Brent Nyitray
Fairlington Blade
Let the mutherfuker burn!
jnc4p
Kevin S. Willis
Michigoose
lmsinca
markinaustin
Memetrics
novahockey
quarterback
ScottC
yellojktVital Statistics:
| Last | Change | Percent | |
| S&P Futures | 1869.2 | 4.6 | 0.25% |
| Eurostoxx Index | 3184.8 | 23.2 | 0.73% |
| Oil (WTI) | 101.4 | -0.2 | -0.21% |
| LIBOR | 0.228 | -0.003 | -1.08% |
| US Dollar Index (DXY) | 80.03 | -0.068 | -0.08% |
| 10 Year Govt Bond Yield | 2.75% | 0.03% | |
| Current Coupon Ginnie Mae TBA | 105.1 | 0.0 | |
| Current Coupon Fannie Mae TBA | 103.8 | -0.1 | |
| RPX Composite Real Estate Index | 200.7 | -0.2 | |
| BankRate 30 Year Fixed Rate Mortgage | 4.38 |
Markets are higher after some decent economic data out of Europe. Bonds and MBS are down small.
The ISM Manufacturing Index rose to 53.7 from 53.2. While new orders rose slightly, the production index jumped from 48.2 to 55.9. The snippets from various business owners seem to agree that the first quarter is looking good, and that things are accelerating. If you annualize out the March reading of 53.7, it would correspond to a GDP growth rate of 3.5%. Of course manufacturing isn’t the entire economy, but it shows that there is at least one part that is working. Senator Barbara Boxer noted the nascent manufacturing boom and said that the U.S. needs to ensure an adequate supply of affordable energy in order to entice companies to re-locate production back to the U.S. “While everyone would like to see alternative energy companies prosper, we have to recognize that coal and natural gas will remain the mainstay of U.S. energy and we are shooting ourselves in the foot if we raise fossil fuel prices in order to encourage more green energy.”
February construction data is out, and it looks like it rose .1% month-over-month from January and is up 8.7% year-over-year. Private construction is up 13% year-over year, while public construction was flat. Residential construction was up 13.5%. Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman noted in his blog that private construction seems to be doing just fine and there is no need to push up public construction as it would only add to inflationary pressures.
Domestic vehicle sales are out today, with both Ford and Chrysler noting a bounce mid-March. GM was unable to release their March sales numbers due to a computer problem. Separately, GM CEO Mary Barra will be testifying before the House at 2:00 pm today regarding the recall issue. Representative Henry Waxman said that “The botched roll-out of the Affordable Care Act shows that mistakes will happen and perhaps the government should have a little humility before it second-guesses everything a company does.”
House prices rose 12.2% in February, according to CoreLogic. House Prices remain just under 17% lower than their peak in April 2006. Price Appreciation has been driven by limited inventory, and CoreLogic expects prices to moderate over the coming year as increases in home equity releases pent-up supply. That said, there is still the small matter of the first time homebuyer who remains MIA. Separately, Janet Yellen mused that the Fed may have kept rates too low too long which could have been a contributing factor to the real estate bubble. “It may be time to take a second look at the dual mandate” she said.
We are beginning earnings season next week and it looks like weather will be the excuse du jour over why companies missed their earnings targets. GM, McDonalds, and FedEx already warned, blaming the weather. Amazon.com CEO Jeff Bezos reaffirmed the company’s commitment to margin expansion over revenue growth at a recent Morgan Stanley retail conference. “You can’t make it up on volume” he reportedly said.
Filed under: Morning Report |
All Things in Moderation 
She hasn’t posted here in a while, but I thought I should pass along the news that MsJS’s husband passed away early this morning. He had Stage IV cancer which they elected to stop treating in January; his leaving was peaceful and at home.
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Ryan budget plan. Have not looked at it. will digest the Medicare stuff later. like next week later.
http://budget.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=374739
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Please pass along my condolences to her Michi.
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Will do, jnc.
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My response to this author is go fuck yourself:
“Tax the Childless
We should slash taxes on parents by jacking them up for nonparents.
By Reihan Salam ”
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/politics/2014/03/tax_credits_and_children_parents_should_pay_lower_taxes_and_childless_people.html
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JNC, we’ll just cut out the middle man. where do I sent next year’s tuition bill? thanks for your sacrifice.
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As you said, NoVA. I’m all for capping exemptions for kids at two/couple. You want to have nine (like one of my neighbors did in Utah) that’s on you.
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Mich:
You want to have nine (like one of my neighbors did in Utah) that’s on you.
Why shouldn’t the first 2 be on him, too?
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Hey, Scott, watch the ThoughtCrimes.
Aw fuck it. Report to a camp wingnut!
Every village and shit.
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My response to this author is go fuck yourself:
“Tax the Childless
We should slash taxes on parents by jacking them up for nonparents.
By Reihan Salam ”
Gotta be an april fool’s article.
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Why shouldn’t the first 2 be on him, too?
I’ve got no problem with (and think it would be wise to encourage) replacement population–after all, we need that next generation of workers for social security. Not to mention that kids are nice and I like teaching them once they get to a certain age. That’s the facile answer, anyway.
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Mich:
I’ve got no problem with (and think it would be wise to encourage) replacement population–after all, we need that next generation of workers for social security.
You need way more than 2 kids per couple to cover SS costs. If that is all it took, then you wouldn’t need SS…just tell people to have 2 kids and get their children to take care of them in old age.
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But economic growth doesn’t come with zero population growth. If you want a growing economy you need a growing population.
Open borders / Instant citizenship.
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“Gotta be an april fool’s article.”
you’d think so, but it’s slate
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Upon reread, it might be.
I figured it was the conservative counter-proposal to The Life of Julia.
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Progressives hate farm workers.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/03/31/new-york-times-article-urges-gop-to-block-farmworkers-wages-hikes/
Why so much hate?
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Current tax code & spending already subsidizes children considerably.
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jnc:
Current tax code & spending already subsidizes children considerably.
Depends on how much you make.
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you’d think so, but it’s slate
But liberals don’t think like that. Liberals would point out all of the untaxed externalities that kids impose on the world, and say that parents with kids should be taxed more to internalize these externalities, especially environmentally.
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Reihan Salam of course is a pretty well known National Review author.
& while the externalities argument is mostly missing, it’s made up for by the whole “fairness” take, including the Grand Dame of fairness BS, income disparities.
But I’m perfectly willing to consider the possibility that I’ve been successfully trolled.
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Yes, but the deductions are there nonetheless. It of course also varies by filing status.
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jnc:
It of course also varies by filing status.
The point is that you can’t just say children are subsidized. Some of them are, others are not. A flat tax code with no deductions for anything – ie a tax code that actually treated all people equally before the law – would be much more sensible and just.
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Sales and trading is such a shitty business that Goldman is selling its market-making unit. The biggest investment bank in the US won’t have a presence on the floor of the NYSE. Amazing, really.
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g-chatting with a friend. my undergrad school went from about 20k a year when i graduated in 2000 to 50k a year for this calendar year. unbelievable.
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Michi, please let MsJS know that I’m sorry for her loss. I knew he’d been sick and so I imagine it was expected. She’s had her hands full and I think about her often. Good for her keeping him at home.
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I’ll pass it on to her, Lulu. It’s been a long week for her; it was expected but sudden nonetheless.
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This is what it takes my friends.
“being a white person who does anti-racist work is like being an alcoholic.” She went on to say, “I will never be recovered by my alcoholism, to use the metaphor. I have to everyday [sic] wake up and acknowledge that I am so deeply imbedded with racist thoughts and notions and actions in my body that I have to choose everyday [sic] to do anti-racist work and think in an anti-racist way.”
Me? I’m using my White Privilege to
get discounts on my groceries!
How’s this for a forward thinking career? Or an educational philosophy!
Radersma, who is working toward her Ph. D. in critical whiteness studies at Brock University in Ontario, Canada, also trained the attendees to think that all education should be taught with a political agenda.
http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2014/03/31/White-Privilege-Conference-Whites-Are-Never-Cured-from-Racism?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
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McWing:
I’m using my White Privilege to get discounts on my groceries!
lol….reminds me of an old SNL sketch with Eddie Murphy. He gets made up to appear white, and then goes out in the city to see what life is like as a white person. He ends up on a city bus, everyone sitting there quietly minding their own business, but as soon as the sole black person gets off the bus, the driver shuts the door, and a huge party breaks out with balloons and drinks and dancing. Then he goes to a bank for a loan, the bank officer essentially tells him he has credit to borrow an unlimited amount. There was more, but I can’t quite remember the rest.
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“critical whiteness studies”
have we reached Peak Derp?
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Isn’t it “Critical Whiteness?” I mean my privilege demands capitalization.
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Ah, at my alma mater – the People’s Republic of Madison, WI.
I wonder how many people have searched LinkedIn for Critical Whiteness experts. My guess is not many.
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I remember that skit. It was hillarious. The best part was reading all the Hallmark greeting cards to learn how to talk white.
Also, ask and ye shall receive:
https://screen.yahoo.com/white-000000112.html
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jnc:
Thanks for posting that vid of Eddie Murphy. I looked on you tube but couldn’t find it. Very funny.
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JNC, here is some irony of history.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/04/02/this-author-wrote-the-book-on-how-to-overcome-lobbyists-now-it-looks-like-hes-joining-their-fight/?wpisrc=nl_wnkpm
The late 80s reform started with books by Jack Kemp and Bill Bradley in the late 70s calling for flatter, simpler taxes and lower top brackets. There were Rs and Ds in general agreement and they overcame a lot of lobbying effort. Camp and Max don’t have a chance, today.
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I’m not sure how effective it is when your talking points can be confused with early onset of dementia.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-politics/wp/2014/04/01/reid-paul-ryans-budget-a-blueprint-for-kochtopia/?hpid=z3
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Heh. You are what you wear
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hilarious.
Just pay us back anytime .. or don’t. we don’t care.
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Radersma, who is working toward her Ph. D. in critical whiteness studies at Brock University in Ontario, Canada
This is an April Fool’s post, right?
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No. That’s the left’s version of all the Republicans who keep shooting their mouths off about rape.
Edit: Here’s the actual web site with the offerings:
http://www.whiteprivilegeconference.com/schedule.html
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Theatrical performances and a poetry slam? I am SO there!
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Another dumb broad who needs a lesson about “her place.” IYKWIM
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I mean seriously honey,if Dana wanted your opinion he’d give it to you. Now,calm down, your getting hysterical.
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Theory: The Doc Fix was never designed to go into effect. Always designed to be delayed yearly to maximize campaign donations.
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While I don’t see the draw, the WH likes beards.
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White Privilege Conference lol
Progressivism and its faithful can’t be parodied.
A college student I know at a tres chere college was forced by absurd requirements to take a feminism class. Naturally, it is all indoctrination and guilt loading, all the time. A few weeks ago, each student had to add up his or her “privilege” points on the blackboard in front of the class, so they could be shamed and accept their guilt. The white, Protestant, straight male with college-educated parents was duly subjected to hateful and resentful glares. No, I am not making any of that up.
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Michi, if you haven’t yet passed on condolences, please add mine. I hope she is doing well herself.
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Another dumb broad who needs a lesson about “her place.”
That was one classic tweet. Poor Dana. Such a twit.
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qb: I will.
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Head scratcher.
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Like Prohibition wingnut!
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“Nobody remembers well those who stand in the way of American progress.”
Obama is the new king of Deep Thoughts.
Roger Simon published a column yesterday saying that his liberal friends have become silent about Obama because everyone now realizes he is the worst President since at least the Civil War, if not ever. I certainly think he is, or at least is tied with some guys like FDR, but I think what Roger says about the mindset of liberals today is only true of some. Obama has made it hard for anyone to sing his praises, but the core of true believers will never think he is the worst or one of the worst, imo.
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I heard a lengthier version of Chris Van Hollen’s tirade yesterday. I have a hard time believing that he actually believes a word of this nonsense that he spews. I seriously don’t think he does. It has to be 100% politics and manipulation of is dependency base. That’s why he is always have laughing/half smirking when he spews this stuff.
http://thehill.com/blogs/on-the-money/budget/202364-van-hollen-gop-budget-is-declaration-of-class-warfare
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It’s a shame about Van Hollen. The Democratic Party in Maryland redrew the lines oust Connie Morrella who was a pretty moderate/liberal Republican. So they replaced a legislator with a hack. not that this isn’t common of course
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@qb: “Roger Simon published a column yesterday saying that his liberal friends have become silent about Obama because everyone now realizes he is the worst President since at least the Civil War, if not ever.”
What makes him the “worst” president? He would have had a very Eisenhower-style reign, IMHO, if not for the ACA. In fact, on the whole, I don’t personally think he’s a terrible president. Except for the ACA.
Which I know is like saying he’s not a good guy, when he’s not murdering people. The ACA is perhaps the most wretched mess any politician ever has actually gotten into law. At least in this country. And I still read defenses of the ACA: Oh, it’s good, those Republicans are just badmouthing it.
Ugh.
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@qb: “or at least is tied with some guys like FDR,”
I think they question is will the ACA be ultimately as expensive and destructive as The New Deal, less so, or more so? I’m thinking maybe more.
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