ebworthen

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

GM to "pay back" $6.7 billion.

"I'll gladly pay you Tuesday for a hamburger today."

So GM takes $45 billion with the left hand and supposedly will, at some point "pay back" $6.7 billion with the right hand? More slight of hand? More shell games? What a steaming crock of B.S.

GE helping China with airplanes and avionics in competition with Boeing?

Just great, maybe GE can help China build a jet fighter to shoot ours down or troop transports to invade Taiwan, Midway, and Hawaii.

The lust for Mammon amongst "American" companies seems to vault patriotism and national interest quite easily.

We are giving China - an oppressive regime ruled by their army - all of our knowledge and advances in order to make a buck. We should not be surprised when they eclipse us or conquer us economically or militarily.

Cramer's Mad Money - The Ultimate Stealth Rolling Bull Market (11/10/09)

A slow build up of the market by sectors on low volume buys...it wouldn't be possible that the FED and GS and other big banks are manipulating the market to make billions and get the lemming investor to follow would it?

Nah!

They are just providing the taxpayer's money at 0%, the HFT computers, the bought politicians and "regulatory" industries, whilst skimming the cream.

Remember, they're doing it "for the children" with warmth in their hearts and nary an evil or greedy thought.

Cramer's Mad Money - When the Facts Change...(10/23/09)

Wait, wait, wait...did you all hear Cramer being negative tonight?

Did you hear Cramer sounding the "Caution, warning" bell?

Did you hear Cramer say he would feel o.k. about earnings reports if the DOW were at 8,000?

Whoops! Holy Hannah! If Jim Cramer is negative, that means we will retest March lows before long, maybe before next spring.

Cramer's Mad Money - When the Facts Change...(10/23/09)

Where are the Three Stooges when you need them?

Equities Update: Economy Trumps Earnings

"Economy Trumps Earnings"

A headline to cut and paste for the future.

Apple F4Q09 (Qtr End 9/26/09) Earnings Call Transcript

Apple will be good as long as the upper middle class and upper class don't feel the collapse of jobs and income.

This always occurs within the middle class first (what is left of it).

The lower classes have gubbment cheese to sustain them, at least since last year.

As the bottom continues to drop out of the consumer (real) economy, Apple may not shine so brightly, though for now they have the software and hardware those with money want and are willing and able to pay for.

Pierce Arrow died during the Great Depression, as did other niche and premium brands. The companies that survived were not niche or high dollar and were able to emphasize value combined with brand identity (i.e. - Kellog, Chevrolet).

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

Apple Profits: as long as people aren't hungry or cold, entertainment luxury items will sell well. Besides - Apple takes Visa, Master Card, and American Express.

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

[Fed chairman Ben Bernanke called on U.S. and Asian leaders to "avoid ever-increasing and unsustainable imbalances in trade and capital flows," saying the U.S. financial system is currently "overwhelmed" by an inflow of capital.]

LOL! Sure Ben, and you are buying Treasuries and the bailed out financials are buying stocks and commodities with taxpayer money.

We are overwhelmed with greed, corruption, and hopium!

And...the Chinese are putting tariffs on some U.S. goods. Farmers have been rioting in the EU for more tariffs as well.

Cap and tax and healthcare that benefits the pharmaceuticals and corporations and increases government largesse.

Hmmm...aren't we waltzing down the path that led to Great Depression I and WWII?

Equities Update: Mixed Feelings Ahead of Earnings Season

Increased earnings based on firing career employees and reduced inventories do not spell recovery.

Asset reflation precedes inflation and bubbles popping.

If you are a day trader you can play the bubble.

If you are a retiree or regular investor and get in front of this train you will be hurt.

The FED and the banks and hedge fund managers are counting on you standing on the railroad tracks with your pennies lined up with earplugs in and your back to the train.

The jump in commodities tells us that many investors do not want to stand on the rails with their pennies; many have been there, done that.

Fool me once shame on you, fool me twice - shame on me.

Prepare for the Tablet Wars

It is amusing to think of how many Birkenstock wearing - Prius driving - global warming cultists will be using electricity to run mercury filled tablets made of petroleum based plastic with a life expectancy of 3 years to replace a printed book that could last hundreds of years; and reading drivel.

Cramer's Stop Trading! The Correction Is Coming (9/24/09)

Julian Robertson = Good

Jim Cramer = Caffeine coated Xanax tablet

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

"Mass layoffs jump"

Markets: "Move along people, nothing to see here, just a 70% consumer spending driven economy with consumers being laid off."

Oy vey...

And I hear people saying that moderate to low income people using the FHA program and putting 3% down to buy a home is a "good sign"; concurrent with reports that corporations are flush with cash from laying people off and municipalities and states are going to increase furloughs.

2 + 2 = 7 on Wall Street I suppose.

Slower Going for IT Spending - But the Recovery Continues

When you had to program in order to play on the computer there was an incentive to learn.

Now, you can play on the computer or game console w/out programming knowledge. How much fun is C++ when your buddies are playing Halo 3? Yawn.

Newer programmers are cut and paste and use templates and plug in's and app's versus learning what underpins that second layer.

Similar to what happened to film and animation when computers took over the special effects and editing, not nearly as much thought had to go into it.


On Sep 18 10:50 PM MartyT wrote:

> I think IT is a super thin market.
>
> I think the world has absolutely consumed its IT resources and has
> failed to invest in creating new IT resources. I used to meet brilliant
> Indian and Chinese IT professionals, but all of the new ones I have
> met are not good programmers and will NEVER be good programmers.
> They try hard, but it's just not in the cards for them.
>
> The skills that it takes to make someone a skilled IT person aren't
> very useful for survival in hunter-gatherer environments or in most
> social environments so those skills have not been genetically selected
> for reproduction. It's a rare skill.
>
> Even if one has been born with the skills they have to have the background
> experience. Most really great programmers I have ever known have
> had two things. Access to programmable computers at a young age (13
> is good), access to programming knowledge (books or magazines), and
> lots and lots of free time. I have known a lot of AWESOME Irish contractors...
> my guess is that has something to do with the weather.
>
> So to have a truly talented programmer you need someone with the
> natural skill, access to programmable computers at a young age, access
> to the knowledge, and lots of free time. That my friends is a rare
> bird. You will find that most professional programmers are FAKERS
> and are not productive and likely do more damage than good (OK I
> am a little bitter).
>
> If you are still reading then thank you... I do ramble on this subject.
> My point is that all of the talented programmers that I know are
> doing fine right now and newly minted talented programmers with any
> interested in working for a corporation are very rare. But if demand
> increases for programmers the wages will spike up quickly. Then a
> lot of FAKERS will fill the extra demand. Unfortunately, the FAKERS
> won't/can't deliver.
>
> The reason companies will deal with all of these problems is because
> a single programmer can increase productivity of a company geometrically.
> The companies that can somehow find and motivate good IT professionals
> will dominate. Figuring out which pros are good and which ones are
> posing and keeping the good ones happy is very very hard.

Slower Going for IT Spending - But the Recovery Continues

I agree with you.

Instead, tuition will be raised next year, and Faculty/Staff are being asked to do more with less, increased class sizes, and longer furloughs. It's better than losing your job, but people (students included) are more important than equipment.


On Sep 20 10:24 AM Michael Clark wrote:

> That sounds familiar. Not exactly 'infrastructure' is it. We have
> bridges collapsing and we're sending money to universities to buy
> computers they don't need. Maybe that money should have went in to
> tuition reductions for students instead.

Slower Going for IT Spending - But the Recovery Continues

The University where I work had a flush of spending in May and June because stimulus money came in and had to be spent before the end of the quarter (June). Budget cuts and a furlough came down in Februray/March, but stimulus money came in shortly after and it was "spend, spend, spend" even on un-needed I.T. equipment.

This next fiscal year is projected to have a much bigger deficit with no stimulus and a longer furlough.

The result will be less I.T. spending by State and Local government agencies, and with higher unemployment and more furloughs, fewer individual purchases.

Don't bank on a "cash for clunkers" or $8,000 tax credit to save the auto industry, home industry, or for the now spent stimulus at the state level to continue the blip evidenced in your report.

A 55% pop in the markets in six months on low volume and government spending and increasing unemployment does not a long term I.T. recovery environment make