Archive for the 'Economy' Category
Britain: ‘Retirement As We Know It Is Over’
September 7th, 2010Via: BBC: Nearly three quarters of people believe retirement as we currently understand it will not be possible in the future, a BBC Newsnight poll has suggested. Some 70% of the 1,000 asked thought it would not be feasible for people to stop work then live on a pension for up to 30 years, the […]
Obama’s New Deal Spit Balls
September 6th, 2010ZeroHedge saved me from having to look up how much the dollar has been diluted: The New Deal cost America $50 billion in 1930s dollars. How the times have changed – today the White House will announce a new and improved New(er) Deal, which will invest $50 billion in a 3Rs sequel – road, rail […]
U.S. Navy Makes $3 Billion “Hostage Payment” to HP for Crappy Computer Network
September 6th, 2010Via: Wired: Normally, it’s hard to get anyone but the geeks fired up about information infrastructure. But the Navy Marine Corps Intranet isn’t your normal network. With 700,000+ seats, it’s the world’s second-biggest network, after the internet itself. NMCI’s technical complexities and hiccups are the stuff of dark legend around the Navy. The fights it’s […]
Blackwater: The Cutout Formed Cutouts
September 4th, 2010Via: New York Times: Blackwater Worldwide created a web of more than 30 shell companies or subsidiaries in part to obtain millions of dollars in American government contracts after the security company came under intense criticism for reckless conduct in Iraq, according to Congressional investigators and former Blackwater officials. While it is not clear how […]
Baffled White House Economic Adviser Heads Back to Berkeley
September 3rd, 2010Via: Washington Post: It wasn’t the food; it was the entertainment. Christina Romer, chairman of President Obama’s Council of Economic Advisers, was giving what was billed as her “valedictory” before she returns to teach at Berkeley, and she used the swan song to establish four points, each more unnerving than the last: She had no […]
Russia Extends Wheat Export Ban
September 3rd, 2010Via: Bloomberg: Wheat rose in Chicago after Russia, the world’s third-largest grower, extended a ban on grain exports into next year, raising the prospect of higher food prices that already have sparked riots in Mozambique. Wheat for December delivery rose as much as 1.5 percent to $7.2475 a bushel, advancing for a third day and […]
SEC Investigating High Frequency Trading: My Voice Is Higher Than Your Voice
September 3rd, 2010WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. “Manipulating share prices to benefit from the distortions would be considered illegal.” *chortle* It’s not illegal, it’s innovation! Rest assured, though, the SEC is going to sort it out. *double chortle* Are you betting your financial future on the stock market? […]
JPMorgan Said to End Proprietary Trading to Meet Volcker Rule
September 2nd, 2010Hmm. This is hard to believe. I smell a swindle in here somewhere, but I can’t point to anything specific. Are they really going to roll this up? Note how the article states that they’re firing between 50 and 75 employees. For a firm like Morgan, this means that room fulls of black box developers […]
Karzai’s Brother Calls for U.S. to Shore Kabul Bank as Withdrawals Accelerate
September 2nd, 2010Dear Uncle $ugar, We have replenished our supply of suitcases and we’re ready to fill them up and head to the airport. Send money soon. Love and kisses, The Karzai Clan In other news: Brother of Afghan Leader Is Said to Be on CIA Payroll Afghan Drug Trade: “Most of the government officials are involved.” […]
Monsanto Takes 19.9% Stake in InterGrain
September 1st, 2010Tentacles here. Tentacles there. Tentacles everywhere. Via: Sydney Morning Herald: West Australian cereal breeder InterGrain Pty Ltd has partnered with global grains developer Monsanto to develop tougher, higher-yielding types of wheat. Under the collaboration, Monsanto has taken a 19.9 per cent stake in InterGrain for an undisclosed sum. If the collaboration is a success, it […]
