JCCIII

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Ontario Sues Tobacco Companies. Canada, I dis-invested in your country following your politicians' lies during your 2006 elections concerning the energy trusts. I have been looking for reasons to re-invest, but so far the risk associated with putting my money within your sphere of chicanery outweigh the potential rewards. Your attempt, now, to double sue tobacco companies only reinforces my previous decisions.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Good that the ratings agencies are finally being investigated; they are the, as yet, unpunished villains in the Crash of 2008. Very hefty judgments against and maybe some serious prison time for a few executives are in order. Don't know exactly what to make of the comment, "Brown didn't specify which companies will be investigated." If Brown does not investigate them all, what does that say?

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Bbowen7. Boy, did you hit the nail on the head! Nov 2010 and Nov 2012 cannot come soon enough.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

It took Detroit and the UAW 40 years to do it, but they have finally convinced me that they cannot build a competitive world-class car. Congratulations.

Weakest Employment Market Since the Great Depression

Mr Harrison. Many conservative economists argue that any increase in gov't "investment," at best, merely offsets the resulting reduction in private "investment." Some argue that this was the real cause of the length and depth of the 1930's Great Depression, and had Hoover and Roosevelt done nothing, the Great Depression would have been only a deep recession. After all, the gov't makes nothing, it can only give to one American by taking from another; "spread the wealth" might be an appropriate phrase (Joe the Plumber). Any response to this argument? Thanks.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Interesting that democrat presidents frequently acknowledge their party's lack of expertise/credibility in the critical areas of finance and defense by nominating republicans to Fed chair and Sec of Defense (Will NBC or MSNBC acknowledge, or even mention, these points?). Wonder how quickly Harry Reid will push the Bernanke re-nomination through the senate. He couldn't get the AA queen (Satamayor) nomination through quickly enough or with little enough discussion; likewise with the "stimulus" package and health care reform. In Bernanke's case, I suspect Harry will likely think the entire Bush-era crisis will require a thorough re-look, with the real purpose being to highlight perceived Bush-era failures while turning a blind eye to any democrat complicity (bet Harry does not highlight the point that the democrats controlled congress from 2006-08) . Politics and hypocrisy are equivalent terms. Nov 2010 (and Nov 2012) cannot come quickly enough.

Private Prisons: A Reliable American Growth Industry

To the bleeding-hearts who commented above. I suppose you agree with Scotland's recent release of the Lockerby (sp) murderer; released for compassionate reasons (he is dying of cancer), after all, he did spend about 10 days in jail for each of the people he murdered. When you, personally, are ready to provide a job, a room in your home, etc., for the released prisoner who did not repay society for his crime; then you may have some credibility. Until then, you are disgusting (just like to Scottish official(s) who released the Lockerby terrorist; I say bring back capital punishment, and do it in a timely manner (6 months maximum from conviction to execution).

Warren Buffett and the Imaginary Economy

Buffet has achieved immortality as a great investor; notice the past tense. Could he do it again; who knows? Now, however, he thinks we should all pay more taxes; his argument would be a little more credible if he (and Bill Gates) were not engaged in an attempt to "cheat" the government out of the 50% of their wealth that the gov't claims (via the death tax) to be rightfully theirs. If Buffet and Gates really believed that the gov't can best spend money, why would Gates establish a foundation, the primary result of which will be to push away the tax man, and why would Buffet bestow a large percentage of his money to it? Seems to me, if they really meant what they say (we should all pay more taxes), they would do away with the tax-avoiding foundation and give 90%+ of their wealth to the US gov't today, or at least not establish a tax loop-hole to "cheat" the US gov't out of its share upon their deaths.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

For what it's worth, Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan should be executed or, perhaps worse, fined to the tune of 3-10 times the amount he inappropriately profited from his illegal scheme. I suspect he will ignore the SEC lawsuit or bargain it down to a tolerable out-of-court fine. Any meaningful punishment will likely be the responsibility of our dubious ally, Kuwait. How Kuwait ends up treating Hazem Khalid Al-Braikan will be telling on how Kuwait really feels about the US; real ally and friend or oil customer to be exploited to maximum possible. Failure to properly punish will, like meaningful punishment, give a good indication of what Kuwait really thinks of the US, and failure to properly punish will encourage further similar shenanigans by other Kuwaiti rich guys.

Carbon ETFs / ETNs as a Play on Copenhagen Conference

Wow! What a great article and a great comment! For now at least, I will re frame from buying either of these securities, as I certainly do not understand them, and a purchase of shares of either would be a roll of the dice for me. Some feedback, your article is, my perception, technically totally accurate, but useful only to those who already understands the concept of the ETPs; somewhat similar to what I have heard via a joke is the way Microsoft technical advice people respond to questions.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

"[Chrysler warns on dealership legislation. Chrysler warned it could face liquidation for a second time if lawmakers move forward with a plan to reinstate terminated dealership agreements. The House of Representatives has already approved a measure to restore contracts with 789 dealerships, but the bill's future in the Senate is less certain.]

If every dealership had $5MM worth of inventory in cars and parts, aggregate would be about $4B in total. This is a travesty for the small business families. " Quote, spald_fr above.

I have an old master's degree (1975) in economics and have given the reductions in dealerships some thought. While it is true that the dealerships do not cost Chrysler and GM directly, they compete against each other and, therefore, lower the average cost paid by the average US new car buyer and, therefore, lower the amount every dealer can pay and that Chrysler and GM can demand for each new car. Arbitrarily reducing the number of dealerships is a way to reduce dealership competition and increase the cost of a new car beyond what it needs to be by, you figure, something in the 2% to 10% range and increase profitability at Chrysler and GM and subsequently raise union wages; it is a transfer of wealth from ordinary new car buyers to Chrysler and GM to union wages to democrats via campaign contributions, accomplished by restricting trade/free competition. Do you really think a democrat congress is going to force Chrysler and GM to recognize the now or soon to be shut down dealerships?

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Looks like neither the Obama-Pelosi cap-and-trade (tax) and health care reforms (more taxes) are going to pass in their present forms. Those are two real green-shoots.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

To add to the bashing of the ratings agencies. They are, so far, the villain in the crash of 2008 that has not been held accountable for their shoddy practices and culpability. They must be, and maybe via law suits, will be held accountable. I agree with the comment above, that they should be paid by the purchasers of the assets they rate.

New Equal Weight ETF Gives Exposure While Managing Risk

Tom. Other articles on SA noted there is a .55% expense ratio, composed of .18% for the underlying ETFs and .37% for management. Any thoughts on why .37% management fee is justified for such a simple strategy? Thanks.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

I concur with Axelrod's comment. Also, I like being able to go to a list of all articles, chronological order, most recent first. Finally, it would be nice if the articles included a time stamp as well as a date stamp. Keep up the good work SA.