darkpool

If the alarming decline in presidental approval ratings is a proxy for consumer and business confidence, things may not stay up too much longer, James Kostohryz writes. "All of this signals future political polarization, gridlock, and a souring social mood. Most importantly, it's signaling an erosion of confidence in the government’s ability to lead the nation out of its current economic crisis."

Obama isn't in sync with the traditional resilience and "can-do" attitude of the US people, so its time to start viewing this as a one term Presidency, and start looking for viable alternatives.

IBD: Something smells at GM, and it's not just their new Cadillac men's fragrance (Yes, it's for real. Toronto Star: "Eau De Bailout"). GM's sales and share are crashing, but some strong assets just underscore why it should have undergone a normal bankruptcy, not a politically rigged one.

Right on ! Now lets vote with our pocket books and avoid them like the plague

China won't torpedo the economy by dumping our bonds: "To see China's holdings as a threat is to misjudge the goals of the Chinese government. China believes that its affluence is best guaranteed by economic interdependence with the world's most dynamic economy."

we need to remember that it is "changes at the margin" which can have a significant impact.....it rarely needs to be all of anything. Changes at the margin are subtle and insidious....in many cases you dont realize the impact until its too late. This is likely the case here.

Burned by Obama, fund managers grow wary: "The sad thing is it impacts the manufacturing sector and the companies that have legacy liabilities directly. It will be nearly impossible, or much more expensive, to get secured financing."

Yes its tough on existing senior bondholders, and yes, part of the capital contract has been debased. However, lets not ignore the fact that going forward, this re-writing of the rules has serious adverse consequences for the entire US economy.Future potential bond investors are going to be demanding much tougher terms and rates......if indeed they are willing to lend to some companies/sectors at all. Therein lies the self-regulating nature of the global economy. The Government may think it can muscle in and bail out everything in sight, but it only hastens the long term decline of the US and brings forward the day of reckoning with the currency and interest rates.

Americans are surpisingly optimistic, polls show: An AP/GFk survey (.pdf) finds that for the first time in four years, most Americans think we're headed in the right direction. Gallup says consumer sentiment continues to improve. And Pew finds 60% think Obama's got his head around the economy.

Unbelievable !....in every sense of the expression.

"In this environment, when you own a company (JAVA) that barely has a reason to exist, outside of a programming language (Javascript), you probably shouldn’t f&%@ around when you have a bid from IBM (IBM) on the table." - the reformed broker

For the sake of around 5% as reported, some of these guys need their heads examining. ( or carefully removing from their posteriors)

Following its imposition of steel pipe tariffs on China - and with the G-20 meeting in Pittsburgh nearing - the U.S. levies 35% tariffs on Chinese tires after a flood of imports. China looks like it may retaliate, but it's not always easy to tell. (previously)

wake up everyone and recognize Obama for the dangerous creature he is. Steadily he is causing a reconfiguration of the US economy that will have a very bad outcome for the productive half of society.

Elliott Wave's Robert Prechter on the dollar: "If these markets continue to be contra-cyclical, as I think they will be, you're going to see a rising dollar for quite a period of time." (video, 6:36)

charts, stats, waves, cycles etc.....all of limited use except to "validate" when something does happen.......these are novel sets of circumstances and we should be extremely wary of "theories". Current fundamentals look pretty bearish for the dollar, and anyway, a rising dollar is a crimp on recovery.

Paul Krugman says we have averted a second Great Depression, and why? The different role played by government. "Ronald Reagan was wrong: Sometimes the private sector is the problem, and government is the solution."

Governments and Religions are in most instances the sources of all evils. Just look back at history.

With Boone Pickens' 'windmill in every backyard' (except his) plan on the backburner, Ray Harvey makes an awesome case against Pickens' calls for massive subsidization of the wind-power industry, and explains why the public "hasn't even begun to grasp nuclear energy."

nuclear also has the benefit that a very substantial percentage of the investment dollars stay in the domestic economy....not much "leakage" in econo-speak. The stimulus rebates to consumers mostly benefit the Chinese economy .....good logic from our "dear leader"

After telling NY AG Andrew Cuomo that Fed chief Ben Bernanke instructed him to threaten Bank of America (BAC) CEO with his job if he reneged on the Merrill merger, Henry Paulson recants, saying he acted on his own. Or not.

being in bed with the government is always worse than being in bed with the mafia

Mike Shedlock sees no reason house prices won't fall back to 2001 or even 2000 levels (right now they're late-2003), and wonders, "how many are prepared for it, if indeed that were to happen?"

While it certainly makes that prime borrower feel poorer, its only on paper. As long as they still have income and can afford the payments, being under-water on a mortgage isn't exactly the end of the world. It merely adds an extra decision dimension....whether to keep paying the monthly "right to continue occupying the house" payment, or whether to walk away. Of course they cant refinance or borrow against paper "equity", but those days are gone for a while anyway. ( at least until the multi-trillion dollar currency debasement starts to kick start asset inflation again ! )

U.S. automakers can be saved, Jerry Flint says, noting with admiration Carlos Ghosn's turnaround at Nissan (NSANY). But it's not the government's billions that will do the trick - and all the recovery plans are meaningless, he says. What do they need? Innovative leadership.

all the innovative leadership in the world will not do the trick until the "legacy" cost structure is removed.

At one TD Bank in downtown Manhattan, greeters are emptying the branch's coin-counting machines, known as Penny Arcades, 30 times a day as people break open their piggy banks to pay the rent.

Obama just doesnt see that its JOBS JOBS JOBS.....and all the admins tinkering with regulations, pay caps, healthcare, consumer protections, etc etc just serves to turn the vice another notch on small and medium businesses. Great talker, but with a small vision.

The idea that deflation is bad for us is a lemon - and too many of us bought it, says Bloomberg's Matthew Lynn. It might be just what heavily indebted economies need right now.

I agree that in theory and under a more "normal" economic structure deflation isnt all bad........but in the heavily overleveraged economy we have right now, it will bring an awful lot of chickens home to roost ! ( as since the Government would be the big loser, dont count on them letting it happen......speed up the presses boys)