The two best “Funny Valentines”

Posted on February 13, 2012 by markinaustin

IIRC, this song first became popular when the great, then young, west coast jazz trumpeter, Chet Baker, sang it.

A couple of years later, it was made popular again when Ella sang it on the Rodgers and Hart Songbook.

Still later in the 50s, Frank Sinatra sang it.  But for reasons that are part of a funny story I will tell here someday, I do not play Sinatra.

Sting butchered it in a live concert.

Chet Baker and Gerry Mulligan, along with Brubeck and Desmond, defined west coast “cool” jazz.  When we were in high school, we really loved that stuff.  Baker did not often sing, but until he died in the 80s, whenever he played he would be asked to sing this.  Like any jazz guy, he never sang it the same way twice.  This first rendition was my favorite, and the one that put the song on the map as a “standard”.

And Ella was Ella.  I met her once.  I was 14.  She was gracious, as if it mattered to her that I knew who she was.  She was with the blind singer, Al Hibbler, at the time, and although I did not recognize him, when she introduced us, I knew who he was – he had made a hit of “Unchained Melody”.  I fumbled in embarrassment, but Ella made it AOK.

Happy Valentine’s Day, all.

Filed under: music | 49 Comments »

Morning Report

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Brent Nyitray

Vital Statistics:

Last Change Percent
S&P Futures 1349.1 8.5 0.63%
Eurostoxx Index 2495.7 14.9 0.60%
Oil (WTI) 100.32 1.6 1.67%
LIBOR 0.5026 -0.003 -0.67%
US Dollar Index (DXY) 78.775 -0.229 -0.29%
10 Year Govt Bond Yield 1.99% 0.01%

World markets are rallying on the positive Greek austerity vote over the weekend.  European finance ministers will meet on Wednesday to approve the second bailout plan.  Does this mean the crisis in Greece is over?  Not really.  Bondholders have to accept the proposed haircuts and if there are holdouts (and the holdout trade is a staple of distressed hedge funds), there will still be risk of default.

Heard on the Street has a good piece on corporate profit margins and what that means for the economy.  Productivity has been falling, and that perversely can portend good things.  After the financial collapse, companies dramatically cut their workforces and held off on capital spending unless it was absolutely necessary.  As demand returned, companies squeezed as much output as they could from existing resources.  They held off hiring and making investment in productivity-increasing capital. Stocks have reacted positively to growth in profit margins as revenues increased while costs stayed stagnant.  This was reflected in the productivity numbers (which measure amount of output per input).  Lately, productivity increases have been smaller and smaller, meaning that effect has largely been played out.  This means if companies want to meet increased demand, they have to hire – their existing workforces are maxed out.  Which bodes well for unemployment and wages.  What does that mean for corporate profits and stocks?  It means that the top line (revenues) will have to drive profit growth.  Tepid economic growth will mean stagnant profits.

The SEC has launched an “informal inquiry” into the private equity industry. What a shock. It must be nice to have government agencies with subpoena power to conduct oppo research. (Couldn’t the NYT find a more menacing picture of Henry Kravis?)

No economic data today.  I am very interested to see the minutes of the FOMC meeting on Wednesday.

Filed under: Economic data, Economy | Tagged: , | 59 Comments »

NOT ENOUGH MDs

Posted on February 13, 2012 by markinaustin

We here have been educated to understand the supply problem in American health care, thanks to NoVAH, Mike, and Michigoose, although many, if not all, of us understood the general outlines of this basic issue before we got here. This morning we read this:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/the-health-reform-laws-biggest-threat-30000-too-few-doctors/2012/02/10/gIQALEQp4Q_blog.html?wpisrc=nl_wonk

What I did not know, until I read this article, is that Medicare covers the lion’s share of the cost of training medical residents.  Further, in order to make ACA’s package politically marketable, in the negotiations, there was no increase in the funding for residents.  Thus ACA built into itself the seeds of its own failure, and this is what NoVAH has been saying to us, although I don’t recall his having pointed to the failure to increase funding for residents.

When I read ACA in detail for my clients, I looked at it from the POV of the effect on small biz, which I decided was actually nil, for my clients.  A myopic view, I admit, but it fit my assignment.  A shortfall of 30000 new doctors in a near time frame will greatly increase health care costs above what they would have been if 30000 new docs had been trained.

Filed under: Affordable Care Act, healthcare | 12 Comments »