More on Q3 GDP: Real personal consumption +2% vs. +1.5% in Q2. Residential fixed investment +14.4% vs. +8.5%. Federal government expenditures +9.6% vs. -0.2%. Real final sales +2.1% vs. +1.7%. Prices +1.5% vs. +0.7%. Quickly rebounding stock index futures are given another boost by the beat, the S&P 500 flat after being down about 1%. [View news story]
So, most of this "upside surprise" is just the federal government pumping out money that it doesn't have to buy votes for the upcoming election? That about cover it?
Yeah, this "recovery" is humming right along. We set a new record for people collecting federal disability checks this month, too (up to almost 9 million), in case you were wondering where those unemployed folks were going once they magically disappear from the UE rate.
Electric Vehicles: Front Loading The Filth [View article]
>> As environmentalists come to the realization that battery electric vehicles are massively increasing current industrial pollution in the name of moderately reducing future global warming impacts, I expect the backlash to be stunning.<<
I expect (and hope) you'd be right about this at some point...IF this sort of information was ever reported widely in the MSM. It's not, though, because it doesn't fit the accepted narrative they are pushing. One can hope that the truth about EVs will get widely disseminated at some point, but I wouldn't bet on it happening any time soon unfortunately.
Funny how you can always think of an excuse to tell us that bad news really isn't bad news. Gosh, it's almost like you're the one who is completely out of touch with reality which I guess that qualifies you for a job in the Obama administration, eh?
Authorities are unlikely to file criminal charges against Jon Corzine and other top MF Global execs after concluding that weak risk controls and chaos rather than fraud led to the disappearance of around $1B in customer money, the NYT reports. Regulators are still mulling civil action, while Corzine & Co. also face client lawsuits, which bankruptcy trustee James Giddens has agreed to co-operate with. [View news story]
"Authorities are unlikely (that is, there's no change in hell) to file criminal charges against Jon Corzine and other top MF Global execs after concluding that President Obama desperately needs Corzine to keep bundling big-money donations for the president's floundering re-election campaign."
Markets pick up Sunday evening where they left off Friday afternoon. S&P 500 futures -0.8%, German Dax futures -1%. The euro -0.2% to $1.2407. Gold flat. WTI crude -0.6% to $82.71. [View news story]
I thought dog was the president's meat of choice, not rabbit.
Comments from Syriza's Tsipras - now charged with forming a governing coalition in Greece - hitting the tape: Greeks have voted against the barbaric bailout, he says, and any bailout pledges are now null and void. He asks the heads of New Democracy and Pasok to withdraw their pledges to the EU of support for the rescue terms. [View news story]
Sure am glad we got that Greek problem taken care of months ago, else we'd have to be worried about this.
Australia unveils a controversial plan to tax carbon emissions at 500 firms from next year starting at A$23 ($24.70) a ton. Coal miners like BHP (BHP) and Xstrata (XSRAY.PK) would be eligible for some of the A$1.3B ($1.4B) earmarked to help the most polluting mines adjust, but there are worries this isn't enough. [View news story]
Yet another government hell bent on destroying the economy of the country it's ruling.
Having listened to claims of imminent disaster from 2 administrations unless Congress opens up the spending floodgates, some lawmakers dismiss the latest cries from the usual suspects as no more than "chicken little" warnings. No interest payments on U.S. debt will be missed, says Republican Sen. (and former bond trader) Pat Toomey. [View news story]
I beg to differ. You'd notice a difference. The education system in the United States would improve.
Yes, two of the Fed's most-watched data points show rising inflation but not the third: labor costs. The Fed believes price pressures without wage pressures are not sustainable, Societe Generale's Aneta Markowska writes, so it will not raise rates until it sees confirmation in the labor market - unlikely before the middle of 2012. [View news story]
I think it's more like: "...the Fed only sees confirmations of things that the Fed wants to see confirmed and ignores the rest."
Building a Dividend Portfolio: How Many Stocks Are Enough? [View article]
I'd agree that for most folks 20-30 positions is probably the max that they want - or have time - to deal with, but I've had good luck (so far) going with a number a good bit higher than that. It's smoothed out the ups and downs nicely for me...now one stock or even a handful of stocks can't wreck my entire portfolio as it could when I only held a dozen or even two dozen stocks (my largest holding just now is a bit under 4% of the total - most are much smaller than that - and that largest one is about due for a trim).
This method also allows you to take capital gains when something has a big run up without wrecking a large chunk of your dividend strategy. I consider myself a "dividend investor", but if a stock appreciates the equivalent of several years worth of dividends, I usually cash at least part of that in (recently done with 1/3 of my BGS position). With more numerous but smaller positions, that causes less disruption to your income flow while allowing you to book some capital gains for safety's sake.
Yes, tracking that many stocks will make you crazy at times, but I'd rather worry with that than worrying about having one stock that's 10-15% of my portfolio crashing and burning on me.
The U.S. budget deficit should rise to $1.48T, or 9.8% of GDP, by the end of the current fiscal year, largely because of the extension of lower tax rates, the Congressional Budget Office says. Zero Hedge believes the U.S. will need to issue some $5T in debt during the next three years to fill the gap, meaning "QE3 is guaranteed, and we are stunned that the market continues not to realize this." [View news story]
Seems that the CBO *always* finds that the deficit is the fault of lower taxes, but never the fault of too damn much spending. Strange how it always turns out that way.
Or perhaps our government could try the novel and radical idea of not spending so much of its citizens' money? You know...cut spending? Not slow the increase but actually *cut* it? And stop "discovering" new entitlements which shortly become the equivalent of constitutional rights?
But why do that when you can just raise taxes and keep on spending the nation into oblivion.
How Did Economists Fail Us So Badly? [View article]
Arrogance about their own level of knowledge and competency, and ignorance about how the real world (and the humans living there) actually work would be my top reasons why. And, from what I can see, economists are still full of both.
Real world common sense seems to be the one thing almost all of them lack.
Buffett Thanks Uncle Sam for Great Work Managing Financial Crisis: Flat Out Disgusting [View article]
Reminds me of Perot's presidential campaign in 1992...constantly railing against government excesses, etc. even though he made most of his fortune from government contracts (that is, from taxpayer dollars). Hypocrisy much?
Greed is part of human nature, so it's quite understandable that Buffett is thankful that the Bush and Obama juntas pumped up his bank account some more with taxpayer dollars. I could sure do without the little cretin's hypocrisy (and self-righteous sanctimony), though.
But hey, he's not all bad. He somehow manages to get Becky Quick to wear *really* short skirts whenever she interviews him.
More on Q3 GDP: Real personal consumption +2% vs. +1.5% in Q2. Residential fixed investment +14.4% vs. +8.5%. Federal government expenditures +9.6% vs. -0.2%. Real final sales +2.1% vs. +1.7%. Prices +1.5% vs. +0.7%. Quickly rebounding stock index futures are given another boost by the beat, the S&P 500 flat after being down about 1%. [View news story]
Yeah, this "recovery" is humming right along. We set a new record for people collecting federal disability checks this month, too (up to almost 9 million), in case you were wondering where those unemployed folks were going once they magically disappear from the UE rate.
Electric Vehicles: Front Loading The Filth [View article]
I expect (and hope) you'd be right about this at some point...IF this sort of information was ever reported widely in the MSM. It's not, though, because it doesn't fit the accepted narrative they are pushing. One can hope that the truth about EVs will get widely disseminated at some point, but I wouldn't bet on it happening any time soon unfortunately.
Initial Jobless Claims: 382K vs. 370K consensus, 367K prior revised (prior week 365K). Continuing claims -49K at 3.28M. [View news story]
Authorities are unlikely to file criminal charges against Jon Corzine and other top MF Global execs after concluding that weak risk controls and chaos rather than fraud led to the disappearance of around $1B in customer money, the NYT reports. Regulators are still mulling civil action, while Corzine & Co. also face client lawsuits, which bankruptcy trustee James Giddens has agreed to co-operate with. [View news story]
There. Fixed it for you.
Markets pick up Sunday evening where they left off Friday afternoon. S&P 500 futures -0.8%, German Dax futures -1%. The euro -0.2% to $1.2407. Gold flat. WTI crude -0.6% to $82.71. [View news story]
Comments from Syriza's Tsipras - now charged with forming a governing coalition in Greece - hitting the tape: Greeks have voted against the barbaric bailout, he says, and any bailout pledges are now null and void. He asks the heads of New Democracy and Pasok to withdraw their pledges to the EU of support for the rescue terms. [View news story]
Be Careful Sirius Buyers: Jim Cramer Is A Salesman, Not An Economist [View article]
Australia unveils a controversial plan to tax carbon emissions at 500 firms from next year starting at A$23 ($24.70) a ton. Coal miners like BHP (BHP) and Xstrata (XSRAY.PK) would be eligible for some of the A$1.3B ($1.4B) earmarked to help the most polluting mines adjust, but there are worries this isn't enough. [View news story]
Having listened to claims of imminent disaster from 2 administrations unless Congress opens up the spending floodgates, some lawmakers dismiss the latest cries from the usual suspects as no more than "chicken little" warnings. No interest payments on U.S. debt will be missed, says Republican Sen. (and former bond trader) Pat Toomey. [View news story]
Yes, two of the Fed's most-watched data points show rising inflation but not the third: labor costs. The Fed believes price pressures without wage pressures are not sustainable, Societe Generale's Aneta Markowska writes, so it will not raise rates until it sees confirmation in the labor market - unlikely before the middle of 2012. [View news story]
Building a Dividend Portfolio: How Many Stocks Are Enough? [View article]
This method also allows you to take capital gains when something has a big run up without wrecking a large chunk of your dividend strategy. I consider myself a "dividend investor", but if a stock appreciates the equivalent of several years worth of dividends, I usually cash at least part of that in (recently done with 1/3 of my BGS position). With more numerous but smaller positions, that causes less disruption to your income flow while allowing you to book some capital gains for safety's sake.
Yes, tracking that many stocks will make you crazy at times, but I'd rather worry with that than worrying about having one stock that's 10-15% of my portfolio crashing and burning on me.
The U.S. budget deficit should rise to $1.48T, or 9.8% of GDP, by the end of the current fiscal year, largely because of the extension of lower tax rates, the Congressional Budget Office says. Zero Hedge believes the U.S. will need to issue some $5T in debt during the next three years to fill the gap, meaning "QE3 is guaranteed, and we are stunned that the market continues not to realize this." [View news story]
Chart of the Day: U.S. Taxes [View article]
But why do that when you can just raise taxes and keep on spending the nation into oblivion.
How Did Economists Fail Us So Badly? [View article]
Real world common sense seems to be the one thing almost all of them lack.
Buffett Thanks Uncle Sam for Great Work Managing Financial Crisis: Flat Out Disgusting [View article]
Greed is part of human nature, so it's quite understandable that Buffett is thankful that the Bush and Obama juntas pumped up his bank account some more with taxpayer dollars. I could sure do without the little cretin's hypocrisy (and self-righteous sanctimony), though.
But hey, he's not all bad. He somehow manages to get Becky Quick to wear *really* short skirts whenever she interviews him.