$38B Gift
Stocks and bonds went sideways today.
The Dollar stayed steady too, and this is a big change from the daily strengthenings that have happened over the past week.
Gold recovered a little, and the next move is the important one.
Oil and gasoline both went up. Oil went up way too much for my liking. I think the speculators are back.
In the news today…..
SEC – is going to start some new rules on the reporting of CEO salaries. They want to insure that the compensation package doesn’t encourage the executive to be to risk taking. Interesting – but too invasive in my opinion. If this only applied to banks and finance companies who hold other people’s money, then I would agree, but for all companies, I don’t agree.
Citigroup – has just received a $38B gift from the US government. Yes, you heard me right. Citigroup paid back its TARP money, and at the same time it has received $38B in tax concessions from the IRS. WHY???? This is a rip-off to the US taxpayer. The president is giving money to the fat cats – just what he said he wasn’t going to do. Who can you believe?
FED Funds Rate – is unchanged. No big story here, as this is exactly what everyone expected. The FED also said that the economy was recovering. Who can you believe? The recession is over (by definition) so let’s celebrate – but do you like the government’s definition of a recession?
Here are the last numbers for today:
Dow Jones 30 Industrial – 10,441 (down 11 points)
10 Year Treasury Bond – 3.60% (down 0.01%)
Euro – $1.4535
Gold – $1136 (up $11)
Oil – $72.77 (up $2.08)
Gasoline – $1.87 (up $0.03)