Inequality?
One out of three Americans avoids getting medical treatment because of cost.
The great fix that was Obamacare is an illusion that simply adds to the problems of health care affordability.
In the meantime, where is the compassionate, self choosing embrace of redistribution among the base of Obama voters: union members and government workers?
It is time to see the vast majority of privileged union members and government employees give up their Cadillac health plans and do something they demand of government: redistribute privilege to the less fortunate.
In this case, the unfair and unjust privilege is access to those Cadillac benefits that the less fortunate can't get.
Where are these liberals when it comes to sharing their privilege with the poor? PB
----
From Gallup.com:
One in three Americans say they have put off getting medical treatment that they or their family members need because of cost.
Although this percentage is in line with the roughly 30% figures seen in recent years, it is among the highest readings in the 14-year history of Gallup asking the question...
Last year, many hoped that the opening of the government healthcare exchanges and the resulting increase in the number of Americans with health insurance would enable more people to seek medical treatment.
But, despite a drop in the uninsured rate, a slightly higher percentage of Americans than in previous years report having put off medical treatment, suggesting that the Affordable Care Act has not immediately affected this measure.
Among Americans with varying types of medical coverage (including no coverage), uninsured Americans are still the most likely to report having put off medical treatment because of cost.
More than half of the uninsured (57%) have put off treatment, compared with 34% with private insurance and 22% with Medicare or Medicaid.
However, the percentage of Americans with private health insurance who report putting off medical treatment because of cost has increased from 25% in 2013 to 34% in 2014...
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Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/179774/cost-barrier-americans-medical-care.aspx
Saturday, November 29, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
Billions of Dollars Lost in Oil Companies' Worth
From Reuters.com:
A fresh slide in the price of crude wiped tens of billions of dollars off oil companies' market value on Friday and signaled an end to the sector's safe-haven status, as fears mounted over future profits and dividend payouts...
Overall, the sell-off since Thursday amounts to around $67 billion in lost market value, Reuters estimates.
That compares with a total dividend payout from the sector of $41.6 billion in the second quarter of 2014, according to data from Henderson Global Investors.
"Many investors in the oil-and-gas exploration industry were there for the promise of dividends," said Yannick Naud, portfolio manager at Sturgeon Capital.
"Today, with the oil price so low, many oil companies will have difficulty protecting their dividends..."
Others warned they had been fooled before by false dawns and this time the pessimism would take longer to end.
"The whole sector ... could be at risk of having to make a choice between keeping a high dividend payout ratio or (spending on) investing," said Antoine Porcheret, a derivatives strategist at BNP Paribas.
"These stocks can go lower."
----
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/28/us-energy-oil-stocks-idUSKCN0JC1DI20141128
A fresh slide in the price of crude wiped tens of billions of dollars off oil companies' market value on Friday and signaled an end to the sector's safe-haven status, as fears mounted over future profits and dividend payouts...
Overall, the sell-off since Thursday amounts to around $67 billion in lost market value, Reuters estimates.
That compares with a total dividend payout from the sector of $41.6 billion in the second quarter of 2014, according to data from Henderson Global Investors.
"Many investors in the oil-and-gas exploration industry were there for the promise of dividends," said Yannick Naud, portfolio manager at Sturgeon Capital.
"Today, with the oil price so low, many oil companies will have difficulty protecting their dividends..."
Others warned they had been fooled before by false dawns and this time the pessimism would take longer to end.
"The whole sector ... could be at risk of having to make a choice between keeping a high dividend payout ratio or (spending on) investing," said Antoine Porcheret, a derivatives strategist at BNP Paribas.
"These stocks can go lower."
----
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/11/28/us-energy-oil-stocks-idUSKCN0JC1DI20141128
Sunday, November 23, 2014
Joel Kotkin: Legal, but Still Poor - The Economic Consequences for the Amnesty Immigrants
Joel Kotkin, executive editor of NewGeography.com, writes with great clarity.
If you read through Kotkin's full piece at New Geography, it is easy to see how cynical and disastrous for the U.S. are the policies and politics of the Democrat Left, especially in the coastal Blue States where lemming liberals congregate.
What is the true motivation of these liberals, especially the one in the White House? Dooming millions of amnesty immigrants to government dependency status, which is right where liberals want them.
Whenever you hear liberals and Democrats say 'safety' nets, interpret that to mean not nets, but fences and ceilings.
There are no economic escalators for amnesty immigrants to ride into the life style of the Wealthy Blue Cities.
Instead, amnesty immigrants get a path to vote Democrat, and get blue bus fare to work in blue kitchens, gardens and nursing homes to supplement government stipends.
WWLHM: Wealthy White Liberal Hierarchy Maintenance. PB
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From Joel Kotkin:
Expanding amnesty to undocumented immigrants without creating new jobs is a recipe for keeping new Americans poor and dependent on social services.
With his questionably Constitutional move to protect America’s vast undocumented population, President Obama has provided at least five million immigrants, and likely many more, with new hope for the future.
But at the same time, his economic policies, and those of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, may guarantee that many of these newly legalized Americans will face huge obstacles trying to move up in a society creating too few opportunities already for its own citizens, much less millions of the largely ill-educated and unskilled newcomers...
This workforce is being legalized at a time of unusual economic distress for the working class.
Well into the post-2008 recovery, the country suffers from rates of labor participation at a 36 year low.
Many jobs that were once full-time are, in part due to the Affordable Care Act, now part-time, and thus unable to support families.
Finally there are increasingly few well-paying positions—including in industry—that don’t require some sort of post-college accreditation.
Sadly, the legalization of millions of new immigrants could make all these problems worse, particularly for Latinos already here and millions of African-Americans.
African-American unemployment is now twice that of whites.
The black middle class, understandably proud of Obama’s elevation, has been losing the economic gains made over the past thirty years.
Latino-Americans have made huge strides in previous decades, but now are also falling behind, with a gradual loss of income relative to whites.
Poverty among Latino children in America has risen from 27.5 percent in 2007 to 33.7 percent in 2012, an increase of 1.7 million minors...
Ironically, the places where the cry for amnesty has been the loudest—New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago—also tend to be those places that have created the least opportunity for the urban poor.
This is in part due to the fact that these areas have tended to de-industrialize the most rapidly, discourage fledgling grassroots businesses through high taxes, environmental and housing, regulations...
----
Link: http://www.newgeography.com/content/004780-legal-still-poor-the-economic-consequences-amnesty
If you read through Kotkin's full piece at New Geography, it is easy to see how cynical and disastrous for the U.S. are the policies and politics of the Democrat Left, especially in the coastal Blue States where lemming liberals congregate.
What is the true motivation of these liberals, especially the one in the White House? Dooming millions of amnesty immigrants to government dependency status, which is right where liberals want them.
Whenever you hear liberals and Democrats say 'safety' nets, interpret that to mean not nets, but fences and ceilings.
There are no economic escalators for amnesty immigrants to ride into the life style of the Wealthy Blue Cities.
Instead, amnesty immigrants get a path to vote Democrat, and get blue bus fare to work in blue kitchens, gardens and nursing homes to supplement government stipends.
WWLHM: Wealthy White Liberal Hierarchy Maintenance. PB
----
From Joel Kotkin:
Expanding amnesty to undocumented immigrants without creating new jobs is a recipe for keeping new Americans poor and dependent on social services.
With his questionably Constitutional move to protect America’s vast undocumented population, President Obama has provided at least five million immigrants, and likely many more, with new hope for the future.
But at the same time, his economic policies, and those of the progressive wing of the Democratic Party, may guarantee that many of these newly legalized Americans will face huge obstacles trying to move up in a society creating too few opportunities already for its own citizens, much less millions of the largely ill-educated and unskilled newcomers...
This workforce is being legalized at a time of unusual economic distress for the working class.
Well into the post-2008 recovery, the country suffers from rates of labor participation at a 36 year low.
Many jobs that were once full-time are, in part due to the Affordable Care Act, now part-time, and thus unable to support families.
Finally there are increasingly few well-paying positions—including in industry—that don’t require some sort of post-college accreditation.
Sadly, the legalization of millions of new immigrants could make all these problems worse, particularly for Latinos already here and millions of African-Americans.
African-American unemployment is now twice that of whites.
The black middle class, understandably proud of Obama’s elevation, has been losing the economic gains made over the past thirty years.
Latino-Americans have made huge strides in previous decades, but now are also falling behind, with a gradual loss of income relative to whites.
Poverty among Latino children in America has risen from 27.5 percent in 2007 to 33.7 percent in 2012, an increase of 1.7 million minors...
Ironically, the places where the cry for amnesty has been the loudest—New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Chicago—also tend to be those places that have created the least opportunity for the urban poor.
This is in part due to the fact that these areas have tended to de-industrialize the most rapidly, discourage fledgling grassroots businesses through high taxes, environmental and housing, regulations...
----
Link: http://www.newgeography.com/content/004780-legal-still-poor-the-economic-consequences-amnesty
Friday, November 21, 2014
Look who likes Bill Gross: George Soros - to the tune of $500 Million
Well, now. $500 Million to Bill Gross who moved from PIMCO to Janus.
Smart, big money follows a genius.
Here is what we wrote November 3rd on this blog:
"Bill Gross: best opportunity of the decade"
Bill Gross, the best bond manager in the world for over four decades, left PIMCO and joined Janus.
The simple story is this: a bond investing genius is starting over. For you, it's time to buy his new fund.
This investing genius left a job, at the firm he founded, managing hundreds of billions of assets. He is now managing merely tens of millions of dollars.
An opportunity like this is rare because such genius almost never starts over with a small amount of money.
Buy the talent of Bill Gross by purchasing the new mutual fund he now manages at Janus. He's younger than Warren Buffett by about 15 years.
Go long Gross. Put your money in his hands. No one can argue convincingly against that decision. PB
----
From CNBC.com:
Recently departed Pimco boss Bill Gross just got a vote of confidence from one of the most successful investors of all time.
Janus Capital Management announced Thursday that Quantum Partners, a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund Management, has invested $500 million in a separate account managed by Gross.
The account will pursue a similar strategy to the publicly accessible Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, which managed just $442.8 million as of Oct. 31, according to Janus.
Pimco managed $1.87 trillion firmwide as of Sept. 30...
Soros Fund Management is the private investment vehicle for George Soros, a so-called family office. The billionaire investor had run a hedge fund firm by the same name. Soros is worth an estimated $24 billion, according to Forbes...
----
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102205145
Smart, big money follows a genius.
Here is what we wrote November 3rd on this blog:
"Bill Gross: best opportunity of the decade"
Bill Gross, the best bond manager in the world for over four decades, left PIMCO and joined Janus.
The simple story is this: a bond investing genius is starting over. For you, it's time to buy his new fund.
This investing genius left a job, at the firm he founded, managing hundreds of billions of assets. He is now managing merely tens of millions of dollars.
An opportunity like this is rare because such genius almost never starts over with a small amount of money.
Buy the talent of Bill Gross by purchasing the new mutual fund he now manages at Janus. He's younger than Warren Buffett by about 15 years.
Go long Gross. Put your money in his hands. No one can argue convincingly against that decision. PB
----
From CNBC.com:
Recently departed Pimco boss Bill Gross just got a vote of confidence from one of the most successful investors of all time.
Janus Capital Management announced Thursday that Quantum Partners, a private investment vehicle managed by Soros Fund Management, has invested $500 million in a separate account managed by Gross.
The account will pursue a similar strategy to the publicly accessible Janus Global Unconstrained Bond Fund, which managed just $442.8 million as of Oct. 31, according to Janus.
Pimco managed $1.87 trillion firmwide as of Sept. 30...
Soros Fund Management is the private investment vehicle for George Soros, a so-called family office. The billionaire investor had run a hedge fund firm by the same name. Soros is worth an estimated $24 billion, according to Forbes...
----
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102205145
Whoa! Getting fat is doing what?
From McKinsey & Company online:
Obesity is a critical global issue that requires a comprehensive, international intervention strategy.
More than 2.1 billion people—nearly 30 percent of the global population—are overweight or obese.
That’s almost two and a half times the number of adults and children who are undernourished.
Obesity is responsible for about 5 percent of all deaths a year worldwide, and its global economic impact amounts to roughly $2 trillion annually, or 2.8 percent of global GDP—nearly equivalent to the global impact of smoking or of armed violence, war, and terrorism.
And the problem—which is preventable—is rapidly getting worse.
If the prevalence of obesity continues on its current trajectory, almost half of the world’s adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030...
----
Link: http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Economic_Studies/How_the_world_could_better_fight_obesity
Obesity is a critical global issue that requires a comprehensive, international intervention strategy.
More than 2.1 billion people—nearly 30 percent of the global population—are overweight or obese.
That’s almost two and a half times the number of adults and children who are undernourished.
Obesity is responsible for about 5 percent of all deaths a year worldwide, and its global economic impact amounts to roughly $2 trillion annually, or 2.8 percent of global GDP—nearly equivalent to the global impact of smoking or of armed violence, war, and terrorism.
And the problem—which is preventable—is rapidly getting worse.
If the prevalence of obesity continues on its current trajectory, almost half of the world’s adult population will be overweight or obese by 2030...
----
Link: http://www.mckinsey.com/Insights/Economic_Studies/How_the_world_could_better_fight_obesity
$1 million-plus home sales up 16%
Wow! The economy is doing great...isn't it?
Million Dollar homes - sales are up.
Homes under $100,000 - sales are down. PB
----
From CNBC.com:
As the U.S. stock market rises, so do sales of million-dollar homes.
That correlation is not lost on the nation's Realtors.
"There is little volatility in the stock market. It is whoppingly higher, so people in the top 10 percent of wealth are really feeling confident now," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of existing homes priced above $1 million jumped over 16 percent in October from a year ago, according to a Realtors report released Thursday, outshining every other price segment.
The next strongest was the $750,000-$1 million range, up over 12 percent.
Sales of homes priced under $100,000 fell 6 percent...
----
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102204065
Million Dollar homes - sales are up.
Homes under $100,000 - sales are down. PB
----
From CNBC.com:
As the U.S. stock market rises, so do sales of million-dollar homes.
That correlation is not lost on the nation's Realtors.
"There is little volatility in the stock market. It is whoppingly higher, so people in the top 10 percent of wealth are really feeling confident now," said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
Sales of existing homes priced above $1 million jumped over 16 percent in October from a year ago, according to a Realtors report released Thursday, outshining every other price segment.
The next strongest was the $750,000-$1 million range, up over 12 percent.
Sales of homes priced under $100,000 fell 6 percent...
----
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102204065
Sunday, November 16, 2014
Majority of Americans make less than $20 an hour
We're 5 years into an "economic recovery." Recovery for whom?
The 'burger flipper paradise' of Liberal regulation and influence hopefully comes to an end for American workers.
Oh, Liberals might disagree with that characterization?
Well, this economic recovery delivers more job growth for sandwich makers and bartenders than mere burger flippers.
That's a winning '16 slogan: Libs Love Sandwich Makers!
Or, better yet, to borrow from Jimmy John's:
Freaky Fast Job Growth - for the under $20 an hour worker! PB
----
From MarketWatch.com:
Most American workers earn below $20 per hour.
Goldman Sachs economists David Mericle and Chris Mischaikow crunched Labor Department data that is used to generate the monthly jobs report that the market closely watches, in particular from the survey of employers...
(It’s important to note that this includes all workers covered by the establishment survey, not just hourly workers; to convert annual pay to hourly pay, divide by 2080, for a standard 40-hour week.)
----
Link:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-majority-of-americans-make-less-than-20-per-hour-2014-11-14
The 'burger flipper paradise' of Liberal regulation and influence hopefully comes to an end for American workers.
Oh, Liberals might disagree with that characterization?
Well, this economic recovery delivers more job growth for sandwich makers and bartenders than mere burger flippers.
That's a winning '16 slogan: Libs Love Sandwich Makers!
Or, better yet, to borrow from Jimmy John's:
Freaky Fast Job Growth - for the under $20 an hour worker! PB
----
From MarketWatch.com:
Most American workers earn below $20 per hour.
Goldman Sachs economists David Mericle and Chris Mischaikow crunched Labor Department data that is used to generate the monthly jobs report that the market closely watches, in particular from the survey of employers...
- 19% of workers make less than $12.50 per hour,
- 32% of workers make between $12.50 and $20 per hour,
- 30% make between $20 and $30 an hour,
- 14% make between $30 and $45 per hour,
- and 5% make over $45 an hour.
(It’s important to note that this includes all workers covered by the establishment survey, not just hourly workers; to convert annual pay to hourly pay, divide by 2080, for a standard 40-hour week.)
----
Link:http://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-majority-of-americans-make-less-than-20-per-hour-2014-11-14
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Millennials have a tough time making ends meet
What is this economy teaching young adults under 35?
This is not a depression, but it is stagnation. Wage growth is weak.
What does one do while waiting for things to improve? Save or spend? PB
----
From Money.CNN.com:
Millennials aren't saving a dime
People younger than 35 are not saving money, according to a study by Moody's Analytics. In fact, their savings rate has dipped to negative 2%, meaning that they're spending more than they have.
They're the only age group that has a negative savings rate.
In contrast, workers between the ages of 35 and 44 have a positive savings rate of about 3%.
Millennials are struggling in spite of an improving job market...
But wages have remained stagnant, barely budging since the 1990s.
So even with a low unemployment rate, millennials are having a tough time making ends meet.
Many have taken on hefty student debt to attain the skills they need to be competitive in the work force.
Millennials had a negative savings rate from 2004 to 2009, bottoming out in 2007 with a deficit of about 15%, according to Moody's.
They recovered in 2009 and managed to stay above water until 2012, when they slipped back into the red...
----
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/10/pf/millennials-negative-savings/index.html
This is not a depression, but it is stagnation. Wage growth is weak.
What does one do while waiting for things to improve? Save or spend? PB
----
From Money.CNN.com:
Millennials aren't saving a dime
People younger than 35 are not saving money, according to a study by Moody's Analytics. In fact, their savings rate has dipped to negative 2%, meaning that they're spending more than they have.
They're the only age group that has a negative savings rate.
In contrast, workers between the ages of 35 and 44 have a positive savings rate of about 3%.
Millennials are struggling in spite of an improving job market...
But wages have remained stagnant, barely budging since the 1990s.
So even with a low unemployment rate, millennials are having a tough time making ends meet.
Many have taken on hefty student debt to attain the skills they need to be competitive in the work force.
Millennials had a negative savings rate from 2004 to 2009, bottoming out in 2007 with a deficit of about 15%, according to Moody's.
They recovered in 2009 and managed to stay above water until 2012, when they slipped back into the red...
----
Link: http://money.cnn.com/2014/11/10/pf/millennials-negative-savings/index.html
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
64% of Women Pessimistic about U.S. Job Market
From a Gallup Poll reported at TheHill.com:
The gender gap in labor market outlook last year was wider in North America than any other region, says a poll released by Gallup Monday.
Sixty-two percent of women in North America in 2013 said it was a bad time to find a job while 56 percent of men said the same.
Gallup found the gender gap in the United States was one of the largest with 56 percent of men and 64 percent of women reporting 2013 was a bad time to find a job.
The gap could be connected to the pattern of women receiving lower incomes than men, Gallup explained...
----
Link: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/223513-poll-gender-gap-on-jobs-outlook-largest-in-north-america
The gender gap in labor market outlook last year was wider in North America than any other region, says a poll released by Gallup Monday.
Sixty-two percent of women in North America in 2013 said it was a bad time to find a job while 56 percent of men said the same.
Gallup found the gender gap in the United States was one of the largest with 56 percent of men and 64 percent of women reporting 2013 was a bad time to find a job.
The gap could be connected to the pattern of women receiving lower incomes than men, Gallup explained...
----
Link: http://thehill.com/policy/finance/223513-poll-gender-gap-on-jobs-outlook-largest-in-north-america
Saturday, November 8, 2014
What really went wrong for Democrats
Did it take a shellacking at the polls for Democrats to figure out what went wrong? In 1992 they said, "It's the economy, stupid."
Do they understand what is still wrong? PB
----
From the WashingtonPost.com:
“We have a problem,” Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who polled on the Kentucky Senate race, told me.
“If we’re really going to expand our chances in the Senate and House, we have to appeal to a wider group than we are now...”
At the root of these concerns, Mellman says, are stagnating wages and the failure of the recovery’s gains to achieve wider, more equitable distribution.
Democrats campaigned on a range of economic issues — the minimum wage, pay equity, student loan affordability, expanded pre-kindergarten education — but these didn’t cut through people’s economic anxieties, because they didn’t believe government can successfully address them.
“People are deeply suspicious that government can deliver on these problems,” Mellman says, in a reference to the voter groups that continue to elude Democrats.
“And they are not wrong. We’ve been promising that government can be a tool to improve people’s economic situation for decades, and by and large, it hasn’t happened.”
----
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/11/05/what-really-went-wrong-for-democrats/
Do they understand what is still wrong? PB
----
From the WashingtonPost.com:
“We have a problem,” Democratic pollster Mark Mellman, who polled on the Kentucky Senate race, told me.
“If we’re really going to expand our chances in the Senate and House, we have to appeal to a wider group than we are now...”
At the root of these concerns, Mellman says, are stagnating wages and the failure of the recovery’s gains to achieve wider, more equitable distribution.
Democrats campaigned on a range of economic issues — the minimum wage, pay equity, student loan affordability, expanded pre-kindergarten education — but these didn’t cut through people’s economic anxieties, because they didn’t believe government can successfully address them.
“People are deeply suspicious that government can deliver on these problems,” Mellman says, in a reference to the voter groups that continue to elude Democrats.
“And they are not wrong. We’ve been promising that government can be a tool to improve people’s economic situation for decades, and by and large, it hasn’t happened.”
----
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/plum-line/wp/2014/11/05/what-really-went-wrong-for-democrats/
Thursday, November 6, 2014
Results Are In: Yale Beats Harvard, Wins the Conference (regarding Investment Returns)
Big News after the election from the Wall Street Journal online:
The annual investment showdown between America’s two wealthiest universities is becoming one-sided.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Yale University earned a return of 20.2% on its endowment, easily topping the 15.4% gain reported by Harvard University.
Yale’s performance was the best among the eight Ivy League schools, while Harvard’s was the worst.
The rout was the fourth victory in a row over Harvard for David Swensen, who manages Yale’s $23.9 billion endowment, and his eighth in the past decade...
Yale now has nearly twice the number of investment wins over the past three decades as its Massachusetts rival, though Harvard’s endowment remains the largest among U.S. universities, at $36.4 billion...
----
Link: http://online.wsj.com/articles/yales-endowment-tops-harvards-again-in-battle-of-investment-returns-1415048450
The annual investment showdown between America’s two wealthiest universities is becoming one-sided.
In the fiscal year that ended June 30, Yale University earned a return of 20.2% on its endowment, easily topping the 15.4% gain reported by Harvard University.
Yale’s performance was the best among the eight Ivy League schools, while Harvard’s was the worst.
The rout was the fourth victory in a row over Harvard for David Swensen, who manages Yale’s $23.9 billion endowment, and his eighth in the past decade...
Yale now has nearly twice the number of investment wins over the past three decades as its Massachusetts rival, though Harvard’s endowment remains the largest among U.S. universities, at $36.4 billion...
----
Link: http://online.wsj.com/articles/yales-endowment-tops-harvards-again-in-battle-of-investment-returns-1415048450
Wednesday, November 5, 2014
Bill Gross leaves PIMCO; $$Billions leave, too
From Bloomberg.com:
Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) had record redemptions from its biggest mutual fund in the first full month after the surprise departure of former manager Bill Gross, with clients pulling $27.5 billion in October...
The redemptions followed $23.5 billion in withdrawals from the world’s biggest fund in September and brought assets to $170.9 billion, down 42 percent from a peak in April 2013...
----
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-04/pimco-total-return-lost-27-5-billion-after-gross-s-exit.html
Pacific Investment Management Co. (PIMCO) had record redemptions from its biggest mutual fund in the first full month after the surprise departure of former manager Bill Gross, with clients pulling $27.5 billion in October...
The redemptions followed $23.5 billion in withdrawals from the world’s biggest fund in September and brought assets to $170.9 billion, down 42 percent from a peak in April 2013...
----
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-11-04/pimco-total-return-lost-27-5-billion-after-gross-s-exit.html
Tuesday, November 4, 2014
Bill Gross? David Stockman says Bill Gross should stick to Shuffleboard
This is wonderful. A wee bit of a mud fight.
As a producer for an ABC radio station in Detroit 30 years ago, I produced a handful of live interviews with David Stockman, a Congressman who became head of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan Administration.
Always intelligent, Stockman later became wealthy working on Wall Street and running companies. He writes for his blog. PB
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Bill Gross Should Stick To Shuffleboard—–His Case For Bigger Deficits Is Ludicrous
by David Stockman • November 4, 2014
The once and former bond king has lost it.
After a long lament about deflation and the failure of massive money printing to ignite growth, jobs and incomes in the real economy, his most recent missive comes up with a better idea.
Bigger public deficits!
The real economy needs money printing, yes, but money spending more so, and that must come from the fiscal side — from the dreaded government side — where deficits are anathema and balanced budgets are increasingly in vogue,” he writes.
Let’s see. In the case of the US, real economic growth has been faltering since the year 2000.
During the last 14 years real GDP growth has averaged 1.8% per annum—-the lowest rate of growth for an equivalent period in modern times.
In fact, it is barely half the average growth rate during the second half of the 20th century.
Not only is there no correlation between fiscal deficits and economic growth over those 50 years, but the real evidence is more nearly the opposite.
During the the golden era of sound money and fiscal rectitude between 1953 and 1963, for example, real economic growth averaged 4.0% per annum.
And that was achieved during a period in which the budget deficit averaged only 1% of GDP—with Washington actually recording surpluses during much of the Eisenhower presidency....
----
Link: http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/memo-to-bill-gross-shut-up-and-stick-to-your-shuffleboard/
As a producer for an ABC radio station in Detroit 30 years ago, I produced a handful of live interviews with David Stockman, a Congressman who became head of the Office of Management and Budget in the Reagan Administration.
Always intelligent, Stockman later became wealthy working on Wall Street and running companies. He writes for his blog. PB
----
Bill Gross Should Stick To Shuffleboard—–His Case For Bigger Deficits Is Ludicrous
by David Stockman • November 4, 2014
The once and former bond king has lost it.
After a long lament about deflation and the failure of massive money printing to ignite growth, jobs and incomes in the real economy, his most recent missive comes up with a better idea.
Bigger public deficits!
The real economy needs money printing, yes, but money spending more so, and that must come from the fiscal side — from the dreaded government side — where deficits are anathema and balanced budgets are increasingly in vogue,” he writes.
Let’s see. In the case of the US, real economic growth has been faltering since the year 2000.
During the last 14 years real GDP growth has averaged 1.8% per annum—-the lowest rate of growth for an equivalent period in modern times.
In fact, it is barely half the average growth rate during the second half of the 20th century.
Not only is there no correlation between fiscal deficits and economic growth over those 50 years, but the real evidence is more nearly the opposite.
During the the golden era of sound money and fiscal rectitude between 1953 and 1963, for example, real economic growth averaged 4.0% per annum.
And that was achieved during a period in which the budget deficit averaged only 1% of GDP—with Washington actually recording surpluses during much of the Eisenhower presidency....
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Link: http://davidstockmanscontracorner.com/memo-to-bill-gross-shut-up-and-stick-to-your-shuffleboard/
Monday, November 3, 2014
Bill Gross: best opportunity of the decade
Bill Gross, the best bond manager in the world for over four decades, left PIMCO and joined Janus.
The simple story is this: a bond investing genius is starting over. For you, it's time to buy his new fund.
This investing genius left a job, at the firm he founded, managing hundreds of billions of assets. He is now managing merely tens of millions of dollars.
An opportunity like this is rare because such genius almost never starts over with a small amount of money.
Buy the talent of Bill Gross by purchasing the new mutual fund he now manages at Janus. He's younger than Warren Buffett by about 15 years.
Go long Gross. Put your money in his hands. No one can argue convincingly against that decision. PB
----
Excerpt from the Investment Outlook of Bill Gross at Janus.com:
...Deflation is no longer acceptable.
Such is the dilemma facing central bankers (and supposedly fiscal authorities) in 2014 and beyond: How to create inflation.
They’ve made a damn fine attempt at it – have they not?
Four trillion dollars in the U.S., two trillion U.S. dollar equivalents in Japan, and a trillion U.S. dollars coming from the ECB’s Draghi in the eurozone.
Not working like it used to, the trillions seem to seep through the sandy loam of investment and innovation straight into the cement mixer of the marketplace.
Prices go up, but not the right prices.
Alibaba’s stock goes from $68 on opening day to $92 in the first minute, but wages simply sit there for years on end.
One economy (the financial one) thrives while the other economy (the real one) withers...
----
Link: https://www.janus.com/bill-gross-investment-outlook
The simple story is this: a bond investing genius is starting over. For you, it's time to buy his new fund.
This investing genius left a job, at the firm he founded, managing hundreds of billions of assets. He is now managing merely tens of millions of dollars.
An opportunity like this is rare because such genius almost never starts over with a small amount of money.
Buy the talent of Bill Gross by purchasing the new mutual fund he now manages at Janus. He's younger than Warren Buffett by about 15 years.
Go long Gross. Put your money in his hands. No one can argue convincingly against that decision. PB
----
Excerpt from the Investment Outlook of Bill Gross at Janus.com:
...Deflation is no longer acceptable.
Such is the dilemma facing central bankers (and supposedly fiscal authorities) in 2014 and beyond: How to create inflation.
They’ve made a damn fine attempt at it – have they not?
Four trillion dollars in the U.S., two trillion U.S. dollar equivalents in Japan, and a trillion U.S. dollars coming from the ECB’s Draghi in the eurozone.
Not working like it used to, the trillions seem to seep through the sandy loam of investment and innovation straight into the cement mixer of the marketplace.
Prices go up, but not the right prices.
Alibaba’s stock goes from $68 on opening day to $92 in the first minute, but wages simply sit there for years on end.
One economy (the financial one) thrives while the other economy (the real one) withers...
----
Link: https://www.janus.com/bill-gross-investment-outlook
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Unemployment Rates - Whites, Blacks, Teens, and Part Timers
It's important, especially before an election, to look at how this economy has affected our citizens. From the latest survey, we've highlighted Whites and Blacks, and included Teens for each group.
We also think it's important to look at the U-6 rate, which includes everyone out of work who is looking PLUS those who want full time jobs, but can only get part time work.
The U-6 number is 11.8%.
That U-6 rate is an ugly, shameful number 5 years into a 'recovery,' as are the numbers for Blacks and both Teen groups. PB
----
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent official numbers:
Unemployment Rate - September 2014
Whites 16 - 19 years old
5.1% 18.7%
Blacks 16 - 19 years old
11% 30.5%
U-6 Unemployment Rate
(U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force)
11.8%
----
Link: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm (see Tables A-2 and A-15)
We also think it's important to look at the U-6 rate, which includes everyone out of work who is looking PLUS those who want full time jobs, but can only get part time work.
The U-6 number is 11.8%.
That U-6 rate is an ugly, shameful number 5 years into a 'recovery,' as are the numbers for Blacks and both Teen groups. PB
----
From the Bureau of Labor Statistics most recent official numbers:
Unemployment Rate - September 2014
Whites 16 - 19 years old
5.1% 18.7%
Blacks 16 - 19 years old
11% 30.5%
U-6 Unemployment Rate
(U-6 Total unemployed, plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force, plus total employed part time for economic reasons, as a percent of the civilian labor force plus all persons marginally attached to the labor force)
11.8%
----
Link: http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.toc.htm (see Tables A-2 and A-15)
More Damage from Liberals: Middle-Class Americans Can't Afford to Live in Liberal Cities
From TheAtlantic.com:
Even after adjusting for income, left-leaning metros tend to have worse income inequality and less affordable housing.
On April 2, 2014, a protester in Oakland, California, mounted a Yahoo bus, climbed to the front of the roof, and vomited onto the top of the windshield.
If not the year's most persuasive act of dissent, it was certainly one of the most memorable demonstrations in the Bay Area, where residents have marched, blockaded, and retched in protest of San Francisco's economic inequality and unaffordable housing...
But San Francisco's problem is bigger than San Francisco.
Across the country, rich, dense cities are struggling with affordable housing, to the considerable anguish of their middle class families...
..the relationship is clear: In general, richer cities have less affordable housing.
But there's a second reason why San Francisco's problem is emblematic of a national story.
Liberal cities seem to have the worst affordability crises, according to Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko.
In a recent article, Kolko divided the largest cities into 32 “red" metros where Romney got more votes than Obama in 2012 (e.g. Houston), 40 “light-blue” markets where Obama won by fewer than 20 points (e.g. Austin), and 28 “dark-blue” metros where Obama won by more than 20 points (e.g. L.A., SF, NYC).
Although all three housing groups faced similar declines in the recession and similar bounce-backs in the recovery, affordability remains a bigger problem in the bluest cities.
"Even after adjusting for differences of income, liberal markets tend to have higher income inequality and worse affordability,” Kolko said.
Kolko's theory isn't an outlier.
There is a deep literature tying liberal residents to illiberal housing policies that create affordability crunches for the middle class...
----
Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/why-are-liberal-cities-so-unaffordable/382045/
Even after adjusting for income, left-leaning metros tend to have worse income inequality and less affordable housing.
On April 2, 2014, a protester in Oakland, California, mounted a Yahoo bus, climbed to the front of the roof, and vomited onto the top of the windshield.
If not the year's most persuasive act of dissent, it was certainly one of the most memorable demonstrations in the Bay Area, where residents have marched, blockaded, and retched in protest of San Francisco's economic inequality and unaffordable housing...
But San Francisco's problem is bigger than San Francisco.
Across the country, rich, dense cities are struggling with affordable housing, to the considerable anguish of their middle class families...
..the relationship is clear: In general, richer cities have less affordable housing.
But there's a second reason why San Francisco's problem is emblematic of a national story.
Liberal cities seem to have the worst affordability crises, according to Trulia chief economist Jed Kolko.
In a recent article, Kolko divided the largest cities into 32 “red" metros where Romney got more votes than Obama in 2012 (e.g. Houston), 40 “light-blue” markets where Obama won by fewer than 20 points (e.g. Austin), and 28 “dark-blue” metros where Obama won by more than 20 points (e.g. L.A., SF, NYC).
Although all three housing groups faced similar declines in the recession and similar bounce-backs in the recovery, affordability remains a bigger problem in the bluest cities.
"Even after adjusting for differences of income, liberal markets tend to have higher income inequality and worse affordability,” Kolko said.
Kolko's theory isn't an outlier.
There is a deep literature tying liberal residents to illiberal housing policies that create affordability crunches for the middle class...
----
Link: http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2014/10/why-are-liberal-cities-so-unaffordable/382045/
Washington’s wealth and waste
From the American Enterprise Institute's AEI.org:
Grand new federal buildings, generous public employee salaries, and a growing lobbying industry are among the signs of Washington’s increasing wealth and power.
After decades of decline, the nation’s capital today is wealthy and growing.
Metro Washington now has six of the nation’s ten wealthiest counties.
In 2012, Falls Church became the nation’s richest city, a far cry from when it was a 1970s refuge for Vietnamese immigrants fleeing Saigon.
The region’s median household income is $88,233, second in the nation behind California’s San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metro area, which is part of Silicon Valley and has a median household income of $90,737.
But while in other cities this might be a success story, in Washington it comes with a catch.
Rather than resulting from private industry, it merely underlies the growth of the city’s leading employer, the federal government. The city’s flourishing has seemed especially perverse in recent years, as the rest of America has lagged economically.
Every tax dollar spent represents less money in the private sector to create jobs...
----
http://www.aei.org/publication/gross-national-profit-washingtons-wealth-waste/
Grand new federal buildings, generous public employee salaries, and a growing lobbying industry are among the signs of Washington’s increasing wealth and power.
After decades of decline, the nation’s capital today is wealthy and growing.
Metro Washington now has six of the nation’s ten wealthiest counties.
In 2012, Falls Church became the nation’s richest city, a far cry from when it was a 1970s refuge for Vietnamese immigrants fleeing Saigon.
The region’s median household income is $88,233, second in the nation behind California’s San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara metro area, which is part of Silicon Valley and has a median household income of $90,737.
But while in other cities this might be a success story, in Washington it comes with a catch.
Rather than resulting from private industry, it merely underlies the growth of the city’s leading employer, the federal government. The city’s flourishing has seemed especially perverse in recent years, as the rest of America has lagged economically.
Every tax dollar spent represents less money in the private sector to create jobs...
----
http://www.aei.org/publication/gross-national-profit-washingtons-wealth-waste/
Obama's Incompetence is Reason for Poor Recovery
From Investors.com:
...a new study finds "little support for the conventional wisdom that the output declines following financial crises are uniformly large and long-lasting." In fact, the declines are "on average only moderate."
So much for the "financial crisis ate my recovery" lie.
Bad policy, not the financial crisis, is why we've had such pathetic economic performance for five years.
Even more interesting is who authored the study: Christina Romer and David Romer. If that first name sounds familiar, it should.
She was Obama's chief economic adviser for the first two years of his presidency.
Nor are she and her husband, both well-regarded liberal-leaning economists at the University of California, Berkeley, alone in their conclusions.
An earlier, extensive study of U.S. recessions by Michael Bordo of Rutgers and Joseph Haubrich of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that, on average, recessions that happen due to financial crises tend to have faster recoveries — not slower ones.
In short, treat comments from left-wing politicians about the slow expansion with extreme skepticism.
As new data suggest, Obama's incompetence, not the financial meltdown, is why the recovery was such a disaster.
----
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/103114-724513-white-house-narrative-of-blaming-financial-crisis-for-poor-recovery-shown-to-be-false.htm
...a new study finds "little support for the conventional wisdom that the output declines following financial crises are uniformly large and long-lasting." In fact, the declines are "on average only moderate."
So much for the "financial crisis ate my recovery" lie.
Bad policy, not the financial crisis, is why we've had such pathetic economic performance for five years.
Even more interesting is who authored the study: Christina Romer and David Romer. If that first name sounds familiar, it should.
She was Obama's chief economic adviser for the first two years of his presidency.
Nor are she and her husband, both well-regarded liberal-leaning economists at the University of California, Berkeley, alone in their conclusions.
An earlier, extensive study of U.S. recessions by Michael Bordo of Rutgers and Joseph Haubrich of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland found that, on average, recessions that happen due to financial crises tend to have faster recoveries — not slower ones.
In short, treat comments from left-wing politicians about the slow expansion with extreme skepticism.
As new data suggest, Obama's incompetence, not the financial meltdown, is why the recovery was such a disaster.
----
http://news.investors.com/ibd-editorials/103114-724513-white-house-narrative-of-blaming-financial-crisis-for-poor-recovery-shown-to-be-false.htm
Saturday, November 1, 2014
The New Grand Bargain: Buy ancient artifacts - support terrorists
From Reuters.com comes a story about illicit trade in ancient art and artifacts. Stolen treasure plundered by terrorists makes its way to rich people - who certainly love a bargain!
Some folks say these "conflict bargains" support and fund terrorists like ISIS - those beheaders, killers, and sex traffickers of women, boys and girls.
But, when such rare value is available at deep discounts, it's just business, right?
And if you get caught making a bargain? Well, there's got to be a reliable apologist for hire somewhere who explains the nuances of greater good. Say it's kind of Keynesian.
Or, just blame it on Bush, or Israel. That seems to work well for 'smart' folks with diplomas as well as rich folks. Or, if you feel kind of funny having to blame someone else, call it portfolio diversification. PB
----
“Many antique collectors unwillingly support terrorists like Islamic State, ” Michel van Rijn, one of the most successful smugglers of antique artifacts in the past century, told German broadcaster Das Erste this month.
And smuggling is booming in Iraq and Syria right now.
In Iraq, 4,500 archaeological sites, some of them UNESCO World Heritage sites, are reportedly controlled by Islamic State and are exposed to looting.
Iraqi intelligence claim that Islamic State alone has collected as much as $36 million from the sales of artifacts, some of them thousands of years old.
The accounts data have not been released for verification but, whatever the exact number is, the sale of conflict antiquities to fund military and paramilitary activity is real and systematic...
----
Link: http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/27/how-the-west-buys-conflict-antiquities-from-iraq-and-syria-and-funds-terror/
Some folks say these "conflict bargains" support and fund terrorists like ISIS - those beheaders, killers, and sex traffickers of women, boys and girls.
But, when such rare value is available at deep discounts, it's just business, right?
And if you get caught making a bargain? Well, there's got to be a reliable apologist for hire somewhere who explains the nuances of greater good. Say it's kind of Keynesian.
Or, just blame it on Bush, or Israel. That seems to work well for 'smart' folks with diplomas as well as rich folks. Or, if you feel kind of funny having to blame someone else, call it portfolio diversification. PB
----
“Many antique collectors unwillingly support terrorists like Islamic State, ” Michel van Rijn, one of the most successful smugglers of antique artifacts in the past century, told German broadcaster Das Erste this month.
And smuggling is booming in Iraq and Syria right now.
In Iraq, 4,500 archaeological sites, some of them UNESCO World Heritage sites, are reportedly controlled by Islamic State and are exposed to looting.
Iraqi intelligence claim that Islamic State alone has collected as much as $36 million from the sales of artifacts, some of them thousands of years old.
The accounts data have not been released for verification but, whatever the exact number is, the sale of conflict antiquities to fund military and paramilitary activity is real and systematic...
----
Link: http://blogs.reuters.com/great-debate/2014/10/27/how-the-west-buys-conflict-antiquities-from-iraq-and-syria-and-funds-terror/
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