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Category Archives: speculative

U.S. Economy contracts for first time since 2008

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  1. Just yesterday Lisa Mahapatra of Business Insider announced the “dawn of a new stock market super-cycle”

  2. We Could Be Witnessing The Dawn Of A New Stock Market Super Cycle

    Despite its huge rally from its March 2009 low, the stock market has effectively gone sideways for the last decade. Many have characteriz…
    Lisa Mahapatra
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    Today the laws of physics issue their verdict on the DOW and only the latest bubble caused by the cheap money of low interest rates. Witness:

  3. US economy shrinks 0.1 pct., first time in 3 ½ years; deep cut in defense spending key factor

    The surprise contraction could raise fears about the economy’s ability to handle tax increases that took effect in January and looming sp…
    Associated Press
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  4. GDP report: U.S. economy contracts in the fourth quarter of 2012

    Uncle Sam cut spending in the fourth quarter of 2012, causing the U.S. economy to contract for the first time in more than three years. G…
    Cnn
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  5. Economy in U.S. Unexpectedly Shrinks as Defense Spending Plunges

    The economy in the U.S. unexpectedly shrank in the fourth quarter, restrained by the biggest plunge in defense spending in four decades a…
    Bloomberg
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  6. Advance Estimate of GDP for the Fourth Quarter of 2012 | The White House

    According to the “advance” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis today, real GDP edged down 0.1 percent at an annual rate …
    WhiteHouse.gov
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  7. Economy Shrank 0.1% in the Fourth Quarter; Analysts Expected Growth of 1.0%

    Kick Images | Getty Images This is a breaking news story. Please check back here for updates. Economists expected the first reading on gr…
    Cnbc
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  8. News Release: Gross Domestic Product

    Data on gross domestic product (GDP), personal income/outlays, corporate profits, fixed assets, government receipts/expenditures. Plus in…
    Bea
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  9. U.S. Private-Sector Jobs Rise by 192,000

    Private businesses added new employees at a rapid clip in January despite layoffs at the largest U.S. companies, according to a tally of …
    Wsj
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Student loan debt larger than sub-prime, distorting labour markets

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  1. Student Loan Update: “This Situation Is Simply Unsustainable” | Zero Hedge

    “The delinquency rate today on student loans that were originated from 2005-2007 is 12.4 percent. The comparable figure for student loans…
    Zerohedge
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  2. Tumblr
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    Tue, Jan 29 2013 21:37:14

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  3. The bodies are aligned, are they not?
  4. Subsidies Create Glut Of College Grads

    Higher Education: A new study finds almost half of Americans with college degrees are working at jobs that don’t require one. It’s the la…
    Investors
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Paris is the New Athens as France enters economic death-spiral

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  1. The euro crisis no one is talking about: France is in free fall

    The euro zone’s second-largest economy is suffering more than any other member from a shocking deterioration in competitiveness. And it’s…
    Shawn Tully, senior editor-at-large
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  2. Sorry, but Europe’s Economic Crisis Is Not Over

    Financial conditions in Europe are improving, and the sense of imminent doom has lifted. Some commentators are daring to say that Europe’…
    Bloomberg
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  3. Frankrupt Damage Control “France Is A Truly Solvent Country, France Is A Truly Credible Country” | Zero Hedge

    In a move farcically reminiscent of Inspector Clouseau, the French Finance Minister made an impromptu appearance on the BBC to confirm wh…
    Zerohedge
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  4. Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis: France “Totally Bankrupt” Says Labour Minister; Inappropriate or Inaccurate?

    Mish’s financial blog covers global news and macroeconomic events regarding the world economy. The blog’s primary focus is inflation, def…
    Blogspot
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Yuri Nosovsky for Pravda.Ru: “Psychologists have not yet decided on the name of the social and psychic phenomenon. Some suggest the term ‘cute aggression.’”

Yuri Nosovsky writes the following for Pravda.Ru in an article titled Beauty won’t save the world:

[...] It turns out, beauty is not an insurance against evil, on the contrary, it often contributes to the manifestation of the darkest parts of human soul. It is more than jealousy or desire to have the same thing as your neighbor. Beautiful creations of nature can also manifest dark instincts.

After a series of studies, this phenomenon was noticed by scientists at Yale University in the U.S. Often, for example, seeing a pretty baby, even the baby’s relatives squeeze their cheeks, clearly mimicking pinches. While no real pain is inflicted, the intent is obvious. A similar reaction may be caused by cute kittens, puppies, etc. [...]

And:

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yours &c.
g.

the system will persist until the very moment it does not: how the progressive position on debt, deficits, and entitlement reform, is at odds with the laws of physics

The U.S. President in his second inaugural address issues the following contradiction: “We must make the hard choices to reduce the cost of health care and the size of our deficit. But we reject the belief that America must choose between caring for the generation that built this country and investing in the generation that will build its future.” The solution to resolve this contradiction seized on by the courtier-classes of press and commentariat has been to emphasize that (a) the electorate endorses the system as it stands, and (b) the system as it stands is threatened not by debt, not by deficit, nor by market registers of the performance of nation states or other polities (What crisis?).

Caption: Wait. That should read Now Here, as in, you are now here, right?

Both (a) and (b) are true on their face, just as it is true as I write this that the weather is cold. But for how long, as the days are even now growing longer? At some point a combination of incremental, quantitative changes will produce the qualitative change of a change in seasons. Let us explore an example of the reasoning of the centre-left on the issue of entitlement-reform. In a Political Animal blog burst titled Four years later, Paul Ryan wants more of the same, Samuel Knight writes: Read More »

the anti-campaign of the anti-campaigner

[Willard Mitt Romney's] Hopes for wrapping up the nomination with a quick-strike victory, which would require a strong showing in Iowa, are fading, write Jonathan Martin, Maggie Haberman and Reid J. Epstein for POLITICO.com in a story titled Gingrich surge prompts Romney reboot

Martin, Haberman, and Epstein continue:

Romney’s comments effectively marked a public concession that the play-it-safe approach he’s held to so far this year – limiting his interviews and doing only modest amounts of retail campaigning – simply won’t cut it anymore [...] Read More »

NYC’s population density is about 26,000 people per square mile; Occupy Wall Street protesters active in the financial district of New York City number about 4,000 with Philadelphia’s Occupy protest a distant second at about 430 protesters

Say the Wall Street Occupiers concentrate their numbers on a few city blocks as tactical and organizational necessity would predict. Based on these numbers they would account for about a 15% increase in population but only in the area that they occupy—well, maybe, because my calculations are rough and based on Wikipedia numbers, and on any given business day the population of New York City’s financial district increases to about 300,000 workers. So in the mornings and afternoons when most of Manhattan rises to its feet to travel along the sidewalks to or from the bus stops, train stations, or parking garages, the Occupier formations would hardly rise to the threshold of most peoples perception unless the Occupiers got deliberately in the way of pedestrian traffic. (This, however, I would notice immediately.)

Here be the numbers of Occupy Wall Street protesters by location as reported by the Washington Post in the form of a table.

Caption: Lost in the crowd Read More »

thank you, Jack Layton, for your service, and for your example

An era passes with you from this world. May your name be for a blessing. From Jack Layton’s Last Letter to All Canadians:

[...] And finally, to all Canadians: Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change. In the months and years to come, New Democrats will put a compelling new alternative to you. My colleagues in our party are an impressive, committed team. Give them a careful hearing; consider the alternatives; and consider that we can be a better, fairer, more equal country by working together. Don’t let them tell you it can’t be done.

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world [...]

I have no comment worthy of this elegant farewell address except to say that I cried.

yours &c.
g.

Stefan Karlsson of the CSM: gold “purchases [by central banks] could be a signal that [they] intend to create more inflation and it also increases the likelihood that they will later create more inflation”

South Korea’s central bank, the Bank of Korea, bought 25 tonnes of gold at a value of $1.24 billion during the last two months, writes Stefan Karlsson in his eponymously named Christian Science Monitor blog in a blog burst titled What does it mean when central banks start buying gold? South Korea’s central bank purchased a substantial amount in the past two months, which could mean that inflationary policies are more likely

Caption: The cold glow of the mineral light returns as the world turns dark. 

Karlsson continues by way of an awkward sentence:

This is one of many examples of how central banks these days a lot more often buys gold rather than selling it in the past [...]

Well, precisely. For more on this theme, please see:

Chairman of the Federal Reserve, Ben Bernanke, to Representative Ron Paul: Gold Isn’t Money—Earth to Bernanke: You’re not paying attention

yours &c.
g.

objective process of de-globalization continues apace, contradicts White House Policy

Recall our beloved President’s plan to “export our way to stability,” and to call forth from the ethers a manufacturing renaissance by diverting productive capital to research universities and government agencies like the EPA on the basis of decisions returned by round-tables of “really smart folks”, and recall that the growth in the U.S. manufacturing sector over the past several quarters has been all an illusion, so these “policy proposals” are wish-projections void of positive content, based in silhouettes and shadows.

Caption: It was all a dream Read More »

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