Replies to post #69805 on Options Wonderland

[3xBuBu]

So much for bankers always hedging their exposure.With convention season upon us, individuals and groups connected to big banks dominate the list of top contributors to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. They account for eight of his top 10 contributor groups with Goldman Sachs leading the way, according to data through Aug. 21 from campaign-finance web site opensecrets.org.In contrast, banks don't show up among President Obama's top contributors. Instead the top 10 list is mostly made up of law firms, tech companies and universities. Opensecrets notes the contributions don't come from the companies or organizations named, but from their political action committees, individual employees or their immediate families.Back then in 2008, people associated with Goldman were the No. 2 contributor group to the Obama campaign. J.P. Morgan Chase and Citigroup also made the top 10.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10000872396390443571904577629772499883272.html?mod=djemheard_t


Romney top 10 contributor groups:

 
 Goldman Sachs 	        $676,080 
 JPMorgan Chase & Co 	$520,299 
 Morgan Stanley 	        $513,647 
 Bank of America 	$510,728 
 Credit Suisse Group 	$427,560 
 Citigroup Inc 	        $363,015 
 Barclays 	        $349,400 
 Wells Fargo 	        $320,025 
 Kirkland & Ellis 	$309,042 
 Deloitte LLP 	        $286,110 
 PricewaterhouseCoopers 	$266,650 
 UBS AG 	                $259,200 
 HIG Capital 	        $220,495 
 Blackstone Group 	$219,525 
 Bain Capital 	        $172,500 
 Elliott Management 	$172,475 
 General Electric 	$158,800 
 Ernst & Young 	        $156,425 
 Marriott International 	$154,837 
 Bain & Co 	        $145,800

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00000286


Obama top 10 contributor groups:

 
 University of California 	$491,868 
 Microsoft Corp 	        $443,748 
 Google Inc 	        $357,382 
 DLA Piper 	        $331,715 
 Harvard University 	$317,516 
 US Government 	        $299,923 
 Deloitte LLP 	        $283,606 
 Sidley Austin LLP 	$283,269 
 Stanford University 	$238,803 
 Comcast Corp 	        $234,037 
 Time Warner 	        $230,088 
 Kaiser Permanente 	$197,087 
 Columbia University 	$195,574 
 Skadden, Arps et al 	$191,828 
 US Dept of State 	$175,672 
 Wells Fargo 	        $170,448 
 University of Chicago 	$168,238 
 National Amusements Inc 	$167,342 
 JPMorgan Chase & Co 	$152,990 
 US Dept of Defense 	$149,116 
 

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres12/contrib.php?id=N00009638

[3xBuBu]

ECB loads the ‘big bazooka,’ agrees to buy government bonds, if needed, for those countries following rules
The European Central Bank moved decisively Thursday in announcing that it would buy the bonds of struggling governments without limit, an initiative that could save the euro zone and blunt one of the main threats menacing the global economy.

The unprecedented step, meant to reassure fearful investors that euro-zone governments would not default, sparked a rally on world stock markets. U.S. stock indices posted their largest gains in weeks, with the S&P 500 soaring 2 percent and closing at a four-year high.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/ecb-loads-the-big-bazooka/2012/09/06/a4ff5a2a-f814-11e1-8b93-c4f4ab1c8d13_story.html