Rail Traffic Declines Slightly in February
Submitted by
CalculatedRisk on Wed, 03/10/2010 - 10:44am (193 comments)
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keep on truckin'
Traffic down, rail stocks up.
YouTube - BLACKFOOT [ TRAIN,TRAIN ] AUDIO TRACK
How about this for traffic?:
BBC News - Russian police 'used drivers as human shield'
Another snow job...
I wonder if the Hobo traffic is up?
Indirect bidders buy 35.1% of 10-year sale
And who might that be, what was the last excuse, I think it was said the American people are buying....ya sure they are.
keeping the interview-question ball rolling
Q: How would you answer how many manhole covers are there in the city?
A: I would phone the city's maintenance department
all 3 gave a funny expression to that answer, in a good way... they wanted more, so I answered about 8 different ways in 2 minutes attributing positives/negatives to each. I think my original answer is what got me the position
I guess I should have jerked them around
also got the "why are manhole covers round" question
apparently they are only used to one 'right' answer for that, but I showed them the other more practical answer
Enjoy these wonderful analysis by Reggie Middleton:
http://boombustblog.com/Reggie-Middleton/1332-The-Latest-Alt-A-and-Subprime-Mortgage-Performance-Numbers.html
Reality Check for Bank Investors, Mortgage Investors and Home Buyers | zero hedge
Truck trips up, truck miles down, rail miles down.
That's what I'd expect if a lot of the activity is moving inventory and equipment from closed/consolidated sites.
Powerful article on the state of California's financial woe's.
charles hugh smith-Why California Is Doomed
Moira Manion: Why Your Employees Hate Your Guts #1: It's the Money, Stupid.
This is how the other "half" lives...for now.
everyone remember when Buffett made a move into the railroads in mid 2007?
shill wrote:
China, Petro-States
China hired a new head ex-pimco at CIC, and gave them a bunch of money that SAFE used to handle
it doesn't take a primary dealer skimming very much off of your bidding to spur a change when yields are so low
So they can't accidentally fall through the hole?
What would have been the "right" answer?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Aside from being round to prevent them from falling into the hole what is the other reason? The only other thing that comes to mind is the ease in which one person may move a heavy object like a manhole [EDIT to add "cover"]by rolling it. Anything else? You've piqued my curiousity.
Another WTF moment.
Jesse's Café Américain: Investors Who Lost In Madoff and Stanford Schemes Want Government to "Make Them Whole"
post more interview questions!
(not my actual answer, but in retrospect I should have said it)
Q: Where do you see yourself in 5 years?
A: Moving so fast it is impossible to determine my position?
Q: hunh?
A: Heisenberg-blah, I left you an opening to criticize maximum sustained acceleration on the human body. Come on, there's no good answer to that question.
Best answer I ever heard (second hand) to the "where do you see yourself in 5 years": "well, your job would be nice."
this deserves a post, i note that CR rarely reports on the national deficit or debt, which is one of the single most pressing issues facing the economy today.
U.S. posts Feb. budget deficit of $221 billion - MarketWatch
victory! receipts are up! but maybe because outlays are also up, so we are just recycling outlays back to the government after some leakage.
"WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- The U.S. government recorded a budget deficit of $221 billion in February, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday, even as receipts posted a big increase for the month. Receipts totaled $107.5 billion in February, a 23% increase over last February's total, and marking the first monthly year-over-year increase since April 2008. Outlays were $328 billion in February, up 17% year over year. February was the 17th consecutive month that the government recorded a deficit. "
Selling on Strength positions 1-4 at 1:03 ET: QQQQ, IWM, EEM, SPY
Money Flows: Selling on Strength - Markets Data Center - WSJ.com
hmmmmmm....
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Stinking drunk on the beach of my tropical island purchased with the proceeds from the signon options package you offered me here today.
btw, in dollar terms, outlays increased 47.7B, receipts increased 19.6B, so the deficit got larger yoy, but expressing the numbers in percentage terms makes it look like the problem is getting better.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
What is your greatest weakness?
Do people like working for you?
Is it OK to lie to close a business deal?
What is the proper grammatical use of the semicolon?
ghostfaceinvestah wrote:
Consensus was -$223 billion, so $2 billion less than predicted.
.
OT: Conn. is doing its best to raise revenue, bless their Yankee hearts.
In the civil lawsuit filed Wednesday, Attorney General Richard Blumenthal alleged Moody's and S&P knowingly assigned false ratings to complex investments that pushed the country into recession.
Connecticut AG sues Moody's, S&P over debt ratings - Yahoo! Finance
ghostfaceinvestah wrote:
I don't think CR believes the national debt or deficit is an issue. I thought I remembered a CR post to that effect.
Mike in Long Island,
From a manufacturing perspective, round is better. Round is also stronger. It's how a load is distributed.
There are many ways for manhole to be prevented from falling into the hole without too much fuss or cost.
You cannot make the manhole, or its supporting 'port-hole'(?) stronger or more durable without adding material/cost
Probably is just a legacy feature from building the simplest sewer system possible (round pipes, round shafts, round exits), but I wouldn't be surprised if manholes that had corners deformed due to heavy traffic or freezing/thawing cycles.
Mr Slippery wrote:
I suppose it only matters if our line of credit is recourse or non-recourse. Also, will our lenders have the cajones to try and foreclose on us. Hu knows?
JP wrote:
Best answer I ever heard (second hand) to the "where do you see yourself in 5 years": "well, your job would be nice."
Try: "Supervising you."
JP wrote:
Well, sometimes that just is a lie because it's the HR person and at other times it will only have the desired impact on someone you wouldn't want to be working with. Random person in an interview trying to get a job gives a canned compliment? I think it's a bad question that provides no informational value, but carries many risks for the person answering it.
And now we know why they pump the stock market (capital gains).
as the winky eye of an emoticon?
There was a lot of rail traffic in New York in the 70's.
More
& 
The peak oil crisis: the looming fiscal storm | Energy Bulletin
when I was an Associate Process Engineer getting my one year review I was asked what my career goals were. I replied with what I thought was the obvious answer and said I'd like to be CEO at some point.
They had never heard that one before. I was still to young and naive to realize if you are honest in corporate america, especially when dealing with HR, that can cause problems.
The AAR reports traffic in February 2010 was down 1.7% compared to February 2009
How can the world be still be here when we are below last year's TEOTWAWKI number?
OT
Just talked to a school board member in a neighboring rural county (virginia) about their budget. FY2011 budget will be set in stone in may but right now facing 10% cuts and are waiting to hear from state legislature (end of this week. He said 'forget about the state, if their contribution changes it will be DOWN) and county board of supervisors (unless a RE tax increase is passed the county's portion will not increase). If neither party comes through with additional $$'s the layoffs will be 83 (40 teachers, 43 administrators/staff). I find this an amazing number for such a small county.
Any economist/politico (especially clueless fed presidents) who doesn't mention the coming onslaught at the state/local level when discussing our 'recovery' I tune out.
Mr Slippery wrote:
Greatest weakness, I'm too willing to pick up other people's slack.
So long as they like to work, there is no one they would rather work for. Tell me about those who will be working for me
No, this is the stupidest question on earth. If you are going hire someone to lie to close a business deal, you do not want them blabbing about it in an interview.
When the sentences are linked in subject; each sentence before and after a semicolon are complete on their own. IRNGINEER lol wut iz iambic pentameter... you elitist prick... as a Parthian shot I bet you think the Philistines were uncultered and a backward people
Uncle Ar wrote:
good answer
WASHINGTON (AP) - February budget deficit hits record high of $220.9 billion with imbalance ahead of last year
(vll was fun today...its about tomatoes)
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
No, it was the potential future boss. The subtext was: Hire me so that I will crush you and move you aside.
File it under "throwing the interview".
Informational value = how good you are at answering canned bullshit questions without flying off the handle. Because let's face it: Big companies require dealing with a lot of canned bullshit.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Yes, a trite answer like that is good once, but if it's already been done, you'd be better off farting in their face.
I'd much rather use the 'where do you see yourself in 5 years?' question as an opportunity to talk about how previous opportunities have popped up unexpectedly, or new skills have been acquired, and how those were utilized to develop a career. Bottom line, you can't predict 5 years ahead.
Chief: "Here come iron horse."
Brave: "Iron horse kill all our buffalo. Bring bad white man to our lands. How do we stop it?"
Chief: "We must invent the car."
I also interviewed with someone who knew I was in a band in my spare time. He said, "what happens if your band starts doing better, are you going to quit this job?"
I knew he played basketball and so I replied with the following.
"If you were offered a starting job as point guard in the NBA, would you take it?" He said he would. I told him that the likelihood of my band making it big was similar to him making it in the NBA but on the off chance it happened, I was out the door ASAP. He hired me.
Jonathan wrote:
Approach I took last time I went through the interview process, as I approach my fifth anniversary with bigoil...and that I couldn't know the avenues within the company that would be available to me. Their follow up was what did I want in my work in that time then...to which I replied, "relevance".
JP
So what is a good answer, especially if you are not privy to the internal company structure and/or politics?
I hope to be on the moon as a tourist, my employee of the month reward, but loathing to go home to an undersized apartment that I can barely afford because I haven't seen a pay increase in 5 years while you and the company have become filthy rich off my work and I am in danger of scurvy after living on stale crackers?
or
I am definitely interested in making a long-term commitment to my next position. Judging by what you’ve told me about this position, it’s exactly what I’m looking for and what I am very well qualified to do. In terms of my future career path, I’m confident that if I do my work with excellence, opportunities will inevitable open up for me. It’s always been that way in my career, and I’m confident I’ll have similar opportunities here.”
I just have an aversion to BS. Short of wanting to escape a press conference without giving away bad soundbites, I don't see the utility. Am I wrong to assume people can easily tell when someone is telling them BS?
Mr Slippery wrote:
You mean there's another option???
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Yes.
As for manhole covers being round? Here's the answer you should have given them... "To entertain the maintenance crew - haven't YOU ever played manhole tiddley winks? I have."
The U.S. clearly needs to immediately change course and begin an all out assault on this snow phenomena!
For the funniest personal add ever, google "jo on rails".
energyecon wrote:
I would have said "Five years ago, I was a contract killer for the mob. I still kill in my spare time. Will this job allow me to stop killing people in five years or will it make me want to kill my co-workers? I'm not sure, but I am sure that if you don't give this job and let me find out, I will kill you." It is direct and effective.
Last interview I had 3 1/2 years ago was interesting. The owner of the company and I sat in the conference room and talked for about 3 hours about business and everything under the son! He must have liked what he heard because he made me an offer the next day
Still with the company......for now.....economy needs to pick up!
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
You're hired!
dryfly wrote:
Alternatively a good response might have been,
"Because when we outsourced the manufacture of the manhole covers to India and China, round manhole covers were cheaper than square ones to the tune of $.015 per cover. The savings enabled municipalities everywhere to fund ACORN so every house has a homeower as it should."
tncubsfan wrote:
You blackmailed him by telling him that you would out his son?
tncubsfan wrote:
His son or your son?
OT, Look like the EU is thinking about boldly going where the US is afraid to follow: Europe moves to ban credit default swaps - The Boston Globe
Just as the EU continued its anti-trust litigation against Microsoft, while Bush quickly had his DOJ settle the US anti-trust case.
Am I wrong to assume people can easily tell when someone is telling them BS?
There seem to be a number of conservative Catholics who believe that the high-powered Wall Street types in the Administration are closet communists who are plotting to turn the country and the whole world over to a secret cabal of survivors of the Politburo, and to the UN.
Trillion dollar bailouts, if they know about them at all, are apparently part of a grand deception.
How many Brooklyn Bridges are there?
Hahahahahaha It's about time someone did this.
Connecticut AG sues Moody's, S&P over debt ratings - Yahoo! Finance
Oh sorry JP, I missed your post up above.
azurite wrote:
That will be received as very good news - in NYC. Not so happy in London.
How about: because there are only two relative measurements that need to be supplied and no draftsman/engineer could possibly f*** them up.
Comrade Kristina wrote:
And they will just lower the credit ratings on Connecticut in return.
We're not afraid to follow; we're saving up for a tar and feathers party - although I'd prefer a few hangings.
pavel.chichikov wrote:
How many do you need?
Off to scrub data with AWK. Back laterz.
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
If "good" = you want the job in a company that considers it a valid question containing informational content:
It's entirely situational, and is measuring "how well does this person already understand the available career paths here" + "how well does this person present himself to a totally expected BS-type canned question."
Take a number.
It measures your BS capacity. BTW, mine isn't very high either.
For some people, it's a wrong assumption.
BTW, what do you do for your day job?
tncubsfan wrote:
Assuming you meant "sun" but that is the interview technique I employ when I've been roped into that process in the past - paper qualifications will have been met or that conversation would not have been happening - so who is that is knocking at the door?
ok, ok! Bad mistake by me.......Sun!!!!!!
Good interviewee technique
Bring two coffees. People are more agreeable when they are having coffee, rose coloured lenses. Even if they are tea drinker, the first line of interviewers are probably some HR people no one likes and they will be flattered, and thrilled at free stuff.
Make sure the two coffees are substantially different. Like one regular, 1 cream, 1 sugar. The other a Tall Latte with 2% no rGBH milk, and a shot of mint flavour but no whip cream because that is just clumsy during an interview. Overall the two choices are probably liked by most people, but the presentation and contrast of them make them seem exotic.
Then when they take one, go "oh, that's interesting..." and let them stumble onward
How many do you need?
That's what Dung shao-bing was supposed to have asked William Rogers (?) when Rogers told him that the US insisted on free emigration (sic!)
Sure. How many Chinese do you need? Ten million? Twelve million?: We'll have them for you by Thursday.
Assuming you meant "sun" but that is the interview technique I employ when I've been roped into that process in the past - paper qualifications will have been met or that conversation would not have been happening - so who is that is knocking at the door?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
I prefer bringing a tape recorder and a video camera. That really makes them stumble onward.
tncubsfan wrote:
Was it the Godfather?
Soooo much
I'm thinking that my time on Life is Beautiful is much better for my psyche.
tncubsfan wrote:
Yep, he knew you could do the job from the reference - he needed to have a better idea of who you are IMNSHO.
What is the deal with the decline in coal shipments anyway? Why?
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
I am about wetting myself. This could be taken soooo far in the right hands. Every five minutes you could have a different coworker bring in another choice... to interrupt and mess their heads up.
JP
I can't name my position without it being obvious which company in Canada I work for. A lot of the time I'm just a drone preparing the drone below me, a computer, to do some simulation. Involves radio waves
How about yourself? I look up to you and your time at Bell Labs... curious about what you do now, something in the defence-sector?
You obviously don't read this blog enough- global warming of course (ducks).
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Manhole covers are not round. They only appear round to people who lack the ability to look at problems from multiple perspectives.
My best interview story - ready to graduate from Chem E school & interviewing... went on a plant trip to a large ag processor in the Midwest - had six interviews lined up with different engineering managers - different product groups. I was to be there all day - flown in the night before and then flown out two days later [morning].
So I go to interview #1 - in the plant - he looks at me, looks at my resume, says 'looks great - don't have time to interview unit XYZ is acting up - you pass.' and then turns me over to the next guy. Same thing happens - happens at ALL the departments I'm dumped off at. Everywhere I go welding and building and people butt up hustling. Everyone of them blew me off - some were even no-shows.
Later the HR guy apologizes and says - 'well we are busy - that's why we are interviewing'... I tell him I liked what I saw... he takes me out for dinner and we get drunk.
:::
Two weeks later I'm at a large engineer & construction contractor in Houston... I have like three interviews set up. They are all program managers I would be working under - they seem to have all the time in the world - we BS, interview, BS some more - all day like that one after the other. They all tell me their companies will be busy soon - bidding jobs - will be awarded contracts any day.
They were 90% oil patch and it was 1981 just as the bottom was falling out from under oil prices.
Thank God I had the good sense to take the ag processing job although the offer was lower - I had six friends go to Houston to work for the big E & C firm - all lost their jobs & at least a few didn't get rehired for 2-3 years. I worked steady w/ big raises all through the first half of the 80s at that ag processor.
dryfly wrote:
Now there's a man who knows how to conduct a potential employer interview.
Ya Dawg - that was pretty much what happened.
I thought manholes are round to most efficiently distribute heavy weight of vehicles that pass over it. A round surface would distribute stress more evenly than a square one, no? That's my guess.
No specific orientation needed when putting it back.
Circles are mechanically an ideal shape in terms of hole area per diameter.
Circles don't have corners which are mechanically weak and make for more leakage.
Constructed holes tend to be circular for mechanical reasons.
Circles are easy to specifiy.
There are, in fact, other shapes (like the Rouleaux triangle) that would have the same won't fall into the hole property.
traderwalt wrote:
Seriously, there's bunch of reasons. The holes they cover are round. The castings are easier. Round can be rolled out of the way. The cover cannot ever fall down the hole. The least sharp/dangerous edges if it doesn't sit flush. And yes, your stress comment.
anyone reading the manhole-trivia are too smart to work at Google now
NateTG wrote:
From the synchronicity file, last night I was thinking about an old Martin Gardner column where he was talking about a drill bit that could drill squares.
Which is apparently, the above-mentioned triangle.
Rob Dawg wrote:
And most importantly - "It's the way it was always done, what are you, a trouble maker?"
dryfly wrote:
+1 Win
EvilHenryPaulson wrote:
Since Bell, I co-founded one company doing 40Gbps optical transmission (think internet bubble). My current company delivers full-broadcast video to TV stations (think commercials, news blurbs.) So my day is quite bursty, which is why I still have time for CR but pop in and out irregularly.
Manhole Covers
dryfly wrote:
All my career I've been tasked with different/better. Irrelevant skills in a cheaper faster defined lifecycle world. Although I should add I have done okay fixing the later when it didn't work.
Where did the name Manhole Cover come from?
JP
neat
NateTG wrote:
What Can You Say about Chocolate Covered Manhole Covers?
With the low volatility, a 30 point drop on the Dow looks really impressive.
I don't have a girlfriend, so the aliens are likely to choose someone else.
Edit:
Ooops, I thought you meant chocolate manhole covers. No idea about chocolate covered ones. Seems like a euphemism.
Reedit:
It's been a while. Apparently I'd lose a tooth if they'd picked me anyway.
btw, what rough freq range are you simulating?
noob goldberg wrote:
Really really really tempted to sell some bear call spreads here.
I'm actually wondering why Fido hasn't called me to see if I'm still alive, haven't traded in almost two months......
NateTG wrote:
Thanks Nate - if ever you are in an interview make sure to keep the URL handy... then rip them for all of us.
in cali the manhole covers are being securitized, tranched, sold off, leased back with a variable rate CDS with a 10 year balloon
i hear that train a comin;...
YouTube - Johnny Cash, Live@ S.Quentin - Folsom Prison Blues
Eric wrote:
That hasn't been said before? Comment by Rob Dawg from thread 'Lower Mortgage Rates as Economic Stimulus'
Comrade Elmer Fudd wrote:
You are waaaaaaaaaaay ahead. I figured you folks were still at the point of privatizing them and provide manholes tolls.
JP wrote:
You didn't happen to have HQ in Baltimore, did you?
arnie brought some financial innovation back from the future
"We bought the manhole covers back from the company that leased them to us so it's a one time expense instead of coming out of the monthly account."
Manhole covers are round because square tranches are too easy to understand.
No, silicon valley. You thinking Yafo? They had many good guys.
steelhead wrote:
Unbelievable! What about the Enron employees who lost all their retirement savings? And of course that's just the beginning of the list!
Rob Dawg wrote:
Please . . . I'm too much of a bake-head to remember stuff from last week, let alone last year.
gruntled wrote:
Screw those guys! What about poic, Eric, and myself who lost money on SRS thinking that RE prices would have to go down?! We are the true victims of this new era!
"Everybody talking to their pockets. Everybody wants a box of chocolates..."
--Leonard Cohen (Everybody Knows)
Apparently you folks haven't been to Nashua, NH. Theirs are triangular, only place I've seen that.
JP
enough GHz to wow me
NateTG wrote:
So these are really Mezzanine Covers? Now I get it.
are the men triangular as well?
StickyDownside wrote:
I've seen it. Definitely alien, possibly Dalek.
Manhole covers are round because a^2 + b^2 = c^2
duh.
Oil 81.82 +0.33 +0.41%
Senate approves extension of jobless benefits - MarketWatch
votes are in. UI extension is
Read for yourself the possible reasons here.
From the Wiki:
Other manhole shapes can be found, usually squares or rectangles. Nashua, New Hampshire may be unique in the U.S. for having triangular manhole covers that point in the direction of the underlying flow. The city is phasing out the triangles, which were made by a local foundry, because they are not large enough to meet modern safety standards, and larger triangles cannot be found.
Sounds like fun.
Your own sim or things like Ansoft/Maxwell?
jp-
I actually gave that answer a few years back......I got the job. I learned later that the manager that posed that question to me was totally opposed to my hiring. Within 1 year I had his job......sometimes it works but you have to sprinkle it with a huge dose of humility.
Ciao
MS
yagij wrote:
Wow.. hadn't even looked at that POS recently....
A solid 6 handle.
Hahaha ( grapple ) hehe ( nervous ) hahaha sure it does
YouTube - The Grateful Dead - Casey Jones (1971)
as they try to grapple with the $12.5 trillion national debt
IWBHYWBH
Comrade Elmer Fudd wrote:
I Will Be Here; You Will Be Here?
Finally, by close reading of this dork, it's obvious the Bush Admin...remember who they were as they're still alive and free, walking the streets... BF'd the faith based and the snookered new "home owners".
"CFTC Chairman Gensler urges end to derivatives secrecy
By Aline van Duyn
Financial Times, London
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
A leading US financial regulator on Tuesday called for the prices of derivatives trades to be disclosed in the same way as stock prices, saying only large Wall Street banks benefited from the current lack of transparency.
Gary Gensler, chairman of the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), said standard credit default swaps and other privately traded over-the-counter derivatives needed drastic reform, reflecting their role in the financial crisis.
His call came as European leaders including Angela Merkel, German chancellor, called for a clampdown on speculative trading in sovereign credit default swaps, which offer investors protection against a government default.
"The only parties that benefit from a lack of transparency are Wall Street dealers," Mr Gensler told a New York derivatives conference. "Right now we have a dealer-dominated world, and that nearly drove us off a cliff."
Mr Gensler, a former Goldman Sachs executive, said: "To promote public transparency, standard over-the-counter derivatives should be traded on exchanges or other trading platforms." He also called for explicit regulation of derivatives dealers and the use of clearing for standard OTC derivatives.
zxxxx
And what was Gensler doing during this period of time? Sucking on cigars (apologies to the cigar industry)? That SOB's agency had the responsibility to speak up but under a Bush blanket of dead headedness, no bureaucrat would show their head from under their salaried rock. That SOB FCXKed us.
Recommendations? From Gensler? Bullogna. From Slumdog? Resign, Gensler. Resign Right Now.
Budget deficit sets record in February - Yahoo! Finance
Stunning if true:
"It’s another modern day record for unemployment in Sacramento and is up from a rate of 12.2 percent in December.
Retail jobs declined by 3,400 in the month, followed by a loss of 2,400 jobs in professional and business services, specifically administrative, support, waste management and remediation services, which declined by 2,100 jobs.
Government was the only job category with significant gains in January."
Unemployment tops 13 percent in Sacramento region: bizjournals.com Business News - MSN Money
Government employment rising significantly in Sacramento?
gruntled wrote:
What about the taxpayers that they're asking to hold the bag?
Bush
Obama
Forget them, I would concentrate your anger on your congressional figures more than the latter, they write the laws.
The puppet just signs them.
Slumdog wrote:
Now my day is complete.
some investor guy wrote:
yes, State Senator Ashburn, the right wing closeted queer, busted driving to hotel after leaving Faces last week... He and his staff will soon be gone from Sacto, too. Is that right wing hypocrite a Democrat? Nodda chance. (And the Demo's are filled with their own tripe, too.)
Cinco-X wrote:
What about the taxpayers that they're asking to hold the bag?
The donkeys and elephants are lined up and fully loaded...
Woo hoo! I got interviewed for my book. Nothing major but I explained how it all started with posts here!
Self-Publishing Review — Blog — American Apocalypse by Nova
Eric, here's some advice. Pile on to SRS. Join Black Swan who sank some millions of bucks for those who took his advice about a year and a half ago.
Oh, you're in SRS. OK. Double down.
At least the internet is fairly inexpensive.
Today is a bad day. The banksters are winning. The public is like a lousy lover, losing their ability to sustain their erection over their embarrassed position of their favorite politicians sticking it to them. (except CA State Senator Ashburn who must really miss that from his jail cell in Bakersfield CA. That guy's outing and arrrest are indicative of the reason the USD is what was on Assburn's appendage when busted.
Government employment rising significantly in Sacramento?
but the rate of change of the increase is less than the rate of change of the budget deficit
some investor guy wrote:
The EDD is probably hiring bigtime.
scone wrote:
Damn! You ARE nerdy...
Eric wrote:
Really? How are your "puts" doing?
Bob Dobbs wrote:
They've notified me they're coming to audit my company's ass later this month. What fools. They'll find nothing as we're straight as an arrow, even require the posting of all those stupid signs, to boot. What a waste of CA taxpayer money.
Cinco-X wrote:
I don't get the Dalek reference. Daleks don't do stairs; they level buildings.
Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis: Regional Employment Report: Unemployment Rate up in 30 States, Down in 9; Manufacturing States Benefit Most
What's Our Credit Limit Again? - The Market Ticker
Predictably short on the details of bad news but the bloomie article hints at it:
Unemployment Fell in Nine U.S. States as Michigan Made Headway - Bloomberg.com
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Unemployment decreased in nine U.S. states in January, led by an improvement in Michigan that demonstrates factories are driving the economic rebound.
Michigan’s jobless rate fell to 14.3 percent, still the highest in the nation, from 14.5 percent in December, according to figures issued today by the Labor Department in Washington. New York and New Jersey were among the eight states where unemployment decreased by a tenth of a point.
...
Today’s state breakdown showed employment, which is calculated by a survey of businesses, increased in 31 states, led by California, Illinois and New York. Missouri and Ohio showed the biggest payroll decreases at the start of the year.
....
Unemployment in California, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and the District of Columbia climbed to the highest levels since records began in 1976.
....
Cinco-X wrote:
Theta'd into almost nothingness.
yagij wrote:
IIRC, they're conical, i.e. a triangle rotated about an axis.
Eric wrote:
Then I guess you day IS complete
Unemployment in California, Florida, Georgia, North and South Carolina and the District of Columbia climbed to the highest levels since records began in 1976.
So worse than the early 80's. Not really progress.
since records began in 1976
pretty clever, whoever thought of keeping records in '76
Rail Traffic. Warren Buffet owns a pile of RR cars and a RR. He's of course skipping over the current economic mess, just like the US public is now being trained to do. Wonder how that's coming? High speed rail? In the US? With kids screwing with the tracks, all the time? Nodda chance.
nova wrote:
Very cool, nova
Eric wrote:
Feel the burn!
Thanks energycon.
Rail traffic, especially this time of year, after the harvests, means less from overseas coming in? The big train I see every day usually has a handful of shipping containers from China on it. The number of them has been dropping.
good job nova.
keep it up.
Cinco-X wrote:
Don't really have to weep for them anymore, much like I wouldn't weep for a losing Mega-Millions ticket.
Welcome to the United States of Iceland - Mar. 10, 2010
Bloomberg.com wrote:
It's unemployment that increased, of course. That's not even spin, is it?
nova wrote:
Weird that UE is so low on the plains this time - we got hammered in the 80s. Like they took the Dakota's & Iowa & Nebraska and shook them. Exact opposite this time. I even see 'Hiring' signs in some of the towns I pass through. Saw a billboard where a machine shop had listed their openings & a number to call... I was with a guy who came from out east on a joint biz trip to the Midwest - he about got whiplash making the double take when he saw that billboard.
HomeGnome is in Portland!
Black Hat, I am finishing AA II and getting ready to send it to the editor. The story line reflects an idea from mp that I read here. Much
Eric wrote:
From depression to acceptance. Is that the step? Congrads; you're near the end
HomeGnome wrote:
Maine?
I was looking at my Social Security statement with my earnings over the years. 1981 to 1983 were ugly. One meal a day ugly.
Well this is one way to deal with a possible scandal...
Chief exorcist Father Gabriele Amorth says Devil is in the Vatican
Thought it was interesting he mentioned the Swiss Guard Captain case...
Cinco-X wrote:
Getting my pilot's license next!
Cinco,
Oregon.
Vonbek777 wrote:
"Swiss Guard Case"?
.
Edit: Nvm.
Why the Trade Deficit Matters So Much | Politics | Financial Articles & Investing News | TheStreet.com
Don't worry about my SRS.
Back when I thought I knew what the hell I was doing. [2008 time period where even Cramer could throw darts at a board full of short-positions and make out like a bandit] I rolled my winnings in SRS/SKF into a closet full of
Now on years like 2009/2010 all I do is put on my
and my 
so that I can't see the stain created by the pos short-positions I didn't sell.
I'm gonna go make a a nice big container of
and speak to my neighbors about house prices this afternoon.
"Swiss Guard Case"?
Something to do with chocollate, a nun, and a dwarf named Pious
yagij wrote:
Incorrect. See picture: Dalek - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Congrats, nova. Pretty good writeup.
HomeGnome wrote:
Used to be some nice micro-breweries there; maybe Jim or Scone will chime in..........
trade deficit, now that is a retro worry
Thanks AB.
HomeGnome wrote:
How's the old stomping ground, then?
Scone,
My first time in Portland, Or.
Gnomester, I stayed in a hotel there. I would leave my window open at night. In the am all you can smell is coffee brewing
yagij,
types at the time were yelling it was proof that the world was ending. Anti-Catholic nuts were saying it was proof the Antichrist was in the Vatican. This little story will give the nutters another ten years of foaming at the mouth.
Happened a while back, murder/suicide....much pressure to make the story go away as quick as possible. I thought it was very suspicious at the time.
From the above linked article:
'He claimed that another example of satanic behaviour was the Vatican "cover-up" over the deaths in 1998 of Alois Estermann, the then commander of the Swiss Guard, his wife and Corporal Cedric Tornay, a Swiss Guard, who were all found shot dead. "They covered up everything immediately," he said. "Here one sees the rot".
A remarkably swift Vatican investigation concluded that Corporal Tornay had shot the commander and his wife and then turned his gun on himself after being passed over for a medal. However Tornay's relatives have challenged this. There have been unconfirmed reports of a homosexual background to the tragedy and the involvement of a fourth person who was never identified.'
dryfly wrote:
Weird that UE is so low on the plains this time - we got hammered in the 80s. Like they took the Dakota's & Iowa & Nebraska and shook them.
Sounds like a sustainable economy. Agriculture, food processing, manufacturing, small shops making and fixing stuff people need, and people used to buying local. Add in a smattering of high-end bubble industry (finance, law, medicine, a bit of tech startup) Aside from metro areas things never took off to the same speculative heights here... less wages, less faux wealth appreciation, but also less far to fall and quicker to rebound. Funny because I was always taught that big cities meant economic security as you could always find another firm at which to peddle your trade and/or wares.
nova,
We are staying at Modera hotel.
Gnome, I forgot what mine was called. It was downtown is all I remember.
burnside wrote:
They could see nominal job increases and an increase in the unemployment rate due to denominator changes...
nova,
I lived on nothing but rice for a few weeks back in college
Nova, Great interveiw. Congrats!!!!!
The great difficulty with the predictions of a slow. choppy recovery is the assumption that there can be stability at a low level of economic activity. For many businesses, there cannot be. They've carried employees for a long time, giving up profits to do so. That can't go on forever.