Some morning reads for my Acela ride to DC:
• So long, suckers — I’m leaving Wall Street (Market Watch)
• 10 Things I Learned From the Jamie Dimon Hearings Today (The Street)
• Bob McTeer: The FOMC’s Options (Economic Policy Blog)
• Major Banks Largest Source Of Consumer Bureau Complaints (Bloomberg) see also JPMorgan must face claims over home equity loans (Reuters)
• WealthFront, Betterment, SigFig and a Bankrupt Investing Philosophy (Leigh Drogen)
• What Happened to the Microsoft Monopoly? (Economix)
• New NSA docs contradict 9/11 claims (Salon)
• Bloomberg WTF Political coverage:
…..-Americans Say They’re Better Off Since Obama Took Office (Bloomberg)
…..-What If Mitt Romney Were Jewish? (Bloomberg)
• How to fool Houdini–and avoid fooling yourself (Scientific American)
• The Truth About What Works in Digital Marketing (Ad Age)
What are you reading?
Housing Prices Rise, but Not for Everyone
Source: WSJ
Category: Financial Press
Please use the comments to demonstrate your own ignorance, unfamiliarity with empirical data and lack of respect for scientific knowledge. Be sure to create straw men and argue against things I have neither said nor implied. If you could repeat previously discredited memes or steer the conversation into irrelevant, off topic discussions, it would be appreciated. Lastly, kindly forgo all civility in your discourse . . . you are, after all, anonymous.
“A bat and a ball cost $1.10 together and the bat costs one dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost?”
http://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/How-Lazy-Thinking-Could-Threaten-our-Energy-Future.html
While I neither recommend nor condone video piracy, I do find this graphic to be an interesting explanation of why the studios are clueless when it comes to distributing their product.
This is why Facebook’s revenues will show exponential grow in short order, in the same way that it’s subscriptions did…. It’s in our genes………
http://www.rationaloptimist.com/blog/how-facebook-captured-capitalist-kumbaya.aspx
[...] Michael Smith, Salon, via Ritholtz: Over 120 CIA documents concerning 9/11, Osama bin Laden and counterterrorism were published today [...]
> What Happened to the Microsoft Monopoly?
What is missing from that article is mention of the life-support that Microsoft gave to Apple ($150 million in 1997). The wide-ranging opinion at the time was twofold:
– that Microsoft gave Apple the life-line so that there would be a competitor in the PC space that Microsoft could point to [erroneously] and say, “see, we don’t have a monopoly”.
- that Microsoft intended to keep Apple alive, but weak.
Now, if Microsoft had not been under intense anti-trust scrutiny, would Microsoft have given that lifeline to Apple? Based upon Microsoft’s history and behavior patterns, I seriously doubt it.
So the point of the article is rendered moot.
yon’ QOTD..
“When a government is dependent upon bankers for money, they and not the leaders of the government control the situation, since the hand that gives is above the hand that takes… Money has no motherland; financiers are without patriotism and without decency; their sole object is gain.”
-Napoleon Bonaparte, 1815
He was Correct, then, and, still, is..
too baa-d ‘We dont lern much..’
HIGGS BOSON Confirmed (?)
The excitement builds. Can hardly wait. Actually I have an immediate family member working at CERN.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/science/new-data-on-higgs-boson-is-shrouded-in-secrecy-at-cern.html
It now has to be real, the Intrade markets have confirmed the discovery.
i dunno, maybe you’ll wanna listen to this (unless you don’t care WHAT you eat – it’s about 10 min. by Bernie Sanders):
http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/448-farm-and-food-policy/12013-label-genetically-engineered-food
Mark, I think the old saying,
he who has the gold makes the rules
applies not only to bankers but all insanely rich people. It’s been that way for ever. Now with our Supremes making all forms of bribery legal, there is just no limit on how much good these rich, folks can do for us.
Wasn’t it Balzac that said behind every fortune lies a greater crime????? Probably true, things just keep getting better and better. Deregulation of bribery is obviously a major step in the advancement of democracy.
BR – Nice shout out from David Weidner; it’s also one of the best summations of the way things stand that I’ve read this year.
“New NSA docs contradict 9/11 claims (Salon)”
That article completely backs up this one…
“Americans Say They’re Better Off Since Obama Took Office (Bloomberg)”
Yes, I realize the second one is ecomomic. Yes, I realize Obama isn’t a great President, but how bad was Bush? So bad he makes another bad President seem better than he is.
The EEOC should put some energy into prosecuting all the age discrimination in employment.
—————-
June 20, 2012
Wait. A Business Can Be Sued for NOT Hiring Criminals?
In April, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission signaled that it would begin to crack down on employers who use the criminal histories of job applicants to discriminate against them illegally.
But to judge from conversations with business owners, labor lawyers and human resources consultants, many small businesses had no idea there was anything wrong with practices like a blanket ban on hiring anybody with a criminal record.
“Many companies that size don’t have an H.R. person and get minimal education about compliance issues,” said Laurence E. Stuart, a labor lawyer in Houston. Similarly, Brian Hamilton, who with his wife owns four car dealerships in Nebraska that employ about 160 people, said, “We have tests that all of our managers take that keep them up to date on labor rules. But I was not aware of that one.”
In fact, the notion that using criminal records in employment decisions could constitute discrimination has been government policy since at least the 1970s. The E.E.O.C. has in the past issued policy statements, called enforcement guidance, about how employers may use criminal records without running afoul of the Civil Rights Act, but in April the agency published new enforcement guidance.
…
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/business/smallbusiness/us-presses-on-illegal-bias-against-hiring-those-with-criminal-records.html
Thank you Mr. Weidner (MarketWatch) for many years of insights and commentary. Well done indeed.
Have fun in San Francisco, a great city!, and be sure to visit the No Name Bar in Sausalito, and have a pint (or two?) of Anchor Steam with Dave Callaway.
Slantia,
Peter
Bloomberg polls showing public distrusts Romney more than the President.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-06-20/obama-leads-in-poll-as-voters-view-romney-as-out-of-touch.html
It appears it is “the devil you know is better than the devil you don’t” reasoning.
http://www.pe.com/local-news/san-bernardino-county/san-bernardino-county-headlines-index/20120619-san-bernardino-county-mortgage-aid-agency-advances.ece
Judging from Dimon’s facial expressions the last few days it’s clear that receiving marathon blow jobs can get painful after a while.
Reviewing Canada’s tougher warnings on cigarette packages, and came across what I think is a very good little anti-smoking video, http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/health-and-fitness/video-smoking-kid-advertisement/article4356131/
Molesworth Says:
June 20th, 2012 at 2:34 pm
Bloomberg polls showing public distrusts Romney more than the President.
All we know about Romney’s positions are that they are “totally different than O’Bama’s” and that he wants to attack Iran, cut taxes and balance the budget. I know Mormons don’t drink but it sounds like Mutt is smoking some weed!
Re Romney’s religion: Like Jews Mormons are not Christians because they don’t believe in the Holy Trinity. That type of public discussion could hurt Romney badly among conservative Republicans and I’m sure thats why his handlers are tying to nip these discussions in the bud. I guess it’s quasi anti-Semitic to detail Mormon religious beliefs and practices.
Unlike the ancient religions, Mormonism is subject to modern scrutiny, DNA tests easily disprove the Mormon claimed middle eastern ancestry of the American Indians and it’s hard not to crack a smile when reading how Joseph Smith was mugged and robbed of the golden tablets given to him by an angel.
I think a lot of Americans consider Mormonism to be the cult that could. Aside from theology, I think most Americans admire the wholesome lifestyle of Mormons and their enthusiastic embrace of their religion.