PizzaMan

Boeing Secures Korean Air Order for New Model 747

That's all well and good, but I have one question.

Do you think they will be able to build the damn thing in a reasonable time frame, or do you think the delays on the 787 are going to put the company under before then?

Disclosure: Long BA, short what's left of my money

Earth to GE: Boost Your Dividend

One thing you forgot in your analysis was how GE was fighting a rating agency cut when they decided to cut their dividend. They really liked having that AAA. What is their rating now? An increased rating really helps with the debt load.

GE has so much exposure to financials, it isn't an industrial company any more. Every third article I see here is on how we are going to bottom again soon. (The others are about the economic recovery or something else.)

Disclosure, Long GE.

Ben Bernanke Pleads for His Job; My Response to Bernanke

The Fed, both Greenspan's as well as Bernanke's, made some serious blunders. (I rate the whole organization, Bernanke is the person that sticks out the most. I don't believe that Bernanke makes up Fed policy any more than I believe that the President makes laws.) The time to call it a problem is when the policy is made, not years in the future, when we see what happened.

I believe that our Congress had a bigger hand in creating our mess than the Fed. They respond with less understanding of economics Congress responds in less timely, permanent ways, to temporary problems. They have political agendas, and are more likely to be just trying to get re-elected.

I know it seems popular to blame Bernanke for our mess, and call for the dismantlement of the Fed. Like I said, I know that the Fed is partly to blame. However, after watching some of the economic debate on the CSPAN channels, I really worry about putting our economy in the hands of the congressional macro-economic morons.

I sleep much better knowing that the economy is not totally under congressional control.

It's really easy to tear something down. The real trick is to try to build something constructive. You may dislike the Fed, but what have you got to fix the problem? All I see is the rocks that you throw.

Technical Analysis: Apple Heading Down?

Investing in high tech by using technical analysis doesn't make much sense to me. You look for the catalysts.

What company is going to come out with the next gadget that changes the world. That's what I want to buy. Tech is dog eat dog; if you are not the one eating, you are standing by watching the big dog emptying out your dish.

There's a ton of gadget freaks out there running the trends on the high tech companies. If you don't know the catalysts, you are just another one.

GM Board's Search for a 'World Class CEO' Is Not a Good Sign

I'm not sure that anyone could handle that position. Wagoner, working for $1/year was ousted by the government. Henderson made the cuts that the government insisted on, but was ousted by the board. Neither was able to turn the company around in the month or two, during the worst economic times since the great depression, required by both.

You're right about the impact of the CEO. They don't build the cars. There's too much time in responding to any need. The oil boom came and went, and we are still talking about when they will release the Volt to the general public.

I'm not sure that the Almighty himself could turn that company around in the short time frame we need. Hey, maybe that's it. If we bring in the Dalai Lama, we might get Karma working for us. We can dig up Mother Teresa for a board position. Maybe a Jesse Jackson type too. Can I get a Halleluja!

The Costs of Not Fixing a Broken Financial System

One thing I think you forgot in your analysis. The SEC.

It doesn't matter one bit how many regulations you put in place, you must enforce the laws, at least every now and then. We had the regulations in place that would have at least mitigated some of the problems.

It's like the speed limit signs on the interstate loop. We hung up a bunch of signs for 55. We then stopped pulling over speeders, so everyone is driving somewhere between 60 and 85. Now we've had a bad accident, and say we want to lower the speed limit to 45.

Who's responsible for the accident (read economy)? Who's responsible for it from day to day to day. Put something in place now and it will be part of the problem for the next crisis. We need better day to day management, and a return to responsibility.

Bernanke Needs to Go

I'm not sure I like any of the alternatives.

I believe the Fed, both Greenspan's as well as Bernanke's, made some serious blunders. (I rate the whole organization, Bernanke is the person that sticks out the most. I don't believe that Bernanke makes up Fed policy any more than I believe that the President makes laws.)

I believe that our Congress had a bigger hand in creating our mess. They respond with less understanding of economics; in permanent ways, to temporary problems; with political agendas; with deference to a small part of the country; too slowly and inefficiently to effectively address the problems that arise in our economy.

I know it seems popular to blame Bernanke for our mess, and call for the dismantlement of the Fed. Like I said, I know that the Fed is partly to blame. However, after watching some of the economic debate on the CSPAN channels, I really worry about putting our economy in the hands of those macro-economic morons.

I sleep much better knowing that the economy is not totally under Congressional control.

Good News from Boeing Lifts Aerospace ETFs

After so many delays in the first flight of the D&*#Liner, now we got the weather!

I won't give McNerney and his management team any props for that. It's over two years overdue. Either that thing is in the air by 1/1, or I want a head!

Douche Bag Of The Year Award

I nominate Christopher Cox and his laissez-faire SEC as an entire organization of Douche Bags of the year.

As the enforcement branch of the government regulations on Corporate America. They're deaf, dumb, and blind.

A $ 40B Ponzi scheme or two, everyone's 401(k) turning into more like a 4.01(k), massive naked shorting of financial institutions.

Read the comments from Judge Rakoff in the SEC vs Bank of America. Even when they prosecute, they further penalize the victims in the case.

Forget about these guys protecting us from Wall Street. These cops are from Keystone!

CNBC Viewership Down 40% Y/Y, 19% Since '07

I think someone once referred to CNBC as "Hot Babes and Bald Guys."

Personally, I could look at Erin Burnett all day. Woof! What? She's saying something? Didn't know that?

The Daily Show did a "NILF" segment that sums it all up.

Boeing: Load Test Could Bring 787 Closer to Maiden Flight

I think that boeing may also have too many managers where they need to have senior engineers.

They've let me down so many times before on the launch of that thing. I still expect them to find another "glitch". Then another conference call - the same old "retiring more risk", "put more leeway in the schedule"... speeches. Just like before.

I've gotten to where I really hate McNerney.

Encore Acquisition's Q3 Demonstrates Strong Recovery

Kurt,

Not very timely, given the DNR acquisition.

Do you feel the $50 per share is a fair price for a purchase of EAC? What is the investment potential of ENP, since that is not part of the sale?

These are my current questions about EAC.

Bigwigs Debate 'Too Big to Fail'

I agree that we need to fix the problem of "Too Big To Fail". However, I disagree with the timing.

With our current economy, fragile as it is, fixing "Too Big To Fail" at this point could exacerbate the problems. I'm not a fan of risky behavior right now. The time to fix it will be when the economy is not so fragile.

It's like raising taxes during an economic downturn. The time to do it is when the economy is overheating. We need to lower the taxes when the economy is slowing.

The trouble is, nobody can reliably figure out the economy is starting to overheat. We forget to raise taxes when the time is right. We will forget to break up the "Too Big To Fail" then too.

Lithium Ion Batteries and GEVs: False Gods for the New Millennium

I hear the same phrases now that I heard in 1972. "Energy Independence", "Reduce our dependence on foreign oil"... It makes me sick.

Energy policy? What energy policy? We get "Cap and Trade". That's an environmental policy. What good does it do to have a Department of Energy for anyway? We need a practical way to get to work.

We don't really have an energy policy because you can't get elected when you tell the people that they can't drive their monster SUVs, with 4 movie theaters in the back, at 75 miles per hour to the ever more distant suburbs every day. Nobody wants to hear that.

The government and GM told us that we could continue to drive these SUVs to work and back. All we had to do was to put this Ethanol substance in the gas tank, and we don't need that imported oil. We all know how that one worked out.

Now we are talking about electric vehicles - again. We have to look under the hood of high flying initiatives to make sure that they aren't driven by a squirrel in an exercise cage.

Whatever Happened to Those Ethanol Companies?

Thanks for the article. Sometimes its good to go back to something that didn't work and figure out what went wrong.

The government and GM told us that we could continue to drive our monster SUVs, with two movie theaters in the back, to the suburbs every day. All we had to do was to put this Ethanol substance in the gas tank, and we don't need that imported oil.

This is all so that they don't really have to make an energy policy. We all know that you can't get reelected when you tell the people that they can't drive their SUVs at 75 miles per hour any more, that they are going to have to ride that crowded train to work every day.

I hear the same phrases I heard since 1972. "Energy Independence", "Reduce our dependence on foreign oil"... It makes me sick. Energy policy - hah - we get "Cap and Trade". What good does it do to have a Department of Energy for anyway.

Your article points out that we have to look under the hood of high flying initiatives to make sure things like solar, wind, and "Clean" coal energy aren't driven by a squirrel in an exercise cage.