battman

Mike Shedlock responds to Marc Faber's "gloomiest prediction yet" - which, among other cheery events, includes the collapse of capitalism: "Capitalism will not collapse, because we are not practicing capitalism. Instead, we are practicing a perverse blend of corporate fascism, socialism, corruption, and padding of the pockets for and by those running the country. Yes, that will collapse."

One thing we just learned was the crash wasn't as dire as the media predicted. There is no reason to assume the world will come to an end.
The system (ie. all governments) need to change. Corruption has to stop if we are to expect any real changes. But what are the odds of that? It's human nature to feel a sense of entitlement which will always lead to corruption.
What's the answer? I'll have to get back to you on that.

Citigroup (C) urges banks to step up principal forgiveness on mortgages for homeowners bowed by unemployment. Citi, the only big bank disclosing quarterly reports on how it's helping borrowers, says it helped 130K homeowners with $20B in mortgages outstanding avoid potential foreclosure in Q3 - up 20% from Q2.

And they forgive this debt out of the kindness of their hearts???? Or is the government supposed to be writing more cheques to make up for the shortfall?

Two more publishers say they may yank stories off Google's (GOOG) search engine and hand them exclusively to Microsoft's (MSFT) Bing, following Rupert Murdoch's (NWS) lead. MediaNews Group Inc., publisher of the Denver Post, plans to block Google when it starts charging readers for online content next year. And Morning News owner A.H. Belo (AHC) says it may start charging online subscription fees and block Google.

The internet needs a business model that works, and FREE is not a business model that works. Murdoch is taking the necessary steps in a direction. Only time will tell if it's the right direction.

Existing Home Sales on a Sugar High

Tim, I don't read all of your articles but I have chosen to stop following your consistant whining and negativity. Please say something other than the obvious with a negative spin.
Real estate is the best investment you can make (especially your own home). It may never be the most lucrative and may not give you the quickest return, but it will always be there, and in with the way things have been these past few years, that is more than can be said about a lot of other asset classes.

Rapid Transition to Grid Enabled Vehicles Not Possible or Desirable

I'll agree that the insight held by many on this board clouded our judgement and took away an opportunity for us (well me anyways) to make money off the IPO. Who better to know that this would run up than the poeple who follow this sector as closely as us. But our common sense knowledge prevented us from taking the risk. Anyone of us could have bought at $ 18.00 and sold anywhere after that for a quick buck.

Knowing too much has it's drawbacks.

On every other point you make (especially agreeing with jerrydd???? what's up with that?) you're off base. In your case, knowing too little will hurt you. But rest assured knowing your stock portfolio, most likely filled with Lithium stocks, is probably doing better than mine right now.

On Nov 21 11:28 PM Road Runner wrote:

> Mayascribe, You are reading way too much into the run-up and subsequent
> pull-back of A123 stock after the IPO. This has more to do with the
> dynamics of how stocks normally react after IPOs than it is a verdict
> on the future of A123 as a company. You obviously know very little
> about stock investing.

Rapid Transition to Grid Enabled Vehicles Not Possible or Desirable

We've already become dependent on China for everything we use and I can't see a downside. Except for the one tiny fact that it has turned us into a consumer nation with no jobs and huge debt and left us at their mercy.

Maybe the poison laced toothpaste and lead painted childrens toys are their way of trying to put us out of our misery.


On Nov 20 10:06 PM GroovyGeek wrote:

> A comment and a question about EVs and batteries in general:
>
> 1) The primary supplier of rare earths is .... China. If the US thinks
> it is precariously dependent on oil from the Middle East, wait till
> it becomes dependent on China for both deficit financing and critical
> commodities.
>
> 2) There are plausibly sounding technologies under development to
> increase storage capacity of Li electrodes by multiples of 2-4, not
> 10-15%. They all rely in one form or another on "nano-structured"
> silicon. Any opinion on them?

Middle Class Bankruptcies on the Rise

If we can all just hold out until 2012, none of our debts will matter any more anyways.
I guess hoping for the end of the world is just wishful thinking on my part.

Live within your means, and things should be fine.

Timber! The Best Way to Play a Change in Housing Sentiment

Great, another commodity to manipuate. Will we ever learn?

Oct. Housing Starts: -10.6% to 529K vs. +1.7% to 600K expected, and +0.5% to 592K in September (revised from 590K). Permits -4% to 552K vs. +0.9% to 580K expected and -0.9% to 575K last month.

There is no logical reason why housing starts should be up. The existing inventory needs to be absorbed, and this number increases monthly with all the new defaults.
Let's try and build a real economy based on supply because of demand, not just supply because the money was cheap so what the heck.

Goldman Tries to Combat Its Bad Image

It's a win win for GS. They'll take the 500 mill and use that to invest into small businesses. If the company does well, it's a great investment, if the company doesn't, it's money spent on PR and they get to write it off.

Why Magazine Covers Are Historically Great Contrarian Indicators- Part II

My only comment would be that while I find it interesting and some truth to it, you appear to be selective in your use of covers. Are you saying that these were the only times that the magazines had covers with this message? If that were true, then I would find this to be quite an interesting story indeed. Although the press now does blow things out of proportion, so it might not be quite the steady indicator as it once may have been.
As an example, last year we had the Avian flu that was going to wipe out civilization as we knew it, now we have the swine flu that will leave the earth a barren wasteland. Next year??

With $770B of the $1.4T in commercial mortgages maturing in the next five years currently underwater, FDIC revises its rules (.pdf) to allow banks to keep loans on their books as 'performing' even when the underlying properties no longer cover the outlay.

rick, you're right as is dialectical, but you can't just say "that's it" and draw a line in the sand with what has happened. It's not that clear cut. And to think that a government, ANY government, will actually do the right thing is just straight out naive. The government is the most corrupt part of this equation. Until there is some sort of grass root uprising (and not one sponsored by Fox news) it's status quo and the corruption will reign supreme.


On Nov 02 09:28 PM rick flair wrote:

> This is the quintessential reason why america will fail, because
> no one has the nuts left to do the hard stuff.

GM to Keep European Opel Unit (As a Result of Economic Reflation)

Ford did a good job and should be commended. They should be the only American auto maker still standing and be allowed the opportunity to become a serious player and real consistant money maker. By propping up the useless other two, all it does is hurt Ford's long term prospects of survival.
With respect to GM and the skyrocketing costs "not being their fault", sorry but who agreed to the union terms that swelled its costs to the point of forcing them into bankruptcy? Was it me? Was it you? I'm pretty sure they did that to themselves. And they have had these same competitors for over 40 years now, and only NOW they realized they were building a BETTER product cheaper?? So do I feel any pitty? Absolutely not. Their short sighted fat cat mentality caught up to them.
And thanks for asking about my kids, they're still pretty young, but they wouldn't be working in an assembly line anyways. Propping up failing companies so my kids can have a job is counter productive. If Ford would have been allowed to go it alone, it would have bought the "good" plants and would have had to double production to meet demand (a.k.a hiring people). Toyota and Honda would have bought the other "good" plants and would have had to increase production (a.k.a hiring people), so my kids could have still had the opportunity to find that wonderfully overpaid union job. Just because GM and Chrysler shut the doors, doesn't mean the demand and infrastructure magically fade away.
I just realized, if my kids work there, they could become part of the problem rather than just complaining about it! Circle of life my friend, circle of life.


On Nov 04 10:25 PM epistrophy wrote:

> Hey "Battman" FYI read the papers: Ford made almost a billion dollars
> day before yesterday and they took no money from the government.
> You'll be complaining more when your kids have no place to work.
> GM ran into a perfect storm of collapsing economy and events that
> were not all their fault, especially unfundable health care costs
> for retirees that their foreign competitors in both the U.S. and
> abroad did not face. NOT a level playing field either here in the
> U.S. or overseas (check the rules Korea, Japan, and China have in
> place to keep out American cars). If you ask me our legislators were
> sorely remiss in not addressing this. The "free market" is not free!

GM to Keep European Opel Unit (As a Result of Economic Reflation)

How is it a "resurgent" car industry? It is a subsidized car industry that will waddle along until the next hand out when they go broke again in about 15 years, AFTER the legitimate car manufacturers took it in the chin for NOT being subsidized.
I'm glad you're happy, and I hope you'll squirrel away enough money to write them another check when they come knocking again ater the next bankruptcy.

And "back on track"?? How long ago was the American auto industry actually a thriving industry that MADE money??


On Nov 04 11:35 AM epistrophy wrote:

> Good move for GM and also better for Opel in the long run. I'm rooting
> for their success. Opel has a lot of good engineering and a good
> reputation in Europe. This technology has found its way into the
> newer American cars, including the Chevy Malibu which is a real star.
I for one support a resurgent American car industry
> and am happy to see they are on the right track.

GM to Keep European Opel Unit (As a Result of Economic Reflation)

They just can't let go of the "world's biggest" moniker, even if it means having to go broke again. Just goes to show you why the GM guys are a bunch of money losing failures. I hope they get sued over this.
Stupid, very very stupid. But what else did we expect from these clowns.
We can thank the government for this one. Let the failures fail please.