john s. gordon

Congress Considers Reforming the Fed

1. congress does not have the collective wisdom to oversee in a meaningful manner.
2. congress has to re-elect itself in 11 months so whatever wisdom now exists is likely to be lost.
> jack

The Oil Casino: SEC Heading for Monte Carlo, Part III

some of this reminds me of the dotcom craze of 1998-2000 where corporate earnings were zero but irrelevant. lots of minnow stocks being pumped up by shady brokers & then they turned to dust. in the district of columbia we had all the streets trenched by 7 different dotcom corps in the same block all intending to capture the same finite number of potential customers. some of the trenches are still there (the incompetent d.c. govt forgot to require these guys to post bonds before digging).

on recoverable resources, i forgot to include all the asteroids out there made of carbonaceous matter (gilsonite perhaps) - all you have to do is corral them & bring them down to terra firma gently so that they don't get incinerated on reentry. beam me down scotty.
> jack

The Oil Casino: SEC Heading for Monte Carlo, Part II

well in addition to all the other cats & dogs & mice you have to include the estonian oil shale (worked by the germans in 1942-43), the manchurian (oops northeast china) oil shale (worked by the japanese in 1932-45), the australian oil shale (worked commercially in 1940-45 but not competitive in world markets today) & there might be some others.
> jack

More AIG Controversy: Maiden Lane III

it is clear that the fed could have created a better deal for the u.s taxpayer but they panicked & gave away the farm.
> jack

Commodities Rallying: A Good Indicator of Global Growth

a good indicator of the beijing central planners getting rid of u.s.$ & loading up on anything that looks like or smells like a commodity.
> jack

The Oil Casino: SEC Heading for Monte Carlo, Part I

the new metric for reserves is like saying that in the year 2007 AIG had proven dollar reserves of XXX trillion $.
at the time no one would have questioned that?
believe the new hokum & i have a proven reserve of bridges i would like to sell you.
> jack

Structural Unemployment: The Only Cure

at the start of the 'industrial revolution' in england 200 yrs ago weavers worked @ home on hand looms. education was minimal & what you needed was given you in the form of on-the-job training.
power looms (whether steam or falling water) reduced the need for grunt work.
displaced uneducated workers were incensed & smashed the looms which were destroying their livelihoods. they were called luddites.
in the 1950's mechanical drawing was done by skilled draftsmen on big boards. much work required india ink be used. design changes required a complete new start. recently i have been using autocad or technicad, the results are archived electronically & redesign is greatly simplified. again the result is elimination of tedious gruntwork.
in machine shops the standard today is CNC machining with flexible manufacturing systems requiring high skill levels for the personnel setting up the work flow (and maintaining the machines).
the common thread here ('work smart not hard') is fewer low-skilled jobs and higher education requirements for those workers who are left.
in recent years the canadian postal system instituted a postcode system using a string of 6 characters, the objective being postal automation. the workers were incensed and demanded that the letter-writing public avoid using the postcode system. after a while things quited down.
part of the problem is that the u.s public education system (which 100 yrs ago was the best in the world) is no longer producing a competent product. i am reminded of the situation at motorola a decade ago where public school 'graduates' could be hired but couldn;t do the work, a mastery of the english language was lacking. the new hires had to be rushed thru a remedial english course in order to become productive - this after grades 1 thru 12.
> jack

Bailout Alternatives

put hank p. under the microscope first.
> jack

Did Cash for Clunkers Cost Too Much?

once upon a time in america henry ford paid his workers 5.00 a day (an unheard of amount in the day) & the workers could actually afford to buy their product coming off the assembly line.
now it had no automatic ashtrays & very little in the way of brakes & the transmission was a 2-speed planetary gearset but it got you from here to there, locally. if you were in new york & wanted to go to chicago you took the train (which also carried the u.s, mail at minimal cost).
i understand tata is doing it or something like it in india today.
> jack

Liquidity, The OTC Market and TBTF Banks

building barriers to entry is what TBTF firms have been doing.
it's the oldest game in the book.
'let's create a monopoly'.
> jack

Goldman Sachs' Latest Initiative: Business Plan or Charitable Donation?

really crass behavior by GS.
> jack

Ethanol vs. Natural Gas or Coal: Comparison Not Even Close

it is true that as long as humans are starving, corn crops should not be diverted into motor alcohol production. this is an ethical problem as well as a energy in vs. energy out problem.
each year a certain amount of the grain crop is spoiled (e.g., rodent infestation) during storage & there is no problem in using grain unfit for food consumption to make fuel.
author is confused about 'corrosive ethanol' which is incompatible with certain polymeric materials used in your car's fuel system as delivered from the factory. technology for converting fuel systems to EtOH compatibility are available, and some mfrs will supply a vehicle already so equipped.
> jack

The 10 Most Annoying Things About This Recession

end of day spikes/dips of 1% or more in the last 15 mins are just the computer jockeys on their supercomputers pushing buttons on their consoles & jerking the market around.
> jack

Bank Bonuses Surge. Goldman Payouts Likely to Top 2006 Comp

this is obscene.
> jack

In Defense of Meredith Whitney

well you have to remember that j. cramer is in the entertainment business.
> jack