TeaLeaves

IBM's Gerstner Favors Taxing Short Term Capital Gains

Experts always say, "You can't time the market." If that's true, isn't day-trading (with its transaction fees) its own punishment?

Why a Japanese Style Recovery Model Can't Happen in the U.S.

Inflation is coming because of runaway government debt, not because "escalating climate change" has created a "looming food crisis" (in "a relatively short time"!).

U.S. Jobs Propaganda Gets More Desperate

Mr. Nielson,
Thanks for your response, but no, I wasn't asking why lying about unemployment is important. I understand the use of ideology in maintaining political power. Your emphasis on the lies in RECENT months now makes me think that you see BLS as supportive of the Obama agenda. Even non-partisan bureaucrats may feel political pressure from regimes they don't like and lie a bit to please the powers that be. So BLS will fudge a little for Bush but go all out for Obama. I wanted to know why you think BLS is complicit in the administration's political spinning. It's not because they serve the fuhrer whoever he is but because they share the Obama agenda, and that accounts for the recent escalation in whoppers. That's possible. The State Department under Bush seemed to follow a "diplomacy" agenda to the point of undermining their boss's policy, so "non-partisan" agencies can have political agendas. I just wanted to be clear on whose agenda we are talking about. Some of your readers took you to be anti-government-- others, anti-Obama.

U.S. Jobs Propaganda Gets More Desperate

I wonder if Jeff Nielson would like to make explicit the reason the BLS has been lying for thirty years. Lowballing unemployment numbers has obviously helped both Republican and Democratic administrations over that period. BLS employees are career bureaucrats and cannot be voted out of office. If their motives are political, why are they helping both parties? If they are not political, how do they enhance their professional reputations by lying? Does our muckraking author endorse the George Wallace/ Noam Chomsky view that there is not a dime's worth of difference between the two parties? Is the BLS in the service of Uncle Sam-- whichever party is in power? What does that make Nielson's cheerleaders: anarchists? Don't replace this government. Replace government with . . . what? "People power"? Or Canadian commodities.

Evergreen Solar's Long Term Outlook

If Rick Feldt is a "horrible" CEO, what was Bernie Ebbers? Too many investors operationally define managerial incompetence as a drop in stock price and are ready to jump on the class action lawsuit bandwagon at the drop of a hat. Florida beats Oklahoma-- fire Bob Stoops. I've been listening to Evergreen conference calls for many years and am impressed with the way Feldt has resisted pressure from analysts to maximize margins at Marlborough for the sake of short-term results. Rather he has used Marlborough primarily for R&D in the interest of long-term results. That's what good CEOs do. To fault him for subcontracting in China after expanding in Massachusetts is to make a vice of adaptability. Strength of management is one reason I'm sticking with Evergreen.

Seven Reasons the Market Has Already Bottomed

You corrected Obama's error. He recommended buying stocks on the basis of low "profits/earnings" ratios. And he wants to run the economy.

Five Top Solar Power Stocks

Solar authors are routinely accused of trying to manipulate stock prices. Fessler avoids that fate by loading up his article with so many goofs (already mentioned by others) that his intentions become irrelevant.

Evergreen Solar: Why This Overlooked Company Is a Good Investment

Evergreen is not responsible for EverQ's debt-- as it would be in a legal partnership. Evergreen has a legal relationship with EverQ but not a legal partnership.

5 Stocks to Buy if Obama Wins

Obama fans don't need to be convinced that solar will prosper if he wins. That's why they are petulantly dumping alternative energy in the wake of the Republican convention. They're afraid we may have to wait a little longer for the people we have been waiting for. Fortunately for long-term solar investors, alternative energy will prosper whoever wins.