Att he time, there were but 7 reviews. I clicked thru a few a One Star ratings, and saw some jackass had written the following:

“Watched the interview on 60 minutes last night could not wait to order the book this morning on my kindle. Your loss.”

My response to the review:

“The book isn’t even out yet — and because the publisher has yet to release the kindle edition, you give the book a 1 star rating? An author spends 2 years researching and writing a book. Its important enough of a subject that 60 Minutes does a full piece on it. What sort of creep dismisses 2 years of someone’s work because their infantile demands could not be satisfied THIS SECOND?

There are now 77 reviews, and 41 are one star reviews for kindle related  issues. Most of the 1 star reviewers are brain damaged eejits who wont understand this, but Amazon sure as hell should:

Authors do not control when the Kindle version comes out any more than they do when the paperback is released. Publishers typically release a kindle version sometime AFTER the hardcover. My own book, Bailout Nation, was released May 26, 2009, and the kindle edition came out around September 2009, and the paperback is June 28, 2010.

As an author, you have precisely ZERO control over these dates.

Considering the 1 star ratings/complaints about the Kindle edition were posted BEFORE THE BOOK was even released, they are absurd. Amazon needs to step up and delete these non-reviews of books. At the very least, they should not count in the book’s star ratings.

These pro-kindle, anti-author reviews are completely unfair to the writer. The review is supposed to be about the book, not the publishers format released schedule.

If Amazon wants to be a fair vendor of books, they need to delete these idiotic, pro-kindle, fan boy reviews.

Hey Jeff Bezos !  Please show me my trust in Amazon is not misplaced!

The SEEO folks have convinced them if they link to a lot of bloggers,and then get trackbacks, it will raise their Google Rank.

Not on my watch. That crap just pollutes the comment stream. After the jump, you will find a run of bogus splogs, scrapers and spammers. If you blacklist them, you will see a huge reduction in this crap.

(Note: If you use Wordpress, you can simply grab all of this garbage and cut & paste it into your Comment Blacklist under discussion settings):

Here is all of the spammage that has shown up this month alone:

autoinsurance.easyautosource.info
38.107.232.5

comissionistavegas.com
80.172.224.203

yankee500.com
74.52.116.226

forexpublic.com
174.120.105.2

yearn2blog.com
174.120.42.66

prostatehealthcures.com
80.237.237.194

stopdietingbootcamp.com
74.52.155.194

theinternetmoney.com
66.147.244.187

douglaslrichardson.com
97.74.215.166

favstocks.com

articlesaboutonline.com
174.120.201.66

oakleyjulietsunglasses.com
74.52.151.66

immakemoneynow.com
69.147.234.50

stlsocialmediareport.COM
69.89.31.149

pets.myrvgear.com
64.13.232.20

thefishingposition.com
67.18.5.2

ipadtest.wordpress.com
72.233.96.150

twittertreasurechesttweet.com
12.97.188.16

thedelightfulmerchant.com
208.101.4.118

diversifiedoptionstrading.com
74.220.207.162

gerald-pilcher.com
207.182.149.119

crazysiteonline.com
69.89.31.208

airplanecribbedding.net
74.52.105.34

insightswithoutborders.com
66.147.240.156

friendsofbriankolb.com
208.109.138.202

angelsupply.com
174.132.114.66

abworkoutscoach-bernie.com
69.175.13.226

dietsrating.com
207.182.147.195

hunterlevelingx.com
174.120.201.34

dcamarketingonline.com
74.54.108.130

instanthealthinsurancequoteswisconsin.net
174.132.155.26

growinghair.net
69.89.31.230

ebay-for-beginners.cz.cc
64.191.55.181

djkstore.com
174.132.157.66

affiliatesecretfornewbie.com
202.75.62.144

affiliatehowtoguide.com
69.175.89.58

speedreadingtalk.com
174.121.36.226

discounthomewares.com
74.86.142.37

radialtyres.info
74.52.168.194

bridgeportctusa.com
174.132.159.162

suburbanponderosa.com
174.132.159.162

thesecret4riches.com
174.120.61.2

electricairsoftpistols.net
69.65.33.36

up-selltoday.com
174.120.128.194

adult-guitar-lessons.com
65.98.16.194

heliotavares.com
174.120.201.226

moviebizcoach.com
64.34.161.198

viaaffiliate.com
69.175.118.170

topaffiliateprogramonline.com
74.220.207.147

registryfixsoftware.net
174.120.17.194

livingstonvisitor.com
74.220.207.137

campingstoveburner.com
74.52.239.18

snorganize.com
74.53.26.194

onlineseobloggers.info
174.120.31.66

controllingdiabetesforlife.com
75.126.9.98

optionstradingauthority.com
64.5.33.164

girlskateboarddecks.net
74.52.154.130

best-datingguide.com
74.53.103.34

thepowerjuicerinfo.com
174.120.172.130

vanquishanxietypanic.com
174.120.19.66

rattanfurniture-indonesia.com/
216.45.60.90

sportsbettingsystemsinfo.com/
74.52.115.34

RealEstateOnlineGuide.org
74.53.110.194

cityoflondonuk.com
67.225.161.12

needabandaid.com
174.120.200.226

natural-tinnitus-relief.com
174.120.29.66

hostileworkplaces.com
208.53.168.14

cheapax.com/electronics
174.121.33.162

finances2u.com
174.120.234.98

ordercallofduty.com
74.220.207.159

howtowinmyexback.com
12.132.193.51

toursincapetown.com
74.200.212.90

reversemortgagemarketing.org
174.132.105.66

chinaday.co.cc
174.120.31.34

dietbrillance.com
74.52.60.50

beststocktradesblog.com
174.120.240.226

zamoractual.com
80.237.132.82

netprofitcenterinc.com
69.175.59.218

simplesixfiguresreviewonline.com
174.120.243.130

reviewsthatrock.com
174.120.105.98

seanwyseman.com
74.52.68.98

reservicesofca.com
174.120.105.194

freefromthedayjob.com
174.120.171.98

gamblr.info
208.113.232.161

games.silmarwen.com
174.120.9.98

marketsbodylanguage.wordpress.com
66.135.48.209

funandcreativedates.com
66.96.128.63

myhealthylegacy.com
66.147.242.152

theholidayspotter.com
74.53.69.210

itsalifestylefitness.com
66.147.242.182

personalinjuryclaimslawyer.org
66.147.240.182

rogerrecommends.com
69.89.31.239

bestlcd40.info0
174.120.11.34

over50athletes.com
68.169.43.37

viralstash.com/
74.220.219.68

rainmanmarketing.com
69.89.31.143

information-pool.com/
212.227.118.7

fudisafasjkl@yahoo.com
59.60.120.119

ipodnytt.com
66.118.171.120

average-credit-score.net
67.215.248.8

best-home-business-model.com
174.120.180.226

myspot4news.com
98.130.2.106

best-golftipsinfo.com
174.120.0.66

creditrepairdebtsolution.com
66.197.220.135

findhomeforsales.com
74.52.67.178

truecreditnow.com
38.96.198.58

kevinbauer.net
174.120.155.226

usmotorbikes.lioncitymarket.info
174.120.139.34

playstation3gameconsole.com
174.120.201.98

thebloghatter.info
174.120.6.66

easybadcreditmortgagerefinance.com
174.132.192.98

iclickibuy.com
74.220.207.191

alcoholicchristians.com
66.147.244.164

cheapoldcarsinusa.com
110.172.18.29

makemoneyonline.pk
124.109.48.193

iphoneindia.net
208.109.22.79

The Daily Show just kills it in this piece on Corporate fraud.

If you haven’t seen it (posted early this morning in the Think Tank) its must viewing.

>

Airtime: Wed. Mar. 17 2010 | 8:47 AM ET

Comment

• The Wall Street Journal – Fed to End Mortgage-Purchase Program
  The Federal Reserve said it will end, as planned, one of its main supports for the U.S. economy—purchases of $1.25 trillion of mortgage-backed securities—allowing a nascent economic recovery to stand with less government support…The Fed will complete the mortgage-backed securities purchases by the end of March, winding down a program that it and many economists believe played an important role in preventing a much deeper recession. The purchases helped drive up the value of these securities and thus drove down mortgage interest rates and helped financial markets…Some analysts have worried that the end to the Fed’s mortgage buying could raise mortgage rates. So far that hasn’t happened. Rates on 30-year mortgages have fallen to around 5.05% from 5.28% at the start of the year, according to research firm HSH Associates, even as Fed officials telegraphed the program would end soon.
• Real Time Economics (WSJ Blog) – What’s Next for the Fed and Mortgages?
  What happens next? Even Fed officials would acknowledge a reasonable amount of uncertainty about how the mortgage market will function once its biggest buyer — the central bank — steps aside. Many pension funds, insurers and other institutional investors fled the market once the Fed showed up as a giant noneconomic buyer. (To reach its target, the Fed bought up not only most of the new agency MBS but also existing securities held in portfolios.) As a result, some investors have suggested over the past year that mortgage rates could shoot up by a percentage point as the Fed program ended. But if that’s the case rates should’ve started rising already given the Fed’s signals. Mortgage rates probably will rise somewhat as Treasury yields move higher in the coming months, but the spread between mortgages and government securities may not necessarily expand. (Among the market projections: Barclays Capital expects mortgage rates to rise as much as half a percentage point during the second quarter largely due to rising Treasury yields.) If the “stock” view is correct — that the Fed’s total holdings matter more than its pace of purchases — then mortgage rates should rise slowly as mortgage securities roll off the Fed balance sheet. The New York Fed’s Brian Sack last week said the Fed projects that more than $200 billion in MBS and agency debt held by the central bank will mature or be prepaid by the end of 2011. That suggests a measured tightening as the Fed balance sheet shrinks naturally over time.
• Bloomberg.com – Stiglitz Says Fed Stimulus Withdrawal May Hurt U.S.
  The Federal Reserve’s decision to let its mortgage-debt purchase programs end this month risks driving up home-loan rates and worsening the housing crisis, Nobel laureate Joseph Stiglitz said. “The withdrawal of the support risks increasing the interest rate, increasing the number of foreclosures and exacerbating the strain, the stress, that American families are already facing,” Stiglitz said in an interview in Tokyo. He said officials “misjudged things,” and predicted foreclosures and bank failures this year will exceed the 2009 and 2008 totals. Stiglitz said the main dangers for the global economy are that central banks will “exit too rapidly” from measures adopted during the crisis, propelled in part by an “irrational” fear among some investors that inflation will soar. The liquidity created by central banks battling the recession isn’t likely to fuel consumer prices because of subdued consumer demand, he said.

We know that they weigh a variety of economic indicators, including Employment, Industrial Production, Real Income, and Real Retail Sales (tracked here at the St. Louis Fed). Business Cycle Dating Committee member Jeffrey Frankel likes to look at aggregate hours, too. In the real world, all of this is mostly an academic exercise in any event — Americans, like Associate Justice Potter Stewart once famously said on a different topic altogether, know a recession when they see one, and they also generally have a pretty good idea when it’s ended.  (I take pride in having nailed the NBER’s call that the recession began in December 2007 while blogging elsewhere.)

But what about GDP? How does it figure into the equation? We’ve had two consecutive quarters of growth, including the 5.9 percent of Q4 2009. How will that play?

Well, it’s a interesting question, as the NBER has very contradictory and conflicting information at its own website about how it weighs the evidence:

In announcing the 2001 recession, the NBER said (emphasis mine):

Because a recession influences the economy broadly and is not confined to one sector, the committee emphasizes economy-wide measures of economic activity. The traditional role of the committee is to maintain a monthly chronology, so the committee refers almost exclusively to monthly indicators. The committee gives relatively little weight to real GDP because it is only measured quarterly and it is subject to continuing, large revisions.

Got that?  Okay, let’s move on.

October 21, 2003 Memo from the Committee (not coinciding with a peak or trough announcement; emphasis mine):

The committee views real GDP as the single best measure of aggregate economic activity. In determining whether a recession has occurred and in identifying the approximate dates of the peak and the trough, the committee therefore places considerable weight on the estimates of real GDP issued by the Bureau of Economic Analysis of the U.S. Department of Commerce. The traditional role of the committee is to maintain a monthly chronology, however, and the BEA’s real GDP estimates are only available quarterly. For this reason, the committee refers to a variety of monthly indicators to determine the months of peaks and troughs.

Although the Committee qualifies its October 2003 remarks by mentioning the need to maintain a monthly chronology, the two comments nonetheless seem contradictory to me, and flip-flop the importance of what is to be considered.

Whichever way they eventually call it, the NBER will have a document to which it can point to support its decision.  Is it time — or long past — to formalize what it means to be in, or out of, recession?  If so, my vote might easily go to the Chicago Fed’s National Activity Index.

>

>

The Chicago Fed provides the following bogeys:  ”A CFNAI-MA3 value below –0.70 following a period of economic expansion indicates an increasing likelihood that a recession has begun. A CFNAI-MA3 value above –0.70 following a period of economic contraction indicates an increasing likelihood that a recession has ended. A CFNAI-MA3 value above +0.20 following a period of economic contraction indicates a significant likelihood that a recession has ended.”  It is an excellent indicator.

To be sure, Fed Chair Alan Greenspan was not going to be the spoilsport and take away the punchbowl. Every one was having a good old time.

Except the people who knew. Those worrywarts who looked at price, at valuations, who are familiar with market history and understood mean reversion. These folks were aware of what was going to come next.

I hated the Manhattan party atmosphere in 1999; it was obvious how (but not precisely when)  it was going to end: Badly. The prices paid for baubles, the reckless, conspicuous consumption, and ostentatious displays of wealth — paying more than full retail — it was all a symptom of way too much money sloshing around.

Mal-investments were everywhere, and prices became stupid — for cars, for apartments, and of course, for equities.

That is, to say the least, no longer the case (equities excepted).

Prices have plummeted, consumers are de-leveraging, and cash is king, For those of you consumers who are value sensitive — and still have jobs — this current environment is far more attractive a period of time to acquire goods and services than the mayhem at bull market tops. Everything is priced to sell.

I started thinking about this issue in mid 2008 when a wealthy client had said the following to me: “Barry, I appreciate you steering us away from trouble during this mess, but your commentary is so relentlessly negative, its a bummer to read. What can you tell me that is not utterly depressing?”

Now, this gentlemen measures his wealth in GDP of small countries, and while we have many similar interests — cars, watches, boats, travel, music, etc. — his “collections” are insane, museum quality work. (I have an old SL, he has a airplane hanger full of fully restored 196os Ferraris; I have a few nice antique watches, he has million dollar time pieces).  So my advice –  I mentioned this on Tech Ticker — was as follows: “Make a wish list of what you have wanted to own, but were unwilling to pay top dollar for. Could be real estate, art work, collectible autos, jewels, sports franchises. Bid 50% of the peak market price. Then sit back to see what happens.”

He thanked me for that, and acquired a number of items at a hefty discount to market value.

Which leads me to this question for us mortals: Are any of you readers going on a “spending spree” of sorts? What are you purchasing? What assets have dropped enough in price that they have tempted you to step up to the plate and buy?

Since the crisis began, I have advised clients to consider buying:

-Homes, Vacation Properties
-Renovations, Construction, Extensions
-Vacations, Travel
-Collectible Automobiles
-Investments, Stocks, funds
-Boats, Planes, recreational vehicles
-Art & Sculptures?
-Audio, Video, Electronics, Computers.
-Watches, Jewelry (especially those of Precious Metals)

Fortunately, I avoided temptation and did not make many dumb purchases at the top. That made me more comfortable buying distressed assets after the prices collapsed. And, putting my money where my mouth is, I have made many purchases this down cycle (no Gulfstream, but much of the rest of the list).

So my question is simply this: What are you buying?

~~~

For those of you who want to be anonymous, send me an email at thebigpicture at optonline dot net, and I will assemble a list of the most interesting purchases for a future post . . .