Jolly_Rancher

Total Rating:
+15 / -13

61 Comments

    • Fri Nov 21st 16:12 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Buffett's Gamble: $40 Billion Bet on Volatility
      Assuming the seller's still viable to make good on those BRK CDS.


      On Nov 21 02:39 PM ThinkRight wrote:

      > Buffet got close to 11.25% ($4.5B for $40B)premium for the insurance
      > he sold. CDS for Berkshire comes out to be ($440K for $10M) 4.4%.
      > Even if Buffest buys CDS for full amount for Berkshire default he
      > makes 6.85 and gets off the hook ! :-)
      View article »
    • Tue Nov 18th 13:58 PM | Rating: +1 -1
      Commented on:
      D-Day: Does Deflation Draw Near?
      The core rate was actually up. What we're seeing is the effect of wild swings in the energy markets on the PPI. Just a few months ago with oil at 147, many of the same chicken littles were clamoring about inflation going to the moon and the collapse of all - especially the dollar. Now the chicken littles are clamoring about deflation ravaging the economy and the collapse of all civilization. Wild swings in energy prices are part of our lives, an evil that we don't seem to be able to get around. I wish the manic-depressive armchair economists would pipe down.
      View article »
    • Sun Nov 16th 22:37 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Number of U.S. Homes With Negative Equity Is Stunning
      Lin, Your post brings tears to my eyes. Very true and I have posted the very same on other message boards. I wish it weren't true. But we are in for a very tough road. The only thing that can save America is a sudden burst of efficiency (i.e. productivity) that boggles the mind. Where this would come from, I cannot see now. Maybe a sudden, easily implemented free form of power such as fusion. Remember, petroleum is about 3/8 of our trade deficit. Maybe, if consumers completely forsook the automobile for motocycles and small three wheelers. Automobile is about 3/8 of the trade deficit. The two together would begin to put this country on a better path. I know this sounds like pie-in-the-sky, but can someone tell me where the productivity improvements are going to come from to overcome our quickly sinking economy?

      On Nov 14 02:00 AM Lin wrote:

      > Jolly-Rancher
      >
      > The baby boom generation lost 40-50 % of their " retirement funds
      > " in the market cash of 2000-2001 .Now , they have lost 40-70 %
      > of their portfolios for a 2nd time . Add to this , losing 30-40 %
      > of their home equity , depending on location .Lots of them are now
      > being dismissed from their jobs . This will truely be worse than
      > the great depression . All of the boomers I know , myself included
      > , grew up modestly , worked their way thru college + worked very
      > hard thru out life . When you have 78-80 million folks hit multiple
      > times during their lives , I personally can't think of a way most
      > of them will be able to survive . I feel for the younger folks coming
      > up now as their futures are not bright . Their employment options
      > aren't going to be great given the effect " globalization + outsourcesing
      > ' of US jobs has had on the US job market. I have told my own sister
      > that " she ought to consider moving to the middle east or Hong Kong
      > ".What are they supposed to do ? A very good question /concern.
      View article »
    • Sun Nov 16th 22:17 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Reich's Reasons for a New Fiscal Stimulus Bill
      I agree with you completely. First, it's double taxation on corporations and then on the owners. Second, I do not believe that a corporation should be treated as a person for the purposes of taxation. As long as owners keep the money (a.k.a. savings) in the corporation (a.k.a. in their investment), that money should not be taxable. Exxon pays more tax than all of the citizens of the U.S. combined. And Obama wants to tax Exxon even more?? I like Obama, but that's why I didn't vote for him. We should put Exxon to work drilling in California, Florida and the Northeast now -- put Exxon et al's billions of investment dollars to work building jobs here in America and reducing our trade deficit.

      Have a great evening!
      Jolly Rancher


      On Nov 16 02:31 PM !RuleNoRules wrote:

      > It's the taxes rates on corporations. Bracket creep is crushing them.
      > This is the same as under Carter. Reagan cut taxes on individuals,
      > the economy came back and revenues went up. We need huge rates cuts
      > on corporations. The law of diminishing returns is in full effect,
      > a tax hike will reduce revenue and a tax cut will increase revenue
      > just like in the 80's. Only huge retroactive tax cute on corporations
      > will save jobs stimulate spending and fix this economy.
      View article »
    • Sun Nov 16th 22:03 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Apple (AAPL) has captivated the general public with the iPhone, but has a way to go before conquering the business arena. Time for Apple to prove to stodgy CIOs it's enterprise friendly. (Tom Krazit)
      We have a 150 users. All of them are heavy mobile email users. We give them a choice between the iPhone and a Blackberry of their choice. Only a few choose iPhone. No one chooses Storm. The overwhelming favorite is Curve to Bold. The overwhelming reason is speed advantage in processing email.


      On Nov 14 09:53 PM MightBuyOneNow wrote:

      > Complete disagreement. I've had my iPhone for 2 months now and no
      > longer miss the keyboard after I learned to just 'go fast and trust'.
      > I guess RIM now agrees since the very cool Storm has no keyboard.
      > I don't know how they left wi-fi out of the Storm though.
      >
      > Choice of screen space vs. Physical keyboard....winner is definitely
      > screen size!
      View news story »
    • Fri Nov 14th 17:08 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      U.S. Trade Deficit Up in September: Job Losses Mount
      TRADE DEFICIT SOLUTION: EASY

      A) Remove regulatory barriers, and the best two place to remove those barriers is drilling and nuclear. Open drilling in California, Florida and the Northeast. Streamline approval for construction of nuclear power. Just those two changes alone would directly create hundreds of thousands of jobs and lower fuel costs and lower the trade deficit and require no new government spending. How can you beat that?

      B) Furthermore, the government should directly tax high pollution fuels and high pollution users. Coal has to go, unless the process is clean coal.

      C) Also, the time is ripe for a government sponsored health care system for those who wish to participate. This would remove an enormously expensive burden on businesses, allowing them to be more competitive with foreign business.

      D) Lastly, the government should restructure the EPA from a watch-dog agency to a service agency. The EPA should be responsible for hazardous waste disposal. This would remove another enormous burden from business.

      Jolly Rancher
      View article »
    • Fri Nov 14th 15:31 PM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Apple (AAPL) has captivated the general public with the iPhone, but has a way to go before conquering the business arena. Time for Apple to prove to stodgy CIOs it's enterprise friendly. (Tom Krazit)
      The first step was activesync. The next step is a fast qwerty keyboard. The T.S. keyboard is too slow for quick email processing on the go.
      View news story »
    • Fri Nov 14th 14:23 PM | Rating: +3 0
      Commented on:
      Reich's Reasons for a New Fiscal Stimulus Bill
      Government spending alone won't do the trick. And it doesn't have to be government spending at all. Ask yourself what it is that needs to be done? We need to become more efficient. Efficiency brings prosperity. Government can cause efficiency with infrastructure projects that facilitate the movement of goods and people. Government can streamline regulatory processes so things like nuclear power plants and refineries can be built with reasonable costs. Government can streamline the legal process, so corporations do not have to fear being dragged into court by thousands of people for things like hot coffee. One of the best ways the government could help make America more efficient is to build out our wired and wireless network. Bringing fiber to the home and wireless to every city would be a huge boost for businesses and consumers.

      A stimulus check is a waste of money. In past recessions it might have bought some time to help weather the recession (aka growing pain), but this recession is not a growing pain. It's old age hitting. Just giving money to people to spend on Chinese goods is pretty loony.
      View article »
    • Fri Nov 14th 11:25 AM | Rating: 0 0
      Commented on:
      Microsoft Online Store May Drive Another Nail in Retail Coffin
      Seems like Microsoft is a decade behind in this.
      View article »
    • Thu Nov 13th 21:11 PM | Rating: +1 0
      Commented on:
      Number of U.S. Homes With Negative Equity Is Stunning
      It is true that 30% of homes are unencumbered by mortgage; however, the average age of the unencumbered homeowner is probably near retirement. With stock prices at multi-decade lows and interest paying nearly 0%, what are these people supposed to retire on? Most were probably depending on the sale of the home for retirement to a assisted living quarter. To sum up, a 30% home markdown hurts everyone, in real life, not just on paper.


      On Nov 12 02:55 PM Flash Gordon wrote:

      > I have two issues with this article:
      >
      > 1) one third of the people in the u.s. own their houses free and
      > clear. I'm not sure what the geographic distribution of these free
      > and clear owners are but I have read this in many places.
      >
      > 2) most prices are still above where there were in 2003-2004. Could
      > 30% of the homes turned over or been refinanced to close to assessed
      > value in the time since 2003/2004?
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 12th 17:06 PM | Rating: +2 0
      Commented on:
      Contrarian Investing
      It's hard to be a contrarian because it's impossible to know what everyone is thinking in order to be on the other side. Maybe you can just try to see what people are doing instead of what they are saying or thinking. Not easy. One day most people are buying; the next day they're selling. One day the news is great; the next horrible. My point is that you can only be a contrarian in hindsight. Trying to be one is like grabbing smoke. The answer is to have a core set of beliefs as to how markets and economies operate and act on those beliefs. That might mean losing, but losing based on your beliefs is better than losing based on trying to be the opposite of someone you can't see, hear or touch.

      Have a great day.
      Jolly Rancher
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 12th 14:17 PM | Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      Fed's Positive Inflation Maneuvers Bullish for Commodities
      Looking at the Fed's balance sheet, what evidence do you have that the Fed is actually printing money rather than using the proceeds of newly sold Treasury debt?
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 12th 08:24 AM | Rating: +3 0
      Commented on:
      Paul Krugman + Al Gore = The Way Forward
      The best way to "create" jobs is to remove regulatory barriers, and the best two places to remove those barriers is drilling and nuclear. Open drilling in California, Florida and the Northeast. Streamline approval for construction of nuclear power. Just those two changes alone would create hundreds of thousands of jobs and lower fuel costs and lower the trade deficit and require no new government spending. How can you beat that?

      Furthermore, the government should directly tax high pollution fuels and high pollution users. Coal has to go, unless the process is clean coal.

      Also, the time is ripe for a government sponsored health care system for those who wish to participate. This would remove an enormously expensive burden on businesses, allowing them to be more competitive with foreign business.

      Lastly, the government should restructure the EPA from a watch-dog agency to a service agency. The EPA should be responsible for hazardous waste disposal. This would remove another enormous burden from business.

      The solution is to take some of what Krugman/Gore/OBAMA says regarding coal, pollution, wind, CAFE standards etc PLUS some of what McCain said regarding new drilling, nuclear, and CAFE standards. The fix is in the middle.

      Have a great day,
      Jolly Rancher
      View article »
    • Wed Nov 12th 08:06 AM | Rating: +2 0
      Commented on:
      Number of U.S. Homes With Negative Equity Is Stunning
      The banks can't afford to take the loss either by foreclosure or modification. The losses are simply too great either way. Especially since the coming foreclosure due to Alt-a and prime and many foreclosures due to the deep economic crunch. It's going to be an avalanche that wipes out all of the bank equity and more. Get ready for the deep six.

      Jolly Rancher
      View article »
    • Sun Nov 9th 22:51 PM | Rating: 0 -1
      Commented on:
      The Winners Will Be Those Who Look to Gold and Commodities
      Your tone makes your post difficult to respond to. There is not enough savings to generate a million dollar stimulus check. As I said, the government can only borrow from people who have cash to lend. And I did not say things looked sanguine. Cutting government services is distinctively possible over the next year and I doubt anyone is going to like it including people who have been demanding it. We are in a serious deflationary spiral that has already wrecked commodity prices and threatens to shackle them down for the next several years. Answer this: how is the government bail out going to be inflationary when the banks won't loan the bailout money? Has it occurred to you that in a deflationary economy there are few profitable business projects that require loans. Businesses now are borrowing just to stay afloat. If you're a bank, do you continue loaning to a customer who is just trying to stay afloat? No. This is not looking good for the economy or commodities.


      On Nov 09 08:01 PM huskerbob wrote:

      > "Currency value is determined by relative cost of inputs to the manufacturing
      > process." "Debt in and of itself is not inflationary and does
      > not determine currency value. Government cutting services is deflationary."
      >
      > Fantastic! Now that I know that debt and currency supply don't determine
      > currency value, I am wondering: where is my million dollar stimulus
      > check? Why not send a million dollars to everyone on earth? Then
      > just cut the government budget to strengthen the dollar. That should
      > get the economy going! Things are looking up!
      > Also, if our government cuts service to US citizens in order to pay
      > foreign debtholders, will anyone be upset?
      View article »
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