Recovery: Jobless Claims Rise by Largest Amount in 3 Months
May 20th, 2010Via: AP:
The number of people filing new claims for unemployment benefits unexpectedly rose last week by the largest amount in three months. The surge is evidence of how volatile the job market remains, even as the economy grows.
Applications for unemployment benefits rose to 471,000 last week, up by 25,000 from the previous week, the Labor Department said Thursday. It was the first increase in five weeks and the biggest jump since a gain of 40,000 in February.
The forecast had been for claims to fall by around 4,000 from the previous week.
Nine Chipmakers Fined by EU for Price-Fixing
May 19th, 2010Via: BBC:
Nine chip makers have been fined 331m euros (£283.1m, $404.2m) by European Union regulators for illegally fixing prices.
The companies involved are Samsung, Hynix, Infineon, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Toshiba, Elpida and Nanya.
A 10th chip maker, Micron, was also part of the price-fixing cartel but escaped a fine in return for alerting the competition authorities.
The chips – DRAMS – are used in popular items such as personal computers.
Samsung received the biggest single fine of 146m euros. The second biggest was 57 million euros, which was levied on Germany’s Infineon.
All the fines were reduced by 10% because the companies cooperated with the probe.
The cartel, in operation between 1998 and 2002, involved a “network of contacts” who shared secret information. They colluded to set prices for DRAM chips sold to major PC makers and server manufacturers, the commission said.
U.S. COAST GUARD THREATENED CBS NEWS CREW WITH ARREST FOR FILMING OIL SPILL DISASTER; COAST GUARD SAID THAT THEY WERE ACTING UNDER AUTHORITY OF BRITISH PETROLEUM; “THIS IS BP RULES. IT’S NOT OURS.”
May 19th, 2010Via: CBS:
Kelly Cobiella reports that a CBS News team was threatened with arrest by Coast Guard officials in the Gulf of Mexico who said they were acting under the authority of British Petroleum.
Cryptogon Reader Sends $30
May 19th, 2010Thank you, JH.
Amazon is Tracking the Most-Highlighted Kindle Passages
May 19th, 2010DISCLOSURE: Cryptogon is an Amazon affiliate.
Now, the piece below states that Amazon, “Doesn’t show which customers made the highlights.”
Let me translate that for you: The NSA knows which customers made the highlights. These will add welcome subtleties to your MAIN CORE file, don’t you think?
All of this led me to wonder: Just what, exactly, is the Kindle transmitting to Amazon?
It’s not just the highlights.
You’ve love this. It’s from Amazon Kindle: License Agreement and Terms of Use:
Information Received. The Device Software will provide Amazon with data about your Device and its interaction with the Service (such as available memory, up-time, log files and signal strength) and information related to the content on your Device and your use of it (such as automatic bookmarking of the last page read and content deletions from the Device). Annotations, bookmarks, notes, highlights, or similar markings you make in your Device are backed up through the Service. Information we receive is subject to the Amazon.com Privacy Notice.
I wonder what the U.S. National Security Agency thinks about Amazon.com’s Privacy Notice?
Some readers thought that I was absolutely nuts because of my initial assessment of the Kindle back in 2007:
I personally wouldn’t go near that device because it’s brimming with DRM nonsense… Again, I’d encourage you to avoid that thing…
And that was before I knew that it was phoning user generated content back home for “backup”. *sigh* As usual, it’s not that bad. It’s worse.
Via: Christian Science Monitor:
Amazon is now displaying a list of the passages that readers most often highlight on their Kindles. Is that intrusive?
Tracking bestselling books tells us about the reading habits, or at least buying habits, of the American public. But is there anything we can learn from tracking what information people consider important in those books?
We may find out, because Amazon is now displaying lists of the passages and books most heavily highlighted on the Kindle. It’s a relatively small sample – the current #1 passage, from Malcolm Gladwell’s bestseller “Outliers”, was highlighted by 1,698 Kindle users. (For the record, it was this: “[T]hree things – autonomy, complexity, and a connection between effort and reward – are, most people agree, the three qualities that work has to have if it is to be satisfying.”)
The entire Top 10 list of highlighted quotes was made up of “Outliers” and fellow bestsellers “The Shack” by William P. Young, and “The Lost Symbol” by Dan Brown. In the category of most highlighted books, “The Lost Symbol” beat out the Bible for the #1 spot. I assume that says more about the narrow sampling parameters and the demographics of Kindle users than the depth of Brown’s prose.
Business management website Bnet worried that publishing such information could erode consumer trust. Amazon notes on its website that it doesn’t show which customers made the highlights.
LifeLock CEO’s Identity Stolen 13 Times
May 19th, 2010Via: Threat Level:
Apparently, when you publish your Social Security number prominently on your website and billboards, people take it as an invitation to steal your identity.
LifeLock CEO Todd Davis, whose number is displayed in the company’s ubiquitous advertisements, has by now learned that lesson. He’s been a victim of identity theft at least 13 times, according to the Phoenix New Times.
That’s 12 more times than has previously been known.
…
LifeLock refused to discuss the issue with the New Times. The company did not respond to a request for comment from Threat Level.
Booz Allen Hamilton Received $400 Million in Cyberwar Contracts in the Past Six Weeks
May 19th, 2010My guess as to which goon will have the largest role in recovery efforts following any major network centric false flag operation: Mike McConnell.
Via: Wired:
Coincidences sure are funny things. Booz Allen Hamilton — the defense contractor that’s become synonymous with the idea that the U.S. is getting its ass kicked in an ongoing cyberwar — has racked up more than $400 million worth of deals in the past six weeks to help the Defense Department fight that digital conflict. Strange how that worked out, huh?
Goldman Sachs Hands Clients Losses in Seven of Nine ‘Top Trades’
May 19th, 2010Mmm hmm.
Via: Bloomberg:
Goldman Sachs Group Inc. racked up trading profits for itself every day last quarter. Clients who followed the firm’s investment advice fared far worse.
Seven of the investment bank’s nine “recommended top trades for 2010” have been money losers for investors who adopted the New York-based firm’s advice, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from a Goldman Sachs research note sent yesterday.
Euro Collapse Continues, Germany Bans Speculation on Naked Swaps
May 19th, 2010Via: Bloomberg:
Credit-default swaps rose as German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s curb on using the contracts to speculate on European sovereign debt sparked concern among investors about increasing government regulation.
The Markit iTraxx Crossover index of swaps on 50 European companies surged 50 basis points to 582, according to Markit Group Ltd. The jump in the index signals a deterioration in investor perceptions of credit quality.
Merkel’s coalition stopped traders buying default protection on government bonds they don’t own, so-called naked swaps, as German lawmakers debate a bill authorizing their contribution to a $1 trillion bailout to support the euro. The unexpected ban, done independently of the European Union, came after the rescue package failed to stop the 16-nation common currency from weakening to a four-year low and as banks became increasingly reluctant to lend to one another.
“The market sees an inadequate policy such as this as an act of desperation and a refusal to address the fundamental problems at hand,” said Brian Yelvington, head of fixed-income strategy at Knight Libertas LLC in Greenwich, Connecticut.
Prohibiting speculation in the contracts may cause trading in swaps tied to Europe government bonds to freeze up, said Tim Backshall, the chief strategist at Credit Derivatives Research LLC in Walnut Creek, California. Trading limits may increase borrowing costs or limit the flow of capital, he said.
Credit-default swaps on Europe’s most indebted governments fell initially on concern the restrictions on short-selling will devalue existing agreements. They erased those declines as it became clear Germany failed to persuade other nations to join in the ban. A Europe-wide prohibition on the practices is “doubtful,” according to Eddy Wymeersch, chairman of the Committee of European Securities Regulators in Paris.
Thai Stock Exchange on Fire, Blackouts Hit Bangkok
May 19th, 2010Via: Reuters:
The Thai stock exchange was on fire and parts of Bangkok were hit by power blackouts on Wednesday as violence continued, even though anti-government protest leaders surrendered and troops said they were in control.
The stock exchange building was on fire, the exchange’s president told Reuters, while witnesses said major tourist hotels had lost power as black smoke billowed around buildings in the Thai capital.
The stock market had closed early due to the violence.
Thai Defence Minister General Pravit Wongsuwan said a curfew may be imposed on Bangkok to deal with continued unrest after troops dispersed anti-government protesters in a major offensive that killed at least four people and wounded 50 others.
