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(MENAFN) Bangladesh Bank (BB) said that during the first half of the current 2011-2012 fiscal ending June, the country’s imports jumped 16.09 percent, exceeding USD17 billion, reported Xinhua …

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Bangladesh’s imports jump 16.09% in 6 months

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(MENAFN) Boeing Co. unveiled the discovery of problems related to the 787 Dreamliner’s fuselage and ordered inspections on the model-produced aircrafts, Bloomberg reported. Scott Lefeber, a …

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Boeing finds delamination fuselage with 787 Dreamliner

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(MENAFN) Official data showed that German factory orders grew in December, as the demand from outside the euro area helped avoiding sovereign debt crisis, Bloomberg reported. According to the …

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German factory orders grow 1.7% in January

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(MENAFN) UK’s Vodafone Group Plc gave ip merger plans of its Greek unit with rival Wind Hellas following opposition from European Union regulatory, Bloomberg reported. A successful merger would …

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Vodafone gives up merger plans with Greece’s OTE

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Huffington Post…

Pat McCarthy had the perfect pitch for the sharks circling in the ” Shark Tank ” (Fri., 8 p.m. EST on ABC). As part of his attempt to get some financial backing for his Money fragrance, he came in under a shower of cold hard cash — well not hard per se as it was bills and not change. The sharks were certainly impressed with that presentation, and were even willing to witness the wonderful smell of money. They have emotional attachments to money and love the smell of it. But did they love the smell of his Money fragrance? Barbara Corcoran seemed to think the smell too overpowering, but mostly they were concerned about the competitive perfume market. The cost of penetration into the big department stores they calculated at more than a million, and they weren’t confident this product could get there. Daymond John liked the idea of licensing the name and put an aggressive offer of $100,000 for an 80% stake in the company. But it was the only offer McCarthy would see, as the other Sharks all backed out. In the end, McCarthy couldn’t part with control of the company and so he walked away with nothing. Money talks, but control talked louder for McCarthy. See which products are spotlighted next on “Shark Tank,” Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on ABC. TV Replay scours the vast television landscape to find the most interesting, amusing, and, on a good day, amazing moments, and delivers them right to your browser.

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Pat McCarthy Makes It Rain Money On ‘Shark Tank’

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The euro slipped against majors before deadline set by international lenders for Greek political party leaders to respond to the austerity proposal needed to grant Greece a second bailout worth 130 …

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Euro slides before response from Greek political leaders to international lenders’ austerity proposal  

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(MENAFN) Indonesia’s statistic bureau BPS said that during 2011, Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita jumped 17.7 percent to USD3,542, compared with USD3,010 in 2010, reported Xinhua News. The …

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Indonesia’s 2011 GDP per capita up 17.7%

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(MENAFN) Iran’s Energy Minister, Majid Namjou, said that Iran would raise its electricity exports to Pakistan by 1,000 megawatts (MW) by the coming 3 years, reported Tehran Times. Namjou added …

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Iran to boost power exports to Pakistan by 1,000MW

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Huffington Post…

Let’s face it. Selling financial solutions during a Super Bowl is far from easy. But E-Trade manages to capture our spirit and laughter with its clever ad. The baby reassures a new dad about planning for his daughter’s future with E*Trade Financial Consultants. His friend Bobby stops by for an unexpected surprise visit, too and even jokes he’s speed dating in the nursery. Even if finance isn’t your thing, the voice over and the hilarious expressions from this adorable baby make it well worth watching. Check out some reactions to the ad from Twitter. CLICK HERE to see the rest of the 2012 Super Bowl commercials as well as all of the best, worst and most memorable from years past. For years , viewers have tuned into the NFL’s Super Bowl as much to see what the advertisers roll out as how the two teams vying for the sport’s top prize perform. This year is no different. Each time that NBC cuts away from Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots a hush will come over most Super Bowl parties as everyone — and not just the diehard sports fans with a rooting (or betting) interest — focuses entirely on the ads. While iconic Super Bowl commercials like Apple’s ’1984′ and Coke’s ad starring Mean Joe Greene will be remembered so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails. How does this Super Bowl ad stack up?

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Cutest Super Bowl Ad?

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Investors in Asia widened their appetite for risk on Monday as the US economy provided on Friday more signs of recovery which improved hopes for Asian companies, while Greek debt restructuring talks …

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Gains in Asia on US jobs data; Greece’s talks in focus

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Huffington Post…

Last Friday the GOP had a really bad day. It didn’t come in the form of new polling results — or some new political scandal. It was delivered to them by the economic statistics: Private sector jobs up 243,000 — almost 100,000 more than expected. Unemployment rate down to 8.3 percent. Twenty-three straight months of private sector jobs growth. But you say, this is not bad news — this is good news. Not for the GOP and its chances of ousting President Obama, seizing control of the Senate or maintaining its majority in the House. As Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell made ever so clear early last year, the Republican Leadership — and their backers on Wall Street — have one and only one goal: to defeat President Obama next fall. To do that, the GOP is betting against the American economy. For the last two years they have done everything in their power to slow America’s recovery from the greatest economic meltdown since the Great Depression. They have opposed virtually every element of the president’s American Jobs Act. They brought the economy to the brink by threatening that they wouldn’t allow America to pay its bills during the debt ceiling standoff last year. They tried their best to prevent extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits that are so critical to maintaining buying power momentum as the economy begins to pick up speed. And, of course, they advocate returning to the regulatory and fiscal policies that caused the Great Recession in the first place. But the most significant thing they have done to stall the economic recovery has been their refusal to continue federal aid to state and local government. In the last 23 months, the economy has created 3.7 million new private sector jobs. But during the same period, it has created only 3.165 net total jobs. That is because government — mainly state and local government — laid off a net of about 535,000 people. If the Republicans in Congress had not refused to continue providing aid to state and local governments, it is likely that unemployment would be in the mid 7 percent range and the economy as a whole would have at least another half million jobs. And we would also be more likely to have more private sector jobs as well, since the additional teachers and firefighters and policemen who the Republicans basically fired, would have had money to spend on the products and services produced by private businesses. As much as they like to pretend they don’t agree with “Keynesian” economics, many Republicans completely understand that by refusing to provide aid to state and local government, they are hurting the economic recovery — and that is exactly what they are trying to do. They have been perfectly willing to allow our kids to have fewer teachers and bigger class sizes, and to allow our cities to have fewer policemen and firefighters all to advance their political goal of slowing the economic recovery. But despite their efforts to the contrary, the economy is beginning to gain traction. That is very important to the prospects of everyday Americans — and it is critically important politically. Anyone who has ever tried to move a car that is stuck in the snow — or in the mud — knows what I mean. As long as the car just keeps spinning its wheels, there seems to be no hope. But after you’ve shaken and pushed, and put sand under the tires and the car finally begins to get the smallest amount of traction — everyone’s spirits change. Suddenly there is hope that you’re finally going to get the car moving again. That’s what’s beginning to happen to the economy — and it will have an enormous effect on the attitudes of voters. It begins to give them hope that the president’s policies are, in fact, moving the economy in the right direction — that it actually is beginning to build up steam — that there is hope that middle class Americans are actually going to see their prospects begin to improve. And it gives lie to the ridiculous statements of Mitt Romney, who continued to claim as late as last Friday that Barack Obama has made the economy “worse.” The definition of “worse” is “not as good as it was before.” The economic disaster that was caused by the policies of the Bush administration — the same policies that Romney wants to bring back to the White House — caused the destruction of 8 million jobs. In fact, George Bush was the first president in modern American history to preside over net zero private sector job growth. As soon as President Obama took office he put into place policies that reversed those jobs losses. Monthly private sector job losses declined continuously and finally turned positive — and the economy has added private sector jobs continuously for the last 23 months. In the last two months alone, the economy has added 446,000 new jobs. That is not worse . In fact, that is commonly known as better . And that is a huge problem for the GOP political narrative this fall. In the next several weeks, Congress will rejoin the battle over the extension of the payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits for those who are out of work for no fault of their own. Recall that this was the fight that involved the complete surrender of GOP opposition in the week leading to the Christmas holidays. Then, they agreed to a two month extension that guaranteed that the battle would be renewed — a fight that will once more highlight just how, when it comes to jobs, President Obama and the Democrats are doing battle with a “do nothing Republican Congress.” There will likely be ups and downs in the jobs numbers over the next eight months. But as long as the economy continues to gain traction — and as long as Democrats continue to battle for jobs legislation in Congress — there will be many more bad days ahead for the GOP’s strategy of making themselves look better by trying to make the economy worse. Robert Creamer is a long-time political organizer and strategist, and author of the book: Stand Up Straight: How Progressives Can Win, available on Amazon.com . He is a partner in Democracy Partners and a Senior Strategist for Americans United for Change . Follow him on Twitter @rbcreamer.

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Robert Creamer: Last Friday the GOP Had a Really Bad Day

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(MENAFN) South Korea’s largest telecoms operator KT Corp. posted 13 percent quarterly growth, as a one-time gain offset higher costs and falling sales from phone calls, Bloomberg reported. KT …

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S. Korea’s KT reports 13% increase in Q4 profit

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(MENAFN) Swiss Julius Baer Group Ltd. forecasted a full year 27 percent profit decline to USD280 million, Bloomberg reported. Profit dropped after the Zurich-based wealth manager paid Germany …

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Swiss Julius Baer 2011 profits fall 27%

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(MENAFN) Japan Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI) said that in December, the country imported 10.28 million barrels of crude oil from Iran, reported Tehran Times. The ministry added …

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Japan’s Dec oil imports from Iran reach 10.28m barrels

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(MENAFN) National Iranian Gas Company’s (NIGC) managing director said that as a result of the harsh cold weather in the region, Turkmenistan slashed its natural gas exports to Iran, reported Tehran …

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Turkmenistan reduces gas exports to Iran on cold weather

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(MENAFN – Jordan Times) Non-violent revolutions do not always remain non-violent, as the examples of uprisings in Egypt, Libya and Syria in the Arab Spring have shown. But peaceful movements for …

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A strategy for Russia’s snow revolution

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(MENAFN) National Iranian Oil Company’s managing director, Ahmad Qalebani, said that by the end of the current calendar year (March 20), the country would start early output at the Yadavaran …

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Iran to commence early output at Yadavaran oilfield

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(MENAFN – Emirates News Agency (WAM)) Art business and a fine arts auction house Christie’s on Sunday announced 2011 sales of ?3.6 billion / $5.7 billion, up 9% by ? (14% by $) compared with 2010 …

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Christie’s 2011 sales total US$5.7 billion

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Huffington Post…

In the world of advertising, sometimes cute trumps sexy. Just ask Kim Kardashian after Skechers replaced her with a French Bulldog in this year’s Super Bowl commercial . Racing a pack of greyhounds , the pooch Mr. Quiggly appears in the ad sporting the brand’s GOrun sneakers. The dog not only takes first place, but also manages to moonwalk across the finish line to rapper Tone Loc’s hit single, “Wild Thing.” Also starring in the ad? Billionaire entrepreneur and Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban . Fans took to Twitter commenting on this Skechers ad. For years , viewers have tuned into the NFL’s Super Bowl as much to see what the advertisers roll out as how the two teams vying for the sport’s top prize perform. This year is no different. Each time that NBC cuts away from Super Bowl XLVI between the New York Giants and New England Patriots a hush will come over most Super Bowl parties as everyone — and not just the diehard sports fans with a rooting (or betting) interest — focuses entirely on the ads. While iconic Super Bowl commercials like Apple’s ’1984′ ad and Coke’s 1980 ad starring Mean Joe Greene will be remembered so many more are soon forgotten or, even worse, ridiculed as super fails. How does this Super Bowl ad stack up? CLICK HERE to see the rest of the 2012 Super Bowl commercials as well as all of the best, worst and most memorable from years past.

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How Skechers Replaced Kim Kardashian With a Bulldog For Super Bowl

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(MENAFN – Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) Israel announced Sunday the discovery of a huge offshore natural gas well northwestern Haifa shores. According to Israeli radio, the discovery was made by …

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Israel discovers new large offshore natural gas well

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(MENAFN – Qatar News Agency) South Korean President Lee Myung-bak has arrived in Turkey, starting a four-day tour of the Middle East. South Korean President met with Turkish and South Korean …

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S.Korean President Urges FTA with Turkey

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(MENAFN) ENI’s CEO, Paolo Scaroni, said that gas supplies might be disrupted in case Russia’s Gazprom decided to further reduce its gas exports to Italy, reported AP. Scaroni added that Italy’s …

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Russia’s gas supplies to Italy may drop: ENI

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Eur/SekThe market remains under some intense pressure, with the latest setbacks threatening a return to the key lows from early 2011 by 8.70. However, daily studies are now tracking in oversold …

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EUR/NOK Testing Key Support by 7.60; Looking for a Bounce

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menafn.com…

US DOLLAR INDEX: The market remains locked in a multi-day consolidation and continues to chop between the 9,700-10,100 area. Overall, we do retain a bullish outlook given the broader recovery …

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US Dollar Index Classical Technical Report 02.06

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GBP/JPY: The latest setbacks have been very well supported ahead of the record lows at 116.80 from September, with the market reversing course and potentially looking to carve a fresh base. For …

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GBP/JPY Classical Technical Report 02.06

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EUR/JPY:Although the market remains locked in an intense downtrend, daily studies are finally correcting from oversold territory and out from multi-year lows with the market looking to establish …

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EUR/JPY Classical Technical Report 02.06

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USD/CAD: Our constructive outlook remains intact despite the latest interday pullback with the market largely still consolidating around parity ahead of what we believe will be an eventual retest …

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USD/CAD Classical Technical Report 02.06

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NZD/USD: Although the market has been very well bid over the past couple of weeks, we continue to retain a broader bearish outlook and look for these rallies to soon stall in favor of a major …

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NZD/USD Classical Technical Report 02.06

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AUD/USD: The latest surge looks like it could finally be ready to stall, with the market reaching and slightly exceeding key resistance by the highs from October in the 1.0700’s. Overall, …

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AUD/USD Classical Technical Report 02.06

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USD/CHF: Although our overall outlook remains intensely bullish, the market is in the process of some interday consolidation before the next major upside extension beyond 0.9600 and towards …

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USD/CHF Classical Technical Report 02.06

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GBP/USD:The latest break back above 1.5800 now compromises a multi-week consolidation, with the pair now looking to break towards next key resistance by 1.6000. However, despite the upside move, …

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GBP/USD Classical Technical Report 02.06

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USD/JPY:The market could once again be looking to carve an interim base after setbacks stalled shy of the record lows from October by 75.55. A bullish reversal day from last Friday has shown some …

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USD/JPY Classical Technical Report 02.06

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EUR/USD: Although gains in this market have been quite impressive in recent days, the price action is still classified as corrective with the market locked in a broader underlying downtrend. From …

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EUR/USD Classical Technical Report 02.06

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]]> http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/eurusd-classical-technical-report-02-06/feed/ 0 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/eurusd-classical-technical-report-02-06/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/industry-news/fneN/~3/aHWyTJ59HWY/ http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/david-paul-back-to-the-drachma-time-to-let-greece-be-greece/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:41:49 +0000 David Paul http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/david-paul-back-to-the-drachma-time-to-let-greece-be-greece/

Huffington Post…

“The pace and composition of the deleveraging process needs to be consistent with the macroeconomic scenario of the adjustment program and should not jeopardize the provision of adequate levels of credit to the economy.” Thus spoke one European finance official this weekend, as one more confab of ministers from the eurohood gathered to assure the world that all is proceeding apace toward “a more balanced monetary union governance model and effective firewalls.” The tendency to speak in finance jargon–one is reminded of the incomprehensible utterances of Alan Greenspan–may suggest to some that they have the problem under control. However, the lack of frank discussion of the underlying issues suggests instead that they have a tiger by the tail and are making it up as they go along. Each week now brings new assurances that a deal is imminent, and yet as the weeks go by it is becoming harder and harder to imagine that after all of the complex negotiations, the end will not be more straightforward: Greece defaults and exits the eurozone. It may be inevitable, and it may be for the best. Maybe not for Germany, maybe not for the banks, but for Greece. The United States began as poorly structured fiscal union. The debts of the nation and the debts of the states were comingled and the boundaries of responsibility poorly defined. Like Europe, the United States is a federation with a single currency and centralized monetary policy, but with fiscal authority retained at the state level. And early on, there were periods of fiscal crisis that were first resolved with the federal government assuming the debts of the states. But it was only after state defaults on their own debts that long-term stability was achieved, as new working rules–established under state constitutions–were established that clearly delineated the responsibilities of the states and of the central government. Europe–or more precisely the eurozone–was created with similar failures to define boundaries of responsibility. It is not surprising that nations bound together with a common currency, but each retaining spending authority, would find themselves subject to fiscal pressure. This problem was exacerbated by the implied debt guarantees that allowed each state to borrow freely, while giving the banks and other investors little incentive to make credit decisions reflective of each country’s management of its fiscal affairs. The European experience mirrors the experience of nations that have pegged their currency to the dollar. There are benefits of maintaining a common currency, but the peg cannot be sustained if a nation fails to manage their affairs–such as was the case of Argentina–or if they outperform the nation to which they have pegged their currency–such as Taiwan and Singapore. In either cases, market forces will exert pressure over time to move away from the peg and allow their currency to depreciate or appreciate until a new balance is achieved. Greece is the Argentina of Europe, and enjoyed the benefits that access to a common currency offered, until it was no longer able to pay its bills. Argentina finally defaulted a decade ago, but not before its families of means squirreled their pesos away in dollars stashed in foreign banks–much as Greeks are doing today. There was no impediment to Argentina’s ultimate default. The currency market did for Argentina all of those things that are being demanded of Greece today. Everything was adjusted downward in real terms. Salaries and pensions–public sector and private alike–funding public services. The population became poorer, their futures cast into doubt, but unlike Greece, no public official had to cast a ballot. Each week, the Germans–along with their junior partners in France–are putting the hammer to the Greeks. Cut public sector spending. Cut worker salaries. Cut pensions. Sell the airports and trains. And this week demands to cut private sector salaries by 25%. Now, German ministers have taken the final, inevitable step and suggested that Greece must have a fiscal overlord to set budgets and spending levels. While the world has focused on Greece’s failures–with the implication that it was German beneficence that allowed Greek participation in the euro in the first place–it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Germany has been the greatest beneficiary of the creation of the eurozone. The advent of the common currency eurozone with 330 million people created a massive, captive market for the German export machine. After China and ahead of the United States, Germany is the second largest exporting nation on earth, and the bulk of what it sells is to other European countries. There are no innocents in this morality tale. All those Greek bonds and Italian bonds and Spanish bonds and other bonds that are now at risk were issued to sustain an economic bubble of consumerism from which German exporters were among the largest beneficiaries. If Greece lied on its application for admission, the Germans had good reason to look the other way. Those who have benefited from the euro want it to survive this crisis. Failure is not an option –insisted European Central Bank member this weekend. It is not an option for Germany, whose currency would skyrocket if the eurozone nations went their separate ways, punishing its export-dependent economy. It is not an option for France, for whom the euro is the key both to containing the German colossus with which it has fought several wars and to creating a counterweight to U.S. global power and prestige. It is not an option for China, that badly needs an alternative currency to the dollar for its massive foreign currency holdings. And then there are the financial imperatives of achieving an orderly unwinding of the exposure of the European banks to Greek default risk. Each week, we are assured, a deal to restructure Greek debt–theoretically averting a default–is almost done. The parameters of such a deal are not in question. The banks holding Greek bonds would write off more than half of the value of their bonds against their fictitious capital reserves–fictitious because those reserves have been invested in sovereign euro-denominated bonds, among which are these very same Greek bonds. Hedge funds will be strong-armed into accepting the same deal, though their write-offs will be against their own–rather than other people’s–money. But essential to the suggested resolution would be the forbearance by the ISDA–the International Swap Dealers Association–in pronouncing that no “credit event” has taken place, such that those same banks will not have to pay out on credit event losses as the sellers of credit default swaps against those same Greek bonds. Such an outcome would seem to be unlikely based on the merits, but in a world that has dangerously comingled the financial and the political, anything is possible. For all of this–to sustain the illusions that are Europe and the stability of its banks–all that is asked of Greece is that it voluntary cede its powers of democracy and self-determination. Yes, Greeks can still elect their leaders, but those leaders will no longer control the destiny of the nation. But even if a default by Greece on its March 20th bond payment is diverted, nothing will actually have been solved. At best, a new package of loans will be arranged, and the default will be delayed until some later date. This solution is backwards. Instead of affirming Greece’s responsibility for its own choices, it will have been stripped of its sovereignty. Instead of having to face up to the challenge of building its own future with real rules–as ultimately each nation must–it will move forward instead as a vassal state to its Franco-German overlords. Perhaps it is time to gather those ministers and elected leaders into a room and tell them to go home. For all of their sakes, perhaps it is time that they open their eyes and let Greece be Greece. Better now than later, because all is not proceeding according to plan. Because there is no plan. They are just making it up as they go along.

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David Paul: Back to the Drachma: Time to Let Greece Be Greece

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(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) Leaders of the three parties backing Greece’s coalition government are meeting with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos to consider demands by Greece’s creditors for tougher …

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Talks on Greek bailout hang in the balance

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(MENAFN – Saudi Press Agency) Ireland’s EU/IMF lenders have agreed to let it invest much of the cash it gets from privatisation rather than use it to pay down debts, if the proceeds are substantial, …

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EU/IMF to let Ireland invest privatisation cash-PM

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(MENAFN – Arab News) I write this week from Istanbul, where the press is abuzz about a grim discovery in Turkey’s southwest region. The discovery exposes past large-scale abuses by security forces …

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Turkey and phantoms of its past

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]]> http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/turkey-and-phantoms-of-its-past/feed/ 0 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/turkey-and-phantoms-of-its-past/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/industry-news/fneN/~3/2w6OwTNEmrg/ http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/anti-muslim-bias-green-light-to-yellow-journalism/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:35:07 +0000 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/anti-muslim-bias-green-light-to-yellow-journalism/

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(MENAFN – Arab News) What is common between the Western and Indian media? Both are insatiably hungry for anti-Muslim angles in negative stories. And after 9/11, it has become convenient for them to …

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Anti-Muslim bias: Green light to yellow journalism

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]]> http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/anti-muslim-bias-green-light-to-yellow-journalism/feed/ 0 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/anti-muslim-bias-green-light-to-yellow-journalism/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/industry-news/fneN/~3/45fWyIjQoQE/ http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/china-to-ban-its-carriers-from-paying-eu-carbon-emissions-tax/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 08:32:28 +0000 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/china-to-ban-its-carriers-from-paying-eu-carbon-emissions-tax/

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(MENAFN) The Civil Aviation Administration of China said that the country would ban its carriers from paying European Union tax on carbon emissions or other fees without government permission, …

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China to ban its carriers from paying EU carbon emissions tax

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(MENAFN – Arab News) British Midland International (bmi) can boast one of the best punctuality records of any airline operating in the UK. “Also, London happens to be one of the favorite European …

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Customers can find a ‘stylish haven with us’: Top bmi official

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]]> http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/customers-can-find-a-stylish-haven-with-us-top-bmi-official/feed/ 0 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/06/customers-can-find-a-stylish-haven-with-us-top-bmi-official/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/industry-news/fneN/~3/r34chCbbWl4/ http://industry-news.org/2012/02/05/mike-lux-a-healthy-skepticism/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 05:44:47 +0000 Mike Lux http://industry-news.org/2012/02/05/mike-lux-a-healthy-skepticism/

Huffington Post…

The struggles around a potential settlement with the bankers over crimes they committed have been fascinating. Beyond the immediate settlement talks on robo-signing, the bigger saga about whether Wall Street will be held accountable, and whether the housing market recovers any time soon, is going to take as long to resolve itself as President Obama is in office — although the short-term resolution will have a lot to do with whether that is for one more year or five. The immediate debate is on the settlement — state attorneys general have been instructed that they need to decide by Monday whether to sign on it. The issues remain exactly the same today as it has been throughout the time the settlement talks have been going. Administration officials arguing for a settlement say that on robo-signing alone that it would be a long laborious process to prosecute all these claims, that not that many attorneys general would do aggressive prosecution, and that even if prosecutors won all the potential cases, the amount of money that would be awarded wouldn’t be all that much more than what the settlement is calling for. They argue that the money from the settlement would not only write down a lot of underwater mortgages but would provide money for desperately needed legal services that would help lots of hard pressed people who have been screwed by bankers. Those attorneys general who have been reluctant to sign on, and progressive activists like me who have been against a settlement, have been concerned that no investigations are being done to determine the full extent of the crimes committed, and that any legal release would be drawn far too broadly allowing the big banks to once again get off without being held accountable for their crimes. I have always been of the view that there are two supremely important things in this whole fight over the settlement. The first is a much more comprehensive and aggressive investigation of the biggest banks, one that, done right, would result in indictments of bank executives for fraud, along with the possibility for a far bigger amount of money from the banks for mortgage writedowns. The second is the legal release issue, because if that release is broadly drawn, any investigations going further — whether they are federal or state — could be rendered moot before ever getting out the door. Beyond those two things are a whole set of relatively more modest but still significant issues in terms of how a settlement would be structured, including the actual amount of money involved. On the first issue, the task force gives some hope, and the administration deserves credit for appointing it, but many issues remain including whether it will have the needed staffing resources, and whether the Department of Justice and Securities and Exchange Commission officials who have seemed reluctant in the past to support more aggressive investigation will support New York Attorney Genral Eric Schneiderman in his efforts to push strongly ahead. On the second issue, I remain hopeful the release will be narrow, but also have confidence that Schneiderman, California Attorney General Kamala Harris, Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, and perhaps some other important attorneys general will refuse to sign on to a settlement with bad release language — and those are four incredibly important states not to be in a settlement. On the final set of issues, I have less confidence at the moment that I and other progressives will be happy with all or even most of the details, although I’m sure there will be a mix of good and bad. One bit of good news: according to Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan in a blogger call Saturday, it looks like there may end up being as much as $40 billion in mortgage writedown money involved in the settlement deal, as opposed to the $25 billion that had been reported previously. There is one other factor on all this which is a great sign: Schneiderman’s lawsuit filed against the big banks is a sign he is going to continue to be aggressive and independent in pursuit of justice on Wall Street. If, as I suspect, DOJ needs prodding, I think this kind of lawsuit is a good shot across the bow, as well as incredibly significant legal work in its own right. Here’s a great report from Rachel Maddow Friday night about the lawsuit: Visit msnbc.com for breaking news , world news , and news about the economy Side note before I go on: I am delighted to see Maddow doing such a good job of digging into this subject (in addition to this segment, she did a very knowledgeable interview with Schneiderman a few days ago). One of the key parts to the all-important task of holding the new task force accountable is good reporting from high-profile reporters like Rachel. In addition to good reporters continuing to pay attention to what happens next with the task force, the broader progressive movement needs to be very focused on holding that task force accountable. I know there has been a lot of debate and division among progressives over how optimistic to be, with some arguing that the administration’s history re investigating financial fraud and holding the big banks accountable in general has been very weak, that this new task force doesn’t have enough resources assigned to it, and that some of the players in the task force have not been inclined to investigate Wall Street fraud in the last three years. Some of us have been more optimistic given Schneiderman’s role and a sense that the political tides are shifting, although even a relative optimist like me is unhappy with the still relatively small amount of DOJ resources allocated and the continuing drip of rumors that key DOJ players want to slow this task force down. However we think on this, though, I think progressive optimists and pessimists need to be firmly united in one thing: we need to be singularly focused in the months to come on scrutinizing everything going on — and especially not going on — at the task force, and holding it absolutely accountable. Any report of a road block in the investigation, any information about a DOJ or SEC player holding things up, any inkling that Schneiderman is being held back, and I think we should raise holy hell. And if the weeks and months go by with few subpoenas and depositions, and with no or very few lawsuits or indictments of major financial industry players, we should be asking- with our outdoor voices, not our indoor voices- what the hell is going on. Having said all that, let me close on an optimistic note. Healthy skepticism is a good activist’s best asset, especially in this case with an opponent so powerful who has yet to be held accountable by anyone. And this administration has been a disappointment on too many banking industry related things. But political dynamics do actually change things, and effective political organizing and communications do too. Progressives won a strong, independent Consumer Financial Protection Bureau because we fought side by side with a great champion Elizabeth Warren to make it happen, and I hope and believe that in working with Eric Schneiderman and other progressive attorneys general we can do the same thing with this investigation. In the last few months, Obama did recess appointments of strong progressive nominees for CFPB and the National Labor Relations Board; he has gone from cutting deals with Republicans on the budget to fighting strongly for new jobs programs paid for by tax increases on the 1 percent; he has rejected the Keystone pipeline. On housing itself, he has announced a progressive new policy to develop new rental property, forced bankers to adhere to standards making it tougher to foreclose on unemployed people, and adapted a new homeowners’ bill of rights that has the potential to be significant. And in the course of these settlement talks, progressives allied with Schneiderman and other progressive attorneys general have fundamentally changed the nature of the deal, with this new task force not even on the table a couple of months ago. If it turns out the release language in the settlement is narrow, and we get $40 billion in write-down money instead of the $15, $20, or $25 billion discussed a couple months back, that would also be the result of great organizing by progressives and a new responsiveness by this administration. I’ll say it again: a healthy skepticism is an activist’s best asset, and we need to keep banging away to hold the administration accountable. But to ignore the fact that some important things are changing, and that hope is a real possibility, is to ignore our own success as organizers, and to ignore that the underlying political circumstances are shifting in our favor and that we should take advantage of that fact. President Obama is responding to us. We should keep the heat on, but we should also recognize that we are capable of winning some victories.

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Mike Lux: A Healthy Skepticism

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Google has pulled off a coup by hiring an Apple senior director of product integrity for a secret project, VentureBeat has learned.

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Google Makes Huge Grab

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Huffington Post…

(Reuters) – TiVo Inc is trading at a compelling discount and could be a possible acquisition target by Microsoft or Google, Barron’s financial newspaper reported on Sunday. TiVo, whose brand is synonymous with digital video recorders, has turned to litigation to generate revenue from licensing fees as the industry pioneer has struggled to fight competition from low-cost rivals in recent years. In January, it pocketed $215 million from AT&T to settle a patent infringement dispute. The settlement could bode well for TiVo’s lawsuit with Verizon, which is centered around the same patents. Barron’s said the company may one day sue Time Warner Cable, which has more subscribers than AT&T and Verizon. TiVo added subscribers in the third quarter for the first time in four years, Barron’s said. It has signed distribution deals with Virgin Media, a cable company based in Britain, and other operators such as Spain’s ONO and DirecTV in the United States. TiVo’s shares closed at $11.23 on Friday. Barron’s said the stock is trading significantly below some analysts’ price targets of $17 and $18 per share. The company could fetch a takeover price in the mid-$20s if it was acquired by Microsoft or Google, according to Barron’s. (Reporting By Liana B. Baker; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)

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TiVo Share Price Drops, Some Wonder If Google Will Grab

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Huffington Post…

The proposed $25 billion “settlement” of the mortgage servicing mess, scheduled to be made public any moment, must be a way station to much larger reductions of mortgage principal for underwater homeowners and much more serious consequences for the banks and their allies whose fraudulent actions created the mortgage meltdown. If the settlement turns out to be the final installment of relief for homeowners, it will be a colossal failure, both as economics and as justice. However, while the settlement talks among state AGs, the Obama administration and bankers were in their final phase last week, New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman filed a massive lawsuit against three of the largest players, Wells Fargo, Bank of America, and JPMorgan Chase. This bodes well for further enforcement actions, settlement or no settlement. The lawsuit minces no words in alleging that the big banks fraudulently used the electronic system known as MERS to “evade county recording fees, avoid the need to publicly record mortgage transfers and facilitate the rapid sale and securitization of mortgages en masse.” According to Schneiderman, the illegal scheme saved banks $2 billion directly in recording fees, and the banks could be subject to much more money in fines. Schneiderman’s suit also seeks to block the ability of the banks to foreclose on some 70 million properties held in the name of MERS. Much of this same fraudulent misconduct is also the subject of the proposed settlement talks. Schneiderman signed onto the talks, and to a newly activated federal task force on criminal wrongdoing in mortgage securitization. So how can he file this case without blowing up the talks? The answer is that the suit does blow up the wrong kind of settlement — one that would protect the banks from further civil and criminal liability. In fact, the settlement now taking final shape would only narrowly insulate banks from federal and state litigation directly related to fake robo-signing. Nothing in it shelters the banks from other liability, such as fraudulently claiming that trust documents contained mortgage notes that in fact weren’t there. The proof of the pudding is that Schneiderman’s case went forward, and there will be more such cases. Why would the banks still agree to a settlement? Because the Frankenstein system that they created is such a mess that they need government help in cleaning it up. $25 billion is a small price to pay for the ability to restore a system that clearly establishes titles and liens — and the right to foreclose. The question is whether it is too small a price to pay, whether the government is giving up leverage that it could use to extract a much larger settlement, and whether the result will be major principal write-downs — or expedited foreclosures. Unfortunately, HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan muddied the waters in a press call on Saturday, when he bragged that the settlement would be bigger than the $20-25 billion previously reported, but that much of the cost would be borne substantially by the investors who bought the subprime securities created by the banks. While some of these investors are hedge funds speculating in depressed paper, others are pension funds that bought the bonds in good faith based on the very misrepresentations that leave the banks open to prosecution. As Senator Sherrod Brown has previously warned, it would be a travesty to whack taxpayers once in their capacity as workers and homeowners, and a second time as the value of their pensions takes a hit. At the same time, it is reasonable that the holders of the bonds be part of settlement discussions. These securities are already worth far less than their book value. The market has discounted them, based on the high mortgage default rates. A settlement that allowed millions of homeowners to stay in their homes and reversed the collapse in housing prices would be good for all concerned, including the pension funds. But while the penalties on the banks that caused the calamity should be mandatory, those who got stuck with the bonds should be at the write-down negotiations in a voluntary capacity. The risk is that banks will get off too easy. The Treasury’s prime goal all along has been to prevent the bank balance sheets from taking too big a hit. Others in the administration, however, seem to belatedly recognize that much deeper mortgage relief should take priority. We will soon learn two crucial things. First, will the deal be a sellout — as some fear — or a down-payment? Will it give banks any protection except from the narrowest litigation related directly to robo-signing? Will it leave prosecutors free to pursue all the other illegalities that have marked the entire mortgage meltdown? And will the state AGs and the federal agencies pursue other civil and criminal cases that lead to a much larger set of fines that can be used for mortgage relief, more proportional to the damage done by the banks? There are those who think that the administration has been so in the pocket of the big banks until now that any state AG who collaborates is by definition tainted. There are others who admire the independence and gumption of the AGs who blocked earlier versions of the settlement, and who look to them to lead. Robert Kuttner is co-editor of “The American Prospect” and a senior fellow at Demos. His latest book is “A Presidency in Peril.”

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Robert Kuttner: Showdown for the Banks, Showtime for Obama

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Huffington Post…

WASHINGTON — Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said Sunday that Republican governors deserve credit for the improving economy. “I’m glad the economy is starting to recover, but I think it’s because of what Republican governors are doing in their states, not because of the president,” McDonnell said on CNN’s ” State of the Union with Candy Crowley .” McDonnell did not elaborate on what the governors have done. But he said Republican governors are in charge of more states with positive economic conditions. “Eleven out of the top 15 states in America that are ranked by CNBC as top places to do business are Republican states,” he said. “Seven out of the 10 states that have had the biggest drop in unemployment are states run by Republican governors.” The national unemployment rate fell to 8.3 percent in January, the fifth consecutive month of decline and the 16th consecutive month the economy added jobs. But, as McDonnell noted, it’s also the 36th straight month with the unemployment rate above 8 percent. If governors in general have helped the economy, it hasn’t been by keeping people on the payroll: State and local governments have laid off scads of workers over the past year. They employed 232,000 fewer workers last month than they did in January 2011, according to Labor Department data. The unemployment rate in Virginia is 6.2 percent. Government payrolls there grew from 705,600 in December 2010 to 706,000 last December, according to the Labor Department (although that total likely includes some federal workers). McDonnell, who is chairman of the Republican Governors Association and a backer of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in his race for the presidency, suggested the improving economy won’t help President Barack Obama win reelection in November. “This race is coming down to three things. It’s leadership, it’s jobs, and it’s the national debt and deficit,” McDonnell said. “And on all of those, President Obama’s failed. He spends most of his time blaming Republicans and the Tea Party and Wall Street for all the problems in the country and not taking responsibility. He’s completely failed to get the national debt and deficit under control. He’s contributed nearly $5 trillion to the national debt with no plan to get out of it.”

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GOP Governor: Give Us Credit For The Economy

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Huffington Post…

The All American linebacker with the crazy face paint — that’s how Mark Herzlich was defined during his stellar football career at Boston College. Then came cancer . Doctors hoped to redefine the 2008 Atlantic Coast Conference Defensive Player of the Year as Mark Herzlich, cancer survivor. Finished with football, yet alive and well. But Mark disagreed. He had a goal. Always ambitious, he was still determined to become Mark Herzlich, NFL linebacker. Cancer be damned. He’s my Influencer of the Week because he inspires and models this mindset: A goal is a dream with a deadline. After his devastating diagnosis of Ewing’s Sarcoma, Herzlich set a deadline: September 4, 2010. That’s the date when he would beat his rare form of bone cancer. That’s the date when he’d get back on the field at Boston College. Not only did he accomplish that goal, but he set and reached another goal, and another. That’s why he’s now Mark Herzlich, New York Giants linebacker. Mark Herzlich, Super Bowl player. Turns out, the former face paint fanatic was not so crazy, after all. A goal is a dream with a deadline. Have you set a deadline to make your dreams come true?

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Connie Dieken: Influencer of the Week: Cancer-Conquering Super Bowl Linebacker

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Huffington Post…

Years before the housing bust — before all those home loans turned sour and millions of Americans faced foreclosure — a wealthy businessman in Florida set out to blow the whistle on the mortgage game.

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Fannie Mae Ignored Crucial Warnings Of Mortgage Crisis

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CHICAGO — A Chicago college is offering a class on the Occupy movement. Thirty-two undergraduate students are enrolled at Roosevelt University’s “Occupy Everywhere” class. It’s a three-credit political science course that looks at the movement that started last summer near New York City’s Wall Street and spread nationwide. Leaders from the Chicago movement may present guest lectures. Professor Jeff Edwards studies social movements. He says the Occupy movement has been unfolding before students and the class is a good opportunity for them. He says they are reading a range of analysis on the movement concerned with corporate greed and the division of wealth. ___

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Chicago College Offers Class On Occupy Movement

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]]> http://industry-news.org/2012/02/05/chicago-college-offers-class-on-occupy-movement/feed/ 0 http://industry-news.org/2012/02/05/chicago-college-offers-class-on-occupy-movement/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/industry-news/fneN/~3/dq9i15YuDQs/ http://industry-news.org/2012/02/05/fred-goldring-a-strategic-insurance-policy-for-self-absorbed-rich-people/#comments Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:24:03 +0000 Fred Goldring http://industry-news.org/2012/02/05/fred-goldring-a-strategic-insurance-policy-for-self-absorbed-rich-people/

Huffington Post…

Ok let’s look at the current state of affairs in the U.S. from the perspective of that portion of the 1% who only sees things from their own completely self-interested viewpoint. You’re someone who has worked really hard — the old fashioned way — to earn what you have achieved (or you are part of the lucky inheritance club and your father or grandfather worked really hard to get what you now enjoy). You’ve hit it big and now have lots of money and a great lifestyle. You have a very difficult time rationalizing or even comprehending why your dollars should go towards higher taxes to support a bunch of poor, know-nothing, lazy people, particularly those immigrants and undocumented aliens who come here and live off the fat of the land for free (when they’re not otherwise taking away those menial manual labor jobs from real Americans). And you are dead set against that big wasteful government machine that only encourages people not to work, live off welfare and food stamps and now get expensive or subsidized medical care via “Obamacare” which you are paying for. So with all of this money out of your pocket for taxes, what does it do for you personally? You are all set in your life and what happens to these people is not your concern because, hey, it’s America, and everybody has a chance to attain the American Dream just like you did. If they don’t, it’s their problem, not yours; they are obviously just lazy or unlucky, some make it and some don’t, that’s unfortunately the way the world works. So keep taxes as low as possible (particularly for you as one of the “job creators”), pay for only the minimum basic government services which are necessary, and let these people fend for themselves or be cared for by the “private sector” which you are certain always steps in to fill the void. Here’s the problem with this ideology: it’s actually in your self-interest to take care of these people. If history has taught us anything, it was that this same attitude eventually caused the fall of many civilizations throughout the millennia, (many of which were around a lot longer than the 236 years that the United States has existed). What happened in those situations was that too much money, power and control were in the hands of too few at the top who started to distance themselves from the masses and pull the ladder up behind them, leaving them in the dust. And they got mad as hell and couldn’t take it anymore. When you actually look at the facts about taxes today, you see that we are paying lower taxes than ever before and all that has been suggested is closing tax loopholes and raising the top tax bracket from 36% to 39% (that was the top rate when Clinton was in office and we had a surplus). But since that may still seem like a lot to ask, let’s look at this in a completely different way. Instead of looking at all of this merely as the government taking your money and giving it to unentitled poor people, how about looking at this slight increase in your taxes (which frankly won’t make one iota of a dent in your lifestyle) as a strategic insurance policy or a hedge? You regularly take out life insurance policies, health insurance policies, liability policies, disability policies, car insurance and homeowners, renters insurance policies — even policies to pay inheritance taxes. How about an insurance policy against people rising up and just taking what you own and possess because you’ve pushed them too far and they have no where else to go? To understand what I mean by this, let’s start by looking at something that is obvious and that many of us take for granted: that invisible line separating the rich suburbs from the poor neighborhoods and the inner city. In case you haven’t noticed, there is no wall or physical barrier that keeps poorer people from invading the rich neighborhoods. Yeah, I know we have the police force, private security patrols, alarms, etc. and we know that “those people just wouldn’t do that”. But in reality all we really have in place is an implied social contract. The contract is that those poor needy people will more or less leave you alone as long as you take care of their basic needs (food, clothing, shelter, protection, education and the like). However, with the direction we are going in lately, we seem to be getting dangerously close to imposing a condition of desperation with these people because we are threatening to take away (and in some cases already have) their opportunity to get these basic human necessities. And we will discover that there will come a point when these people will have been pushed too far and will feel they have nothing left to lose. They will then come to realize very quickly (much like the emperor’s new clothes) that this “line” between their neighborhood and yours is, in reality, invisible and non-existent. In a nation where we’ve made the ability to get a firearm much easier than getting a driver’s license and now have hundreds of millions of guns out there, is it really worth the risk of pushing poor people (and middle class people who are on the verge of falling into poverty) to the boiling point? People who feel oppressed also have new tools to connect and rise up behind a cause than ever before. Can anyone say Arab Spring? Occupy Wall Street? Putting aside the rational Judeo/Christian moral arguments about helping those less fortunate and in need, creating a societal structure to help people pull themselves up and giving them the opportunity to advance in society, it is in the self-interest of you as a “one percenter” to help these people. If you don’t, you run the very real risk of the “invisible barrier” evaporating and having real class warfare in this country. Despite the political assertions to the contrary, it is not “”class warfare” to tell the 1% that some of their money should go towards helping those less fortunate – it’s actually good, smart, strategic business. It’s an insurance policy to protect your assets and good fortune. There’s that old saying about how “the pigs get rich and the hogs get slaughtered”. The completely self-interested members of the 1% need to decide soon whether they are going to be pigs or hogs. You might say I’m just being paranoid. I say look back at history for this lesson, don’t take my word for it. And for a bit of underscored irony, be sure to catch the new Batman movie The Dark Knight Rises that millions will be watching this summer. Who is that new villain who is terrorizing the people of Gotham City? His name is Bane. Sounds eerily like the name of Romney’s former company.

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Fred Goldring: A Strategic Insurance Policy for Self-Absorbed Rich People

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Huffington Post…

HAGERSTOWN, Md. — Authorities say a Hagerstown, Md., mall was closed temporarily after a crowd became unruly while waiting for a shoe store to open and begin selling Nike’s new Foamposite sneaker. The Washington County Sheriff’s office says officers went to the Valley Mall after a disturbance was reported among about 100 people waiting for the store to open Saturday morning. The sheriff’s office says some shoppers told officers they had been waiting in line overnight and others began cutting in line. Sheriff Douglas Mullendore told The Herald-Mail of Hagerstown the release of the new shoe drew shoppers from as far away as Washington, over 70 miles away. Mullendore said after the mall was locked down, patrons were escorted into the shoe store a few at a time. ( ) http://bit.ly/yirQ0S No one was arrested.

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Mall Closed After Shoe Shoppers Become Unruly

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