Super Tuesday

Posted on March 6, 2012 by okiegirl

How many of you are in a state that is voting today?  I am.  And you are welcome to call me old-fashioned (because I am officially old now), but I really like going to my neighborhood polling place to vote in person on election day.  It is such an honor to be able to vote that it almost brings a tear to my eye every time.  So I don’t do mail-in or early voting.

Today I voted much later in the day than usual due to scheduled appointments, and got there about 15 minutes before the polls closed (7:00pm CST).  I was the only voter there at the time, so I asked the poll workers if they had a good turnout today.  They said there had been 189 votes.  To put that in perspective, they also said 400-500 is “high” turnout for a presidential general election.  I don’t study that kind of thing, but subjectively that seems to me a pretty good turnout.  Of course, I don’t know how many were Rs and how many were Ds, so I have no idea what that number means (OK has closed primaries).   By the time I got home and turned on the TV, less than 10 minutes after the polls closed and with zero precincts reporting, CBS had already called OK for Santorum.  I found that interesting since I heard/saw local ads for Gingrich and for Romney, but none for Santorum.  OK has 40 or 43 R delegates, I’ve heard it both ways.

Anybody else in states voting today have a report or observation?

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Crosby Cleared for Contact

Posted on March 6, 2012 by novahockey

Details here.

 

 

 

 

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Morning Report

Posted on March 6, 2012 by Brent Nyitray

Vital Statistics:

Last Change Percent
S&P Futures 1350.8 -13.6 -1.00%
Eurostoxx Index 2486.6 -43.3 -1.71%
Oil (WTI) 105.36 -1.4 -1.27%
LIBOR 0.4746 0.000 0.00%
US Dollar Index (DXY) 79.749 0.449 0.57%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield 1.96% -0.05%

Markets are lower on concerns about global economic weakness. The European economy contracted in the 4th quarter, and concerns are mounting regarding China. Bonds and mortgage backed securities are stronger this morning.

Did the S&P 500 just fail at resistance again?

Some 20% of Greece’s private creditors will participate in the debt swap. These are the large European banks – Commerzbank, BNP Paribas, and the big Greek banks. These decisions were undoubtedly heavily influenced by politics, so I am not sure that they are a representative sample of the private creditors.

Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said in an interview yesterday that “This is the best offer. This is the best offer because this is the only, the only existing offer.” Note the lack of “best and final” language. If enough holders are reading that statement to mean that Greece is prepared to go forward with a better deal if this one fails, then the 75% participation rate might become an issue. The business press will probably focus on the possibility of a disorderly default and not on the public negotiation between Greece and its creditors, so we could be in for some rough sailing.

Obama will hold a news conference this morning and it is rumored that another mortgage relief plan will be revealed. The plan would allow FHA refis at a reduced fee – from 1.15% to .55%.

No economic data this morning. No MR tomorrow as I will be in the City all day.

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