The House Financial Services Committee voted 43-26 that the Federal Reserve ought to have a FULL audit, as opposed to the watered down audit that Mel Watt's amendment to the bill would have yielded.http://www.marketwatch.com/story/panel-votes-to-audit-feds-balance-sheet-2009-11-19... more
Costco customers may have to look elsewhere for Coca-Cola products now that the retailer has stopped carrying them because the pair are fighting over prices.
The public squabble between one of the nation's largest wholesale club operators and the world's largest soft drink maker is likely to fizzle quickly. But it reveals real tensions as retailers and product makers square off on prices
As shoppers continue to grapple with the recession, retailers want to win their favor by giving them low prices. But that has been creating tension between product makers like Coca-Cola Co., who are working hard to maintain profit margins while meeting retailer demands.
Typically such negotiations take place behind the scenes, but once in awhile, a public dispute erupts.
"Beneath this surface of harmony, it's a dogfight out there," Gerry Khermouch, editor of Beverage Business Insights, said Tuesday at an investor meeting held by the soft drink maker at its hometown of Atlanta.
Retailers want to wield more power in determining pricing with product makers, who they depend on to stock their customers' favorite brands, Khermouch said.
Costco has been aggressive in putting up signs on store shelves and notices on its Web site.
"Costco is committed to carrying name brand merchandise at the best possible prices. At this time, Coca-Cola has not provided Costco with competitive pricing so that we may pass along the value our members deserve," said a message on the company's Web site labeled "Price Alert!"
A Costco executive confirmed the move Monday but would not discuss the matter further.
The longer we sit home and imagine the Chinese buying our sh**ty cars or exotic financial securities, the shorter the road to serfdom for more generations of US citizens who will be stuck paying off the reckless debts of our elders ...The longer we sit home and imagine the Chinese buying our sh**ty cars or exotic... more
Innovation is as American as baseball and apple pie. But some traditions can't be trademarked.
Americans like to think there is something about their culture that's especially conducive to innovation--the open geography and frontier spirit; a flexible economy with limited interference by government; the Protestant work ethic; an immigrant workforce, constantly renewed by the next generation of talent from around the world. Other countries can perhaps emulate some of these traits, but none can replicate the creative cocktail that is America.
That might be true today. But could it be that American achievements reflect the past more than predicting the future?
The fraudulent real estate bubble found a poster child in Lehman investment McAllister Ranch: a three square mile development in which Lehman dropped a quarter billion dollars of loans … and the mega-community became a ghost town. China has Ordos ...The fraudulent real estate bubble found a poster child in Lehman investment McAllister... more
"Cash has beaten stocks for the past 10 years. Even worse, Bonds have beaten Stocks since 1966." Now NYU says Buy & Hold is worse than Market Timing ..."Cash has beaten stocks for the past 10 years. Even worse, Bonds have beaten Stocks... more
11/9/2009 Ron Paul’s Weekly Update on Healthcare, Congress, Government, and the Constitution.
***This article has been chosen as a discussion topic on PFP Movement Radio, http://www.blogtalkradio.com/pfpmovementradio Friday night at 6pm-8pm. Please Call In To The Show, 347-633-9636. COMMENTS will be included in the show so feel free to discuss or ask questions here on current.com as they will be addressed during the show. This article will also air on Freedom Hour Saturday at 9pm-10pm on Movement TV http://www.peacefreedomprosperity.com/?page_id=36***11/9/2009 Ron Paul’s Weekly Update on Healthcare, Congress, Government, and the... more
On the verge of the recession business bankruptcy rates and national unemployment levels were steady. But in late 2007, these numbers quickly began to inflate.On the verge of the recession business bankruptcy rates and national unemployment... more
World-renowned investor Jim Rogers explains why Nouriel Roubini's calls on oil and gold are completely incorrect, and he helps navigate us in a better direction ...World-renowned investor Jim Rogers explains why Nouriel Roubini's calls on oil and... more
Each 1993 Taurus comes standard with a cassette tape of Primus's hit album, "Sailing the Seas of Cheese."Each 1993 Taurus comes standard with a cassette tape of Primus's hit album, "Sailing... more
It takes a crapweasel with unbelievably huge balls to suggest that God thinks it's great for CEOs to make more money than - well, God. John Varley, CEO of Barclays Bank, has had an epiphany.It takes a crapweasel with unbelievably huge balls to suggest that God thinks it's... more
A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in 1949. He discusses our nature as both solitary and social beings, simultaneously conditioned by biological and cultural constitutions, and what this means for the individual's role in society. He then asks "how the structure of society and the cultural attitude of man should be changed in order to make human life as satisfying as possible." The final passages prove particularly poignant in presaging the greatest atrocities committed by Soviet tyranny. The challenge: How is it possible, in view of the far-reaching centralization of political and economic power, to prevent bureaucracy from becoming all-powerful and overweening? How can the rights of the individual be protected and therewith a democratic counterweight to the power of bureaucracy be assured?
Part of the answer may reside in bypassing the power of large bureaucracies through a decentralized system of democratic planning directed by workers' and consumers' councils. Moreover, with today's information communication technology, the capacity for mass collaboration and self-government/self-management has never been more viable and effective. Your thoughts?
An Excerpt:
"The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society.
The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals...
(The) crippling of individuals I consider the worst evil of capitalism. Our whole educational system suffers from this evil. An exaggerated competitive attitude is inculcated into the student, who is trained to worship acquisitive success as a preparation for his future career.
I am convinced there is only one way to eliminate these grave evils, namely through the establishment of a socialist economy, accompanied by an educational system which would be oriented toward social goals. In such an economy, the means of production are owned by society itself and are utilized in a planned fashion. A planned economy, which adjusts production to the needs of the community, would distribute the work to be done among all those able to work and would guarantee a livelihood to every man, woman, and child. The education of the individual, in addition to promoting his own innate abilities, would attempt to develop in him a sense of responsibility for his fellow men in place of the glorification of power and success in our present society."A clear, concise and comprehensive case for socialism, written by Albert Einstein in... more
Primatologists are giving "guerilla marketing" a whole new meaning.
In Indonesia, researchers have watched how long-tail macaques trade for sex. In South Africa, vervet monkeys climbed the ladder of their social group by learning a new trade in apples.
This line of study examines how economic models explain social behavior in the natural world.
"Animals neither negotiate verbally nor conclude binding contracts, but nevertheless regularly exchange goods and services without overt coercion and manage to arrive at agreements over exchange rates," European researchers wrote in a recent paper on market behavior among vervet monkeys in South Africa.
"It's really looking at the economy of nature," said Michael David Gumert, a primatologist and assistant professor in the division of psychology at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. Gumert spent 20 months in the jungles of Indonesia studying long-tail macaques, observing the mating market among the monkeys.
Gumert found that male monkeys "pay" for sex by grooming female monkeys. After being groomed, females would mate nearly four times an hour with the groomer, and are less likely to mate with others. But the larger the market of male companions, the higher the price of sex: Areas with low density of males, the price was only eight minutes of grooming. In areas where there were more males, the price could double to 16 minutes.
Sex isn't the only commodity for sale in the jungle. Female macaques will line up to groom a new mother in order to hold her offspring, Gumert observed. "When a mother has a baby, the other females are attracted to the baby and want access to it," he said.
The findings support the "biological market theory," a term created by researchers Ronald Noe and Peter Hammerstein in trying to understand reciprocal behavior in primates and the unwritten code of trade that appears in the wild.
Researchers stop short of saying this research has -- so far -- signaled that economics is an innate trait in our closest animal cousins, but it raises thought provoking questions if there is an evolutionary dynamic to the forces that gave rise to Wall Street.
From an evolutionary standpoint, the tacit negotiation that happens in primate groups suggests that the maxim that "only the strong survive" isn't quite right, Gumert said. "It seems really more like, 'only the cooperative survive'."
http://edition.cnn.com/video/#/video/business/2009/11/04/stevens.spotlight.monkey.business.cnnPrimatologists are giving "guerilla marketing" a whole new meaning.
In Indonesia,... more
Ratigan: There are people who also understand the intricacies of finance and policy, but whose allegiances to the taxpayer are clearer.
A year ago it was revealed to the American people that our banking system was a legalized Ponzi scheme in which bank and insurance CEOs paid themselves billions of dollars in personal compensation to lend and insure assets with money they didn't have to customers who couldn't pay back the loans.
In those dark days between the fall of Lehman Brothers and before the presidential election, we were often carried through that time by the small glimmer of hope in that at least we would soon have a new leader who would hopefully fix this mess and punish those responsible.
Yet in the past 9 months, not only has the administration not fixed anything, they have made things much worse for anyone who isn't a Wall Street banker. Therefore, we are past the point where anyone in power still gets the benefit of the doubt and the process of taking back our country for all citizens must begin now.
This is why I think we must ask if U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner is still the right person for the job. It has become clear recently that back in his previous role as New York Federal Reserve Governor, he unnecessarily gave billions of dollars of U.S. tax money to banks and insurance companies with few strings attached. And it is now becoming clear that his lack of meaningful action is helping many of these same banks steal more by legalizing their most economically dangerous, socially destructive and self-enriching practices.
To stop the theft from continuing, it requires that the most basic rules of capitalism be applied to our banks and that our future national wealth be safeguarded by the U.S. Government. The current custodian of America's wealth, Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner, is not doing a good job of either. The time for corrective action is now.
more at link
Wow, actual main-stream news calling out the Goldman Sachs establishment. No wonder Dylan got kicked off of CNBC's Fast Money, and lets not forget Jeff Macke as well.Ratigan: There are people who also understand the intricacies of finance and policy,... more
Portfolio Strategy
Buy Into Fossil Fuels
Ken Fisher, 09.02.09, 06:00 PM EDT
Forbes Magazine dated September 21, 2009
Energy-hungry consumers around the globe will be demanding fossil fuels. So be overweight in energy stocks--at least 12% of your equity.
Rich Karlgaard's recent column on energy and the Waxman-Markey carbon trading bill should be required reading for every high school and college kid. They should have to read it three times. Adults should have to prove they've read it before being allowed to vote. The column outlined the harsh reality of renewable energy. In this country 89% of electricity comes from three fuel sources: coal, natural gas and nuclear fission. That fraction won't change dramatically in the next decade. If you want your air conditioner to work in 2014, you'd better hope that more fossil fuel plants get built.
I'm riding down the road in a friend's electric Tesla Roadster. Sounds clean, doesn't it? But we are burning 49% coal, 21% natural gas, 20% nuclear and little else. Wind power? Zip! How will we run Teslas without fossil fuel? We won't. How will emerging markets, with a combined gdp already bigger than America's, grow without more fossil fuel? They won't.
Nuclear power might provide for our needs (and, if you believe in the global warming theory, protect our atmosphere). If the French can get 70% of their electric energy from nuclear safely and cleanly, then we can. But will we? Politically, it will be difficult. Many of the same people screaming that fossil fuel creates global warming are also adamantly against adding clean nuclear power. There are a lot of nuclear reactor applications pending in the U.S., but the permits will be few, and slow in coming.
That situation, and the fact that other energy-hungry countries will also be demanding fossil fuels, tells me you should be overweight in energy stocks. That means at least 12% of your equity in energy companies, and most of that in companies with a fossil fuel emphasis.
I'm posting this here just to annoy the vast majority of you. You can deny it, try to refute it, or play games with it, but thirty or forty years down the road, you just might wish you'd invested in it.
by the way, the stocks he touts after the last paragraph i quoted here are his SECOND tier picks. his first-tier picks are in MY portfolio with him.
your call....
enjoy!Portfolio Strategy
Buy Into Fossil Fuels
Ken Fisher, 09.02.09, 06:00 PM EDT
Forbes... more
Paul Krugman has written about this in his blog fairly often, but until now I haven't see it in a column, at least not so explicitly. And for some reason no one brings this up in most of the main stream media. For example, when David Gregory asks on Meet the Press if the current deficits are going to bankrupt future generations, the simple answer is that without massive deficit spending to get the economy moving people won't be making as much money and therefore not paying as much taxes which is really problematic for long term deficits.
Here is the gist of that concept. Full column at link.
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Even the claim that we’ll have to pay for stimulus spending now with higher taxes later is mostly wrong. Spending more on recovery will lead to a stronger economy, both now and in the future — and a stronger economy means more government revenue. Stimulus spending probably doesn’t pay for itself, but its true cost, even in a narrow fiscal sense, is only a fraction of the headline number.Paul Krugman has written about this in his blog fairly often, but until now I haven't... more
David Conlander tells Congress we need a more reality-based and cross-disciplinary approach in the field of economics ...David Conlander tells Congress we need a more reality-based and cross-disciplinary... more
Who is filing bankruptcy? In 2008, more than 1 million filed for bankruptcy protection. This sharp graphic takes a close look at the demographics behind those numbers to give us a clear view of who is being affected by the economic downturn.Who is filing bankruptcy? In 2008, more than 1 million filed for bankruptcy... more
![Bankruptcy Filings Carry U.S. Jobs Away [infographic]](http://i2.crtcdn.net/images/asset/901/118/78/H26709_60x45.jpg)
