Just Say Whoa!

Worst Housing Number in Decades: What Is the Wall Street Media Smoking?

Wall Street has been smoking "Free Trade" and "Deregulation" now for decades.

You might say W.S. is a "functional" addict of failed economic/political ideas....

Madoff reaches a partial settlement with the SEC in which, amazingly, he doesn't have to admit any wrongdoing in the $65B Ponzi scheme.

Psychopaths never admit they are wrong.

Pol Pot, Henry Kissinger, Dick Cheney....the list goes on and on.

Why I'm Shorting Visa

>Yes unlimited growth, think of all the countries that still only use paper currencies eventually there will be no need for paper.

But not everyone in the world WANTS unlimited growth in consumer credit card fueled debt.

In France, almost nobody uses plastic. It's there, it's available, but due to cultural bias, is unwanted.

"Unlimited growth?"

In your former position, did you rate Credit Default Swaps as "risk free"?

Boeing (BA -0.9%) tells crowds at the Paris Air Show it has a new competitor for Airbus's A350 - the good old 777. "When your new flagship (that would be the 787) is delayed two years, you have to rely on your current bread-and-butter programs for profits and headlines."

The Sopwith Camel is making a comeback, too...

Hospitals and other medical-industry groups push back against Obama's proposed health-care overhaul. More on Health Blog's liveblog of the AMA response.

Why are they against "freedom of choice"?

If Dadburn Gum'mint run programs are just so darn inefficient, why are the insurance companies worried about Gum'mint Single Payer?

Hint: Single payer is cheaper than Insurance companies because insurance companies are concerned about PROFITS not healthcare.

Healthcare is just an "expense" to insurance companies...

A survey of wealthy investors shows almost 90% think there are ways to make money in the current market, but more than two-thirds said the risks are still too high, which means there's plenty of money still sitting on the sidelines.

It's a traders market, not buy and hold.

Unemployment won't hit Great Depression peaks of 25%, economist Robert Murphy says, because it's unlikely today's government will make the same mistake Hoover made in the 1930s of forcing businesses to maintain wages. Still, with hyperdepression (a mix of hyperinflation and a serious recession) just around the corner, he predicts the economy "will be in the toilet for a decade."

Unofficial unemployment in Los Angeles is already at 20%.

The worst is yet to come in Cali.

Before it's over, yes, unemployment will be 25% or more.

And there won't be inflation--just deflation.

Megan McArdle on why the housing bubble has not yet bottomed: "They bought near the height of the bubble. Yet they think their house has appreciated by nearly 10% in the intervening four years."

>The market just doesn't seem to care.

Now would be a great time for Deutsche Luftschiff to issue some new stock offerings!

The Hindenburg was just an "unlucky" fluke..

Playing the One-Armed Bandit at the Gas Pump

>Playing the One-Armed Bandit at the Gas Pump

But unlike Vegas, the Gas Pump "pays off" every single time with....

...gasoline.

I wish the whiners who complain about the "high gas prices" in the US (yes, I know they are manipulated--because it's a monopoly), but you guys should really get out of town more often and check out the gas prices all around the world:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

Gas is still cheap here.

Assuming crude prices can stabilize anywhere near current levels, major oil stocks still look very cheap.

I'm done with the Energy sector.

Energy stocks seem to crash and burn just like other equities in market downturns.

Boeing (BA -2.7%) leads Dow decliners after it forecast weaker commercial airplane demand over the coming two decades, citing the global economic downturn, slumping air traffic and volatile fuel prices. Here's Boeing's yearly Current Market Outlook.

But Boeing is America's largest exporter.

Know what this means?

Oh, oh...

Venezuela President Hugo Chavez bans Coke Zero (KO) in the country, citing unspecified health dangers.

It's been known for awhile that drinking more than one soft drink daily — whether it’s regular or diet — may be associated with an increase in the risk factors for heart disease
www.americanheart.org/...

Smart guy!

Rising Oil Prices: Good or Bad for Stocks?

>We are in the bottom of the ninth inning of the hydrocarbon age...

Cool!

I'm looking forward to my hydrogen-powered flying car!

Only a half inning to wait...

Chamber of Commerce pledges to spend $100M in an effort to stem the "rapidly growing influence of government over private-sector activity." Which prompts the SEIU to launch a counter-campaign: "It's going to take more than a $100M PR campaign to make people believe that greedy CEOs have their best interests at heart."

Since the private sector has basically failed, what makes you pinheads think the Gum'mint could ever possibly be WORSE than the "geniuses" who ran America into the ground?

Neiman Marcus: A Balancing Act at the Margins

Back in 1980, as a college student, I paid $75 for a Ralph Lauren Polo shirt at Needless Markups.

In 2008 dollars that would cost $193.52.

Now, that I'm not so young and foolish, I usually pay less than $25 for my shirts at Target...