STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday September 27

[ozymandius]

Source: du

STOCK MARKET WATCH, Monday September 27, 2010

AT THE CLOSING BELL ON September 24, 2010

Dow 10,860.26 +197.84 (+1.86%)
Nasdaq 2,381.22 +54.14 (+2.33%)
S&P 500 1,148.67 +23.84 (+2.12%)
Gold future... 1,296.00 +1.70 (+0.13%)
10-Yr Bond... 2.61 +0.06 (+2.20%)
30-Year Bond 3.79 +0.06 (+1.66%)

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Market Conditions During Trading Hours

Euro, Yen, Loonie, Silver and Gold

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Bush Administration Officials Convicted = 2
Names: David Safavian, James Fondren

Bush Administration Officials Charged = 1
Name(s): Richard Lopez Razo

Financial Sector Officials Convicted since 1/20/09 = 11

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This thread contains opinions and observations. Individuals may post their experiences, inferences and opinions on this thread. However, it should not be construed as advice. It is unethical (and probably illegal) for financial recommendations to be given here.

Read more: du

[ozymandius]

1. no goobermental reports today n/t

[ozymandius]

2. Oil creeps higher to near $77 as equities rise

SINGAPORE – Oil prices crept higher to near $77 a barrel Monday in Asia, boosted by a rally in global stock markets.

A surprise jump in U.S. durable goods orders and corporate spending drove Wall Street higher on Friday and carried over to Asian trading on Monday. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 1.9 percent Friday and all major Asian stock indexes advanced, led by a 1.4 percent increase in Japan.

In other Nymex trading in October contracts, heating oil rose 0.72 cent to $2.138 a gallon and gasoline gained 0.26 cent to $1.95 a gallon. Natural gas plunged 10.9 cents to 3.772 per 1,000 cubic feet.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/oil_prices

[ozymandius]

3. Deflation, inflation and the U.S. Fed

The Fed said last week that inflation was below its comfort level and likely to stay that way for some time. The central bank said it was prepared to step in if necessary to ensure that this doesn't morph into something serious like deflation.

The Fed's favorite inflation gauge -- the ineloquently named core PCE price index -- is due on Friday and is likely to show a slight uptick for September, according to a Reuters poll. On a year-over-year basis, the index is expected to hold steady at 1.4 percent, below the Fed's comfort zone of 1.7 percent to 2 percent.

The measure excludes food and energy prices, which the Fed considers too volatile to provide a reliable signal on future price direction. But food, energy and other major commodity groups have soared in the past couple of months, which explains why companies like Starbucks are raising prices.

For the Fed, consumers' expectations are more important than those of analysts, so the most salient piece of information this week may come from the Reuters-University of Michigan survey of consumers on Friday, which will include questions on inflation expectations.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100926/bs_nm/us_economy_weekahead_outlook

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Food and energy prices have either risen in my area or they have remained stubbornly sticky. Wholesale prices on many items like produce never declined after the gas price shocks of 2006.

[MilesColtrane]

15. Does quantitative easing actually work?

I know it was deemed ineffective in Japan.

And, what other tools does the Fed have to try to stave off deflation?

[Demeter]

16. It Works for SOME People

Just not the ones that don't count in America.

[Po_d Mainiac]

18. They can still resort to name-calling

What the Fed seems incapable of seeing (and Ozy pointed it out already) the basic daily necessities are inflating. Groceries, medicines, insurance, local taxes...etc.

If it's a product deemed a necessity, and it's also imported, it's rising in price. The price of coffee was used as an example in the Friday SMW

What's not inflating are RE valuations and expendable income.

The next round of Fed QE will further the downward economic spiral by further reducing money available for discretionary spending. Home purchasing is discretionary. Renting in lieu of ownership, is not.

Of special note is that, yup, the Japanese model has failed. It has failed in a country that still manufactures product. What Japan does not have is raw materials. Yen devaluation aimed at improving exports (to increase foreign capital flow) blew the cost of imports upwards, crushed the net worth of savers, killed consumer spending and busted their real-estate bubble and banking system.

The US lacks the net export status that Japan holds. We have lots of raw material, but we fail to add value to it before shipping it out. Further QE will raise the one commodity we've foolishly come to depend on..OIL.

[MilesColtrane]

22. So, when no known change in monetary policy can solve the problem of stagflation...

they'll just refuse to acknowledge that it's happening.

BRILLIANT!

Glad we've got our best guys on this.

[ozymandius]

30. There is not much else they can do.

Japan does not enjoy fiat currency status like the $US. As long as the U.S. has the world under its thumb with the majority of crude oil's balance of payments in petrodollars then quantitative easing is a viable tool.

[Festivito]

4. Debt: 09/23/2010 13,463,477,025,087.58 (DOWN 7,617,145,228.62) (Thu)

(Down some. Good day.)
On Cipro and all I did was sleep the weekend away.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 8,962,078,027,778.79 + 4,501,398,997,308.79
DOWN 8,701,405,875.05 + UP 1,084,260,646.43

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,224.30 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.67, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 13 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,144,977 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 04/09/2010 15:49 -> 309,034,742
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,410.27.
A family of three owes $130,230.81. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,356,466,924.18.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,339,957,975.21.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,232,217,395.36.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 246 reports in 358 days of FY2010 averaging 6.32B$ per report, 4.34B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 850 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.6 and 17.9T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
09/23/2010 13,463,477,025,087.58 BHO (UP 2,836,599,976,174.50 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,553,648,021,575.80 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,584,026,614,176.45 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
09/02/2010 +008,773,043,668.95 ------------*********
09/03/2010 +000,065,447,919.59 ------------*******
09/07/2010 +000,022,960,425.76 ------------******* Tue
09/08/2010 +000,399,922,819.12 ------------********
09/09/2010 +008,813,573,460.79 ------------*********
09/10/2010 -000,055,297,184.77 ----
09/13/2010 +000,091,299,524.00 ------------******* Mon
09/14/2010 +000,150,853,245.21 ------------********
09/15/2010 +064,417,149,283.94 ------------**********
09/16/2010 -036,646,694,679.28 -
09/17/2010 -000,203,034,896.34 ---
09/20/2010 +000,019,446,813.89 ------------******* Mon
09/21/2010 +000,509,875,602.04 ------------********
09/22/2010 -000,022,020,658.96 ----
09/23/2010 -008,701,405,875.05 --

37,635,119,468.89 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4551520&mesg_id=4551773

[Festivito]

37. Debt: 09/24/2010 13,466,818,283,723.48 (UP 3,341,258,635.90) (Fri)

(Up a little. Good day.)
Long day again.
(Debt under Obama seems to jump up big then drop slowly maybe up a little and down a little for days--repeat.)
= Held by the Public + Intragovernmental(FICA)
= 8,962,112,145,545.98 + 4,504,706,138,177.50
UP 34,117,767.19 + UP 3,307,140,868.71

Source: Debt to the penny:
http://www.treasurydirect.gov/NP/BPDLogin?application=np

THINKING IN BILLIONS: Think 3 or 4 dollars per billion in a 310-Million person America.
If every American, man, woman and child puts in $3.22 THAT'S 1B$, and $3,224.23 makes 1T$.
A family of three: Mom, Dad, Child: $9.67, ABOUT TEN BUCKS for a 1B$ federal program.
I hope that is clear. However, I'd suggest using $3 per 1B$ to underestimate it.
Use $4 per 1B$ to overestimate the cost when thinking: Is the federal program worth it?
Aid to Dependant Children: 2B$/yr =$8/yr(a movie a year) Family of 3: $24/yr(an hour of bowling)

PERSONALIZED DEBT:
Every 13 seconds we net gain another American, so at the end of the workday of the report, there should be 310,151,624 people in America.
http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html ON 04/09/2010 15:49 -> 309,034,742
Currently, each of these Americans owe $43,420.11.
A family of three owes $130,260.34. (And that is IN ADDITION to their mortgage.)

ANALYSIS:
There were 23 reports in the last 30 to 31 days.
The average for the last 23 reports is 4,152,894,931.66.
The average for the last 30 days would be 3,183,886,114.27.
The average for the last 31 days would be 3,081,180,110.59.
There were 252 reports in 365 days of FY2007 averaging 1.99B$ per report, 1.37B$/day.
There were 253 reports in 366 days of FY2008 averaging 4.02B$ per report, 2.78B$/day.
There were 75 reports in 112 days of GWB's part of FY2009 averaging 8.03B$ per report, 5.38B$/day.
There were 174 reports in 253 days of Obama's part of FY2009 averaging 7.33B$ per report, 5.07B$/day so far.
There were 249 reports in 365 days of FY2009 averaging 7.57B$ per report, 5.16B$/day.
There were 247 reports in 359 days of FY2010 averaging 6.30B$ per report, 4.34B$/day.
Above line should be okay

PROJECTION:
There are 849 days remaining in this Obama 1st term.
By that time the debt could be between 14.6 and 17.9T$.
It could be higher. It could be lower.

HISTORICAL:
President's term begins and ends on Jan 20.
(Guess who might want to hide the Reagan Bush years. Jan 20 data is missing before 1993.)
01/20/1993 _4,188,092,107,183.60 WJC Inaugural
01/22/2001 _5,728,195,796,181.57 WJC (UP 1,540,103,688,997.97)
01/20/2009 10,626,877,048,913.08 GWB (UP 4,898,681,252,731.43)
09/24/2010 13,466,818,283,723.48 BHO (UP 2,839,941,234,810.40 so far since Obama took office.)

FISCAL YEAR DEBT CHANGE, Sep 30 prior year to Sep 30 named year:
(One "* " for each 40B$ reached)
FY1994 +0,281,261,026,873.94 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1995 +0,281,232,990,696.07 ------------* * * * * * * WJC
FY1996 +0,250,828,038,426.34 ------------* * * * * * WJC
FY1997 +0,188,335,072,261.61 ------------* * * * WJC
FY1998 +0,113,046,997,500.28 ------------* * WJC
FY1999 +0,130,077,892,735.81 ------------* * * WJC
FY2000 +0,017,907,308,253.43 ------------WJC
FY2001 +0,133,285,202,313.20 ------------* * * C&B
01-WJC +0,053,598,528,417.78 ------------* WJC 31% of FY, 40% of FY-Debt
01-GWB +0,079,686,673,895.42 ------------* GWB 69% of FY, 60% of FY-Debt
FY2002 +0,420,772,553,397.10 ------------* * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2003 +0,554,995,097,146.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2004 +0,595,821,633,586.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2005 +0,553,656,965,393.18 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2006 +0,574,264,237,491.73 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2007 +0,500,679,473,047.25 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2008 +1,017,071,524,649.92 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB
FY2009 +1,885,104,106,599.30 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * B&O
09GWB +0,602,152,152,000.60 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * GWB 31% of FY, 32% of FY-Debt
09-BHO +1,282,951,954,598.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO 69% of FY, 68% of FY-Debt
FY2010 +1,556,989,280,211.70 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * BHO
Endof10 +1,583,011,385,173.46 ------------* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Linear Projection

LAST FIFTEEN REPORTS OF ADDITIONS TO PUBLIC DEBT(NOT FICA):
09/03/2010 +000,065,447,919.59 ------------*******
09/07/2010 +000,022,960,425.76 ------------******* Tue
09/08/2010 +000,399,922,819.12 ------------********
09/09/2010 +008,813,573,460.79 ------------*********
09/10/2010 -000,055,297,184.77 ----
09/13/2010 +000,091,299,524.00 ------------******* Mon
09/14/2010 +000,150,853,245.21 ------------********
09/15/2010 +064,417,149,283.94 ------------**********
09/16/2010 -036,646,694,679.28 -
09/17/2010 -000,203,034,896.34 ---
09/20/2010 +000,019,446,813.89 ------------******* Mon
09/21/2010 +000,509,875,602.04 ------------********
09/22/2010 -000,022,020,658.96 ----
09/23/2010 -008,701,405,875.05 --
09/24/2010 +000,034,117,767.19 ------------*******

28,896,193,567.13 Total of 15 above reports.

Heavy borrowing seems to start after 09/18/2008 while Bush was in power JUST BEFORE fiscal year end.
Bush admin borrowed $962,245,245,654.01 in those last 124 days in office crossing two fiscal years.
$360,093,093,653.42 in last 12 days of FY2008, and $602,152,152,000.59 in subsequent 112 days before leaving office.

For a prettier and more explanatory view of our nation's debt:
http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock
http://www.usdebtclock.org/
DUer primer on National debt

(Debt to the penny keeps changing. Stuff is missing. Best to keep our own history.) LAST REPORT:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=102&topic_id=4554681&mesg_id=4554686

[ozymandius]

5. Global stock underwriting down 9 percent so far this year

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Global stock underwriting proceeds have slipped nine percent so far this year as investors prove less willing to take risks amid an uncertain economic recovery.

Globally, JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) nabbed the top spot among banks for equity capital markets (ECM) underwriting in the first three quarters of 2010, but it hauled in less than half of what it did a year earlier.

Equity capital markets data includes underwriting of initial public offerings, follow-on offerings and other equity-related securities.

A slow economic recovery may have affected companies' quarterly results and valuations, meaning that IPOs in the pipeline may not be able to fetch top dollar, said Frank Maturo, co-head of equity capital markets for the Americas at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100927/bs_nm/us_ecm

---

Also consider the falling trading volume in equities. Friday's volume on the NYSE was a little over four billion shares traded; Nasdaq volume was a wink over 2 billion shares. Those figures show how many people have turned away from the game since the halcyon days three years ago when it would be routine to see volume at ten billion shares.

[ozymandius]

6. Treasury Said to Prepare AIG Exit, Repayment Plan

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The U.S. Treasury Department may announce plans as early as this week to return American International Group Inc. to independence and recoup taxpayer money from the insurer’s bailout, according to three people with knowledge of the talks.

The biggest part of that strategy is for Treasury to begin converting its $49 billion preferred stake into common stock for sales by the first half of next year, said the people, who declined to be identified because the negotiations are private. The timing of an announcement depends on the pace of talks between regulators and the New York-based insurer, and discussions may extend beyond this week, the people said.

AIG, once the world’s largest insurer, was first rescued in September 2008 by the Federal Reserve. After three revisions, the firm’s $182.3 billion lifeline includes a Fed credit facility, a Treasury investment of as much as $69.8 billion and up to $52.5 billion to buy mortgage-linked assets owned or backed by AIG.

The company, which in addition to the Treasury’s preferred stake owes about $20 billion on the Fed credit line, is the only insurer yet to repay its Troubled Asset Relief Program rescue funds. Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. and Lincoln National Corp. repaid their bailouts, and this month Treasury raised more than $900 million selling warrants in the companies.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aw0IUBCooZJo&pos=1

[Demeter]

17. One Would Have to Be Insane to Buy AIG Stock

[ozymandius]

7. File under 'Obvious': This Time Different Calling Trough as NBER Sees Not Much Rebound

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- The panel of U.S. economists that calls the beginnings and ends of recessions may be a lot busier in the coming decade than it was in the past quarter century.

This rebound “is very different from other cycles, especially 1981-82, when employment had grown vigorously by this time in the recovery,” said Robert Hall, a Stanford University economics professor who heads the National Bureau of Economic Research’s Business Cycle Dating Committee. “An important reason is that changes in the financial system resulting from the crisis, a factor absent in recoveries since the Depression, have hindered expansion” by limiting the supply of credit.

The worst recession since the 1930s ended in June 2009, the committee said on Sept. 20. At the same time, the panel “did not conclude that economic conditions since that month have been favorable or that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity,” according to a statement.

http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=agM3OW1iu4lQ&pos=7

[hamerfan]

9. I nominate NBER

for the Firm Grasp Of The Obvious award for this line:

"the panel “did not conclude that economic conditions since that month have been favorable or that the economy has returned to operating at normal capacity”"

[Roland99]

14. Uh, wouldn't an important reason be that Millions of jobs have been shipped overseas since 1980?

naaaaah

[ozymandius]

8. Thaler on Tax Cuts

From Ritholtz:

University of Chicago Behavioral Economist Richard Thaler drops some hard analysis on the tax-cut-at-any-price crowd in his NYT column this week:

“Want to give affluent households a present worth $700 billion over the next decade? In a period of high unemployment and fiscal austerity, this idea may seem laughable. Amazingly, though, it is getting traction in Washington.

I am referring, of course, to the current debate about whether to extend all, or just some, of the tax cuts of President George W. Bush — cuts that are due to expire at year-end. They’re expiring because the only way they could be enacted initially was by pretending that they were temporary.

http://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2010/09/thaler-on-tax-cuts/

[ozymandius]

10. And Bruce Bartlett on tax cuts

Reagan's Tax Increases

I see that former Senator Alan Simpson, co-chair of the deficit reduction commission, is angry with anti-tax fanatics for saying that he supported tax increases while in the Senate. Without checking his voting record, I think it's reasonable to assume that Simpson, like almost all Republicans in the Senate in the 1980s, probably voted for the many tax increases supported and signed into law by Ronald Reagan, which eventually took back half of the 1981 tax cut (see below).

It may come as a surprise to some people that once upon a time in the not-too-distant past Republicans actually cared enough about budget deficits that they thought raising taxes was necessary to bring them down. Today, Republicans believe that deficits are nothing more than something to ignore when they are in power and to bludgeon Democrats with when they are out of power.

http://capitalgainsandgames.com/blog/bruce-bartlett/1632/reagans-tax-increases

---

Below these two paragraphs are tables that specifically identify Reagan's tax increases (and, rhetorically, reverse tax cuts)

[Dr.Phool]

12. No excrement Holmes!

"By pretending that they were temporary".

We knew it then, and they're proving it now. Meanwhile, in Idiot America, politicians are running around with the winning formula of E=Mc+ 2x4. It's simple Less money = more money for government. I think I fell asleep during that math class.

[ozymandius]

11. Gotta run...

:donut: :donut: :donut: Have a great day, all. I must prepare myself for the day ahead.

:hi:

[Dr.Phool]

13. Have fun.

:hi:

[Dr.Phool]

19. Everybody must be at the beach today.

[Dr.Phool]

20. How to sell whale steaks to Greenpeace.

Sounds like something Tansy would do.


HOW TO SELL TOOTHBRUSHES
>
> The kids filed back into class Monday
> morning. They were very excited. Their weekend
> assignment was to sell something, then give a talk on
> productive salesmanship.
>
> Little Sally led off: "I sold girl scout cookies
> and I made $30," she said proudly, "My sales approach was to
> appeal to the customer's civil spirit and I credit that
> approach for my obvious success."
>
> "Very good," said the teacher.
>
> Little Jenny was next:
>
> "I sold magazines," she said, "I made $45 and I
> explained to everyone that magazines would keep them up on
> current events."
>
>
>

"Very good, Jenny," said
>the teacher..
>
> Eventually, it was Little Johnny's turn.
>
> The teacher held her breath ...
>
> Little Johnny walked to the front of the
> classroom and dumped a box full of cash on the teacher's
> desk. "$2,467," he said.
>
> "$2,467!" cried the teacher, "What in the world
> were you selling?"
>
> "Toothbrushes," said Little Johnny.
>
> "Toothbrushes!" echoed the teacher, "How could
> you possibly sell enough tooth brushes to make that much
> money?"
>
> "I found the busiest corner in town," said Little
> Johnny, "I set up a Dip & Chip stand and gave everybody
> who walked by a free sample."
>
> They all said the same thing, "Hey, this tastes
> like dog poop!"
>
> Then I would say,"It is dog poop. Wanna buy a toothbrush?"
>
> "I used the government's strategy of giving you
> something shitty for free, and then making you pay to get
> that taste out of your mouth."

[DemReadingDU]

21. shitty dog poop

Yep, that's all it is
:puke:

[Demeter]

24. OMG!

A future Yale Graduate MBA.

I wish I WERE at the beach, even though it's only 50F or so....I've just eaten a whole bag of chocolate cookies during ANOTHER emergency conference call with a lawyer trying to kill this Co-op dead.

It's a Zombie, I tell you. I can feel my brain being sucked out each time the topic arises, which is several times a day.

We even were broadcast an hysterical email full of tears, imprecations and threats from yet a different lawyer ON SUNDAY and he wanted immediate telephone response from 5 board members. This man has been AWOL since June 20th...

Remind me never to volunteer for anything again.

[Dr.Phool]

27. Well, it's still in the 90's here.

And, I just finished helping my dear old dad get loaded up, so he can move back to South Carolina again.

It's enough to make a crazy man nuts.

[Demeter]

33. Oh NO!

I'm so sorry, Doc. Couldn't he find enough widow ladies to keep him in sunny Florida?

My sister is off to DC to try to coax the Father out of his shell...er, dangerous split-level...or at least into the doctor's office.

I really ought to call the county and report him as living unsafely and unable to care for himself....sigh. The oldest gets to play the heavy?

[Tansy_Gold]

31. ROFL! I'm not that devious! (it's 102 here right now) n/t

[Demeter]

34. Nor that sadistic.

[Tansy_Gold]

35. Now, wait a minute. I didn't say THAT! n/t

[TalkingDog]

23. THIS:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_plight_of_american_manufacturing


Something has gone radically wrong with the American economy. A once-robust system of "traditional engineering" -- the invention, design, and manufacture of products -- has been replaced by financial engineering. Without a vibrant manufacturing sector, Wall Street created money it did not have and Americans spent money they did not have.

Americans stopped making the products they continued to buy: clothing, computers, consumer electronics, flat-screen TVs, household items, and millions of automobiles.

America's economic elite has long argued that the country does not need an industrial base. The economies in states such as California and Michigan that have lost their industrial base, however, belie that claim. Without an industrial base, an increase in consumer spending, which pulled the country out of past recessions, will not put Americans back to work. Without an industrial base, the nation's trade deficit will continue to grow. Without an industrial base, there will be no economic ladder for a generation of immigrants, stranded in low-paying service-sector jobs. Without an industrial base, the United States will be increasingly dependent on foreign manufacturers even for its key military technology.






It's the JOBS, STUPID!!!!!!

[hamerfan]

36. Indeed!

Read the above linked story. Another link here:

http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=the_plight_of_american_manufacturing

Unfortunately, we all here at SMW are aware if this, so please forward the link to others!

[Demeter]

25. Structure of Excuses By PAUL KRUGMAN

By PAUL KRUGMAN

What can be done about mass unemployment? All the wise heads agree: there are no quick or easy answers. There is work to be done, but workers aren’t ready to do it — they’re in the wrong places, or they have the wrong skills. Our problems are “structural,” and will take many years to solve.

But don’t bother asking for evidence that justifies this bleak view. There isn’t any. On the contrary, all the facts suggest that high unemployment in America is the result of inadequate demand — full stop. Saying that there are no easy answers sounds wise, but it’s actually foolish: our unemployment crisis could be cured very quickly if we had the intellectual clarity and political will to act.

In other words, structural unemployment is a fake problem, which mainly serves as an excuse for not pursuing real solutions.

Who are these wise heads I’m talking about? The most widely quoted figure is Narayana Kocherlakota, the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, who has attracted a lot of attention by insisting that dealing with high unemployment isn’t a Fed responsibility: “Firms have jobs, but can’t find appropriate workers. The workers want to work, but can’t find appropriate jobs,” he asserts, concluding that “It is hard to see how the Fed can do much to cure this problem.”

BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!

[Demeter]

26. How did President Obama's outgoing economic team do?

DUCKS FLYING TOMATOES==CONSIDER IT A COMEDY PIECE, FOR YOUR BLOOD PRESSURE'S SAKE.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/09/24/AR2010092405074.html?nav=rss_opinion/columns

[Dr.Phool]

28. WTF?

:wtf:

[jtuck004]

29. There must be another page somewhere

from the article

"How have they done? To be sure, the economy is in worse shape than they anticipated. Logically, there are two possibilities: (a) The economy was sicker than they appreciated; or (b) the policies they put in place have not had their intended effect. There is no way to know for sure which is the case, but the Obama team is adamant that the answer is A rather than B. Obama's advisers seem unwilling to doubt the efficacy of their policies -- even though they were more interventionist and more redistributionist than was probably wise. "

According to the above, if they affirm the efficacy of their policies, and acknowledge that the economy is sicker than they appreciated, doesn't that lead logically to some new program, more massive effort to create employment, to make sure people can
start new business, to progress towards those things we will need in the 22nd century?

Yet I don't see their response to this new awareness of a sicker economy. Surely they are not sitting on what they have done.

There must be another page.

[Demeter]

32. Nope. What You See Is What You Get

Fawning adulation of third-rate failures. "Nobody could have imagined the economy would go belly-up....."

Where have we heard such limited imagination before? Oh, yeah--Kindasleazy!