Economics

"Some high-level decision-maker at Standard & Poor's has decided that the public should no longer be allowed easy access to this crucial number: the Price/Earnings ratio of the S&P 500. That number went above 140 on September 30, 2009 -- the highest ever recorded. It had continued upward all year." - Maxamad

Assuming that earnings are only temporarily depressed, it's not out of line. Nevertheless, I did cut exposure to stocks recently. - Morton Fox

"US shares have opened lower on worries about Dubai's debt problems, with the Dow Jones index down 126 points, or 1.2%, at 10,338.49." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

Dubai Jitters Infect Debt of Sovereign Spendthrifts - WSJ.com http://bit.ly/87raTM - Eric Logan

"Anarcho-socialists often point to the Spanish Civil War as a wonderfully informative social experiment. They're right, but only because the facts proved their theories horribly wrong." - Alex Scrivener from Bookmarklet

"Consulting firm Accenture predicts that about 52 percent of American consumers plan to hit the stores on that day, up from 42 percent last year. By Sunday, 134 million people are likely to have gone shopping, according to the National Retail Federation, a trade group, up nearly 5 percent over last year." - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

"A fascinating chart from J.P. Morgan provides a look at the percentage of cabinet level political appointees who have private sector experience from T. Roosevelt to Obama." - Alex Scrivener from Bookmarklet

Before there was Facebook, there was the Wednesday 10. In 1957, as men in their late 20s, they began meeting—initially over breakfast, then over dinners held at the Sherry-Netherland Hotel or at the Harvard Club in midtown Manhattan. Few were born to means. Many were sons of immigrants. Most went on to become luminaries in their fields—presidents of television networks, partners at banks, editors of magazines. - Steve

great case study. "By almost every account, Mr. Safire founded the group after one of his superiors at public-relations agency Tex McCrary Inc. asked him to round up some of New York City's most promising young businessmen. 'We need our own organization which has a purpose but might feed business to the firm,' " - Maxim Tee

also, I noted that the club was never designed to outlive it's members and is not likely to do so - Maxim Tee

As support for Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner wanes on Capitol Hill amid frustration with the Obama administration's handling of the economy, JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon is emerging as a potential replacement. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p... - Steve from Bookmarklet

Sources tell The Post that a number of policy makers have begun mentioning Dimon as a successor to Geithner, whose standing in Washington has suffered because of the country's high unemployment rate, the weakness of the dollar, the slow pace of the recovery and the government's mounting deficit. Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p... - Steve

"Standard & Poor's, Moody's and Fitch sued. Lawsuit alleges agencies caused $457 million losses. Moody's, S&P reject allegations; Fitch has no comment. Moody's shares down 2 pct, McGraw-Hill shares down 3 pct (Adds Moody's and S&P comments, CalPERS case, stock prices)." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

"NEW YORK, Nov 20 (Reuters) - The three largest credit rating agencies were sued on Friday by Ohio, which said their pursuit of profit and ties to Wall Street resulted in inflated ratings on toxic mortgage debt that cost state pension funds hundreds of millions of dollars." - Maxamad

"In "The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism" Jack Bogle no longer sees Adam Smith's "invisible hand" driving "capitalism in a healthy, positive direction" - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

"Today, his "Happy Conspiracy" of Wall Street plus co-conspirators in Washington and Corporate America are spreading a contagious "pathological mutation of capitalism" driven by the new "invisible hands" of this new "mutant capitalism," serving their selfish agenda in a war to totally control America's democracy and capitalism." - Maxamad

"U.S. stocks snapped a three-day losing streak on Monday as stronger-than-expected home sales data fueled optimism while a weaker dollar boosted commodity-linked stocks. Sales of previously owned U.S. homes rose to their highest level in more than 2-1/2 years last month. That helped to ease concerns about the sector generated last week when another report showed housing starts fell sharply in October. Monday's data went some distance to reassure investors who have pared positions as they fret about the economy. Stocks rallied broadly, with all 10 S&P sectors showing strong gains. The Dow industrials reached a new 13-month high" - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

"Last week it was revealed that 54 oil tankers are anchored off the coast of Britain, refusing to unload their fuel until prices have risen." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

Of course this is from mailonsunday.co.uk...so it's pretty much all bs. - Maxamad

"The Reid bill also assaults health savings accounts, or HSAs, which allow individuals to accumulate tax-free funds for future medical expenses when coupled with low-premium, high-deductible insurance. The Reid bill changes tax provisions to make HSAs less attractive, but the real threat comes via increased regulation. These insurance products will likely be barred from the insurance "exchanges" that will demolish and supplant today's individual market. Employers will also find them more difficult if not illegal to offer once the government has new powers to "define the essential health benefits" that all plans must eventually offer. Plans that focus mainly on catastrophic health expenses, instead of routine procedures, aren't generous enough for Democrats." - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

"As detailed in Too Big to Fail: How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System — and Themselves, Morgan Stanley received a $9 billion investment from Mitsubishi UFJ in the fall of 2008 that kept the firm from collapsing. The payment was supposed to be wired electronically, but because it needed to be made on an emergency basis on a holiday, Mitsubishi cut a physical check, perhaps the largest ever written. Below is a copy of the $9,000,000,000.00 check." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

Wow. - Maxamad

It isn't that Fannie and Freddie "can’t sell to an end buyer", it is that the GSEs will be selling for a lower price (higher yield) when the Fed completes the MBS purchase program. At that time mortgage rates will probably rise by about 35 bps to 50 bps (relative to the Ten Year) in order to attract other buyers. Alone that isn't all that "scary". - Steve from Bookmarklet

But combined with the growing problems at the FHA, the distortions in the housing market caused by the first-time home buyer tax credit, rising delinquencies, the uncertainty of the modification programs, and likely further house price declines in many bubble states - there are serious problems ahead for the housing market. - Steve

"A shrinking labor force and about 1,000 new jobs have helped put Colorado's latest seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for October at 6.9 percent, a slight decrease from the previous month, the state Department of Labor and Employment said Friday." - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

"In an unprecedented defeat for the Federal Reserve, an amendment to audit the multi-trillion dollar institution was approved by the House Finance Committee with an overwhelming and bipartisan 43-26 vote on Thursday afternoon despite harried last-minute lobbying from top Fed officials and the surprise opposition of Chairman Barney Frank (D-Mass.), who had previously been a supporter." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

"The year was 1992 and the local Pizza Hut had just unveiled a new arcade game.  Not knowing what we were in for, my brother and I begged our parents for a couple bucks and wandered over the the small game room while we waited for some deep dish." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

Nothing with taxes is ever simple, even when you're getting a tax break. An estimated 15.4 million tax filers may be getting paid more of the Making Work Pay credit than they should, according to a report from a Treasury Department inspector general publicly released Monday. And that means they either will get less of a refund than they expected, or will actually owe money to the IRS on their 2009 taxes. - Steve from Bookmarklet

"What can be done to improve U.S. competitiveness? More specifically, who should be doing something about this? This is a complex issue that resists a simple formula. From our view, addressing the problem requires a combination of change in strategy, policy, and behavior. It's a problem for both management and government..." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"...good innovation policy is not the same as industrial policy and picking winners. Good innovation policy creates the right conditions. The failure of the U.S. to engage in serious reform of public education is perhaps the greatest political failure of our generation. And it may well be one of the biggest drags on economic growth in the future." - imabonehead

"Goldman Sachs earned an eye-popping $3.2 billion last quarter. Now it's decided to share some of that with the little guys. The bank said Tuesday that it is launching a $500 million initiative called "10,000 Small Businesses," aimed at unlocking the job creation and economic growth potential of America's small companies. The project's advisory council features an array of business luminaries, including Warren Buffett, Goldman Sachs' largest shareholder. Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and Harvard professor Michael Porter will join Buffett in co-chairing the group." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"$2.5 Trillion - That’s the size of the global oil scam. It’s a number so large that, to put it in perspective, we will now begin measuring the damage done to the global economy in "Madoff Units" ($50Bn rip-offs). $2.5Tn is 50 times the amount of money that Bernie Madoff scammed from investors in his lifetime, but it is less than the monthly excess price the global population is being manipulated into paying for a barrel of oil." - Maxamad from Bookmarklet

"In a study the National Academy of Engineering began in 2006, it concluded that “offshoring appears to have contributed to the competitive advantage of U-S.-based firms in a variety of industries, and the negative impacts of offshoring on U.S. engineering appear to have been relatively modest to date.”" - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

"Retail sales in the U.S. rebounded more than forecast as demand for autos climbed, and a regional gauge of manufacturing showed expansion for a fourth month, easing concern the recovery will cool after government incentives end. Purchases increased 1.4 percent in October after a 2.3 percent drop in September that was larger than the previously estimated, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington." - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

"Billionaire Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N)(BRKb.N) on Monday revealed new investments in Nestle AG (NESN.VX) (NSRGY.PK) and Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM.N) and that it has nearly doubled its investment in Wal-Mart Stores Inc (WMT.N)." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"According to the Harvard Business School's Gary Pisano and Willy Shih, the U.S. has already lost parts of the industrial commons to support manufacturing and innovation in wind turbines, solar panels, and other renewable energy products. Thus, it should not come as a surprise that about 80% of the stimulus money spent on wind farms in the U.S. has gone to the purchase of wind-turbine equipment from foreign companies. The U.S. should use WTO cases to stem the use of local content and other WTO-violating policies in the renewable energy sector." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"Capitalism is still alive and well, say the world's two richest men, despite lingering shocks from the longest, deepest recession since the Great Depression. "The financial panic is behind us," said famed investor Warren Buffett, who recently made what he called an "all-in wager" on the U.S. economy by acquiring railroad Burlington Northern Santa Fe. "The bottom has come in stocks. Don't pass on something that's attractive today."" - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

#notetoself look up webcast of this talk - Maxim Tee

"Dropping tax revenue, rising unemployment and yawning budget gaps are wreaking havoc in states from Arizona to Wisconsin, a new report shows." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"The precious metal jumps to settle at an all-time high as the U.S. dollar declines." - imabonehead from Bookmarklet

"nationalization effectively halted renewable-energy projects, like a plan by the AES Corporation, which used to control the main electricity company in Caracas, for a wind farm on the Paraguaná Peninsula. Despite Venezuela’s large wind and solar potential, renewable energy here remains negligible. Most significant, though, may be the government’s failure to use its immense natural gas reserves, the second largest in the Western Hemisphere after those of the United States, to fuel existing power plants. Venezuela’s gas is technically hard to extract because almost 90 percent of it is associated with oil, but major projects have languished even as Venezuela’s neighbor, Trinidad, taps adjacent gas reserves with ease. Venezuela relies on Colombia, with which ties are increasingly tense, for gas imports. As a result, there is a disconnect between Venezuela’s energy potential and its ability to keep the lights on." - LANjackal from Bookmarklet

Hugo Chavez is a prime example of how not to run a country. - Stephan Planken