Support the Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement?

Supporters say “We are the 99%,” but critics say the group has much less than 99% of the nation’s support. We want to know how you feel about the Occupy Wall Street protest movement. Do you support it, or not, and why?

Do You Support the Occupy Wall Street Protest Movement?

The movement represents the frustration of blue collar, Main Street America, alongside much of white collar, impoverished to middle-class America, with Wall Street and much of corporate America and the advantages and power these elites wields in Washington DC. But some say the Occupy Wall Street movement is just a bunch of bums looking for a reason to party and raise a fuss. However, judging by how quickly and how far the movement has spread, with protests now running across most of metropolitan North America and Europe, it seems there’s solid issue and reasoning supporting it.

Due to my own very personal experiences with the evil side of Wall Street, its lying, cheating and stealing, which I hope to someday write about in an important book about the inner workings of Standard & Poor’s, I sympathize with the movement. I know why nobody has gone to prison over this financial crisis, and I’ll write about that here shortly, on a thread we’ll label “Occupy Wall Street”.

Personally, I was insulted by the Supreme Court decision that overturned the campaign finance limit legislation, an act that gave Wall Street and corporate manipulators an open spigot to fund and influence politicians. I’m also unhappy with job creation by corporate America, and I’ll write about the reason these companies choose to hoard cash and create jobs overseas, before helping to lift our economy at its core through domestic support.

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Wall Street Week in Wild Review

It was a wild ride on Wall Street last week as volatility dominated the day

"The Greek" earned clients a 23% average annual return over five years as a stock analyst on Wall Street. While writing for Wall Street Greek and others, he presciently predicted the financial crisis and housing and banking failures of the Great Recession. Visit the front pages of Wall Street Greek now to see our current coverage of business news, global financial markets, real estate, shipping, fine art, technical analysis and global affairs.

(Tickers: NYSE: DIA, NYSE: SPY, Nasdaq: QQQQ, NYSE: DOG, NYSE: SDS, NYSE: QLD, NYSE: ICE, NYSE: NYX, Nasdaq: NDAQ)

Wall Street Week in Wild Review

A slew of foreign factors along with regular economic reports played havoc with Wall Street again last week. While the Dow Jones Industrials Index only dropped fractionally, hidden within the weekly chart is a virtual roller coaster ride. The daily differences between high and low price marks swung wildly all week long, with Monday's spread measuring 207 points; Tuesday's gap marking 305 points; Wednesday measuring 273 points; Thursday swaying 307 points; and Friday settling after a 215 point swing. Believe it or not though, the week was relatively calm when compared to its near predecessors. The S&P Volatility Index, known affectionately to traders as the "VIX", actually dropped 20% through the week. Still, the situation is like saying this latest hurricane did not kill as many people as the last. It has been an especially rough hurricane season, by the way, with stocks closing out their worst month in over a year as the Dow dropped 7.9%. Proponents of the old adage, "Sell in May and walk away," could likewise walk with heads held high, as this year's version of May looks to be the worst since 1962.

Driving the swings in shares were some old familiar faces and some new ones to keep things fresh. Europe is now a regular pain in the rear, and last week saw Spain's government debt downgraded for the second time in a month. The poor Spanish, though, only sought to give their debt judges and European masters what they demanded. In a cruel twist of fate, Fitch downgraded the Spaniards' sovereign debt rating because of their implementation of austerity measures, noting in their critical report that its latest prudent budget management would slow Spain's economy. Talk about a lose lose situation! So what do you think Greece's extreme austerity measures threaten to lead to in the motherland? Looks to me like the worst economic situation since World War II.

Regarding Spain, Fitch also noted the nation's central bank bailout of one of its regional banks. This leads us to one of the few positive factors found in the spastic week. European Union Financial Services Commissioner Michel Barnier said last week that the EU should levy a tax on banks to secure an emergency pool of funds for the future orderly unwinding of important financial institutions. This reassuring announcement acted as a counter against rising rumors and collecting concern about the current financial well-being of EU area banks.

However, another rumor surfaced and weighed on stocks last week. It was an old concern that burdened US shares once before. The Chinese were rumored to be cutting back on European debt interests on fear that the EU credit crisis might become endemic to the region. The Chinese offered appropriate lip service to counter the rumors and protect their own interests, however, we are not so sure they are putting their money where their mouth is. Rather, we expect the Chinese are hoarding commodities, including precious metals, as global currencies seem to face an impending threat.

The week's economic data was not all that supportive either last week, as first quarter GDP growth was revised lower to +3.0%, from the previously reported 3.2% rate. What was more worrisome was that economists were looking for an increase of 3.5%. Personal spending also ceased, but we found reason to blame that on the fall of Easter, as April's data matched against stellar March growth. The week ahead should perpetuate rough trading seas, as it brings market-moving catalysts like the Employment Situation Report. Thus, you might want to check in with the Wall Street Greek blog in between martinis.



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Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there. This article and website in no way offers or represents financial or investment advice. Information is provided for entertainment purposes only.

Wall Street News 11-20-09

Visit the front pages of Wall Street Greek to see our current coverage of economic reports and financial markets.

(Tickers: Nasdaq: DELL, NYSE: HPQ, IBM, AAPL, MDT, ORCL, JAVA, DHI, ANN, CRMT, SJM, JOUT, KIRK, MPR, SCORE.OL, DIA, SPY, QQQQ, NYX, DOG, SDS, QLD, XLF, IWM, TWM, IWD, SDK)

Today's Wall Street news schedule highlights the earnings of Dell Computer, D.R. Horton, AnnTaylor and J.M. Smucker in the US. With an absence of economic data, overseas activity took some focus. The EU selected its first president and begins seeking its next ECB chief. The Bank of Japan weighed in with its own rate decision and raised concern about falling prices.

Wall Street News

Corporate News Drivers

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL) reported earnings last night and is down about 7% in early Wall Street trading. DELL is down due to its reporting weaker than expected Q3 revenue and earnings. The stock's hit this morning is largely due to Wall Street's surprise, since many of the company's peers, including Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), Apple (Nasdaq: AAPL) and IBM (NYSE: IBM), reported a strong quarter on improved global technology spending. Excluding one-time items, Dell posted $0.23 per share against analysts' expectations for $0.28, based on Thomson Reuters data. Adding salt to its wound, Dell was also passed by Acer in market share, as the Taiwan based company moved to #2 in the world.

D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI) shares are lower in morning Wall Street trade, as the homebuilder missed consensus estimates on both revenue and EPS lines. Revenue of $1.01 billion, down 42% from the prior year, compared against analysts' consensus for $1.11 billion, based on Thomson Reuters survey. DHI's loss per share narrowed versus the prior year, but at $0.73 still missed analysts' view for a $0.30 loss.

An FDA panel takes up a Medtronic's (NYSE: MDT) new epilepsy treatment. Friday's Wall Street EPS schedule includes reports from America's Car-Mart (Nasdaq: CRMT), AnnTaylor Stores (NYSE: ANN), D.R. Horton (NYSE: DHI), J.M. Smucker (NYSE: SJM), Johnson Outdoors (Nasdaq: JOUT), Kirkland's (Nasdaq: KIRK), Met-Pro (NYSE: MPR), Scorpion Offshore (SCORE.OL) and a few others.

Overseas News

The European Union (EU) extended its antitrust review deadline for Oracle's (Nasdaq: ORCL) acquisition of Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: JAVA) to January 27, 2010. Oh, and by the way, that conglomerate of nations across the pond also picked its first President, Belgian Herman van Rompuy. Jockeying is already under way to find the replacement for ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet, for when he steps down in 2011. European shares were in decline at hour of publishing, with the Dow Jones Euro Stoxx 50 off 0.66%.

The Bank of Japan (BOJ) decided to leave its key rate unchanged at 0.1%. The BOJ announced that its economy was improving both due to exports and domestic gains on stimulus efforts. However, Deputy Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Friday that Japan is in deflation, while Finance Minister Hirohisa Fujii expressed grave concern over falling prices. The NIKKEI 225 fell 0.54% on the day, and broader Asia declined as well.

Philly Fed President Plosser is in Singapore today, giving a speech on global interdependence, especially in regard to food and water. The World Economic Forum is meeting to discuss the global agenda.

In Washington, the Senate will meet Saturday to deliberate on whether to debate on health care reform or not. Yes, the Senate is meeting to decide whether to meet. Ah politics...


Please see our disclosures at the Wall Street Greek website and author bio pages found there.