NormanQ

U.S. Economy: Is the Fed Predicting Stagnation?

Great point Goldbug! All these jobs have been "shed". Not lost but shed. They should've been axed a while ago but because of the smoke and mirrors of the past 5 or 6 years it's been only until now that the fat is being trimmed. So when the ''recovery" comes it begs the question......

WHO THE HECK IS GOING TO GIVE THESE MILLIONS OF PEOPLE JOBS???
Manufacturing? Oh yeah our plants have been shuttered for 20+ years.
Technology? India, Singapore, China maybe...
Retail/Service? That'd be nice except the American consumer is straight-jacketed with so much debt.


On Jul 07 11:08 AM goldbug101 wrote:

> The underlying problem with any recovery is that our nation's manufacturing
> sector has basically been gutted by "free trade" and offshore plants.
>
>
> Until we figure out a way to get those manufacturing jobs back, or
> create new ones, the recovery will never bring us back to where we
> once were or should be.
>
> Walmart & McDonalds can only create so many jobs that don't pay
> anywhere near a living wage.

OPEC: As Irrelevant as Ever

$200 oil here we come!!! Hahaha where are those nuts now!?

I Have a Bad Feeling About This Market

A truly horrible article.

IndyMac: Not Just Another Subprime Mortgage Lender

Ouch!

Crocs Crushes the Bottom Feeders

Crocs are a piece of crap plastic shoe that looks ugly as hell to wear and are probably the easiest thing to pirate and sell for $3 a pair. International growth will be nil and people here in North America have finally realized how silly they look.

Will Tate Approve Radio Merger with $20 Million Fine?

GIVE ME $20 FRICKEN MILLION DOLLARS AND I MIGHT VOTE FOR YOU.

SICKENING.

Amazon/Overstock Gamble May Pay Off

I'm only halfway through my morning coffee....But what exactly is the gamble AMZN/OSTK are taking? Filing a lawsuit in New York? In the state that has the most lawyers per capita, that is not exactly a gamble. Lawsuits are as NY as the Yankees and Donald Trump.

Are Airlines Stocks a Contrarian Opportunity?

I agree with you Fam62c. Dabbling in airline stocks now is speculation. Buy small amounts of a few airlines or buy one and let it ride, because it is betting. I wanted to get in with AMR a few months ago. Boy am I glad I didn't. These are stocks where you have a decent chance of losing everything. If you have a local casino closer to you, it might be the better thing to put all your money on black then to sit and wring your hands in the markets for 6 months waiting for your stock to rebound or go into BK. I like JBLU too. They have a good product, and a "better" business model than the big dinosaurs (AMR, DAL, NWA, LCC).

Cramer Doesn't Say What Radio Stockholders Want to Hear

I'm here with my popcorn...this is great entertainment reading all the crackpots that come out and post to the SIRI threads. I have a small speculative play in SIRI. If I lose it fine I really don't care. If I get a 2 or 3 bagger, that'd be fine too. I love losingshirttosatellite... LOL!!!

When Crude Drops, AMR Will Fly

AMR has a very reasonable chance of BK. HELLLLOOOO.... Big time speculative play. Buying AMR is as risky as buying oil right now. Have fun trying to catch the falling knife.

Real Prices for New Cars Keep Going Down

Could the rise in gasoline prices and how it relates to the cost of a new car be the same thing as how higher interest rates lower housing prices? I'm a finance novice. I just recently found out about the relation between mortgage interest rates and housing prices. This made me think about all the really cheap pickup trucks that seemed to go for $25k + a few years ago but are now selling for $15-17k. This is just anecdotal evidence, but I realized that a person's monthly car payment could have easily doubled in the past few years if they got one of these pickup trucks or SUVs combined with a commute in from the 'burbs. Could the rapid rise in gasoline prices pinch dealerships' and the automakers' bottom line because people just can't afford a $299/month car loan plus the unplanned $300 for gas/month?

What’s Brewing at Starbucks?

The cold beverage platform will sink. Packaged coffee and Ice cream is not what makes Starbucks...Starbucks. Its high quality good tasting coffee and atmosphere is what makes people come back again and again. Until SBUX figures that out the stock is going sideways to down. Look at MCD & YUM brands. They all finally figured out what people wanted. FAST FOOD...duhhh. What do people want at SBUX? Good coffee in an interesting atmosphere. Not novelty cold coffee, ice cream, smoothies, Italian ice and all the other junk they're still pitching.

The Oil Shortage, and Other Fairy Tales

YunkYard et al - Please no more politics on SA. I'm getting sick of people posting their political manifestos and "It's all Bush's fault I lost my money" junk. Comment on the article please.

Anyways - Awesome article! Great summary too...made me chuckle a little bit, because I'm the one standing by the poker table laughing at the fresh money morons sitting down about to be swindled. The news outlets are just sucking up viewership with this no more oil/ gas at $7/Gal by August B.S. I'm a believer in peak oil theory, but the short term run-up is just sickening.

Starbucks: Will the Mermaid Mimic Ronald McDonald?

My thoughts exactly. I posted a comment on another SBUX article here a few weeks ago about the similarities with MCD. SBUX will certainly fall more in the next few years; I'm looking at a bottoming out just under $10. Right now SBUX is experimenting with all sorts of silly ideas - most notably their movement into smoothies and Italian ice (yuk!) drinks. Once SBUX realizes that Americans can and will pay for a fast good cup of coffee is the time I begin to sink my money into this soon to be value stock.

Will Starbuck's New Menu Satifsfy Investors?

Italian ice drinks and smoothies are making investors' mouths water??? Come on, and get REAL. This is not the answer to SBUX declining sales. Shultz's big plan is to bring SBUX back to their roots circa 1970s Pike's Place. His idea is pretty basic and has been done before by MCD and the like, but Italian ice and smoothies crap belongs somewhere else. It's as far away from coffee as you can get. SBUX will go lower...much lower, but in a few years they'll bounce back. Check out MCD charts for the past 20 yr.