Bits & Pieces (Monday Night Open Mic)

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Somebody else is trying to do the Bad Lip Reading thing. This is their take on Rick Perry’s “Strong” Ad.

An evil genie tortured and killed a Saudi woman. Other members of her family better watch out, as the police had concluded that other members of her family, especially those questioning their fine police work, may also be under the influence of evil jinn. Another hat tip to our friends, the Saudis.  
American Spectator has a decent article on Keynes: The Madness of Lord Keynes. Whatever you think about throwing money into the economy in order to stimulate, it doesn’t magically produce economic growth like turning the key in the ignition.
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Lee Stranahan finds a newspaper from 1967, making similar observations that I’ve made in similar circumstances. 
I recently read some of the Uncle Remus stories, from a Disney edition of the main stories from Song of the South, released the same time the movie came out. I love Walt Disney, but he sure sounds nostalgic for plantation ownership and magic negroes in that foreword. Which is why that book is out of print, I guess, just like the movie. 

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Jeb Bush Planning to Run?

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Kind of late, I think. But Jeb Bush is saying some conservative stuff in a campaign-y way. Either he’s testing the waters, or he’s trying to give the candidates currently in the running a little advice on how to try and sound.

We have to make it easier for people to do the things that allow them to rise. We have to let them compete. We need to let people fight for business. We need to let people take risks. We need to let people fail. We need to let people suffer the consequences of bad decisions. And we need to let people enjoy the fruits of good decisions, even good luck.

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Making Watermelon Taste Like Tuna

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Kevin S. Willis

Still not sure how that’s accomplished, but I love the whole gastronomical engineering movement, and hope it continues to expand.

I love the idea of taking the main components of a cow’s diet and making hamburger patties out of that, eliminating the cow. I’d like to try one of those hamburger patties but, alas, I’m not sure where such things are available, outside of Moto. 

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Your expertise is requested on two fronts

Posted on December 19, 2011 by markinaustin

This 2006 paper claimed that American manufacturing retained its world lead and 20%+ of global manufacturing from c. 1980 to 2005.  It claimed job loss in the sector was entirely due to mechanization.


Cited within the paper is a Fed Reserve of Cleveland abstract, but its conclusions differ.

http://www.clevelandfed.org/Research/Commentary/2006/0101.pdf

I would like to see the data broken out between defense and non-defense manufacturing output.  An analysis, over time, of the portion of output generated by S&P 500 and non-S&P 500 companies might show concentrations in manufacturing, like the trend in agribusiness away from the diminishing family farm component.


Some of you have access to, and often deal with, data that would tend to confirm or deny the premise of the 2006 paper.  Your thoughts are welcome.
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NoVAH, what do you think of the passing off of the minimum standards for coverage under ACA to the states?  Upside?  Downside?

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Morning Report

Posted on December 19, 2011 by Brent Nyitray

Vital Statistics:

Last Change Percent
S&P Futures 1218.6 6.9 0.57%
Eurostoxx Index 2215.4 -9.490 -0.43%
Oil (WTI) 93.94 0.070 0.07%
LIBOR 0.567 0.004 0.67%
US Dollar Index (DXY) 80.077 -0.158 -0.20%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield 1.88% -0.03%

The next two weeks are going to be slow for the markets. In spite of the improving economy, it has been a dour holiday season so far. Banks are announcing another round of job cuts, and those who are lucky enough to keep their jobs will see their bonuses cut in half. Bloomberg is reporting that Royal Bank of Scotland is contemplating exiting the equities business. This is in addition to job cuts being announced by Citi and Morgan Stanley.

Paul Krugman is discussing what will probably be the next financial headache in this morning’s NYT – the bursting of the Chinese real estate bubble. While Western banks don’t have a lot of direct exposure to Chinese banks, they do have a lot of exposure to Hong Kong banks, specifically HSBC (aka Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp) and Standard Chartered. Krugman’s main worry is a collapse in demand and the fact that a weakened global economy cannot take the strain of a Chinese collapse.

Kim Jong-Il has died, and his 28 year old son is taking over. Market moving? Not really, unless you are long the Won. We have a deal on the extension of the payroll tax cut. Wait, we don’t? Again, market moving? Not really. No one cares anymore. Prince Alwaleed has bought himself some Twitter.

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