USD has performed strong recently. Seems alot of money is flocking to our currency thanks to the “flight to safety” aspect. This all drives costs down for a few reasons…as currency is acquired (not spent) it causes reduced velocity, also the stronger the currency is the less you need to buy the same goods which further drives velocity down.
So it begins again…
In the end I suspect the only difference between Enron and GM will be blatant fraud vs. utter mis-management of funds & union issues. In either case pensioners get screwed over.
They have been posting “record quarters” with profit/sales, handing out big bonus checks and yet they are reneging on long standing promises? This move reminds me how they screwed over old shareholders, declared bankruptcy, took bailout money (at the expense of our nations spending power) AND THEN raked in $21 Billion in fresh IPO funds for the icing. Out with the old & in with the new…fuck you very much for your loyalty. 8/
I’m torn because honestly this is the move they needed to make many years ago, as shady and painful to retirees as it is. They cannot function let alone profit with the bloat of their commitment to long term benefits, it’s just not sustainable. PENSIONS ARE A PYRAMID SCHEME!
My advice to retirees…take that lump sum and be VERY careful with it, it will very likely be all you have in the end. That lump sum might have to put food on the table as well as cover your long term medical care…GULP! Good luck with that, especially with our rising medical coverage costs.
In about 3 months we saw a global 180, economically? Eurozone is pretty much fubar and our economy is fairly stagnant as well from what I can see. Thoughts?
Moody’s is a bunch of pussies that are still mad at the banks. No matter what happens, the big banks never allow themselves to lose because they control the system. You may have your own opinions, but good luck betting against them in the long run. Sure they may sacrifice one or two of them when shit hits the fan to the tune of hundreds of billions of dollars, but I’d take an investment in that group that got downgraded today over the vast majority of companies out there.
Disclaimer: I work for one of the banks that was downgraded today and I have ~20k in 3-year deferred stock options coming due August 1. Moody’s
Sucks to hear. Trust me, I don’t have faith in Moody’s or any of those clowns. I’m more pointing out their downgrade because they are up to something, they didn’t release these downgrades to be responsible.
Investing is all timing…I’m not saying bet against the banks at all. Our bank & currency are inseparable…as one goes so goes the other.
Found this interesting looks like google is building some new gear in the US
Part of article
"Most famously, Apple has appeared in headlines over its relationship with Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer that makes its iPads and iPhones. Foxconn has been accused of unsafe and unfair working conditions in recent years. Apple has announced it’s working to improve conditions at its supply-chain plants, and CEO Tim Cook visited a Foxconn factory earlier this year.
But as wages and other costs begin to increase in China, a handful of mostly smaller companies has begun bringing those jobs back to the States. Late last year, an analysis by the Boston Consulting Group predicted that 2015 will be a “tipping point” when it will make more sense for many industries to keep their plants closer to home.
“A surprising amount of work that rushed to China over the past decade could soon start to come back – and the economic impact could be significant,” said Harold L. Sirkin, a senior partner and lead author of the analysis. “We’re on record predicting a U.S. manufacturing renaissance starting by around 2015.”
"
+1 I would love to see America actually exporting and making more goods on our soil again.
I had a decent day today in the market. Had been buying oil the last few weeks via UCO and that is turning out to be a winner. Just have to time out an exit strategy. Some other stuff I am holding didn’t really do what I hoped for today. Over the next 6 months I am looking out for positive housing sentiment and will am curious to see where interest rates go.
Now at 58% realized on the site’s portfolio for 2012. Chris has been doing tons of work making videos and content for the blog…good ish. Check it out fellas.
Precious metals porn given that metals are still lingering at that support. Any bets on the directional?
Long time no bump so I figured we should all chat again. How bout that FB dropping below $22 today?
UNG has been on a tear lately…I caught so much shit on other sites for posting bullish on it back in first week of April. LULz
“$16,000,000,000,000.00 had been secretly given out to US banks and corporations and foreign banks everywhere from France to Scotland. From the period between December 2007 and June 2010, the Federal Reserve had secretly bailed out many of the world’s banks, corporations, and governments. The Federal Reserve likes to refer to these secret bailouts as an all-inclusive loan program, but virtually none of the money has been returned and it was loaned out at 0% interest. Why the Federal Reserve had never been public about this or even informed the United States Congress about the $16 trillion dollar bailout is obvious – the American public would have been outraged to find out that the Federal Reserve bailed out foreign banks while Americans were struggling to find jobs.”
Moody’s
