Archive for the 'Economy' Category
A Scene from a Los Angeles Freeway On Ramp
August 3rd, 2009I like it, but the artist botches the job by using “socialism” as the tagline. When I think of socialism, I think of the Scandinavian countries. While I don’t find those models socialism desirable, by a lot of measures, those countries are pretty good places to live. The U.S., on the other hand, suffers under […]
Detroit: Feral Houses
August 2nd, 2009Must see. Via: Sweet Juniper: I’ve seen “feral” used to describe dogs, cats, even goats. But I have wondered if it couldn’t also be used to describe certain houses in Detroit. Abandoned houses are really no big deal here. Some estimate that there are as many as 10,000 abandoned structures at any given time, and […]
Off Topic: Calculate Digital Roots of Close Prices in EasyLanguage
August 1st, 2009I wanted to plot the digital roots of close prices in MultiCharts/EasyLanguage. For example, a close is 1.29. That is: 1+2+9 = 12, then 1+2 = 3. The result is 3. It took me awhile to figure out how to implement the modulo operation properly in EasyLanguage, but I did it and I thought I’d […]
CALIFORNIA’S MORTGAGE DEFAULT RATE SOARS TO 9.5%
July 31st, 2009Via: Los Angeles Times: About 1 in 10 Californians with a home loan is now in default, and there’s growing evidence that the mortgage meltdown is spreading to commercial real estate. The home mortgage delinquency rate — the percentage of borrowers who have missed several payments and are in the first stage of foreclosure — […]
Pushed by Recession, Millions Make Dramatic Job Changes
July 31st, 2009Via: USA Today: The automotive industry was the only life Ed Wozniak knew. As a teenager, he would take apart vintage cars, soup them up and put them back together in a weekend. His father was a machine repairman, and Wozniak got an apprenticeship doing similar work for Chrysler. But in late 2007, after he […]
Recession Worse Than Prior Estimates, Revisions Show
July 31st, 2009Can we get some green shoots in here? What’s that? Tim and Ben said to charge em? Oh ok! Via: Bloomberg: The first 12 months of the U.S. recession saw the economy shrink more than twice as much as previously estimated, reflecting even bigger declines in consumer spending and housing, revised figures showed. The world’s […]
Afghanistan: U.S. Surgeons Drafted in as British Medics Exhausted by Casualty Surge
July 31st, 2009Well, nobody said that a turf war over opium was going to be a walk in the park. Via: Times Online: The surge in British casualties in Afghanistan has left military surgeons so exhausted that a US surgical team has been drafted in to help. The British doctors have also been overwhelmed with casualties from […]
GDP Splat: How ‘Bout That Dollar?
July 31st, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. Wee! I already wrote the main commentary to the upcoming phase of the game back here: Dollar Finally Breaking Down 77.688 is the last chance support on the USDX anywhere around these levels. The next stop is likely the 71-72 zone. […]
Weak Treasury Auctions Raise Worries About US Debt Burden
July 30th, 2009Via: CNBC / Reuters: The U.S. Treasury sold $39 billion in five-year debt Wednesday in an auction that drew poor demand, raising worries over the cost of financing the government’s burgeoning budget deficit. It was the second lackluster showing in as many days, convincing analysts that the stellar results of debt auctions just a few […]
Florida: 32 Story Luxury Condo Complex with Only One Unit Occupied
July 30th, 2009Surreal. Via: News Press: Victor Vangelakos lives in a luxury condominium tower on the Caloosahatchee River. He never has to worry about the neighbors making too much noise. There are no neighbors. Vangelakos, 45, his wife Cathy and their three children are the only residents in the 32-story Oasis I condo on the east edge […]
