Wal-Mart Reports Disappointing Sales
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Thu, 01/08/2009 - 6:25am (325 comments)
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Always low same store sales. Always.
I don't care if I'm first or not.
Condemn war, mankind's disgrace:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/7817926.stm
I wonder how many retailers made it into the black by New Years Eve?
Walmart: Oy.
CR, maybe you are already working on a post, but could you post something about Satyam? That's a really key story about the Indian economy (tied to US outsourcing)... their market has dropped 14% in two days.
Lee Scott took the easy way out, retiring at the top.
All your base are belong to us.
Ah, wait, I could be wrong about the 14%... I think their markets might have been closed yesterday? 7% might be the correct figure.
And anyhow, it's just that I always enjoy your take on things...
NPR informed me this morning that the problem with antibiotic-resistant bacteria was due to this recession. Apparently retailers like Wal-Mart are offering cheap antibiotics as a way of luring people in to the store.
Seriously. This was a real story on NPR.
Anyone else hear it?
Blackhalo | 01.08.09 - 9:38 am | #
I think most made it into the black hole....
CNBC anchor and anchoress are now standing in front of a live bull outside the NYSE. The bull is there to promote -- I am not making this up -- the "professional bull riders 'Built Ford Tough Invitational'".
I wonder if they'll stop doing this sort of thing once the Fox Business Channel folds.
Ooo, ooo, Burnett just said she's actually ridden a bull. The jokes just write themselves
I think this time'round, they'll be approved for bank status.
inferior goods
Maybe one month of this was enough to send people to real stores with paid employees.
jo6pac
President-elect Barack Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach âdouble digits" and the U.S. risks losing a âgeneration of potential and promise."
Let's throw another trillion or so in the fire proceeding on a false premise, because "we have to do something!"
Ooo, ooo, Burnett just said she's actually ridden a bull. The jokes just write themselves
Nemo | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 9:44 am | #
I'd pay money to see that. Or jello wrestling.
Our local Walmart was a ghost town after Christmas.
Blackhalo writes:
I wonder how many retailers made it into the black by New Years Eve?
It reminds me of the old saying: "Things look darkest ...
just before they go totally black....
I'd pay money to see that. Or jello wrestling.
Eric | 01.08.09 - 9:45 am | #
Their viewership would certainly skyrocket.
The Great Weather Depression continues...
the key insight into the Satyam story is that their financials were audited by Price Waterhouse. In Madoff scandal one of the red flags was that it was some no name accounting firm operating out of strip mall that did the auditing. Here you have one of the best known accounting firms in the world that didn't even bother to to confirm that the bank deposits were real- they were a billion dollars short!!!
Ooo, ooo, Burnett just said she's actually ridden a bull. The jokes just write themselves
Nemo | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 9:44 am
Hah. Thank you for that. You made me forget my anger at NPR momentarily.
inferior goods czar is buying and selling because its never been a better time.
NPR has become the joke to bad another corp. take over.
jo6pac
Anyone know why GGP is on a tear?
Booooyahhhh
wal mart sss up ... let's get another 1trillion ust tarp!
take'em all!
Anyone know why GGP is on a tear?
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.08.09 - 9:47 am | #
It's an easily manipulated perpetual option?
President-elect Barack Obama warned that without immediate steps by the government to revive the economy, family incomes will drop, the unemployment rate could reach âdouble digits" and the U.S. risks losing a âgeneration of potential and promise."
Let's throw another trillion or so in the fire proceeding on a false premise, because "we have to do something!"
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.08.09 - 9:44 am |
But look how well the steps to revive the economy in 2001-2003 worked...
Or how well the steps to prevent recession in 1998 worked...
Or how well the steps to prop up the economy and the currency markets in 1927 worked...
Somewhat OT- I know of a fairly large consumer electronics firm that has decided that the market for consumer electronics has decreased by 1/3 in the last 6 mos., and are assuming that it's a permanent change. I've also read here at CR that the "real" market for autos is 11M, versus the 18M sold with gimmick credit, etc.
Does anyone think that GDP could shrink by similar numbers? I ask this based on reports that consumer purchases represent 70% of GDP.
"NPR informed me this morning that the problem with antibiotic-resistant bacteria was due to this recession. Apparently retailers like Wal-Mart are offering cheap antibiotics as a way of luring people in to the store."
It sounds like - forgive the expression - bullshit. Antibiotic resistance of bacteria is caused by natural selection of resistant strains. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics is the presumed reason.
40 stores were closed for varying durations during the month. Does anyone have WMT's same-store sales data subtracting those 40 stores?
Also, Black Friday this year came right on the border of December, which surely harmed same store sales during the first week of December. Wouldnt that more than offset Cyber Monday being in December this year?
No single entity has done more damage to our country than Wal-Mart. They destroyed our manufacturing base. I remember when they required "Made in the USA". Why give a crap about their sales,ever dollar spent, sends at least .40 cents to China. Stupid, stupid, stupid
Flight to Inferior Goods. Says it all.
--bh
But....
Erin said AGAIN, "We're in a BULL market technically, "UP 21 PERCENT FROM THE LOWS!"
You made me forget my anger at NPR momentarily.
Comrade Tech Sargent Chen | 01.08.09 - 9:46 am | #
They had a story this morning about how it will no longer be possible to save enough to actually retire, and that the future requries at least part time employment for everyone. Where will these "part time" jobs be I wonder?
same-store sales data subtracting those 40 stores?
how are they going to get a bailout if you quote this data? silence, and be gone.
now, about that bank status
Funny how nobody ever says, "Our sales were up last month due to good weather".
Where will these "part time" jobs be I wonder?
well, after the oil crash, grave digging will be quite necessary, until we reach a new equilibrium.
PORN INDUSTRY SEEKS BAILOUT!?! WTF????
please say it isn't true...
US porn industry seeks multi-billion dollar bailout - Telegraph
Lots of that antibiotic resistance comes from indiscrimitely innoculating animals.
In terms of sharp decline, or its sudden nature and more...
My comments, some public and some in private e-mail exchange, during September 2007:
Can you spell recession? And should soon prepare for the deflationary depression.
My thesis has been that it [coming downturn] would be too sudden for the interventionists to do anything. And that is exactly what is going to happen, IMO.
Jas
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Rate cut [in Sep'07] means that the recession is imminent. [It began in Dec'07]. Recession will come suddenly and unexpectedly so as not to give manipulators much time and to catch them by a surprise. A very good tactic for war.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
We deserve a recession and were deserve a depression because we allowed manipulators the power to manipulate the economy, i.e., "bankers' mischief," with "reckless mortgage lending" and we know for whose benefit that power is always used.
Norman Mailer: "God is the Creator and Devil is the Manipulator." Therefore, it is clear who reigns over America. Mortgage (literally, dead-hand) means Devil's hand on one's home. Devil will claim what is under his hand.
It is payback time for the bad behavior from the top to the bottom!
Jas
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Descriptions of the financiers in [British] Empire, by Niall Ferguson, during the last wave of globalization, 1870-1914:
Hobson (1902): There is not a war or any other public shock, which is not gainful to these men [financiers]; they are harpies who suck their gains from every sudden disturbance of public credit The wealth of these houses, the scale of their operations, and their cosmopolitan organization make them prime determinants of economic policy.!!!!!!!!!!
Brailsford (1910): "In our golden age the face wears more often the shrewd features of some Hebrew financier."
Jas
Pavel Chichikov writes:
"NPR informed me this morning that the problem with antibiotic-resistant bacteria was due to this recession. Apparently retailers like Wal-Mart are offering cheap antibiotics as a way of luring people in to the store."
It sounds like - forgive the expression - bullshit. Antibiotic resistance of bacteria is caused by natural selection of resistant strains. Indiscriminate use of antibiotics is the presumed reason.
Pavel Chichikov | 01.08.09 - 9:49 am |
Well, yea, I figured most reading here would realize the mootness of that point.
What they absolutely failed to point out was that a doctor's prescription is needed for each and every antibiotic purchase. Everytime someone goes to the doctor with the flu or a cold or some other viral malady that will remedy itself in a few days to a week, the doctors generally pull out a pad and prescribe some broad spectrum anti-bacterial like amoxicillin or some such.
For some reason, NPR decided to nail antibiotic-resistant bacteria to this recession.
I was nearly spitting with rage.
Jas,
I don't approve of the last quote. You can go now.
--bh
Burnett is on a roll this morning. Just reminded us that there is a "porn conference" in Vegas this week.
"Apparently retailers like Wal-Mart are offering cheap antibiotics..."
As opposed to EXPENSIVE antibiotics which, obviously, are much better.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Morons.
"...some in private e-mail exchange"
Jas, nobody cares what your private emails said.
smurf writes:
PORN INDUSTRY SEEKS BAILOUT!?! WTF????
please say it isn't true...
__
What, are you crazy?
You'd actually want to see the porn industry get f'd?
Was in a Target store last night in Janesville WI - home of one of the big GM plants that recently closed down - I'm telling you if I had hand grenades and threw them about NOBODY would have been hurt. The place was empty.
Oh and there was almost NO INVENTORY so the store mgmt understood what they were up against.
I bought a windshield scrapper and couple of their 'fake under armor' shirts to use as long underwear as it was snowing heavily & getting colder - everything was marketed down 25% or more. The other local stores were even LESS busy.
The hotel I'm in (dirt cheap) was maybe 25% occupied - the better 'mid-priced' hotel next door even fewer cars... both are located along I 90 between Madison WI & Chicago and are usually packed.
The restaurant - also empty.
In general it was markedly slower than 2-3 months ago. Now granted this is a one day one place snapshot of a town being hit ESPECIALLY hard... but it is on a busy interstate (or what once was busy). At some point the 'sum of all anecdotal goes to data' as 'n gets large'... how big that 'n' has to get I don't know but last nights data set wasn't pretty.
Will be heading out to hunt for biz later today... more opportunity to 'collect data'.
We need a Wal-Mart Czar !
Apparently retailers like Wal-Mart are offering cheap antibiotics as a way of luring people in to the store.
It's not just Wal-Mart. My local grocery chain (Wegmans, pretty top of the line) and other grocery chains are offering FREE generic antibiotics (with doctor's prescription).
I don't know why so many stores are knocking down prices on generic antibiotics, but people DO need prescriptions for this stuff and generally when they're sick enough to need antibiotics, they're going to buy them anyway. Blame doctors, not stores.
I can't wait for the headline:
WALLMART LEMENTS PRODUCTS ARE DISAPPOINTING.
Burnett is on a roll this morning. Just reminded us that there is a "porn conference" in Vegas this week.
Nemo | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 9:57 am | #
That's just her subconscious working on her next career move. CNBC is already in financial trouble, and the mother ship can't be too pleased.
smurf writes:
PORN INDUSTRY SEEKS BAILOUT!?! WTF????
please say it isn't true...
Wouldn't want to see them get screwed.
was'nt JPM a gentile?
and Dimon now?
and Paulson?
or
WALLMART REPORTS DISAPPOITNING PRODUCTS...
Well, that's Janesville for you. Maybe they could change the name to Jasville.
Why give a crap about their sales,ever dollar spent, sends at least .40 cents to China. Stupid, stupid, stupid
Crewman | 01.08.09 - 9:51 am |
The reason is that most of the value added (mostly profit) to retail price occurs in the US, by Wallmart. I'd say every dollar spent sends more like 20 cents to China in the form of profit. This is especially true with clothing.
Having said that, you are correct about Walmart's customers destroying domestic manuracturing by buying crap that's a bit cheaper than quality items.
Jas,
I see you're citing Niall Ferguson--he's a good guy in my book.
Did you ever see my question to you on the previous thread RE: Ed Bernays?
Funny how nobody ever says, "Our sales were up last month due to good weather".
When sales are up it's due to executive skill.
When sales are down it's due to the weather.
"Where will these "part time" jobs be I wonder?"
.....Hi! Thank you for shopping at Wal-Mart!"
"Lots of that antibiotic resistance comes from indiscriminately inoculating animals."
.......two-legged or four-legged??
"Just reminded us that there is a "porn conference" in Vegas this week."
.......they're just meeting to discuss the porn bailout details
Lots of that antibiotic resistance comes from indiscrimitely innoculating animals.
lawyerliz | 01.08.09 - 9:55 am | #
Absolutely. And also third world 'abuse' they are even less discriminate over there - frequently no prescriptions required & they don't follow the full course of treatment.
When sales are up it's due to executive skill.
When sales are down it's due to the weather.
ac | 01.08.09 - 10:02 am | #
Isn't that in the Dogbert Management Handbook?
Isn't that in the Dogbert Management Handbook?
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.08.09 - 10:03 am | #
At some point, I'd like to go through and gather all the Dogbert Financial Advisor strips in one place.
Although, I bet if I googled it, someone has already done that work for me.
ac writes:
'Funny how nobody ever says, "Our sales were up last month due to good weather".'
And who woulda thought it'd be so dang cold in New England right before Christmas...
__
--
"Jas, I don't approve of the last quote. You can go now. --bh"
blackhat,
Why, no historical parallels? We should ignore facts??
I am quoting from very respectable sources and because I do see parallels between the US and the British Empire.
Sorry,
Jas
Times like these cause a generational behaviour shift. Having spent like drunken sailors, people are going to come to terms with their profligacy. Economize and save may morph into hoarding, scrimping, and after much pain misering. Just when they need us to upnotch our wild spending to keep the game going.
Dollar collapse. Market IOU's and PMs will be new tender.
Well, that's Janesville for you. Maybe they could change the name to Jasville.
wally | 01.08.09 - 10:01 am | #
I thought for a minute Jas was running the cheap hotel I was in - a grumpy Indian guy was at the desk (owns/operates this franchise). I should have signed in as 'Mr. B.B. Dope' and see if he noticed. A missed opportunity.
Oh well...
"crazyvermonter writes:
the key insight into the Satyam story is that their financials were audited by Price Waterhouse. In Madoff scandal one of the red flags was that it was some no name accounting firm operating out of strip mall that did the auditing. Here you have one of the best known accounting firms in the world that didn't even bother to to confirm that the bank deposits were real- they were a billion dollars short!!!"
PWC probably did confirm by calling the bank. My guess is that Satyam paid off the person taking PWC's call at the bank.
64th!
Greeter at Wal-Mart, of course. Funny how this thread just tied itself together.
Actually instead of today's one or two greeters our kids will be greeted by a hallelujah chorus of us elders.
Nice buy on blinds, Jas. Now the looters coming to burn and pillage your neighborhood will have the joy of guessing what is behind curtain #2. Or blinds #2.
--
"Did you ever see my question to you on the previous thread RE: Ed Bernays?"
Samdog,
I didn't see the comment but Bernays, a nephew of Freud, was the father of the modern Age of Propaganda begun in America. He should get lot of credit for born-and-bred American dopes. Bernays' dopes?!
Jas
lama writes:
It used to be that they would buy from vendors who also manfactured in China, now they pretty much make all there own crap. It doesn't take away from the fact they destroyed our manfacturing capabilities. Obama should give huge tax credits to companies that bring jobs back home. Screw China let them wipe their asses with our worthless treasuries
--
'Nice buy on blinds, Jas. Now the looters coming to burn and pillage your neighborhood will have the joy of guessing what is behind curtain #2. Or blinds #2."
Guiseppe de Egypto,
We can count on a*holes like you here. Be careful before you come.
Jas
as for Niall Ferguson had a chat with him a few years back: some of his books like The House of Rothschild: The World's Banker, 1849â1999 New York, N.Y. or The Cash Nexus: Money and Power in the Modern World, 1700-2000 have been brilliant yet he has written some twaddle like Colossus.
Sure Jas will like the chapter in Cash Nexus about the Polish Jews in 1903 controlling approx. 34% of Polish wealth (this is from memory)...
recently watched a documentary on the Cold War that he narrated... what a slap dash job that was, so many factual errors! wrote him an email point by point by finally said what the hell! He's now a media star!
We clearly need a Shitty Low-Cost, Low-Quality, Dirty Disgusting Big Box Retailer Czar.
Man, I knew retail was dying when I went by A&F at the mall. My wife said it was a "clothing store." But they'd hired some poor high school kids as sales clerks--ratty jeans and no shirts to wear! Whoa! too cheap to lend a darn t-shirt to an employee....
Apparently retailers like Wal-Mart are offering cheap antibiotics..."
As opposed to EXPENSIVE antibiotics which, obviously, are much better.
Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Morons.
wally | 01.08.09 - 9:57 am |
Actually there are some very expensive antibiotics which are the very last resort against drug-resistant bacteria. Vancomycin for instance. My late step-father had a prescription for it that cost 25 bucks per pill. The irony was that it was for a nosocomial infection.
Macy's will close 11 underperforming stores in 9 states; Dec. same-store sales fall 4 percent.
Was in a Target store last night in Janesville WI - home of one of the big GM plants that recently closed down - I'm telling you if I had hand grenades and threw them about NOBODY would have been hurt. The place was empty.
dryfly | 01.08.09 - 9:59 am
Ok, this is really anecdotal and kinda odd, but I have had some strange experiences in Wal-Mart over the past week. The store is pretty empty, but I've worked retail before and the few weeks after the holidays usually are the slowest in the year, but... the people in the store seemed to be REALLY nervous. The greeter I chat with, and a couple of the sales people I talked to (who normally are hard to find and are usually very busy). Two nights in a row I've had problems with checking out. I usually use the self check out machines they have which normally work rather well. I caught an overcharge on an item for the first time one night. Then last night I fed the machine a $20 and I didn't get any change! It whirred and no money or coins came out and there wasn't any error message on the touch screen-receipt came out. I called over the girl that was supervising and she said that "the machine was out of money". Well, she opened it up and handed me $20 out of the machine. Obviously, it was in there. But then, I told her I just needed the change from the $20. I asked her what was the deal? She said they were getting rid of the self check out machines. WHY?
But they'd hired some poor high school kids as sales clerks--ratty jeans and no shirts to wear!
The first (and only) time I went into an A+F, I felt like I was in a gay bar. Blaring music, huge murals of half naked adolescents on the wall, etc.
very strange marketing brand.
"a different chris writes:
Greeter at Wal-Mart, of course. Funny how this thread just tied itself together."
Plus the connection between cheap antibiotics and the porn industry.
Hi,
anyone currently watching the "Hearings to examine the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook." ?
She said they were getting rid of the self check out machines. WHY?
Doc at the Radar Station | 01.08.09 - 10:21 am | #
Because they're much much much much easier to shoplift from.
Jas Jain writes:
"Did you ever see my question to you on the previous thread RE: Ed Bernays?"
Samdog,
I didn't see the comment but Bernays, a nephew of Freud, was the father of the modern Age of Propaganda begun in America. He should get lot of credit for born-and-bred American dopes. Bernays' dopes?!
Jas
__
Jas,
I couldn't agree more. Nothing but a gov't propagandist male-whore.
Made lotsa dough pushing cigarette to women. Hey, baby: 'you've come a long way' ... try a few of there ... the first carton is free....
__
strongest stock aapl on crash alert thru 90.
OT- Perhaps Jas could comment on the born-and-bred dopes in India who fell for this:
Accounting scandal at Satyam could be India's Enron
| Reuters
Because they're much much much much easier to shoplift from.
Eric
LOL I had another experience I didn't mention a few days before this one... There was a guy ringing up stuff and the machine wasn't registering it and he just stuffed it in the bag and walked away! He wasn't trying to shoplift, but he was getting pissed and just shoved the stuff in the sack. They can't keep track of the stuff, it's obvious.
anonymous writes:
But they'd hired some poor high school kids as sales clerks--ratty jeans and no shirts to wear!
The first (and only) time I went into an A+F, I felt like I was in a gay bar. Blaring music, huge murals of half naked adolescents on the wall, etc.
__
anon,
Maybe not a gay bar ... but the next best thing to being there. Of course, I'm not up on the gay bar scene. My wife made me stop going 20 years ago, when we started raising a family....
Too many stores meant someday "weak sales" for many, but not for Walmart it seems. Taking share always practically.
We'll know how weak all retail sales are soon enough when we get Dec ex gasoline and ex autos and ex food.
Since sales and deflation lower unit prices, that number has to be lower than -5% to even begin to lower unit sales imo.
Can somebody reconcile the Sears (SHLD) news with that of Walmart? How are their sales so strong. I have a hard time taking them at face value.
xxxxx writes:
"a different chris writes:
Greeter at Wal-Mart, of course."
--In India ("must be willing to relocate...")
__
I have never stepped foot inside of a Wal-Mart.Nor will I.
Samdog,
WTF???
Gav,
Your question is not very clear.
xxxxx writes:
"OT- Perhaps Jas could comment on the born-and-bred dopes in India who fell for this..."
Or my personal favorite--Indians who marry their dogs:
Man in India marries dog as atonement - Animal weirdness- msnbc.com
Samdog... LOL I had forgot about that crazy indian..
Gav -- " The parent of the Sears and Kmart chains said that December domestic same-store sales fell 7.3%. Kmart's sales were down 1.1% on the month, with Sears' domestic sales falling 12.8%.
While Kmart saw an uptick in sales made through its layaway program, Sears suffered from reduced sales across most hardlines and apparel categories. "
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/dismal-december-drags-down-retailers/story.aspx?guid={A9D18EA3-AED6-478A-819B-F0EA3E2FA130}&siteid=yhoof
Another insight about the checking out systems at Wal-Mart... there are a lot of escapes sliding through because of their over-lean staffing. Without trying I could have walked out with my merchandise, and after complaining about no change returned-the $20 I put in the machine. They clearly are overwhelmed. All it takes is for a significant proportion of people to get a little bit more desperate and they don't have the resources to deal with it. If they eliminate self check outs, I bet they don't hire any additional staff and there will be LONG LINES. Quite a departure from the '90s.
that's a weak tactic samdog, we've got americans who marry their sister.
try again.
xxxx... Bose?
I see, Senate budget hearings are apparently of no interest to the CR-bloggers.
Good Day.
Why is it weak--I gave a link to real news account?
Ron Paul: Failure of dollar will dwarf current crisis
President-elect Barack Obama has started warning that getting the country out of its current economic hole may mean trillion-dollar deficits for years to come -- but Rep. Ron Paul has very different ideas.
"I think it's just more of the same," the former presidential candidate told CNN's John Roberts on Wednesday. "I don't think it'll solve the problems. It's turning the spending responsibility over to government rather than individuals, and that's not the way you make an economy work."
"To me it's a philosophic problem," Paul insisted. "Why are we spending all this money? ... We cannot solve our problem by doing exactly the same thing that got us into this mess."
Today is disconcerting. Different. Prior to today I've looked upon our current events as unpleasantly exciting - from an historical view, but today just FEELS different .....a major day of capitulation might be just around the corner. The people that voted for McCain had already given up hope. Some non-voters are just now starting to "get it", but the BIG CHANGE is that the Obama voters are realizing he DOESN'T walk on water and there is a vague resemblance to the prior President or two or three.
Seems there's a sense of a "lowering the lifeboats" feeling that fills me with dread.
It may also be that OBama has been remarkably candid - quite pessimistic - unlike anyone else in Washington. It makes you wonder what he ISN'T telling us.
But SEARS had a great quarter and will exceed estimates.
Yeah right.
Werner,
At least I am growing weary of the drama and have little interest in listening to Senate prima donnas. When they announce an actual decision, I'll catch up.
"Everytime someone goes to the doctor with the flu or a cold or some other viral malady that will remedy"
Antibiotics have absolutely no effect on viruses. A sugar pill would give the same result.
CR, maybe you are already working on a post, but could you post something about Satyam? That's a really key story about the Indian economy (tied to US outsourcing)... their market has dropped 14% in two days
"satyam" means "truth" I guess they asked a neocon to name the company.
i believe it was an 'ad hominem' attack on the fact that jas is indian.
could be wrong on the philosophy.
but the story was funny.
I dunno, we are Americans after all. Chasing shiny objects is our national pastime. Leave sobriety to the Germans.
That's not to mean that I don't think frugality is coming, I just think it will be forced upon us. In other words, we won't forgo opportunites to "live large," the opportunties simply won't exist.
Maybe we are saying the same thing,, certainly we think the same state will exists. But I read your thoughts as being a sea-change in American values and I think it will me more a sullen, resentful acceptance.
Which is bad when you realize that we got Da Bomb.
Can someone link to the NPR Walmart story? I can't seem to find it in the "Morning Edition" links.
leave sobriety to the Germans.
Sobriety and germans aren't two things I typically associate.
Antibiotics have absolutely no effect on viruses. A sugar pill would give the same result.
Pavel Chichikov | 01.08.09 - 10:43 am
the point of prescribing abx for a viral infection is not to affect the virus. it is to affect the payment on the porsche and/or student loa
Ron Paul: Failure of dollar will dwarf current crisis
To come to that sort of conclusion one must make the preposterous assumption that the history of past crises is a good indication of the path of future crises.
BTW I recall Ron Paul warning for years about precisely the sort of crisis we're in now.
I do not recall Obama or most of the congress warning about such a crisis.
Maybe Ron Paul's warnings should be taken very seriously.
Greeter at Wal-Mart, of course. Funny how this thread just tied itself together."
Plus the connection between cheap antibiotics and the porn industry.
Couldn't resist:
Japan's Booming Sex Niche: Elder Porn
Japan's Booming Sex Niche: Elder Porn - TIME
Hey, I stimulated sombodody's economy yesterday by purchasing a new suit of clothes at Jos. A. Banks.
The suit was made in Mexico, the tie was made in China, and the dress shirt was made in Hong Kong.
The store is pretty empty, but I've worked retail before and the few weeks after the holidays usually are the slowest in the year, but... the people in the store seemed to be REALLY nervous.
Doc at the Radar Station | 01.08.09 - 10:21 am | #
Same thing at the Target store - got a half dozen 'Can I help you?' That NEVER happens at Target - the ultimate 'find it yourself or F-U' store in existance.
Larry Flynt is a f*&%ing genious ... of sorts.
Maybe Ron Paul's warnings should be taken very seriously.
ac | 01.08.09 - 10:46 am | #
He's a bit of a kooky gold bug, but at least his motives and philosopy appear to be genuine. I was very dissappointed at the reception he recieved from the media and other repubs in his campaighn.
New drinking game: One shot whenever a CNBC talking head says "Equity markets recover before the economy".
el lurko,
Help Center
Obviously, it was in there. But then, I told her I just needed the change from the $20. I asked her what was the deal? She said they were getting rid of the self check out machines. WHY?
Doc at the Radar Station | 01.08.09 - 10:21 am | #
Compared to mim wage drones - they aren't cost effective. I expected that when they first went in.
yeah Samdog, things look darkest about 20 minutes after sun sets here in Cambo...
OT: does anyone have a source that US Gov gave Cambodia 300 mil to crack down on pot smoking here?
I've heard that around but my sources are suspect or high or both...
a few days ago they busted 71 year old farmer in northern province for growing 266 pot plants ...
it's legal to grow up to 10 plants a for medicinal or cooking purposes (yes, in the soup Amok it's a key ingredient),
guess he got tripped up on the new math
local police chief told the press that such plants are so rare in his province he didn't even know what one looked like!
That's Cambodia, Captain.
Reminds me, I've got a hankering for a Happy Milkshake...
Dope Alert writes:
i believe it was an 'ad hominem' attack on the fact that jas is indian.
could be wrong on the philosophy.
Dope Alert | 01.08.09 - 10:43 am | #
Dope Alert writes:
but the story was funny.
Dope Alert:
I plead guilty to the 'ad hominem' part.
But Jas know I'm kidding & that I really do like Indian culture (particularly its food).
Plus, Jas has a sense of humor, too.
-
Ron Paul: Failure of dollar will dwarf current crisis
km4 | 01.08.09 - 10:41 am | #
For once I agree w/ RP.
...Same thing at the Target store - got a half dozen 'Can I help you?' That NEVER happens at Target - the ultimate 'find it yourself or F-U' store in existance.
dryfly | 01.08.09 - 10:48 am
I wonder if those buttons that you push in Lowe's will have to be pushed as many times now... "special assistance needed in the plumbing area"
Anybody else find the SHLD results surprising as hell? Found this statement in their press release:
Kmart's December comparable store sales benefited from a year over year increase in sales made through our layaway program.
No mention to what extent, so I'll believe it when I see it. This smacks of booking neg-am interest as "profit." Do they count merchandise held on layaway as a "sale" before the customer finishing purchasing it?
china doesn't like more US debt, (oh my!):
Search - Global Edition - The New York Times
Reminds of the scene in 120 Days of Sodom, by Pasolini where the fascists demand that their subjects literally eat their feces...
"Mange! Mange!"
--bh
who cares.... we're going up now. Buy now, or be proced out of equities forev.... er, until maybe tomorrow morning!
\tI see, Senate budget hearings are apparently of no interest to the CR-bloggers.
Werner | 01.08.09 - 10:40 am | #
Grandstanding and political posturing is real gripping stuff, Werner.
Maybe Ron Paul's warnings should be taken very seriously.
ac | 01.08.09 - 10:46 am | #
He's a bit of a kooky gold bug, but at least his motives and philosopy appear to be genuine. I was very dissappointed at the reception he recieved from the media and other repubs in his campaighn.
Blackhalo | 01.08.09 - 10:49 am |
I agree he comes across as a bit kooky. I wish his delivery were a bit more refined - he might serve the public better.
On the flip side, I think the real world is a bit kooky. And sometimes you have to be crazy to "understand" it, or at least be less at odds with it than the mainstream.
I think modern theories of physics are a good example of this phenomenon. Look at all the people that argued that quantum physics was too "spooky" to be real.
Antibiotics have absolutely no effect on viruses. A sugar pill would give the same result.
Pavel Chichikov | 01.08.09 - 10:43 am | #
But it often takes a bit of diagnostic work to determine whether the malady is viral or bacterial, and why go through all that unnecessary work and expense when you can just write a script that would treat anything possible? I called my doctor a while back hoping to make an appointment because I had symptoms that were vaguely pneumonia-like and had an antibiotic prescription before I got off the phone. And no appointment. I could've insisted but what would it have gotten me?
(I'm changing doctors.)
Heh, yeah. I meant financial soberiety.
Now my mouth is watering for some German beer, off the tap in Munich. How long until Oktoberfest?
We will learn how to control the weather so we never have the "Great Weather Depression" agai
But Jas know I'm kidding & that I really do like Indian culture (particularly its food).
Plus, Jas has a sense of humor, too.
Samdog | 01.08.09 - 10:51 am | #
To Jas's credit - he's as hard or harder on 'Indians' as he is on 'Americans' - read his posts [I try not to read his posts sometimes but they are hard to miss given the volume of responses]. BTW I find the 'bigotry' of lumping all Americans into the dope camp a bit tough to swallow myself but it is hard to deny that there aren't a lot of American Dopes - at least as many as elsewhere but with our somewhat unique & insular 'American' quality.
dr munch writes:
New drinking game: One shot whenever a CNBC talking head says "Equity markets recover before the economy".
I started doing that a while ago.. now I need a liver transplant
"switched to inferior goods"
Not.
It was a shift to lower price alternatives.
It makes you wonder what he ISN'T telling us.
Black Star Ranch | 01.08.09 - 10:42 am | #
He's been refreshingly honest compared to others in washington . . . which just makes you more suspicious.
sigh.
"Equity markets recover before the economy".
Crewman | 01.08.09 - 11:01 am | #
But no one ever (or rarely) calls them on the "but if the recession/depression is going to last years, it's way too early for the market to tick up" part of that equation.
I started doing that a while ago.. now I need a liver transplant
--Crewman
But you can afford it because you caught all those awesome rallies, right?
Ukraine-Russia talks ended with no result-Naftogaz
Thu Jan 8, 2009 10:33am GMT
KIEV, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Gas talks overnight between Ukraine's state energy firm Naftogaz and Russia's gas export monopoly, Gazprom (GAZP.MM), ended with no concrete results, the head of Naftogaz was quoted as saying on Thursday.
Interfax-Ukraine quoted Naftogaz chief Oleh Dubyna as saying the talks in Moscow with Gazprom CEO Alexei Miller ended without result but that they would be continued.
The news agency also quoted Dubyna as saying that three-way talks in Brussels, involving the European Union, had been cancelled at the behest of the Russian side. (Reporting by Yuri Kulikov, writing by Guy Faulconbridge and Sabina Zawadzki; Editing by Christian Lowe)
Ukraine-Russia talks ended with no result-Naftogaz
| Markets
| Reuters
I agree he comes across as a bit kooky. I wish his delivery were a bit more refined - he might serve the public better.
ac | 01.08.09 - 10:55 am | #
He's as refined as gold bugs get. Take it or leave it. Like ordering sushi and complaining about the fish.
I always got the feeling that Obama was a rudderless ship... he has no real plans for anything, just ambition. There is no sense of personal urgency about him... he just wants to see how far he can get (and how many books he can write). In 4 years he will shrug and say, "Well, I know there are some people out there who have been critical, but that's OK."
in a sense, he is a man for our times. President Shrug.
12th Percentile | 01.08.09 - 10:45 am
lol...having worked there I can bare witness
Talk About A BS Boston Bank Bailout!
"The FDIC also ordered the bank to stop paying for a beachfront house in Santa Monica that, according to the Boston Business Journal, was purchased for more than $6 million in early 2007 by a group that included Cohee and his wife Teri Williams, the bank's president."
OneUnited gets TARP bailout, even with FDIC order - Jan. 8, 2009
Why are gold bugs considered nut jobs? I don't really see how they are any nuttier than someone who places faith with the Fed.
mal,
Turn off FOX Noise
blackhat writes:
china doesn't like more US debt, (oh my!):
Search - Global Edition - The New York Times yuan.php
Reminds of the scene in 120 Days of Sodom, by Pasolini where the fascists demand that their subjects literally eat their feces...
"Mange! Mange!"
--bh
blackhat--
Don't they even get to put a little olive oil on it?
Anyway, I'm really glad you found that link ... I've been trying to find it for about an hour.
Earlier in the week I predicted this exact thing would happen--only I was thinking more like months rather than days.
Apparently, Brad Setser doesn't think it's happening yet ... but the handwriting's on the wall:
Brad Setser: Follow the Money » Blog Archive » China hasn’t (yet) lost its appetite for US Treasuries …
Got any 409?
The dollar's about to be toasted...
Yet more evidence of what I've been saying all along:
Housing Push for Hispanics Spawns Wave of Foreclosures - WSJ.com
Look at foreclosures.com. Look at the last names of pre-foreclosures in any zip code in California. It's STUNNING, FACTUAL, and REAL.
Good Basic Thoughts.
Ron Paul: Failure of dollar will dwarf current crisis
President-elect Barack Obama has started warning that getting the country out of its current economic hole may mean trillion-dollar deficits for years to come -- but Rep. Ron Paul has very different ideas.
"I think it's just more of the same," the former presidential candidate told CNN's John Roberts on Wednesday. "I don't think it'll solve the problems. It's turning the spending responsibility over to government rather than individuals, and that's not the way you make an economy work."
"To me it's a philosophic problem," Paul insisted. "Why are we spending all this money? ... We cannot solve our problem by doing exactly the same thing that got us into this mess."
I always got the feeling that Obama was a rudderless ship... he has no real plans for anything, just ambition.
The one benefit is that his plans aren't outright insane, like McCain's or Bush's.
However, that may prove small comfort.
Obama's mealy mouthed approached to the stimulus, and his laughably uninformed comments on Social Security, are starting to outline what his "pragmatism" entails.
I think there's a chance that Obama is a hard-center ideologue, determined to bisect the difference between the physician and the witch doctor, and thinking that this is somehow valuable in itself.
Kuwait - Global Investment Bank !!
Hey American Dopes, The Big Convention will be going on in DC around the 20TH.
The dollar's about to be toasted...
Samdog
Yes it is. 2011-12 or 13
Dollar unwinding will be costly.
Ron Paul is the only politician who is asking the right questions. His answers are all wrong, but at least he is asking them.
(This observation is not original to me, but unfortunately I have forgotten where I read it)
"Walmart's customers destroying domestic manuracturing" lama
Not so fast. 1. When was the last time these customers got real wage increases vs. the fake CPI inflation figures? CC's replaced wage increases decades ago.
2. Walmart came into the communties and wiped-out small businesses. Businesses that provided jobs for local people and kept profits within the communities.
3. Walmart's poorly made & cheaply produced products by third world countries using child labor and dirt poor wages.
4. Walmart is the anathema of the american worker.
mal-
substitute Bush or shrub for Obama and you've got a start.
Too bad you weren't paying attention over the last 8 years.
Ciao
MS
By no means am I under the illusion that Obama is perfect and will solve all our problems.
But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot.
Will the backroom boys declare a bank holiday if the dollar falls to fast.
Jas,
I don't approve of the last quote. You can go now.
--bh"
Seconded.
Senate hearings.
1. Senator asks pointed question - earns points.
2. Responder makes weak off topic retort - looks dumb.
3. Senator votes to give responder what he wants - looks dumber.
Why bother watching?
He's [Niall Ferguson] now a media star!
Duke of Con Dao,
Yes, and that would be his downfall as a great historian, as is the case with Warren Buffett as great investor/manager. The cult of Buffett has been very unprofitable for those who own BRKA/B since he bought Gen Re in 1998. Buffetts great record in before he bought Gen Re.
Dopes easily fall for cult leaders.
Jas
RP: Failure of dollar will dwarf current crisis
Any thoughts on how this might unravel?
Apparently, Brad Setser doesn't think it's happening yet ... but the handwriting's on the wall:
Samdog | 01.08.09 - 11:05 am | #
I would NOT bet against Setser - he doesn't say it WON'T happen just that it HASN'T happened yet. Big [as in Mount Everest big] difference. BTW this is completely consistent with what I hear & read from 'importers' - they fully expect China SWF & PBoC to buy a LOT more UST in the coming year so as to push the RMB lower vis a vis other Asian exporter currencies... if the US is going to slow & our imports decline then they want to make damned sure they keep or increase their marketshare of what we DO buy. I take them at their word that they will do exactly this [buy UST, drive RMB lower & completely Roger their neighbors].
gary-
that's the problem...people forget what's been set-up over the last 8 year's and then they bitch that it is not solved before the poor guy even takes the oath. The real damage was started over 25 year's ago however it's the last 8 that really made it final IMO.
Ciao
MS
But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot.
Gary
Just wait, status quo powered elites will throw everything at him in an attempt to divide. Markets will plummet.
"But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot."
Shot to do WHAT, Gary? Like this economy is able still to be "fixed"? Give me a break - you are naive at best.
Ron Paul is the only politician who is asking the right questions. His answers are all wrong, but at least he is asking them.
Nemo | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 11:09 am | #
He and crazy Dennis K. God bless and protect them both.
But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot.
Gary | 01.08.09 - 11:10 am | #
My opinion isn't going to hold him back - he can still 'show me' something & I'll give credit. But show me don't tell me.
Markets will plummet.
I am not Anonymous | 01.08.09 - 11:13 am | #
Markets still NEED to plummet. Stocks are overpriced relative to earnings. Houses are overpriced relative to incomes/rents.
Until those are corrected, no lasting progress can be made.
I wonder if those buttons that you push in Lowe's will have to be pushed as many times now... "special assistance needed in the plumbing area"
I bet they need extra staffing in the rope, bedsheet, and how-to-tie-knots-including-nooses book sections.
The dollar's about to be toasted...
contra: "...with the economies in Europe and Japan experiencing as bad if not worse recessions than the one in the United States, judging whose economy, and therefore whose currency, is stronger is akin to reading tea leaves."
Currencies Trading All Over the Map - washingtonpost.com
--
fried,
Please ignore what you don't like or approve of. I don't like to ignore any facts even if the majority does not approve them and some are un-PC.
PC, unfortunately, is also a big part of the doping process.
Jas
By no means am I under the illusion that Obama is perfect and will solve all our problems.
Gary | 01.08.09 - 11:10 am | #
The past 8 years have tempered MY expectations.
Ok, since it's India bashing day...how are the small condom sales going over there?
The largest furniture myf. in our county had been transfering everything to China in the last five years....Building was up for sell. Bro. is a County Comm. and told me a China Company bought the building last week.
China will bring their companies to the US, wait and see, while we set and ring our hands, and cry what'a we gonna do.
Gary --
Markets still NEED to plummet. Stocks are overpriced relative to earnings. Houses are overpriced relative to incomes/rents.
And you expect this correction nominal (as opposed to real) terms why?
As for giving Obama a chance, people are realizing that there has been little intellectual CHANGE in D.C. The presidential race was between a Democrat (Obama) and a Democrat Lite (McCain)
Obama (Clinton II) = Bush = Clinton I
The public sector is trying to save itself.
Why are gold bugs considered nut jobs?
Anonymous | 01.08.09 - 11:05 am | #
Well for me, gold is just another commodity amongst a basket of them that I hedge with. But if you talk to a gold bug at length, thier focus is VERY specific and not nessasarily well reasoned.
gary has a point......the media (and several folks here) have already condemned the guy before he even gets full control. It's as if they forget that Bush is still president and has presided over the acceleration of this mess. How about directing the anger at the person who is , technically, still in charge? Nahh wouldn't want to do that....well at least we know who they voted for.
Ciao
MS
China will bring their companies to the US, wait and see, while we set and ring our hands
And since it'll be technically an "American" sub doing it, they'll qualify for the tax breaks for bringing back American jobs. Wee!!
Gary(Unrated) writes:
But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot.
As said by Black Star Ranch above, shot at what?
Good point -- he's not a traitorous Republican dog trying to destroy the country with a steam shovel.
Okay, so, there you have it.
I think he'll do great. I think he'll avoid any additional foreign wars while in office. That's "great" compared to the last batch.
I think he has no chance of getting spending under control 'cause that's not really his problem to solve.
We will see how he gets the administrative apparatus under steerage. It does not sound good to me so far.
Dudes on CNN. Where is protectionism?
Popeye writes:
The dollar's about to be toasted...
contra: "...with the economies in Europe and Japan experiencing as bad if not worse recessions than the one in the United States, judging whose economy, and therefore whose currency, is stronger is akin to reading tea leaves."
But Europe and Japan are not buying all the Government Bonds they can print.. We have decided to because no one else wants our T-Bills, to buy unlimited amounts.. hence the yet to be announced default of the dollar
Political conversations [that's a polite term for the constant negative droning] don't really belong on this blog - do they ?
On the few occasions I have gone to Walmart I have not found their prices much different from Target or Kmart. Selection, service, general atmosphere was not as good.
OT - Sold DUG for ~ 6% gain. Covered SPY short for ~3% gain. Locked in Stop on half EEV at 50.24. Still short NEM, believe today is a deat cat.
Crewman,
German Bond Auction Fails to Attract Enough Demand
German Bond Auction Fails to Attract Enough Demand (Update1) - Bloomberg.com
"American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan"
Perfect for talk like a pirate day
ARRP
OT - Other Stop on half EEV at 48.70.
There's just not the quality of volume on this initial decline in the SPX, XLE, etc. I was looking for. Hoping to reshort a 2-3 day bounce (if one materializes).
Obama: Crisis could last for years.
China will bring their companies to the US, wait and see, while we set and ring our hands
And since it'll be technically an "American" sub doing it, they'll qualify for the tax breaks for bringing back American jobs. Wee!!
Basel Too
Hmmm, interesting. Kind of like what happened in the '70s and '80s with Japanese imports-they built transplants here. I heard something about Japan writing off our national debt, maybe China is willing to do a little wheelin' and dealin'?
Popeye(Excellent) writes:
Political conversations [that's a polite term for the constant negative droning] don't really belong on this blog - do they ?
We're talking about stimulus policy. This is precisely where politics and policy mix.
Popeye,
Our day is coming
Regarding Ms Burnett, I think this is photoshopped, but it's pretty funny. http://bp2.blogger.com/_k8aeamVo2JM/R6H9brb9spI/AAAAAAAAALg/R4HADcswv_A/s1600-h/girlscnbc2.jpg
Maxim probably would actually be glad to have her on their cover.
Comrade Tech something or other dribbled...
For some reason, NPR decided to nail antibiotic-resistant bacteria to this recession.
Are you as reading comprehension impaired as you are listening impaired? Perhaps you're on the wrong blog.
NPR and the physicians they sourced were pretty clear about why antibiotic resistance occurs and how bad it was that antibiotics are overused. They correctly pointed out that Wal-fart and the like were contributing to the problem by shoveling out the door cheap.
I realize that's nuance, and not necessarily something an NCO is good at, but really...try to listen a little more before blowing a gasket...perhaps Faux radio will be a more pleasant listening experience for you.
Hey A-mouse,
This is the DX I referred to a couple of days ago - developing sequence possible a right shoulder after a gap fill...thoughts?
INO Equities Stocks Indexes - U.S $ INDEX (NYBOT:DX) Price Chart and Quote
Crewman,
European Bonds Decline as Concern About New Supply Saps Demand
European Bonds Decline as Concern About New Supply Saps Demand - Bloomberg.com
It makes you wonder what he ISN'T telling us
What he isn't telling us, is what you and I and everyone else on this board should already know. In fact, many of us may know/understand more about this than he (Obama) does.
Doc at the Radar Station(Excellent) writes:
I heard something about Japan writing off our national debt, maybe China is willing to do a little wheelin' and dealin'?
The question is, will they go straight for the irony and force us to let them sell meth or crack as they prostrate the state.
I'm from old school....Bush and Obama are just the front men for the gob's in the back room.
Bush brought Texas with him and Obama has brought The Clinton gang out of the shadow's.
It is what it is...We evidently agree with it.
"AP'Shadow writes: The largest furniture myf. in our county had been transfering everything to China in the last five years"
There's a class action lawsuit in England against china furniture manufactures.
From Daily Mail,6/21/08: This baby was burned red raw by a sofa giving off toxic fumes. As our investigation reveals, there are hundreds of other victims
....victims were exposed to a substance called dimethyl fumarate (DMF). It is a particularly toxic fungicide. Those who come into contact with it should wear protective glasses and clothing. How could any of those who were injured have possibly known they were at risk simply by sitting on the sofa at home?
Sachets of DMF, it transpires, were put in thousands of Chinese manufactured suites to stop them going mouldy in storage or while being transported.
But it seemed to be that when anyone sat on these sofas, a chemical reaction was set in motion. Body heat caused the dimethyl fumarate to vapourise. The poisonous vapour was released into the leather. The contact often resulted in burns. Sometimes it took months for the effects to become apparent. Doctors were baffled."
This baby was burned red raw by a sofa giving off toxic fumes. As our investigation reveals, there are hundreds of other victims | Mail Online
citizen energyecon,
Hey sorry, I thought you meant some illiquid bank ticker symbol: DX.
My views on the U.S. dollar are that it's in a consolidation between the bottom of the open gap (near the recent highs) and it's lows of Dec. Hope that helps.
I really dissapointed on the lack of volume on this downthrust. Makes me think the markets can go higher and top out when many are expecting it to bottom. Will watch closely.
MPinCO, you are no mp.
In fact, many of us may know/understand more about this than he (Obama) does.
theotherdeb | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 11:26 am | #
I think he knows. What do you honestly expect him to do? Call a press conference and say "WE'RE ALL FUCKED"?
2009 Will Be Very, Very Bleak - Forbes.com
Forbes / Roubini article:
2009 Will Be Very, Very Bleak
I always thought Home Depot employees would be perfect for Special Ops in places like Afghanistan. They could move about, unheard and unseen, then swarm in without warning on the Taliban. They practice this daily; avoiding all customers except when there's a pretty, young woman who may or may not need assistance.
Profound irresponsibility...debt they couldn't afford...culture of anything goes must end in Washington
Now the new course....cost considerable, budget deficit is increased, more spending, more credit, money in the pockets of American people
Er, ah, does he see a dichotomy between his intro which outlined the problem and his plan which uses those same increasing debt levers?
What about cutbacks, living within our means, honest accounting?
Popeye,
They need to learn from us how to totally screw the value of their currency..
The Fed could buy Treasury notes and bonds or agency bonds in a bid to drive yields lower and "spur aggregate demand," Bernanke said
Nemo, gut feeling only. It could very well happen more in real than nominal terms.
The question is, will they go straight for the irony and force us to let them sell meth or crack as they prostrate the state.
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins
It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. We become a 'sinofied' version of Pottersville.
citizen energyecon,
DX, consolidation (trading range) between ~84 and ~78 (little below 78).
"Tarp Teat writes:
xxxx... Bose?
Tarp Teat | 01.08.09 - 10:39 am | #
"
Nope
Scott(Unrated) writes:
Are you as reading comprehension impaired as you are listening impaired?
They correctly pointed out that Wal-fart and the like were contributing to the problem by shoveling out the door cheap.
Yeah, 'cause if we had completely progressive socialized healthcare on a no-questions asked dispensary mode -- the perfectly equitable solution -- we would definitely want to restrict access to drugs for people who need them based on a regressive economic test. You're a policy genius. When are you going to Washington?
Crewman,
One final reference: "What is the level of deflation risk in Germany?"
German Economy Watch: What Is The Level Of Deflation Risk In Germany?
I recommend the above - especially the section entitled "Price Inflation Falls Dramatically"
Dow down 69 , I love when that happens
I found this while webslinging around the internet:
"The foxes aren't monitoring the henhouses.
At this point, they walk in, slaughter all of the hens, walk out, knock on the farmer's door and ask for his credit card so they can buy more chickens, which he does after they tell him that the work they're doing is very important and integral to the stability of the farmyard.
A few ducks and geese quack and quack about oversight and how untrustworthy the foxes are, but they're foxes, decked out in swanky red fur, bright eyed and bushy tailed.
Plus they all went to Harvard business school, so they must know what they're doing.
So the farmer gives them his credit card. And they go buy more chickens, which they promptly eat. The cycle repeats.
Then the farmer is upset because his credit card bill is so high.
posted by Lord_Pall at 2:50 AM on January 5"
Rrrrrrreverend! Harumpf! Harumpf!
Link:
"Please pay no attention to the problems we are failing to address" | MetaFilter
Children in Chicago and Boston can compete for high paying jobs with children in Beijing.
Taxpayers can go online and see where their tax dollars are being spent.
Wait a min, i heard that before!
market hating on Obama's speech, I guess
Popeye writes:
The dollar's about to be toasted...
contra: "...with the economies in Europe and Japan experiencing as bad if not worse recessions than the one in the United States, judging whose economy, and therefore whose currency, is stronger is akin to reading tea leaves."
Popeye:
Who do we count on to buy trillions of dollars of OUR new debt?
It's just not gonna happen--countries will start to invest directly in their own economies first.
"Call a press conference and say "WE'RE ALL FUCKED"?"
Admittedly, it's a tough position to be in. It's a subject I dance around when someone asks, with trembling voice, are we in a depression? Seriously. Is it better to say "we're all fucked" and scare the crap out of everybody so they all crawl into the corner to suck their thumbs, or is it better to say "it's all gonna be OK" when we know that it isn't, and everybody is gonna be blindsided?
This is why we can't depend on somebody else to tell us what we need to know.
I think he knows. What do you honestly expect him to do? Call a press conference and say "WE'RE ALL FUCKED"?
Eric | 01.08.09 - 11:29 am | #
He got pretty close to that in yesterday's news conference.
oops. messed up the italics tag again. sorry
But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot.
Gary | 01.08.09 - 11:10 am | #
I voted for him -- that's giving him his shot. Doesn't mean I won't point out when he's spouting the same old Keynesian BS.
We're 10% of the way to a circuit breaker!!!!
For those who are already slamming Obmama for his course of action, what would you do? This isn't snark either, I'm really curious as to what you feel should be done? I hear much chatter about what won't work and what we shouldn't do but I rarely hear and alternative suggestions. So far I've seen him be far more honest than anything we've had in decades...It's a start anyway.
He is 13 minutes late to deliver a crappy speech. Lets hug.
"Nemo writes:
"American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan"
Perfect for talk like a pirate day"
How about the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Giveway"
ARRG
Eric(Excellent) writes:
I think he knows. What do you honestly expect him to do? Call a press conference and say "WE'RE ALL FUCKED"?
He ought to advocate a policy that's not orthagonal to the crisis he's describing. Someone is robbing the bank so let's get the fire department here quick.
This needs to be dealt with by write-off.
[New drinking game: One shot whenever a CNBC talking head says "Equity markets recover before the economy".
dr munch ]
I'm wobbly already.
Well for me, gold is just another commodity
Blackhalo | 01.08.09 - 11:20 am | #
Well, there you go! If you proceed on that false premise then you're the one with the argument "not necessarily well reasoned."
Gary writes:
By no means am I under the illusion that Obama is perfect and will solve all our problems.
But it sickens me that so many people here aren't even willing to give him a shot.
Gary
omg... Dope Contest WINNER
Yeah, 'cause if we had completely progressive socialized healthcare on a no-questions asked dispensary mode -- the perfectly equitable solution -- we would definitely want to restrict access to drugs for people who need them based on a regressive economic test. You're a policy genius. When are you going to Washington?
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 11:31 am | #
Ummm...so, my beef was the rage at NPR - which, while far from perfect, makes a decent attempt at thoughtful reporting.
I'm not sure WTF that has to do with social medicine or any of the rest of it.
Antibiotic resistance is a function of over-prescription; I think that has much more to do with the need for Dr.'s to be perceived as "doing something" (even moreso parents), than it does with profits (Porsche payments).
NPR was not blaming the recession for the problem but pointing out that this particular loss-leader was a really bad choice.
I did include an unfair ad-hominem: I personally know several NCOs of great intelligence and nuance, from whom I've learned a great deal - my apologies to NCOs.
Dope Alert,
Step away from the mirror...
Samdog writes:
Who do we count on to buy trillions of dollars of OUR new debt?
It's just not gonna happen--countries will start to invest directly in their own economies first.
Wish I had the answer. Like everyone else, I'm struggling to understand.
I'm troubled by the strong answers I read here. The dollar isn't burnt toast - it's a currency traded in exchange for other crispy critters.
I understand some folks are just talking their book too.
Comrade Kristina,
OT: you posted a link for comfy sandals, and I meant to bookmark it and didn't. would you mind putting that up again? much thanks
How about the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Giveway"
Um, I was referring the actual (capitalized) phrase that appears in Obama's speech. Twice.
Comrade Kristina(Excellent) writes:
For those who are already slamming Obmama for his course of action, what would you do? This isn't snark either, I'm really curious as to what you feel should be done?
Nationalization and wind down of the banking system.
What blows me away is, Obama won't even be president for another couple of weeks, yet for a while now, his actions have been much more meaningful than those of the existing administration.
Complete abdication, capitulation.
How 'bout... THIS!
"We are reviewing the financials of all banks and those that we determine are now insolvent we are nationalizing"
How about the "American Recovery and Reinvestment Giveway"
ARRG
xxxxx | 01.08.09 - 11:37 am | #
+1!
Eric(Excellent) writes:
I think he knows. What do you honestly expect him to do? Call a press conference and say "WE'RE ALL FUCKED"?
That speech comes after he takes office
what would you do?
You didn't like these?...
"What about cutbacks, living within our means, honest accounting?" Add to that a true free market economy, let busted companies go bust, no government interference, no world police action and Imperialism, a pay-as-you-go budget, no pork, no lobbying, no theft and bribes, etc., etc
You know that thing he mentioned at first....responsibillity
what would you do?
usurp the wealth stolen by the bfnyc's
institute a hard currency.
stop bailouts
have a real converastion
eliminate all lobbyist firms
For those who are already slamming Obmama for his course of action, what would you do? This isn't snark either, I'm really curious as to what you feel should be done?
How bout not appointing the same team of people who created this mess in the first place for treasury and fed positions.
I always thought Home Depot employees would be perfect for Special Ops in places like Afghanistan. They could move about, unheard and unseen, then swarm in without warning on the Taliban. They practice this daily; avoiding all customers except when there's a pretty, young woman who may or may not need assistance.
lama
I would agree ONLY if we can be certain that the Taliban is comprised of Attractive young women.
PCA is going to get whipsawed to today
theotherdeb, they're fly flots. The company is UK but you can find them in stores in the US, here's a link to an online store and the sandal that I have
Fly Flot Dana - Free Shipping
The media praised the passage of NAFTA and manufacturing jobs headed south of the border. The media proclaimed victory for the manufacturers when the WTO passed and more of american industry was shipped overseas. The media said more jobs for americans when foreign industry was planted in the southern states with non-union wages and tax write-offs for the foreign corporations. Now the media screams there's blood in the streets due to the financial backfire of american job destruction has hit the Temple of Doom; Wall Street.
I hear much chatter about what won't work and what we shouldn't do but I rarely hear and alternative suggestions.
Comrade Kristina | Homepage | 01.08.09 - 11:36 am | #
That's because a lot of them don't involve "doing something." Sometimes you just have let the hangover run it's course.
On the periphery, of course, you could be reinstating all the rules that were dismantled in the course of getting us here as well as prosecuting those responsible. Doesn't negate the crisis, but does some justice.
that Obi speech was an inspiration -
All this will not be finished in the first 100 days. Nor will it be finished in the first 1,000 days, nor in the life of this Administration, nor even perhaps in our lifetime on this planet. But let us begin.
Popeye,
Maybe the two trillion was spent on Treasuries and they don't want us to know we are in default already..
Bloomberg News has filed a federal lawsuit under the U.S. Freedom of Information Act to force disclosure of the details of almost $2 trillion in emergency loans from American taxpayer money to the nation's banks.
The Federal Reserve Bank is refusing to identify the recipients of loans
what would you do?
Stop swapping FED notes and T-bills for crap assets.
Let insolvent banks go into a controlled bankruptcy.
Guarantee all deposits.
Let any insolvent "Big 3" go bankrupt.
Gee... sounds almost like capitalism.
+1
Anonymous | 01.08.09 - 11:41 am
Dope Alert | 01.08.09 - 11:41 am
Anonymous | 01.08.09 - 11:43 am
althogh I am not too surprised by this list - Wal-Mart, Others See Tough Months Ahead; December Same-Store Sales Disappoint - WSJ.com , I thought Costco wouldn't ahve take such a big hit .
Kristina,
thank you
Kristina,
We were promised 'online' access to Treasury's use of TARP funds. Obama approved that plan. Paulson showed us the finger, but O is not complaining. Why? Now we are promised more access to federal spending 'online'. I'm ready to be shown the finger again.
Prosecute the criminals in the financial services & real estate industry, freeze assets and assure the public clawbacks will be pursued.
No bailouts for securitized instrument holders.
That speech comes after he takes office
Yep. Fireside chats.
"what would you do?"
(from yesterday)
The FedGov should gather up all their remaining chips and get the Hell away from the table. Save what chips are left to feed the folks when the real hunger starts. Let America work its way out of it - with no intervention. Roll back financial laws to the 1950s, require Congress a 2/3rds required vote on ALL new spending bills, all spending allocations must be read OUT LOUD by members of the house and Senate, AND no bills are tacked on to other unrelated spending packages. No deficit spending (just like the States), shit-can The Fed, take over the printing presses, and get ready to fund unemployment for a long time. Trash the IRS and finance the Country thru import trade tariffs. If foreign industry doesn't like the tariffs they can open a factory here. We have 300 million of the best customers on the planet! In lieu of the free FCC band width, make TV and radio give equal access to ALL political party candidates in ALL states - access being free under same terms as PSAs (public service announcements). Make legislators' schedules public content to provide transparency during their "working day".
what would you do?
The dollar isn't burnt toast - it's a currency traded in exchange for other crispy critters.
Another one of the reasons I can't get a handle on what kind of path a failure of the dollar will take.
We have a race to ZIRP. Everyone wants their currency lower, albeit for different reasons.
I don't know that there's anything inherently dangerous about everyone shortening the yardstick at the same time.
Until, of course, you go to buy something fungible.
It implies to me that the Fed/Treasury will also have to exert control over commodity markets. I don't see why that would be shocking; hell, we've been playing with various forms of price controls all through this crisis.
Scott(Unrated) writes:
I'm not sure WTF that has to do with social medicine or any of the rest of it.
That much is evident.
NPR was not blaming the recession for the problem but pointing out that this particular loss-leader was a really bad choice.
You are applying a regressive economic test to the availability of life saving drugs and calling it good.
Because you don't like Wal*Mart, you'd rather see poor people die before they were "exploited". This is what you are advocating, explicitly; economic rationing of life-essential goods. Nothing like engendering a little artificial scarcity for your own indirect benefit.
I have been that poor person who could not afford the 35 dollar amoxicillin, and I hope with all sincerity you get a chance to be that person too.
"what would you do"
Force the banks to realize real asset prices. Remove any level 3 accounting standards.
That would go a long way to actually having a real recovery instead of the BS that gets spouted each and everyday. Until you have a real recognition of input pricing there is nothing that can be done to "fix it".
papering over losses is just a cute way of not allowing capitalism to be punished.
It's a sad day when you can look at China and see a more capitalist system than ours.
Ciao
MS
Black Star Ranch writes:
"what would you do?"
(from yesterday)
The FedGov should gather up all their remaining chips and get the Hell away from the table.
French tried that course of action when they overborrowed helping the Americans once. Seamed to work well for them.
The one benefit is that his plans aren't outright insane, like McCain's or Bush's.
I thought insanity was doing the same thing over and over expecting different results.
In that sense, Obama's economic ideas ARE insane.
It's a sad day when you can look at China and see a more capitalist system than ours.
The irony MS!
locust writes:
Another one of the reasons I can't get a handle on what kind of path a failure of the dollar will take.
"A homely parade in the currency ugly contest"
FT Alphaville » Blog Archive » A homely parade in the currency ‘ugly’ contest
Thanks for the input. I've thought the banks should be nationalized for some time and I'm still not convinced we won't see that before this is all over. As for doing nothing at all, I simply see an even worse disaster being the end result there. The key seems to be job creation to me. Wage stagnation was a big part of this mess to begin with. Worker productivity rose and rose and rose and wages...well not so much unless you were the CEO or upper level management. They effectively killed their own customers with their greed.
I was a contractor for Wal-Mart until this past December. I had access to some of their most confidential documents and the e-mails of all their employees except for the CEO Lee Scott.
They really are a horrible company that fosters a culture of paranoia. They use fear as their main tool to keep employees in line. Even to this day - after they have implemented electronic time tracking to the second to make sure payroll manipulation does not occur - the pressure on district managers and store managers to keep wages down is very intense. I viewed many, many e-mails that said "ABSOLUTELY NO OVERTIME!!!!" even if overtime was required to get the job done.
Wal-Mart continually under staffs their stores in order to meet numbers. This forces employees to choose between getting in trouble for not completing a job or getting in trouble for working off the clock or get in trouble for working overtime. The under staffing also causes people to miss their rest breaks/lunch breaks because they will have a line of customers and no replacement. So, the employees are put in a situation where they either shut down their department and lose sales and get in trouble, or miss their break and potentially get fired.
To Wal-Mart's credit, certain people within the company have tried to address this problem with electronic systems that will ensure managers cannot manipulate payroll. However, humans are smarter than computers and will always figure out how to circumvent these systems. Also, Wal-Mart has cameras everywhere. They record everything.
In my personal dealings with Wal-Mart, they came across as arrogant yet incapable of the simplest of tasks. They talk a big game but never follow through. I can tell you I think that they will be in serious trouble if the economic malaise continues through 2010. They expanded way too quickly, and now that everyone is buying less of everything, their sales have finally gone down. It was surprising to see Lee Scott announce his resignation right before the holiday shopping season, and I have been wondering ever since whether this was due to them seeing the writing on the wall that they have WAY too many stores and way too few people willing to buy merchandise. Time will tell.
This post is very long, but if you guys want more information about Wal-Mart, I will be happy to provide it. Just let me know.
Now we are promised more access to federal spending 'online'. I'm ready to be shown the finger again.
REBear | 01.08.09 - 11:46 am
In defense of the FS entities that received TARP funds, many large banks and Wall St firms have some of the most disorganized, disfunctional accounting that exists. They definitely don't want you to know where your cash went, but they might not know either.
If you are going to link nude pictures of Erin Burnett, don't say they might be photoshopped.
If people want to think they're real, let them. It's a free country.
Very few of our current economic policies have anything to do with saving the economy but everything to do with saving the demoracy.
Thanks WMT insider, I have a friend that works for Sams and you pretty much confirmed what I already knew.
--
"what would you do?"
Typical fantasy exercise engaged by...
The first question that needs to be addressed is: How will you get rid of the Crooks who have iron grip on the economy and the political system?
Jas
Hi lama,
Didn't Paulson know that? Why even promise?
So you nationalize the banking system...Then what?
That's not going to solve anything..if you just guarantee everything with empty promises is that not the real reason we have the problems now?
Or I suppose everyone thinks that saying it makes it all go away.
Pain is a four letter word.....the current system needs to have consequences of poor risk management over the collection of fee's. Until that happens then nothing they can do will have much of an effect. But as I've stated before that really depends on one's perspective.......
Ciao
MS
"Nemo writes:
Ron Paul is the only politician who is asking the right questions. His answers are all wrong, but at least he is asking them."
Funny, I had the same feeling about Pat Buchannan.
MS - After nationalization there would be a massive and transparent repricing of all assets.
Then, and only then, can the government re-privatize the banks via public share offerings or private sales.
That's because a lot of them don't involve "doing something." Sometimes you just have let the hangover run it's course.
Comrade Bear (tj & the bear) | 01.08.09 - 11:45 am | #
Meh - actually, I prefer to drink a lot of water (to rehydrate) and then do some hard physical (cardio) exercise to kick my metabolism into higher gear...sure, it hurts even worse, for a little while, then things get a lot better. Ultimately, it's a lot better and faster than the hair of the dog.
I'm just not sure the hangover model is really applicable to the economy in this regard.
Job losses tomorrow 700,000. Move the market or priced in?
but I rarely hear and alternative suggestions.
That's because you either aren't listening or don't like the suggestions.
The quickest course to the bottom (and therefore the quickest course to the beginning of a recovery) is to do nothing. The government CANNOT do anything to prevent us from hitting bottom, all they can do is make things take longer to get there (and unfairly pick winners and losers). The problem is a managed decline takes so long it becomes the new normal, much like a lengthy credit run-up (supported by the fed for 20 years) made EZ credit the new normal.
The only thing the government is doing right is ramping up at the FDIC. They need to ramp up at bankruptcy and foreclosure courts, too; that's going to be a big bottleneck.
"Worker productivity rose and rose and rose and wages...well not so much unless you were the CEO or upper level management. They effectively killed their own customers with their greed.
Comrade Kristina | Homepage"
Best carpenter on the blog. Hit the nail right on the head and drove it home with one blow.
I deal with WMT as a software vendor. I don't perceive them as actively evil, but merely so cheap, petty and paranoid that they are barely worth having as a customer.
Popeye, thank you for A homely parade in the currency ugly contest. Yup. How the dollar plays out is really a mystery to me. Bought some gold ages ago for safety so I don't care if it goes up or down it just means I can sleep a little better at night.
Strange times.
lama,
Here is a list TARP money spent on banks...221 banks recieved money, if they hadn't the FDIC would be bankrupt. One way of kicking a can full of shit down the road to the next president....
Bailout Recipients | Eye on the Bailout
Strange times - Not to ruin your sleep but the US has a history of confiscating gold in tough times
Not to ruin your sleep but the US has a history of confiscating gold in tough times
Barley
That's why I'm hoarding lead...
Barley, I thought that's why God made mattresses.
...They expanded way too quickly, and now that everyone is buying less of everything, their sales have finally gone down. It was surprising to see Lee Scott announce his resignation right before the holiday shopping season...
WMT Insider
Maybe that is what is provoking more anxiety in the employees-a change at the top. I don't know what insights you might have about this, but what do you think a powerful dollar devaluation will have on their supply chain strategy?
"the US has a history of confiscating gold in tough times"
....have 'em bring a frontloader that'll dig up millions of acres of desert to find it....
Comrade Byzantine_Ruins writes:
You are applying a regressive economic test to the availability of life saving drugs and calling it good.
Oh, puhleeze...I was doing no such thing. There are very clear heath implications, regardless of means, to the over-use of antibiotics. Making them cheap only throws extra fuel on the fire.
Because you don't like Wal*Mart, you'd rather see poor people die before they were "exploited".
BS - that has nothing to do with it.
This is what you are advocating, explicitly; economic rationing of life-essential goods. Nothing like engendering a little artificial scarcity for your own indirect benefit.
Wow...you are in a particularly testy mood today...what gives?
Nothing of the sort was implied in either the original NPR story, nor my comments.
FWIW, I am a supporter of a national single-payer health care system, and subsidized prescriptions - subsidized to zero if need be, and means tested premiums for the whole kit and kaboodle.
I have been that poor person who could not afford the 35 dollar amoxicillin, and I hope with all sincerity you get a chance to be that person too.
You clearly haven't paid my attention to my many social(ist)-democratic ramblings on here before...go find another straw man to argue with about that chip on your shoulder.
As LawyerLiz pointed out way upthread, a significant part of the problem is the amount of this stuff we toss into the food system by the ton. Antibiotics are far, far too cheap and easy to access. If you are/were in need of amoxy (great stuff, wonderful broad spectrum), you ought to be able to access it, without relying on shitty policy distortions like selling it for nothing at Walmart.
How many doctors prescribed it because it was cheap and in financial reach of patients who couldn't afford the correct prescription?
Since porn has been mentioned....Best real name used as a porn star:Dick Smothers of the Smothers Brothers has a son ,Dick Smothers Jr. who is/was a porn star and must have thought "Why change my name?".
millions of acres of desert to find it....
Black Star Ranch
Best to bury it; be it lead or gold. The US had and has a law on the books that requires an IRS agent to be present when you open a safe deposit box!
WMT Insider,
I'm surprised that Walmart hasn't figured out or bribed enough politicians to import Chinese workers into the USA stores. Annex secured dorms for a "Internship Training Program for Foreign Workers Education." Just like Toyota in Japan. Some call it Exploitation. I call it the road to the USA becoming a Banana Republic. Maybe Americans will finally rise up outta their lazyboy chairs during half-time and protest.
In my personal dealings with Wal-Mart, they came across as arrogant yet incapable of the simplest of tasks.
It's the inevitablity of all organizations that gets too large a footprint. Witness GM, the federal government, etc.
From Black Star Ranch:
He is candid for a reason- he hasn't take office yet. It is essential, politically, that people think things are as bad as possible prior to Jan 20. After Jan 20, he will play up any good news, no matter how minor or irrelevant.
"MS - After nationalization there would be a massive and transparent repricing of all assets."
Oh you must mean like the example we have of the Fed not publishing the results of TARP....
That's not going to happen, nationalization or not. In fact it will get worse....which is sort of my point.
The act of nationalizing will not change a thing....It's actually already occurred IMO...they just have not come out and announced it.
What if they suddenly said that we no longer have a deficit?? What would change??
Nothing at all IMO...
Ciao
MS
RPS, I agree to public financing elections completely. Dramatically limit the access of 30,000 lobbyist in Washington. Then audit all Congressmen leaving, and see how much they made during their stay. Its a start, at least.