Here are the data that economists missed …
- US Payrolls +18,000
- Last Month Quietly Revised Lower to +25,000 from +54,000
- US Unemployment Unexpectedly Rises +.1 to 9.2% Despite Drop in Participation Rate
- Since March, Number of Unemployed Rises by 545,000
- Household Survey Number Unemployed Up 173,000
- Household Survey Number of Employed Down 445,000
- 272,000 people dropped out of the labor force, reversing the labor force gain of 272,000 last month.
- Average Weekly Workweek Drops by .1 Hours
- Average Manufacturing Hours Drops by .3 Hours
- Average Private Hourly Earnings Decrease 1 Cent
- There has been virtually no improvement in part-time employment in a full year. 8.5+ million workers want a full time job and cannot find one.
Here are a few more data points…
- The S&P futures spiked into Friday’s close on massive buying. Was it short covering or the “buy the dip” mentality?
- S&P futures only closed lower by -9.25 points.
- Friday’s volume was 14% higher than the recent 10-day average.
- However, Friday’s volume closed with 1.49% net aggressive BUYERS over sellers, despite the news.
- Friday’s late spike brought in roughly 32,000 net aggressive buyers over aggressive sellers.
- In the end, Friday’s range, profile, volume, and volatility were that of a run-of-the-mill drop.
But don’t worry -- more bailouts will come in Europe from bankrupt countries to bankrupt countries, with counterfeit cash conjured up out of thin air … by the tax cheat Geithner and his shill Bernanke. Printing more 'U.S. dollars" has the same effect as inflation by devaluing all currency, obligation and transactions denominated in U.S. dollars. But alas suspending reality (Rule 157) distorts reality like the mirrors at an amusement park's "House of Mirrors" ...So why are they called “experts?”
Behold the age of infinite moral hazard! On April 2nd, 2009 Congress forced FASB to suspend rule 157 in favor of deceitful accounting for the TBTF banksters.
SFAS 157: What Is Its Purpose?
January 2009
Copyright 2009. All rights reserved.***
The Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) issued SFAS 57, Fair Value Measurements, in September 2006 to define fair value, establish a framework for measuring fair value in generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), and expand disclosures about fair value measurements. Fair value accounting standards, including SFAS 157, have come under scrutiny in light of the distressed housing market and economy. Opponents of fair value accounting argue that the use of fair value accounting, especially when markets are illiquid, has resulted in the valuing of assets well below their true economic value. Some opponents have even argued that SFAS 157 caused the recent financial institution failures. Proponents, on the other hand, argue that fair value accounting provides useful information to investors and its suspension would increase market uncertainty and decrease transparency.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the Act) was signed into law on October 3, 2008 and included $700 billion in TARP funding. Approximately $350 billion of the TARP funds have been used to recapitalize financial institutions that use SFAS 157 to report asset values. In response to opponents of SFAS 157, the Act directed the SEC, together with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, to study mark-to-market accounting standards and SFAS 157 and gave the SEC authority to suspend use of SFAS 157, if deemed appropriate. The Act created a precedence of legislating the ability to suspend accounting standards set forth by the FASB, the entity responsible for establishing accounting standards.
On December 30, 2008, the SEC delivered its report to Congress recommending against the suspension of fair value accounting standards and concluding that SFAS 157 was not the cause of the recent bank failures. The SEC's report includes an overall analysis of fair value accounting including mark-to-market accounting and SFAS 157 as subsets of fair value accounting.
The Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008 (the Act) was signed into law on October 3, 2008 and included $700 billion in TARP funding. Approximately $350 billion of the TARP funds have been used to recapitalize financial institutions that use SFAS 157 to report asset values. In response to opponents of SFAS 157, the Act directed the SEC, together with the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System and the Secretary of the Treasury, to study mark-to-market accounting standards and SFAS 157 and gave the SEC authority to suspend use of SFAS 157, if deemed appropriate. The Act created a precedence of legislating the ability to suspend accounting standards set forth by the FASB, the entity responsible for establishing accounting standards.
On December 30, 2008, the SEC delivered its report to Congress recommending against the suspension of fair value accounting standards and concluding that SFAS 157 was not the cause of the recent bank failures. The SEC's report includes an overall analysis of fair value accounting including mark-to-market accounting and SFAS 157 as subsets of fair value accounting.
