Category: Aggregated

Wall Street appears to be bracing for another financial shock to the system very soon, and the fear of the growing hatred for the too-big-to-fail banks is showing. The New York Times and Bloomberg yesterday reported that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, held a conference call with analysts and financial reporters when the fourth quarter earnings report was issued—and showed signs of real paranoia. Dimon charged that“banks are under assault” by over-bearing Federal regulators, and there is growing pressure for JPMC to be busted up into smaller entities. Dimon went to great lengths to tell the participants that super-banks are good for the world economy, and that the problem is over-regulation.

JPMC posted smaller earnings in the fourth quarter, due to its exposure in the oil futures market and the fact that it set aside another $1 billion in anticipated legal fees and fines around the continuing probe into the bank’s foreign exchange trading desk. For 2014 as a whole, however, the bank posted a $21.8 billion profit—an increase of 21 percent over 2013.

The growing rage at Wall Street is palpable, and a number of news outlets have let out some evidence of the shifting mood. Jesse Eisinger wrote in yesterday’s New York Times that the failure of Dodd-Frank to rein in Wall Street demonstrates that the only way to take on the bankers’ lobby and its grip on Congress is to “go big.” He referred to Dodd-Frank as the “Clement Atlee of legislation,” and blasted the Rubin-Summers wing of the Democratic Party that has systematically taken over the party on behalf of Wall Street over the past several decades. He notably included the Wall Street effort, led by Democrats, to beat back momentum to reinstate Glass-Steagall in recent years. Eisinger noted that there is an emerging battle inside the Democratic Party by progressives, to take the party back, adding that President Obama has been fully on Wall Street’s side from the day he entered the White House. He noted that some Republicans, including McCain, Vitter, and Corker, could side with progressive Democrats and fight for genuine curbing of Wall Street’s out-sized power.

TIME magazine published a similar story yesterday, under the title, “How Elizabeth Warren is Yanking Hillary Clinton to the Left.” The authors cited Hillary’s recent meeting with Joe Stiglitz as a sign of the leftward tilt, since he became a harsh Summers-Geithner critic.

A website, PRWatch.org, touted the battle against Wall Street inside the new Congress, citing the call by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for a transaction tax on Wall Street gambling, to fund a middle class tax break. Of course this is twenty years after Lyndon LaRouche called for a transaction tax to shut down Wall Street’s derivatives gambling, but the mood shift is clear.

The article also cited the recent killing of the Antonio Weiss nomination by Obama for a top Treasury post as further evidence of the restive mood. He quoted former Lazard Freres chairman Steve Rattner, who ominously warned, “It’s not about Weiss. It is part of a much broader narrative of the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party and whether so-called progressives are going to capture that or whether more mainstream Democrats… are going to retain it.”

Wall Street appears to be bracing for another financial shock to the system very soon, and the fear of the growing hatred for the too-big-to-fail banks is showing. The New York Times and Bloomberg yesterday reported that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, held a conference call with analysts and financial reporters when the fourth quarter earnings report was issued—and showed signs of real paranoia. Dimon charged that“banks are under assault” by over-bearing Federal regulators, and there is growing pressure for JPMC to be busted up into smaller entities. Dimon went to great lengths to tell the participants that super-banks are good for the world economy, and that the problem is over-regulation.

JPMC posted smaller earnings in the fourth quarter, due to its exposure in the oil futures market and the fact that it set aside another $1 billion in anticipated legal fees and fines around the continuing probe into the bank’s foreign exchange trading desk. For 2014 as a whole, however, the bank posted a $21.8 billion profit—an increase of 21 percent over 2013.

The growing rage at Wall Street is palpable, and a number of news outlets have let out some evidence of the shifting mood. Jesse Eisinger wrote in yesterday’s New York Times that the failure of Dodd-Frank to rein in Wall Street demonstrates that the only way to take on the bankers’ lobby and its grip on Congress is to “go big.” He referred to Dodd-Frank as the “Clement Atlee of legislation,” and blasted the Rubin-Summers wing of the Democratic Party that has systematically taken over the party on behalf of Wall Street over the past several decades. He notably included the Wall Street effort, led by Democrats, to beat back momentum to reinstate Glass-Steagall in recent years. Eisinger noted that there is an emerging battle inside the Democratic Party by progressives, to take the party back, adding that President Obama has been fully on Wall Street’s side from the day he entered the White House. He noted that some Republicans, including McCain, Vitter, and Corker, could side with progressive Democrats and fight for genuine curbing of Wall Street’s out-sized power.

TIME magazine published a similar story yesterday, under the title, “How Elizabeth Warren is Yanking Hillary Clinton to the Left.” The authors cited Hillary’s recent meeting with Joe Stiglitz as a sign of the leftward tilt, since he became a harsh Summers-Geithner critic.

A website, PRWatch.org, touted the battle against Wall Street inside the new Congress, citing the call by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for a transaction tax on Wall Street gambling, to fund a middle class tax break. Of course this is twenty years after Lyndon LaRouche called for a transaction tax to shut down Wall Street’s derivatives gambling, but the mood shift is clear.

The article also cited the recent killing of the Antonio Weiss nomination by Obama for a top Treasury post as further evidence of the restive mood. He quoted former Lazard Freres chairman Steve Rattner, who ominously warned, “It’s not about Weiss. It is part of a much broader narrative of the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party and whether so-called progressives are going to capture that or whether more mainstream Democrats… are going to retain it.”

Wall Street appears to be bracing for another financial shock to the system very soon, and the fear of the growing hatred for the too-big-to-fail banks is showing. The New York Times and Bloomberg yesterday reported that Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, held a conference call with analysts and financial reporters when the fourth quarter earnings report was issued—and showed signs of real paranoia. Dimon charged that“banks are under assault” by over-bearing Federal regulators, and there is growing pressure for JPMC to be busted up into smaller entities. Dimon went to great lengths to tell the participants that super-banks are good for the world economy, and that the problem is over-regulation.

JPMC posted smaller earnings in the fourth quarter, due to its exposure in the oil futures market and the fact that it set aside another $1 billion in anticipated legal fees and fines around the continuing probe into the bank’s foreign exchange trading desk. For 2014 as a whole, however, the bank posted a $21.8 billion profit—an increase of 21 percent over 2013.

The growing rage at Wall Street is palpable, and a number of news outlets have let out some evidence of the shifting mood. Jesse Eisinger wrote in yesterday’s New York Times that the failure of Dodd-Frank to rein in Wall Street demonstrates that the only way to take on the bankers’ lobby and its grip on Congress is to “go big.” He referred to Dodd-Frank as the “Clement Atlee of legislation,” and blasted the Rubin-Summers wing of the Democratic Party that has systematically taken over the party on behalf of Wall Street over the past several decades. He notably included the Wall Street effort, led by Democrats, to beat back momentum to reinstate Glass-Steagall in recent years. Eisinger noted that there is an emerging battle inside the Democratic Party by progressives, to take the party back, adding that President Obama has been fully on Wall Street’s side from the day he entered the White House. He noted that some Republicans, including McCain, Vitter, and Corker, could side with progressive Democrats and fight for genuine curbing of Wall Street’s out-sized power.

TIME magazine published a similar story yesterday, under the title, “How Elizabeth Warren is Yanking Hillary Clinton to the Left.” The authors cited Hillary’s recent meeting with Joe Stiglitz as a sign of the leftward tilt, since he became a harsh Summers-Geithner critic.

A website, PRWatch.org, touted the battle against Wall Street inside the new Congress, citing the call by Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) for a transaction tax on Wall Street gambling, to fund a middle class tax break. Of course this is twenty years after Lyndon LaRouche called for a transaction tax to shut down Wall Street’s derivatives gambling, but the mood shift is clear.

The article also cited the recent killing of the Antonio Weiss nomination by Obama for a top Treasury post as further evidence of the restive mood. He quoted former Lazard Freres chairman Steve Rattner, who ominously warned, “It’s not about Weiss. It is part of a much broader narrative of the fight for the soul of the Democratic Party and whether so-called progressives are going to capture that or whether more mainstream Democrats… are going to retain it.”

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a lead sponsor of the bill to restore Glass-Steagall in the last Congress, filed a bill into the new Congress on January 14th, with 16 co-sponsors, to restore the Glass Steagall Act. Titled “To repeal certain provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called ‘Glass-Steagall Act’, and for other purposes,” it has been assigned number H.R. 381.

The co-sponsors — all of whom were among the 83 co-sponsors of Kaptur’s bill in the previous Congress to restore Glass Steagall — are Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore), Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), John Garamendi (D-Cal.), Gene Green (D-Tex.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Cal,), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a lead sponsor of the bill to restore Glass-Steagall in the last Congress, filed a bill into the new Congress on January 14th, with 16 co-sponsors, to restore the Glass Steagall Act. Titled “To repeal certain provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called ‘Glass-Steagall Act’, and for other purposes,” it has been assigned number H.R. 381.

The co-sponsors — all of whom were among the 83 co-sponsors of Kaptur’s bill in the previous Congress to restore Glass Steagall — are Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore), Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), John Garamendi (D-Cal.), Gene Green (D-Tex.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Cal,), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), a lead sponsor of the bill to restore Glass-Steagall in the last Congress, filed a bill into the new Congress on January 14th, with 16 co-sponsors, to restore the Glass Steagall Act. Titled “To repeal certain provisions of the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act and revive the separation between commercial banking and the securities business, in the manner provided in the Banking Act of 1933, the so-called ‘Glass-Steagall Act’, and for other purposes,” it has been assigned number H.R. 381.

The co-sponsors — all of whom were among the 83 co-sponsors of Kaptur’s bill in the previous Congress to restore Glass Steagall — are Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore), Michael Capuano (D-Mass.), Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), John Garamendi (D-Cal.), Gene Green (D-Tex.), Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.), Walter Jones (R-N.C.), Alan Lowenthal (D-Cal,), Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), James McGovern (D-Mass.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.), Niki Tsongas (D-Mass.), and Peter Welch (D-Vt.)

The Swiss National Bank (SNB) sent shock waves through financial markets Thursday, by suddenly removing its “peg” to the euro — at 1 euro = 1.20 CHF or higher — which it had maintained for three-and-a-half years, and lowering its discount rate to a truly extraordinary minus 0.75%. Stock markets plunged, foreign-exchange traders lost billions in minutes, ATMs refused to give euros, as the Swiss franc immediately leaped 30% above parity with the euro. It then slightly adjusted back to about 1 euro = 1.035 CHF. The Swiss stock market particularly plunged, due to fears of export drops as consequence of the new parity.

SNB chairman of the governing board Thomas Jordan, in a press conference, stated that the reasons for the decision were not domestic but international. He did not say more. But the Swiss daily Tagesanzeiger indicates that they are: 1) The coming QE from the European Central Bank; 2) The Greek elections.

Due to the desperation of the bankrupt and sinking Eurozone banks, the European Central Bank (ECB) has now made clear, in a statement Jan. 11 by French ECB board member Benoit Coeuré, that the ECB will announce, at its Jan. 22 meeting, “quantitative easing” by buying Eurozone government bonds from those banks. The surprise Swiss central bank move (Switzerland is not in the Eurozone) can be taken as a clear sign that the ECB bank-bailout-bondbuying coming next week will be very large, and will drive the euro into the cellar. Wall Street wants the ECB to buy 4.5 trillion euros of government bonds from the banks.

The Swiss measure was inevitable, as the 1.20 parity was unsustainable in the longer term. It cost an unbalanced reserve basket at the SNB, which, through the constant purchases of euros, had reached the equivalent of $500 billion in euros. These reserves will accordingly lose value; some estimates are that the SNB itself lost $50 billion today.

However, the decision to drop the parity now, as hinted by Jordan, shows that the Swiss are leaving the sinking ship. Keeping parity with the euro means to follow the same monetary policy as the ECB, which the SNB has done so far, but the coming QE is too much. Furthermore, “Greek elections” means a feared fatal tsunami for the euro.