Archive for the 'Economy' Category
U.S. Deficit Climbs to 1.3 Trillion Dollars
August 7th, 2009Via: AFP: The US budget deficit reached 1.3 trillion dollars for the current fiscal year in July, official data showed, news set to fuel opposition to US President Barack Obama’s ambitious health care and climate change proposals. The deficit for the first 10 months of fiscal year 2009, which began October 1, reached 1.3 trillion […]
BUSTED: FED SECRETLY MONETIZING DEBT; COLLUDING WITH DEALERS
August 7th, 2009Via: Chris Martenson: Just last week, when the auction results were announced it was trumpeted to great fanfare that there was “more than sufficient” bid-to-cover, “strong demand” and all the rest. And now it turns out that 47% (!) of the bonds that were taken by the primary dealers in that auction have been quietly […]
Billions for Electric Car Battery Research
August 6th, 2009Mmm hmm. Via: Green Biz: President Barack Obama opened a $2.4 billion war chest aimed at catapulting the U.S. forward in the race to develop and mass-produce electric vehicles and batteries. The U.S. Department of Energy announced the list of 48 grant recipients Wednesday in what is being called the largest ever investment in hybrid […]
Green Shoots: About Half of U.S. Mortgages Seen Underwater by 2011
August 6th, 2009Via: Reuters: The percentage of U.S. homeowners who owe more than their house is worth will nearly double to 48 percent in 2011 from 26 percent at the end of March, portending another blow to the housing market, Deutsche Bank said on Wednesday. Home price declines will have their biggest impact on prime “conforming” loans […]
Croudsourced WooWoo Trading Experiment
August 5th, 2009I have a nice gain on a stock trade that is live in the market now. Earnings are about to be released. I have written out options on how to proceed. Below are four different randomly generated 16 character strings. One of those corresponds to the optimal course of action to take. Optimal means that […]
Goldman Sachs Employees Told Not to Make Big Purchases
August 4th, 2009NSFW Audio: Via: Reuters: Goldman Sachs Group Inc Chief Executive Lloyd Blankfein told employees to avoid making high profile purchases, the New York Post said, citing sources. Blankfein, who first asked employees to avoid large purchases late last year, has stepped up his campaign in recent weeks, a source told the paper. “This is a […]
Dollar: USDX Rangebound
August 4th, 2009WARNING: This is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold any financial instrument. When an important support is taken out, there can be a period of limbo where the asset is drawn back around the support. I don’t know why this happens, but it’s a eerie thing to watch. The USDX has been doing […]
U.S. Antidepressant Use Doubled Between 1996 and 2005
August 4th, 2009Must read: Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption. Via: Reuters: Use of antidepressant drugs in the United States doubled between 1996 and 2005, probably because of a mix of factors, researchers reported on Monday. About 6 percent of people were prescribed an antidepressant in 1996 — 13 million people. This rose to more […]
Federal Tax Revenues Plummeting
August 4th, 2009Via: AP: The recession is starving the government of tax revenue, just as the president and Congress are piling a major expansion of health care and other programs on the nation’s plate and struggling to find money to pay the tab. The numbers could hardly be more stark: Tax receipts are on pace to drop […]
Drug Companies & Doctors: A Story of Corruption
August 3rd, 2009Via: New York Review of Books: Since drug companies don’t have direct access to human subjects, they need to outsource their clinical trials to medical schools, where researchers use patients from teaching hospitals and clinics, or to private research companies (CROs), which organize office-based physicians to enroll their patients. Although CROs are usually faster, sponsors […]
