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One of the favorite retail analysts in the Cafe is Howard Davidowitz, and he is probably in the top ten overall. The accomplished shoppers in our crowd (predominantly the ladies for some reason, who have a canny sense of price and demand and store quality, whereas yours truly becomes overwhelmed by a numbing dread upon entering most retail establishments of the non-Home Depot or non-electronics persuasion) all tend to shake their heads in agreement when David speaks to the ups and downs of specific store chains and trends. I can think of no higher recommendation, for these are for the most part the front line consumers and they take their duties seriously. Last night in speaking with a youngish acquaintance just completing law school (another one, alas) who was looking for advice on long term investments we observed that now is the time to remain liquid because 'the worst is yet to come.' In 1999 I began an intense study of market bubbles and crashes as mentioned before. This included buying contemporary magazines and newspapers and reading them to see what was going through people's minds. Today reminds me of the briefly sunny period in 1930-1 when most economists and public officials agreed that the Depression was already over and the economy was back on track. President Hoover dismissed a delegation of businessmen who came to Washington with ideas on stabilizing the economy with "Too late gentlemen, the slump is over."
“If this thing carries on, my generation will have to work until they are 75,” the 58-year-old Rupert said. Governments are “going to have to find the capital in the markets, which will crowd out the private sector, or they’re going to have to tax the living hell out of consumers, or inflate their liabilities to oblivion. There are not too many other options.” “Things can get volatile very quickly,” he said. “This is a very turbulent situation. It could flat-out turn into big inflation if not managed properly over the next two or three years. The saver is going to start rebelling.”
All these organs of our now-former economy are gravely impaired, and a realistic appraisal of them would have to conclude that they've entered the zone of congestive failure. The choice we face really comes down to this: do we put our dwindling resources and "hopes" into resuscitating those dying systems, or do we move forward to the next chapter of American life, cut our losses, and make new arrangements more consistent with the realities on offer from the universe? To take it a step further, can we remain one nation, a common culture, without such a conscious re-purposing of our collective spirit?
ON MAY 19th Californians will go to the polls to vote on six ballot measures that are as important as they are confusing. If these measures fail, America’s biggest state will enter a full-blown financial crisis that will require excruciating cuts in public services. If the measures succeed, the crisis will be only a little less acute. Recent polls suggest that voters are planning to vote most of them down.
A good outcome is no longer possible. California now has the worst bond rating among the 50 states. Income-tax receipts are coming in far below expectations. On May 11th Arnold Schwarzenegger, the governor, sent a letter to the legislature warning it that, by his latest estimates, the state will face a budget gap of $15.4 billion if the ballot measures pass, $21.3 billion if they fail. Prisoners will have to be released, firefighters fired, and other services cut or eliminated. One way or the other, on May 20th Californians will have to begin discussing how to fix their broken state.
The National Association of Realtors is lobbying the federal government to purchase mortgage-backed securities for jumbo loans. These loans, which exceed the conforming loan limits of $417,000 in most parts of the U.S. and $729,750 in some of the country's most expensive housing markets, do not currently qualify for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac backing. There is now a 41-month supply of homes priced above $750,000, compared to a 19-month supply in 2007, according to NAR data released this week.
When times were good, shipping companies ordered huge numbers of new steel behemoths to ply the oceans. Now though, many of those same container lines are eager to get rid of their ships. The scrapping business in South Asia is booming. The sandy beaches north of Chittagong in Bangladesh look like giant steel graveyards. Ships line the banks ready for dismantling. Others are so far disassembled that their hulls are all that is left protuding morosely from the water, according to shipping industry journal Lloyd's List. All kinds of vessels get broken down here: bulk carriers, container ships, vehicle transporters and oil tankers
Discussion of the 50% Retracement Rule,
potential future price levels, time studies, key dates, Fibonacci, Gann, Astro numbers, Robert Rhea's Great Depression analysis.
This book will disturb your equilibrium, no matter what your political beliefs are. Unlike any other book because it goes way beyond criticism of the current state of the American political system - it has solutions! This book will motivate millions of non-voters to get back into the citizenship game, and for politically engaged Americans to move from depression to advocacy for specific reforms. Part 1 presents detailed analyses of the three branches of government and the "fourth estate" for a compelling message that American democracy has steadily gone downhill. American society is saddled with distractive consumerism, a culture of dishonesty, and rampant corporate corruption of government. Despite what false patriots tell us, we now have a delusional democracy, not one that citizens can trust to serve their interests. We clearly need a Second American Revolution. Part 2 presents details about a number of practical solutions for fixing our republic peacefully - actions and techniques that have been proven to work in states or other countries. Are you willing to suffer some pain and see the truth? Or, like so many Americans, will you remain in a delusional state? This book will convince you that there is no hope as long as the two-party duopoly remains in control. More importantly, it will convince you that a new third party is more than necessary for salvaging American democracy - it is increasingly seen by Americans as the only hope for our future. Eligible voters who do not vote are not to be condemned - they are to be respected.
This was one of the greatest bailouts in history, after the biggest corporate loss in history, during the most serious challenge to world stability since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis. And here was AIG, the recipient of so much taxpayers’ money that the cheques exceed the value of the gold reserves in Fort Knox, paying bonuses to the very people who engineered the catastrophe. Protesters toured the posh houses on Long Island Sound, an estuary northeast of New York City, with letters for AIG executives describing the plight of homeowners. But they were in the wrong place. Because the man who knows most about AIG’s troubles lives in a stucco-fronted house 3,000 miles away. Some call him Patient Zero: the virus that infected the world financial system was transmitted from a genteel square near Harrods. If you wait patiently in Knights-bridge you will see him, and he appears not to be a risk-taking type. He puts on his red crash helmet and cycles greenly off across the city, politely declining to comment on global calamities. This does not look like a person waiting at the curtains for the arrival of the FBI.
Can one man in London really be to blame for the collapse of capitalism?
If you have any info that would help, please contact me at my private email address: bailout@michaelmoore.com
