April 27, 2015

Bits Bucket for April 27, 2015

Post off-topic ideas, links, and Craigslist finds here.




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147 Comments »

Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 01:39:25

Follow the money:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheldon_Adelson

When you vote for a candidate that this man purchased, look at yourself in the mirror and ask yourself what is “conservative” about selling your vote to a man whose primary loyalty is not the best interests of the United States.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 05:47:57

+1

Comment by Califoh20
2015-04-27 14:47:14

+2

Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2015-04-27 22:42:56

+n+1 (and by induction…)

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Comment by johnberk
2015-04-27 01:58:33

So I have just read that the market is booming again in Vancouver, B.C. After a very active winter, spring has come with even more passion that can be seen in the imbalance between new listings and sales, as well as bidding wars that took place in March. I just can’t imagine what leads people to bid over half million dollars over the initial price (as it happened at the Eastside. This is madness, and it seems that people are going crazy over the housing bubble once again.

Comment by palmetto
2015-04-27 06:35:11

Well, as they say in Jamaica, mon, “Soon Come”.

 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 02:00:38

The trial and execution of Nicolae and Elena Ceaucescu:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9P-JrjCRkhI

Happy Monday :)

Comment by rms
2015-04-27 23:58:18

What about the love child?

 
 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 02:08:34

San Francisco Metro Sale Prices Crater 4% YoY; Demand Plummets In Tech-Centric Cities

http://www.zillow.com/ca/home-values/

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 04:37:51

Are you missing the opportunity to share the gains from Wall Street’s record breaking run?

What is stopping you? Come on in, folks, the water has never been warmer!

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 05:00:32

It’s an evergreen market. Don’t be a party pooper and miss out on this record run.

Comment by azdude
2015-04-27 06:05:38

Is the fed leading the retail investor to lose a lot of money again?

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 05:05:11

Top News
World shares hit new high, Europe shrugs off Greece worry
By Nigel Stephenson
LONDON | Mon Apr 27, 2015 7:39am EDT
By Nigel Stephenson

LONDON (Reuters) - World shares hit a new high on Monday, with European stocks joining the rally after early falls, as investors looked ahead to central bank meetings this week and put aside worries over Greece.

The dollar edged up but held close to Friday’s 2 1/2-week lows, after weak U.S. data on Friday reinforced expectations the Federal Reserve would not raise interest rates any time soon.

The stock rally looked set to continue on Wall Street, with index futures indicating the market would open higher.

The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 0.4 percent after falling in early deals on concern about a lack of progress in talks between indebted Greece and its creditors.

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 07:40:56

On his blog Bernanke wrote about a world “savings glut.” With bonds and CDs paying near zero, zero, and less than zero in the EU, what we could be seeing are these excess savings chasing equities in hopes of getting a return.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 08:31:53

Where do “savings gluts” originate? Do they drop from the sky out of helicopters?

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 08:59:13

Bernanke wrote about the savings glut in 2005, long before QE. The glut is primarily due to aging population in mature economies, but a host of other factors come into play, including increased productivity (relatively small investments in capital and labor can yield large returns). Today QE is another factor, of course.

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Comment by Ben Jones
2015-04-27 09:12:18

Savings glut; solution, create $30 trillion world-wide. Makes sense.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 09:20:55

There it is, Ben.

 
Comment by redmondjp
2015-04-27 10:52:50

Gotta extract that value somehow, if you can’t pry it out of people’s mattresses, you can devaluate it to infinity and beyond!

 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 11:37:04

That’s the conundrum, redmondjp. If money is locked up in mattresses worldwide, stuffing money thru bank credit windows via QE neither devalues nor inflates currency because so much of it is not in circulation.

Keynes predicted all of this: he said that if you try to use monetary policy to stimulate the economy you end up with zero interest rates, zero inflation, and — more importantly — no incentive to invest capital because in a liquidity trap there’s no expected return.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 17:50:22

Get savings out of the hands of savers and into the hands of swindlers, aka the .1% who control the financial sector. Legalized larceny if you ask me. Debase the value of their savings while ZIRP forces them to “invest” in a rigged and fraudulent market run by the Fed’s Wall Street accomplices. It’s fortunately for the PTB that 95% of the electorate are stupid or there might’ve been some major pushback.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 04:47:18

Is China’s oft-touted 7% GDP growth rate consistent with other evidence?

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 04:50:11

Marketwatch dot com
China’s true growth rate remains a mystery
By Mark Magnier
Published: Apr 26, 2015 9:39 p.m. ET

When China released its tabulation of first-quarter growth earlier this month, the 7% figure–the worst in six years–stirred fears of a deepening slowdown.

It also raised fresh doubt about the trustworthiness of China’s own statistics.

“Growth Likely Overstated,” said a Citibank report, concluding that actual quarterly growth could be below 6% year to year, depending on the factors weighed. Other research firms put their numbers far lower, with Capital Economics pegging the quarter at 4.9%, the Conference Board’s China Center at 4% and Lombard Street Research at 3.8%.

Efforts to discern China’s actual growth rate have kept economists pinned to their calculators for years, and for good reason.

For one, the figures are suspiciously smooth, with none of the sharp gyrations seen in the U.S. or other economies. The methodology often appears inconsistent or contradictory. Also, no one knows how China accounts for inflation when tabulating its gross domestic product.

Then there are the many ways China’s GDP figures appear to clash with other data points considered more difficult to manipulate. Economists point to the discrepancy between headline GDP growth and industrial production, often seen as a proxy for growth, which grew by 5.6% year to year in March–its lowest level since late 2008.

This came amid weaker recent readings for electricity consumption, investment, industrial profits, manufacturing output and real-estate investment, among others.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 05:51:15

For one, the figures are suspiciously smooth, with none of the sharp gyrations seen in the U.S. or other economies.

Because China deliberately stimulates its economy on almost a weekly basis to meet its results. I would like to see whether all the entities listed are on the wrong side of a trade, perhaps holding short positions in China’s stock market and taking it on the chin. Interesting how inconsistent all of them are with each other. The IMF and World Bank have numbers very consistent with China’s figures as does the Economist Magazine.

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 06:32:47

Does the IMF use official numbers reported by the state, or do they send in auditors?

When you use the word “results” don’t you mean official targets?

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 06:46:28

Yes.

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 07:32:42

Then what the IMF reports is as useless as press releases from ChinaDaily.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 08:02:12

Admittedly, the IMF could be more aggressive in calling out false numbers but it does when it believes the numbers are wrong, as the other link of today shows most people think China does a decent job not so leftist Argentina:

http://www.economist.com/news/americas/21571434-fund-blows-whistle-motion-censure

 
 
Comment by Double Flip Triple Gainer
2015-04-27 18:47:35

AlbuquerqueDan, the didactic aplomb you attach to the comments you make shrouds from the uninformed reader just how utterly wrong you are about most any statement you make regarding capital markets or, more than that, most any macroeconomic matter.
First of all, I have subscribed to Capital Economics for the better part of a decade. It is a consultancy. They publish research. They don’t carry positions. The Conference Board is much the same. I cannot speak on Lombard Street Research, however. But hey, I recognize and readily admit to that which I know and that which I don’t. Frankly Dan, you know very little, but claim to know so very much.
As a a finance professional with some 20 years experience who avidly reads this blog but rarely comments, I ask that you temper your opinions or perhaps fashion some sort of filter for yourself, as you are horribly misinformed on most every economic matter you masquerade as an expert on. Quite frankly sir, you are a charlatan in every sense of the word.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 19:08:55

I think I just pissed off a short.

 
Comment by Ben Jones
2015-04-27 19:20:45

‘you are horribly misinformed on most every economic matter you masquerade as an expert on’

We keep telling him that.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 19:24:44

Then why do my predictions keep coming true?

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 19:38:45

Dan, among a few others, have no idea how falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels is positively bullish and good for the economy.

 
 
 
Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-27 05:56:28

Six Sigma, it’s as if China adopted all the wonders offered by totally committing themselves to Six Sigma.

Comment by Combotechie
2015-04-27 06:07:35

What’s that saying?

“I do not think that word means what you think it means?”

Apply a bit of Six Sigma to this saying and it comes out something like this:

“I do not think that number means what you think it means.”

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Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-04-27 07:55:25

Favorite Six Sigma story:

After I left, one of the divisional vice-presidents (a my way or the highway type) decided to suddenly “pursue other opportunities”.

As related later from one of my buddies/guys who were there, seems that the VP assaulted one of the Six Sigma guys assigned to his office, including choking the crap out of him.

As the story went…..”The Six Sigma guys were in his office, f##king with him. Because they can…….”

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Comment by ibbots
2015-04-27 10:28:29

Groupon has been running a green belt Six Sigma certification course lately…kinda makes it sound a bit hackish if you ask me.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 04:51:49

Prices of industrial commodities used by China provide a clue.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 04:57:32

Bloomberg Business
Citigroup Cuts Metals to Iron Forecasts as China Growth Slows
by Phoebe Sedgman
10:20 PM PDT April 12, 2015

Citigroup Inc. cut price forecasts for industrial metals and iron ore by as much as 50 percent amid signs Chinese demand is waning as economic growth in the world’s biggest consumer slows.

The bank lowered its 2015 nickel forecast by 21 percent and cut its estimate for next year by 15 percent, analysts including Ed Morse wrote in a report e-mailed Monday. Copper, aluminum, zinc, lead and tin projections for this year and 2016 were also lowered. The bank reduced its iron ore outlook through 2020, with prices seen falling into the $30s, according to the bank.

Commodities slumped to a 12-year low last month as oil fell to the weakest since 2009 and raw materials from nickel to iron ore tumbled. Global supplies of commodities have climbed after a decade-long bull market spurred farmers, miners and drillers to increase production just as economic growth slowed in China. The world’s biggest metals and energy consumer grew at the slowest pace since 1990 last year and is set to slow further this year.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 06:02:21

This debate has been going on for years, and for the most part within a few tenths people find China’s numbers accurate. PB you are doing what people do when they are losing, they try to find an excuse for being wrong, there is no evidence that China has changed the way it measures or that China is manipulating more than it ever did. I stated that China would have 7% growth for 2014 and 2015 and that was implicitly assuming that it would be using the same measurements as China always used. After all, as Ha points out the 7% is 50% less than they use to grow, of course that is just the law of large numbers but it does show as the economy declines they do report it. China is moving more and more to services in its economy so manufacturing and the imports needed to produce manufacturing do not tell you as accurately how fast China is growing.

BTW, how did the U.S. have 5% growth in the third quarter of 2014 and about 1% growth in electricity use?

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Comment by azdude
2015-04-27 06:08:00

everyone knows china is riddled with fraud and basically printing a lot of money to sell us exports cheap.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 06:38:54

“China is moving more and more to services in its economy…”

So, future growth in “services” will replace defacto contraction in manufacturing and it already shows in the published numbers…a hard sell.

We know that “services” is primarily building and selling realestate. 30% of their economy. We know that is in decline. We know that the “service” industry is defaulting on its debt (a good thing according to dan) so growth there is a hard sell.

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 06:46:02

everyone knows china is riddled with fraud and basically printing a lot of money to sell us exports cheap.

Yep. And now they’re aping the Federal Reserve by printing a trillion or more in new “stimulus” to keep the Ponzi going.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 07:12:17

We know that “services” is primarily building and selling realestate

No, we know that services includes retail, medical, education, tourism, restaurants, hotels etc.

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-04-27 07:38:27

Yeah, and we know how well the transition to “service jobs” has worked here.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 08:05:56

The difference is China is keeping factory jobs but peasants are moving from agriculture to services which still pay much higher than they were earning.

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 06:07:20

“Prices of industrial commodities used by China provide a clue.”

Really so the fact that iron ore is up about 22% over the last month means that the Chinese economy is picking up? BTW, banks do not do well in a recession and they are doing well in China right now:

BEIJING, April 27 (Xinhua) — Bank of Beijing, a medium-sized bank, on Monday said its net profits rose 10 percent year on year to 5 billion yuan (819.67 million U.S. dollars) in the first quarter.

At the end of the first quarter, the quality of the bank’s assets had remained stable. It’s non-performing loan ratio was 0.93 percent at the end of March, the best among listed banks that have already disclosed their financial results for the first quarter.

In 2014, the bank’s net profits hit 15.6 billion yuan, up 16 percent year on year.

Shares of the lender hiked 8.13 percent to 12.9 yuan on Monday, while the overall financial sector climbed 1.13 percent.

Last Monday, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) lowered banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) by 100 basis points. The RRR cut is credit positive for Chinese banks and will help stabilize economic growth, said Sherry Zhang, an analyst with Moody’s.

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 06:35:08
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 06:40:04

Remember: “All the new debt is going to pay off the old debt” in China.

Banks are doing well…a hard to believe thing.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 06:47:31

Excerpt from link:

SALES of new homes soared to a 76-week high in Shanghai as momentum continued to pick up among buyers, latest market data showed.

Purchases of new residential properties, excluding government-funded affordable housing, jumped 31.7 percent to 374,500 square meters during the seven-day period ended Sunday, Shanghai Uwin Real Estate Information Services Co said in a report released today.

“A couple of reasons, including the end-of-the-month factor as well as the loosened mortgage policies announced on March 30 by the central government, contributed to last week’s surge, which was the highest seven-day volume registered since November 11, 2013,” said Huang Zhijian, chief analyst at Uwin. “For the whole month, we expect the transaction volume to hit around 1.15 million square meters which could be a pretty good start for the second quarter.”

The end-of-the-month factor refers to a phenomenon which is frequently seen at the end of every month when property transaction will usually increase notably as developers are geared to boost sales for better-looking monthly figures.

As of Sunday, new home sales in April totaled 999,200 square meters in Shanghai, according to Uwin data.

Average price of these new homes, meanwhile, rose 6.2 percent week-over-week to 28,951 yuan (US$4,670) per square meter, as a luxury housing project which launched sales recently received good responses from the market.

The development in Zhabei District managed to sell 134 units during the seven-day period for an average price of 69,092 yuan per square meter, thus making it the second best-selling project in the city last week.

On the supply side, 230,200 square meters of new houses were released to the local market, a weekly drop of 35.1 percent, Uwin data showed.

 
Comment by palmetto
2015-04-27 06:49:19

I’d just like to make a modest comment here: Chuck Fina.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 07:16:48

Unfortunately, we have to compete with China and we are not under this president and have not under any president since Reagan. Only under Reagan did we set taxes low enough and encourage investment in factories.

 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-04-27 07:40:26

” ……investment in factories.”

In Mexico and China. No need to thank me for fixing it for you. Its how I roll…….

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 08:08:03

Sorry NAFTA was before Reagan, thank Clinton. China got WTO status under Bush I and Clinton. Reagan is not the problem, every president after, him all globalists, has been.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:38:52

Excerpt from link Bloomberg via Yahoo, Chinese companies paying off debt by issuing equity as I predicted in the last few weeks:

China Inc. is turning to the stock market for a cure to its unprecedented debt hangover.

As authorities show a newfound tolerance for defaults and debt levels at Shanghai Composite Index members climb to all-time highs, Chinese companies are increasingly tapping the equity market for funds to pay down liabilities and invest in growth. They’ve announced $82 billion of secondary stock offerings in 2015, a figure UBS Group AG predicts will increase to a record $161 billion by December. That comes on top of $10 billion already raised through IPOs.

 
Comment by redmondjp
2015-04-27 10:59:54

Don’t kid yourself ABQ Dan,

Global outsourcing was well underway during the Reagan years.

Delco Electronics opened their first plant in Mexico in the late 1970s, and opened a second one there in the mid-1980s as well as their Singapore operations which were already in operation by then.

Reagan was just carrying out his marching orders just like all of the other presidents.

I mean, look at Nixon and Henry Kissinger? I remember even as a 7-year-old kid, thinking what in the @#$% was Kissinger doing over there in Communist China? Well now we know, don’t we!

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 12:03:52

“As authorities show a newfound tolerance for defaults and debt levels…”

“newfound”

Amazing, they found the tolerance only after their corporations took on $14Tr in debt.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 13:44:29

“Reagan was just carrying out his marching orders just like all of the other presidents.”

I have always found it interesting that Reagan was the last U.S. President to suffer an assassination attempt early in his presidency and Bush was his vice president. You don’t need elaborate conspiracies involving shooters, there are plenty of nuts out there threatening any president, you just need to have someone not provide adequate protection. I think Obama was reminded of that just a few months ago.

No, the PTB tried to stop Reagan for decades and just failed. I do not think he was part of their gang and never was a member of the CFR etc. unlike everyone after him.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 13:48:36

“Sorry NAFTA was before Reagan, thank Clinton.”

Ronald Reagan presidency: 1980-1988
Bill Clinton presidency: 1992-2000

What part of Clinton’s time in office was before Reagan?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 13:52:24

What part of Clinton’s time in office was before Reagan?

Try all of it, as the judge said in my cousin Vinny are you on drugs?

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 13:53:59

OK after Reagan but the point is valid it was Clinton and not Reagan responsible for NAFTA.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 14:15:33

I miswrote the sentence. just like you miswrote your sentence earlier, Reagan was before NAFTA but Clinton was clearly responsible for NAFTA not Reagan.

 
Comment by Califoh20
2015-04-27 14:58:07

The Reagan myth is strong with this one.

NAFTA is the North American Free Trade Agreement. It was envisioned at least 30 years ago to reduce trading costs, increase business investment, and help North America be more competitive in the global marketplace. What Is Its History?The impetus for NAFTA actually began with President Ronald Reagan, who campaigned on a North American common market. In 1984, Congress passed the Trade and Tariff Act.

 
Comment by Califoh20
2015-04-27 15:04:15

NAFTA was signed by President George H.W. Bush, Mexican President Salinas, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1992.

It was ratified by the legislatures of the three countries in 1993. The U.S. House of Representatives approved it by 234 to 200 on November 17, 1993. The U.S. Senate approved it by 60 to 38 on November 20, three days later.

It was finally signed into law by President Bill Clinton on December 8, 1993 and entered force January 1, 1994.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 15:05:26

The details of NAFTA certainly were not created by Reagan. He believed in free trade but fair trade and never was reluctant to protect American jobs when necessary. He was actually attacked for protections he provided to auto companies.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 15:09:41

Read this and get back to me on Reagan and free trade. BTW, I disagree with CATO Reagan did believe in free trade but he believed in this country more and the wanted Americans to earn a decent living:

http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa107.html

 
Comment by Califoh20
2015-04-27 18:11:50

I cant make you believe the facts. They are out there.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 19:03:53

I present facts and you respond with opinion.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 21:04:58

“NAFTA was signed by President George H.W. Bush, Mexican President Salinas, and Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney in 1992.”

Stop harshing on AlbqDan’s imaginative posts with facts!

 
 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-04-27 06:05:35

I don’t know any macro econ.. maybe you can make help some sense of this IMF working paper (warning PDF):

https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/wp/2015/wp1572.pdf

Bunches of figures on China’s economy, starting page 15. I can’t delve into it too deeply, but this is what I see

Serious privatization after 2008. (Fig 6-7)
Big uptick in debt 2008-2013. (Fig 2-3)
Firm assets doubling 2008-2013 (Fig 6)

How does one increase their firm assets while increasing debt at the same time? Are they using debt to buy firm assets?

And it’s a pity that this data stops at 2013. I suspect that 2013-2015 will be very “interesting” for China’s numbers, in the Chinese sense of the word.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 06:28:35

China’s companies have been increasing debt to invest in new plant and equipment. U.S. companies have been increasing debt to raise dividends and buy back shares to please their shareholders. What do you think makes a country more competitive.

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 06:41:38

China’s companies have in the past very few years accumulated more debt than all US companies. This is quite a fragile development for a very poor country. Now they are starting to default.

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Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-04-27 08:14:52

Using China’s imports of raw material as a guide to the health of the economy. Makes sense, until you remember that a lot of this stuff was going into bonded warehouses, to be used as lcollateral to take out highly leveraged loans, to purchase real estate.

China is the bankster’s dream. Very litlle info gets out, and nobody knows if what does is accurate. As usual, they will believe what they want to hear.

-fixrs prediction……..somehow a giant default will be arranged/schemed, and all of the bankster’s “investments” there will go poof. But since China has all the manufacturing now, they will recover. And dumbazz “service industry” US taxpayer will have another bankster bailout to deal with.

 
 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 08:00:47

Seems like they overborrowed and overinvested beyond the point where the marginal return on investment remains high enough to service the debt.

Natural consequence: Debt defaults

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:26:48

where the marginal return on investment remains high enough to service the debt.

You are unintentionally right.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:34:35

Just as I predicted and was ridiculed by some on this board Chinese companies are paying off debt by issuing equity:

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/china-inc-finds-cure-debt-160000821.html;_ylt=AwrBT.F6ZD5VDkEAspxXNyoA;_ylu=X3oDMTEzMm9hbDBiBGNvbG8DYmYxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDUlZMSUMwXzEEc2VjA3Nj

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:53:52

Interesting excerpt and certainly I agree:

Equity markets can channel funds to companies more efficiently than China’s state-run banks, according to Zhao Yang, the Hong Kong-based chief China economist at Nomura Holdings Inc.

“The market can do a better job than the government in deciding which industries offer better returns,” Zhao said. “Capital will reward the best companies in the market with the highest valuation.”

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 13:00:34

“You are unintentionally right.”

You are intentionally wrong.

 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-04-27 14:15:39

Remember this data stopped at 2013. Dan is probably right that they were investing in plants and equiment at that time. But then at the end of 2014, something happened. Whatever industries they had, it certainly wasn’t using any oil.

And you don’t need “plants and equiment” for services.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 07:55:31

“How does one increase their firm assets while increasing debt at the same time? Are they using debt to buy firm assets?”

Sounds like the magic of double-entry bookkeeping:

Assets = Liabilities

 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 05:16:42

Because if you are opposed to an American foreign policy that is of Israel, by Israel, and for Israel, you are a Nazi:

http://mobile.wnd.com/2015/04/anti-semitism-and-moral-equivalence/?cat_orig=faith

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 07:54:28

… more false equivalencies: Mike Huckabee says if you support gay marriage rights, you support making Christianity illegal:

“Christian convictions are under attack as never before,” Huckabee said … “Not just in our lifetime, but ever before in the history of this great nation. We are moving rapidly towards the criminalization of Christianity.” http://www.rightwingwatch.org/

Comment by redmondjp
2015-04-27 11:08:19

Are you upset that he’s correct?

What if the Supreme Court declared that clubbing baby seals was legal, but your religion teaches that killing seals is wrong. You own a hardware store, and a guy comes in to buy a hammer, and you ask him what he is going to build.

“Oh, I’m going to go club some baby seals this weekend,” he says.

So you refuse to sell him the hammer.

And then, you are sued by him for discrimination, because the government says that his views are protected and you must sell him the hammer even if it violates your religious beliefs.

Are you OK with that?

Because it’s a two-way street that you are on.

Comment by MightyMike
2015-04-27 11:37:00

Well I guess you could say that about any law. For example, imagine that there was a religion that required people to drive on the left side of the road.

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Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 11:50:54

Huckabee isn’t right because AFAIK gays simply want the right to a secular civil marriage and are not insisting on forcing churches to grant them holy matrimony. I think In Colorado has it right. If the Sup Court is halfway competent they have to say gays have a constitutional right to a secular civil marriage, granted by the state; but of course churches are not compelled to grant holy matrimony. I don’t understand what Huckabee is afraid of, it’s no threat to him or his beliefs.

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Comment by In Colorado
2015-04-27 11:25:52

… more false equivalencies: Mike Huckabee says if you support gay marriage rights, you support making Christianity illegal:

Some fundies that I know claim that the government will force their churches to conduct gay marriages. When I mention that the government has never forced the Catholic church to marry divorced people they say “That’s different”

 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 05:27:09

American taxpayers, is this what you voted for?

“Unwavering support for Israel’s government is the price of support from Mr. Adelson and the many other Republican donors here. But in an era when backing Israel has become Republican orthodoxy on par with with reverence for tax cuts and Ronald Reagan, most candidates in the crowded field are already through the door.”

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/27/us/politics/republican-contenders-reach-out-to-sheldon-adelson-palms-up.html

Comment by Sheldon Kristol
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 05:43:29

This is an article linked from the Drudge Report titled ISIS Threat ‘Inside USA’

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/25/us/possible-isis-inspired-threat/index.html

The Drudge Report is an allegedly conservative news aggregator, but there is nothing “conservative” about pushing propaganda pieces like this to help push through the renewal of the Patriot Act provisions authorizing blanket surveillance of Americans’ telephone calls.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 05:46:15

China’s reforms of SOEs continues to make the stock market soar:

http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2015-04/27/content_20554496.htm

Comment by Blue Skye
2015-04-27 06:43:51

Consider that the stock market is about the only choice when you can’t get your hot money out of the country without going to jail and those real estate speculations are going in the toilet. It is the final poofing place.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 06:02:05

To the vegetables who are voting for HillaryJeb and a redoubled shafting by the .1%: your bumper stickers are ready.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/expd/16629031224/

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 08:05:05

Which candidate do you recommend?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 17:55:58

One that isn’t a plutocrat, crony capitalist member of the .1% and isn’t a neo-con, corporate statist, or Wall Street fluffer. That basically leaves James Webb and maybe Rand Paul, though the latter has shown his willingess to grovel to AIPAC and his endorsement of Mitt Romney showed he is more than ready to compromise on principle.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-04-27 10:01:10

The more things change……

http://tinyurl.com/p6bxwjh

 
 
Comment by X-GSfixr
2015-04-27 07:44:25

Boots on the ground observation…..

Brother is visiting from DFW. Went shopping for shorts here on Saturday.

Because they are sold out of summer inventory in DFW. Seems that all of the “summer” clothes went on sale back in early January.

Comment by ibbots
2015-04-27 09:53:28

Dude, I can assure you there are stores currently selling shorts all over DFW.

I do recall commenting to my wife back in late Feb while we were walking through Target that it seemed early for them to have their summer clothes out. She is a retail veteran (presently ‘retired’ thank goodness as retail work schedules are the worst) and indicated that is the normal timing. It makes sense since spring break is usually the 2nd week of March. It seemed unusual to me since at the time there was snow on the ground outside. We had a late winter.

 
Comment by tresho
2015-04-27 14:09:33

Time to get creative. Buy some long pants and a pair of scissors.

Comment by tresho
2015-04-27 14:11:03

I also buy REI’s convertible camping pants, zip off the legs & they become shorts. Extremely lightweight, easy to wash, very comfortable in the hottest & most humid weather.

Comment by Califoh20
2015-04-27 15:01:21

And they keep the single women away!

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Comment by tresho
2015-04-27 17:09:52

And they keep the single women away!
That explains a few things….

 
 
 
 
Comment by oxide
2015-04-27 14:22:23

Man this is like so 1992. Did you know that these days you can buy stuff without walking into a store?

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-04-27 16:19:05

Time to start Christmas shopping.

 
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-27 08:01:32

Top scientists start to examine fiddled global warming figures

8:14PM BST 25 Apr 2015

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/…ientists-start-to-examine-fiddled-global-warming-figures.html -

“The Devil Went Down To Georgia”

The Devil went down to DC. He was lookin’ for a soul to steal.
He was in a bind ’cause he was way behind. He was willing to make a deal
When he came across this young man playin’ with numbers and makin’ it hot. And the Devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said “Boy, let me tell you what.”

“I guess you didn’t know it, but I’m a fiddle player, too.
And if you’d care to take a dare I’ll make a bet with you.
Now your good at faking numbers, boy, but give the Devil his due.
I’ll bet a fiddle of gold against your soul ’cause I think I’m better than you.”

The boy said, “I’m a (NOAA) climate scientist, and it might be a sin,
But I’ll take your bet; and you’re gonna regret ’cause I’m the best there’s ever been.”

When the Devil finished, the (NOAA) climate scientist said, “Well, you’re pretty good ol’ son, But sit down in that chair right there and let me show you how it’s done.”

Its hottest March since records1881!
Sea is rising not from the sun;
In ten years will be too late.
Man made Warming sealed our fate.

The Devil bowed his head because he knew that he’d been beat.
And he laid that golden fiddle on the ground at the (NOAA) climate scientists feet.The (NOAA) climate scientist said, “Devil, just come on back if you ever wanna try again, I done told you once—you son of a bit#h—I’m the best that’s ever been.”

The devil went down to Georgia lyrics [original] - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6RUg-NkjY4 - 320k -

Comment by Oddfellow
2015-04-27 20:02:46

…a brave band of scientists, bucking the system, not caring about the repercussions, was able to get their message out:

“Cigarette smoking is beneficial to your health.”

Since they were a minority, going against majority opinion, we already knew they were right. But it felt good to hear them say it.

 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 08:39:30

wsj dot com
Oil-Fund Outflows Bode Ill for Prices
Money is pouring out of a popular investment tied to the oil market, a sign that a monthlong crude-price rally may be running out of gas.
By Nicole Friedman
April 26, 2015 7:14 p.m. ET

Money is pouring out of a popular investment tied to the oil market, a sign that a monthlong crude-price rally may be running out of gas.

Exchange-traded funds that invest in U.S. oil futures, including the $3.1 billion United States Oil Fund LP, have registered about $2.7 billion of investor outflows this month, according to investment bank Macquarie Group Ltd.

That reverses an inflow that started in January as oil prices tumbled. These ETFs took in roughly $6 billion this year through mid-March, when the U.S. oil benchmark hit a six-year low, according to Macquarie.

Traders and analysts are closely watching weekly production and demand data for signs that the global glut of crude oil that sent prices swooning last year may be shrinking. They are also watching the ETF trends closely, because they say crude prices are vulnerable to a pullback following a 32% run-up since March 17.

ETF buying “created a bottom in March,” said Olivier Jakob, managing director of Swiss consulting firm Petromatrix GmbH. If investors “all exit at the same time, then it will also put pressure on the market.”

A renewed drop in oil prices could inject fresh uncertainty into global markets. Last year’s plunge upended economic forecasts, government budgets and corporate earnings as oil producers struggled to stay afloat and consumers pocketed fuel savings. Crude prices on the New York Mercantile Exchange remain more than 45% below their June 2014 high, settling Friday at $57.15 a barrel, and global markets are watching for signs that the market has bottomed.

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:17:17

Yet WTI is up today to $57.40.

Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 09:23:30

Stuck below $60 and set to go lower…

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Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:27:57

It does not appear to be stuck at all.

 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:29:02

The only think falling is U.S. production.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 11:46:45

Demand is collapsing.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 12:56:08

Oil futures ETF outflows are rising.

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 13:25:23

Tank farms are overflowing….

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2015-04-27 21:13:53

Under $60 and falling:

Crude Oil - Electronic (NYMEX) Jun 2015
Market closed
$56.17
Change -0.82 -1.44%
Volume 10,088
Apr 27, 2015, 11:58 p.m.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 08:35:26

Solar Is The New Shale — Shaking Up the Energy Paradigm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/04/27/energy-solar-power-idUSL4N0XO1LD20150427

“Just as shale extraction reconfigured oil and gas, no other technology is closer to transforming power markets than distributed and utility scale solar,” said consultancy Wood Mackenzie, which has a focus on the oil and gas industry. Wood Mackenzie expects solar costs to fall more as “efficiencies are nowhere near their theoretical maximums.”

Japan to close 2.4 GW oil-fired energy plant and build solar. “Solar has come of age in Japan and from now on will be replacing imported uranium and fossil fuels,” said Tomas Kåberger, executive board chairman of JREF.

China to add 17.8 GW of solar power this year and added 5 GW in the first quarter alone, with plans to to boost capacity to 100 GW by 2020.

Coal-dominated India, with its plentiful sunlight, could also take to solar in a big way.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 13:20:04

solar=FAIL

Comment by Califoh20
2015-04-27 15:06:54

HA = How are you coal stocks doing? lol!

My neighbor added panels. It is a lease, nothing upfront, no maintenance, no installation costs, and he saves $58 a mo and more as local PG&E rates climb. No brainer as he says.

Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 16:15:40

fail

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Comment by azdude
2015-04-27 17:16:40

communist

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 17:38:26

cratering housing Poet.

 
Comment by azdude
2015-04-27 18:08:40

I’m spraying for termites tonight. There will be know depreciation at my crib!

 
Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 18:54:16

Throwing more good money after bad eh Poet?

 
 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-04-27 20:06:07

It will never replace whale oil! Not in our lifetime.

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Comment by Housing Analyst
2015-04-27 20:11:22

Smarten up Lola.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 08:37:54

No “smaller government” or “lower taxes” happening here:

http://www.politico.com/story/2015/04/defense-appropriators-win-in-budget-deal-117333.html

 
Comment by Puggs
2015-04-27 08:46:21

Have you checked your USA debt clock today??

Comment by Bring Back the WPA
2015-04-27 09:03:53

“You know, Paul, Reagan proved deficits don’t matter.” — Former V.P. Dick Cheney speaking to Treas Sec’y Paul O’Neill in 2004

Comment by Puggs
2015-04-27 13:22:55

That’s part of the reason Paul didn’t stay around long. He got the heck out.

 
 
 
Comment by Sheldon Kristol
2015-04-27 08:47:41

Article for Ben Jones

Congress poised to vote on Trans Pacific Partnership trade deal, but nobody bothered to read it:

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/240050-lawmakers-play-catch-up-with-secret-trade-text

Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 09:56:21

The globalists want it and they own the President and most of Congress why do they have to read it?

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 17:58:54

And the sheeple are docile and stupid, so they won’t be a problem even though if it shafts them nine ways to Sunday.

 
 
 
Comment by Albuquerquedan
2015-04-27 14:04:46

As I stated recently if Iran does not step up and send more troops to Syria, Assad may be imminently gone. Yahoo has a story about fear in Damascus.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 18:00:09

You must be the retarded cousin of Captain Obvious.

 
Comment by Oddfellow
2015-04-27 20:19:26

Putin wins again! Somehow. Even though he’s losing his most important ally in the Middle East.

And it’s great news for Iran, too! Even though it seems really bad, to the casual observer, for their main ally to be destroyed.

Fill in the blanks for us, Dan. I can’t remember the details of how it all works. Something about chess.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 18:06:17

There’s never been a better time to buy in Baltimore….

http://www.zerohedge.com/node/505587

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 18:24:23

The future Democrats-for-Entitlements voters in Baltimore’s inner-city High Schools were reportedly passing out “Purge Night” fliers indicating a crime spree to commence at 3 PM local. The “Purge Night” was based on the movie of the same name - and Baltimore, like other Democrat-run cesspools, has disarmed its law-abiding citizens. This could get ugly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0LLaybEuzA&spfreload=10

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 18:59:33

A remarkable tweet from the Executive VP of the Orioles on the destruction of the American middle and working classes by an oligarchical elite. To the vegetables who are going to mindlessly vote for more of the same from the Republicrat duopoly, i.e. HillaryJeb, maybe you should pay attention to what this guy is telling you.

http://washington.cbslocal.com/2015/04/27/orioles-vp-angelos-makes-profound-statement-on-twitter-following-baltimore-protests/

“Brett, speaking only for myself, I agree with your point that the principle of peaceful, non-violent protest and the observance of the rule of law is of utmost importance in any society. MLK, Gandhi, Mandela, and all great opposition leaders throughout history have always preached this precept. Further, it is critical that in any democracy investigation must be completed and due process must be honored before any government or police members are judged responsible.

That said, my greater source of personal concern, outrage and sympathy beyond this particular case is focused neither upon one night’s property damage nor upon the acts, but is focused rather upon the past four-decade period during which an American political elite have shipped middle class and working class jobs away from Baltimore and cities and towns around the U.S. to third-world dictatorships like China and others, plunged tens of millions of good hard-working Americans into economic devastation, and then followed that action around the nation by diminishing every American’s civil rights protections in order to control an unfairly impoverished population living under an ever-declining standard of living and suffering at the butt end of an ever-more militarized and aggressive surveillance state.

The innocent working families of all backgrounds whose lives and dreams have been cut short by excessive violence, surveillance, and other abuses of the Bill of Rights by government pay the true price, an ultimate price, and one that far exceeds the importance of any kids’ game played tonight, or ever, at Camden Yards. We need to keep in mind people are suffering and dying around the U.S., and while we are thankful no one was injured at Camden Yards, there is a far bigger picture for poor Americans in Baltimore and everywhere who don’t have jobs and are losing economic civil and legal rights, and this makes inconvenience at a ball game irrelevant in light of the needless suffering government is inflicting upon ordinary Americans.”

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 19:02:15

A “shocking display of incompetence” from an inept Democrat-run municipal “leadership” where the electorate gave Obama 87% of the vote? Why am I not surprised….

http://www.businessinsider.com/jeffrey-toobin-attacks-baltimore-response-to-riots-2015-4

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2015-04-27 19:20:42

For people who now have access to affordable health care, these folks seem rather angry.

http://www.zerohedge.com/node/505587

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
 
Comment by phony scandals
2015-04-30 20:47:36

phony scandals

 
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