Friday, July 23, 2010
Market volatility
Goldman finally lowered their outrageous pimp price of $190 on AMZN to $150.
In regards to market volitility:
In their option advice they suggest being long the Bovespa and short the Russell, estimating that this trade would be 100% of the time profitable over the past decade.
Now look at PIMCO this morning in regard to market volitility. Here's what they said: (Wait--Isn't PIMCO now in the business of hedging "tail" risk--an event that now predict will happen with increasing occurences? Oh My!! Another way to fleece the pensions and retirement systems of America!
--------
This is because we are in a New Normal world in which the distribution of outcomes is flatter and the tails are fatter. As such, the mean of the distribution becomes an observation that is very rarely realized, creating at least three fundamental consequences for investment strategy.
Getting the Tails Right
First, since the price at which investors can buy an asset will tend to reflect the ex ante mean of the distribution of returns, realizing alpha in the New Normal world when selling the asset will require getting the tails right. Selling after a left tail event is realized (or after the market gets news that a left tail event is more likely – think Greece) will likely result in big losses. Selling after a right tail event is realized (or after the market gets news that it is more likely – think J.P. Morgan shares after the conference committee vote on the Dodd-Frank bill) will likely result in big gains. On average, the investor’s returns will likely be modest, but only rarely if ever does any investor realize those average returns.
“Getting the tails right” will be easier said than done. Rules of thumb and historical correlations will likely prove to be irrelevant or, even worse, misleading guides to portfolio positioning. Examples abound: V-shaped recoveries may not inevitably follow deep recessions (as the incoming U.S. data are now confirming); tripling the monetary base may not inevitably lead to double-digit inflation (as the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities [TIPS] market is telling us); and half-trillion-dollar official sector rescue packages may not inevitably be sufficient to address sovereign liquidity disruptions (as is reflected in Greek government bond prices).
GS main 0723
In reality, we just have daily volatility, confined to a rising channel, exaggerated by the influence of the HFT players who have an outsize influence on the market, because the retail investor still doesn't have any money or he's still staying away!
So now Wall Street needs to exaggerate that fear, so they can make some coin on it!
And from Goldman to PIMCO, they'll manage to take your coin with their highfalutin strategies!
In regards to market volitility:
In their option advice they suggest being long the Bovespa and short the Russell, estimating that this trade would be 100% of the time profitable over the past decade.
Now look at PIMCO this morning in regard to market volitility. Here's what they said: (Wait--Isn't PIMCO now in the business of hedging "tail" risk--an event that now predict will happen with increasing occurences? Oh My!! Another way to fleece the pensions and retirement systems of America!
--------
This is because we are in a New Normal world in which the distribution of outcomes is flatter and the tails are fatter. As such, the mean of the distribution becomes an observation that is very rarely realized, creating at least three fundamental consequences for investment strategy.
Getting the Tails Right
First, since the price at which investors can buy an asset will tend to reflect the ex ante mean of the distribution of returns, realizing alpha in the New Normal world when selling the asset will require getting the tails right. Selling after a left tail event is realized (or after the market gets news that a left tail event is more likely – think Greece) will likely result in big losses. Selling after a right tail event is realized (or after the market gets news that it is more likely – think J.P. Morgan shares after the conference committee vote on the Dodd-Frank bill) will likely result in big gains. On average, the investor’s returns will likely be modest, but only rarely if ever does any investor realize those average returns.
“Getting the tails right” will be easier said than done. Rules of thumb and historical correlations will likely prove to be irrelevant or, even worse, misleading guides to portfolio positioning. Examples abound: V-shaped recoveries may not inevitably follow deep recessions (as the incoming U.S. data are now confirming); tripling the monetary base may not inevitably lead to double-digit inflation (as the Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities [TIPS] market is telling us); and half-trillion-dollar official sector rescue packages may not inevitably be sufficient to address sovereign liquidity disruptions (as is reflected in Greek government bond prices).
GS main 0723
In reality, we just have daily volatility, confined to a rising channel, exaggerated by the influence of the HFT players who have an outsize influence on the market, because the retail investor still doesn't have any money or he's still staying away!
So now Wall Street needs to exaggerate that fear, so they can make some coin on it!
And from Goldman to PIMCO, they'll manage to take your coin with their highfalutin strategies!
John Kerry moves his yahct to Rhode Island to beat the tax on it
He moved his 76 foot yacht "Isabel" to Rhode Island instead of Nantucket so he wouldn't have to pay taxes.
He now won't have to pay the $437,000 sales tax or the annual excise tax of $70,000.
Kerry's chief of staff David Wade said: “The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it’s based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long-term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons.”
But he'll sure raise your taxes anytime or any chance he gets!
He now won't have to pay the $437,000 sales tax or the annual excise tax of $70,000.
Kerry's chief of staff David Wade said: “The boat was designed by and purchased from a company in Rhode Island, and it’s based in Newport at the Newport Shipyard for long-term maintenance, upkeep and charter purposes, not tax reasons.”
But he'll sure raise your taxes anytime or any chance he gets!
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Goldman's latest
Goldman Sachs latest is a worthwhile read. Bullish on QCOM and BIDU.
The bears picnic is over!!!
Oh My!! So we had a 140 point pullback in 5 minutes yesterday when Bernanke opened his mouth, and today we get it all back 5 minutes after the opening.
Oh My!!!
Big Deal. The HFT boys just stepped in. You can't handle the volitility? You want to whine? Then get the hell out of the market. The market doesn't need you and it doesn't need your money, and if you want to whine, the market will take what you have left.
Get some balls, get some conviction, and get long!!
I've never seen a market that is so hated by the bears--who can't get anything right, and can't see anything positive because they've been wired to be losers, because they haven't realized that life goes on without them, and the economy just doesn't give a sh*t about individual's own hardships.
Let's go back last month to this cover on Bloomberg Business Week. (You can read it here) Notice the title:
What can we learn? Nothing!!!
Prechter, in that article says "From a peak in 2010 the market should fall for six years!"
Roubini says, "...Everyone is delusional."
Nassim Taleb said, "The same analysis I made in 2006 holds stronger today...."
Meredith Whitney said "It's mathematically impossible to get a constructive jon growth scenario" "In fact, I am more bearish than I've been in a year."
Oh.
So don't send out those resumes, don't tap into your creative entreprenurial spirit, because we're all toast. Just load up on spam, and move into the neighborhood bomb shelter, and eat crickets and sleep with the spiders!
And if you're bullish, you can't do math, you're delusional, and you have another six years of hell!
Oh give me a break!
Newsflash losers--You can eat your own burnt toast, and keep your own burnt out predictions, and keep your own bearishness for your own peril.
The market and economy doesn't give a sh*t if you lose your job, and it doesn't give a sh*t if you lose your house, and it doesn't give a sh*t if you lose your health care, or if you lose your cable, or if you lose anything else in your life.
The bears seem to think that personal anecdotes have some bearing on this market. They don't!
And since the market doesn't care about your losses, then why should anyone even listen to these bears?
Why should they even give a sh*t?
They shouldn't!
And today, the market woke up and looked at CAT's earnings, and looked at UPS, and then they looked over at Europe, and then they had a WTF moment!
Well, that's what they needed. Because the bullish brew is back!
You want to buy stocks? Buy them! You want your hand held? Get a girlfriend! But don't look to the market. Because this market isn't in the hand holding stage.
Because this market is in the rip your hearts out if you are bearish!
It ain't even going to hold your hand!
It's going straight to the happy ending!
For the bulls that is!!
Oh My!!!
Big Deal. The HFT boys just stepped in. You can't handle the volitility? You want to whine? Then get the hell out of the market. The market doesn't need you and it doesn't need your money, and if you want to whine, the market will take what you have left.
Get some balls, get some conviction, and get long!!
I've never seen a market that is so hated by the bears--who can't get anything right, and can't see anything positive because they've been wired to be losers, because they haven't realized that life goes on without them, and the economy just doesn't give a sh*t about individual's own hardships.
Let's go back last month to this cover on Bloomberg Business Week. (You can read it here) Notice the title:
GRRRRR!
What we can learn from the endless pessimism of Wall Street's biggest bears.
What can we learn? Nothing!!!
Prechter, in that article says "From a peak in 2010 the market should fall for six years!"
Roubini says, "...Everyone is delusional."
Nassim Taleb said, "The same analysis I made in 2006 holds stronger today...."
Meredith Whitney said "It's mathematically impossible to get a constructive jon growth scenario" "In fact, I am more bearish than I've been in a year."
Oh.
So don't send out those resumes, don't tap into your creative entreprenurial spirit, because we're all toast. Just load up on spam, and move into the neighborhood bomb shelter, and eat crickets and sleep with the spiders!
And if you're bullish, you can't do math, you're delusional, and you have another six years of hell!
Oh give me a break!
Newsflash losers--You can eat your own burnt toast, and keep your own burnt out predictions, and keep your own bearishness for your own peril.
The market and economy doesn't give a sh*t if you lose your job, and it doesn't give a sh*t if you lose your house, and it doesn't give a sh*t if you lose your health care, or if you lose your cable, or if you lose anything else in your life.
The bears seem to think that personal anecdotes have some bearing on this market. They don't!
And since the market doesn't care about your losses, then why should anyone even listen to these bears?
Why should they even give a sh*t?
They shouldn't!
And today, the market woke up and looked at CAT's earnings, and looked at UPS, and then they looked over at Europe, and then they had a WTF moment!
Well, that's what they needed. Because the bullish brew is back!
You want to buy stocks? Buy them! You want your hand held? Get a girlfriend! But don't look to the market. Because this market isn't in the hand holding stage.Because this market is in the rip your hearts out if you are bearish!
It ain't even going to hold your hand!
It's going straight to the happy ending!
For the bulls that is!!
GM buys Americredit
$3.5 billion price tag, so they can finance automobiles, so its obviously a hug plus.
The other day, Harley Davidson's beat came from financial services (see page 5 below) so the importance of financing cannot be over-stated.
GM's move is a win for the economy, and the company.
The other day, Harley Davidson's beat came from financial services (see page 5 below) so the importance of financing cannot be over-stated.
GM's move is a win for the economy, and the company.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Two more sex scandals for Al Gore
The ENQUIRER reports in an exclusive bombshell exclusive that police have investigated charges from TWO MORE WOMEN who claimed they were abused by former VP AL GORE!
The allegations come hot on the heels of an ongoing Portland, Ore., police investigation that reopened after The ENQUIRER exclusively revealed accusations by a licensed massage therapist who says Gore groped her in 2006.
The ENQUIRER recently uncovered shocking allegations, from two other massage therapists.
The first incident allegedly took place at a Beverly Hills luxury hotel when Gore, 62, was in Hollywood to attend the Oscars in 2007.
The second reportedly occurred a year later at a hotel in Tokyo.
A Beverly Hills hotel source told The ENQUIRER:
"The therapist claimed that when they were alone, Gore shrugged off a towel and stood naked in front of her.
"He pointed at his erect penis and ordered her, 'Take care of THIS.'"
The allegations come hot on the heels of an ongoing Portland, Ore., police investigation that reopened after The ENQUIRER exclusively revealed accusations by a licensed massage therapist who says Gore groped her in 2006.
The ENQUIRER recently uncovered shocking allegations, from two other massage therapists.
The first incident allegedly took place at a Beverly Hills luxury hotel when Gore, 62, was in Hollywood to attend the Oscars in 2007.
The second reportedly occurred a year later at a hotel in Tokyo.
A Beverly Hills hotel source told The ENQUIRER:
"The therapist claimed that when they were alone, Gore shrugged off a towel and stood naked in front of her.
"He pointed at his erect penis and ordered her, 'Take care of THIS.'"
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Corporations are ready to spend some cash
WSJ
In what may signal an important shift, some chief executives say they are ready to start spending the mountains of cash they have stockpiled over the past year, despite lingering worries about the global economy.
Many companies, stung by the financial crisis, have hoarded cash as a cushion against continued economic turmoil. But their curbs on spending and investing have been damping economic growth.
At the end of March, nonfinancial companies in the U.S. were sitting on $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets, up 26% from a year earlier, the Federal Reserve reported. In May, 43% of U.S. corporations had larger U.S. cash and short-term investments than six months earlier, according to a survey of 337 senior finance and treasury executives by the Association for Financial Professionals.
Now, some corporate leaders are starting to dip into their coffers, seizing the chance to make favorably priced acquisitions and expand and upgrade facilities.
"Our cash is piling up, and we're looking at the capital to fuel growth going forward," said Boudewijn Beerkens, chief financial officer of Wolters Kluwer NV.
The Dutch publishing company was holding €409 million, or roughly $530 million, of cash as of Dec. 31, up from €345 million a year earlier.
In a recent interview, Wolters Kluwer Chief Executive Nancy McKinstry said she is hoping to use some of that money for acquisitions. Last year, business owners were reluctant to consider selling their businesses because they feared they wouldn't get good prices, Ms. McKinstry said. She expects the improved economy this year will make them more willing to sell.
Mr. Beerkens said Wolters Kluwer wants to make acquisitions in the $100 million to $200 million range by year end, and is looking for software firms specializing in tax, accounting and health-care information.
Meanwhile, Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack plans to use its cash to expand its network of tire and service centers, according to Chief Executive Officer Mike Odell. The Philadelphia-based auto-parts and service retailer had cash holdings of $87.8 million as of May 1, up sharply from $21.3 million a year earlier.
By the end of its fiscal year in January, Pep Boys plans to open around 40 tire and service centers, up from the about 25 it opened the previous year. Each of those centers will cost the company about $450,000 for equipment, inventory and facilities improvements.
Mr. Odell said low prices for leasing commercial real estate make this an attractive time to open the new outlets.
Last year, Pep Boys made a $4 million acquisition of a 10-store Orlando, Fla., tire-and-automotive chain and converted it into auto-service centers. Mr. Odell said he would like to find similar small acquisitions, but that he is open to buying larger chains of up to 100 stores.
"It's all about being opportunistic," says Mr. Odell. "If the opportunity is there, we'll do it via acquisition."
Other corporate leaders share that inclination. Merger-and-acquisitions activity is up this year, as are all-cash deals by value. Companies globally announced $1.2 trillion of deals in the first half of 2010, of which 66% by value were all cash, according to data provider Dealogic. That compares with $1.1 trillion in deals a year earlier, of which 54% were all cash.
Cree Inc., a Durham, N.C., maker of LED lighting, has boosted its cash holdings to finance expansion, said Chief Financial Officer John Kurtzweil. The company had $988 million in cash and short-term investments as of March 28, up from $367 million a year earlier.
Mr. Kurtzweil said the company will spend more than $250 million on factories, equipment and expansion efforts in China and North Carolina this year, $150 million of which it spent in the first half of the year.
In June, Cree bought a 60,000-square-foot office in North Carolina for its expanding sales and marketing staff. It also is renovating another space for research and development.
Mr. Kurtzweil said Cree is scouting for companies that create the technology for LED components. He said he prefers using the company's own cash for acquisitions, rather than being "beholden to any banks" for financing, partly because he is wary of banks' fees and approval bureaucracies.
Computer Sciences Corp. had $2.8 billion in cash as of April 2, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier, and is looking to ramp up spending on acquisitions, said Chief Financial Officer Mike Mancuso.
The information-technology-services company, based in Falls Church, Va., expects to spend an annual average of between $250 million and $500 million over the next three years on acquisitions in the cloud computing, health-care and cyber-security businesses, he said.
Mr. Mancuso calls the economic recovery "tortoise paced," but believes it still is important to invest in future growth. Although Mr. Mancuso is looking to ramp up growth, he also concedes, "It's a comforting feeling having that cash available."
Indeed, some companies said they have built up their cash piles mainly as a defense against further economic turbulence.
Office-supply retailer OfficeMax Inc., based in Naperville, Ill., had $540 million in cash at the end of the first quarter, compared with $149 million a year earlier.
"In the event that there was another downturn we wanted to be sure we had adequate liquidity to cover ourselves," said OfficeMax Chief Financial Officer Bruce Besanko.
Mr. Besanko said he is open to changing the company's position once the economy improves further, but first he is keeping an eye on the unemployment rate, especially among white-collar workers, and small business formation.
What say ye bears??? Oh My!!!!
In what may signal an important shift, some chief executives say they are ready to start spending the mountains of cash they have stockpiled over the past year, despite lingering worries about the global economy.
Many companies, stung by the financial crisis, have hoarded cash as a cushion against continued economic turmoil. But their curbs on spending and investing have been damping economic growth.
At the end of March, nonfinancial companies in the U.S. were sitting on $1.84 trillion in cash and other liquid assets, up 26% from a year earlier, the Federal Reserve reported. In May, 43% of U.S. corporations had larger U.S. cash and short-term investments than six months earlier, according to a survey of 337 senior finance and treasury executives by the Association for Financial Professionals.
Now, some corporate leaders are starting to dip into their coffers, seizing the chance to make favorably priced acquisitions and expand and upgrade facilities.
"Our cash is piling up, and we're looking at the capital to fuel growth going forward," said Boudewijn Beerkens, chief financial officer of Wolters Kluwer NV.
The Dutch publishing company was holding €409 million, or roughly $530 million, of cash as of Dec. 31, up from €345 million a year earlier.
In a recent interview, Wolters Kluwer Chief Executive Nancy McKinstry said she is hoping to use some of that money for acquisitions. Last year, business owners were reluctant to consider selling their businesses because they feared they wouldn't get good prices, Ms. McKinstry said. She expects the improved economy this year will make them more willing to sell.
Mr. Beerkens said Wolters Kluwer wants to make acquisitions in the $100 million to $200 million range by year end, and is looking for software firms specializing in tax, accounting and health-care information.
Meanwhile, Pep Boys-Manny, Moe & Jack plans to use its cash to expand its network of tire and service centers, according to Chief Executive Officer Mike Odell. The Philadelphia-based auto-parts and service retailer had cash holdings of $87.8 million as of May 1, up sharply from $21.3 million a year earlier.
By the end of its fiscal year in January, Pep Boys plans to open around 40 tire and service centers, up from the about 25 it opened the previous year. Each of those centers will cost the company about $450,000 for equipment, inventory and facilities improvements.
Mr. Odell said low prices for leasing commercial real estate make this an attractive time to open the new outlets.
Last year, Pep Boys made a $4 million acquisition of a 10-store Orlando, Fla., tire-and-automotive chain and converted it into auto-service centers. Mr. Odell said he would like to find similar small acquisitions, but that he is open to buying larger chains of up to 100 stores.
"It's all about being opportunistic," says Mr. Odell. "If the opportunity is there, we'll do it via acquisition."
Other corporate leaders share that inclination. Merger-and-acquisitions activity is up this year, as are all-cash deals by value. Companies globally announced $1.2 trillion of deals in the first half of 2010, of which 66% by value were all cash, according to data provider Dealogic. That compares with $1.1 trillion in deals a year earlier, of which 54% were all cash.
Cree Inc., a Durham, N.C., maker of LED lighting, has boosted its cash holdings to finance expansion, said Chief Financial Officer John Kurtzweil. The company had $988 million in cash and short-term investments as of March 28, up from $367 million a year earlier.
Mr. Kurtzweil said the company will spend more than $250 million on factories, equipment and expansion efforts in China and North Carolina this year, $150 million of which it spent in the first half of the year.
In June, Cree bought a 60,000-square-foot office in North Carolina for its expanding sales and marketing staff. It also is renovating another space for research and development.
Mr. Kurtzweil said Cree is scouting for companies that create the technology for LED components. He said he prefers using the company's own cash for acquisitions, rather than being "beholden to any banks" for financing, partly because he is wary of banks' fees and approval bureaucracies.
Computer Sciences Corp. had $2.8 billion in cash as of April 2, up from $2.3 billion a year earlier, and is looking to ramp up spending on acquisitions, said Chief Financial Officer Mike Mancuso.
The information-technology-services company, based in Falls Church, Va., expects to spend an annual average of between $250 million and $500 million over the next three years on acquisitions in the cloud computing, health-care and cyber-security businesses, he said.
Mr. Mancuso calls the economic recovery "tortoise paced," but believes it still is important to invest in future growth. Although Mr. Mancuso is looking to ramp up growth, he also concedes, "It's a comforting feeling having that cash available."
Indeed, some companies said they have built up their cash piles mainly as a defense against further economic turbulence.
Office-supply retailer OfficeMax Inc., based in Naperville, Ill., had $540 million in cash at the end of the first quarter, compared with $149 million a year earlier.
"In the event that there was another downturn we wanted to be sure we had adequate liquidity to cover ourselves," said OfficeMax Chief Financial Officer Bruce Besanko.
Mr. Besanko said he is open to changing the company's position once the economy improves further, but first he is keeping an eye on the unemployment rate, especially among white-collar workers, and small business formation.
What say ye bears??? Oh My!!!!
The Ag lady who was forced to resign, beat out the USDA for $13 million in lawsuit
But it's not the first time Sherrod faced off against the federal government. Days before she was appointed to the USDA post last year, her group reportedly won a $13 million settlement in a longstanding discrimination suit against the USDA known commonly as the Pigford case.
The Rural Development Leadership Network announced last summer that New Communities Inc. -- a group Sherrod formed with husband Charles, who is a civil rights activist, and with other black farmers -- had reached the agreement. The RDLN said the USDA had "refused" to offer new loans or restructure old loans to members of New Communities, leading to the discrimination claim.
The announcement said that in addition to the $13 million to New Communities, Shirley and Charles Sherrod would each get $150,000 for "pain and suffering."
A USDA official told FoxNews.com on Tuesday that the settlement had "nothing to do with" Sherrod's hiring last year -- likewise, the official said her resignation was only the result of her comments in the video.
"This is all about her comments," the official said.
The Rural Development Leadership Network announced last summer that New Communities Inc. -- a group Sherrod formed with husband Charles, who is a civil rights activist, and with other black farmers -- had reached the agreement. The RDLN said the USDA had "refused" to offer new loans or restructure old loans to members of New Communities, leading to the discrimination claim.
The announcement said that in addition to the $13 million to New Communities, Shirley and Charles Sherrod would each get $150,000 for "pain and suffering."
A USDA official told FoxNews.com on Tuesday that the settlement had "nothing to do with" Sherrod's hiring last year -- likewise, the official said her resignation was only the result of her comments in the video.
"This is all about her comments," the official said.
Get out the shopping carts!
Prices have come down into "Oh My!" territory again.
"Oh My!" Goldman sees business slowing. IBM top line slows. TXN is sloppy, and PIMCO is selling tail-risk. Who cares???
Stocks aren't at 1120, they're at 1060, and that "news" is already reflected in prices.
Get out the shopping carts!
Because this is all the fat and happy that the market will give the bears!
"Oh My!" Goldman sees business slowing. IBM top line slows. TXN is sloppy, and PIMCO is selling tail-risk. Who cares???
Stocks aren't at 1120, they're at 1060, and that "news" is already reflected in prices.
Get out the shopping carts!
Because this is all the fat and happy that the market will give the bears!
Another $11 billion deficit for New Jersey
Corzine with his Wall Street "brilliance" couldn't fix NJ's deficit, and now neither can Christie.
TRENTON — New Jersey faces a $10.5 billion budget deficit heading into next year — nearly the same size as the gap that opened up before this year’s spending plan passed, according to an analysis by a nonpartisan legislative office.
The internal report, obtained by The Star-Ledger, means next year’s budget challenges could be just as difficult as this year, when Gov. Chris Christie slashed funding for schools, municipalities and property tax rebates...
Christie closed the gap in the $29.4 billion budget that took effect July 1 largely by avoiding costs such as funding for schools and rebates, rather than making major policy changes. He put off a $3.1 billion pension payment; next year, that bill is expected to increase to $3.5 billion, the OLS report says.
The analysis said many of the big items that made up this year’s deficit would return for the next budget, noting that schools will be due $2.3 billion more, and the state will owe $2.1 billion in tax rebates.
TRENTON — New Jersey faces a $10.5 billion budget deficit heading into next year — nearly the same size as the gap that opened up before this year’s spending plan passed, according to an analysis by a nonpartisan legislative office.
The internal report, obtained by The Star-Ledger, means next year’s budget challenges could be just as difficult as this year, when Gov. Chris Christie slashed funding for schools, municipalities and property tax rebates...
Christie closed the gap in the $29.4 billion budget that took effect July 1 largely by avoiding costs such as funding for schools and rebates, rather than making major policy changes. He put off a $3.1 billion pension payment; next year, that bill is expected to increase to $3.5 billion, the OLS report says.
The analysis said many of the big items that made up this year’s deficit would return for the next budget, noting that schools will be due $2.3 billion more, and the state will owe $2.1 billion in tax rebates.
Black couple give birth to a white baby

Mum Angela, 35, of Woolwich, South London, beamed as she said: "She's beautiful - a miracle baby."
Ben told yesterday how he was so shocked when Nmachi was born, he even joked: "Is she MINE?"
He added: "Actually, the first thing I did was look at her and say, 'What the flip?'"
But as the baby's older brother and sister - both black - crowded round the "little miracle" at their home in South London, Ben declared: "Of course she's mine."
Blue-eyed blonde Nmachi, whose name means "Beauty of God" in the Nigerian couple's homeland, has baffled genetics experts because neither Ben nor wife Angela have ANY mixed-race family history.
Doctors at Queen Mary's Hospital in Sidcup - where Angela, from nearby Woolwich, gave birth - have told the parents Nmachi is definitely no albino.
Ben, who came to Britain with his wife five years ago and works for South Eastern Trains, said: "She doesn't look like an albino child anyway - not like the ones I've seen back in Nigeria or in books. She just looks like a healthy white baby."
He went on: "My mum is a black Nigerian although she has a bit fairer skin than mine.
"But we don't know of any white ancestry. We wondered if it was a genetic twist.
"But even then, what is with the long curly blonde hair?"
Professor Bryan Sykes, head of Human Genetics at Oxford University and Britain's leading expert, yesterday called the birth "extraordinary".
He said: "In mixed race humans, the lighter variant of skin tone may come out in a child - and this can sometimes be startlingly different to the skin of the parents.
"This might be the case where there is a lot of genetic mixing, as in Afro-Caribbean populations. But in Nigeria there is little mixing."
Prof Sykes said BOTH parents would have needed "some form of white ancestry" for a pale version of their genes to be passed on.
But he added: "The hair is extremely unusual. Even many blonde children don't have blonde hair like this at birth."
Monday, July 19, 2010
Goldman says goodbye to BAC
After Goldman was fined $550 million for the Paulson led ABACUS deal, Goldman now downgrades one of Paulson's largest position, BAC.
Bye bye BAC
Bye bye BAC
Citigroup's "Who gives a sh*t" piece
If we have a job, and you don't--work who gives a sh*t. Just as people respectfully listen to their grandparents on the old days and then respectfully walk away and forget about what they said, it's the same with Wall Street. It's the "who gives a sh*t" economy. You lost your job? You lost your health care? Who gives a sh*t as long as Wall Street has work. And that's the gist of the latest piece from Citi. They just cloak it in better language, when in fact, they're just saying "Who gives a sh*t."
Unless of course, those on Wall Street or the banks lose their jobs!
Who gives a sh*t
Unless of course, those on Wall Street or the banks lose their jobs!
Who gives a sh*t
Sarah Palin "twitters" about the Ground Zero mosque
I suppose we need a picture of her that is as real as her words! Because she now claims she's Shakespeare!
The former vice-presidential candidate, who regularly uses the social networking website to communicate her views, made three attempts before writing an error-free Twitter entry, which can only contain 140 characters.
In her first effort, she asked "peaceful Muslims to "pls refudiate" the mosque. Having invented a word, in her second attempt she used "refute" incorrectly, calling on "peaceful New Yorkers to "refute the Ground Zero mosque plan".
Both those messages were removed from her Twitter page, though not before being salvaged by US news websites. The third attempt remains.
By way of explanation for her errors, the former Alaska governor posted a fourth "tweet" that said "English is a living language. Shakespeare liked to coin new words too".
Well, I guess that's true. Shakespeare now made the Urban Dictionary for "refudiate."
"When Sarah Palin decides regular English words aren't good enough, she'll just go ahead and make a new one. Here, Refudiate bridges the gap between "refuse" and "repudiate", to mean exactly what she wants it to mean."
her Twittering....
But really, a mosque on a 9/11 site?
I guess I just don't get that.
The Obama indicator
The "Obama" stock has been J. Crew Group, which now sports a double bottom.
Which means no matter how much stimulus that needs to be pumped into this economy to get the Democrats off their back---will be done--starting with the passage of extended unemployment benefits.
Even if you need booty implants to get the job done!
Which means no matter how much stimulus that needs to be pumped into this economy to get the Democrats off their back---will be done--starting with the passage of extended unemployment benefits.
Even if you need booty implants to get the job done!
BusinessWeek's "cover" indicator
Check out this story on Businessweek, "How I stopped worrying and learned to short the euro."
The 16 European Union countries that use the common currency had amassed too much debt. If investors began to view any of them as a default risk, the traders would start selling their bonds, stocks, and other assets, driving the currency lower. For the first five months of the year, foreign exchange trades were the largest bet in Caxton's main macro fund, and those trades were making the fund the most money. About half of Caxton's risk was from trading currencies, a higher-than-normal level for the firm that Bruce Kovner, who boasts one of the best track records in the hedge fund industry, formed 27 years ago. Law, who grew up in Cheshire, England, and is based in London, has been with Caxton for seven years. He was named Kovner's heir apparent in 2008.
Rarely have global economic conditions been so ripe for betting on currency fluctuations. Most traders agree they haven't seen such a difference between outlooks for different countries in at least a decade, and exploiting that gap is how currency speculators make money. Recovery prospects for the U.S. seem to be fading as employment fails to pick up, and Greece, Spain, and other European nations face massive deficits. At the same time growth prospects in Taiwan, Brazil, Malaysia, India, and Australia are so strong that policymakers have been raising interest rates to curb inflation. China has taken steps to deflate its real estate bubble and has let its currency drift higher for the first time in two years.
It's time for JayZ and Gisele to be right again....
The 16 European Union countries that use the common currency had amassed too much debt. If investors began to view any of them as a default risk, the traders would start selling their bonds, stocks, and other assets, driving the currency lower. For the first five months of the year, foreign exchange trades were the largest bet in Caxton's main macro fund, and those trades were making the fund the most money. About half of Caxton's risk was from trading currencies, a higher-than-normal level for the firm that Bruce Kovner, who boasts one of the best track records in the hedge fund industry, formed 27 years ago. Law, who grew up in Cheshire, England, and is based in London, has been with Caxton for seven years. He was named Kovner's heir apparent in 2008.
Rarely have global economic conditions been so ripe for betting on currency fluctuations. Most traders agree they haven't seen such a difference between outlooks for different countries in at least a decade, and exploiting that gap is how currency speculators make money. Recovery prospects for the U.S. seem to be fading as employment fails to pick up, and Greece, Spain, and other European nations face massive deficits. At the same time growth prospects in Taiwan, Brazil, Malaysia, India, and Australia are so strong that policymakers have been raising interest rates to curb inflation. China has taken steps to deflate its real estate bubble and has let its currency drift higher for the first time in two years. It's time for JayZ and Gisele to be right again....
Spooks overtake Washington DC
Check out WaPo's "Top Secret America"
* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.
* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.
* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings - about 17 million square feet of space.
* Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.
* Analysts who make sense of documents and conversations obtained by foreign and domestic spying share their judgment by publishing 50,000 intelligence reports each year - a volume so large that many are routinely ignored.
* Some 1,271 government organizations and 1,931 private companies work on programs related to counterterrorism, homeland security and intelligence in about 10,000 locations across the United States.
* An estimated 854,000 people, nearly 1.5 times as many people as live in Washington, D.C., hold top-secret security clearances.
* In Washington and the surrounding area, 33 building complexes for top-secret intelligence work are under construction or have been built since September 2001. Together they occupy the equivalent of almost three Pentagons or 22 U.S. Capitol buildings - about 17 million square feet of space.
* Many security and intelligence agencies do the same work, creating redundancy and waste. For example, 51 federal organizations and military commands, operating in 15 U.S. cities, track the flow of money to and from terrorist networks.
* Analysts who make sense of documents and conversations obtained by foreign and domestic spying share their judgment by publishing 50,000 intelligence reports each year - a volume so large that many are routinely ignored.
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