
You can't wreck it, you can't lease it, you can't put more than 4,000 miles on it (in two months that's unlikely), you can't have more than $200 in damage to it, you can't trash it and you must provide insurance for it but heh, this is a hell of a deal - and a real economic stimulus.
After all, driving a free new car for two months is a real "steal", right?
That beats HERTZ on a per-day basis by a country mile, no?
OT: According to Ron Paul, the Fed is more powerful than our government and Bernanke has more power than our president (from ZeroHedge). Is anyone listening? Two
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http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ron-paul-goldman-sachs-has-lot-influence-our-treasury-and-lot-influence-our-federal-reserve
Well, how about Sept. 11, 2002, a year after the attack? They closed the SPX at 911. Coincidence? I think not. Two
Looking forward to it. By the way, the ramp into the close started promptly at 12:42 Eastern today. They're a little early today for some reason? But they can't allow 9/11 to close in the red, now can they? Two
Excellent. I agree that HFT/black boxes have hijacked the indexes. Has this enhanced our abilities as day traders, I wonder, or made them worse? Two
I tried opening it but it said "file not found"? Can you summarize? Thanks. Two
Perhaps you heard the CNBC "guru" this morning who stated there was a "high probability" the indexes wouldn't drop to the March lows. He attributed this "fact" to the improving economy and new-found investor confidence. The same optimism we heard all during 2008. What hucksters! Two
If you examine this six-month rally, it's apparent the declines have been well managed and designed to fool most traders' indicators. GS will let it down when it suits their needs. So, we'll probably get a pullback soon, but it may not be too deep. Just a breather before they push prices higher? Two
hog, it wasn't even a "gamble," especially when you have the government-provided money at your disposal and the HFT programs to ensure a 98 percent trading success ratio. As my eighth grade geometry teacher used to say, "It was a cakewalk." Two
Thanks...wish I knew more about EWT and could respond intellgently. But it appears to me that there are "forces" at work that have made all indicators, including EWT, prone to mistakes. The main "force" is liquidity provided by our government. Two
Interesting, Fox. Oct. 22-23 appears to be the Bradley turn period that follows Sept. 14-15. Two
Wish I could tell you, but I don't know (I'm no longer a subscriber)? But supposedly it's late September, well after the Bradley turn date of Sept. 14/15. Two
OT: Is is any wonder why the SPX has risen during these past six months? From ZH. Two
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Correlation Of S&P 500 Performance With Fed Monetization Activities Since Start Of QE
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 09/11/2009 00:59 -0500
...suffice it to say that since the launch of the Fed's Quantitative Easing, aka Monetization, program, the value of the Total Securities Held Outright on the Fed's Balance Sheet has increased by $917 billion- from $584 billion to $1.5 trillion. This has been accompanied by an almost linear increase in the S&P 500 Index, from 721 at QE announcement on March 18 to 1033 yesterday. This $917 billion in extra liquidity, instead of igniting an inflationary spark, as the QE program was designed to do, is now (metaphorically) sloshing around bank basements. As a reminder: the most recent reading of Total Deposit Reserves was... $886 billion dollars: An almost dollar for dollar match with the increase in Securities Held Outright of $917 billion. And instead of this excess money hitting broader aggregates such as M2 or MZM, it is held by the banks, who proceed to buy securities outright on their own, either Treasuries or Equities. Apply the proper "money multiplier" to get the monetary impact on the S&P 500, as a result of the banks not lending these excess reserves, and instead simply speculating with it, and you will likely get the increase in the market cap of the S&P since the launch of QE.
Hi, Fox. Wasn't your "girlfriend," Goldman's Cohen, telling viewers that the SPX would hit 1050 this year? Looks like she's keeping her promise (lol). Two
gloe, it sure looked at the start yesterday that the indexes might have a short pull-back, which would have validated your thinking. But rampant bullishness prevailed, I guess? By the way, here is a little more explanation from McHugh. Two
========================
This supports our pattern labeling that wave C-up of (B) up has further to rise. It looks to us as if the final wave C-up for this Bear Market rally that started back in March 2009 is forming a Rising Bearish Wedge.
If a Rising Wedge is occurring, each of the five component waves should be three wave moves. So far we can label three waves for the first two component waves, (A) up and (B) down. The rally from the September 2nd bottom is likely wave a-up of (C ) up of C-up. That means a mild correction could start soon and last for a few days, wave b-down of (C ) up. Wave (E) up of C-up will eventually finish (B) up. The 30 and 60 minute Full Stochastics suggest an overbought market exists very short-term, while the 15 minute FS gives indecisive guidance, meaning markets are vulnerable to a short-term decline.
If this Rising Wedge pattern is in fact happening, that is a great gift from the market, as Rising Wedges are termination patterns, and highly reliable, so this would be great guidance for when (B) up ends and catastrophic (C ) down starts. We will monitor this pattern closely as it further develops. The late September phi mate turn date could be very meaningful, and mark a major turn point. There is an associated Fibonacci Cluster turn window with several (7) prior tops or bottoms a Fibonacci number of trading days from this window, with many of those prior turns major turns.
Good morning, POKERSAM. What is your reaction to McHugh's latest wave analysis? TIA. Two
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This supports our pattern labeling that wave C-up of (B) up has further to rise. It looks to us as if the final wave C-up for this Bear Market rally that started back in March 2009 is forming a Rising Bearish Wedge.
If a Rising Wedge is occurring, each of the five component waves should be three wave moves. So far we can label three waves for the first two component waves, (A) up and (B) down. The rally from the September 2nd bottom is likely wave a-up of (C ) up of C-up. That means a mild correction could start soon and last for a few days, wave b-down of (C ) up. Wave (E) up of C-up will eventually finish (B) up. The 30 and 60 minute Full Stochastics suggest an overbought market exists very short-term, while the 15 minute FS gives indecisive guidance, meaning markets are vulnerable to a short-term decline.
If this Rising Wedge pattern is in fact happening, that is a great gift from the market, as Rising Wedges are termination patterns, and highly reliable, so this would be great guidance for when (B) up ends and catastrophic (C ) down starts. We will monitor this pattern closely as it further develops. The late September phi mate turn date could be very meaningful, and mark a major turn point. There is an associated Fibonacci Cluster turn window with several (7) prior tops or bottoms a Fibonacci number of trading days from this window, with many of those prior turns major turns.
gloe, I guess it didn't quite turn out the way you thought (as far as the index futures rolling over and the market changing direction)? Two
Lindy, I'm a bear...but not until we get by 9/11. In recent history, I can only remember one 9/11 that wasn't green, and you know which one I mean. Two
OT: An open letter to Bernanke from the Chinese Minister of Finance. Two
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Dear Esteemed Chairman and Savior of the World Economy:
On behalf of your many Chinese friends and all of the Chinese people, we wish to congratulate you on your recent reappointment as Chairman of the American Federal Reserve. We could not be more pleased to know that the man who saved the value of our Fannie Mae mortgage-backed securities last year will be the Great Monetary Helmsman for another four years.
We also note with satisfaction, and admiration, your many recent assurances, via the Wall Street Journal and various eloquent speeches, that you and the Fed have no intention of permitting a revival of dollar inflation. This is a source of great reassurance to the Chinese people, not to mention the bureaucracy in Beijing that made the decision to invest $1 trillion or more in dollar-denominated securities.
As you can imagine, this has become a source of some political controversy inside the government of the People's Republic, as we have also noted it has become in the irresponsible American financial press. Fortunately, we don't have the latter problem. But please know that we share your disdain for any voices in the unpatriotic media who would question your resolve to maintain the value of the world's reserve currency.
At the same time, and with the deepest respect, we also note with concern your decision this year to purchase U.S. Treasurys, which directly monetizes the debt built up by irresponsible democratic politicians. (This is one reason we Chinese are so skeptical of democracy; it always leads to a welfare state!) We must admit that that Treasury decision caught us by surprise, considering the many lectures over the years from our American friends about the importance of an independent central bank. Then again, the last year has seen America do many things that we once thought a capitalist economy would never do, wouldn't you agree?
With this in mind, we have decided to hedge our dollar bets and buy gold, oil and other commodities which will rise in value if the dollar falls. You may have therefore noticed that oil has risen above $71 a barrel, despite slack global demand, and in particular that gold has climbed this week above $1,000 an ounce.
Perhaps you have seen reports that we Chinese are doubling our reserves of gold and buying other related metals. Please do not be alarmed. This is the normal process of diversification that any trillion-dollar creditor would take, just in case the Federal Reserve's definition of an "extended period" for monetary easing turns out to be even more extended than we already assume it will be. We will only be too happy to cease this flight from dollar assets when we observe your determination to tighten money; surely this must be why President Obama selected you over the distinguished White House economic adviser, Lawrence Summers.
Once again, on behalf of all of the Chinese people, our heartiest congratulations.
Sincerely,
Ministry of Finance
Beijing
Who's that? There are so many! Two
OT: Here's a "green shoot" for you (from ZH). Two
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Smith & Wesson, the hand gun maker, threw out some good numbers last quarter. They also gave an improved outlook. The stock was up about 9% on the news.
As leading indicators go this is not a good one. We know that Americans are mad at just about everything. It would appear that they are afraid as well.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/smith-wesson-first-quarter-profit-rises-sharply-2009-09
fishbait, Obama doesn't lie. He's just a tad "disengenuous." There's a big difference, right (lol)? Two
At about 300K/month, that comes to 3.6 million foreclosures on an annualized basis. Should give you plenty of work, Foot. Two
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Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Foreclosure filings in the U.S. exceeded 300,000 for the sixth straight month as job losses that boosted the unemployment rate to a 26-year high left many homeowners unable to keep up with their mortgage payments.
A total of 358,471 properties received a default or auction notice or were seized last month, according to data provider RealtyTrac Inc. That’s up 18 percent from a year earlier, and down 0.5 percent from July, the Irvine, California-based company said in a statement. One in 357 households received a filing.
Foreclosures rose from a year earlier as companies cut payrolls by 216,000 workers last month, boosting the U.S. jobless rate to 9.7 percent, according to Labor Department data released last week. The rise in unemployment is having a bigger impact than an effort by the U.S. government and banks to modify mortgages and prevent foreclosures, said Morris A. Davis, an assistant real-estate professor at the Wisconsin School of Business.
“The foreclosure numbers are largely unemployment related,” Davis, a former Federal Reserve Board economist, said in an interview. “As long as 15 million Americans are unemployed, record foreclosures will continue.”
Foreclosures aren’t abating even as demand is returning to the U.S. housing market after a three-year slump. The number of contracts to buy previously owned homes rose more than forecast in July and increased for a record sixth consecutive month, while mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said the average price rose 1.7 percent in the second quarter.
Nevada Leads
Nevada had the highest foreclosure rate in August, with one in every 62 households receiving a filing, even with an 8.4 percent decrease in foreclosures from July, RealtyTrac said. August filings were up 53 percent from a year earlier, with 17,902 Nevada properties receiving a foreclosure filing.
The second-highest foreclosure rate in August was recorded in Florida, with one in every 140 households receiving a filing, followed by California, where one in 144 households received a foreclosure filing.
A 9.6 percent month-to-month decrease in filings helped lower Arizona’s foreclosure rate to fourth-highest in August from third-highest in July, RealtyTrac said. One in every 150 Arizona households received a foreclosure filing last month, still more than twice the national average, the company said.
Forty-seven banks have begun 360,165 modifications through the U.S. government’s Making Home Affordable program, up from about 235,247 in July, the U.S. Treasury said in a report yesterday.
Mortgage Modifications
Bank of America Corp. and Wells Fargo & Co., among the worst performers of banks in the foreclosure-prevention plan, stepped up their pace of mortgage modifications by at least 60 percent last month. Bank of America more than doubled its number of modifications started to 59,891 in August from July, while Wells Fargo increased by 64 percent to 33,172.
While the loan revamps may prevent some foreclosures, many homeowners facing repossession have prime loans, mortgages considered less risky than the subprime loans blamed for much of the housing crash, and can’t make their payments because of job losses, said Richard K. Green, director of the University of Southern California Lusk Center for Real Estate.
“When people live in a housing market that’s dropped 30 or 40 percent, and they lose their jobs, that’s a recipe for default,” Green said.
About 4.3 percent of U.S. homes, or one in 25 properties, were in foreclosure in the second quarter, the Washington-based Mortgage Bankers Association said last month. That’s the most in three decades of data, and loans overdue by at least 90 days, the point at which foreclosure proceedings typically begin, rose to 7.97 percent, the highest on record.
Michigan, Idaho
In the RealtyTrac survey, Michigan, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Georgia and Illinois accounted for the other states with the top 10 highest rates of foreclosure filings. Six states accounted for 62 percent of the nation’s foreclosure filings.
New Jersey had the 11th highest rate with 8,316 filings, a 28 percent increase from a year earlier. Connecticut ranked 24th with 2,189 filings, a 22 percent increase. New York had the 39th highest rate with 5,350 filings, down 2.3 percent.
Las Vegas had the highest foreclosure rate among metropolitan areas with a population of 200,000 or more. One in every 53 households received a notice in August, up 48 percent from a year earlier and down 11 percent from July. Also in Nevada, the Reno-Sparks area had the seventh-highest foreclosure rate, with one in 86 households receiving a filing, RealtyTrac said.
California’s Performance
California had six metropolitan areas among the top 10. Stockton and Merced ranked second and third; Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontario, Vallejo-Fairfield and Modesto were fourth through sixth; and Bakersfield was 10th. Two Florida metropolitan areas were in the top 10, with Orlando- Kissimmee at No. 8 and Cape Coral-Fort Myers at No. 9, according to RealtyTrac, which collects data from more than 2,200 counties representing 90 percent of the U.S. population.
To contact the reporter on this story: Daniel Taub in Los Angeles at dtaub@bloomberg.net.
Last Updated: September 10, 2009 00:00 EDT
I think you've got it right, euterpe1. Two
OT: ZeroHedge's take re. Da Boyz' strategy for today. Two
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HAL 9000 Readies for Obama's Re-Coronation
Submitted by RobotTrader on 09/09/2009 15:00 -0500
Classic whipsawing everywhere today in order to get the bewildered herd confused and nervous before Obama's big speech tonight. Odds are high that due to Obama's record low popularity and the collapse in employment data, the O-Team will pre-program HAL to launch stocks in order to avoid public embarrassment and humiliation tomorrow.
One can only speculate, but due to the "resilience" of the XLF today and the wildly successfull 10-year auction, the team will be primed to goose consumer sentiment by attempting to explode stocks up tomorrow. Anything other than a new breakout in stocks will be another sign of a colossal failure in the administration's policies.
HAL is now giving orders to spool up the Atomic Particle Accelerator (aka Goldman Prop Desk):
More clues are out there today, such as the continued ramping of various consumer stocks such as Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines.
euterpe1, here's one other thought. I know you trade a Rydex account like I do. When my daily charts suggest we're closing in on a top, instead of going to cash I take a straddle (equal long/short) position on the 2x index I'm trading. If the price goes higher, let's say, then I'll jettison my straddle and put on another straddle (at the higher price). When I'm sure I have the best position possible before a decline (or rally), I'll jettison the opposite position. If I'm wrong, I'll make readjustments by adding or subtracting from my position. Doesn't cost anything and it's usually successful. Two
We're in agreement. I think we're only a few days away from a short-term top, to be followed by a correction. I wonder what Blasher thinks? Two
I see what you're seeing. But I also see what my daily charts are telling me, and that is that the continuation of the rally from the close on 9/2 hasn't ended. We've got to get past 9/11 first. A little down tomorrow a.m.? Perhaps it's a negative reaction to Obama's speech tonight? Two
The "beige book" told everyone what they already know: the economy sucks. But what does the economy have to do with the stock market? Da Bozos will do what they want with us and our trading money. From the vantage point of my charts, it looks like we drop a little tomorrow, then start up again. They won't allow 9/11 to be negative. This fake rally hasn't ended, in my opinion. Two
LOL...what "cautiously optimistic factory owners"? Is there any manufacturing left in America? Two