Market wrap - Friday, May 16, 2009 - a day late - 5:00PM Saturday

Slow market day. Volume down, not much activity. Dow 8,268.64 -62.68 (-0.75%) S&P 500 882.88 -10.19 (-1.14%) Nasdaq 1,680.14 -9.07 (-0.54%) By sector: Friday's heatmap:

Friday pre-market - 7:30AM

Futures at 7:30: DJIA INDEX 8,242.00 -45.00 S&P 500 883.20 -6.30 NASDAQ 100 1,342.75 -11.00 Friday: 8:30 AM Consumer Price Index; Empire State Mfg Survey; 9:00 AM Treasury International Capital; 9:15 Industrial Production; 9:55 Consumer Sentiment

Market wrap - 4:10PM

Slow and uneventful day in the market. Volume was light, but the market shook off the bad jobless claims numbers which had the futures lower and rallied anyway. Led by guess who? Dow 8,331.32 +46.43 (0.56%) S&P 500 892.94 +9.02 (1.02%) Nasdaq 1,689.21 +25.02 (1.50%) Leaders by sector: The financials! Imagine that. The many insolvent financials. Today's heatmap: Earnings reports after close today:

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CNBC Cheerleading grade for the day - A- They downplayed the job numbers as trailing indicators and really didn't talk about them much. Larry Kudlow was his usual self, blowing and steaming and talking over anyone and everyone that didn't agree with him. He was especially rude to the guy from Peter Shiff's firm who claimed the DOW will eventually hit 1000. I was ready to mute the blowhard but forced myself to finish the most horrible hour on Wall Street. Note to Kudlow - Reagan isn't President and you don't work for him anymore.

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Earnings reports before market opens tomorrow May 15th:

Jobless claims rise - 8:45AM

Jobless Claims Climb in Latest Week - WSJ Full report from Department of Labor here WASHINGTON -- The number of idled workers filing new unemployment benefit claims climbed more than expected last week, driven higher by filings in car-industry states. Separately, U.S. producer prices climbed in April more than expected because of a jump in food costs, but core wholesale inflation rose only mildly as the recession robs companies of pricing power. The total number of unemployed drawing jobless benefits also rose, to a record 6.56 million; the increase suggests how hard it is for the jobless to find new work amid the recession. Initial claims for state jobless benefits increased 32,000 to 637,000 in the week ended May 9, the Labor Department said in a weekly report Thursday. Wall Street economists had expected a 10,000-claim increase to a level of 611,000, according to a Dow Jones Newswires survey. The prior week's level was revised to 605,000 from a previously estimated 601,000. The four-week average, which aims to smooth volatility, rose by 6,000 to 630,500. The larger-than-expected increase in new jobless claims was a disappointment, given a report last week that indicated a mild moderation in layoffs. The Labor Department had said 539,000 non-farm payroll jobs were lost in April. Payrols fell by 699,000 in March. Since the recession began in December 2007, the U.S. has shed 5.7 million jobs. A Labor Department analyst said most of the increase in new claims last week happened in states that are home to the automotive industry. "A good part of the increase is due to automotive," the analyst said. The tally of continuing jobless claims -- those drawn by workers collecting benefits for more than one week -- rose 202,000 in the week ended May 2 to 6,560,000, the highest level since the government started keeping track in 1967. Continuing claims lag new claims by one week. The unemployment rate for workers with unemployment insurance rose 0.1 percentage point to 4.9%. Not adjusted to reflect seasonal fluctuations, Illinois reported the largest increase in new claims during the May 2 week, 2,052, due to layoffs in the construction, trade, and manufacturing industries. New York state reported the biggest decrease, 13,386, due to fewer layoffs in the transportation and service industries.

PPI numbers 8:45AM

Producer Price Index News Release text - official release from government

Thursday - pre market - 7:40AM

Futures: DJIA INDEX 8,259.00 -35.00 S&P 500 882.20 -3.10 NASDAQ 100 1,342.25 -2.00 Economic calendar: Thursday; 8:30 Producer Price Index; Jobless Claims; 10:30 AM EIA Natural Gas Report; 11:00 AM 3 Month Bill Announcement; 6 Month Bill Announcement; 4:30 PM Money Supply Earnings reports:

Meridith Whitney vs. Bill Miller on the banks - 2.29PM

I cited Meridith Whitney a few days ago on her analysis of the banks, which isn't positive. Bloomberg has an article about her and Bill Miller, who loved the banks as investments, and as you can imagine, their beliefs are different. Nice article from Bloomberg. Miller Wrestles Whitney in Showdown Over Bank Stocks

Update 2:10 PM - Bill Seidman has passed away

CNBC reporting Bill Seidman of S&L and Resolution Trust Corporations has passed away at 88. He was a reporter and frequent guest of CNBC. Mr. Seidman's CNBC profile here. Rest in peace Bill, I thought you were an ok guy, and told it like it was.

Update 1:20 PM - 4:00 announcement on toxic assets.

Per CNBC, the government will hold a 4:00 presser on how to clear out all the derivatives on the books of the banks. The CFTC (Commodity Futures Trading Commission) will be part of this process the way it sounds. Details are slim, and I can't even find a link online for this news. I can't tell if how the market digested this, the S&P was hitting the 884 resistance/support at the time of the news. The index did go up from this, but I don't know if it was from the news or the technicals.

Update 1:00PM - CNBC with a little truth - finally! 1:05PM

The video is finally up, but words of wisdom from Rick Santelli this morning. Not sure the cheerleaders on Squawkbox liked to hear this. It was a breath of fresh air, this thing called the truth. For a change, we get this from CNBC. Rick starts about 2 minutes in: Instead of this:

Weekly Oil report - 10:40AM

The weekly Oil report just came out. Crude oil inventories (weekly change) -4.7 M barrels While the inventory report says we drew 4.7 million barrels from inventory, the world continues to swim in crude oil. One of the largest European ports is almost filled with crude tankers with nowhere to go. The rig counts are down almost, if not, 50 percent, depending on who's data you believe. Crude extends gains as U.S. inventories fall - Marketwatch NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Crude-oil futures extended gains Wednesday after government data showed a surprising decrease in crude inventories last week. Crude inventories fell by 4.7 million barrels in the week ended May 8, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts had expected an increase of more than 1 million barrels. After the data, crude for June delivery gained 72 cents, or 1.2%, to $59.57 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It was up 0.4% before the data. The EIA also reported a 4.1 million barrels decrease in gasoline inventories and a 1 million barrels gain in distillates, which include diesel and heating oil. The part in bold means this - prices at the pump will be going up. We are close to the peak driving season, Memorial Day being right around the corner. The traders on the floor of the NYSE are saying oil could trade at $70 in the near future. A perfect storm is being formed right before our eyes. Let's take a little data from the Retail Sales report today: Notice the huge drop in spending at gas stations? When we consider this, plus the fact we are swimming in crude, despite the draw on inventories, we must come to this conclusion; Oil is being manipulated by the industry to drive up prices. This is a scam to take more profits for the oil companies. Sure, that's capitalism, and that's how it works, and many will defend that. Though different, this is the same kind of manipulation that got us $140.00 a barrel a year ago. This time it may backfire. Consumers are strapped, losing their jobs at alarming rate, have credit card dept up the to their eyeballs. At some point, the perfect storm will hit. We cannot handle $2.50 to $3.00 gas at the pump at this point. If the price of oil continues to climb, the economy will continue to deteriorate. This is not good.

Retail report not recived well by the market - Update 9:00AM

Futures lower on Retail Sales report: DJIA INDEX 8,307.00 -129.00 S&P 500 891.00 -15.80 NASDAQ 100 1,363.75 -21.25 Are the green shoots turning into weeds? There is very little good news out there. Geithner as we speak is talking to a group of small bankers about opening the TARP window to them. Wonder why? (Sarcasm intended)

Retail Sales for April report - 8:35AM

April Retail Sales -.4 percent, minus autos -.5 percent. From the government: The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for April, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $337.7 billion, a decrease of 0.4 percent (±0.5%)* from the previous month and 10.1 percent (±0.7%) below April 2008. Total sales for the February through April 2009 period were down 9.2 percent (±0.5%) from the same period a year ago. The February to March 2009 percent change was revised from -1.2 percent (±0.5%) to -1.3 percent (±0.3%). Retail trade sales were down 0.4 percent (±0.7%)* from March 2009 and 11.4 percent (±0.7%) below last year. Gasoline stations sales were down 36.4 percent (±1.5%) from April 2008 and motor vehicle and parts dealers sales were down 20.7 percent (±2.3%) from last year. You can read the entire report here.

Pre-market Wednesday, May 13, 2009 - 7:45AM

Futures are down this morning before open - as of 7:42: DJIA INDEX 8,368.00 -68.00 S&P 500 898.80 -8.00 NASDAQ 100 1,368.75 -16.25 News of interest: Intel Fined $1.45 Billion by EU in Antitrust Dispute - Bloomberg Three-Month Dollar Libor Declines Three Basis Points to 0.88% - Bloomberg OPEC Raised Oil Output for the First Time Since July - Bloomberg U.S. Median House Price Declines 14% - WSJ Frontier paying $8.6 billion for Verizon lines - MarketWatch U.S. foreclosures at record rate in April - MarketWatch Money market rates fall to pre-Lehman levels - Financial Times Economic events for today: Wednesday: 7:00 MBA Purchase Applications; 8:30AM Retail Sales; Import/Export Prices; 10:00 AM Business Inventories; 10:30 EIA Petroleum Status Earning reports before market opens:

Nice Techincal article from MarketWatch - 4:46PM

If you like technical analysis, you will like this article. Quite a few charts to back up his case. A sample here of the S&P: Entire article here.

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More articles of interst: The executive pay system is broken - MarketWatch Dollar index slides to four-month low - MarketWatch Medicare, Social Security Funds Worsen in Recession - Bloomberg Most U.S. Stocks Decline as Share Sales Raise Dilution Concern - Bloomberg Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter - Bloomberg Greenspan Says Fed Isn't to Blame for Housing Bubble - WSJ (Just shutup Alan) B of A, other U.S. banks scramble for capital - Reuters

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Stumbled on this one - for the Dylan Ratigan fans (remember him from CNBC?) Will Ratigan help MSNBC and hurt CNBC? - MarketWatch

Market Wrap End of Day - Tuesday, May 12, 2009 - Posted 4:40PM

It was a fairly uneventful day in the market today. Anadarko Petrolium(ACP) and USBankcorp(USB) both issued secondary share offerings. The market was down most of the day until a rally around 1:30 led by the financials. The DOW moved the most but all indexes sold off in the last half hour. The S&P hit 914 before closing at 908, while the Nasdaq was weak all day, closing at 17.15, down (-0.88%).

Dow	8,469.11	+50.34 (0.60%)
S&P 500	908.34	-0.90 (-0.10%)
Nasdaq	1,715.92	-15.32 (-0.88%)

Crude oil closed at a 6 month high today at $58.85 and did breach the $60.00 level earlier in the day. Gold was up $10.00 for a gain of 1.14 percent. CNBC reported there will be many more of these stock offerings because companies need to raise capital. Usually, and I say that hesitantly, this dilutes the share price, therefore the price goes down. Make sure you do your due diligence before investing. Stocks of interest: Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company(GAP) shares slid $2.48 to $4.21 cents, a loss of %37.07.If you haven't heard of them by this name, you might know them by A&P, a grocery store. They reported earnings this morning and said losses were due to increased store-closing and pension-related costs. Ford Motor Company(F)closed at $5.01 or a loss of -1.07 (-17.60%)due to the stock offering today. General Motors(GM)closed today at 1.15, down -0.29 (-20.14%). It will eventually be at ZERO. Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings, Inc.(CCO)the radio and media player lost 4.20 -0.84 (-16.67%). Clear Channel is the provider of Rush Limbaugh's show. Rush better step up his game.

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Today's gainers by sector: Market doesn't move as much when not led by financials. Today's heatmap: Earnings reports due out tomorrow morning before the market opens: Don't forget the economic numbers tomorrow as well: Wednesday AM: 7:00 MBA Purchase Applications; 8:30 AM Retail Sales 8:30 Import/Export Prices 10:00 AM Business Inventories 10:30 EIA Petroleum Status The retail sales numbers will be watched very closely. Consumers disposable spending is key to this economy. No matter the numbers they will paint it as "less worse than expected" but I'm not buying. Income tax returns. See how many times they mention that.

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CNBC cheerleading grade for the day - Solid A As usual, the cheerleaders were doing their best to make the market go up today. Bob Pisoni was the all star spinner today. He declared this the "new Bull market." Very few interviews were Bears, and the ones that were got cut off. Kudlow was his normal self, bashing the government but slobbering over this government fueled rally. Just stick a cork in it Larry. Happy Trading

Brad Sherman of California talks to Tim Geithner - March 24, 2009

Congressman Sherman Explains The 3 Acts Of Kabuki Theater We're Witnessing. Not that I'm a fan of Sherman, but this is funny, if it wasn's so funny.

William Black on PBS - reference for myself & anyone else - from April 3,2009

When you have time, take a half hour or so of you life and watch this. This never hit the mainstream media. I sent it to my congress people and never heard a thing, except for the one canned response that had nothing to do with the interview. Bill Moyers interviews William K. Black, the former senior regulator who was a part of the S&L crisis. He talks about the current banksters and how our current mess happened. I love the name of his book - "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One." Link to video here. Just reported on CNBC the EIA (Energy Information Agency)projects crude prices to average $51.00 dollars a barrel for 2009. Oil is currently trading at $58.35, down .15. The S&P has bounced off the 900 area resistance several times today, but finally broke through and is now at 898.55 as of 12.25. The oil news might have done the trick. Oil stocks and commodity stocks were up earlier due to crude up and dollar down.

The rally - article from the Telegraph, UK - 11:30AM

Enjoy the rally while it lasts - but expect to take a sucker punch - Telegraph.co.uk Bear market rallies can be explosive. Japan had four violent spikes during its Lost Decade (33pc, 55pc, 44pc, and 79pc). Wall Street had seven during the Great Depression, lasting 40 days on average. The spring of 1931 was a corker. James Montier at Société Générale said that even hard-bitten bears are starting to throw in the towel, suspecting that we really are on the cusp of new boom. That is a tell-tale sign. "Prolonged suckers' rallies tend to be especially vicious as they force everyone back into the market before cruelly dashing them on the rocks of despair yet again," he said. Genuine bottoms tend to be "quiet affairs", carved slowly in a fog of investor gloom. Another sign of fakery – apart from the implausible 'V' shape – is the "dash for trash" in this rally. The mostly heavily shorted stocks are up 70pc: the least shorted are up 21pc. Stocks with bad fundamentals in SocGen's model (Anheuser-Busch, Cairn Energy, Ericsson) are up 60pc: the best are up 30pc. Teun Draaisma, Morgan Stanley's stock guru, expects another shake-out. "We think the bear market rally will end sooner rather than later. None of our signposts of the next bull market has flashed green yet. "We're not convinced the banking system has been fully fixed," he said (The entire article at link above)

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I'm not convinced either. But I am convinced Ben has a printing press, knows how to use it, and the new money seems to find its way to the banks.

Microsoft axes 55 people in India - 11:17AM

Microsoft axes 55 people in India - Hindustan Times Microsoft axes 55 people in India In the global economic downturn, even cash-rich, profitable companies are not sparing staff from layoffs. Software giant Microsoft trimmed down its India work-force by one per cent last week. The company employs 5,500 workers in India and the downsizing, part of a worldwide exercise, will impact about 55 people across the company’s six-business divisions spread across Bangalore, Delhi and Hyderabad. The India layoffs follow a worldwide drive announced by CEO Steve Ballmer last week. “Due to a global realignment of our business priorities, about one percent of the net rolls across India are likely to be impacted. These adjustments reflect the necessary changes to ensure that the right resources are focused on the right priorities,” Microsoft India said in a statement. “We are currently working with the concerned employees to evaluate alternative positions internally and where applicable look at mutually favourable disengagement terms,” the statement said. Last January, the company announced plans to reduce 5,000 jobs globally by June 2010 across divisions to save up to $700 million (Rs 3,500 crore).

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Wow! Wonder how much that will save them. They have also issued a first ever bond offering. See details here. What do they know we don't? Must be green shoots.

HUD seeking to expand FHA - Update 10:45 AM

HUD wants 400 billion to underwrite FHA loans - Per CNBC interview at 10:40. Oh goody!

GM shares dropping like a rock - Updade 10:14 AM

Lutz and other top GM executives sell shares - MarketWatch Duh! Why hasn't everyone else? As I posted last week, GM would issue more shares, therefore diluting the already declining share price. I can't believe it's still trading has high as it is. Sell it, like the GM executives are doing! The price is going to ZERO. As of 10:20 this morning: 1.16 -.29 -20.14 percent. Only the banks can issue more shares and the price goes up. [/sarcasm]

Home sales data released today at 10:00 - Posted 10:05

Foreclosure and Short Sale Discounts Weigh Down Metro Area Median Prices - National Association of REALTORS First-time home buyers responding to improved affordability conditions, and lower prices of foreclosures and short sales, impacted metropolitan area median home prices in the first quarter, while existing-home sales remained sluggish in many parts of the country, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Realtors®. With first-time buyers accounting for half of all purchases during the first quarter, 134 out of 152 metropolitan statistical areas1 reported lower median existing single-family home prices in comparison with the first quarter of 2008, while 18 metros had price gains. Many buyers sought deeply discounted distressed sales – foreclosures and short sales – which accounted for nearly half of transactions in the first quarter and weighed down median home prices in most markets. The national median existing single-family price was $169,000, which is 13.8 percent below the first quarter of 2008 when conditions were closer to normal. The median is where half sold for more and half sold for less, but distressed homes typically are selling for 20 percent less than traditional homes and are downwardly skewing median prices.

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Update 11:11 AM Home Prices in U.S. Drop Most on Record in Quarter (Update1) - Bloomberg

International Trade - Release May 12, 2009 at 8:30 AM - Posted 8:50

International Trade for March 2009 - U.S. Census Bureau U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis - Link to entire PDF document here. Goods and Services The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total March exports of $123.6 billion and imports of $151.2 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $27.6 billion, up from $26.1 billion in February, revised. March exports were $3.0 billion less than February exports of $126.6 billion. March imports were $1.6 billion less than February imports of $152.8 billion. In March, the goods deficit increased $1.2 billion from February to $38.4 billion, and the services surplus decreased $0.2 billion to $10.8 billion. Exports of goods decreased $2.5 billion to $82.0 billion, and imports of goods decreased $1.3 billion to $120.3 billion. Exports of services decreased $0.5 billion to $41.7 billion, and imports of services decreased $0.3 billion to $30.9 billion. In March, the goods and services deficit decreased $29.8 billion from March 2008. Exports were down $26.0 billion, or 17.4 percent, and imports were down $55.9 billion, or 27.0 percent.

Tuesday pre-market - 7:25 AM

The futures this morning mostly flat: DJIA = 408.00 +6.00 S&P 500 = 908.50 -0.50 NASDAQ = 1,394.50 -2.25 Crude = 59.46 +.96 Nat Gas = 4.375 +.073 Gold 914.00 -1.00 Economists Downgrade U.S. Recovery Outlook, Survey Indicates - Bloomberg Rigorous stress tests give Bernanke confidence - MarketWatch Ford offers 300 million shares of common stock - MarketWatch Cash-Rich Microsoft Sells Its First Bonds - WSJ California shortfall $21.3 billion if measures fail - Reuters Earning before open today: Earning reports after market closes today:

Ford to offer 300 mln common shares - 4:50PM

Ford to offer 300 mln common shares - Market watch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) Ford Motor Co. said late Monday it will offer 300 million common shares at a par value of 1 cent a share. As a part of the deal, the auto maker plans to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 45 million shares. The proceeds from the offering are expected to be used for general corporate purposes, including to fund with cash, instead of stock, a portion of the payments Ford is required to make to the Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association retiree health care trust with the United Auto Workers. "We continue to make strong progress on our transformation plan - gaining retail market share with great new products, improving quality, reducing costs and positioning Ford for a return to profitability," said Chief Executive Alan Mulally. Citi, Goldman Sachs & Co., J.P. Morgan and Morgan Stanley are acting as joint book-running managers for the deal.

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Ford(F) closed at 6.08 today losing .16 cents or -2.56 percent. As of 4:54 PM the stock has given up another .31 cents or - 5.10 percent. For any Ford stock holders - Ouch! Glad they told everyone after the market closed

Market wrap - close - 4:10 PM

The market sold off late after being down most of the day. Hard to tell if the cause was the remarks by Meridith Whitney or not, but around the time she spoke, the market lost some ground. Dow - 8,419 -155.80 Nasdaq - 1,731 -7.76 S&P 500 - 909.00 -19.97 Oil - $58.35 -0.13 Gold - $913.50 -1.40 Volume was down across all major indexes. The Banking Index lost $3.10 or 7.09% Today by sector: Today's Heatmap: Getting you ready for tomorrows trading session: Earnings reports before market opens: Economic Events: Tuesday:7:45 ICSC Goldman Store Sales; 8:30 AM International Trade; 2:00 PM Treasury Budget **** The daily CNBC cheerleading grade. Today = A In spite of the market south of even all day, the cheerleaders did their best to call it a correction everyone expected. Bob Pisoni was doing his best to talk the market up, but it didn't work. Even Mark Haines tried to get people to call it a new Bull market and not a rally. I'm a fan of Mark,s and he's "technically" correct on the Bull market, but how many really believe it knowing what's down the road. For the most part, other than Meridith Whitney, they paraded all the Bulls on TV today. A solid "A" for the cheerleaders today. Blast from the past: Enron's Jeff Skilling filed 50 page petition professing innocence to the Appeals Court. Claims jury was prejudiced by excruciating media coverage. Added Meridith Whitney interview below.

Meridith Whitney on the banks - CNBC interview - 3:25PM

Earnings power continues to be an important focus of the banks. Do not see a bottom for fundamentals of bank stocks. Bank stocks defy gravity, grossly overvalued. Continued liquidity contraction. Unclear if this will be the final capital raise.

For those of you not familiar with Meridith, she was an analyist for Oppenheimer, but left to start her own Meridith Whitney Advisory Group. She called this mess well over a year ago and all the trouble for the banks. When she talks, I listen.

If CNBC posts a video of the interview with Maria, I'll post it.

It appears Meridith moved the market. The S&P lost about 5 points and the DOW 40. Mark Haines, in a rare appearance on "Closing Bell" with Maria acknowledged the move.

I'm shocked! Might have to drop their cheerleading grade today for that.

The interview is up, so here it is. Must see.

A tip from Santelli on CNBC to watch this - Is anyone minding the store at the Federal Reserve - from YouTube - 2:10PM

This is Rep. Alan Grayson quizzing the Federal Reserve Inspector about the billions of dollars given to the banks, that nobody seems to know where it went. Good question. Bloomberg had filed a suit a while back concerning this money and where it went: U.S. Taxpayers Risk $9.7 Trillion on Bailout Programs (Update1) - Bloomberg Fed Sued Bloomberg requested details of Fed lending under the Freedom of Information Act and filed a federal lawsuit against the central bank Nov. 7 seeking to force disclosure of borrower banks and their collateral. Arguments in the suit may be heard as soon as this month, according to the court docket. Bloomberg asked the Treasury in an FOIA request Jan. 28 for a detailed list of the securities it planned to guarantee for Citigroup and Bank of America. Bloomberg hasn’t received a response to the request. The Bloomberg lawsuit is Bloomberg LP v. Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, 08-CV-9595, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). Has anyone noticed when members of congress calls the bankers, regulators, or inspectors for questioning, the room is usually empty? But when those evil auto company CEO's show up, it turns into a circus? The SEC hearings were really entertaining, you should do a search on YouTube for those. After the congress people were done with them, the SEC enforcement cheif, Linda Thomsen resigned the next day. ABC story here. Actually, watching congress is usually entertaining. They are better actors/actresses than congress people. Or should I say "grandstanders."

GM article on today's meeting from Detroit News - 1:15 PM

GM considers eventual move from RenCen, dealer plans - From the Detroit News. GM headquarters is the tall building in the center of the picture. There is a Marriott right across the street. Greektown and MGM Grand not far away, as well as Comerica Park. All but the MGM can be accessed via the people mover for .50 cents one way. Contrary to many, it's really a nice part of Detroit. I've been there many times, stayed at the Marriott, went to Greektown and the ballpark. There is a great Chicago style Pizza place right beside the Casino - if you have any money left. Great trip. Also via the People Mover are the Joe Louis Arena, home of the Redwings, Cobo Hall, home of the Detroit Auto Show, the SAE show, and many other great events. Ford Field, home of the Detroit Lions sits right beside Comerica Park. You can take the tunnel or bridge to Canada as well in a short time. Consider a trip there, it's worth it, I promise. Michigan and Detroit has been ravaged by job losses over the last decade, but it is truly a great state with many things to see and do. Not only in the city of Detroit but the state as a whole. Hunting, fishing, hiking, camping and golf. Disclaimer: I do not live in Michigan.

Obama on health care - 12:40 AM

Health care on unsustainable course. Burden for American Businesses. Harder to compete across the world. Dropping coverage for workers at alarming rate. Cost to continue climbing with baby boomers coming online. Economy will spend 1/5 on health care within a decade. Groups that met today are from various constituencies is unprecedented. 1.5 percentage points per year to be cut. Cut waste, fraud and abuse. This is a historic day and watershed event for health care reform. Next step is for congress to act comprehensive reform. Three goals 1)lower costs 2)freedom of choice 3)promote quality care. **** I typed this as he was speaking. There is more but I couldn't keep up. That is the main points just the same.

News updates - 12:00 Noon

Microsoft Sets Pricing Guidance on Benchmark Sale of Debt - Bloomberg Fed buys $3.51 billion in Treasurys - MarketWatch White House forecasts higher U.S. budget deficit - Reuters World markets from Reuters FTSE ends down 0.6% on commodities; AstraZeneca up Europe shares close lower; energy, banks weigh UPDATE 2-Toyota shares fall 5 percent on grim outlook Obama to speak at 12:30 on Healthcare

News updates - 10:10 AM

AIG Is Selling Japanese Headquarters for $1.2 Billion - CNBC Merger could empty buildings: Detroit, Auburn Hills fear real estate vacuum - Crain's Detroit Business White House Forecasts Higher U.S. Budget Deficit - CNBC Mortgages Over 5% Mean Fed Purchases as Bonds Slump (Update2) - Bloomberg Banks Brace for Credit Card Write-Offs - NYT CNBC is also reporting GM's CEO Frederick A. Henderson said GM could leave Detroit. Dealer closing notices this week. Closures will take all of 09. Oil down .70 to 57.91

Weekly economic calendar for May 11 thru May 15th - 9:40 AM

Monday: 11:00 AM - 4-Week Bill Announcement – 3 Month Bill Auction; 6 Month Bill Auction 1:00 PM – Bernake speak 6:30 Tuesday:7:45 ICSC Goldman Store Sales; 8:30 AM International Trade; 2:00 PM Treasury Budget Wednesday: 7:00 MBA Purchase Applications; 8:30AM Retail Sales; Import/Export Prices; 10:00 AM Business Inventories; 10:30 EIA Petroleum Status Thursday; 8:30 Producer Price Index; Jobless Claims; 10:30 AM EIA Natural Gas Report; 11:00 AM 3 Month Bill Announcement; 6 Month Bill Announcement; 4:30 PM Money Supply Friday: 8:30 AM Consumer Price Index; Empire State Mfg Survey; 9:00 AM Treasury International Capital; 9:15 Industrial Production; 9:55 Consumer Sentiment

Futures - 7:22 AM

Dow -76.00 S&P -10.30 Nas -18.50 Crude -1.22 $57.41 NatGas -.007 $4.304 I posted today's earnings reports and economic calendar events here Update 8:00 AM U.S. risks "lost decade" due to half-steps: Krugman - Reuters Three big U.S. banks to sell stock and repay TARP - Reuters Prices in China continue to fall - BBC Dubai property prices 'fall 41% - BBC Analysts Turning Bearish on S&P 500 After 14% Rally (Update1)- Bloomberg HSBC Says 2009 Will Be ‘Tough’ as U.S. Bad Debt Provisions Rise - Bloomberg Update 8:51 AM Home Depot, Lowe's downgraded - MarketWatch Capital One Announces Public Offering of 56 Million Shares of Common Stock - stock down over 10 percent pre market - (link)

Sunday night update - news headlines and data of interest - 9:00 PM

Stocks to watch for Monday - Market Watch Russia pipeline fire cuts supply to refineries, Tuapse - Reuters Market stats from The Journal - WSJ Commodity stats from the Journal - WSJ Update 11:12 PM Move by General Growth Rattles Malls' Investors - WSJ GGP is one of the countries largest CRE/mall players. Update 11:39 PM White House Forecasts No Job Growth Until 2010 - NYT Except for the government. 93,000 for the Census in April. Nonfarm payroll employment fell by 539,000 in April to 132.4 million; pri- vate-sector employment declined by 611,000. Since the recession began in December 2007, payroll employment has fallen by 5.7 million. In April, job los- ses continued in most major private-sector industries. Employment rose in the federal government mainly due to hiring of temporary workers for Census 2010. Link to full report from BLS(Bureau of Labor Statistics)here. I have also read the 2010 census will require 1.4 million people over the next year or so. They can be short term jobs, but will be counted as jobs just the same. This number is one to watch as the reports come out. The job numbers are very difficult to comprehend and analyze. Wonder why that is? These might be jobs, but are not "green shoots" kind of jobs. A better indicator might be the U-6 number,from the same report, which is: Total unemployed, plus all marginally attached workers, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all marginally attached workers. That number is 15.4 percent.

Market calendar for Monday - events and earnings - 11:15 AM

4-Week Bill Announcement 11:00 AM ET 3-Month Bill Auction 1:00 PM ET 6-Month Bill Auction 1:00 PM ET Ben Bernanke Speaks 6:30 PM ET These bill auctions should watched. The 30yr auction on Thursday of last week didn't go off so well. Details of auction from the Treasury (here). UPDATE 2-U.S. 30-year bond auction gets dismal reception - Reuters I don't know what Bernanke will say, but he can move markets. We do know he will deliver the keynote address at the Atlanta Fed's Financial Markets Conference in Jekyll Island, Georgia. Jekyll Island, Georgia? Ever read this book - The Creature from Jekyll Island by G. Edward Griffin. If not, you should. It's all about the FED. (link to Amazon) **** Earnings calendar for Monday May 11: Before market opens: After market closes: