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IMF to lower global growth forecasts: German paper
3:14am EDT
BERLIN (Reuters) - The International Monetary Fund will lower its forecasts for global economic growth to 3.3 percent this year and 3.6 percent in 2013 from earlier forecasts of 3.4 percent and 3.9 percent respectively, a Germany newspaper reported on Friday.
MORE - http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/05/us-imf-forecasts-idUSBRE89408220121005?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FbusinessNews+%28Business+News%29
Gold Trades Near 11-Month High as Stimulus Set to Boost Demand
By Chanyaporn Chanjaroen - Oct 5, 2012
Gold traded near the highest level in almost 11 months on speculation that central-bank stimulus from the U.S. to Europe and Japan will boost demand for the metal as a store of value.
Spot gold increased as much as 0.3 percent to $1,796.10 an ounce, the highest intraday level since Nov. 14, and traded at $1,791.48 as of 3:02 p.m. Singapore time. Platinum gained as much as 0.7 percent to $1,730.50 an ounce, a level last seen on Feb. 29, before trading at $1,719.79.
The European Central Bank is ready to start buying the bonds of indebted euro nations as soon as the necessary conditions are fulfilled, President Mario Draghi said yesterday, after policy makers left the benchmark interest rate at a historic low of 0.75 percent. Gold gained 11 percent in the third quarter, the most since June 2010, as the U.S. Federal Reserve announced a third round of monetary stimulus.
“The ECB comment is definitely helping gold and the market is also counting on the U.S. stimulus,” said Lynette Tan, an analyst at Phillip Futures Pte. in Singapore. “Prices will reach $1,850 by the end of the year.”
Gold for December delivery dropped 0.1 percent to $1,793.90 an ounce on the Comex in New York. Bullion traders are the most bullish in three weeks as investors’ holdings expanded to an all-time high. Twenty of 32 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg expect prices to gain next week, while nine were bearish and three were neutral.
Record Holdings
Bullion held in exchange-traded products expanded 11.14 metric tons, or 0.4 percent, to a record 2,565.472 tons as of yesterday, according to data tracked by Bloomberg.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-05/gold-advances-to-11-month-high-as-stimulus-set-to-boost-demand.html
Cramer: Beware, The Romney Bounce Will Be Short-lived http://t.co/NR8hByVt
LOL, great post True. Are you in a neighborhood that will be going out of business soon? Seems every other week SOME area out there is going broke. GOOD LUCK!
BOJ Refrains From More Stimulus as Political Pressure Mounts
By Toru Fujioka - Oct 5, 2012
The Bank of Japan (8301) held off from more easing after adding to stimulus last month, preserving its policy firepower despite increased political pressure and signs of an economic contraction.
The BOJ kept its asset-purchase fund, the main policy tool amid near-zero rates, at 55 trillion yen ($700 billion), the bank said in a statement in Tokyo today. The outcome was expected by all 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News.
Attention now turns to the next meeting on Oct. 30 as Morgan Stanley and Credit Suisse AG forecast two straight quarters of economic contraction through year-end. Economy Minister Seiji Maehara attended today’s central bank meeting, the first minister to do so for over nine years, adding to pressure on BOJ Governor Masaaki Shirakawa.
“The chances of more stimulus later this month are very high,” said Junko Nishioka, chief economist at RBS Securities Japan Ltd. and a former central bank official. “Japan could fall into a recession and political pressure is going to increase as the country struggles to end deflation. The BOJ hasn’t got much room to breathe.”
BNP Paribas SA and Nomura Securities Co. also expect additional policy steps at the next meeting.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-05/boj-refrains-from-adding-stimulus-as-political-pressure-mounts.html
LOL, heck yeah, would be AWESOME!! On my 3rd cup right now. Mmmmmmm. Dark Magic.
Jobless Rate Probably Climbed as U.S. Employers Limited Hiring
By Alex Kowalski - Oct 5, 2012
The jobless rate in the U.S. probably rose in September as employers limited hiring, keeping the labor market’s lack of progress at the center of Federal Reserve deliberations and the presidential election.
Unemployment increased to 8.2 percent last month from 8.1 percent in August, according to the median projection of 88 economists surveyed by Bloomberg. Payrolls climbed by 115,000 workers, less than the 139,000 average over the first eight months of the year, the report may also show.
“We’re running in place,” said Ethan Harris, co-head of global economics research at Bank of America Corp. in New York. “A gain of around 100,000 or so jobs is just enough to absorb the population of new workers.”
Joblessness that’s exceeded 8 percent for an unprecedented 43 months is restraining incomes and impeding consumers’ ability to support the economy as global demand and business investment wane. Today’s release marks the second-to-last jobs report before the November elections as President Barack Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney debate who’s best equipped to boost employment.
The Labor Department will issue the report at 8:30 a.m. in Washington. Payroll estimates in the Bloomberg survey ranged from gains of 60,000 to 165,000.
September’s projected increase suggests headcounts rose by an average of 117,000 each month in the third quarter, the second-weakest pace in two years.
Private payrolls, which exclude government jobs, probably climbed by 130,000 after rising 103,000 in August, economists anticipate the report will show.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-05/jobless-rate-probably-climbed-as-u-s-employers-limited-hiring.html
Pressure grows on Spain to opt for a bailout http://t.co/3tfKJtzi
California Refiners Ration Gasoline as Prices Near Record
By Lynn Doan - Oct 5, 2012
Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) and Valero Energy Corp. (VLO) are rationing fuel deliveries to customers in California as refinery outages cut into the state’s supplies, driving pump prices toward record highs.
Valero halted spot sales of gasoline in Southern California and is allocating the rest of its deliveries to customers. Exxon is also rationing fuel to buyers at West Coast terminals. Retail prices in California jumped to $4.315 a gallon Oct. 3, according to AAA, the nation’s biggest motoring organization.
California’s gasoline markets are particularly susceptible to refinery outages because the state is mostly cut off from oil-products pipelines spanning the rest of the country, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The latest shortage forced Los Angeles-area gasoline retailers, including Costco (COST) Wholesale Corp., to run out of supplies, shut pumps and, in some cases, charge their highest prices ever.
“We’re really sort of shell-shocked,” said Tom Robinson, president of Santa Clara, California-based Robinson Oil Corp., which operates 34 Rotten Robbie convenience stores. “If you’ve been in California long enough, you know how volatile our market can be. But to see prices go up $1 a gallon since Monday -- I’ve never seen that before.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-05/california-refiners-ration-gasoline-as-prices-near-record.html
Bank of Japan keeps rates, asset-buying program unchanged, cites rising global uncertainty
Got the Keurig all fired up here in the office. And the best news is.....PLENTY OF K-CUPS OUT HERE!! I brought a whole mess, but the Chaplain can get tons free. I need to find the British PX so I can buy some milk, and then I got it made. No creamer out here, but I am ordering the Mini Moos.
You have a good night Merci! Like your new Sig.
Only the best out here True. The Champagne that was delivered to my room last night was not the brand I like, but sometimes you take what you get. COuld have used more ice in the bucket as well.
Thanks Merci, great to be back. I had NO internet in room last night. They say by Monday I'll be posting on the world markets while you all sleep during the day, and hopefully trading some with you all during my night.
LOL, great post EZ. Love the Big Bird!
We all watched the debate last night. A LOT of happy faces. We are all looking forward to Ryan vs Biden. May wake up REAL early to watch that one.
See ya later folks! Off to a meeting, then dinner. Hope to be on later (Fingers crossed that the internet will work in my room tonight!)
Damn, wish I could call my bookie so I could drop some cash on those horses! Out here, just camel racing.
Turkey Assembly to Vote on Military Action Against Syria
By Selcan Hacaoglu - Oct 4, 2012
(Just what we need, ANOTHER regional war.)
Turkey’s parliament debated a motion allowing the government to order military action in Syria, after a mortar bomb fired across the border killed five Turks.
The parliament was set to vote later today on a one-year mandate for the government to order military operations outside Turkey. The timing of the vote isn’t clear. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s party has about three-fifths of the seats and the nationalist party, one of three opposition groups, has also backed the motion, meaning it will probably pass. The other two opposed the measure.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-03/syrian-shelling-kills-as-many-as-five-in-turkish-border-town.html
Well, that was anti-climatic. Next big report will be unemployment.
Labor clashes at Greek Defense Ministry
Greece: Police clash with shipyard protesters at Defense Ministry
Associated Press
ATHENS, Greece (AP) -- Greek police clashed with scores of protesting shipyard workers Thursday after they forced their way into the grounds of Greece's Defense Ministry in Athens.
More than 100 protesters forced open the shuttered entrance to the ministry complex, crossing the courtyard and blocking the entrance to the general staff building. Riot police were called in to force back the demonstrators, who were demanding to meet with ministry officials.
"First get off my base," Gen. Michalis Kostarakos told the protesters, arguing the military had no part in the shipyard workers' dispute with the government.
Police said several dozen demonstrators were detained for questioning, prompting another protest gathering outside police headquarters.
Workers from the Skaramanga Shipyards, which deals mainly with military contacts, say they have not been paid in months. Scuffles broke out as protesters attempted to push through the police cordon protecting the entrance to the main building.
Greece has been gripped by a severe financial crisis since late 2009, and waves of spending cuts and tax hikes have led to frequent strikes and demonstrations.
The coalition government is currently preparing a major new austerity package demanded by rescue creditors.
Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said Wednesday there were still considerable differences between the government and Greece's debt inspectors from the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank over the new austerity package. But he said he hoped to clinch a deal by next week.
LOL, if you get much better, you may make sainthood.
I got an office! I feel human again. Moved into my room, got internet, almost like being home, except no wife, no Queen sized comfy bed, no beer, and did I mention no wife!
Can you imagine if a REPUBLICAN administration did that? The New York Times would be running the headlines for years. Zero does it, and it is OK.
Hey Merci! Hope all is well with you, and you are making huge and nasty profits, so that you can take a 75% tax hit in France.
Also, think we see an ugly employment report tomorrow. Fiscal cliff, uncertainty, businesses are NOT hiring. The best part, I saw something about the government NOT wanting contractors to send out possible layoff notices, even though it is a LAW.
Sad to say, not believing the reports lately, Zero and his team will do anything to win.
15 more minutes for the ECB nonsense. Still thinking Spain does NOT request a bailout.
Can somebody PLEASE explain to me how he gets high ratings on his handling of the economy??
And the Yankees CLINCHED the East!
LOL, those clowns over there have got it in them to mess it all up. Looks like Spain will NOT ask for a bailout, there sovereignty means more to them than just economics. They see what Greece is going through.
Heck, EVERYONE is dropping rates, printing cash, why would Europe not do it again? When in doubt, drop rates or print.
Yeesh, it just gets more and more fun out here, lol.
THese guys are worse than the people at a Yankees-Red Sox game!
Futures popping up nice again this morning. Hope those econ numbers are good.
Thanks EZ. Luckily, the near beers are NICE and cold, and I got my package of cigars from Cigars International! Man, I am stocked for at least a few months, lol.
They do have Cubans out here. Smoked me up a real Cuban Cohiba, as well as a Guantanamera, and a Montecristo.
France’s LBO Firms See ‘Death’ From Hollande’s 75% Carry Tax
(This is Obama's hero!)
By Anne-Sylvaine Chassany - Oct 4, 2012
French private-equity fund managers are predicting their own exile if lawmakers back President Francois Hollande’s proposed tax increases on the profit the industry makes from investments.
Hollande, who released his first annual budget on Sept. 28, plans to tax fund managers’ share of the profit from their investments, known as carried interest, at a rate of as much as 75 percent, part of a wider effort to increase taxes on the wealthy and narrow the country’s deficit. France also plans to as much as double taxes on capital gains and restrict the amount of debt interest payments a company can deduct from its taxable income, a measure that will reduce returns on leveraged buyouts.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-03/france-s-lbo-firms-predict-death-from-hollande-s-75-carry-tax.html
Wow, GOLD is really busting a move this morning.
Hello there EZ. I am pissed I missed the debate live last night, but they are going to replay it for us out here in the sand box. Got some near beers and a good cigar.
Times for the big US Reports today:
US:Jobless Claims
8:30 AM ET
US:Bloomberg Consumer Comfort Index
9:45 AM ET
US:Factory Orders
10:00 AM ET
US:EIA Natural Gas Report
10:30 AM ET
US:FOMC Minutes
2:00 PM ET
US:Fed Balance Sheet
4:30 PM ET
US:Money Supply
4:30 PM ET
Draghi speaks at about 0745 Eastern Time I believe.
This time difference is awesome, I watched the S&P mimi futures crank it out today, and then come sliding back down.
It is weird watching baseball games LIVE when eating breakfast.
Good Lord, stories like that just grinds my gears. What is the country coming to!?
Thanks Larry. Beautiful sunny day here in Kandahar. The dust is *cough* awesome.
Thanks Stuff. Great to be back in the groove sort of. Will be cleaning the office all day Saturday, just grinding on right now. I also got internet in my room, so I can trade after work! WAHOO!