From Brett Arends writing at MarketWatch.com:
You work for a big non-governmental organization somewhere like Switzerland, and you’ve been taking bribes for years...
Why is it so hard to conduct a little honest graft? What’s the world coming to?
If you’re lining your pockets, here are your seven smart financial steps to make sure you get to retire to a mansion — and not the Big House.
ONE. Keep your loot out of the banks.
Do not accept your bribes by wire transfer. Do not accept a check. And if you’re handed a suitcase full of cash, do not go to your local branch of Zurich Graft & Loot and fill out a deposit slip either.
TWO. Go easy on the U.S. dollars.
You want a diversified portfolio of cash. That includes New Zealand and Australian dollars, Norwegian and Swedish krone, euros, pounds sterling, Singaporean dollars, Polish zloty, and Russian rubles.
Diversify, diversify, diversify!
THREE. Buy lots of precious metals and jewels.
Once again, diversify. Silver and platinum have industrial uses. Their prices are typically more volatile than that of gold. You can easily buy coins and ingots in gold, silver, platinum, rhodium and palladium. When it comes to diamonds, go for one-carat “D-Flawless” stones.
FOUR. Launder your money… by spending!
Luxury cruises. Expensive meals. The best of everything. Live for the moment. And pay cash.
Oh, and make sure you throw out all your receipts. No one can prove anything.
FIVE. Shut up.
No one can catch you with a secret wire if you don’t say anything.
Admit nothing!
SIX. Get that second passport.
But the best passport for you has to be a Russian one. Say what you like about Vladimir Putin, but he’s the one person who couldn’t care less what Uncle Sam thinks.
SEVEN: Be ready.
Think Jason Bourne. The best money advice of all is to keep it in a bag you can throw over your shoulder and go.
----
Link: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/attention-fifa-heres-how-to-take-a-bribe-without-getting-caught-2015-05-29/print
Sunday, May 31, 2015
Saturday, May 30, 2015
How the Fed Depressed the Recovery: nothing but Bupkis for Savers!
From Ed Yardeni, another very smart guy, writing at his blog earlier this week at yardeni.com:
...the Fed has significantly contributed to the weakness of the current economic expansion as follows:
(1) By keeping interest rates near zero for so long, risk-averse savers have had to accept bupkis for returns on their liquid assets, which rose to a record $10.7 trillion during the week of May 11.
Many of them have been saving more, thus spending less...
(2) Ultra-easy money attracted investors rather than nesters into the housing market following the 2008 crisis.
They bought up all the cheap homes and drove home prices back up to levels that may be unaffordable for many first-time homebuyers.
(3) As I’ve discussed many times over the past year, thanks to the Fed, corporate bond yields have been trading below the S&P 500’s forward earnings yield since 2004, providing companies with an incentive to buy back their shares and engage in M&A rather than invest in plant and equipment.
Cheap money did stimulate some business investment, but the increased capacity wasn’t matched by more demand, resulting in some deflationary pressures.
Stock prices have soared, but this has exacerbated the perception of widespread income and wealth inequality.
----
Link: http://blog.yardeni.com/2015/05/how-fed-depressed-recovery-excerpt.html
...the Fed has significantly contributed to the weakness of the current economic expansion as follows:
(1) By keeping interest rates near zero for so long, risk-averse savers have had to accept bupkis for returns on their liquid assets, which rose to a record $10.7 trillion during the week of May 11.
Many of them have been saving more, thus spending less...
(2) Ultra-easy money attracted investors rather than nesters into the housing market following the 2008 crisis.
They bought up all the cheap homes and drove home prices back up to levels that may be unaffordable for many first-time homebuyers.
(3) As I’ve discussed many times over the past year, thanks to the Fed, corporate bond yields have been trading below the S&P 500’s forward earnings yield since 2004, providing companies with an incentive to buy back their shares and engage in M&A rather than invest in plant and equipment.
Cheap money did stimulate some business investment, but the increased capacity wasn’t matched by more demand, resulting in some deflationary pressures.
Stock prices have soared, but this has exacerbated the perception of widespread income and wealth inequality.
----
Link: http://blog.yardeni.com/2015/05/how-fed-depressed-recovery-excerpt.html
Friday, May 29, 2015
Honey! I shrunk the Economy
Whose economy is this? PB
----
From the New York Times online:
The economy got off to an even weaker start this year than first thought, the government reported Friday, as economic activity contracted amid a disappointing trade picture and continued caution on spending by businesses and consumers alike.
The 0.7 percent decline in economic output in the first quarter of 2015 was a reversal of the initial 0.2 percent advance for the period reported last month by the Commerce Department.
While statistical quirks and one-time factors like wintry weather in some parts of the country played a role, as did a work slowdown at West Coast ports, the lackluster report for January, February and March underscores the American economy’s seeming inability to generate much momentum...
----
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/business/economy/us-economy-gdp-q1-revision.html?
----
From the New York Times online:
The economy got off to an even weaker start this year than first thought, the government reported Friday, as economic activity contracted amid a disappointing trade picture and continued caution on spending by businesses and consumers alike.
The 0.7 percent decline in economic output in the first quarter of 2015 was a reversal of the initial 0.2 percent advance for the period reported last month by the Commerce Department.
While statistical quirks and one-time factors like wintry weather in some parts of the country played a role, as did a work slowdown at West Coast ports, the lackluster report for January, February and March underscores the American economy’s seeming inability to generate much momentum...
----
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/30/business/economy/us-economy-gdp-q1-revision.html?
Tuesday, May 26, 2015
Google wants ‘Chucky’ to control your home
Creepy. Very creepy. PB
----
From CNBC.com:
Google's engineers have floated the idea of making Internet-connected teddy bears that will have the ability to control gadgets and devices in the home...
A camera and microphone would be installed in the head of the toy, which could move to maintain eye contact with the user—much like the popular horror film doll "Chucky."
A user could signal a command by speaking or moving their hands...
(Click picture for larger view.)
Connected to the "Internet of things" via the WiFi, the bear could then control devices including TVs, PCs and music systems as well as the increasing number of smart home appliances such as kettles or the heating.
Google's patent explains that the device may be configured to accept voice commands from a limited number of users—such as only those living in the house—and the camera could be used to recognize a user's face...
"If this was sold it would be something to cause a certain sense of concern about the creepiness of the product for families," Renate Samson, spokesperson for privacy group Big Brother Watch.
"Children's toys should enable children to play in private and not be watched.
It's important that privacy and security by design is taken into consideration and is not an afterthought particularly when dealing with children..."
----
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102706197
----
From CNBC.com:
Google's engineers have floated the idea of making Internet-connected teddy bears that will have the ability to control gadgets and devices in the home...
A camera and microphone would be installed in the head of the toy, which could move to maintain eye contact with the user—much like the popular horror film doll "Chucky."
A user could signal a command by speaking or moving their hands...
(Click picture for larger view.)
Connected to the "Internet of things" via the WiFi, the bear could then control devices including TVs, PCs and music systems as well as the increasing number of smart home appliances such as kettles or the heating.
Google's patent explains that the device may be configured to accept voice commands from a limited number of users—such as only those living in the house—and the camera could be used to recognize a user's face...
"If this was sold it would be something to cause a certain sense of concern about the creepiness of the product for families," Renate Samson, spokesperson for privacy group Big Brother Watch.
"Children's toys should enable children to play in private and not be watched.
It's important that privacy and security by design is taken into consideration and is not an afterthought particularly when dealing with children..."
----
Link: http://www.cnbc.com/id/102706197
Sunday, May 24, 2015
Sergio to Mary: One World Car Company, Baby!
That Italian rascal!
We sometimes suspected there is a shared secret desire to form a One WorldGovernment Car Company.
(Of course, theprophecy news is proclaimed printed on Pentecost Sunday!)
This calls for interpreters in case the foreign tongues aren't understood.
But what about the statement: "end the current two-tier wage system by phasing out the top wage rate as veteran employees retire?"
Whoa! No matter the tongue, that's something there's no need to interpret. 'Top wage rate' is crystal clear to everyone in any tongue. PB
----
From the New York Times:
In the middle of March, Mary T. Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, received a lengthy and unusual email from one of her direct competitors, Sergio Marchionne.
Ms. Barra had never met Mr. Marchionne, the C.E.O. of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
And she was in no way expecting their first contact to be an offer to discuss a potential blockbuster of a merger.
The email, according to two people with knowledge of it and reported for the first time here, laid out in detail how global carmakers needed to consolidate to save money and suggested that a combination of G.M. and Fiat Chrysler could cut billions of dollars in costs and create an automotive superpower...
“I think it is absolutely clear that the amount of capital waste that’s going on in this industry is something that certainly requires remedy,” he said.
“A remedy in our view is through consolidation.”
It’s not often that a chief executive announces to the world that his company is eager to find a merger partner.
Some might even consider it a sign of weakness and, in fact, F.C.A.’s stock dropped about 10 percent over the next two days.
Rather than rally support, Mr. Marchionne’s passionate appeal only highlighted the difficulties that lie ahead for Fiat Chrysler...
Mr. Marchionne also appears headed for a confrontation with union leaders in this summer’s contract negotiations because of F.C.A.’s rampant hiring of lower-paid workers.
Alone among auto chiefs, he wants to end the current two-tier wage system by phasing out the top wage rate as veteran employees retire...
----
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/business/detroits-chief-instigator.html?
We sometimes suspected there is a shared secret desire to form a One World
(Of course, the
This calls for interpreters in case the foreign tongues aren't understood.
But what about the statement: "end the current two-tier wage system by phasing out the top wage rate as veteran employees retire?"
Whoa! No matter the tongue, that's something there's no need to interpret. 'Top wage rate' is crystal clear to everyone in any tongue. PB
----
From the New York Times:
In the middle of March, Mary T. Barra, the chief executive of General Motors, received a lengthy and unusual email from one of her direct competitors, Sergio Marchionne.
Ms. Barra had never met Mr. Marchionne, the C.E.O. of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.
And she was in no way expecting their first contact to be an offer to discuss a potential blockbuster of a merger.
The email, according to two people with knowledge of it and reported for the first time here, laid out in detail how global carmakers needed to consolidate to save money and suggested that a combination of G.M. and Fiat Chrysler could cut billions of dollars in costs and create an automotive superpower...
“I think it is absolutely clear that the amount of capital waste that’s going on in this industry is something that certainly requires remedy,” he said.
“A remedy in our view is through consolidation.”
It’s not often that a chief executive announces to the world that his company is eager to find a merger partner.
Some might even consider it a sign of weakness and, in fact, F.C.A.’s stock dropped about 10 percent over the next two days.
Rather than rally support, Mr. Marchionne’s passionate appeal only highlighted the difficulties that lie ahead for Fiat Chrysler...
Mr. Marchionne also appears headed for a confrontation with union leaders in this summer’s contract negotiations because of F.C.A.’s rampant hiring of lower-paid workers.
Alone among auto chiefs, he wants to end the current two-tier wage system by phasing out the top wage rate as veteran employees retire...
----
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/05/24/business/detroits-chief-instigator.html?
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
4 Types of Drunks: "Hemingway," "Mary Poppins," "Mr. Hyde," "the Nutty Professor"
This article describes a response by college student researchers looking for empirical evidence about drunks - and finding no evidence.
However, finding drunks was easy. I'll twist off to that. PB
----
From Real Clear Science online:
Are there truly "types of drunks"?
The landscape of published scientific literature was similarly barren.
[College researchers] couldn't find a single empirical study on the matter, so they formulated their own.
It would be the first attempt to scientifically identify drunk personality types.
The work began where many psychology studies often do: in an introductory psychology class.
187 pairs of "drinking buddies" were recruited via email and invited into the laboratory, where -- in strict confidence -- they individually completed surveys covering their background, drinking behavior, and personality, both sober and drunk.
Each participant also described the personality and drinking behavior of their "buddy."
Were there common trends buried in the responses?
Indeed there were. Four distinct clusters emerged, representing the sought-after "drunk types."
1. They dubbed the first "Hemingway."
"Specifically, members of this group reported decreasing less in Conscientiousness (e.g. being prepared, organized, prompt) and Intellect (e.g. understanding abstract ideas, being imaginative) than the rest of the sample," the authors wrote, "much like the author Ernest Hemingway, who claimed that he could ‘‘drink hells any amount of whiskey without getting drunk.’’"
2. "Mary Poppins."
The least prevalent type, and mostly female, it described people who were particularly agreeable when sober and who remained agreeable when intoxicated.
"The Mary Poppins group of drinkers essentially captures the sweet, responsible drinkers who experience fewer alcohol-related problems compared to those most affected," the researchers described.
3. "Mr. Hyde."
Members of this group -- surprisingly about two-thirds female -- were defined by "larger than average intoxication-related decreases in Conscientiousness, Intellect and Agreeableness."
"Members of this group, much like the dark-sided Mr. Hyde, reported a tendency of being particularly less responsible, less intellectual, and more hostile when under the influence of alcohol than they are when they are sober," the authors wrote, further adding that "Mr. Hydes" were more likely to incur harm from drinking, like experiencing a memory blackout, getting arrested, or sustaining an injury.
4. "The Nutty Professor."
About 50-50 male and female, this type described subjects who tended to be introverted when sober but became extroverts when drunk, similar to how Professor Sherman Klump transformed into Buddy Love in the movie of the same name.
----
Link: http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2015/05/these_are_the_four_types_of_drunks_according_to_science.html
However, finding drunks was easy. I'll twist off to that. PB
----
From Real Clear Science online:
Are there truly "types of drunks"?
The landscape of published scientific literature was similarly barren.
[College researchers] couldn't find a single empirical study on the matter, so they formulated their own.
It would be the first attempt to scientifically identify drunk personality types.
The work began where many psychology studies often do: in an introductory psychology class.
187 pairs of "drinking buddies" were recruited via email and invited into the laboratory, where -- in strict confidence -- they individually completed surveys covering their background, drinking behavior, and personality, both sober and drunk.
Each participant also described the personality and drinking behavior of their "buddy."
Were there common trends buried in the responses?
Indeed there were. Four distinct clusters emerged, representing the sought-after "drunk types."
1. They dubbed the first "Hemingway."
"Specifically, members of this group reported decreasing less in Conscientiousness (e.g. being prepared, organized, prompt) and Intellect (e.g. understanding abstract ideas, being imaginative) than the rest of the sample," the authors wrote, "much like the author Ernest Hemingway, who claimed that he could ‘‘drink hells any amount of whiskey without getting drunk.’’"
2. "Mary Poppins."
The least prevalent type, and mostly female, it described people who were particularly agreeable when sober and who remained agreeable when intoxicated.
"The Mary Poppins group of drinkers essentially captures the sweet, responsible drinkers who experience fewer alcohol-related problems compared to those most affected," the researchers described.
3. "Mr. Hyde."
Members of this group -- surprisingly about two-thirds female -- were defined by "larger than average intoxication-related decreases in Conscientiousness, Intellect and Agreeableness."
"Members of this group, much like the dark-sided Mr. Hyde, reported a tendency of being particularly less responsible, less intellectual, and more hostile when under the influence of alcohol than they are when they are sober," the authors wrote, further adding that "Mr. Hydes" were more likely to incur harm from drinking, like experiencing a memory blackout, getting arrested, or sustaining an injury.
4. "The Nutty Professor."
About 50-50 male and female, this type described subjects who tended to be introverted when sober but became extroverts when drunk, similar to how Professor Sherman Klump transformed into Buddy Love in the movie of the same name.
----
Link: http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2015/05/these_are_the_four_types_of_drunks_according_to_science.html
As a fish doesn't notice the water, today's mainstream journalists are biased in favor of Democratic or liberal issues.
From Kirsten Powers writing at USA Today:
ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos has been embroiled in a scandal after he failed to disclose $75,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation before grilling Peter Schweizer, the author of a book critical of the foundation...
Stephanopoulos should never have conducted this interview without revealing his connection to the foundation.
But does anyone actually believe that had he not made the donations, the interview would have gone differently?
Are we all really surprised that a mainstream news media host might be predisposed to skewering an author who is causing damage to the presumed future Democratic presidential nominee?
After all, we have a mainstream news media that took a Democratic Party talking point — "the war on women" — and reported it as if it's breaking news.
Presuming guilt among Republicans and goodness among Democrats is so reflexive and rewarded in today's mainstream media culture, it's not that hard to see how Stephanopoulos truly would not have understood he had an egregious conflict of interest as he faced down Schweizer.
Like a fish doesn't notice the water, today's mainstream journalists are impervious to their bias in favor of Democratic candidates or liberal issues.
They believe they are being objective because they have mistaken their ideological belief system for truth.
As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has noted repeatedly, "The facts have a liberal bias..."
This view has fertile ground in which to flourish, as the ideological and intellectual diversity of the nation's newsrooms decreases.
Per The Atlantic, "Among journalists who align with one of the two major parties, four in five said they're Democrats."
While many of these people are able to account for their bias, too many aren't.
A friend recently recalled to me watching journalists at a mainstream media outlet erupt in cheers as election returns came in favoring President Obama.
It must have been lonely for the few Republicans: According to an Indiana University survey, in 1971, almost 26% of reporters were Republican.
Today, it's 7%.
Expect the facts to keep getting more liberal.
----
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/05/19/abc-stephanopoulos-foundation-ethics-donations-partisan-column/27583103/
ABC News' chief anchor George Stephanopoulos has been embroiled in a scandal after he failed to disclose $75,000 in donations to the Clinton Foundation before grilling Peter Schweizer, the author of a book critical of the foundation...
Stephanopoulos should never have conducted this interview without revealing his connection to the foundation.
But does anyone actually believe that had he not made the donations, the interview would have gone differently?
Are we all really surprised that a mainstream news media host might be predisposed to skewering an author who is causing damage to the presumed future Democratic presidential nominee?
After all, we have a mainstream news media that took a Democratic Party talking point — "the war on women" — and reported it as if it's breaking news.
Presuming guilt among Republicans and goodness among Democrats is so reflexive and rewarded in today's mainstream media culture, it's not that hard to see how Stephanopoulos truly would not have understood he had an egregious conflict of interest as he faced down Schweizer.
Like a fish doesn't notice the water, today's mainstream journalists are impervious to their bias in favor of Democratic candidates or liberal issues.
They believe they are being objective because they have mistaken their ideological belief system for truth.
As New York Times columnist Paul Krugman has noted repeatedly, "The facts have a liberal bias..."
This view has fertile ground in which to flourish, as the ideological and intellectual diversity of the nation's newsrooms decreases.
Per The Atlantic, "Among journalists who align with one of the two major parties, four in five said they're Democrats."
While many of these people are able to account for their bias, too many aren't.
A friend recently recalled to me watching journalists at a mainstream media outlet erupt in cheers as election returns came in favoring President Obama.
It must have been lonely for the few Republicans: According to an Indiana University survey, in 1971, almost 26% of reporters were Republican.
Today, it's 7%.
Expect the facts to keep getting more liberal.
----
Link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/05/19/abc-stephanopoulos-foundation-ethics-donations-partisan-column/27583103/
Saturday, May 16, 2015
Real Middle Class Champions: the Clintons earned at least $30 million since beginning of 2014
Dr Suess wrote: Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Budweiser beer commercials used to mock "Real American Heroes."
Bill & Hil Clinton, Middle Class Champions, are just enjoying the dream, isn't that right?
That's all it must be, I guess.
Besides, everyone likes Bill, so that means Hillary has got to be the next president of the United States. Isn't that the way things work?
We all need Middle Class Champions. I think that's what we need. PB
----
From Reuters.com:
Hillary and Bill Clinton have earned at least $30 million since January 2014, including more than $25 million for delivering about 100 speeches, according to a government filing.
Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, has earned more than $5 million in royalties for her book, "Hard Choices," which was published in June, according to the form.
The Clintons' income puts them at the upper end of the top 0.1 percent of earners in the U.S. population, according to government data.
Economic inequality has emerged as an early theme with candidates of both parties vying for the White House in November 2016.
The "one percent" has become a talking point in policy discussions about the divide between rich and poor, cited by politicians to support everything from increased Wall Street oversight to raising wages to overhauling the tax code.
Clinton announced her candidacy last month by saying "everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion."
In early campaign stops, Clinton has said how she believes the "deck is stacked" against middle class Americans and that it is time to "reshuffle the cards."
The Clintons themselves have faced criticism for their privileged status.
Last year, Hillary Clinton said they were "dead broke" when they left the White House in 2001, even though Bill Clinton made millions of dollars giving speeches after his presidency.
Clinton, a former top diplomat, U.S. senator and first lady, has earned as much as $250,000 per speech since leaving the State Department in 2013.
Paid appearances at financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Bank of America in particular have drawn fire from the liberal wing of the Democratic party, which fears her campaign will be beholden to moneyed interests...
----
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/16/us-usa-election-clinton-idUSKBN0O02FB20150516
Budweiser beer commercials used to mock "Real American Heroes."
Bill & Hil Clinton, Middle Class Champions, are just enjoying the dream, isn't that right?
That's all it must be, I guess.
Besides, everyone likes Bill, so that means Hillary has got to be the next president of the United States. Isn't that the way things work?
We all need Middle Class Champions. I think that's what we need. PB
----
From Reuters.com:
Hillary and Bill Clinton have earned at least $30 million since January 2014, including more than $25 million for delivering about 100 speeches, according to a government filing.
Hillary Clinton, the front-runner for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, has earned more than $5 million in royalties for her book, "Hard Choices," which was published in June, according to the form.
The Clintons' income puts them at the upper end of the top 0.1 percent of earners in the U.S. population, according to government data.
Economic inequality has emerged as an early theme with candidates of both parties vying for the White House in November 2016.
The "one percent" has become a talking point in policy discussions about the divide between rich and poor, cited by politicians to support everything from increased Wall Street oversight to raising wages to overhauling the tax code.
Clinton announced her candidacy last month by saying "everyday Americans need a champion and I want to be that champion."
In early campaign stops, Clinton has said how she believes the "deck is stacked" against middle class Americans and that it is time to "reshuffle the cards."
The Clintons themselves have faced criticism for their privileged status.
Last year, Hillary Clinton said they were "dead broke" when they left the White House in 2001, even though Bill Clinton made millions of dollars giving speeches after his presidency.
Clinton, a former top diplomat, U.S. senator and first lady, has earned as much as $250,000 per speech since leaving the State Department in 2013.
Paid appearances at financial institutions such as Goldman Sachs and Bank of America in particular have drawn fire from the liberal wing of the Democratic party, which fears her campaign will be beholden to moneyed interests...
----
Link: http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/05/16/us-usa-election-clinton-idUSKBN0O02FB20150516
The Clintons, Middle Class Champions, sound just like the rest of us: "I gotta pay our bills."
From John Kass writing at the Chicago Tribune online:
...[as Hillary] climbs ruthlessly toward a Clinton Restoration in the White House.
If you really want a tingle, just think of the West Wing right after her inauguration:
Handel's "Water Music" will play in the background, and Bill will stand just a few steps below her, resplendent in his tartan kilt as First Laddie.
And Hillary will be pale and powdered, like Glenn Close in "Dangerous Liaisons," a thin smile on her lips, sitting straight-backed on America's Iron Throne.
But to make it all happen, Bill keeps hauling in at least $500,000 per speech, the money coming perhaps from good people who just want to help mankind, or maybe it's from sleazy influence brokers helping the Russians buy up all the American uranium in Utah.
So why does Bill keep taking the money that most of us, Democrats and Republicans, would consider too moist to touch?
Because he says there's nothing wrong with it.
There is no proof, he says.
Besides, the man's got bills.
"Yeah," Bill Clinton said when asked by NBC News if he would continue taking the soggy cash. "I gotta pay our bills."
He's gotta pay the bills?
----
Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-kass-hillary-met-0506-20150505-column.html
...[as Hillary] climbs ruthlessly toward a Clinton Restoration in the White House.
If you really want a tingle, just think of the West Wing right after her inauguration:
Handel's "Water Music" will play in the background, and Bill will stand just a few steps below her, resplendent in his tartan kilt as First Laddie.
And Hillary will be pale and powdered, like Glenn Close in "Dangerous Liaisons," a thin smile on her lips, sitting straight-backed on America's Iron Throne.
But to make it all happen, Bill keeps hauling in at least $500,000 per speech, the money coming perhaps from good people who just want to help mankind, or maybe it's from sleazy influence brokers helping the Russians buy up all the American uranium in Utah.
So why does Bill keep taking the money that most of us, Democrats and Republicans, would consider too moist to touch?
Because he says there's nothing wrong with it.
There is no proof, he says.
Besides, the man's got bills.
"Yeah," Bill Clinton said when asked by NBC News if he would continue taking the soggy cash. "I gotta pay our bills."
He's gotta pay the bills?
----
Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/kass/ct-kass-hillary-met-0506-20150505-column.html
Thursday, May 14, 2015
S&P 500 at Record Close
PB: 2 great ways to own the S&P 500 Index as an ETF -
SPDR® S&P 500® ETF
Ticker Symbol: SPY
https://www.spdrs.com/product/fund.seam?ticker=SPY
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF
Ticker Symbol: IVV
http://www.ishares.com/us/products/239726/ishares-core-sp-500-etf
----
From the Wall Street Journal online:
The S&P 500 index rose to a record as stocks advanced broadly Thursday, taking cues from gains overseas and stability in the bond market.
The S&P 500 gained 22.62, or 1.1%, to 2121.10, marking the index’s seventh record finish this year and surpassing its last all-time high reached April 24.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 191.75, or 1.1%, to 18252.24, still 0.2% from a record close.
The Nasdaq Composite Index added 69.10, or 1.4%, to 5050.80. It’s still 0.8% away from a record.
----
Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-stock-futures-rise-1431605729
SPDR® S&P 500® ETF
Ticker Symbol: SPY
https://www.spdrs.com/product/fund.seam?ticker=SPY
iShares Core S&P 500 ETF
Ticker Symbol: IVV
http://www.ishares.com/us/products/239726/ishares-core-sp-500-etf
----
From the Wall Street Journal online:
The S&P 500 index rose to a record as stocks advanced broadly Thursday, taking cues from gains overseas and stability in the bond market.
The S&P 500 gained 22.62, or 1.1%, to 2121.10, marking the index’s seventh record finish this year and surpassing its last all-time high reached April 24.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rallied 191.75, or 1.1%, to 18252.24, still 0.2% from a record close.
The Nasdaq Composite Index added 69.10, or 1.4%, to 5050.80. It’s still 0.8% away from a record.
----
Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-stock-futures-rise-1431605729
U.S. Frackers now oil market’s Swing Producers
Imagine U.S. technology and American ingenuity making an impact on reducing gasonline costs - and U.S. consumers benefitting.
Is this really a big surprise? I'm glad we got U.S. frackers in our future.
OPEC has wielded power since the 1970s.
But power has shifted (or let's say it has swung!): now the frackers in the U.S. are swinging prices.
Keep fracking and keep swinging, you U.S. frackers! God Bless You! PB
----
From the Economist.com:
Big companies making big bets on big oilfields, while a cartel of oil-producing states [OPEC] fixed the price to keep itself rich and others, including the oil majors, profitable. That, in caricature, was how the oil industry once ran.
That model now seems broken...
Last November, with prices already slipping, OPEC’s members stopped trying to agree production quotas among themselves, sending crude tumbling further.
Their hope was that this would force rival producers, especially in the American shale beds, to slash investment.
As supply tightened drastically, the oil price would rebound.
This has not happened. Prices have staged only a partial recovery...
The big oil multinationals, such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total, have responded to the weaker oil price by cost-cutting, and postponing and cancelling some of their exploration projects.
However, the output of the shale firms [frackers] has proved surprisingly robust, even though they have cut their number of rigs significantly since the peak last October.
One reason for this is canny hedging by some shale producers, which means they are in effect getting paid above the current market price.
But many unhedged producers have also continued to pump oil, since the market price is still above the marginal cost of producing another barrel, even if it doesn’t cover the upfront costs of drilling the well.
Most important of all, their productivity has continued to improve in leaps and bounds.
Wells that used to take 35 days to complete now take 17, says Daniel Yergin of IHS, a research firm. The amount of oil produced per dollar invested will rise by 65% this year, he says.
Better seismic data, improvements to the fracking liquids pumped into wells and more intensive deployment of rigs are all helping...
But the principle is clear: American shale firms have become the new “swing producer” of the global oil market.
Its main influence used to be OPEC, and particularly the Saudis, switching the taps on and off to try to rig the price.
Now the market is increasingly led by the American frackers, ramping their drilling up and down in response to global prices.
Petromatrix, a consulting firm, has coined the phrase “shale band” for the price range between $45 and $65: below that range, American production falls sharply; above it, it surges.
If so, there should be a tendency for prices to stay within that range.
The greater the proportion of the world’s oil supply that comes from fracking, the stronger this effect will be.
The American government’s Energy Information Administration has in the past three years raised its forecast of American oil output in 2020 by 3.1m barrels per day to 10.6m—the equivalent of adding another producer the size of Iraq...
----
Link: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21651267-american-shale-firms-are-now-oil-markets-swing-producers-after-opec
Is this really a big surprise? I'm glad we got U.S. frackers in our future.
OPEC has wielded power since the 1970s.
But power has shifted (or let's say it has swung!): now the frackers in the U.S. are swinging prices.
Keep fracking and keep swinging, you U.S. frackers! God Bless You! PB
----
From the Economist.com:
Big companies making big bets on big oilfields, while a cartel of oil-producing states [OPEC] fixed the price to keep itself rich and others, including the oil majors, profitable. That, in caricature, was how the oil industry once ran.
That model now seems broken...
Last November, with prices already slipping, OPEC’s members stopped trying to agree production quotas among themselves, sending crude tumbling further.
Their hope was that this would force rival producers, especially in the American shale beds, to slash investment.
As supply tightened drastically, the oil price would rebound.
This has not happened. Prices have staged only a partial recovery...
The big oil multinationals, such as BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total, have responded to the weaker oil price by cost-cutting, and postponing and cancelling some of their exploration projects.
However, the output of the shale firms [frackers] has proved surprisingly robust, even though they have cut their number of rigs significantly since the peak last October.
One reason for this is canny hedging by some shale producers, which means they are in effect getting paid above the current market price.
But many unhedged producers have also continued to pump oil, since the market price is still above the marginal cost of producing another barrel, even if it doesn’t cover the upfront costs of drilling the well.
Most important of all, their productivity has continued to improve in leaps and bounds.
Wells that used to take 35 days to complete now take 17, says Daniel Yergin of IHS, a research firm. The amount of oil produced per dollar invested will rise by 65% this year, he says.
Better seismic data, improvements to the fracking liquids pumped into wells and more intensive deployment of rigs are all helping...
But the principle is clear: American shale firms have become the new “swing producer” of the global oil market.
Its main influence used to be OPEC, and particularly the Saudis, switching the taps on and off to try to rig the price.
Now the market is increasingly led by the American frackers, ramping their drilling up and down in response to global prices.
Petromatrix, a consulting firm, has coined the phrase “shale band” for the price range between $45 and $65: below that range, American production falls sharply; above it, it surges.
If so, there should be a tendency for prices to stay within that range.
The greater the proportion of the world’s oil supply that comes from fracking, the stronger this effect will be.
The American government’s Energy Information Administration has in the past three years raised its forecast of American oil output in 2020 by 3.1m barrels per day to 10.6m—the equivalent of adding another producer the size of Iraq...
----
Link: http://www.economist.com/news/business/21651267-american-shale-firms-are-now-oil-markets-swing-producers-after-opec
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Wal-Mart tests unlimited shipping: $50 per year
Et tu, Amazon? PB
----
From the Associated Press online:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will test a new unlimited shipping service for online shoppers this summer that will be priced below Amazon's $99 per year Prime service.
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the shipping subscription service will cost customers $50 a year. Products will arrive in three days or less.
Wal-Mart offers a grocery delivery and pickup service in five markets...
But the unlimited shipping program marks a substantial commitment and underscores how serious the retailer is about accelerating the growth of its online business, which has seen a slowdown.
----
Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WAL_MART_SHIPPING_SERVICE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-13-18-23-21
----
From the Associated Press online:
Wal-Mart Stores Inc. will test a new unlimited shipping service for online shoppers this summer that will be priced below Amazon's $99 per year Prime service.
Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the shipping subscription service will cost customers $50 a year. Products will arrive in three days or less.
Wal-Mart offers a grocery delivery and pickup service in five markets...
But the unlimited shipping program marks a substantial commitment and underscores how serious the retailer is about accelerating the growth of its online business, which has seen a slowdown.
----
Link: http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_WAL_MART_SHIPPING_SERVICE?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-13-18-23-21
Friday, May 8, 2015
Actor James Franco: McDonald’s was there for me when no one else was
Who knew?
Or, better yet, what else is there for all of us to learn and know? PB
----
From James Franco writing in the Washington Post online:
All I know is that when I needed McDonald’s, McDonald’s was there for me.
When no one else was.
In 1996, I moved to Los Angeles from Palo Alto at age 18 to study English at UCLA.
I soon realized ... because I hadn’t applied to the theater department as an incoming freshman, I would have to wait two years to even apply.
Two years seemed like an eternity, so I dropped out of college and went to a hole-in-the-wall acting school in the Valley.
My parents, who both had master’s degrees and valued education, told me I would have to support myself if I wasn’t enrolled in college.
I didn’t have a car, so I tried to get a job at all the restaurants within walking distance of my post-dropout Valley apartment. (I shared it with two other aspiring actors and slept on the couch.)
I had very little work experience.
In high school, I was fired from a coffee shop for reading behind the counter and from a golf course for reading while driving the cart on the driving range.
All the waiter jobs were taken by more experienced actor/waiters.
Someone asked me if I was too good to work at McDonald’s.
Because I was following my acting dream despite all the pressure not to, I was definitely not too good to work at McDonald’s.
I went to the nearest Mickey D’s and was hired the same day...
----
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/07/mcdonalds-was-there-for-me-when-no-one-else-was/
Or, better yet, what else is there for all of us to learn and know? PB
----
From James Franco writing in the Washington Post online:
All I know is that when I needed McDonald’s, McDonald’s was there for me.
When no one else was.
In 1996, I moved to Los Angeles from Palo Alto at age 18 to study English at UCLA.
I soon realized ... because I hadn’t applied to the theater department as an incoming freshman, I would have to wait two years to even apply.
Two years seemed like an eternity, so I dropped out of college and went to a hole-in-the-wall acting school in the Valley.
My parents, who both had master’s degrees and valued education, told me I would have to support myself if I wasn’t enrolled in college.
I didn’t have a car, so I tried to get a job at all the restaurants within walking distance of my post-dropout Valley apartment. (I shared it with two other aspiring actors and slept on the couch.)
I had very little work experience.
In high school, I was fired from a coffee shop for reading behind the counter and from a golf course for reading while driving the cart on the driving range.
All the waiter jobs were taken by more experienced actor/waiters.
Someone asked me if I was too good to work at McDonald’s.
Because I was following my acting dream despite all the pressure not to, I was definitely not too good to work at McDonald’s.
I went to the nearest Mickey D’s and was hired the same day...
----
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2015/05/07/mcdonalds-was-there-for-me-when-no-one-else-was/
After Five Years of Declining Unemployment - the Jobless Rate for Black Americans is Finally in Single Digits - but Race Gaps Persist
Some sad numbers in the jobs report persist. PB
----
From the Wall Street Journal online:
For the first time in nearly seven years, the unemployment rate for African-Americans is in single digits–though it remains more than twice as high as the jobless rate for whites.
[From last month:] Race matters in America’s labor market.
The unemployment rate has been dropping steadily since October 2009, but this progress is doing little to close the gap between black, Hispanic and white workers...
Although every group has made progress, nearly five years into the recovery, the gap between black and white workers is barely closing, if at all.
A year ago, the black unemployment rate was 7.4 percentage points higher than for whites.
In [last month's] report, it was 7.5 percentage points higher.
For both black and Hispanic workers, the disparity remains significantly wider than before the recession began in December 2007.
In mid-2006, the gap between Hispanic and white workers had closed almost entirely, with Hispanic employment only half a percentage point above white employment.
Today the gap is 2.3 percentage points.
Many factors could account for the disparity, but one thing that doesn’t explain it is educational attainment.
Blacks and Hispanics with college degrees are more likely to be unemployed than whites with college degrees.
----
Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/08/jobless-rate-for-black-americans-finally-dips-into-single-digits/
Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/04/04/five-years-of-declining-unemployment-doing-little-to-close-race-gaps/
----
From the Wall Street Journal online:
For the first time in nearly seven years, the unemployment rate for African-Americans is in single digits–though it remains more than twice as high as the jobless rate for whites.
- The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for black workers was 9.6% in April...down from 10.1% in March.
- For whites, the unemployment rate was steady in April at 4.7%.
- The Hispanic jobless rate was 6.9%, ticking up from 6.8% in March.
- The Asian unemployment rate was 4.4% last month, up from 3.2% in March.
The unemployment rate has been dropping steadily since October 2009, but this progress is doing little to close the gap between black, Hispanic and white workers...
Although every group has made progress, nearly five years into the recovery, the gap between black and white workers is barely closing, if at all.
A year ago, the black unemployment rate was 7.4 percentage points higher than for whites.
In [last month's] report, it was 7.5 percentage points higher.
For both black and Hispanic workers, the disparity remains significantly wider than before the recession began in December 2007.
In mid-2006, the gap between Hispanic and white workers had closed almost entirely, with Hispanic employment only half a percentage point above white employment.
Today the gap is 2.3 percentage points.
Many factors could account for the disparity, but one thing that doesn’t explain it is educational attainment.
Blacks and Hispanics with college degrees are more likely to be unemployed than whites with college degrees.
----
Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2015/05/08/jobless-rate-for-black-americans-finally-dips-into-single-digits/
Link: http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2014/04/04/five-years-of-declining-unemployment-doing-little-to-close-race-gaps/
How U.S. Government Punishes Small Business
Small business formation is down and has been declining for years.
Certainly, powerful venture capital players in Silicon Valley, and other Big Money sources, focus on emerging opportunities to grow new giants.
But Government and Big Money - with their influence and power - don't help communities.
No, they prefer to stay in the corridors of power. PB
----
From the Wall Street Journal online:
From the campaign trail to the floor of the U.S. House and Senate, members of Congress love to evoke the diner and dry cleaner, the neighborhood grocer and local hardware store...
The legislative track record tells another story.
It is one in which the interests of big corporations are dominant, and many laws and regulations seem designed to bend the marketplace in their favor and put small, independent businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
Since the late 1990s, the overall market share of firms with fewer than 100 employees has fallen from 33% to 28%, according to U.S. Census data.
Starting a new business also appears to have become harder.
Despite their prominence in our tech-fueled imagination, the number of startups created annually fell by about 20% between the 1970s and the 2000s, Census data shows.
Dismissing these trends as merely the product of market forces misses the powerful way that government policy has tilted the playing field.
A report last month by the research organization Good Jobs First, for example, found that two-thirds of the $68 billion in business grants and special tax credits awarded by the federal government over the past 15 years went to big corporations.
State and local economic development incentives are similarly skewed.
While the members our business associations—mostly independent retailers—must finance their own growth, one of their biggest competitors, Amazon, has received $330 million in tax breaks and other subsidies to fund its new warehouses.
Indiana, for example, gave the company a $5 million tax credit to open a distribution center in 2009.
Multinational companies also benefit from a host of tax loopholes...
The result is that small businesses pay an effective federal tax rate that is several points higher on average than that paid by big companies, according to a Small Business Administrationstudy from 2009.
At a time when price competition is fierce and margins razor thin, these cost differences have a real impact on the ability of small businesses to survive.
Yet efforts to reform corporate subsidies and close tax loopholes have gone nowhere.
Congress’s tacit support for further consolidation in the banking system is also undermining small independent businesses.
From our perspective, local community banks are the most important part of the financial system, because they supply the lion’s share of small business loans.
Yet Congress hasn’t lifted a finger as more than 500 have collapsed since 2008, according to federal data, swept away by the aftermath of a financial crisis they didn’t create.
Our members are feeling these losses.
When we surveyed them earlier this year, of those looking to grow, nearly one in three reported being unable to secure a loan.
Rather than addressing this shortage of credit, and the decline of local banks at its root, the House passed a bill in January rolling back Dodd-Frank restrictions on Wall Street’s ability to hold collateralized loan obligations and trade derivatives outside of clearinghouses.
The title of the bill, believe it or not, is the “Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act.”
----
Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-washington-punishes-small-business-1431040539
----
Advocates for Independent Business (AIB) is a coalition of trade associations and other organizations that represent locally owned, independent businesses serving a consumer market.
Link: www.http://indiebizadvocates.org/
Certainly, powerful venture capital players in Silicon Valley, and other Big Money sources, focus on emerging opportunities to grow new giants.
But Government and Big Money - with their influence and power - don't help communities.
No, they prefer to stay in the corridors of power. PB
----
From the Wall Street Journal online:
From the campaign trail to the floor of the U.S. House and Senate, members of Congress love to evoke the diner and dry cleaner, the neighborhood grocer and local hardware store...
The legislative track record tells another story.
It is one in which the interests of big corporations are dominant, and many laws and regulations seem designed to bend the marketplace in their favor and put small, independent businesses at a competitive disadvantage.
Since the late 1990s, the overall market share of firms with fewer than 100 employees has fallen from 33% to 28%, according to U.S. Census data.
Starting a new business also appears to have become harder.
Despite their prominence in our tech-fueled imagination, the number of startups created annually fell by about 20% between the 1970s and the 2000s, Census data shows.
Dismissing these trends as merely the product of market forces misses the powerful way that government policy has tilted the playing field.
A report last month by the research organization Good Jobs First, for example, found that two-thirds of the $68 billion in business grants and special tax credits awarded by the federal government over the past 15 years went to big corporations.
State and local economic development incentives are similarly skewed.
While the members our business associations—mostly independent retailers—must finance their own growth, one of their biggest competitors, Amazon, has received $330 million in tax breaks and other subsidies to fund its new warehouses.
Indiana, for example, gave the company a $5 million tax credit to open a distribution center in 2009.
Multinational companies also benefit from a host of tax loopholes...
The result is that small businesses pay an effective federal tax rate that is several points higher on average than that paid by big companies, according to a Small Business Administrationstudy from 2009.
At a time when price competition is fierce and margins razor thin, these cost differences have a real impact on the ability of small businesses to survive.
Yet efforts to reform corporate subsidies and close tax loopholes have gone nowhere.
Congress’s tacit support for further consolidation in the banking system is also undermining small independent businesses.
From our perspective, local community banks are the most important part of the financial system, because they supply the lion’s share of small business loans.
Yet Congress hasn’t lifted a finger as more than 500 have collapsed since 2008, according to federal data, swept away by the aftermath of a financial crisis they didn’t create.
Our members are feeling these losses.
When we surveyed them earlier this year, of those looking to grow, nearly one in three reported being unable to secure a loan.
Rather than addressing this shortage of credit, and the decline of local banks at its root, the House passed a bill in January rolling back Dodd-Frank restrictions on Wall Street’s ability to hold collateralized loan obligations and trade derivatives outside of clearinghouses.
The title of the bill, believe it or not, is the “Promoting Job Creation and Reducing Small Business Burdens Act.”
----
Link: http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-washington-punishes-small-business-1431040539
----
Advocates for Independent Business (AIB) is a coalition of trade associations and other organizations that represent locally owned, independent businesses serving a consumer market.
Link: www.http://indiebizadvocates.org/
Thursday, May 7, 2015
KardBlock: how to escape Kardashian news
Relief is here. PB
----
From IGN.com:
If you've ever wanted to escape Kardashian news while browsing the internet, a new version of AdBlock could be the answer you've been searching for.
Called KardBlock, this version of AdBlock is built for one purpose: to block out any and all mentions of the Kardashian family on whatever website you might happen to be visiting.
"We don't care about how Kanye & Kim didn't care when Amy Schumer 'fell over'. We don't care about who the Kardashians are or aren't sleeping with. We don't care that Kim dyed her hair blonde.
"We don't care about the Kardashians," KardBlock's James Shamsi said on its official website.
He explains that the developers behind KardBlock want to "make the world a better place" by making all mention of them "disappear."
----
Link: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/04/kardblock-is-adblock-for-the-kardashians
----
From IGN.com:
If you've ever wanted to escape Kardashian news while browsing the internet, a new version of AdBlock could be the answer you've been searching for.
Called KardBlock, this version of AdBlock is built for one purpose: to block out any and all mentions of the Kardashian family on whatever website you might happen to be visiting.
"We don't care about how Kanye & Kim didn't care when Amy Schumer 'fell over'. We don't care about who the Kardashians are or aren't sleeping with. We don't care that Kim dyed her hair blonde.
"We don't care about the Kardashians," KardBlock's James Shamsi said on its official website.
He explains that the developers behind KardBlock want to "make the world a better place" by making all mention of them "disappear."
----
Link: http://www.ign.com/articles/2015/05/04/kardblock-is-adblock-for-the-kardashians
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Gallup: Fewer Americans Identify as Middle Class
From Gallup, a sense things are not as good as they can be. PB
----
From Gallup.com:
Americans are considerably less likely now than they were in 2008 and years prior to identify themselves as middle class or upper-middle class, while the percentage putting themselves in the working or lower class has risen.
Currently, 51% (down from 60% in the year 2000) of Americans say they are middle class or upper-middle class, while 48% (up from 33% in the year 2000) say they are lower class or working class...
Click graph for larger view.
----
Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/182918/fewer-americans-identify-middle-class-recent-years.aspx?
----
From Gallup.com:
Americans are considerably less likely now than they were in 2008 and years prior to identify themselves as middle class or upper-middle class, while the percentage putting themselves in the working or lower class has risen.
Currently, 51% (down from 60% in the year 2000) of Americans say they are middle class or upper-middle class, while 48% (up from 33% in the year 2000) say they are lower class or working class...
Click graph for larger view.
----
Link: http://www.gallup.com/poll/182918/fewer-americans-identify-middle-class-recent-years.aspx?
Monday, May 4, 2015
Vanguard - not PIMCO - has biggest bond fund
Outflows continue at PIMCO. Vanguard Bond fund now #1.
PIMCO Total Return fund had been the largest bond fund for almost twenty years. PB
----
From Bloomberg.com:
Two years of client withdrawals at Pacific Investment Management Co.’s flagship have cost it the title of the world’s biggest bond mutual fund.
Investors pulled $5.6 billion from the Pimco Total Return Fund in April, after redemptions of $7.3 billion in March and $8.6 billion in February, according to estimates from the Newport Beach, California-based firm.
With assets of $110.4 billion, the fund fell behind the index-tracking Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, which had $117.3 billion as of April 30, according to preliminary data...
Pimco has suffered more than $110 billion of outflows from the fund, which reached a peak of $293 billion in April 2013, since longtime manager Bill Gross left on Sept. 26 for Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc...
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index, a passive fund tracking a broad fixed-income benchmark, returned 0.9 percent in the same period, beating 31 percent of its peers.
Vanguard also runs an exchange-traded fund version of the Total Bond Market strategy, which holds $27 billion in assets.
The firm’s ETFs are run as share classes of mutual funds, a structure Vanguard patented.
----
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-04/pimco-total-return-loses-biggest-bond-mutual-fund-crown
PIMCO Total Return fund had been the largest bond fund for almost twenty years. PB
----
From Bloomberg.com:
Two years of client withdrawals at Pacific Investment Management Co.’s flagship have cost it the title of the world’s biggest bond mutual fund.
Investors pulled $5.6 billion from the Pimco Total Return Fund in April, after redemptions of $7.3 billion in March and $8.6 billion in February, according to estimates from the Newport Beach, California-based firm.
With assets of $110.4 billion, the fund fell behind the index-tracking Vanguard Total Bond Market Index Fund, which had $117.3 billion as of April 30, according to preliminary data...
Pimco has suffered more than $110 billion of outflows from the fund, which reached a peak of $293 billion in April 2013, since longtime manager Bill Gross left on Sept. 26 for Denver-based Janus Capital Group Inc...
Vanguard Total Bond Market Index, a passive fund tracking a broad fixed-income benchmark, returned 0.9 percent in the same period, beating 31 percent of its peers.
Vanguard also runs an exchange-traded fund version of the Total Bond Market strategy, which holds $27 billion in assets.
The firm’s ETFs are run as share classes of mutual funds, a structure Vanguard patented.
----
Link: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-05-04/pimco-total-return-loses-biggest-bond-mutual-fund-crown
Working Hard for the Middle Class: the Clintons, the BOGO Couple of the Century!
The money phrase is Bill Clinton "needed a big plane."
Oh, yeah, Bill's Big Needs: a Big Boy with Big Plans who needs a Big Plane.
Working for America's middle class is a full-time job for each half of the BOGO* Couple of the Century. The middle class, right? PB
(* "Buy One Get One" free)
----
From the Washington Post online:
The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from Canada
Bill Clinton was planning a charity trip to Latin America and needed a big plane.
For Frank Giustra, who had never met the former president, this was an opportunity.
The Canadian mining magnate and onetime Hollywood studio owner stepped up to let the former president borrow his luxurious passenger jet.
There was just one condition: Giustra would come along for the ride.
That 2005 trip was the start of an intense, mutually beneficial friendship — one that has helped propel the Clinton Foundation into a global giant and established Giustra’s reputation as an international philanthropist while helping him build connections in countries where his business was expanding.
Giustra has since committed more than $100 million to the work of the Clinton Foundation, becoming one of the largest individual donors to the family’s charities.
Clinton has also gained regular transportation, borrowing Giustra’s plane 26 times for foundation business since 2005, including 13 trips in which the two men traveled together.
The numbers on Clinton’s use of the plane, never previously reported, were provided by a spokeswoman for Giustra.
The relationship has gained attention as Hillary Rodham Clinton has launched her presidential campaign amid questions about whether the Clinton Foundation has served as an avenue for wealthy interests to gain entree to a powerful family...
----
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-clintons-a-luxury-jet-and-their-100-million-donor/2015/05/03/688051d0-ecef-11e4-8abc-d6aa3bad79dd_story.html
Oh, yeah, Bill's Big Needs: a Big Boy with Big Plans who needs a Big Plane.
Working for America's middle class is a full-time job for each half of the BOGO* Couple of the Century. The middle class, right? PB
(* "Buy One Get One" free)
----
From the Washington Post online:
The Clintons, a luxury jet and their $100 million donor from Canada
Bill Clinton was planning a charity trip to Latin America and needed a big plane.
For Frank Giustra, who had never met the former president, this was an opportunity.
The Canadian mining magnate and onetime Hollywood studio owner stepped up to let the former president borrow his luxurious passenger jet.
There was just one condition: Giustra would come along for the ride.
That 2005 trip was the start of an intense, mutually beneficial friendship — one that has helped propel the Clinton Foundation into a global giant and established Giustra’s reputation as an international philanthropist while helping him build connections in countries where his business was expanding.
Giustra has since committed more than $100 million to the work of the Clinton Foundation, becoming one of the largest individual donors to the family’s charities.
Clinton has also gained regular transportation, borrowing Giustra’s plane 26 times for foundation business since 2005, including 13 trips in which the two men traveled together.
The numbers on Clinton’s use of the plane, never previously reported, were provided by a spokeswoman for Giustra.
The relationship has gained attention as Hillary Rodham Clinton has launched her presidential campaign amid questions about whether the Clinton Foundation has served as an avenue for wealthy interests to gain entree to a powerful family...
----
Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/the-clintons-a-luxury-jet-and-their-100-million-donor/2015/05/03/688051d0-ecef-11e4-8abc-d6aa3bad79dd_story.html
Sunday, May 3, 2015
1 in 4 US renters must use half their pay for housing costs
Financial pain - felt every month when the rent is due - still exists for many millions in the 'middle class.' PB
----
From the Associated Press online:
More than one in four U.S. renters have to use at least half their family income to pay for housing and utilities.
That's the finding of an analysis of Census data by Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that helps finance affordable housing.
The number of such households has jumped 26 percent to 11.25 million since 2007.
Since the end of 2010, rental prices have surged at nearly twice the pace of average hourly wages, according to data from the real estate firm Zillow and the Labor Department...
The crisis reflects one of the shortcomings of the recovery from the Great Recession: Income has failed to match rent increases.
At the same time, construction has failed to keep pace with demand from renters.
The recession pushed more millennials, former homeowners who faced foreclosure and low-wage workers into rental housing.
A result is that 2.3 million more families face pressures that leave them perilously close to homelessness...
More than 30 percent of renters in California, Florida, New Jersey and New York state devote at least half their incomes to housing and utilities, according to the analysis.
Other than Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming, at least 20 percent of renters in every state face similarly high costs relative to income...
The Great Recession caused waves of foreclosures and layoffs that pushed more Americans into renting.
More than 36 percent of people now rent, compared with 31 percent before the recession began in late 2007.
The increased demand has yet to be matched by construction and renovations...
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Link:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNAFFORDABLE_RENTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-01-17-02-55
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From the Associated Press online:
More than one in four U.S. renters have to use at least half their family income to pay for housing and utilities.
That's the finding of an analysis of Census data by Enterprise Community Partners, a nonprofit that helps finance affordable housing.
The number of such households has jumped 26 percent to 11.25 million since 2007.
Since the end of 2010, rental prices have surged at nearly twice the pace of average hourly wages, according to data from the real estate firm Zillow and the Labor Department...
The crisis reflects one of the shortcomings of the recovery from the Great Recession: Income has failed to match rent increases.
At the same time, construction has failed to keep pace with demand from renters.
The recession pushed more millennials, former homeowners who faced foreclosure and low-wage workers into rental housing.
A result is that 2.3 million more families face pressures that leave them perilously close to homelessness...
More than 30 percent of renters in California, Florida, New Jersey and New York state devote at least half their incomes to housing and utilities, according to the analysis.
Other than Alaska, South Dakota and Wyoming, at least 20 percent of renters in every state face similarly high costs relative to income...
The Great Recession caused waves of foreclosures and layoffs that pushed more Americans into renting.
More than 36 percent of people now rent, compared with 31 percent before the recession began in late 2007.
The increased demand has yet to be matched by construction and renovations...
----
Link:http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNAFFORDABLE_RENTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2015-05-01-17-02-55
Saturday, May 2, 2015
Middle Class, but Feeling Economically Insecure
More coverage of the fragile self-awareness of the 'Middle Class.' PB
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From the New York Times online:
It’s not only what you have, but how you feel.
When it comes to membership in the middle class, earnings and assets are just part of the definition.
Nearly nine out of 10 people consider themselves middle class, as a recent survey by the Pew Research Center found, regardless of whether their incomes languish near the poverty line or skim the top stratum of earners...
That’s because the middle-class label is as much about aspirations among Americans as it is about economics.
But a perspective that was once characterized by comfort and optimism has increasingly been overlaid with stress and anxiety.
Part of the reason has to do with lost jobs and stagnating incomes.
At the same time, the psychological frame — how Americans feel about their security and prospects — and the sociological — how they stack up in relation to their parents, friends, neighbors and colleagues — are just as important as purely economic criteria.
And on both these counts, middle-class Americans say they are feeling increasingly vulnerable...
Middle-class anxiety has been driven by several factors: increasing instability in incomes, a sense among many Americans that they are failing to keep up with the gains of previous generations, and an increasing gap between themselves and the very rich.
A recent report from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis concluded that “families that are neither rich nor poor may be under more downward economic and financial pressure than common but simplistic rank-based measures of income or wealth would suggest...”
That feeling of security has been eroded by several factors.
Median per capita income has basically been flat since 2000, adjusted for inflation.
The typical American family makes slightly less than a typical family did 15 years ago.
And while many goods have become cheaper or better, the price of three of the biggest middle-class expenditures — housing, college and health care — have gone up much faster than the rate of inflation...
----
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/business/economy/middle-class-but-feeling-economically-insecure.html?
----
From the New York Times online:
It’s not only what you have, but how you feel.
When it comes to membership in the middle class, earnings and assets are just part of the definition.
Nearly nine out of 10 people consider themselves middle class, as a recent survey by the Pew Research Center found, regardless of whether their incomes languish near the poverty line or skim the top stratum of earners...
That’s because the middle-class label is as much about aspirations among Americans as it is about economics.
But a perspective that was once characterized by comfort and optimism has increasingly been overlaid with stress and anxiety.
Part of the reason has to do with lost jobs and stagnating incomes.
At the same time, the psychological frame — how Americans feel about their security and prospects — and the sociological — how they stack up in relation to their parents, friends, neighbors and colleagues — are just as important as purely economic criteria.
And on both these counts, middle-class Americans say they are feeling increasingly vulnerable...
Middle-class anxiety has been driven by several factors: increasing instability in incomes, a sense among many Americans that they are failing to keep up with the gains of previous generations, and an increasing gap between themselves and the very rich.
A recent report from economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis concluded that “families that are neither rich nor poor may be under more downward economic and financial pressure than common but simplistic rank-based measures of income or wealth would suggest...”
That feeling of security has been eroded by several factors.
Median per capita income has basically been flat since 2000, adjusted for inflation.
The typical American family makes slightly less than a typical family did 15 years ago.
And while many goods have become cheaper or better, the price of three of the biggest middle-class expenditures — housing, college and health care — have gone up much faster than the rate of inflation...
----
Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/11/business/economy/middle-class-but-feeling-economically-insecure.html?
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