CHINESE STOCKS SUFFER BIGGEST LOSS IN TEN YEARS; 249 of the 300 ISSUES HALTED AFTER LIMIT DOWN
February 27th, 2007It would have gone further; 249 of the 300 issues on the main Shanghai and Shenzhen index went limit down—they lost 10% in a single session—before being halted.
My take, in ten words or less: China wants fewer U.S. dollar time-bombs in its house.
With regard to U.S. markets: Watch for the Plunge Protection Team to be out in force today.
Via: Bloomberg:
China’s stocks tumbled the most in 10 years on concern the government will crack down on illegal investments, bursting a bubble that helped drive benchmarks to records.
China Vanke Co., the nation’s biggest property developer, and China United Telecommunications Corp., which controls the nation’s second-largest mobile-phone operator, were among the 249 stocks that fell by the 10 percent daily limit.
The Shanghai and Shenzhen 300 Index slid 250.18, or 9.2 percent, to 2457.49. The measure, which jumped 13 percent in the past six sessions, closed at a record 2707.68 yesterday. Today’s rout wiped out $107.8 billion from a stock market that doubled in the past year, as 249 of the key index’s 300 shares plunged by the 10 percent limit.
…
China’s stock market capitalization, $1.16 trillion as of yesterday, is 2 percent of the global total, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The State Council, China’s highest ruling body, has approved a special task force to clamp down on illegal share offerings and other banned activities in the market, the government said. The group will provide advice on regulations and policy explanations of the securities market, according to a statement published Feb. 25 on the central government’s Web site.
Tightening Measures
The government must pay attention to “bubbles” in its stock market before they get out of hand, Cheng Siwei, vice chairman of the Nation’s People Congress, wrote in a commentary published Feb. 6 in the Chinese-language Financial News. The Congress next convenes for an annual meeting on March 5.
Textron Employee Searches for Information on Modified Bedini Cole Window Motor
February 27th, 2007The Textron user (host: srv5-1.dc1.textron.com, ip: 216.148.248.31) conducted the following Google search: modified bedini cole window motor
Hmm.
Someone from Textron, a company that received a U.S. Department of Defense grant to build a 100kW battlefield laser by 2009, is doing Google searches for information related to free energy machines…
I know. It’s just a bored employee on his lunch break…
Afghan Base Bombed During Cheney Visit
February 27th, 2007Man, it’s not easy for Cheney these days. Aircraft trouble, now this…
Hmm.
Via: The Australian:
A SUICIDE bomber killed as many as 20 people outside the main US base in Afghanistan today, coinciding with a visit to the base by US Vice President Dick Cheney. Mr Cheney was not hurt, according to his spokeswoman.
Related: U.S. Generals ‘Will Quit’ if Bush Orders Iran Attack
U.S. Mortgage Crisis Goes Into Meltdown
February 27th, 2007I explained the racket in my Wall Street Chop Shop essay.
Via: Telegraph:
Panic has begun to sweep the sub-prime mortgage sector in the United States after the bankruptcy of 22 lenders over the past two months, setting off mass liquidation of housing loans packaged as securities.
The rapid deterioration could not come at a worse time for British bank HSBC, which has set aside $10.5bn (£5.4bn) to cover bad loans in the US.
The cost of insuring against default on these loans has rocketed in recent weeks, from 50 basis points over Libor to 1,200, raising fears that a credit crunch could spread to the rest of the property market.
Lawrence Livermore Demonstrates 67KW Solid State Laser
February 27th, 2007Do you really think They plan on sending this thing to town with lithium ion batteries on board?
Several weeks ago, I wrote the following about EEstor: “[The] clean green electric Hummers of the future are going to be spunoff from Pentagon death ray and super cannon projects…. The military needs the energy density that this EEstor thing provides for weapon systems.”
Obviously, there’s no mention of EEstor in the BBC piece below… And, likewise, when the EEstor device finally comes out, and the corporate press is whooping it up over the Earth friendly Hummers, etc, they’ll forget about the military death rays.
If you’re wondering how They’re going to energize the power cells on these bad boys, you’re not the only one!
Via: BBC:
A laser developed for military use is a few steps away from hitting a power threshold thought necessary to turn it into a battlefield weapon.
The Solid State Heat Capacity Laser (SSHCL) has achieved 67 kilowatts (kW) of average power in the laboratory.
It could take only a further six to eight months to break the “magic” 100kW mark required for the battlefield, the project’s chief scientist told the BBC.
Potentially, lasers could destroy rockets, mortars or roadside bombs.
For many years, solid state, electrically powered lasers like SSHCL were only able to operate at a fraction of the 100kW mark.
Then, in March 2005, the system achieved 45kW. Hitting 67kW, said SSHCL programme manager Bob Yamamoto, meant 100kW was now within reach.
Related? Textron Employee Searches for Information on Modified Bedini Cole Window Motor
Cryptogon Reader Contributes $1
February 27th, 2007Thanks, DK.
Al Gore’s Personal Energy Use Is His Own “Inconvenient Truth”
February 26th, 2007To anyone out there who still doesn’t understand the limousine liberal scam…
Via: tennesseepolicy.org:
Last night, Al Gore’s global-warming documentary, An Inconvenient Truth, collected an Oscar for best documentary feature, but the Tennessee Center for Policy Research has found that Gore deserves a gold statue for hypocrisy.
Gore’s mansion, located in the posh Belle Meade area of Nashville, consumes more electricity every month than the average American household uses in an entire year, according to the Nashville Electric Service (NES).
In his documentary, the former Vice President calls on Americans to conserve energy by reducing electricity consumption at home.
The average household in America consumes 10,656 kilowatt-hours (kWh) per year, according to the Department of Energy. In 2006, Gore devoured nearly 221,000 kWh—more than 20 times the national average.
Last August alone, Gore burned through 22,619 kWh—guzzling more than twice the electricity in one month than an average American family uses in an entire year. As a result of his energy consumption, Gore’s average monthly electric bill topped $1,359.
Since the release of An Inconvenient Truth, Gore’s energy consumption has increased from an average of 16,200 kWh per month in 2005, to 18,400 kWh per month in 2006.
Gore’s extravagant energy use does not stop at his electric bill. Natural gas bills for Gore’s mansion and guest house averaged $1,080 per month last year.
“As the spokesman of choice for the global warming movement, Al Gore has to be willing to walk to walk, not just talk the talk, when it comes to home energy use,†said Tennessee Center for Policy Research President Drew Johnson.
In total, Gore paid nearly $30,000 in combined electricity and natural gas bills for his Nashville estate in 2006.
Related: Energy Scarcity vs. Cost of the War in Iraq
U.S. Economy Leaving Record Numbers in Severe Poverty
February 25th, 2007Via: Bradenton.com:
The percentage of poor Americans who are living in severe poverty has reached a 32-year high, millions of working Americans are falling closer to the poverty line and the gulf between the nation’s “haves” and “have-nots” continues to widen.
A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of 2005 census figures, the latest available, found that nearly 16 million Americans are living in deep or severe poverty. A family of four with two children and an annual income of less than $9,903 – half the federal poverty line – was considered severely poor in 2005. So were individuals who made less than $5,080 a year.
The McClatchy analysis found that the number of severely poor Americans grew by 26 percent from 2000 to 2005. That’s 56 percent faster than the overall poverty population grew in the same period. McClatchy’s review also found statistically significant increases in the percentage of the population in severe poverty in 65 of 215 large U.S. counties, and similar increases in 28 states. The review also suggested that the rise in severely poor residents isn’t confined to large urban counties but extends to suburban and rural areas.
The plight of the severely poor is a distressing sidebar to an unusual economic expansion. Worker productivity has increased dramatically since the brief recession of 2001, but wages and job growth have lagged behind. At the same time, the share of national income going to corporate profits has dwarfed the amount going to wages and salaries. That helps explain why the median household income of working-age families, adjusted for inflation, has fallen for five straight years.
These and other factors have helped push 43 percent of the nation’s 37 million poor people into deep poverty – the highest rate since at least 1975.
WHAT HAPPENED TO CHENEY’S AIRCRAFT?
February 25th, 2007Uhh… Something VERY weird happened here.
Via: Sky News:
A Reuters photographer at Sydney airport said Air Force 2 had proceeded towards the runway as normal and revved its engines before the engines appeared to decelerate.
A mobile staircase was sent out to the plane but a door in the plane opened and an unidentified figure appeared and waved the stairs off.
The door was then closed and the plane proceeded to the runway and took off.
De Facto U.S. Flat Tax: 40%
February 25th, 2007You godda problem wid dat?
Via: MSN:
Politicians… generally talk about only one tax: the federal income tax, which offers graduated rates from 10% to 35%.
Politicians rarely talk about what real people experience: the true maze of taxes and government benefits. If someone put them all together, we could see what our actual tax burden was. We could see who pays at the highest or lowest rates. Discussions of tax policy wouldn’t be a waste of time.
Well, two researchers did it.
In a study for the National Bureau of Economic Research, Boston University economists Laurence J. Kotlikoff and David Rapson have found that our all-in marginal tax rate is 40%, give or take a bit. Yes, you read that right: 40%.
