The Idiots At BP: We Don’t Know Why Share Price Is Down
In a classic, “hear no evil, see no evil, speak not evil”, that BP management says it sees not reason for a 16% drop in its stock prices yesterday. The mention by Obama that…
All Work
Douglas A. McIntyre
Government Attacked For AIG Bailout
The Congressional Oversight Panel attacked the Treasury for two aspects of its bailout of American International Group (NYSE: AIG): “By providing a complete rescue that called for no shared sacrifice among AIG’s creditors, the…
The Rich Flex Their Muscles
America’s upper class has begun to return to the free spending ways that characterized their behavior prior to the recession. This may be because the percentage of people unemployed among the well-to-due lagged the…
Will China Crush Chinese Unions?
The China of Tiananmen Square has not entirely disappeared. The central government is still willing to assert control, often brutally. Last year, riots in the interior, based on a push by factory workers to…
Foreclosure Rates Settle, But At Historically High Levels
The foreclosure rate in the US is not getting any worse, but unfortunately, it is not getting any better. According to RealtyTrac, May foreclosures were 322,920. That number was a 3% drop from April…
Deepwater Drilling May Surge, Just Not In US
This year it takes 86.4 million barrels a day of oil to quench the planet’s growing energy needs, an increase of 60,000, according to a forecast by the International Energy Agency. The projection, which…
Germany’s Merkel Tests Europe’s Financial Resolve, Again
Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel seems keen on asserting her nation’s political and financial power in the EU, or she wants to see the region’s $1 trillion rescue package fail. In a surprising statement, Merkel…
Media Digest 6/10/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Volcker is optimistic about a good financial reform bill. Reuters: BP plc (NYSE: BP) shares dropped on concerns about financial viability. Reuters: China exports rose, putting the yuan issue center stage. Reuters: AT&T…
AT&T Security Problem Exposes 114,000 iPad Email Addresses
Gawker reported that a security breach of data from Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iPad users whose wireless service with AT&T (NYSE: T) exposed 114,000 email addresses. AT&T’s bumbling about the matter brought the following response:…
Bernanke & The Burden Of American’s Aged
Ben Bernanke’s testimony before the Committee on the Budget of the U.S. House of Representatives was mostly predictable. He talked about the steady improvement in the American economy and predicted that GDP would be…
Today’s Best Rumors (6/9/2010)
Updated throughout the day. There is a second leak in the Gulf near the Deepwater Horizon wreck, or not (various). Tornier, a Dutch medical device company, will raise $205 million in an IPO. (Minneapolis…
The Twitter-24/7 Wall St. Stock Market Report 6.9.2010 The Wisdom Of Crowds?
Twitter has, by most estimates, 100 million members, which makes it one of the largest social networks in the world. All major media companies are on Twitter and some have more than one million…
Another Sign Of Major Housing Slump–Weekly Applications Fall Again
The end of federal tax credits for home buyers which were as high as $8,000 ended in April. That almost certainly took some of the wind out of any improvement that economists hoped to…
IMF Makes Another Unrealistic Call For Austerity
The IMF has made another call for austerity in spending, particularly in Europe. The agency has also put restated its belief that growth in GDP is Europe’s only path to financial viability. The two…
China Exports Up 50%: A Rumor Turns Real
A rumor that China’s exports rose 50% compared to last May drove China’s markets up over 2% at the close of trading. It turns out that the numbers were correct. According to Reuters, most…
BP: Oil Consumption In 2009 Dropped First Time Since 1982
BP plc (NYSE: BP) has found a place in the oil business beyond being one of the largest polluters in the industry’s history. The company released extensive numbers on the use of crude in…
GM Reverses Itself On Dealer Closings
GM will spare 900 of the nearly 2,000 dealerships it planned to close. That will leave it with 5,000. The revised plan will save GM money. Closing dealerships adds to the company’s costs because…
US Trade War With China Escalates On Steel Tariff Plan
The US International Trade Commission will put a 15.72% tariff on steel pipe imported from China. The ruling is based on a preliminary finding by the division of the Commerce Department. A final decision…
Media Digest 6/9/2010 Reuters, WSJ, NYTimes, FT, Bloomberg
Reuters: Fed officials are at odds about rates. Reuters: The “Volcker Rule” may be in trouble as the Senate works on financial reform. Reuters: Shareholders would sack BP plc’s (NYSE: BP) chairman before its…
Administration Committed To Improving IT Use To Make Way For Layoffs
The Administration means to make good on its goal to cut $250 billion from the discretionary part of the federal budget over the next decade–a sum that almost all analysts believe is inadequate. Peter…