US Debt Clock sparks new debate

Discussions of the US national debt, as
graphically described by the US Debt clock(below), has re-emerged
as a hot issue, seemingly without regard to the stimulative effect
of defecit spending in a grave recession.

Much like the Concord Coalition of a generation ago, a number of
political forces are driving this debate, all too frequently with no
reference to entitlement reform or the Bush tax cuts earlier this
decade, which eliminated the Clinton-era budget surplus.

The head of the U.S. central banking system says the prospects are good for a return to global economic growth in the near future.

Ben Bernanke told the world's top central bankers Friday that economic activity appears to be leveling out after contracting sharply over the past year.

But the U.S. Federal Reserve chairman warned that difficult challenges remain.

cash for appliances to begin this fall

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Just as the “Cash for Clunkers” program is winding down, news is out about the upcoming “Cash for Refrigerators” or “Cash for Appliances” program. Slated to begin this fall, a new $300 million federal program will provide rebates of $50 to $200 for purchases of high-efficiency household appliances.

Unlike the clunkers program, buyers will not have to trade in their old appliances. Appliances purchased under the program must bear the Energy Star seal to qualify for the rebates. Only about 55% of new appliances meet that standard.

The home appliance industry has been suffering a decline in sales since 2006, roughly coinciding with the decline in home sales. Sales were down 10% in 2008, and down 15% through the first half of July, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers.

While the program is expected to provide some boost in sales to the appliance industry, it is not expected to have the dramatic effect on sales that the Cash for Clunkers program provided to the automobile industry. Nonetheless, appliance manufacturers are welcoming the program and are expecting an increase in sales until the program ends around November 30.

Chase Sapphire

from book jacket, St. Martin's Press

The new Chase Sapphire card is aimed at the wealthiest in America, as such, it does not appear that Bernard Madoff's mistress will be on the list for one. She claims to have lost everything.

The credit card is aimed at those households with incomes exceeding $120,000. ChaseSapphire.com

In the wake of the Ponzi schemer who bilked millions from investors there might be fewer households that qualify these days. Today, Bernard Madoff sits in jail. The Hadassah, whose former CFO is Sheryl Weinstein, has lost millions. And she herself is claiming severe financial losses.

There were always allegations that his wife Ruth somehow knew everything that was going on. Well, not everything.

A new tell-all book, which already looks as if it is heading to best seller status, promises to be a scorcher. It appears that while he was screwing the Hadassah organization of its money, he was also in bed with their Chief Financial Officer, Sheryl Weinstein. One of the leading Jewish charities, Hadassah lost tens of millions through Madoff.

According to the New York Times: "Ms. Weinstein, who has been married for 37 years, discloses that relationship in Madoff’s Other Secret: Love, Money, Bernie, and Me, a memoir scheduled for publication by St. Martin’s Press at the end of August, a spokesman for the publisher confirmed." NY Times: madoff.html

Where was Ruth Madoff during all of this? The jokes on the dinner party circuit say she was busy counting her diamonds and dollar signs.

Ruth Madoff has since had to give up much of her money.

Securities To Ban Flash Trades Of U.S. Stocks

Securities To Ban Flash Trades Of U.S. Stocks-The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission plans to ban flash trades that give some brokerages an advance look at orders, Senator Charles Schumer said, citing a conversation with SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro.

Schumer said Schapiro “personally assured him that the agency plans to ban the practice” in a phone call yesterday, according to a statement. In a separate statement, Schapiro said she has asked her staff to “eliminate the inequity” that flash orders cause.

“It’s preferencing one group over another, and that’s not the way markets should work,” said Michael Panzner, author of “The New Laws of the Stock Market Jungle” and a former trader for George Soros’s hedge fund. “It certainly on its face seems unfair and up until now was against the spirit, now perhaps against the actual rules, of fair play.”

A ban would reverse decisions since at least 2004, when SEC first approved the systems at the Boston Options Exchange. Nasdaq OMX Group Inc., Bats Global Markets, Direct Edge Holdings LLC and the CBOE Stock Exchange give information to their clients about orders for a fraction of a second before the trades are routed to rival platforms.

“We salute the SEC for moving forward with this ban that will restore integrity to the markets,” Schumer said in an e- mail. “The agency is absolutely making the right call by stepping up and ending this unfair practice.”

2.4% of Trading

Schapiro said any proposal to ban the transactions would require approval from SEC commissioners.

Flash orders represented 2.4 percent of the total shares traded in June, according to the New York brokerage Rosenblatt Securities Inc. At Direct Edge, which handles most of the flash volume, revenue from its Enhanced Liquidity Provider program has helped it cut other trading fees and more than double its market share since November.

Schumer told the SEC in a July 24 letter to prohibit flash orders, saying he would propose legislation barring them if the agency didn’t act.

Flash systems trace their roots as far back as 1978 to efforts by exchanges to electronically replicate how a trader might yell an order to floor brokers before entering it into the system that displays all bids and offers.

Nasdaq shares fell as much as 3.1 percent to $20.78 after Schumer’s statement. NYSE Euronext, an exchange owner that doesn’t use flash orders, added up to 2.7 percent to $27.50.