Replies to post #181632 on $Stock*Shop*Charts*News*Option$

[Stock Lobster]

hmmm *cough* no argument here...

didn't help a bit, fwiw, daddy also was following a 'weak dollar' policy, using inflation to get out of trouble, and only timely efforts by the next administration prevented a drop through that key 78 level

guess jr decided to go for broke, and let 'er rip. Paul O'Neill, former treasury secretary, has not said flattering things about the intelligence of the decisions being made over the past 7 years.

And think, we have almost a year and half more to go. Alot could get worse between now and then...

http://edition.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/01/10/oneill.bush/

"O'Neill also said in the book that President Bush "was like a blind man in a roomful of deaf people" during Cabinet meetings."


http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2004/01/09/60minutes/main592330.shtml

The president had promised to cut taxes, and he did. Within six months of taking office, he pushed a trillion dollars worth of tax cuts through Congress.

But O'Neill thought it should have been the end. After 9/11 and the war in Afghanistan, the budget deficit was growing. So at a meeting with the vice president after the mid-term elections in 2002, Suskind writes that O'Neill argued against a second round of tax cuts.

“Cheney, at this moment, shows his hand,” says Suskind. “He says, ‘You know, Paul, Reagan proved that deficits don't matter. We won the mid-term elections, this is our due.’ … O'Neill is speechless.”

”It was not just about not wanting the tax cut. It was about how to use the nation's resources to improve the condition of our society,” says O’Neill. “And I thought the weight of working on Social Security and fundamental tax reform was a lot more important than a tax reduction.”

He says everyone expected Mr. Bush to rubber stamp the plan under discussion: a big new tax cut. But, according to Suskind, the president was perhaps having second thoughts about cutting taxes again, and was uncharacteristically engaged.

“He asks, ‘Haven't we already given money to rich people? This second tax cut's gonna do it again,’” says Suskind.

“He says, ‘Didn’t we already, why are we doing it again?’ Now, his advisers, they say, ‘Well Mr. President, the upper class, they're the entrepreneurs. That's the standard response.’ And the president kind of goes, ‘OK.’ That's their response. And then, he comes back to it again. ‘Well, shouldn't we be giving money to the middle, won't people be able to say, ‘You did it once, and then you did it twice, and what was it good for?’"

But according to the transcript, White House political advisor Karl Rove jumped in.

“Karl Rove is saying to the president, a kind of mantra. ‘Stick to principle. Stick to principle.’ He says it over and over again,” says Suskind. “Don’t waver.”

In the end, the president didn't. And nine days after that meeting in which O'Neill made it clear he could not publicly support another tax cut, the vice president called and asked him to resign.

With the deficit now climbing towards $400 billion, O'Neill maintains he was in the right.

[Stock Lobster]

US Treasuries Report:

report date (foreign official Fed holdings as of previous day), treasuries in $1000s, agencies in $1000s, total in $1000s,

2006-09-28, 1123431, 543494, 1666925,
2006-10-05, 1141823, 540821, 1682645,
2006-10-12, 1150215, 539123, 1689338,
2006-10-19, 1138971, 539037, 1678008,
2006-10-26, 1142934, 548992, 1691926,
2006-11-02, 1144760, 549666, 1694425,
2006-11-09, 1148020, 552807, 1700827,
2006-11-16, 1149474, 556423, 1705897,
2006-11-24, 1150626, 562845, 1713472,
2006-11-30, 1146412, 560712, 1707124,
2006-12-07, 1156628, 567261, 1723889,
2006-12-14, 1162238, 576225, 1738464,
2006-12-21, 1155171, 589787, 1744957,
2006-12-28, 1162198, 599743, 1761941,
2007-01-04, 1167132, 601455, 1768586,
2007-01-11, 1169039, 603196, 1772235,
2007-01-18, 1166296, 607199, 1773496,
2007-01-25, 1169406, 615568, 1784974,
2007-02-01, 1176156, 615043, 1791200,
2007-02-08, 1178446, 622531, 1800977,
2007-02-15, 1187695, 628846, 1816541,
2007-02-22, 1195980, 632395, 1828375,
2007-03-01, 1205004, 634394, 1839398,
2007-03-08, 1211761, 640611, 1852372,
2007-03-15, 1217026, 653879, 1870905,
2007-03-22, 1216228, 665462, 1881690,
2007-03-29, 1213661, 671133, 1884794,
2007-04-05, 1232518, 673078, 1905596,
2007-04-12, 1239174, 675246, 1914419,
2007-04-19, 1231300, 682997, 1914297,
2007-04-26, 1230171, 698301, 1928472,
2007-05-03, 1227729, 701515, 1929244,
2007-05-10, 1227971, 709440, 1937411,
2007-05-17, 1219345, 718049, 1937394,
2007-05-24, 1223577, 725336, 1948912,
2007-05-31, 1234593, 727936, 1962529,
2007-06-07, 1224824, 725209, 1950033,
2007-06-14, 1226199, 731385, 1957585,
2007-06-21, 1230342, 741560, 1971902,
2007-06-28, 1234509, 741095, 1975604,
2007-07-05, 1240394, 740655, 1981049,
2007-07-12, 1252058, 744998, 1997056,
2007-07-19, 1258875, 744674, 2003549,
2007-07-26, 1252385, 759400, 2011785,
2007-08-02, 1254060, 756733, 2010794,
2007-08-09, 1246184, 760665, 2006849,
2007-08-16, 1224038, 765742, 1989780,
2007-08-23, 1209858, 769366, 1979224,
2007-08-30, 1206794, 775785, 1982579,
2007-09-06, 1210459, 770811, 1981271,
2007-09-13, 1203489, 774427, 1977916,
2007-09-20, 1216199, 779052, 1995252,
2007-09-27, 1213618, 783994, 1997612,
2007-10-04, 1215623, 783093, 1998716,