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  PSYCHIC NEXUS: TOP NEWS AND HIGH-ATTENTION LIFE-CONCERNS: 1-JAN-12 - 31-MAR-12
                              From 01-Jan-12  
To 31-Mar-12 OK
Days 91 OK
Copyright © 2011-2012 by Macroknow Inc. All Rights Reserved. News Items 516
 
                                      Date News Categories Authors Title X Event News Source/Link News Item
1-Jan-12 JUST OIL GOV 1-Jan-12           H                       1-Jan-12 GOV OIL JUST Venezuela was ordered to pay Exxon Mobil $908 million in a legal dispute regarding the nationalizing of Venezuela's oil assets; Exxon Mobil had sought $7 billion VOA News-Reuters 1
2-Jan-12   LAW PRO 2-Jan-12         L                         2-Jan-12 PRO LAW Hungary: tens of the thousands protest the new “majoritarian” Constitution which gives the government anti democratic control over the news media and over the courts NYT 2
2-Jan-12 JOBS GOLD DEBT 2-Jan-12         L                         2-Jan-12 DEBT GOLD JOBS Greece: pawnshops and gold dealers are thriving while Greece's economy is shrinking, employees are being laid off en masse, and 1-in-4 small businesses are closing; some gold dealers buy gold teeth; some 80% of pawnshops and gold dealers were found guilty of tax evasion NYT 3
3-Jan-12 BUS DEBT BANK 3-Jan-12       H L                         3-Jan-12 BANK DEBT BUS Bank of America is reportedly squeezing, calling or severing loans to small businesses; alternatively, it is reportedly demanding much higher interest rates Los Angeles Times 4
3-Jan-12   ENER M&A 3-Jan-12       H L                         3-Jan-12 M&A ENER Total E&P USA, Inc. agreed to enter into a Joint Venture with Chesapeake Exploration, L.L.C., a subsidiary of Chesapeake Energy Corporation and affiliates of its partner EnerVest Ltd.; Total to acquire a 25% interest in Chesapeake’s and EnerVest’s liquids-rich area of the Utica shale play in the state of Ohio, USA; the transaction is valued at $2.33 billion. Total 5
3-Jan-12   JOBS 3-Jan-12       H L                         3-Jan-12 JOBS European graduates are seeking jobs in China. Jobless rates for 16-25-year-olds by country: UK, 1 in 5; Spain, 2 in 5 VOA News 6
3-Jan-12   ENER M&A 3-Jan-12       H L                         3-Jan-12 M&A ENER Athabasca Oil Sands Corp. to sell its 40% interest in the MacKay River oil sands project to Cretaceous Oilsands Holdings Limited, a subsidiary of PetroChina International Investment Limited; the deal is valued at $680 million (Cdn.) in cash Athabasca Oil Sands Corporation 7
3-Jan-12   FIN 3-Jan-12       H L                         3-Jan-12 FIN Pimco Total Return Fund had $5 billion in client redemptions in 2011 [source: Morningstar Inc.] Bloomberg 8
3-Jan-12 VIO GOV REL 3-Jan-12       H L                         3-Jan-12 REL GOV VIO China: violent clashes between Muslims protecting their mosque and authorities that want to demolish it NYT 9
4-Jan-12 DEBT FIN BANK 4-Jan-12       H                           4-Jan-12 BANK FIN DEBT 3-Jan-11: Citigroup sold $2.5 billion of debt;  Financial Times 10
4-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 4-Jan-12       H                           4-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT Federal Reserve to offer $3 billion in 28-day term deposits through its Term Deposit Facility Federal Reserve Board 11
4-Jan-12 FIN WEATH AOG 4-Jan-12       H                           4-Jan-12 AOG WEATH FIN Global economic losses from natural catastrophes: record $380 billion in 2011, up from $220 billion in 2005 [Munich Re]. Death toll from natural catastrophes in 2001: ~27,000 (15,840 caused by Japan's earthquake and tsunami). ENS 12
5-Jan-12   JOBS BANK 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 BANK JOBS Planned job cuts: Société Générale, ~880 “voluntary departures” and 700 layoffs; Royal Bank of Scotland, 2,000 jobs; Crédit Agricole, 2,350 jobs; BNP Paribas, 1,400 layoffs; Credit Suisse, 3,500 jobs; UBS, 3,500 jobs NYT-DealBook 13
5-Jan-12   AUTO M&A 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 M&A AUTO Fiat acquired an additional 5% of Chrysler, increasing its stake from 53.5% to 58.5% NYT-DealBook 14
5-Jan-12   VIO REL 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 REL VIO Iraq: a series of bomb attacks targeting Shia pilgrims killed ≥70 people Al Jazeera-Agencies 15
5-Jan-12 MIL OIL ECON 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 ECON OIL MIL Iran: the European Union announced a preliminary agreement to ban oil imports from Iran (according to Reuters, the EU imports 18% of Iran's oil output); Iran accused the West of waging "economic war" on Iran; Iran threatened in Dec-2011 to shut the Strait of Hormuz Al Jazeera-Agencies 16
5-Jan-12 VIO OIL PRO 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 PRO OIL VIO Nigeria: police cracked down on protesters demonstrating against soaring fuel prices; ~300 people were injured Al Jazeera-Agencies 17
5-Jan-12 MKT DEBT RE 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 RE DEBT MKT The average rate on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages matched a record low of 3.91% for the week ending 5-Jan-12 [source: Freddie Mac] MarketWatch 18
5-Jan-12   DEBT BANK 5-Jan-12       H     L                     5-Jan-12 BANK DEBT U.S. bankruptcy filings in 2011: 1,379,000 (down 11.7% YOY) [see also Total Bankruptcy Filings Decrease 12 Percent In 2011, Commercial Filings Fall 19 Percent, American Bankruptcy Institute, 4-Jan-2012, http://www.abiworld.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Home&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&CONTENTID=64959] Credit Slips 19
6-Jan-12   VIO 6-Jan-12   L   H                           6-Jan-12 VIO Syria: a suicide bomber killed ~25 people in Damascus Reuters 20
6-Jan-12   VIO NATO 6-Jan-12   L   H                           6-Jan-12 NATO VIO NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF): 8 NATO troops were killed in 24 hours Washington Post: Los Angeles Times 21
6-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 6-Jan-12   L   H                           6-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT European banks deposited €455 billion ($578 billion) into the European central Bank (ECB) a record high since 1999 implying a significant reduction in short-term bank-to-bank lending NYT-DealBook 22
7-Jan-12   VIO MIL 7-Jan-12   L   H               L       L   7-Jan-12 MIL VIO Kenya: airstrikes killed ≥60 al-Qaeda militants in Somalia; warnings of potential terrorist attacks issued for Kenya VOA News-AP-AFP 23
7-Jan-12   HEAL M&A 7-Jan-12   L   H               L       L   7-Jan-12 M&A HEAL Bristol-Myers Squibb to acquire Inhibitex in a transaction valued at ~2.5 billion Bristol-Myers Squibb 24
8-Jan-12   TECH 8-Jan-12   L   H                 L   L L   8-Jan-12 TECH Las Vegas: The International Consumer Electronics Show, 10-13-Jan-2012 [http://www.cesweb.org] NYT 25
9-Jan-12 OIL ECON PRO 9-Jan-12   L   H             L   L   L L   9-Jan-12 PRO ECON OIL Nigeria: tens of thousands of Nigerians protested soaring fuel prices (fuel prices doubled in 1 day); clashes with police killed at ≥3 people VOA News 26
9-Jan-12 NUC RES SCIE 9-Jan-12   L   H             L   L   L L   9-Jan-12 SCIE RES NUC Iran initiated a program to enrich uranium to 20% purity at the underground Fordo complex (nuclear weapons require 90% purity) VOA News-AFP-Reuters 27
9-Jan-12 POL ECON REL 9-Jan-12   L   H             L   L   L L   9-Jan-12 REL ECON POL Pope Benedict's annual “State of the World” address to the members of the diplomatic corps accredited to the Holy See: "Truly the world is dark wherever men and women no longer acknowledge their bond with the Creator and thereby endanger their relation to other creatures and to creation itself. The present moment is sadly marked by a profound disquiet and the various crises – economic, political and social – are a dramatic expression of this. Here I cannot fail to address before all else the grave and disturbing developments of the global economic and financial crisis. The crisis has not only affected families and businesses in the more economically advanced countries where it originated, creating a situation in which many people, especially the young, have felt disoriented and frustrated in their aspirations for a serene future, but it has also had a profound impact on the life of developing countries."
 CatholicCulture.org 28
9-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 9-Jan-12   L   H             L   L   L L   9-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT Philipp M. Hildebrand, head of the Swiss central bank, resigned; Mrs. Hildebrand apologized to the Swiss people and to her husband: “I failed my husband by not considering the perception of a ‘conflict of interest’ created by my purchase of dollars. My husband is a man of the utmost integrity, and I deeply regret that my actions might have led anyone to question this" [Reuters] NYT 29
9-Jan-12 DEBT Bank Gov 9-Jan-12   L   H             L   L   L L   9-Jan-12 Gov Bank DEBT Federal Reserve Statistical Release: consumer credit outstanding surged to $2,477.7 billion (up $20.4 billion MOM; up an annual rate of 10.4%) in Nov-2011 Federal Reserve Board 30
10-Jan-12 POL GOV NUC 10-Jan-12       H             L       L     10-Jan-12 NUC GOV POL The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to move the clock hand one minute closer to midnight; reasons include: "failure to act on the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty by leaders in the United States, China, Iran, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, and North Korea and on a treaty to cut off production of nuclear weapons material continues to leave the world at risk from continued development of nuclear weapons. The world still has approximately 19,500 nuclear weapons, enough power to destroy the Earth's inhabitants several times over" Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists 31
10-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 10-Jan-12       H             L       L     10-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT The Federal Reserve Board: the Reserve Banks paid ~$76.9 billion of their 2011 net income (estimated at $78.9 billion) to the U.S. Treasury Federal Reserve Board 32
10-Jan-12   VIO 10-Jan-12       H             L       L     10-Jan-12 VIO Pakistan: bomb killed ≥35 people near a bus terminal VOA News-AP-Reuters 33
10-Jan-12   ECON 10-Jan-12       H             L       L     10-Jan-12 ECON China: General Administration of Customs: China's trade surplus rose to $16.52 billion in Dec-2011; but dropped to $155.14 billion (down 14.5% YOY) in 2011 MarketWatch 34
11-Jan-12 WWW NUC VIO 11-Jan-12       H   H         L       L     11-Jan-12 VIO NUC WWW Iran's adversaries reportedly "accelerating covert campaign of assassinations, bombings, cyberattacks and defections" NYT 35
11-Jan-12   LAW REL 11-Jan-12       H   H         L       L     11-Jan-12 REL LAW Catholic World News: "the US Supreme Court ruled that religious bodies should set their own standards for hiring ministers, free from government interference" CatholicCulture.org-Catholic World News 36
11-Jan-12 DEBT FIN GOV 11-Jan-12       H   H         L       L     11-Jan-12 GOV FIN DEBT The U.S. Treasury Department sold $21 billion in 10-year notes at a yield of 1.90%, an all-time record low MarketWatch 37
11-Jan-12   VIO PRO 11-Jan-12       H   H         L       L     11-Jan-12 PRO VIO Syria: thousands of Syrians rally in Damascus in support of President Bashar al-Assad; Assad claimed his government will defeat a "conspiracy" against Syria; the UN estimates the death toll from the uprising at 5,000 people
 VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 38
11-Jan-12   REL VIO 11-Jan-12       H   H         L       L     11-Jan-12 VIO REL Video on the Internet "purports to show Marines in combat gear urinating on the corpses of three Taliban insurgents" Washington Post 39
11-Jan-12 VIO POL GOV 11-Jan-12       H   H         L       L     11-Jan-12 GOV POL VIO Ralph Nader: "The same neocons who persuaded George W. Bush and crew to, in Ron Paul's inimitable words, "lie their way into invading Iraq" in 2003, are beating the drums of war more loudly these days to attack Iran" Nader.org 40
12-Jan-12 RE DEBT BANK 12-Jan-12       H   H         L L     L     12-Jan-12 BANK DEBT RE Freddie Mac: Primary Mortgage Market Survey: mortgage rates easing to all-time record lows in week ending 2-Jan-2012; 30-year fixed-rate mortgage (FRM) averaged 3.89% ; 1-year Treasury-indexed ARM averaged 2.76% Freddie Mac-PR Newswire 41
12-Jan-12 JOBS FIN BANK 12-Jan-12       H   H         L L     L     12-Jan-12 BANK FIN JOBS Royal Bank of Scotland to cut ~3,500 over 3 years (in addition to a ~2,000 reduction in staff in RBS Global Banking & Markets (GBM) in 2011H2) Royal Bank of Scotland 42
12-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 12-Jan-12       H   H         L L     L     12-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT ECB to keep the main refinancing operations and the interest rates on the marginal lending facility and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75%, and 0.25% respectively European Central Bank 43
12-Jan-12 NUC GOV VIO 12-Jan-12       H   H         L L     L     12-Jan-12 VIO GOV NUC 11-Jan-2012: Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, an Iranian university professor and deputy director of Natanz nuclear enrichment facility, was killed in a bombing; the assassination is blamed on the "Zionist regime and its sympathizers in the White House and the West" FARS News Agency 44
12-Jan-12   MON POL 12-Jan-12       H   H         L L     L     12-Jan-12 POL MON Amounts raised by President Obama’s campaign for his 2012 re-election campaign: total of almost $141 million, including $42 million in 2011Q4 ($24 million was also raised for the Democratic National Committee (DNC) during 2011Q4). Governor Mitt Romney raised $24 million in 2011Q4. Washington Post 45
12-Jan-12 JOBS MAN BUS 12-Jan-12       H   H         L L     L     12-Jan-12 BUS MAN JOBS Apple Supplier Responsibility: 2012 Progress Report: Apple's Supplier Responsibility team conducted 229 audits in 2011 (up 80% YOY): overall practice in compliance statistic: 74% (working hours, 38%; wages and benefits, 69%) Apple 46
13-Jan-12 DEBT GOV RES 13-Jan-12               H       L     L H   13-Jan-12 RES GOV DEBT Standard & Poor's Ratings Services announced rating actions on 16 members of the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU or eurozone): S&P "lowered the long-term ratings on Cyprus, Italy [from A/Watch Neg/A-1 to BBB+/Negative/A-2], Portugal, and Spain [from AA-/Watch Neg/A-1+ to A/Negative/A-1] by two notches; lowered the long-term ratings on Austria, France [from AAA/Watch Neg/A-1+ to AA+/Negative/A-1+], Malta, Slovakia, and Slovenia, by one notch; and affirmed the long-term ratings on Belgium, Estonia, Finland, Germany [affirmed at AAA/Watch Neg/A-1+], Ireland, Luxembourg, and the Netherlands" Standard & Poor's 47
13-Jan-12   FIN BANK 13-Jan-12               H       L     L H   13-Jan-12 BANK FIN JPMorgan 2011Q4 results: total net revenue, $21,471 billion (down 18% YOY); net income $3,728 billion (down 23% YOY); provision for credit losses, $2,184 billion (down 28%); headcount, 260,157 (up 8% YOY); 2011 results: total net revenue, $97,234 billion (down 5% YOY); net income $18,976 billion (up 9% YOY); provision for credit losses, $7,574 billion (down 54%); headcount, 260,157 (up 8% YOY) [reported basis] JPMorgan Chase & Co. 48
13-Jan-12   BUS GOV 13-Jan-12               H       L     L H   13-Jan-12 GOV BUS India: the Indian government to allow foreign companies to open 100%-owned single-brand stores VOA News 49
13-Jan-12   VIO PRO 13-Jan-12               H       L     L H   13-Jan-12 PRO VIO Syria: ~20,000 demonstrators protested against President Bashar al-Assad; soldiers reportedly killed ≥1 person; a Russian vessel carrying ammunition from Russia to Syria was intercepted VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 50
13-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 13-Jan-12               H       L     L H   13-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT 12-Jan-2012: Euro-zone: banks' overnight deposits with the European Central Bank (ECB) hit an all-time record of €489.906 billion ($627.77 billion) European Central Bank 51
14-Jan-12   ACC 14-Jan-12 L       L     H H   L       L H   14-Jan-12 ACC 13-Feb-2012: Luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia ran aground off Italy's coast: 3 people were killed; 69 were missing CBC: AP 52
14-Jan-12   REL VIO 14-Jan-12 L       L     H H   L       L H   14-Jan-12 VIO REL Iraq: a suicide attack killed ≥53 Shia Muslim pilgrims in Basra Al Jazeera-Agencies 53
14-Jan-12 FIN ECON ELITE 14-Jan-12 L       L     H H   L       L H   14-Jan-12 ELITE ECON FIN U.S.: the top 1% of earners receives almost 20% of America's pretax income, about double their share 30 years ago; they pay just over 25% of all federal taxes [source: Tax Policy Center]; they received 22% of their income from capital gains (vs. 2% for everybody else) NYT 54
15-Jan-12   SEC VIO 15-Jan-12 L       L     H   H L     H L H   15-Jan-12 VIO SEC Iraq: car bombs and gunmen targeted a police compound; 9 people, including 5 police officers, were killed NYT 55
15-Jan-12   VIO 15-Jan-12 L       L     H   H L     H L H   15-Jan-12 VIO 12-Jan-2012: Pakistan: a bomb killed ≥16 people; a U.S. drone strike may have killed Pakistani Taliban Hakimullah Mehsud VOA News-AP-FP 56
15-Jan-12   REL PRO 15-Jan-12 L       L     H   H L     H L H   15-Jan-12 PRO REL Rome: demonstrators aiming to set up a protest camp in St Peter's Square were evicted by police The Guardian 57
16-Jan-12   WWW 16-Jan-12     L       L H   H   L   H L H   16-Jan-12 WWW China: China Internet Network Information Center: China's Internet population rose to 513 million in 2011 (up 12% YOY) VOA News 58
16-Jan-12   OIL M&A 16-Jan-12     L       L H   H   L   H L H   16-Jan-12 M&A OIL Pembina Pipeline Corporation to acquire Provident Energy Ltd. for $3.1 billion in shares [see also Pembina' news release, http://pembina.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=10336&item=109859] Bloomberg-Businessweek 59
16-Jan-12   SEC WWW 16-Jan-12     L       L H   H   L   H L H   16-Jan-12 WWW SEC Saudi Arabia: "group-xp," a hacker network in Saudi Arabia, reportedly attacked the websites of the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and El Al Israel Airlines AP 60
16-Jan-12   REL VIO 16-Jan-12     L       L H   H   L   H L H   16-Jan-12 VIO REL Iraq: car bombings killed ≥12 people, including women and children; many attacks have targeted Shia citizens VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 61
16-Jan-12   MON MKT 16-Jan-12     L       L H   H   L   H L H   16-Jan-12 MKT MON U.K.: the government plans to create a Chinese currency hub in London; according to George Osborne, the chancellor of the Exchequer, "there is scope for substantial expansion of the renminbi market in the coming years" -- the renminbi's share of the global foreign exchange market in Jun-2011 was 0.9%, China’s share in worldwide trade in 2010 was 11% NYT-DealBook 62
16-Jan-12 FIN BANK REL 16-Jan-12     L       L H   H   L   H L H   16-Jan-12 REL BANK FIN L'Osservatore Romano questioned Standard & Poor's decision to downgrade 9 EU countries’ credit-worthiness Vatican Radio 63
17-Jan-12   RE ECON 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 ECON RE China’s GDP grew by 9.2% in 2011 (YOY quarterly growth; 2011Q1, 9.7%; 2011Q2, 9.5%; 2011Q3, 9.1%; 2011Q4, 8.9%); total investment in fixed assets (excluding rural households) in 2011 grew by 23.8% (a real growth of 16.1%). Other 2011 statistics: total investment in real estate grew by 27.9% (a real growth of 20.0%); the balance of broad money (M2) at yearend 2011 grew by 13.6% YOY; the per capita disposable income of urban households grew by a nominal 14.1% (a real growth of 8.4%) National Bureau of Statistics of China 64
17-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT The Bank of Canada to keep its target for the overnight interest rate unchanged at 1.0%; the Bank Rate and the deposit rate to set set at 1.25% and 0.75%, respectively; Canada's GDP grew by 2.4% in 2011; the Bank of Canada projects it will grow by 2.0% in 2012 and 2.8%t in 2013 Bank of Canada 65
17-Jan-12   ECON 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 ECON Canada's GDP grew by 2.4% in 2011; the Bank of Canada projects it will grow by 2.0% in 2012 and 2.8%t in 2013 Bank of Canada 66
17-Jan-12   PRO 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 PRO Feb-2012: Vanity Fair: collection of historical fragments and comments about the genesis of the Occupy Wall Street movement Vanity Fair 67
17-Jan-12   BANK M&A 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 M&A BANK Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group to acquire the aircraft leasing business of the Royal Bank of Scotland for ~$7.2 billion Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group 68
17-Jan-12   FIN BANK 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 BANK FIN Citigroup 2011 results: revenues, $78.4 billion; net income, $11.3 billion (up 6% YOY). 2011Q4 results: revenues, $17.2 billion (down 7% YOY); net I\income, $1.2 billion Citigroup 69
17-Jan-12   FIN BANK 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 BANK FIN Wells Fargo 2011Q4 results: revenue, $20.6 billion (up 20% annualized QOQ); record net income, $4.1 billion. 2011 results: revenue, $80.9 billion (down 5% YOY); record net income, $15.9 billion (up 28% YOY) Wells Fargo 70
17-Jan-12 JOBS FOOD BUS 17-Jan-12     L H     L H   H L L           17-Jan-12 BUS FOOD JOBS Kraft Foods to terminate 1,600 positions in North America throughout 2012 Kraft Foods 71
18-Jan-12   FIN BANK 18-Jan-12     L H L L L H                   18-Jan-12 BANK FIN Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. 2011 results: net revenues, $28.81 billion (down 26%); net earnings, $4.44 billion (down 47%). 2011Q4 results: net revenues, $6.05 billion; net earnings, $1.01 billion Goldman Sachs 72
18-Jan-12 LAW BUS PRO 18-Jan-12     L H L L L H                   18-Jan-12 PRO BUS LAW Major websites, including Wikipedia and Google, protested The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) under consideration in the U.S. Congress; the film and music industry support anti-piracy legislation VOA News 73
18-Jan-12   ACC 18-Jan-12     L H L L L H                   18-Jan-12 ACC UPDATE: Official report regarding luxury cruise ship Costa Concordia which capsized after hitting rocks off Italy's coast on 13-Feb-2012: ≥11 people were killed; 20 are still missing VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 74
18-Jan-12 OIL BUS GOV 18-Jan-12     L H L L L H                   18-Jan-12 GOV BUS OIL The U.S. government rejected an application by TransCanada to build the Keystone XL pipeline CBC News 75
18-Jan-12   VIO HEAL 18-Jan-12     L H L L L H                   18-Jan-12 HEAL VIO New research from the Guttmacher Institute and the World Health Organization (WHO): "Between 1995 and 2003, the overall number of abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age (15–44 years) dropped from 35 to 29; . . . the global abortion rate in 2008 was virtually unchanged, at 28 per 1,000" [Gilda Sedgh et al., Induced Abortion: Incidence and Trends Worldwide from 1995 to 2008, The Lancet, 18-Jan-2012] Guttmacher Institute; WHO 76
18-Jan-12   MON POL 18-Jan-12     L H L L L H                   18-Jan-12 POL MON Wayne Barrett, on the linkage between big money and politics: Newt Gingrich flipped from "moderate" on the Middle East to "saber-rattling hawk" after Sheldon Adelson injected a multi-million dollar donation; concern: "The linkage between campaign contributions and compromised candidates has grown so familiar that it no longer shocks, and indeed rarely even interests, most of us" The Daily Beast 77
19-Jan-12 LAW FIN BUS 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BUS FIN LAW Eastman Kodak Company and Its U.S. subsidiaries file for voluntary Chapter 11 business reorganization Kodak 78
19-Jan-12   FIN BANk 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BANk FIN Bank of America 2011 results: total revenue, net of interest expense (FTE basis), $94.426 billion (down 15.2% YOY); net income, $1.446 billion (up from a loss of $2.238 billion in 2010); provision for credit losses, $2.934 (down $5.129 billion in 2010). 2011Q4 results: total revenue, net of interest expense (FTE basis), $25.146 billion (up 10.9% YOY); net income, $1.991 billion (up from a loss of $1.244 billion in 2010) Bank of America-Business Wire 79
19-Jan-12   FIN BANK 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BANK FIN Morgan Stanley 2011 results: net revenues, $32.4 billion (up 3.2% YOY); income, $4.2 billion (down 6.7% YOY) Morgan Stanley 80
19-Jan-12 DEBT FIN BANK 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BANK FIN DEBT Banks with an ECB lifeline outperform sovereigns; according to Bloomberg, euro governments are expected to borrow ~$2 trillion in 2012 Bloomberg 81
19-Jan-12 RE DEBT BANK 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BANK DEBT RE Freddie Mac: 30-year fixed-rate mortgage fell to 3.88%, an all-time record low Freddie Mac-PR Newswire 82
19-Jan-12   RES HEAL 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 HEAL RES National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH):~20% of American adults suffer some sort of mental illness; ~5% suffer from a serious disorder; ~4% of adults contemplate suicide each year Washington Post 83
19-Jan-12   VIO 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 VIO Afghanistan: suicide car bomber killed 7 people, including 2 children; NATO vehicles targeted; the Taliban claimed responsibility  VOA News 84
19-Jan-12   WWW JUST 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 JUST WWW U.S. Justice Department and FBI charged: "Seven individuals and two corporations have been charged in the United States with running an international organized criminal enterprise allegedly responsible for massive worldwide online piracy of numerous types of copyrighted works through Megaupload.com and other related sites, generating more than $175 million in criminal proceeds and causing more than half a billion dollars in harm to copyright owners. . . This case is part of efforts being undertaken by the Department of Justice Task Force on Intellectual Property (IP Task Force) to stop the theft of intellectual property" FBI 85
19-Jan-12 WWW JUST PRO 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 PRO JUST WWW Anonymous: "Popular file-sharing website megaupload.com gets shutdown by U.S Justice - FBI and charged its founder with violating piracy laws. Four Megaupload members were also arrested. . . We Anonymous are launching our largest attack ever on government and music industry sites. Lulz. The FBI didn't think they would get away with this did they? They should have expected us. . ."; several websites were taken down, including: justice.gov, usdoj.gov, copyright.gov, universalmusic.com Anonymous 86
19-Jan-12 FIN TECH BUS 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BUS TECH FIN IBM 2011 results: revenue, $106.9 billion (up 7%, up 3% adjusting for currency); net income (GAAP), $15.9 billion (up 7%). 2011Q4 results: revenue, $29.5 billion (up 2%, 1% adjusting for currency YOY); net income (GAAP), $5.5 billion (up 4% YOY) IBM 87
19-Jan-12 FIN TECH BUS 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BUS TECH FIN Intel Corporation 2011 GAAP results: record revenue, $54 billion (up 24%); record net income, $12.9 billion (up 13%). 2011Q4 GAAP results: revenue, $13.9 billion (up 21% YOY); net income, $3.4 billion (up 6% YOY) Intel 88
19-Jan-12 FIN TECH BUS 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BUS TECH FIN Microsoft Q2 (ended 31-Dec-2011) results: revenue, $20.89 billion (up 5% YOY); net income, $6.62 billion $6.63 billion (down 0.15% YOY) Microsoft 89
19-Jan-12 FIN TECH BUS 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 BUS TECH FIN Google 2011 GAAP results: revenues, $37.905 billion (up 29.3%); net income, $9.737 (up 14.5%). 2011Q4 GAAP results: revenues, $10.584 (up 25.4% YOY); net income, $2.705 (up 6.4% YOY) Google 90
19-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT New York Fed to sell $7.014 billion in face value of assets Maiden Lane II LLC [AIG assets] portfolio to Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC Federal Reserve Bank of New York 91
19-Jan-12   FREE REL 19-Jan-12     L H L L L H     L             19-Jan-12 REL FREE Pope Benedict's to US bishops: " . . . it is imperative that the entire Catholic community in the United States come to realize the grave threats to the Church’s public moral witness presented by a radical secularism which finds increasing expression in the political and cultural spheres. The seriousness of these threats needs to be clearly appreciated at every level of ecclesial life. Of particular concern are certain attempts being made to limit that most cherished of American freedoms, the freedom of religion. Many of you have pointed out that concerted efforts have been made to deny the right of conscientious objection on the part of Catholic individuals and institutions with regard to cooperation in intrinsically evil practices. Others have spoken to me of a worrying tendency to reduce religious freedom to mere freedom of worship without guarantees of respect for freedom of conscience."
 Vatican Radio 92
20-Jan-12 FIN TECH BUS 20-Jan-12     L H     L H                   20-Jan-12 BUS TECH FIN GE 2011 results: revenue, $147.3 billion (down 2%); net earnings attributable to the company, $14.151 billion (up 22%). 2011Q4 results: total revenues, $37.973 billion (down 8%); net earnings attributable to the company, $3.730 billion (down 18%) General Electric 93
20-Jan-12 EDU MIL VIO 20-Jan-12     L H     L H                   20-Jan-12 VIO MIL EDU Afghanistan: an Afghan soldier targeted his trainers and killed 4 French soldiers; France suspended its training operation in Afghanistan Washington Post 94
20-Jan-12   MIL ACC 20-Jan-12     L H     L H                   20-Jan-12 ACC MIL Afghanistan: a NATO CH-53 Sea Stallion helicopter crashed killing 6 American soldiers Al Jazeera: Agencies 95
20-Jan-12   JOBS BANK 20-Jan-12     L H     L H                   20-Jan-12 BANK JOBS France: top 3 corporate-and-investment banking (CIB) units – BNP Paribas SA, Societe Generale, and Credit Agricole – to cut 1,800 jobs at home Bloomberg 96
20-Jan-12   VIO PRO 20-Jan-12     L H     L H                   20-Jan-12 PRO VIO Desperate lives in the Arab world have pushed many to self-immolate: 107 Tunisians attempted to kill themselves by self-immolation in the 6 months since the self-immolation of Mohamed Bouazizi, a fruit vendor, on 27-Dec-2010 [the trigger of the Arab Spring] [source: BBC]; 5 young men self-immolated in Morocco on 18-Jan-2012; others attempted self-immolation in Tunisia, Jordan, and Bahrain NYT 97
20-Jan-12   POL MEDIA 20-Jan-12     L H     L H                   20-Jan-12 MEDIA POL House Speaker Newt Gingrich, responding to CNN Chief National Correspondent John King's question about open marriage: "I think that the destructive, vicious, negative nature of much of the bews media makes it harder to govern this country, harder to attract decent people who run foe office, and I am appaled that you would begin a presidential debate on a topic like that. I'm not finished. . . To take an ex-wife and make it two days before the primary a significant question in a presidential campaign is as close to despicable as anything I can imagine" CNN 98
21-Jan-12   VIO 21-Jan-12     L H     L H                   21-Jan-12 VIO Nigeria: bombings in Kano killed ≥131 people; Boko Haram claimed responsibility  VOA News 99
21-Jan-12   POL MIL 21-Jan-12     L H     L H                   21-Jan-12 MIL POL U.S. Chief of Staff General Martin Dempsey in Israel to “advance a shared understanding of the security situation in the region," including especially Iran Haaretz 100
21-Jan-12   GOV 21-Jan-12     L H     L H                   21-Jan-12 GOV Egypt: result of the election for the lower house of parliament: the Freedom and Justice Party (Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood) won 47% of all seats; the Islamist Salafi al-Nour party won 24% of all seats; the liberal al-Wafd party won ~7% of the seats; other political parties won 22% of all seats Al Jazeera-Agencies 101
21-Jan-12   VIO 21-Jan-12     L H     L H                   21-Jan-12 VIO Syria: bus transporting prisoners exploded killing 14 people; the attack may not have been deliberately targeted Al Jazeera-Agencies 102
21-Jan-12   MIL VIO 21-Jan-12     L H     L H                   21-Jan-12 VIO MIL Iraq: gunmen targeted an army checkpoint in Fallujah and killed 4 soldiers Washington Post 103
22-Jan-12   GOV PRO 22-Jan-12 H           L H                   22-Jan-12 PRO GOV Libya: anti-government riot; the deputy head of Libya's National Transitional Council (NTC) Abdel Hafiz Ghoga resigned VOA News-AFP-Reuters 104
22-Jan-12   MIL VIO 22-Jan-12 H           L H                   22-Jan-12 VIO MIL Somalia: drone-fired missiles killed an al-Qaeda operative VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 105
22-Jan-12 MON WWW LAW 22-Jan-12 H           L H                   22-Jan-12 LAW WWW MON U.S.: amounts spent on influencing policy during 1998-2011: technology companies (including computer and Internet companies), $1.2 billion; entertainment companies (including Hollywood movie studios), $906.4 million. Entertainment companies support SOPA and PIPA; technology companies do not. NYT: Reuters 106
23-Jan-12 POL ECON ELITE 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 ELITE ECON POL Davos-Klosters, Switzerland: World Economic Forum’s 3rd Global Confidence Index: "54% of global experts expect a major geopolitical disruption over the next 12 months, up from 36% last quarter. . . A consistent 60% of respondents said they lacked confidence in the state of global governance, signalling little trust in political leadership to deal with global risks" World Economic Forum 107
23-Jan-12   POL ELITE 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 ELITE POL 25-29 January 2012: World Economic Forum’s Annual Meeting 2012: "The Great Transformation: Shaping New Models" World Economic Forum 108
23-Jan-12 ENER OIL M&A 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 M&A OIL ENER Apache to acquire Cordillera Energy Partners III LLC for $2.85 billion Apache 109
23-Jan-12   VIO POL 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 POL VIO Philip Weiss on assassination as a "trusty tool" of radical Zionism. Atlanta Jewish Times publisher Andrew Adler reportedly suggested that the Mossad assassinate Barack Obama; Adler reportedly apologized Mondoweiss 110
23-Jan-12   VIO POL 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 POL VIO Andrew Adler, the publisher of the Atlanta Jewish Times has resigned; according to JTA, in a 13-Jan-2012 column, Adler outlined "possible responses by Israel to Iran's acquiring a nuclear weapon," including "the go-ahead for U.S.-based Mossad agents to take out a president deemed unfriendly to Israel . . ." JTA 111
23-Jan-12   OIL GOV 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 GOV OIL EU to embargo Iranian oil effective 1-Jul-2012; response from an Iranian foreign ministry spokesman: "European Union sanctions on Iranian oil is psychological warfare"; options contemplated by Iran include: closing the Strait of Hormuz; curbing oil exports to EU countries Reuters 112
23-Jan-12   LAW PRO 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 PRO LAW Thousands of abortion opponents joined the “March for Life” to mark the 39th anniversary of the Roe v. Wade decision legalizing abortion Washington Post: AP 113
23-Jan-12   GOLD M&A 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 M&A GOLD Pan American Silver Corporation to acquire the Minefinders Corporation for ~$1.5 billion Pan American Silver Corporation 114
23-Jan-12 MON REL POL 23-Jan-12               H                   23-Jan-12 POL REL MON Sheldon Adelson and his wife Dr. Miriam Adelson reportedly contributed a total of $10 million to the super PAC "Winning Our Future." Sheldon Adelson is in the "gambling/leisure businesses"; he is a billionaire of Jewish provenance; his wife is an an Israeli physician [source: Wikipedia,   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson]. Sheldon Adelson reportedly said at the Taglit Birthright event: “Read the history of those who call themselves Palestinians, and you will hear why [Newt] Gingrich said recently that the Palestinians are an invented people" [source: Revital Blumenfeld, "Sheldon Adelson to Birthright group: Gingrich is right to call Palestinians 'invented people,'" Haaretz, 26-Dec-2011, http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/sheldon-adelson-to-birthright-group-gingrich-is-right-to-call-palestinians-invented-people-1.403671] NYT 115
24-Jan-12 ECON POL GOV 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 GOV POL ECON President Obama: The 2012 State of the Union Whitehouse.gov 116
24-Jan-12   VIO 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 VIO Iraq: a series of car bombings in Baghdad killed 14 people; Iraq death toll to date from violence: ≥170 CBC News: AP 117
24-Jan-12   MON POL 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 POL MON Mitt Romney likely to pay $6.2 million in taxes on $45 million in income over tax years 2010-2011 [effective tax rate of ~13.8%]; Newt Gingrich and his wife paid $994,708 in federal tax on an adjusted gross income of $3,162,424 in 2010 [effective tax rate of ~31.7%] NYT 118
24-Jan-12   ECON GOV 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 GOV ECON IMF: World Economic Outlook Update: "The global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere. Financial conditions have deteriorated, growth prospects have dimmed, and downside risks have escalated. Global output is projected to expand by 3¼ percent in 2012 . . . —a downward revision of about ¾ percentage point relative to the September 2011 World Economic Outlook (WEO)." IMF 119
24-Jan-12   BUS M&A 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 M&A BUS SPX Corporation to sell its Service Solutions business to Robert Bosch GmbH for $1.15 billion in cash SPX Corporation 120
24-Jan-12   ECON GOV 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 GOV ECON Japan posted its 1st annual trade deficit since 1980; causes include a strong yen, natural disasters, and increased energy imports  MarketWatch 121
24-Jan-12   SEC VIO 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 VIO SEC 20-Jan-2012: Nigeria: bomb attacks targeting the police in Kano killed 185 people; Boko Haram fighters suspected VOA News 122
24-Jan-12 FIN TECH BUS 24-Jan-12                                   24-Jan-12 BUS TECH FIN Apple 2012Q1 results: revenue, $46.33 billion (up 73.3% YOY); net profit, $13.06 billion (up 117.6% YOY) Apple 123
25-Jan-12 MKT POL FIN 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 FIN POL MKT In an opinion piece in the Financial Times, Alan Greenspan, former chairman of the federal Reserve, defended "free-market capitalism" Financial Times-Opinion 124
25-Jan-12 MON FIN BANK 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 BANK FIN MON European financial institutions raised ≥€40.7 billion ($52.8 billion) in new capital in 2011Q4 (estimates by Citigroup) NYT-DealBook 125
25-Jan-12   PRO 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 PRO Egypt: ~100,000 Egyptians demonstrated in Tahrir Square to mark the first anniversary of the Egyptian revolution NYT 126
25-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC), on principles regarding its longer-run goals and monetary policy strategy: "inflation at the rate of 2 percent . . . is most consistent over the longer run with the Federal Reserve's statutory mandate. . . FOMC participants' estimates of the longer-run normal rate of unemployment had a central tendency of 5.2 percent to 6.0 percent . ." Federal Reserve Board 127
25-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT FOMC to keep the target range for the federal funds rate at 0%-0.25% and currently anticipates economic conditions are" likely to warrant exceptionally low levels for the federal funds rate at least through late 2014" Federal Reserve Board 128
25-Jan-12   GOLD MKT 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 MKT GOLD NYMEX-Comex: gold for Feb-2012 delivery settled at $1,700.10/oz. (up 2.1%) MarketWatch 129
25-Jan-12   FIN ELITE 25-Jan-12                                   25-Jan-12 ELITE FIN World Economic Forum’s 42nd Annual Meeting in Davos-Klosters: leaders agreed "Capitalism needs to serve society better" World Economic Forum 130
26-Jan-12 POL FREE WWW 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 WWW FREE POL Twitter: "Starting today, we give ourselves the ability to reactively withhold content from users in a specific country — while keeping it available in the rest of the world. We have also built in a way to communicate transparently to users when content is withheld, and why. . . if and when we are required to withhold a Tweet in a specific country, we will attempt to let the user know, and we will clearly mark when the content has been withheld" Twitter Blog 131
26-Jan-12 FIN TEL BUS 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 BUS TEL FIN AT&T 2011Q4 results: revenues, $32.5 billion (up 3.6% YOY); net loss attributable to AT&T, $6.7 billion. Full year 2011: revenues, $126.7 billion (up 2.0% YOY); net income attributable to AT&T, $3.9 billion (down 80.4% YOY) AT&T 132
26-Jan-12   BUS M&A 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 M&A BUS Amgen to acquire Micromet (a biotechnology company) for $1.16 billion Amgen 133
26-Jan-12 HEAL FIN ELITE 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 ELITE FIN HEAL The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation gave $750 million through a promissory note to the Global Fund to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria (annoucement made at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland) Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation 134
26-Jan-12   REL VIO 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 VIO REL 22-Jan-2012: Nigeria: bomb attacks targeted 2 churches; up to 35,000 Christians have reportedly fled the Muslim area following a Boko Haram ultimatum CatholicCulture.org 135
26-Jan-12   MIL VIO 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 VIO MIL Afghanistan: a suicide bomber targeted a NATO convoy; 3 civilians were killed Washington Post 136
26-Jan-12   VIO 26-Jan-12                           H       26-Jan-12 VIO Iraq: 3 bombs targeting the homes of 2 policemen killed 9 people, including 2 babies  Washington Post 137
27-Jan-12   REL VIO 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 VIO REL Iraq: a suicide bomber killed at least 31 people in a Shia neighborhood Washington Post 138
27-Jan-12   VIO PRO 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 PRO VIO 26-Jan-2012: Syria: shelling by government increased; 62 people were reportedly killed across Syria Washington Post 139
27-Jan-12 FIN AUTO BUS 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 BUS AUTO FIN Ford 2011Q4 results: revenues, $34.6 billion (up 6.5% YOY); net income after tax, $13.615 billion (up from $190 million in 2010Q4). Full year 2011: revenues, $136.3 (up 12.7% YOY); net income after tax, $20.213 (up 208% YOY) Ford 140
27-Jan-12   CHEM M&A 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 M&A CHEM Eastman Chemical Company to acquire Solutia Inc. for a total transaction value of ~$4.7 billion, including the assumption of Solutia’s debt Eastman Chemical Company 141
27-Jan-12   MIL PRO 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 PRO MIL 26-27-Jan-2012: Egypt: demonstrators protest demanding the army transfer power to civilians VOA News 142
27-Jan-12   ECON 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 ECON BEA: annual rates of increase of U,S, real GDP: 2.8% QOQ in 2011Q4; and 1.7% YOY in 2011 Bureau of Economic Analysis 143
27-Jan-12   FIN M&A 27-Jan-12   L                       H       27-Jan-12 M&A FIN 26-Jan-2012: Korea: The Financial Services Commission (Korea) approved Hana Financial Group Inc.'s acquisition of a 51% stake in Lone Star Funds' Korea Exchange Bank (KEB) in a transaction valued at 3.9 trillion won ($3.5 billion) Bloomberg 144
28-Jan-12   REL VIO 28-Jan-12   L                           H   28-Jan-12 VIO REL According to U.S. Military Archbishop Timothy P. Broglio, one of the legacies of America's invasion of Iraq in 2003 is the substantial decrease in the Catholic population of Iraq -- from over 800,000, to less than 150,000; Catholics were protected under Saddam Hussein -- they no longer are Catholic News Agency 145
28-Jan-12   REL VIO 28-Jan-12   L                           H   28-Jan-12 VIO REL Egypt: >3000 Muslims attacked Copts in a village; Coptic homes and shops were looted then torched Assyrian International News Agency 146
29-Jan-12 DEBT BANK GOV 29-Jan-12   L                           H   29-Jan-12 GOV BANK DEBT Exposure of 5 large American banks to Italy, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Greece: >$80 billion; ~$50 billion after adjusting for financial insurance against default (using credit-default swaps) and other credit protection NYT-DealBook 147
29-Jan-12   OIL M&A 29-Jan-12   L                           H   29-Jan-12 M&A OIL TonenGeneral Sekiyu to acquire ExxonMobil’s shares in ExxonMobil Yugen Kaisha for ~$3.9 billion Exxon Mobil-Business Wire 148
29-Jan-12   OIL VIO 29-Jan-12   L                           H   29-Jan-12 VIO OIL Syria: Syrian forces clashed with rebel forces; Syrian authorities said a “terrorist group” blew up a gas pipeline NYT 149
29-Jan-12   VIO PRO 29-Jan-12   L                           H   29-Jan-12 PRO VIO Bangladesh: Bangladesh Nationalist Party activists demonstrated for the reinstatement of a caretaker voting system; police fired at protesters killing ≥4 people VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 150
30-Jan-12   PRO 30-Jan-12                                   30-Jan-12 PRO 29-Jan-12: Occupy Oakland protesters clashed with police; police arrested more than 400 people; protesters accused the police of using illegal tactics Washington Post-AP 151
30-Jan-12   VIO PRO 30-Jan-12                                   30-Jan-12 PRO VIO 26-27-Jan-12: Syria: violent anti-government protests: ~120 people were reportedly killed Al Jazeera 152
30-Jan-12   DEBT GOV 30-Jan-12                                   30-Jan-12 GOV DEBT U.S. yields on 5-year notes fell to an all-time record low of 0.71%; investors are concerned, among other things, about delays of a bailout deal for Greece MarketWatch 153
30-Jan-12   WEATH 30-Jan-12                                   30-Jan-12 WEATH Cold weather killed 36 people in Eastern Europe; many of rhe dead were homeless VOA News-AP-AFP 154
30-Jan-12   TECH M&A 30-Jan-12                                   30-Jan-12 M&A TECH ABB to acquire Thomas & Betts for $3.9 Billion ABB 155
31-Jan-12   POL JUST 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 JUST POL U.S.; the incarceration rate is 743 per 100,000 Americans (a world record); 40% of the prison population is African-American (blacks make up only 12% of America's population) Al Jazeera 156
31-Jan-12   SEX 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 SEX New translation by A. N. D. Haksar of Vatsyayana's Kama Sutra NYT 157
31-Jan-12 WWW FIN BUS 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 BUS FIN WWW Amazon.com 2011Q4 results: net sales, $17.43 billion (up 35% YOY); net income, $177 million (down 58% YOY). Full year 2011: net sales, $48.08 billion (up 41% YOY); net income, $631 million (down 45% YOY) Amazon.com 158
31-Jan-12   BUS M&A 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 M&A BUS ThyssenKrupp to sell its Inoxum unit to Outokumpu (Finland); Inoxum is valued at ~€2.7 billion; ThyssenKrupp will obtain a 29.9% stake in the new company ThyssenKrupp 159
31-Jan-12   FIN BANK 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 BANK FIN Santander 2011Q4 results: gross income, €11.008 (up 3.7% YOY); attributable profit to the Group, €47 million (down 98% YOY). Full year 2011 results: gross income, €44.262 billion (up 5.3% YOY); attributable profit to the Group, €5.351 (down 34.6% YOY) Banco Santander 160
31-Jan-12   DEBT GOV 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 GOV DEBT Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projection: U.S. federal budget deficit to reach $1.1 trillion in FY2012, if current laws remain unchanged (7% of GDP) Congressional Budget Office 161
31-Jan-12   RE MKT 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 MKT RE S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices: 10- and 20-City Composites (non-seasonally adjusted) for Nov-2011: both down 1.3% MOM; down 3.6% and 3.7% YOY, respectively S&P/Case-Shiller 162
31-Jan-12 FIN OIL BUS 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 BUS OIL FIN ExxonMobil 2011Q4 results: total revenues and other income, $121.609 billion (up 15.6% YOY); net income attributable to ExxonMobil (GAAP), $9.4 billion (up 1.6% YOY). Full year 2011:  total revenues and other income, $486.429 billion (up 26.9% YOY); net income attributable to ExxonMobil (GAAP), $41.060 billion (up 34.8% YOY) Exxon Mobil-Business Wire 163
31-Jan-12   RE MKT 31-Jan-12     L                         H   31-Jan-12 MKT RE S&P/Case-Shiller1 Home Price Indices: "As of January 2012, average home prices across the United States are back to the levels where they were nearly a decade
ago – in early 2003." The indices peaked in Jun/Jul-2006. The peak-to-current (Jun/July 2006 to Jan-2012) decline in the indices is 34.4%. 10- and 20-City Composites (non-seasonally adjusted) for Jan-2012: both down 0.8% MOM; down 3.9% and 3.8% YOY, respectively.		 S&P/Case-Shiller 164
1-Feb-12 FIN WWW BUS 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 BUS WWW FIN Facebook filed for an I.P.O.; the company wants to raise $5 billion; it's value is estimated at $75 billion-$100 billion NYT 165
1-Feb-12   VIO 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 VIO Egypt: football violence; ≥73 people were killed Al Jazeera-Agencies 166
1-Feb-12   VIO PRO 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 PRO VIO Syria: violent clashes leave ≥68 people dead according to the Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC) Al Jazeera-Agencies 167
1-Feb-12 JOBS JET BUS 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 BUS JET JOBS American Airlines to cut ~13,000 jobs (15% of its workforce) Fox News: AP 168
1-Feb-12 JOBS TECH BUS 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 BUS TECH JOBS Microsoft cut ~200 marketing jobs; Microsoft reportedly has ~6,000 marketing employees WSJ 169
1-Feb-12 LAW MKT M&A 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 M&A MKT LAW The European Commission blocked the proposed merger between Deutsche Börse and NYSE Euronext; together th2 exchange would control >90% of global trade in European financial derivatives -- "a quasi-monopoly" Eurpean Commission 170
1-Feb-12   MON POL 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 POL MON U.S. presidential campaigns: amounts raised to date: all candidates, $186 million; Barack Obama, $139,526,311; Mitt Romney, $57,112,767; Ron Paul, $26,104,721; Newt Gingrich, $12,733,254 NYT 171
1-Feb-12   RES LAW 1-Feb-12                               H   1-Feb-12 LAW RES David S. Law and Mila Versteeg on The Declining Influence of the United States Constitution: "In this Article, we show empirically that other countries have, in recent decades, become increasingly unlikely to model either the rights-related provisions or the basic structural provisions of their own constitutions upon those found in the U.S. Constitution. . . We find some support in the data for the notion that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms has influenced constitution-making in other countries." Social Science Research Network 172
2-Feb-12 DEBT BANK GOV 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 GOV BANK DEBT Chairman Ben S. Bernanke, on the economic outlook and the federal B\budget: " . . . risks remain that developments in Europe or elsewhere may unfold unfavorably and could worsen economic prospects here at home. . . The Committee (FOMC) now anticipates that economic conditions are likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate at least through late 2014. . . The federal budget deficit widened appreciably with the onset of the recent recession, and it has averaged around 9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) over the past three fiscal years. . . As we have seen in a number of countries recently, interest rates can soar quickly if investors lose confidence in the ability of a government to manage its fiscal policy. Although historical experience and economic theory do not indicate the exact threshold at which the perceived risks associated with the U.S. public debt would increase markedly, we can be sure that, without corrective action, our fiscal trajectory will move the nation ever closer to that point. . . " Federal Reserve Board 173
2-Feb-12   FIN BANK 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 BANK FIN Deutsche Bank 2011Q4 results: group revenues, €6.9 billion (down 7% YOY); net income, €186 million (down 69% YOY). Full year 2011 results: group revenues, €33.2 billion (up 16% YOY); net income, €4.3 billion (up 87% YOY) Deutsche Bank 174
2-Feb-12 MON FIN BUS 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 BUS FIN MON Dow Jones VentureSource: venture capital equity financing received by companies in 2011: globally, $49 billion; U.S., $32,6 billion (up 10% YOY); China, $6 billion (up 8% YOY); Europe, $6.1 billion; UK, $1.7 billion (down 32% YOY) WSJ 175
2-Feb-12   UN PRO 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 PRO UN Gaza strip: Palestinian protesters throw shoes at United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon and his convoy VOA News-AFP-Reuters 176
2-Feb-12   ACC 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 ACC A ferry, MV Rabaul Queen, sank off Papua New Guinea's coast with ~350 people on board; 238 survivors have been recovered  Al Jazeera: Agencies 177
2-Feb-12   VIO PRO 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 PRO VIO Egypt: thousands of protesters in several cities demand the military cede power, following football violence; violent clashes with police were reported NYT 178
2-Feb-12   VIO PRO 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 PRO VIO Tibet: since Mar-2011, ≥16 Tibetans, mostly monks and nuns, have self-immolated in protest of Chinese government policies VOA News 179
2-Feb-12 FIN BUS GOV 2-Feb-12                               H   2-Feb-12 GOV BUS FIN The ratio of total corporate federal taxes paid to profits earned from activities in the U.S. in FY2011 fell to 12.1% -- down from 25.6% for the time period from 1987 to 2008 WSJ 180
3-Feb-12 LAW FRAUD BANK 3-Feb-12                                   3-Feb-12 BANK FRAUD LAW An analysis by The New York Times of S.E.C. investigations indicates that "the agency has repeatedly allowed the biggest firms to avoid punishments specifically meant to apply to fraud cases"; the S.E.C. has not been using its enforcement powers -- large financial institutions were granted beneficial waivers after these settled fraud cases NYT 181
3-Feb-12   VIO 3-Feb-12                                   3-Feb-12 VIO Israel agitating for possible airstrikes against Iranian nuclear sites; Ayatollah Ali Khamenei: "The war itself will be 10 times as detrimental to the U.S." CNN 182
3-Feb-12   VIO PRO 3-Feb-12                                   3-Feb-12 PRO VIO 2-Feb-12: Egypt: thousands protested demanding retribution for the deaths of 72 people killed in football violence; 5 were killed in violent clashes with authorities Al Jazeera-Agencies 183
3-Feb-12   SEC PRO 3-Feb-12                                   3-Feb-12 PRO SEC Anonymous posted a recording of a conference call between the FBI, Scotland Yard and other police agencies about their investigation of Anonymous, Lulzsec, Antisec, and other groups [see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6DfI0GBbjE]; other hacking activities reported NYT 184
3-Feb-12 SPACE RES GOV 3-Feb-12                                   3-Feb-12 GOV RES SPACE Iran's Space Agency (ISA) to set up a base for launching satellites FARS News Agency 185
4-Feb-12 VIO MIL PRO 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 PRO MIL VIO Syria: military forces assaulted Homs; the death toll is reportedly 260 NYT 186
4-Feb-12   GOV PRO 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 PRO GOV Moscow, Russia: >100,000 protested against election fraud and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin; also, tens of thousands of pro-Putin Russians protested against "lackeys of America" WSJ 187
4-Feb-12   UN 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 UN U.N.: Russia and China vetoed a draft resolution backing an Arab League call for Syrian President Bashar Assad to resign VOA News 188
4-Feb-12   VIO PRO 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 PRO VIO Egypt: protesters and police clashed; ≥12 people were killed VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 189
4-Feb-12   GOV PRO 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 PRO GOV Moscow, Russia: pro-Putin and anti-Putin rallies draw 138,000 and 100,000, respectively VOA News 190
4-Feb-12   SEC PRO 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 PRO SEC Washington, DC: the police raided the Occupy D.C. camp in McPherson Square; Occupy protesters are part of a movement demonstrating against "economic inequality" Washington Post 191
4-Feb-12   MAN MIL 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 MIL MAN Iran to mass-produce a naval cruise missile (Zafar) FARS News Agency 192
4-Feb-12 WWW GOV PRO 4-Feb-12                                   4-Feb-12 PRO GOV WWW Homeland Security Department’s website, DHS.gov was reportedly taken down by Anonymous hacktivists RT: Reuters 193
5-Feb-12   VIO 5-Feb-12                 H                 5-Feb-12 VIO Afghanistan: a suicide car bombing at a police station in Kandahar killed 9 people; according to a U.N. report, >3,000 civilians were killed in Afghanistan in 2011 (up 8% from 2010) VOA News 194
5-Feb-12   OIL VIO 5-Feb-12                 H                 5-Feb-12 VIO OIL 4-Feb-2012: Niger Delta, Nigeria: The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) attacked an Italian-owned pipeline VOA News 195
5-Feb-12   HEAL 5-Feb-12                 H                 5-Feb-12 HEAL FL, U.S.: 499 cases of Norovirus were reported on 2 Princess Cruises ships CNN 196
5-Feb-12   GOV PRO 5-Feb-12                 H                 5-Feb-12 PRO GOV Protesters attacked 7 Syrian embassies around the world Fox News: AP 197
6-Feb-12   QUAK AOG 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 AOG QUAK Philippines: 6.8-magnitude quake killed ≥43 people VOA News-AFP-Reuters 198
6-Feb-12   ACC 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 ACC Lahore, Pakistan: a factory collapsed killing ≥9 people BBC News 199
6-Feb-12   GOV 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 GOV U.K.: the Queen marks the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne BBC News 200
6-Feb-12 JOBS DEBT GOV 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 GOV DEBT JOBS Greece to cut 15,000 government jobs in 2012; Greece needs €130 billion ($170.5 billion) in new bailout funds to avoid default in Mar-2012 NYT 201
6-Feb-12   GOV 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 GOV The U.S. closed its embassy in Syria VOA News 202
6-Feb-12 DEBT BUS BANK 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 BANK BUS DEBT European credit crunch: banks are reluctant to lend to cash starved companies. Jonathan Loynes: “There’s a lack of business confidence across Europe”; insolvency is expected to increase by 12% in 2012 in the Eurozone NYT-DealBook 203
6-Feb-12 LAW MON BANK 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 BANK MON LAW U.S.: 11 Swiss financial institutions are being investigated for alledgedly helping Americans hide money from the IRS Bloomberg 204
6-Feb-12   MON ELITE 6-Feb-12   L             H                 6-Feb-12 ELITE MON The Chronicle of Philanthropy: the top 50 wealthy donors in America gave a total of $10.4-billion in 2011 (up from $3.3-billion in 2010); the median gift from donors was $61 million (down from $74.7 million in 2007). The top 5 donors in 2011 and the total amounts they committed are: 1. Margaret A. Cargill, $6 billion; 2. William S. Dietrich II, $5 billion; 3. Paul G. Allen, $372.6 million; 4. George Soros, $335 million; 5. Michael R. Bloomberg, $311.276 million. The Chronicle of Philanthropy 205
7-Feb-12 DEBT GOV PRO 7-Feb-12   L   H     L   H                 7-Feb-12 PRO GOV DEBT Greece: thousands of workers protested the latest austerity measures imposed by creditors (EU, ECB, and IMF) VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 206
7-Feb-12   BUS M&A 7-Feb-12   L   H     L   H                 7-Feb-12 M&A BUS Glencore International to acquire the remaining stake in Xstrata it does not own for $41 billion NYT-DealBook 207
7-Feb-12 LAW BANK M&A 7-Feb-12   L   H     L   H                 7-Feb-12 M&A BANK LAW El Paso shareholders have sued Goldman Sachs regarding a potential conflict of interest in a 2-sided transaction involving Kinder Morgan and El Paso – a combination and a potential spinoff NYT-DealBook 208
8-Feb-12 EDU ENER GOV 8-Feb-12   L   H     L   H                 8-Feb-12 GOV ENER EDU China: Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reached agreements in a range of sectors, including energy and education CBC News-The Canadian Press 209
8-Feb-12 BANK GOV M&A 8-Feb-12   L   H     L   H                 8-Feb-12 M&A GOV BANK The Federal Reserve Bank of New York sold assets with a current face value of $6.2 billion from its Maiden Lane II LLC (ML II) portfolio through a competitive process to Goldman Sachs & Co. The remaining outstanding balance of the loan from the New York Fed to ML II to be repaid in full. Federal Reserve Bank of New York 210
8-Feb-12   MIL GOV 8-Feb-12   L   H     L   H                 8-Feb-12 GOV MIL India has acquired a nuclear-powered submarine from Russia; India has decided to buy 126 fighter jets from France and to get a retrofitted Soviet-built aircraft carrier Time: AP 211
9-Feb-12 FIN TECH BUS 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 BUS TECH FIN Lenovo Group 2011/2012 Q3 results: sales, $8.4 billion (up 44% YOY); profit attributable to equity holders, $153 million; worldwide market share, 14.0%; market share in China, 35.3% Lenovo Group 212
9-Feb-12   FIN BANK 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 BANK FIN Credit Suisse 2011Q4 results: net revenues, CHF 4,473 million (down 35.7% YOY); net loss attributable to shareholders of CHF 637 million (down from a profit of CHF 841 million in 2010Q4). Full-year 2011 results: net revenues, CHF 25,429 million (down 17% YOY); net income attributable to shareholders of CHF 1,953 million (down 62% YOY) Credit Suisse 213
9-Feb-12 DEBT BANK GOV 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 GOV BANK DEBT The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee to keep the official Bank Rate paid on commercial bank reserves at 0.5%; and to increase the size of its asset purchase programme, financed by the issuance of central bank reserves, by £50 billion (15.4%) to £325 billion Bank of England 214
9-Feb-12 TECH BUS M&A 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 M&A BUS TECH Oracle to acquire Taleo Corporation (provider of cloud-based talent management) for ~$1.9 billion, net of Taleo’s cash and debt Oracle 215
9-Feb-12   LAW GOV 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 GOV LAW U.S.: The House of Representatives approved Bill S.2038: `Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012' or the `STOCK Act' (417-2, 14 not voting); the bill seeks "To prohibit Members of Congress and employees of Congress from using nonpublic information derived from their official positions for personal benefit, and for other purposes" The Library of Congress-THOMAS 216
9-Feb-12 DEBT BANK GOV 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 GOV BANK DEBT The Federal Reserve Board reached an agreement in principle with 5 banking organizations regarding the issuance of monetary sanctions totaling $766.5 million "for unsafe and unsound processes and practices in residential mortgage loans servicing and foreclosure processing." Total amounts of the monetary sanctions: Bank of America, 175.5 million; Wells Fargo, $87 million; JPMorgan Chase, $275 million; Citigroup, $22 million; Ally Financial, $207 million. Federal Reserve Board 217
9-Feb-12 VIO MIL PRO 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 PRO MIL VIO Syria: government forces shelled Homs for the 6th day in a row; according to the Local Co-ordination Committees 110 people were killed in Homs  Al Jazeera-Agencies 218
9-Feb-12 JOBS GOV PRO 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 PRO GOV JOBS 8-9-Feb-2012: Israel: general strike involving ~500,000 people to force the government to hire workers and provide good working conditions Al Jazeera: Agencies 219
9-Feb-12 DEBT BANK GOV 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 GOV BANK DEBT Greece reached an accord on international creditors' austerity demands; to avoid default in Mar-2012, Greece needs a $172-billion bailout from the European Union, the ECB and the IMF VOA News 220
9-Feb-12 DEBT BANk GOV 9-Feb-12       H     L   H                 9-Feb-12 GOV BANk DEBT The Governing Council of the ECB decided to keep the interest rate on the main refinancing operations, the interest rates on the marginal lending facility, and the deposit facility unchanged at 1.00%, 1.75%, and 0.25%, respectively European Central Bank 221
10-Feb-12 DEBT VIO PRO 10-Feb-12     L H     L   H                 10-Feb-12 PRO VIO DEBT Greece: protesters clashed with police in Athens over austerity measures imposed by eurozone ministers; austerity measures include: cut of 15,000 public-sector jobs, weakening of labor laws, decreasing the minimum wage by 20%; Greece's unemployment rate is >20%. BBC News 222
10-Feb-12   VIO PRO 10-Feb-12     L H     L   H                 10-Feb-12 PRO VIO Syria: explosions in Aleppo killed 28 people Al Jazeera-Agencies 223
10-Feb-12   REL JUST 10-Feb-12     L H     L   H                 10-Feb-12 JUST REL India: Gujarat High Court ruling regarding >500 places of worship destroyed during the 2002 riots (>1,000 people were killed): the government of Gujarat will have to compensate and rebuild the destroyed properties AsiaNews.it 224
10-Feb-12 DEBT BANK RES 10-Feb-12     L H     L   H                 10-Feb-12 RES BANK DEBT Standard & Poor’s (S&P) downgraded 34 Italian financial firms, including UniCredit, Intesa Sanpaolo, and Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena NYT: Bloomberg 225
11-Feb-12 WWW LAW PRO 11-Feb-12     L H L   L   H                 11-Feb-12 PRO LAW WWW Europe: thousands of people protested against the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA). BBC News 226
11-Feb-12 WWW LAW PRO 11-Feb-12     L H L   L   H                 11-Feb-12 PRO LAW WWW Open Rights Group, London, UK: "The Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement is an international agreement, negotiated in secret. It is supposed to tackle large-scale counterfeiting. But its overly broad definitions, harsh punitive measures and lack of democratic validity make it a danger to how our Internet is governed and to freedom of expression and privacy online." According to ORG: "ACTA has no democratic credibility"; "ACTA threatens your privacy and freedom of speech"; "ACTA would be a hindrance to innovation"; "ACTA could hurt developing countries." Open Rights Group 227
11-Feb-12   VIO 11-Feb-12     L H L   L   H                 11-Feb-12 VIO Syria: an armed terrorist group is targeting Syrian intellectuals and medical and technical cadres; the group assassinated Director of Hamish Hospital in Damascus, Brigadier General, Dr. Issa al-Kholi; others assassinated include a professor at al-Baath University,an engineer and nuclear specialist, the head of Thoracic Surgery Department at Homs National Hospital, a teacher at the National Center for Excelled Students in Homs . . . [SANA] Syrian Arab News Agency 228
11-Feb-12 DEBT FIN GOV 11-Feb-12     L H L   L   H                 11-Feb-12 GOV FIN DEBT Greece: Prime Minister Lucas Papademos, to Greek lawmakers: back the financial bailout or condemn Greece to "uncontrolled economic chaos and social explosion" Reuters 229
11-Feb-12 DEBT GOV PRO 11-Feb-12     L H L   L   H                 11-Feb-12 PRO GOV DEBT Lisbon, Portugal: >100,000 protesters (300,000, according to organisers) rallied against austerity measures Huffington Post: Reuters 230
12-Feb-12   NUC GOV 12-Feb-12     L H     L                     12-Feb-12 GOV NUC 11-Feb-2012: Iran: President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at a rally of tens of thousands of Iranians in Tehran: ‘Within  the next few days the world will witness the inauguration of several big new achievements in the nuclear field" Daily Mail 231
12-Feb-12 DEBT VIO PRO 12-Feb-12     L H     L                     12-Feb-12 PRO VIO DEBT Greece: financial bailout: the Greek Parliament approved harsh austerity measures imposed by creditors (European Commission, ECB, IMF); more than 80,000 people demonstrated against financial capitulation; violent riots were reported in many cities NYT 232
12-Feb-12 REL GOV PRO 12-Feb-12     L H     L                     12-Feb-12 PRO GOV REL 11-Feb-2012: Al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri urged Muslims to support anti-government rebels in Syria and "called on Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments" VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 233
12-Feb-12 POL GOV PRO 12-Feb-12     L H     L                     12-Feb-12 PRO GOV POL Protesters support Khader Adnan, a Palestinian prisoner from Islamic Jihad who has been on a hunger strike for 58 days! VOA News 234
13-Feb-12   JOBS BANK 13-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L     L             13-Feb-12 BANK JOBS ANZ to reduce employment in Australia by ~1,000 permanent employees (ANZ employs ~24,000 staff in Australia and 49,000 world-wide). ANZ CEO Australia Philip Chronican: “A different and very difficult environment is now emerging for banks globally. . . we are also having to adapt our business to the new conditions and become leaner, more agile and more customer-focused so we ensure the bank remains strong and can grow and invest for the future. At the same time, we know we have to keep working hard to become a better bank. . ." Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited 235
13-Feb-12   POL VIO 13-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L     L             13-Feb-12 VIO POL Israel's embassies on high alert: Israeli diplomats have been targeted by car bombs in India and Georgia Al Jazeera-Agencies 236
13-Feb-12 DEBT GOV RES 13-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L     L             13-Feb-12 RES GOV DEBT Moody's Investors Service downgraded the sovereign debt ratings of 9 EU countries, including Italy, Malta, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain; the ratings for Austria, France, and the U.K. were changed to negative Moody's Investors Service 237
13-Feb-12   FIN GOV 13-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L     L             13-Feb-12 GOV FIN President Barack Obama's budget request for FY2013 is $3.8 trillion (23% of the U.S.’s GDP) [see http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/183755.pdf] MarketWatch 238
13-Feb-12 DEBT VIO PRO 13-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L     L             13-Feb-12 PRO VIO DEBT Greece: austerity measures imposed on Greece by creditors triggered massive protests (80,000 demonstrators), riots, vandalism, and looting; ~150 stores were vandalized and looted, and ~45 buildings, including banks, were torched NYT 239
13-Feb-12 RES BANK BUS 13-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L     L             13-Feb-12 BUS BANK RES Harris Interactive: The 2012 Harris Poll Annual RQ Study: key survey findings: the financial sector is the 3rd lowest ranked sector by reputation (the 2 lowest ranked sectors are government and tobacco); the reputations quotients (RQ) of Bank of America, Berkshire Hathaway, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs fell significantly NYT-DealBook 240
14-Feb-12 RE BUS M&A 14-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L       L           14-Feb-12 M&A BUS RE A group led by Patrizia Immobilien AG to acquire LBBW Immobilien GmbH (Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg’s real estate unit) for €1.44 billion ($1.89 billion) Bloomberg 241
14-Feb-12 LAW WWW GOV 14-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L       L           14-Feb-12 GOV WWW LAW Canada: proposed "protecting children from internet predators act" was tabled by Stephen Harper's Conservative government; the bill would permit police and intelligence agencies to access Canadians' electronic communications without a warrant CBC News 242
14-Feb-12   JOBS BUS 14-Feb-12 L   L H   L L L       L           14-Feb-12 BUS JOBS MetLife to shut and eliminate most of the 4,300 jobs in its mortgage origination business NYT: Bloomberg News 243
15-Feb-12 WWW MKT PRO 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 PRO MKT WWW Hackers using the handle L0NGwave99 have reportedly taken down NASDAQ's website Cyber War News 244
15-Feb-12 FOOD BUS M&A 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 M&A BUS FOOD Kellogg to acquire Procter & Gamble‘s Pringles business for $2.695 billion Kellogg-PRNewswire 245
15-Feb-12   FIN BANK 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 BANK FIN BNP Paribas 2011Q4 results: revenues, €9.686 billion (down 6.1% YOY); net income attributable to equity holders, €765 million (down 50.6% YOY). Full year 2011: €42.384 billion (down 3.4% YOY); net income attributable to equity holders, €6.050 billion (down 22.9% YOY). BNP Paribas 246
15-Feb-12   FIN BUS 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 BUS FIN MetLife 2011Q4 results: total operating revenues, $16.405 billion (up 19% YOY); net income, $1.125 billion (up from $51 million in 2010Q4). Full year 2011: total operating revenues, $65.384 billion (up 27% YOY); net income, $6.713 billion (up from $2.668 billion in 2010Q4). MetLife 247
15-Feb-12   ACC 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 ACC Honduras: prison fire killed ≥300 inmates Los Angeles Times: AP 248
15-Feb-12   REL VIO 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 VIO REL Egypt: ~2,000 extremists, mainly Salafists, set fire to the Church of St Mary and St Abram in a village north-east of Cairo; peace was mediated by the Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party AsiaNews.it 249
15-Feb-12   NUC SCIE 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 SCIE NUC Iran unveiled a new generation of centrifuges to speed up uranium enrichment and Iran-produced fuel rods FARS News Agency 250
15-Feb-12 DEBT BANK RES 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 RES BANK DEBT Moody's Investors Service announced rating actions affecting 114 financial institutions in 16 European countries: the following were placed on review for downgrade: (i) the standalone credit assessments for 99 financial institutions; (ii) the long-term debt and deposit ratings for 109 institutions; (iii) the short-term ratings for 66 institutions. The distribution of the headquarters of the financial institutions affected by this announcement, by country and rank, is as follows: Italy (24), Spain (21), France (10), UK (9), Austria (8), Denmark (8), Germany (7), Netherlands (6), Portugal (6), Sweden (5), Slovenia (4), Switzerland (2), Belgium (1), Finland (1), Luxembourg (1), Norway (1). Moody's Investors Service, Inc.,  251
15-Feb-12 DEBT Bank RES 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 RES Bank DEBT Moody's Investors Service announced a review of 17 banks and securities firms with global capital markets operations; the long-term ratings and standalone credit assessments  for Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase, Morgan Stanley, and Royal Bank of Canada were placed under review. Moody's Investors Service, Inc.,  252
15-Feb-12 LAW ECON GOV 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 GOV ECON LAW U.S.: Comgressional negotiators approval a $150-billion economic package extending a payroll tax holiday and unemployment benefits Washington Post 253
15-Feb-12 VIO BANK ELITE 15-Feb-12 L   L H L L L L       L L   L     15-Feb-12 ELITE BANK VIO Margaret Kimberley: "Greece’s plight proves the Lords of Capital have no more use for democratic facades. The Greeks will be forced to surrender to “the free movement of capital” and take no actions that would “influence the management or control of companies.” For the people’s purposes, the Greek state has ceased to exist. “The sad truth is that citizens of supposedly democratic countries live in dictatorships of, for, and by the rich."" Black Agenda Report 254
16-Feb-12 MEDIA FIN REL 16-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L   L 16-Feb-12 REL FIN MEDIA 15-Feb-2012: Pope Benedict XVI, on the force of evil: "two great powers which are good and useful in themselves but easily open to abuse: the power of finance and the power of the media. Both are necessary, both are useful, but so subject to misuse that they often go against their true goals. . . we see how the world of finance can dominate mankind. Possession and appearance dominate and enslave the world. . . Finance is no longer a tool to promote well being and to support the life of man, but a force that oppresses him, one which almost has to be worshipped. . . Be non conformists. What counts is not possession but existence. . . we have a great need of information, knowledge about the truth of the world; but there is a power of appearance which in the end counts even more than reality itself. . . Man no longer pursues the truth but wants above all to appear . . . there is a Christian non conformism. . .  We want not appearance but truth, and this will give us true freedom." Vatican Information Service 255
16-Feb-12 DEBT FIN GOV 16-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L   L 16-Feb-12 GOV FIN DEBT The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) proposed to oversee debt collectors, credit bureaus, and credit reporting agencies (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) Washington Post 256
16-Feb-12 FIN AUTO BUS 16-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L   L 16-Feb-12 BUS AUTO FIN GM 2011Q4 results: revenue, $38.0 billion (up 3% YOY); net income attributable to common stockholders, $0.5 billion (up 0% YOY). Full year 2011: revenue, $150.3 billion (up 10.8% YOY); net income attributable to common stockholders, $7.6 billion (up 61.7% YOY) General Motors 257
16-Feb-12   FIN BANK 16-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L   L 16-Feb-12 BANK FIN Societe Generale 2011Q4 results: net banking income, €6.010 billion (down 12.4% YOY); group net income, €100 million (down 88.6% YOY). Full-year 2011: net banking income, €25.636 billion (down 3.0% YOY); group net income, €3.385 billion (down 39.1% YOY) Societe Generale 258
17-Feb-12   OIL M&A 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 M&A OIL Encana-Mitsubishi partnership: Mitsubishi to acquire a 40% interest in the partnership for C$2.9 billion; the partnership to hold ~409,000 net acres of Encana's undeveloped natural gas lands in the Cutbank Ridge in British Columbia Encana-Business Wire 259
17-Feb-12   ECON GOV 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 GOV ECON U.S.: Congress passed a $150 billion economic package extending a payroll-tax cut and unemployment benefits through the end of 2012 Washington Post 260
17-Feb-12   SEC VIO 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 VIO SEC U.S.: alleged suicide attack on U.S. Capitol foiled CNN 261
17-Feb-12 FIN BUS M&A 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 M&A BUS FIN Advent International Corp. and GS Capital Partners (a Goldman Sachs Group Inc. private equity unit) to acquire TransUnion Corp. (credit bureau) for $3 billion Bloomberg-Businessweek 262
17-Feb-12   OIL MKT 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 MKT OIL CME Group: NYMEX: light sweet crude oil futures, Mar-2012 delivery: $103.24 (up 0.9%) CME Group 263
17-Feb-12   REL VIO 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 VIO REL Pakistan: a suicide bomber targeted a Shia mosque and killed ≥26 people Reuters 264
17-Feb-12 LAW GOV PRO 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 PRO GOV LAW In protest against ACTA, the Antisec wing of Anonymous attacked a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) webserver (business.ftc.gov, consumer.gov and ncpw.gov); Anonymous also plans to attack government and corporate sites under the theme of #FFF (Fuck the FBI Friday) WIRED 265
17-Feb-12 JOBS ECON ELITE 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 ELITE ECON JOBS Spain: a consequence of austerity measures imposed by creditors on Spain: unemployment rates in 2012: total, 21.6%; 24 or younder, 46.4% [source: Eurostat] Washington Post 266
17-Feb-12 SEC TECH BUS 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 BUS TECH SEC U.S.: new federal law allows use of drones for commercial purposes, including policing, reconnaissance, monitoring, and surveillance; the market for drones is estimated at $5.9 billion NYT 267
17-Feb-12   GOV PRO 17-Feb-12 L L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 17-Feb-12 PRO GOV Gaza and the West Bank: thousands rallied in support of Khader Adnan on the 62nd day of a hunger strike; Adnan is protesting his detention by Israel BBC News 268
18-Feb-12   REL 18-Feb-12   L L H   L   L       L L   L L L 18-Feb-12 REL Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the 4th ordinary public consistory of his pontificate, and created 22 new cardinals; the College of Cardinals has now 213 members, distributed as follows: Europe 119, North America (U.S.A. and Canada) 21, Latin America 32, Africa 17, Asia 20 and Oceania 4 Vatican Information Service 269
19-Feb-12 OIL ECON GOV 19-Feb-12   L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 19-Feb-12 GOV ECON OIL Iran stopped oil sales to France and UK – this is a retaliatory strike against the EU's oil embargo on oil purchases from Iran Financial Times 270
19-Feb-12   VIO 19-Feb-12   L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 19-Feb-12 VIO Mexico: prison riot killed ≥38 people CNN 271
19-Feb-12   VIO 19-Feb-12   L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 19-Feb-12 VIO Iraq: suicide car bomb attack killed ≥15 people in Baghdad Al Jazeera-Agencies 272
19-Feb-12 DEBT GOV PRO 19-Feb-12   L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 19-Feb-12 PRO GOV DEBT Greece: hundreds of protesters protested deep budget cuts imposed by creditors, including a 22% cut in the minimum wage and a 12% cut in pensions of more than $1,700/month Al Jazeera: Agencies 273
19-Feb-12   VIO 19-Feb-12   L L H L L   L       L L   L L L 19-Feb-12 VIO Syria: Syrian forces deployed forces in a Damascus neighborhood; activists reported 14 people were killed throughout Syria; SANA repoted 12 security personnel were also killed VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 274
20-Feb-12   UN 20-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L L L L 20-Feb-12 UN The Justice and Equality Movement (JEM) abducted ~50 UN peacekeepers VOA News-AFP-Reuters 275
20-Feb-12 OIL BUS M&A 20-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L L L L 20-Feb-12 M&A BUS OIL URS to acquire Flint Energy Services for $1.25 billion, and assume ~$225 million in Flint debt URS 276
21-Feb-12 DEBT BANK GOV 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 GOV BANK DEBT European ministers agreed to an extra €130 billion ($172 billion) bailout package for Greece funded by the EU and the IMF; Greece's first bailout package in 2010 was for €110 billion ($146 billion); the total bailout per capita is ~€22,000 ($29,000); private bondholders' losses on Greek bonds are estimated at >70%  AP 277
21-Feb-12 ENER BUS M&A 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 M&A BUS ENER Fortis Inc. to acquire Ch Energy Group, Inc. for $1.5 billion, including the assumption of ~$500 million of debt Fortis 278
21-Feb-12   REL 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 REL Afghanistan: hundreds of Afghans protested against US forces burning copies of the Quran Al Jazeera-Agencies 279
21-Feb-12   MON FIN 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 FIN MON London, U.K.: BC Partners raised €6.5 billion ($8.6 billion);   NYT-DealBook 280
21-Feb-12   OIL MKT 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 MKT OIL CME Group: NYMEX: light sweet crude oil futures, Mar-2012 delivery: $105.84/barrel (up 2.5%) CME Group 281
21-Feb-12   VIO PRO 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 PRO VIO Syria: Syrian security forces reportedly killed 63 people in Homs and northern villages; the distribution of civilian deaths since Mar-2011 is as follows: Homs 2,400; Daraa 715; Idlib 603; Damascus 551; Hama 460; Deir Ezzor 169; Latakia 156; Aleppo 49; Banias 13; Tartous 6 [source: Syrian Observatory for Human Rights] VOA News 282
21-Feb-12   MON BANK 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 BANK MON WSJ: as of 31-Dec-2011, the top 8 European banks held ~$816 billion (up 50% YOY) in cash and deposits at central banks WSJ 283
21-Feb-12   FIN BUS 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 BUS FIN Walmart 2012Q4 results: net sales, $122.3 billion (up 5.8% YOY); income from continuing operations attributable to Walmart, $5.194 billion (up 3.4% YOY). Full-year 2012 results: consolidated net sales, $443.9 billion (up 5.9% YOY); income from continuing operations attributable to Walmart, $15.766 billion (up 2.7% YOY) Walmart 284
21-Feb-12   SEC GOV 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 GOV SEC Alexis Madrigal: "Intelligence officials seem to be polishing up their case to take on Anonymous like a 'stateless' terrorist group" The Atlantic 285
21-Feb-12   GOV PRO 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 PRO GOV Message from Anonymous to the United States government: "We now see that you have publicly labeled Anonymous as leaderless terrorist organization that poses as a high threat to national security. . . On 12.21.2012 we seek to put and end to corruption world wide. A time to end censorship. A time to end tyranny. A time to leak it all."

 Pastebin 286
21-Feb-12 WWW FREE EDU 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 EDU FREE WWW NY Mayor Michael Bloomberg defends the monitoring by police of Muslam students on the web; by contrast, Yale University’s president, Richard C. Levin, said in an e-mail: “I am writing to state, in the strongest possible terms, that police surveillance based on religion, nationality or peacefully expressed political opinion is antithetical to the values of Yale, the academic community and the United States.” NYT 287
21-Feb-12 ENER BANK M&A 21-Feb-12   L L H L     L       L   L   L   21-Feb-12 M&A BANK ENER Wells Fargo Bank to acquire the North American reserve-based and related diversified energy lending business of BNP Paribas; the BNP energy business has ~$9.5 billion of loan commitments, and ~$3.9 billion in loans outstanding Wells Fargo 288
22-Feb-12 DEBT GOV RES 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 RES GOV DEBT Fitch Ratings downgraded Greece's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDRs) from 'CCC' to 'C' Fitch Ratings 289
22-Feb-12 OIL BUS M&A 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 M&A BUS OIL Royal Dutch Shell to acquire Cove Energy (oil exploration company) for £992 million ($1.6 billion) NYT-DealBook 290
22-Feb-12 BANK GOV PRO 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 PRO GOV BANK Greece: >6,000 people protested against measures imposed by creditors (Eurozone and IMF) on Greeks NYT: AP 291
22-Feb-12   ACC 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 ACC Argentina: train crash in Buenos Aires killed 49 people and injured ≥550 CBC News: AP 292
22-Feb-12 VIO MIl PRO 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 PRO MIl VIO Syria: shelling of Homs killed ≥19 people, including 2 Western journalists VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 293
22-Feb-12   BUS LAW 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 LAW BUS White House: President Obama asked Congress to reduce the top corporate tax rate from 35% to 28% (25% for manufacturers) NYT 294
22-Feb-12 FIN TECH BUS 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 BUS TECH FIN HP 2012Q1 resuts: GAAP net revenue, $30 billion (down 7% YOY); GAAP net earnings, $1.5 billion (down 44% YOY) Hewlett-Packard Development Company-Martketwire via Comtex 295
22-Feb-12   GOLD MKT 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 MKT GOLD CME Group: NYMEX: settlement for gold futures, Apr-2012 delivery: $1771.30/oz. (up 0.7%) CME Group 296
22-Feb-12 DEBT FIN PRO 22-Feb-12   L L H       L       L L     L   22-Feb-12 PRO FIN DEBT Alain Badiou et al: "At a time when one Greek youth out of two is unemployed. Where 25,000 homeless wander the streets of Athens. Where 30% of the population has fallen under the poverty line and where millions of families are forced to place their children in the care of someone else in order for them not to die of hunger or cold, where refugees and the new poor compete for trashcans at the public dump, the “saviors” of Greece, under the pretext that “Greece is not trying hard enough”, impose a new aid plan that doubles the lethal administered dose. A plan that abolishes the right to work and reduces the poor to the most extreme misery, at the same time as it makes the middle class disappear. The goal is not about “saving” Greece. All economists worthy of this name agree on this point. It’s about gaining time in order to save the creditors at the same time it leads the country into deferred collapse. Above all it’s about making a laboratory of social change out of Greece that, in a second generation, will spread throughout all of Europe..." The European Graduate School 297
23-Feb-12   FIN LAW 23-Feb-12     L H                           23-Feb-12 LAW FIN The U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) to adopt new rules for the biggest players in the derivatives industry (swap dealers include big banks, brokerages, energy-trading firms, hedge funds, etc.); the size of the derivatives industry is estimated at $600 trillion NYT-DealBook 298
23-Feb-12   VIO 23-Feb-12     L H                           23-Feb-12 VIO Iraq: bombings across Iraq targeted security forces and killed 55 people; the Islamic State of Iraq, a branch of al-Qaeda, claimed responsibility Washington Post 299
23-Feb-12 FIN ECON GOV 23-Feb-12     L H                           23-Feb-12 GOV ECON FIN The U.S. Department of the Treasury announced $3.6 Billion in New Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) awards "to revitalize low-income and distressed communities" U.S. Department of the Treasury 300
23-Feb-12   BANK M&A 23-Feb-12     L H                           23-Feb-12 M&A BANK Citigroup Inc. sold its 9.85% interest in Housing Development Finance Corporation Ltd. (HDFC) in a transaction valued at ~$1.9 billion Citigroup 301
23-Feb-12 VIO REL HEAL 23-Feb-12     L H                           23-Feb-12 HEAL REL VIO Alberto Giubilini and Francesca Minerva argue that "what we call ‘after-birth abortion’ (killing a newborn) should be permissible in all the cases where abortion is, including cases where the newborn is not disabled," because: "(1) both fetuses and newborns do not have the same moral status as actual persons, (2) the fact that both are potential persons is morally irrelevant and (3) adoption is not always in the best interest of actual people" Journal of Medical Ethics 302
24-Feb-12   DEBT GOV 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 GOV DEBT Greece: the Finance Ministry made a bond exchange offer to investors: current Greek bonds can be swapped for (1) a 30-year note worth 31.5% of the bonds' face value, and (2) a short-term security worth another 15% backed by the euro zone Washington Post 303
24-Feb-12 GOV DEBT FIN 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 FIN DEBT GOV AIG acquired almost $2 billion in bonds held in Maiden Lane II, a vehicle financed by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York as part of the financial bailout in 2008 NYT-DealBook 304
24-Feb-12 AUTO FIN BUS 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 BUS FIN AUTO Volkswagen AG 2011 preliminary results: sales revenue, €159.337 billion (up 25.6% YOY); profit attributable to shareholders of Volkswagen AG, €15.409 billion (up 125.4% YOY) Volkswagen 305
24-Feb-12 JUST BUS PRO 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 PRO BUS JUST Anonymous hacked The Geo Group website: "As part of our ongoing efforts to dismantle the prison industrial complex, we attacked one of the largest private prison corporations in the US – Geo Group. Despite the well documented history of corruption, scandal, and atrocities that companies like GEO perpetuate each and every minute our friends are locked behind their prison walls, the private prison industry is still booming" [hashtags: #anonymous, #antisec, #fuckfbifriday, #occupywallstreet, #freeanons] [source: Pastbin]. The Geo Group 2011 results: revenue, $1.6 billion; net profit, $77.5 million [source: AFP, http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gBwPi3Q43wMi5Ab1AFaNymZ2-6sw]. Pastebin 306
24-Feb-12 REL VIO PRO 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 PRO VIO REL 21-24-Feb-2012: Afghanistan: thousands protest against burning of Qurans; ≥22 people, including 2 Americans, were killed VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 307
24-Feb-12   MIL VIO 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 VIO MIL Somalia: an airstrike killed 7 al-Shabab members; al-Shabab is linked to al-Qaida VOA News 308
24-Feb-12 DEBT GOLD BANK 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 BANK GOLD DEBT The Executive Board of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved the distribution of SDR 700 million (~$1.1 billion) in reserves attributed to profits from IMF gold sales for IMF members to voluntarily support concessional lending to low-income countries (LICs) [2009-2010 gold sales: total proceeds, SDR 9.54 billion (~$14.8 billion); profit, SDR 6.85 billion ($10.6 billion)] IMF 309
24-Feb-12 OIL BUS M&A 24-Feb-12     L H       L     L L           24-Feb-12 M&A BUS OIL Consortium led by Apollo Global Management to acquire EP Energy Corporation, an exploration and production unit of El Paso Corp., for ~$7.15 billion El Paso Corporation 310
25-Feb-12 JOBS BANK ELITE 25-Feb-12     L H       L     L             25-Feb-12 ELITE BANK JOBS Lloyds Banking Group (largest bank in Britain; 41%-owned by taxpayers): lost £2.8 billion ($4.4 billion) in 2011 (down from a £320 million loss in 2010); paid £375 million in bonuses; and plans to terminate 15,000 jobs by 2014 (including 3,700 jobs terminated in 2010) NYT-DealBook 311
25-Feb-12   REL VIO 25-Feb-12     L H       L     L             25-Feb-12 VIO REL Nigeria: bombings and shootings killed 17 people, including 5 worshipers VOA News-AP-AFP 312
25-Feb-12   VIO 25-Feb-12     L H       L     L             25-Feb-12 VIO Yemen: suicide car-bombing at the presidential compound killed ≥26 people VOA News 313
25-Feb-12 ELITE POL GOV 25-Feb-12     L H       L     L             25-Feb-12 GOV POL ELITE Noam Chomsky on the decline of the U.S.: "In the years of conscious, self-inflicted decline at home, "losses" continued to mount elsewhere. In the past decade, for the first time in 500 years, South America has taken successful steps to free itself from western domination, another serious loss. The region has moved towards integration, and has begun to address some of the terrible internal problems of societies ruled by mostly Europeanised elites, tiny islands of extreme wealth in a sea of misery. They have also rid themselves of all US military bases and of IMF controls. A newly formed organisation, CELAC, includes all countries of the hemisphere apart from the US and Canada. If it actually functions, that would be another step in US decline . . . The Arab Spring, another development of historic importance, might portend at least a partial "loss" of MENA. . ." Al Jazeera 314
25-Feb-12   FIN BUS 25-Feb-12     L H       L     L             25-Feb-12 BUS FIN Berkshire Hathaway Inc. 2011Q4 results: net income, $3.05 billion (down 30% YOY); cash, $37.3 billion on 31-Dec-2011 (up 7% QOQ) Bloomberg 315
26-Feb-12 GOV VIO PRO 26-Feb-12     L H             L   L         26-Feb-12 PRO VIO GOV Syria: Syrians voted on a new constitution; violence has reportedly killed >7,600 people Al Jazeera-Agencies 316
26-Feb-12   PRO 26-Feb-12     L H             L   L         26-Feb-12 PRO MPOPPEL: "WikiLeaks began publishing The Global Intelligence Files – more than five million emails from the Texas-headquartered "global intelligence" company Stratfor. . . Government and diplomatic sources from around the world give Stratfor advance knowledge of global politics and events in exchange for money. The Global Intelligence Files exposes how Stratfor has recruited a global network of informants who are paid via Swiss banks accounts and pre-paid credit cards. Stratfor has a mix of covert and overt informants, which includes government employees, embassy staff and journalists around the world. . ." Pastebin 317
26-Feb-12 GOV BANK PRO 26-Feb-12     L H             L   L         26-Feb-12 PRO BANK GOV Project Mayhem 2012: "RU READY 4 TEH LOLOKAUST? . . . Imagine the corrupt start to Fear Us. Imagine corrupt Banksters start to Fear Us. Imagine corrupt Governments start to Fear Us. ✔ CHECK. Imagine corrupt Corporations start to Fear Us. . ." Pastebin 318
26-Feb-12   ACC 26-Feb-12     L H             L   L         26-Feb-12 ACC Burlington, ON: Via Rail train derailment killed 3 Via employees; 32 people were injured CBC News-The Canadian Press 319
27-Feb-12   POL ELITE 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 ELITE POL George Friedman, Founder and CEO of Stratfor, on the "crisis of the elites": "One sense I'm getting here is that the American elite, along  with Europe's, China's and just about everyone but Russia's [h]is suffering from three problems: First, none are really aware of the political pressures on other elites. Second, they completely misunderstand the alienation of the publics, three, except for Volcker, they think this can be handled by the elites among themselves. We have a crisis of the elites, in my view."
 WikiLeaks-The Global Intelligence Files 320
27-Feb-12   FIN BANK 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 BANK FIN HSBC 2011 results: net operating income before loan impairment charges and other credit risk provisions, $72.280 billion (up 6% YOY)); profit attributable to shareholders of the parent company, $16.797 billion (up 27.6% YOY) HSBC 321
27-Feb-12   JOBS BANK 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 BANK JOBS HSBC plans to cut cost by yearend 2013, in part by terminating 30,000 jobs NYT-DealBook 322
27-Feb-12 DEBT FIN GOV 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 GOV FIN DEBT Germany: the Bundestag agreed to 2nd Greek rescue package worth ~€130 billion ($97 billion) Deutsche-Welle 323
27-Feb-12 LAW GOV VIO 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 VIO GOV LAW Syria: violence throughout Syria killed reportedly >125 people, including ≥64 in Homs; despite the violence, 89.4% of voters in a referendum voted for a new constitution allowing for a multiparty system (57.4% of eligible voters voted) Al Jazeera-Agencies 324
27-Feb-12   VIO PRO 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 PRO VIO Afghanistan: suicide car bombing killed ≥9 people; a series of attacks were triggered by the accidental burning of Qurans by U.S. soldiers VOA News 325
27-Feb-12   REL VIO 27-Feb-12     L H               L L         27-Feb-12 VIO REL Nigeria: Christians killed 2 Muslims in revenge for a bombing by Islamists of a church in which 3 people were killed and a Christmas day bombing of a Catholic church that killed ≥37 people VOA News 326
28-Feb-12 COMP RES BUS 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 BUS RES COMP Scientists at IBM Research announced major advances in quantum computing device performance; using 3D superconducting qubits (research initiated at Yale University), IBM scientists were able to "extend the amount of time that the qubits retain their quantum states up to 100 microseconds," thus enabling "effective error correction schemes" and suggesting "broader engineering aspects for scalability" IBM 327
28-Feb-12   REL VIO 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 VIO REL Pakistan: gunmen ambushed a bus and killed 18 of it's Shia passangers VOA News-AP-AFP-Reuters 328
28-Feb-12   GOV PRO 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 PRO GOV London, UK: police and bailiffs evicted anti-capitalist protesters and removed tents from the Occupy London camp at St Paul's Cathedral BBC News 329
28-Feb-12   EDU VIO 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 VIO EDU 27-Feb-12: shooting rampage at a high school in Ohio killed 3 students NYT 330
28-Feb-12   RE MKT 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 MKT RE S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices: respective 10- and 20-City Composites (non-seasonally adjusted) for Dec-2011: down 1.08% and 1.11% MOM; down 3.99% and 4% YOY; drop from peak values, 33.76% and 33.80%. The 10- and 20-City Composites peaked in Jun-2006 and Jul-2006, respecively. S&P/Case-Shiller 331
28-Feb-12 FIN BANK GOV 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 GOV BANK FIN FDIC insured institutions 2011Q4 results: net income, $26.34 billion (up 23.1% YOY); loss provisions, $19.548 billion (down 40.1% YOY). Full-year 2011 results: net income, $119.5 billion (up 39.8% YOY); loss provisions, $76.93 (down 51.3% YOY) FDIC 332
28-Feb-12   MKT 28-Feb-12       H   L         L L L         28-Feb-12 MKT The Dow Jones industrial average (DJIA) climbed above 13,000 for the first time since 19-May-2008 NYT 333
28-Feb-12