[KingM]

Only three more years to recover employment!

[eXpat]

CME Shares Keep Falling In After-Hours; Is Breakup On The Table?

The CME Group (CME) keeps slipping in after-hours after the exchange operator’s shares fell to their lowest levels since May 2009. The stock closed Monday off by 2.5%, or $5.76, to $228.24 a share. Most recently, they were sliding 0.11% in after-hours.

CME, which at one point traded just above $226 a share during the regular session, has been hit by its links to the bankrupt boutique MF Global (MFGLQ). Evercore became the latest to downgrade the futures exchange giant, telling clients that CME’s prospects are clouded by uncertainty. Also, the firm’s analysts pointed to the Fed’s stance on keeping interest rates at low levels amid sluggish economic growth in the U.S. as painting a less-than promising picture for the company.

An extremely volatile 2011 will also be hard for CME to best in 2012 as less turmoil in world markets will likely mean lower trading levels following last year’s record activity, Evercore added. Its analysts also noted signs that investors had trimmed outstanding business at CME over the past three months.

Last week, the New York Times reported that regulators investigating MF Global’s collapse had widened their inquiry to CME, whose exchanges were used by MF Global. The Commodities Futures Trading Commission has been probing the disappearance of some $1.2 billion in customer funds from MF Global. Now, it’s reportedly looking into the CME’s actions in the days before the Wall Street firm’s filing for bankruptcy on Oct. 31. The Chicago-based CME Group owns the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange.

http://blogs.barrons.com/focusonfunds/2012/01/09/cme-shares-fall-in-after-hours-is-breakup-on-the-table/?mod=BOLBlog

http://video.foxbusiness.com/v/1377288026001/gasparino-break-up-of-cme-on-the-table/

[Pops]

Americans spent $13.6 billion they didn't have on cars in November, and put $5.6 billion more on their credit cards as non-revolving credit debt increased 10% and revolving charges went up 8.5% over previous months. And in America, where the entire economy depends on ever increasing debt, this was a good thing.

H/T SAR

http://www.businessinsider.com/november ... dit-2012-1

[ralfy]

As some economists put it, the best-case scenario is likely a lost decade, i.e., high unemployment coupled with high food and oil prices. Again, that's the best-case scenario. If a war breaks out, or oil production drops, or shortages for particular goods or even resources take place due to floods or droughts....

[eXpat]

QU3 being considered, is just money anyway...
Fed to Weigh Further Easing Amid Doubts About Recovery

Federal Reserve officials are seriously considering giving the US economy—and especially the housing market—an added jolt with more quantitative easing.
Fed officials are likely to discuss such a move at their Jan. 24-25 meeting, when the central bank [cnbc explains] will issue its first quarterly forecast on interest rates under the new communication policy.

Two of the new voting members this year on the Federal Open Market Committee [cnbc explains] , which sets interest-rate policy, have recently suggested they would support more assets purchases.

San Francisco Fed President John Williams said that sustained high levels of unemployment, as forecast by many Fed members, "does make an argument that we should have more stimulus."

Another new voter, Cleveland Fed President Sandra Pianalto, said in a recent speech that economic models indicate the Fed "should be even more accommodative than it is today."

They join other members, including New York Fed President Bill Dudley and several Fed governors, who have openly suggested they would support more QE [cnbc explains] .

As part of an normal rotation of presidents, the makeup of the FOMC will become more dovish this year.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/45977098

[ralfy]

"Houston, We Have Recoupling - Initial Claims Back Over 400,000 (Post Next Week's Revision), Retail Sales Ex Autos Worst Since Early 2010"

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/houston-w ... etail-sale

[eXpat]

High oil prices test U.S. economy, Obama

A jump in gasoline prices is threatening to smother the flickering flames of the US economic recovery and with them President Barack Obama’s hopes of retaining the White House.

Groggy but still standing after a four-year slog through recession, the US economy has — just about — weathered shocks from Japan’s earthquake and tsunami, the Arab Spring and Europe’s ongoing debt crisis.

Now, as unemployment finally starts to ease and growth picks up, rising oil prices could land another haymaker to the gut of the world’s largest economy.

In the last year, tensions in Iran, Syria, Libya, Nigeria and South Sudan, refinery squeezes and hardening global demand have conspired to push crude and gasoline prices higher.

For Americans that has meant a 12.5 percent rise in prices at the pump — from an average of $3.17 a gallon a year ago to $3.57 today — defacing many a household balance sheet.

Rising energy prices are “one of the predominant risks to the economy this year,” according to Deutsche Bank’s chief US economist Joseph LaVorgna.

LaVorgna and his team estimate that for every one cent increase in gasoline prices, household energy costs increase by around $1.4 billion.
That cash for the most part goes abroad, instead of washing through the domestic economy.

There are signs rising prices are starting to shake consumer confidence. According to Gallup and other pollsters, economic confidence has started to fall back after a series of encouraging gains.

Oil prices are actually expected to fall in the next few months as the Northern Hemisphere enters the lull between high-demand periods of winter and summer. But it is likely to be temporary relief.

According to the American Automobile Association, gasoline prices could rise as high as $4.25 by the end of May, well beyond the symbolic $4.00 point that many Americans consider too high.

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2012/02/22/high-oil-prices-test-u-s-economy-obama/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

[TheAntiDoomer]

Thanks for bumping this thread expat, I got a good laugh at reading Ralphy's Zerohedge post above yours.

[Plantagenet]

]A jump in gasoline prices is threatening to smother the flickering flames of the US economic recovery and with them President Barack Obama’s hopes of retaining the White House.

No worries.

If gas prices get high enough to hurt Obama's poll numbers, Obama will release oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

[careinke]

]A jump in gasoline prices is threatening to smother the flickering flames of the US economic recovery and with them President Barack Obama’s hopes of retaining the White House.

No worries.

If gas prices get high enough to hurt Obama's poll numbers, Obama will release oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Or blame Bush.

[Armageddon]

]A jump in gasoline prices is threatening to smother the flickering flames of the US economic recovery and with them President Barack Obama’s hopes of retaining the White House.

No worries.

If gas prices get high enough to hurt Obama's poll numbers, Obama will release oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Huh ? Why would that lower prices ? There aren't shortages. The SPR is for emergencies and for military.

[Plantagenet]

]A jump in gasoline prices is threatening to smother the flickering flames of the US economic recovery and with them President Barack Obama’s hopes of retaining the White House.

No worries.

If gas prices get high enough to hurt Obama's poll numbers, Obama will release oil from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

Huh ? Why would that lower prices ? There aren't shortages. The SPR is for emergencies and for military.

High gas prices that cause Obama's poll numbers to drop are an emergency, at least in the White House.

Pstarr is hopelessly uninformed about these kinds of things, but I'm surprised that you don't know that the Obama administration already tapped the SPR in 2011 for the sole purpose of lowering gasoline prices for consumers when prices went up after the US started bombing Libya. The White House claims that they lowered gas prices last year by authorizing the largest ever release of oil from the strategic oil reserve

SPR was previously tapped in 2011 to bring down gasoline prices for US drivers.

The White House Press secretary was just asked on Tuesday if Obama would act to bring down gas prices for US drivers again this year by releasing more oil from the SPR. Pretending that Obama won't use the SPR to lower gasoline prices for US drivers is silly-----he did it just last year.

[Armageddon]

That's because they were worried about losing Libya's production at the time. He calmed the markets. What calming effect would a release do right now ?

[Plantagenet]

There aren't shortages. The SPR is for emergencies and for military.

The SPR is for emergencies and for military and for calming effects on the market when gasoline prices go up.

There. Fixed that for ya.

[Serial_Worrier]

8% will be the new minimum unemployment. Those millions of jobs are not coming back due to automation, outsourcing and greater productivity of existing employees(aka slave labor).

[dsula]

8% will be the new minimum unemployment. Those millions of jobs are not coming back due to automation, outsourcing and greater productivity of existing employees(aka slave labor).

Why? Why can't a dude press a button on an automata instead of drilling the hole by hand?
And the time saved can be used for leasure.

[Cog]

8% will be the new minimum unemployment. Those millions of jobs are not coming back due to automation, outsourcing and greater productivity of existing employees(aka slave labor).

Why? Why can't a dude press a button on an automata instead of drilling the hole by hand?
And the time saved can be used for leasure.

You aren't in management are you?

[Serial_Worrier]

8% will be the new minimum unemployment. Those millions of jobs are not coming back due to automation, outsourcing and greater productivity of existing employees(aka slave labor).

Why? Why can't a dude press a button on an automata instead of drilling the hole by hand?
And the time saved can be used for leasure.

You laugh - but robot drilling is already a reality.

http://www.robots.com/applications/drilling/22

Drilling robots provide the best alternative to the taxing, and often dangerous work of manual drilling. No matter if your drilling is large or small, end of arm tooling can be customized to meet any industrial drilling needs.

Industrial drilling robots can easily be incorporated to automate a part of a production process to speed up the cycle time and have less waste.

[joewp]

8% will be the new minimum unemployment. Those millions of jobs are not coming back due to automation, outsourcing and greater productivity of existing employees(aka slave labor).

Why? Why can't a dude press a button on an automata instead of drilling the hole by hand?
And the time saved can be used for leasure.

You aren't in management are you?

Thanks for the belly laugh, Cog!

And eXpat's above article said that $4 was the symbolic point when Americans think gas is too high. Gee, and here I thought it was $3 just a little while ago! And before that $2...

I guess those cheap people have been priced out of the market.