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Friday, November 9, 2012

Brooke Burke-Charvet Diagnosed With Thyroid Cancer (VIDEO)

Former “Dancing With the Stars” host Brooke Burke Charvet has been diagnosed with thyroid cancer. The former model and television host reveals she has a [...]

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Source: http://stupidcelebrities.net/2012/11/brooke-burke-charvet-diagnosed-with-thyroid-cancer-video/

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He called it, and now Silver's a pop-culture star

NEW YORK (AP) ? The other night, Nate Silver got a little taste of what things are going to be like for him, post-Election 2012.

The 34-year-old statistician, unabashed numbers geek, author and creator of the much-read FiveThirtyEight blog at The New York Times had gone out for a drink with friends on Manhattan's Lower East Side. But he couldn't stay incognito; immediately, he says, people sitting at the bar recognized him.

He was surprised, but probably shouldn't have been. After all, for 24 hours, ever since his election forecasts had proved uncannily successful ? he correctly predicted the presidential winner in all 50 states, and almost all the Senate races ? he'd been hailed as the election's "other winner," who'd silenced doubters and proved the value of a cool-headed, math-based approach.

That very night, he'd appeared on Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show" for the second time in three weeks. "Don't you want to stand up and say, 'I am Nate Silver, bow down to me!!'" Stewart roared, as the bespectacled Silver sat and chuckled. His name was trending on Twitter and he was the subject of a satirical Twitter hashtag, "Drunk Nate Silver." The Hollywood Reporter said he'd "made statistics sexy again." Many called his story a real-life "Revenge of the Nerds" tale.

And, oh, his new book had soared to No. 2 on Amazon, after he linked to it on Twitter an hour after the first network call for President Barack Obama. ("This is probably a good time to link to my book," he'd tweeted at 12:13 a.m. ? the closest he came to gloating.)

Even so, Silver says he wasn't quite prepared for that incident in the bar.

"It's odd," he said Thursday in a telephone interview from his Brooklyn home. "Is this going to happen every day, as opposed to once a month? I still have to get accustomed to this."

Silver, who uses computer models that he runs on a beat-up laptop at home, is quick to acknowledge the accomplishments of others using similar methods. "It's a little strange to become a kind of symbol of a whole type of analysis," he said. And he noted that similar work was being done with, for example, weather, all the time. "You have to give those forecasters way more credit," he said. "Their forecasts have real life-and-death consequences"

In politics, too, others have used similar computer models to predict races. What Silver has done, though, is not only arrive at a formula that uses aggregated polls and other weighted factors to achieve his predictions, but to write about them in an accessible and engaging way.

His father, political science professor Brian Silver, attributes his son's success to a two-pronged drive: "He's driven by a need to get the answers to a problem, but he also is very concerned with the narrative, with telling the story," said the elder Silver, who teaches at Michigan State University.

The father recalls his son at 2 years old, already revealing himself as a prodigy with numbers ? his mother asked him to count to three, and he went to 20. By four, he understood negative numbers, and could multiply in his head.

Needless to say he was a math whiz, but he also was a debating champion, winning competitions in high school. "On the debate team, it was OK to be a geek," Brian Silver explained. Nate then went off to the University of Chicago, where he earned a degree in economics.

A few years in consulting followed. It bored him, but it was during those years that Silver turned his love of baseball into a sophisticated forecasting system of player performance. That became his new career; he sold the system to Baseball Prospectus, and wrote a weekly column there on baseball research.

In 2007, Silver started writing about politics ? at first under a pseudonym, "Poblano." He quickly gained an audience for his forecasts during the presidential primaries. In March of 2008, he began his FiveThirtyEight blog, and a few months later revealed his name.

"People had been thinking Poblano was a major pollster," said his father. "He was just a kid with a B.A. in economics."

With his success in the 2008 race ? he got every state right except for Indiana ? Silver was already a big name. In 2009 he was named one of Time's 100 Most Influential People. In 2010, he licensed his blog to The New York Times.

But the 2012 election brought a new level of pressure. While Democrats flocked to his blog and took daily solace in his consistent prediction that Obama would win ? though not by a lot ? commentators on the right were critical, and he was accused of weighting his forecasts too heavily toward Democrats.

MSNBC host Joe Scarborough, a former Republican congressman, called him a "joke." Silver responded by betting him that Obama would win, a bet that Scarborough didn't take him up on and that was later criticized by the Times ombudsman. (That bet was the poker player in him, Silver says now; he spent a couple years playing serious online poker.)

Much more disturbing, said Silver, were what he called the homophobic comments that some resorted to on the Web. "That was a little shocking," he said. Added his father: "It got very personal."

But Silver says he always felt confident in his projections. "I didn't see any particular reason for the polls to be off the mark," he said. "Republicans said Democrats were oversampled, but without much justification. I felt pretty confident personally." Silver predicted 90.9 percent certainty that Obama would win, and forecast him getting 313 electoral college votes; he has 303 without Florida, which is still counting and could take him to 332.

On Election Day itself, Silver felt nervous, but only because there was nothing left to do. Once the early results started coming in, he relaxed. And then, of course, came vindication. "You know who won the election tonight? Nate Silver," said Rachel Maddow on MSNBC. Even Bret Baier on Fox gave credit on air to Silver. On "The Daily Show," Stewart basically credited Silver with saving the reputation of arithmetic ? and more. "Like, gravity would have been up for grabs," Stewart quipped, if Silver had been wrong.

There have been some gripes that Silver doesn't reveal his actual formula. "He has very carefully explained how he does things," his father answers. "But he's not giving away his code. He shouldn't be expected to do that."

Nate Silver does say, however, that in the future, "Maybe we'll have to be clearer." He also voices concern that precise forecasting could have the frightening effect of influencing voter behavior ? something that obviously doesn't happen in areas like weather. "You don't want to influence the same system you are trying to forecast," he said.

Silver also says he doesn't necessarily expect the same results forever. "I know we're going to have some misses sooner or later," he said, adding that an incorrect forecast on the Senate race in North Dakota is "proof that we can be wrong ? and polls can be wrong." Others have pointed out that Silver's forecasting is, of course, only as good as the polls he is using, since he's not a pollster himself.

For now, though, he's trying to enjoy it all as much as he can.

"When you get into statistical analysis, you don't really expect to achieve fame," he observed wryly. "Or to become an Internet meme. Or be parodied by The Onion ? or be the subject of a cartoon in The New Yorker. I guess I'm kind of an outlier there."

What's ahead for Silver? Turns out, forecasting his own future feels much more difficult than forecasting an election.

"It can be a fulltime job, figuring out what your job is going to be," he quipped.

For now, he has a second book to write, part of a two-book deal. And FiveThirtyEight is set to remain at the Times until mid-2013. After that, he doesn't know yet, though he noted, with understatement: "I know I'll have more opportunities now." But he added: "I'm sure there will be a FiveThirtyEight forecast in 2016."

For now, he prefers to look at life, and life choices, as a poker player, since he loves the game.

"You get steely nerves playing poker," he said. "It's part skill and part luck. You hope you win enough bets to make a living on, right?"

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/called-now-silvers-pop-culture-star-193343931.html

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Not the usual Highland welcome: ?I'm going to smash your camera ...

During last Summer I found myself working up in?Edinburgh?training some journalists from The ?Times (of London).

On the trip I met up with the Scottish photographer Alicia Bruce. She?s been covering Donald Trump?s ?infamous creation of a golf course by destroying a precious sand dune system in Scotland. In particular how families were holding out against the possibility of being forced to sell their homes whilst coping with the destruction ?of a landscape so beloved to them (John has written about this on duckrabbit here).

I was pretty disturbed by the instances of?harassment?the families were facing for holding out against Trump, and how photographers and?filmmakers?trying to tell their story were also getting?harassed.? I invited Alicia to share her experiences with duckrabbit?s readers.

Alicia Bruce:

I?ve been working on an ongoing photographic project at Menie, the site of the controversial Trump International Golf Links Scotland since 2010.? In spite of working in a respectful manner throughout I have been constantly followed and harassed by Trump?s security force and stopped on numerous occasions by Grampian Police whilst visiting or photographing the residents on their own properties.? I have been assertive but co-operative throughout my time in Menie. ??I include a case study of a recent incident in this article to highlight the ongoing problems faced by image-makers in this area.

Project overview:

?Susan Munro: Leyton Cottage? from series ?Menie: a portrait of a North East community in conflict?

??Menie: a portrait of a North East community in conflict? ? ? ? ? ?

I grew up in Aberdeen in the North East of Scotland.? I spent my childhood summers playing on that beach. ?This area of outstanding natural beauty and SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) on Scotland?s North East coast has become a site of conflict. Local?s have been harassed, bullied and belittled. The Trump organisation declared plans to re-name Menie ?The Great Dunes of Scotland? and the resident?s homes were under threat of Compulsory Purchase Order. It concerned me that our heritage could be sold off so easily and short sightedly.

My focus began with the people of Menie and the place, not the Trump development. I wanted to present a humane story of people and place.

The residents have chosen not to be complacent but to stand up for our heritage.? These extraordinary people appeared as reluctant celebrities who had been thrust into the media spotlight in a PR spin to gain attention for the commerce which was about to encroach the area.? I was especially struck by the way local farmer Michael Forbes had been portrayed in the media as ?living in a slum?. It was a story of the Scottish David vs. The American Goliath with more than a hint of Local Hero.? If compulsory purchase order had gone ahead in Menie no home in Scotland would be safe. It?s a human rights issue.

Susan Munro shows me a photo the day film-maker Anthony Baxter was arrested on her doorstep.

Filmmaker Anthony Baxter was making his documentary ?You?ve Been Trumped? at the same time I made this work.? We very much worked in parallel.? It allowed me more artistic freedom as it shifted the responsibility I had felt to tell the whole story.? I could operate differently and target a new audience.? I was aware the local press?wouldn?t?print a positive article about the residents but what if it was an art exhibition?? My guess was correct.? When the images were revealed in early 2011 we gained positive press not only in culture sections of newspapers but also in news sections.? This was the first time the residents of Menie had positive press in this way.? Within a week of the exhibition opening at Peacock Visual Arts, Aberdeen, Trump International released a statement saying they were no longer pursuing?compulsory?purchase orders.? In February 2011 the portraits of Mike, Sheila & Molly Forbes were acquired by the National Galleries of Scotland securing their place more firmly in our National and cultural imagination.

Incident: Sunday 3 June 2012

My boyfriend and I had planned to visit Menie resident Susan Munro for a coffee earlier that afternoon but re-arranged to arrive at 6.? Susan wasn?t home yet so I photographed outside her home. ?On the way back to the car, still on Susan and John?s land, I stopped to photograph the view from end of her garden.? This view, once a dynamic dune system was becoming Trump International Golf Links Scotland?s car park with the temporary clubhouse in sight.

It should also be noted that the scene I was about to photograph can be seen from the window of the Munro?s.? I was not trespassing (would I have been anyway if I crossed the line?? There?s a right to roam in Scotland in most circumstances).

A scraped back sand dune at the end of Munro Family?s garden at Leyton Cottage to make way for Trump?s car park and temporary club house, from series ?Please don?t pretend to care about my country?s scenery in order to make yourself even richer?

I lined up my shot then came face to face with an angry aggressive security guard.? Trump security again! He blocked my view and started screaming:

?Who the hell are you? What do you want?? I?m going to seize your camera?

?I?ve called for back-up.? My boss is coming.? We?ll seize that camera?

?You?re in trouble. Just you wait.?

I politely said that I was in a friend?s garden and didn?t need permission.

He repeated that I had no right to be there or photograph & that he would seize my camera & that back up was coming.

View from Leyton Cottage blocked by Trump?s angry security gaurd.? 3 June 2012

Photo ? Alicia Bruce 2012

Angry security guard now on The Munro Family?s private property at Leyton Cottage blocking our route out & screaming ?I?m going to smash your camera?? 3 June 2012

Please note the bank of sand topped with trees to block Susan?s property from the view of the golfers.? Evidence of intimidation.

Photo ? Alicia Bruce 2012

My partner & I decided to go and walked a few footsteps back to our car.?? He then drove a few yards from the construction site onto Susan?s private road blocking our way out.? The only way we could have got out at this point would have been to reverse the entire way up the steep private road which is damaged due to the construction going on.?? We asked him to move back and he refused again stating that he would ??seize & smash the cameras??

Close up: Angry security guard now on The Munro Family?s private property at Leyton Cottage blocking our route out & screaming ?I?m going to smash your camera?? 3 June 2012

This was when I started to get frightened, as he was so aggressive and angry.? I?m usually quite assertive, I know my rights and have the ability to take the emotion out of these situations reminding myself that these guys are just doing their job.? Unfortunately we couldn?t calm this guy down.? I was worried for my safety but also for the safety of my cameras. I asked my boyfriend to call the police.

The man continued to shout and was about to make a launch for me.? My partner stepped in and told him not to go near me pointing out we had every right to be on Susan & John?s land.?? He again said I had no right to take photographs and that back up was coming. ??I always carry a print out of photographers rights.

The security guard?s boss talks him into reversing back onto Trump property allowing us to drive away.? We drive to Hermit Point the home of David & Moira Milne to wait for Grampian Police

His boss, a man in a golf buggy with a young boy came from the direction of the golf course.? He asked what was going on.? The security guard barked that he?d ?caught these people taking pictures? ?we are going to seize their cameras?

I responded that I was frightened; I was on a friend?s property and wanted to call the Police.? The boss, who had an Irish accent, said everyone needed to calm down & that we could sort this ourselves.? The security guy kept shouting and I asked my partner for his phone.? I asked the boss to get the security guy to let us out.? He obliged.

I called 999 and waited for the Police at Hermit Point, the home of David & Moira Milne.? I chose to go there as I was also worried how the police may respond in light of what happened with filmmaker Anthony Baxter in the same garden in 2010.? Anthony & Richard Phiney were arrested, held for four hours and had DNA samples taken.? They hadn?t broken the law. I was worried a similar thing may happen to Andrew and I.

?Moira and David Milne: Hermit Point?

Two Grampian Police officers arrived at Hermit Point.? They were re-assuring but continually asked? ?Are you sure you want to press charges?? This man could lose his job.?? ?This could go to court.? ?There could be a lot of press.? I decided to press charges, as I was frightened, my human rights and my rights as a photographer had been infringed.? I pointed out my concerns about this happening to the residents of Menie who just want to be left in peace.? What if this man treated 88 year old Molly Forbes in this way?

Menie resident David Milne says:

??The day that Alicia and Andrew were threatened by the security at Menie will stay with me for a long time. It was a new security company the last one having just been fired by the Trump Organisation and to see just how shaken and scared Alicia was shocked me. She had always dealt with these situations politely but assertively, this was clearly an extreme incident. ?I had seen this type of behaviour so often, not so much against myself as I think they knew better but against other visitors to the site that I become immune to it, it no longer bothered me and to see others so clearly shaken and scared made me realise just how much effect it had on innocent people who had never been exposed to this level of aggression or ignorance and I felt responsible for my friends being exposed to this, I still do?

The bullying and harassment needs to stop.? That same weekend:

Fin Munro was stopped and questioned by the same security guard on Friday 1 June
The new councillor for the Formartine area was stopped, questioned, harassed and asked for ID by the same security guard on Sunday 3 June

Outcome:

The security guard in question has been given a ?formal Police Warning? and no longer works for the Trump organisation.

Since this incident I have been followed at least ten times by Trump security.? I have always been on public land or on the of the Menie residents land whilst being followed.? ?I ?ve been chased along the beach and was most recently followed on Sunday 14 October.

A letter from Grampian Police.? 8 June 2012

Paul Holleran, National Organiser for NUJ Scotland states

?Anyone watching the documentary ?You?ve Been Trumped? can?t fail to be shocked at the way these two journalists were treated. The NUJ exists to defend journalists and stand up for journalism and this is a classic case on our own doorstep. We will not stand idly by and accept threats and intimidation as ways of silencing our members, who are simply doing their job in holding people in power to account.?

Links:

?Menie: a portrait of a North East Community in conflict

http://www.aliciabruce.co.uk/projects/menie-a-portrait-of-a-north-east-community-in-conflict/

Menie: Before Trump International Golf Links Scotland

http://www.aliciabruce.co.uk/projects/menie-posts/

Scottish Parliament Exhibition

http://www.aliciabruce.co.uk/news/the-scottish-parliament-exhibition/

The Times

?Aberdeen Gothic: opponents of Trump pitch in with fork? Mike Wade

http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/news/uk/scotland/article2875915.ece

National Galleries of Scotland

http://www.nationalgalleries.org/collection/artists-a-z/B/26386/artist_name/Alicia%20Bruce/record_id/22534

STV News

Feature about ?Menie: a portrait of a North East community in conflict?

BBC ?In Pictures? ?Two Photographers Focus on Menie

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-18832738

Axis: Artist of the Month

http://www.axisweb.org/atSelection.aspx?SELECTIONID=170303

David Milne?s Website:

http://www.menielinks.com/

Artist David McCue has included a comprehensive list of links:

http://www.davidmccue.co.uk/

I?m a photographer not a terrorist

http://photographernotaterrorist.org/bust-card/

Smile for the camera please
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Source: http://duckrabbit.info/blog/2012/11/not-the-usual-highland-welcome-im-going-to-smash-your-camera/

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Thursday, November 8, 2012

AMR avoids investigation into $2.26 billion debt deals

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hedge fund Marathon Asset Management has withdrawn a request for an independent investigator to examine the books of American Airlines, a unit of bankrupt AMR Corp, lawyers for the companies said at a hearing on Thursday.

The move came after AMR agreed to preserve potential clawback claims relating to debt deals, struck between Marathon and AMR, that left American Airlines with $2.26 billion of debt.

AMR entered bankruptcy last November, and is considering its options for emerging either as a standalone firm or to merge with smaller competitor US Airways Group, which is making an aggressive takeover push.

Marathon, which has said it holds "well over" $100 million of AMR debt, last month sought an examiner to probe intercompany transactions consummated in the weeks before AMR's Chapter 11 filing. The deals transferred about $2.26 billion of debt from AMR's American Eagle unit to American Airlines.

Marathon said in court papers it was concerned that potential legal claims to claw the money back would be barred under the language of a separate settlement, under which AMR refinanced about 200 of its aircraft.

AMR dismissed that argument in court filings as an "obvious litigation tactic." But on Thursday, it agreed to expressly preserve such claims in exchange for Marathon dropping its request for an examiner, AMR attorney Richard Hahn said at the hearing in federal bankruptcy court in White Plains, N.Y..

The resolution also allows AMR to move forward with the underlying aircraft refinancing deal, which it says will save about $670 million on planes manufactured by Embraer.

Marathon has been taking a more vocal role in AMR's bankruptcy, adding another layer of complexity to the already multi-faceted case.

The examiner request was Marathon's second attempt to flex its muscles as a significant creditor, coming days after it sent a letter to AMR Chief Executive Tom Horton demanding more transparency about the airline's restructuring efforts.

It remains unclear whether Marathon supports a standalone restructuring or a US Airways merger, or whether Marathon would be in a position to finance an independent exit from bankruptcy for AMR. But as a large debtholder, the hedge fund could be in a position to influence either scenario by objecting to plans it does not support.

US Airways would like to acquire AMR out of bankruptcy, while a group of debtholders including JPMorgan Chase & Co has expressed interest in financing a standalone exit.

AMR received court permission at Thursday's hearing to extend for 30 days, through January 28, its unilateral control of its bankruptcy exit plan. That means US Airways cannot propose its own takeover plan until that date, and that any merger plan before that date would have to be a cooperative effort with AMR.

Labor issues will also affect AMR's ability to emerge from bankruptcy independently.

High labor costs were a driving force in the company's bankruptcy filing, and while the airline has reached new collective bargaining deals with its flight attendants' and ground workers' unions, it remains at odds with its pilots.

That could spook investors assessing the company's stability going forward, and AMR's creditors' committee has said labor peace with pilots is a top priority.

While AMR and its pilots continue to negotiate, the pilots have said they support a merger with US Airways. They have also said they already have a tentative labor deal in place with US Airways.

The case is In re AMR Corp et al, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York, No. 11-15463.

(Editing by Bernadette Baum)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/amr-avoids-investigation-2-26-billion-debt-deals-192542020--sector.html

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Wall Street left to rebuild Obama ties after backing Romney

REUTERS - Wall Street firms gambled on Mitt Romney and lost.

Now, faced with the prospect of even tougher regulations in President Barack Obama's second term, their stocks paid the price. Shares of Goldman Sachs Group , JPMorgan Chase & Co and Citigroup dropped 5 percent, Bank of America lost 6 percent and Morgan Stanley fell 7 percent in midday trading on Wednesday.

"This is the triumph of the regulators," said Terry Haines, senior analyst at Potomac Research Group in Washington and a former staff director of the U.S. House of Representative's Financial Services Committee.

Obama's win is bad news for financial firms, particularly big bank holding companies, which face regulations still being written to implement the 2010 Dodd-Frank reform law, Haines said. "The Administration's regulatory approach has triumphed and is going to continue for some years," said Haines.

After backing Romney nearly across the board, the financial services industry must quickly reverse course and seek to mend ties, Haines and other public policy experts said.

But there were mixed signs of accommodation in the wake of Obama's re-election, with some bankers maintaining their critique of the Democratic President's regulatory policies.

"He will continue to increase regulation, demonize and vilify businesses, and spend a lot of money, and tax people, and so forth," said Dick Kovacevich, former CEO of Wells Fargo & Co and supporter of Republican challenger Romney.

On the other side, Scott Sperling, co-president of private equity firm Thomas H Lee Partners, reached out towards Obama, who he abandoned for Romney in 2012. "It is incumbent on us to work with the administration in a productive way to deal with these issues," he said.

Wall Street firms are also worried about Elizabeth Warren, whose victory in the Massachusetts Senate race may galvanize her to push for more regulations on bank lending to protect consumers. Warren was instrumental in creating the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which critics say could weigh down the economy with new regulations.

"I think the Obama win, along with Elizabeth Warren, will lead to more accountability and tighter regulation on Wall Street," said Chris Tobe, who advises pension plans as a principal at Stable Value Consultants and is a trustee of the Kentucky state pension fund. "Especially after a big shift to Romney from Wall Street, Obama I believe will be less likely to hold back on regulation this term."

Republican former regulators sought to downplay Warren's impact. "Wall Street has a decided enemy on its hands," said Harvey Pitt, who ran the Securities and Exchange Commission under President George W. Bush. Still, Warren's election by itself "isn't going to have a very dramatic impact on anything," he said. "She's just one of 100 senators."

People working in the U.S. securities and investment industry gave $20 million to Romney's campaign, versus $6 million to Obama, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. Four years ago, Obama received $16 million and Republican nominee John McCain only attracted $9 million.

Obama's administration has still not finished writing many of the most important rules called for in the Dodd Frank law, passed after the U.S. financial system nearly collapsed in 2008, forcing taxpayers to pour hundreds of billions of dollars into banks' coffers.

Many Americans believe the financial crisis was caused by banks' terrible judgment in areas like mortgage lending and securitization. Public support is strong for laws designed to make the financial system safer, even if bank profits suffer.

A 2010 Gallup poll showed that Dodd-Frank was Obama's most popular law, exceeding healthcare reform, for example. Few Washington lobbyists thought that Romney could fully repeal Dodd-Frank, because public support for the law is too high.

RELATIONS WITH REGULATORS

Banks must now focus on softening regulations to the extent they can. Among the financial industry's top complaints are the Volcker rule, which prevents banks from making big bets in financial markets with their own money, and the Durbin Amendment, which limits the fees they can charge merchants for processing debit-card transactions.

Banks also want to scale back capital requirements, which cut into the returns banks can earn on their equity capital.

The industry had hoped to weaken the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau through steps like changing its structure to be headed by Democrat and Republican commissioners, but these steps are unlikely to gain much traction, analysts said.

"What I was told last night by Obama's win is, there will be no change to the CFPB in 2013," said Isaac Boltansky, a policy analyst at Compass Point Research & Trading in Washington.

SECOND-TERM APPOINTMENTS

Some banking industry lobbyists say their focus will be on the key regulators Obama is expected to name in his second term.

Major power players under Obama, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, are expected to step down, offering Wall Street a chance to reset relations.

Chairmen determine agendas at agencies such as the SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), so Obama's choices to fill any open spots could affect how quickly new rules are implemented.

"If there was a different chair who had a different agenda, you could slow things down," said Bart Chilton, a Democratic commissioner at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

One possible replacement for Geithner, who has said he will not stay for a second Obama term, is White House Chief of Staff Jack Lew, a former Citigroup banker.

"I hope Obama puts someone in who understands fiscal issues and who will have stature to work on the Hill to negotiate some type of package on fiscal reform," said Sheila Bair, former Federal Deposit Insurance Corp chairman.

SEC Chairman Mary Schapiro's term does not expire until June 2014, but speculation about her departure has been swirling for well over a year. Last month, she attempted to shoot down the rumors, saying she had not thought about her post-SEC plans.

SEC watchers speculate the job could go to SEC Commissioner Elisse Walter, a close friend of Schapiro's and a former executive at the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, an industry-funded watchdog.

CFTC Chairman Gary Gensler's term technically expired in April. He is allowed to stay on as chairman until the end of 2013 and his renomination is an open question.

Gensler has been assailed by Republicans over his implementation of Dodd-Frank and criticized by lawmakers on both sides of the aisle following the collapse of futures brokerages MF Global and Peregrine Financial Group.

FISCAL CLIFF

Much of Wall Street's regulatory agenda, however, is set to take a backseat in the short term due to the looming fiscal cliff -- a package of tax increases and federal spending cuts that will begin in January unless lawmakers act.

Bankers fear an impasse in solving the issue could spark an economic downturn that would hurt the industry.

In the longer term, banking lobbyists and other opponents of Dodd-Frank acknowledge that much is in the hands of rulemakers, and the best they can do is to try to beat back some rules with technicalities.

Paul Atkins, a Republican and former SEC commissioner, said he expects Dodd-Frank reform critics may have some success making narrow legal challenges and seeking to throttle reforms through congressional oversight.

"Dodd-Frank assigned a lot of powers to the regulatory agencies, so there is not much that Congress can do," he said.

"I expect that the Republican House would keep the pressure on through hearings, like they are doing now. People will also certainly take the fight to the courts."

(Reporting By Emily Stephenson and Sarah N. Lynch in Washington, D.C., Rick Rothacker in Charlotte, Lauren LaCapra, Dan Wilchins, Olivia Oran and Katya Wachtel in New York, and Aaron Pressman and Ross Kerber in Boston; Writing by Aaron Pressman and Greg Roumeliotis; Editing by Paritosh Bansal, Tiffany Wu, Richard Pullin, Maureen Bavdek and Tim Dobbyn)

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/wall-street-left-rebuild-obama-ties-backing-romney-180334815--sector.html

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Argentine judge embargoes Chevron assets on spill

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