vboring

A 22-year-old man has received 15 months in prison and must pay back $200,073 after trying to open more than 58,000 accounts with E-Trade (ETFC), Charles Schwab (SCHW) and Google (GOOG) in the names of characters from the King of the Hill TV show (among others). The scheme was to steal the "micro-deposits," from 1 cent to $2, that firms make to test account functionality.

Another crimes that earns you less time than stealing mp3s.

15 months for stealing $200k? Ridiculous.

The bad part of the U.S. employment situation, as we well know, are the droves of unemployed looking for jobs in a market where almost no one's hiring. The good part is that those that have jobs continue to enjoy pay increases almost as big as during the late 1990s boom.

Agreed. This article smells of BS. Maybe they didn't count furloughs, reduced hours for part time workers, and reduced benefits.

Or maybe it is a shift in the median. Maybe the layoffs were concentrated in low paying jobs, so the median salary has increased and they misunderstood this as evidence of pay raises.

Steve Jobs' "one more thing" - the big news he usually saves for the end of events - seems to be a revamped iPod Nano with built-in video camera and FM radio, but Apple (AAPL) shareholders may have been expecting more, as shares take a sudden turn for the worse, down 1.3%. (earlier)

Everyone who carries an ipod nano around that doesn't already have a cell phone with camera and voice recording, raise your hand.

What a dumb idea.

The anodized cases look nice, though.

Alstead also defended Starbucks' (SBUX +3.8%) strategy, saying it "will not allow others to continue to define us in the customer's eyes." Earlier this year, a McDonald's (MCD -1.4%) billboard proclaimed 'Four bucks is dumb.' But MCD may not be getting the boost it hoped for from McCafe; earlier today it posted a disappointing 1.7% increase in U.S. same-store sales.

Maybe that is partly because McCafes are McDisgusting.

Amazon (AMZN) and Sony (SNE) have each gotten a lot of ink for their fresh battle over the e-readership, but a Forrester Research report says their machines are still overpriced. The firm says the price point should be $50 for the market to take off, though the displays alone cost at least $60.

I don't understand why Amazon doesn't follow the obvious cell phone model and subsidize the device with profits from book sales.

GDP is notoriously hard to measure in some cases, especially in developing countries and at the city level, so three economists suggest a proxy: satellite photos of night lighting, which they suggest could make official estimates more accurate.

Plus it would indicate that polar cities are quite poor during the endless summer days, but rich during the long winter nights.

GDP is notoriously hard to measure in some cases, especially in developing countries and at the city level, so three economists suggest a proxy: satellite photos of night lighting, which they suggest could make official estimates more accurate.

Never mind that several cities have started implementing "dark skies" initiatives to reduce light pollution.

A U.S. ethanol industry group is pushing to have gas stations label which countries their fuel comes from, because "most Americans don't want their paychecks going to Venezuela."

Apparently, most ethanol industry groups don't understand what "fungible" means.

Germany wants 1M electric cars on the road by 2020 as it tries to become "the market leader for electric mobility." The government campaign will draw on €500M ($705M) set aside earlier this year as part of the country's stimulus package.

Autobahn + Electric vehicles = Stupid.

Tesla has demonstrated that EVs can accelerate to 60mph quickly, but there is no way it can go more than 30 miles at 100mph. Battery energy density is going to be a limiting factor for a good long time.

Or maybe they think low speed city electric cars are the answer, even though this strategy has been failing in France, Norway, Japan, and the US for more than a decade.

Volkswagen (VLKAY.PK) July U.S. Sales: +0.7% to 20,590. Diesels account for more then 30% of total sales. (PR)

"more than"

not "more then"

Approaching the 50% diesel uptake rate in their domestic market. Makes me wonder what Ford and GM's problems are? They sell excellent diesels everywhere else. If VW can meet the US standards, why can't Ford?

I want a 50mpg Focus.

Relative to inflation, Treasury yields are at their highest in 15 years. The 10-year T-note, for instance, yields 5.1% after adjusting for inflation, vs. a 20-year average of 2.74%. The Fed needs nice plump yields to facilitate its record-breaking debt sales.

Maybe that is because nobody expects inflation to stay negative for 10 years.

I expect today's 10yr t-bills to have a negative real yield.

GM's new CEO, Edward Whitacre, knows nothing about the auto industry. But he's not worried: "A business is a business, and I think I can learn about cars. I’m not that old (67), and I think the business principles are the same." Many who know him tend to agree.

Yeah, but what is in his garage?

Lutz proved you gotta love cars to make good ones.

Jay Leno should've been appointed.

While others scramble to escape TARP, Wells Fargo (WFC) - which opposed the Treasury's $25B loan back in October - hasn't applied to repay.

maybe they're just the one bank smart enough to keep the cheap loan.

Bill Gates was 19 when he came up with the idea for Microsoft. Michael Dell was still a teen when he started selling computers from his dorm room. Here are ten young tech entrepreneurs to watch out for, courtesy of paidContent.

Wrong premise. Billy G and M Dell were young and created an industry.

These people are young and attempting to break into an existing industry.

The real corollary would look at kids doing things that nobody is making any money at. Things that most of us don't know anything about, because they don't exist as industries.

Socialism has failed. Capitalism is bankrupt. What comes next? "Whatever ideological logo we choose for it, it will mean a major shift away from the free market and towards public action."

Shariah Law?

Or maybe we could try to copy the Saudi fiefdom?

Congo-style jungle law?

I'm gonna stick with a regulated democratic capitalism for the time being, thanks.