Whit the recent elimination of anything even remotely approaching journalistic rigor or analysis, and its substitution with endless propaganda and the pitching of "hope" as an investment conduit, many have been scratching their heads over the question of just how it is that CNBC is still on the air, let alone make money: after all selling hope is a very expensive process.
I provide the answer. Below is an early segment from CNBC in which Joe Kernan provides his analysis of Schwab's just released results. As the video quality is pretty bad (yeah, I know, sorry) I will summarize how it works:
1. Intro - Kernan: Glowing review of Schwab's EPS "beat"
2. Kernan: "Schwab is a fine, fine company and a fine individual."
3. Kernan: "...and quite a sponsor for us."
4. Kernan: "...and we are ready to just be sponsored on Squawk Box."
5. Conclusion - Kernan: "...I don't think you can have too much [of Schwab]."
6. Cut to Charles Schwab Commercial.
Read MoreUpdate on the petition of "scholars" who believe the Fed's status quo is the only way to maintain their tenure. The full list for your convenience. Alas, Ben Dover from DeVry is nowhere to be found in the list... Additionally, the organizer of this whole shindig seems to be Anil Kashyap of Chicago Booth. Is it at all surprising that his bio has the following data: Prior to joining the Chicago Booth faculty in 1991, Kashyap spent three years as an economist for the Board of Governors for the Federal Reserve System. He currently works as a consultant for the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, and serves as a member of the Economic Advisory Panel of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and as a Research Associate for the National Bureau of Economic Research.
Read MoreIt doesn't get more surreal than this. In Federal Solicitation RFI-BPD-09-0028, the The Department Of The Treasury is seeking a contractor to provide... Humor in the Workplace. As there is $800 billion to be spent, what better way than for Tim Geithner to get himself a private court jester (with the market relying on the PPT every day at 3pm to prevent a complete and total meltdown we kinda sympathize with the morose, yet tax-troubled guy). Obama's stimulus doesn't get better than this - you, dear taxpayer, would indirectly fund some guy cracking bad jokes (most likely about the economy and politicians): now that is a way to get the economy started if there ever was one.
Read MoreSince the beginning of the current series of Archdruid Report posts on economics, I’ve wondered in an idle sort of way if it might come to the attention of a professional economist or two. Last week’s post, though, seems to have settled that issue. I deliberately begged a question in that post, one that cuts to the core of conventional economic theory, and it would have taken a degree of self-control exceedingly rare in any profession for a mainstream economist to read the discussion and not rise to the bait. I’m referring, of course, to the cavalier way in which the concept of money was treated in last week’s post. In terms of mainstream economics, it’s nonsense to talk about wealth or value without discussing how those things are reflected in some form of pricing mechanism – that is, how they’re measured in money. The widely held belief that the wealth produced by nature is valueless until it’s transformed into something else by human labor, in fact, bases itself largely on the fact that nobody has to pay the nonhuman world for that wealth, and so figuring out its price poses a major challenge – not insoluble, but significant enough that few economists have been willing to take it up.
Since Adam Smith launched modern economics in 1776 with The Wealth of Nations, unresolved disputes over the nature of money have formed a fault line running straight through the heartland of economic thought. Some economists – these days, the majority – treat wealth and money as interchangeable concepts.
Read MoreMany people believe that Prohibition ended because it failed as a social policy. However, according to a July 2007 commentary by economist Donald Boudreaux, the real reason why the ban on alcohol sales was lifted in the 1930s was because of money -- money for a cash-starved government -- during a time of widespread economic woe. With no end of the Depression in sight, Washington got anxious for a substitute source of revenue. That source was liquor sales.
Given current circumstances, it should be no surprise to anyone, as Reuters reveals in "States See $ Sign in Gaming, Analysts Skeptical" that moral issues are increasingly taking a back seat to harsh economic realities.
Read MoreVeteran reporter Robert Scheer writes today:
"The federal government works for Goldman and not for us."
Is Scheer's claim over the top? Well, the assistant secretary of the Treasury under Reagan, Paul Craig Roberts agrees with Scheer, saying that Treasury Secretary Geithner "works for Goldman Sachs", and not the American public:
Interviewer: Does the treasury secretary work for the people or does he work for the banking system on Wall Street?
Roberts: He works for Goldman Sachs.
See this and this, and this parody.
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Discussion of the 50% Retracement Rule,
potential future price levels, time studies, key dates, Fibonacci, Gann, Astro numbers, Robert Rhea's Great Depression analysis.
Winter is coming. Are you prepared? Americans see time as their enemy. Most Americans have bought into a view of the past and future as linear. When you observe the world in linear way and things are going well, the population is happy and confident. If you view the world in a linear way and things are going badly, the population sees nothing but terrible times ahead. This linear outlook of history and the future is not rational or supported by facts. I’m convinced that world history is not on a linear path towards Armageddon and the Rapture. This belief is preached by many of the mainstream religions, but the truth is that we’ve seen this movie before and it doesn’t end in the 2nd Coming of Christ. The American belief in a destiny of never ending progress will undergo its 3rd major crisis period since its founding. The resolution of this crisis is 10 to 20 years in the future. The outcome will remain in doubt until the definitive resolution.
Read MoreBarack Obama became the 1st Generation X-er to be elected President of the United States. His background is a classic Nomad story. He has lived the life of a wanderer, living all over the globe, a child of divorce, fatherless, raised by grandparents, and a free agent in his career. Generation X grew up as abandoned children and alienated young adults. Generation X leaders will be pragmatic, savvy and practical. Obama has proven thus far to be pragmatic and able to get his agenda initiated. Previous Nomad leaders who proved to be highly competent doers during a time of Crisis include Dwight D. Eisenhower, George Patton, and Harry Truman.
Read MoreStarbucks Corp. said Thursday it is wiping its name from one of its Seattle-area stores and adding alcohol to the menu. The Seattle-based gourmet coffee chain said it is changing the name of one of its existing stores in its hometown to a name that reflects the neighborhood location. The store will be called 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea. It will open next week and will serve coffee and tea as well as wine and beer. The company said it will then open two more Seattle-area stores without the Starbucks name in locations that aren't currently Starbucks stores. The chain said if the rethought coffee shop is a success it will consider replicating it in other cities.
"It's interesting," said Morningstar analyst R.J. Hottovy, "especially since the Starbucks brand has been such an integral part of their success."
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