tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64425143213581190042012-01-28T11:18:19.176-08:00Money mattersclimateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comBlogger126401100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-55524207999388873702012-01-28T10:32:00.002-08:002012-01-28T10:34:16.557-08:00

“Profit margins are probably the most mean-reverting series in finance, and if profit margins do not mean-revert, then something has gone badly wrong with capitalism. If high profits do not attract competition, there is something wrong with the system and it is not functioning properly.” – Jeremy Grantham -"Climateer Line of the Day: Jeremy Grantham on Profit Margins Edition" From ZeroHedge:

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-9714144427384125582012-01-27T16:20:00.000-08:002012-01-27T17:08:23.509-08:00

As sunspot 1402 leaves us... X-class=the highest energy: X-FLARE: Departing sunspot 1402 unleashed an X2-class solar flare today, Jan. 27th, at 18:37 UT. Click on the image to view a movie of the extreme ultraviolet flash recorded by NASA's

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-31297544293248380392012-01-27T12:17:00.003-08:002012-01-27T12:17:59.859-08:00

From Next Big Future: China’s Provincial GDP Figures in 2011 and forecasts for 2012 through 201 ... Getting over US$12,000 per person in 2010 dollars is the level where a country is believed to exceeded the level of a middle income trap. Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin are all over the US$12,000 per capita level as of the end of 2011. The other provinces should clear the US$12,000 per capita

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-62926001851194193392012-01-27T11:07:00.000-08:002012-01-27T11:07:53.883-08:00

Now's the time to juxtapose! From The Economist: Tighter regulation, bountiful natural gas and declining installation costs for renewable energy herald the end of America’s coal era A FREIGHT train, its dozen cars loaded with coal covered in a light dusting of snow, snaked through the narrow valley, sometimes following the two-lane highway and sometimes crossing it. The valley was silent

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-48458260121346226982012-01-27T10:31:00.002-08:002012-01-27T10:31:32.436-08:00

As part of our 2012 mission to show CI readers some of the 1300 feeds we read, here's another one of the good ones. From Securities Law Prof blog: The Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program (SIGTARP) released its most recent Quarterly Report to Congress on Jan. 26, 2012 (Download SIGTARP.January_26_2012_Report_to_Congress[1]), and it makes for

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-77829715486500112972012-01-27T10:25:00.002-08:002012-01-27T10:25:37.914-08:00

It's best if you can do it right the first time but if that doesn't happen you've got to fess up to the facts. From a Reuters story, yesterday: (Editing by David Lindsey and Eric Walsh) (Removes words "and at times has had difficulty paying his mortgage," paragraph 7; removes "he did not make payments on a $100,000-plus student loan" and instead states "he did not pay down the balance of a

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-67433358841084117812012-01-27T09:18:00.002-08:002012-01-27T09:40:06.256-08:00

You know the story: Marc Rich & Co AG>Glencore with the diversions of the tax charges for trading with Iran and the spinout set-up of Trafigura (25% return on capital, $77Bil. revs trading oil & metals). From the New York Post: Denise Rich selling NY's most expensive co-op for $65 million It’s the city’s most expensive co-op apartment — and it can be all yours for a cool $65 million. Songwriter

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-76464702786100207712012-01-27T08:44:00.002-08:002012-01-27T08:44:55.757-08:00

If you thought Greece was bad... From Mindful Money: One of the themes of this blog has been concern over the economic situation in the Iberian peninsula where both Spain and Portugal have serious problems to address. This is not as clear-cut as you might think as whilst the situation is opaque and apparently not recorded well they seem to trade together less than you might assume. However

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-59046879437478194472012-01-27T08:24:00.000-08:002012-01-27T08:24:58.575-08:00

We haven't had much on AMSC since the news that Sinovel was refusing to take delivery, here's the latest. From E&E Publishing: A case of software piracy with a mystery writer's twist has opened the newest rift between the United States and China over intellectual property protection, in a dispute with vital stakes for a leading American wind turbine component vendor. American Superconductor

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-48097717039047587222012-01-27T07:16:00.003-08:002012-01-27T07:16:38.448-08:00

I'll give him this, the old coot is indefatigable. From Politico: Oil and gas magnate T. Boone Pickens is celebrating Thursday after President Barack Obama used a major energy speech to tout the increased use of natural gas vehicles — a key part of the so-called Pickens Plan. It also turns out Pickens has visited the White House seven times since Obama took office, according to visitor logs.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-85744558210191175502012-01-27T07:11:00.003-08:002012-01-27T07:11:40.848-08:00

From Reuters via Portfolio.com: In 2009, federal investigators finally arrested Houston financier R. Allen Stanford. For twenty years, Stanford allegedly had run a $7 billion Ponzi scheme from his offshore bank on the Caribbean island of Antigua. U.S. authorities had been nosing around Stanford's empire for longer than a decade but hesitated to open a full-blown probe.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-56819301370814660322012-01-27T07:04:00.002-08:002012-01-27T07:04:34.151-08:00

From MarketBeat: Economists Scramble to Poke Holes in GDP Report Earlier, Steve-O (if Kansas can label me Gongo before he heads out the door, I can hand out knicknames, too) pointed out that inventory building had contributed a big chunk of this morning’s GDP report. Since then, our inboxes have been flooded with emails from economists reiterating that and other reasons why this GDP report,

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-33609954366810291322012-01-26T14:24:00.000-08:002012-01-26T16:42:58.304-08:00

I'll be back tomorrow with the story of the last time Greenpeace tried to use the SEC. From Greenpeace: Mary L. Schapiro Chairman Securities Exchange Commission 100 F Street, NE Washington, DC 20549 January 26, 2012 Dear Ms. Schapiro: This letter is intended to inform you and the recipients listed below that TransCanada (“TRP”) is using false or misleading statements about the proposed

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-46095943795978320482012-01-26T14:00:00.003-08:002012-01-26T14:00:17.426-08:00

There is a saying in politics: "As goes Guam, so goes Samoa America". [probably popularized in Guam -ed] In equity speculation it's "As go the financials, so goes the market. Here's ZeroHedge: We noted last night that heavy and large average trade size was going through after the cash market close in S&P futures and it seemed overnight we needed one more push to flush out some more chasers

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-43690949136828538172012-01-26T13:29:00.000-08:002012-01-26T13:57:05.895-08:00

From 'London Banker': Survivor Bias and TBTF Tyranny As I wrote in Ring Fences and Rustlers before Lehman failed in 2008: The key to having a happy insolvency, if such a thing exists, lies in ensuring that when a globalised bank goes bust, all the best assets are inside your borders and subject to seizure by [your banks or] your liquidators on behalf of your creditors. If one were

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-40322304102940317092012-01-26T13:07:00.003-08:002012-01-26T13:07:31.354-08:00

But first, two 2009 posts: Berkshire Hathaway's Munger on Cap-and-Trade ("Monstrously Stupid Right Now...Almost Demented"); Warren and Charlie on Wind and Solar (BRK.A) And MidAm's former head honcho: Berkshire Hathaway's MidAmerican Energy on Waxman-Markey: "We Don't Much Care For It" (BRK.A) They saw no reason for the trade part of C&T to enrich Goldman et al. The latest, from PV-Tech:

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-64854749545565959522012-01-26T11:00:00.002-08:002012-01-26T11:00:22.237-08:00

From Ars Technica: Since the shutdown of Megaupload, stories have erupted about the life and exploits of the company's founder, a self-styled "Dr. Evil" of file sharing. Kim Dotcom's opulent digs, high-end cars, fondness for models and other Bond-villain-esque behaviors have been splashed across websites and have confused evening newscasts for the last week. The man once known as Kim

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-81732006822923538542012-01-26T10:24:00.001-08:002012-01-26T10:26:54.047-08:00

Another of our attempts to show off some of the 1300 feeds we subscribe to. I'll link to their homepage, scroll down if you wish. JPM did the deed before the EIA numbers came out. The stock is down a buck at $22.38. From South of Wall Street: ...CHK - Chesapeake downgraded at JPM  citing a lack of catalysts, over-leverage to natural gas, and excessive spending. Target is $14.50.  Oh yeah..

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-86804774713092961272012-01-26T09:19:00.000-08:002012-01-26T09:19:23.844-08:00

It didn't take any great insight to say "Top-tick tomorrow." The only question was how much the futures would fall on the EIA release. Here's the AP via CBS: US natural gas supplies shrank last week The nation's natural gas supplies declined last week, the government said Thursday. The Energy Department's Energy Information Administration said in its weekly report that natural gas in storage

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-29941189667277217042012-01-26T09:18:00.004-08:002012-01-26T09:18:59.131-08:00

Storage capacity will be full by the end of June. If wells currently planned for completion aren't immediately shut in the gas will have to go to the spot market which will drag down the futures. We're looking for sub $2.oo. From Risk.com: Planned production cuts by US natural gas firms will not be enough to keep natural gas prices supported this year, and analysts say that record storage

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-73622780207254083692012-01-26T07:45:00.001-08:002012-01-26T07:57:51.497-08:00

The FT appears to have the jump on the behemoths on this story. From the Financial Times: Plans to increase US demand for natural gas, including a new tax break for gas-fuelled trucks, are being unveiled by President Barack Obama on Thursday as part of the effort set out in his state of the union address to support “American-made energy”. The proposals, some of which will require

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-36934212990216823892012-01-26T07:35:00.003-08:002012-01-26T07:35:50.427-08:00

375 years with neither Dodd nor Frank! From Good Business: Just as France was being chastised for excessive national borrowing with a sovereign debt downgrade, thousands of lucky French people had their financial obligations forgiven after the country's oldest bank decided to simply wipe their slate clean. Granted, it's a small slate. The 3,500 clients who benefitted from the

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-69288003806237237602012-01-26T07:12:00.003-08:002012-01-26T07:12:47.080-08:00

 This may be a bit of an overreaction, I don't know any serious person in the biz who is making the claims presented. Still, something to think about. From MIT's Technology Review: Extruding, printing, and sintering are not the same as manufacturing. There is a species of magical thinking practiced by geeks whose experience is computers and electronics—realms of infinite possibility that are

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-9118435658953289492012-01-26T07:04:00.000-08:002012-01-26T07:04:07.027-08:00

From Reason's Hit&Run blog: Amid the recent hullabaloo over Romney finally releasing his tax returns—apparently we are less concerned with the privacy of our political candidates—Americans have learned the extent to Romney’s great wealth, estimated between $190-$250 million dollars. However, Aaron Blake at the Washington Post finds that controlling for inflation, in fact George Washington

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-19115371011817791322012-01-26T07:01:00.003-08:002012-01-26T07:01:55.605-08:00

I will make a guarantee. CalPERS WILL be going to the taxpayers to make up the shortfalls caused by their ridiculous assumptions. Maybe not this year, maybe not until 2022 when the largest cohort of the baby boom, the 1957 vintage, turns 65, but they will be assessing the taxpayers. The numbers will be in the tens of billions of dollars. From the Los Angeles Times: It falls short of the 7.75%

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-19504860323120960502012-01-26T06:49:00.003-08:002012-01-26T06:49:38.138-08:00

From the Atlantic:  Federal Reserve officials predicted three bleak years for the U.S. economy, and the Federal Open Market Committee announced today that it intends to keep short-term interest rates extremely low until 2014 amid a pondering economic recovery.In a twist that's both ironic and totally expected, the announcement that the economy will stink for the next three years improved

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-16988149378577996962012-01-25T13:41:00.000-08:002012-01-25T13:41:11.762-08:00

Top-tick tomorrow. From Bloomberg: U.S. natural-gas supplies probably declined more than the seasonal average last week as temperatures fell in the Northeast, analysts estimated before a government stockpile report tomorrow. Inventories dropped 175 billion cubic feet, or 5.3 percent, to 3.115 trillion cubic feet in the week ended Jan. 20, based on the median of 16 analyst estimates compiled

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-54027704337246171082012-01-25T11:42:00.001-08:002012-01-25T11:42:14.305-08:00

Following up on the Henry Blodget post, immediately below. From MedicalXpress: An Emory University neuro-imaging study shows that personal values that people refuse to disavow, even when offered cash to do so, are processed differently in the brain than those values that are willingly sold. "Our experiment found that the realm of the sacred – whether it's a strong religious belief, a

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-11282497699298394532012-01-25T11:16:00.003-08:002012-01-25T11:16:49.823-08:00

Granted, this is the ETF which has its own set of, errr, challenges but the futures look similar, at least on the weekly charts. From TheStreet:   From: Natural Gas: Has the Flame Been Lit?

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-28423411358920263542012-01-25T10:32:00.000-08:002012-01-25T10:49:45.977-08:00

I was going to call it our Henry Blodget Edition* but I see FT Alphaville has a much more charitable Blodget post today. Four Out Of Five Underwriters Agree: Buy Zynga The stock is at $9.60, down 11 cents on the day. *See, for example: 24/7 Media Homestore.com InfoSpace.com GoTo.com Or just read  this overview, starting at 16. As has been said: "Good times. good times" -Bill McNeal News

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-82451607558256990812012-01-25T09:26:00.000-08:002012-01-25T09:28:39.966-08:00

From xkcd.com: HT: ZeroHedge who writes: ...at current trends, every sentence in the English language will consist solely of the world "sustainable" used over and over.. And from Reuters: U.N. sustainable development summit shifts from climate change ...The "sustainable" branding for this year's summit, rather than climate, is by design, said Ambassador Andre Correa do Lago, who headed

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-19334010125250245932012-01-25T07:25:00.002-08:002012-01-25T07:36:51.679-08:00

 Mr. Soros has a new book to flog.  From NewsWeek's DailyBeast: ...“At times like these, survival is the most important thing,” he says, peering through his owlish glasses and brushing wisps of gray hair off his forehead. He doesn’t just mean it’s time to protect your assets. He means it’s time to stave off disaster. As he sees it, the world faces one of the most dangerous periods of modern

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-74446673760720408192012-01-25T06:28:00.002-08:002012-01-25T06:30:37.515-08:00

One minute before the open DJIA futures are down 53, S&P 500 down 4.4. From Raymond James, Jan. 23, 2012: ...The call for this week: Last Thanksgiving I suggested the Santa rally was beginning. I stuck with that “call” into the new year. On January 3, 2012 I stated that session felt like an “emotional peak” and that January 10, 2012 felt like the “price peak.” Subsequently I wrote, “The

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-29403493959503327742012-01-24T12:00:00.001-08:002012-01-24T12:34:54.438-08:00

Earlier this morning I was told that our most popular post on Monday was "Long-time bear joins bulls: Controversial Joe Granville says Dow could rise 800 points"* from August 2008. Joe was wrong on that one. Here's his latest via BusinessWeek, Jan. 23, 2012: Granville Says Dow Industrial May Drop Toward 8,000 in 2012 Joseph Granville, whose “sell everything” call in 1981 sparked a decline in

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-25680841561672133332012-01-24T11:20:00.001-08:002012-01-24T11:20:17.959-08:00

It's not an actual smackdown, just some analysts quoted by different parts of the Dow Jones Empire. First up MarketWatch's The Tell blog: Natural gas may still be headed below $2 this year Natural gas futures prices are on the rise Tuesday, even after jumping a whopping 7.8% on Monday, but some economists don’t expect this rally to last. “This season’s mild winter weather, especially in the

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-86310047355368427212012-01-24T08:36:00.000-08:002012-01-24T08:36:24.643-08:00

A big thank you to a sharp reader. I had never heard of these folks. The fund is only $86 mil. on the balance sheet foots, that's small. And MarketWatch named them in this Dec. 18 article: "These fund managers get a Lump of Coal Award". All the caveats, emptor and otherwise, apply. Enough with the mystery, here's the story: Firsthand Technology Value Fund Reports Additional Social Networking

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-34570232493428387092012-01-24T07:43:00.000-08:002012-01-24T07:43:17.228-08:00

Following up on "Tuesday – Topping Out or Just Pinning the Fed?". From FuturesMag: ...Market Overview – What We Know: Market closed mixed Monday with S&P fractionally higher while Dow 30, NASDAQ and Value Line were fractionally lower.  Short and intermediate-term cycles remain positive, but both are also “Overbought.”Major Cycle remains near “Neutral.” Short-term Momentum in S&P 500 has failed

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-71429276583442467382012-01-24T07:39:00.002-08:002012-01-24T07:39:24.341-08:00

From FT Alphaville: Well, this is cheery. Let’s start with a graph. An AV-esque graph....MORE

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-46102777657983354502012-01-24T07:18:00.002-08:002012-01-24T07:32:58.834-08:00

The stock is down $3.14 at $95.05. Don't try to catch a falling (Solingen) blade, it could very well overshoot our $90.00 target. Despite the headline Siemens is our favorite German-accented multinational industrial conglomerate or, as Samuel Johnson said "When a man is tired of Siemens, he is tired of life". Or maybe it was London. Boswell is a bit sketchy...* We had quite a few posts on

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-2036112937516834272012-01-24T06:20:00.002-08:002012-01-24T06:20:54.522-08:00

On Dec. 23 Megan McArdle gave us a little Christmas present, "Ending the Infographic Plague": Now that Obama's dog has won the War on Christmas, or something, it's time to get down to a war that really matters: the war on terrible, lying infographics, which have become endemic in the blogosphere, and constantly threaten to break out into epidemic or even pandemic status....MORE The thrust of

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-21183501533168662062012-01-24T05:58:00.003-08:002012-01-24T05:58:21.973-08:00

With natural gas trading just off the lows we saw last week (think March 2002) there is a clamor in the gas patch to start shipping the stuff as fast as we can. This is something we should be very careful about, those little hydrocarbon molecules have a lot of uses besides running Tokyo Electric Power generators. From Bloomberg: Exporting liquefied natural gas may

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-59166618632369179062012-01-24T05:44:00.004-08:002012-01-24T05:44:27.468-08:00

U.S. futures look to open down about 1/3 percent. From Phil's Stock World: The Dollar bounced off 79.75 this morning, nothing to crow about for Dollar bulls as the Euro remains just over the critical $1.30 mark and the Pound is solidly over $1.55 for the moment.   You could say it's a bearish sign that the Dow and the NYSE stopped dead at our breakout levels but that's to be expected on a

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-41366829098626124302012-01-23T14:19:00.004-08:002012-01-23T14:21:22.758-08:00

From OccupyWallStreet.org: Maybe they've been listening to some of our ideas. http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=CNG.be33fda73987ff722e71ca3a18f1bfaf.351&show_article=1 Economic and political elites meeting this week at the Swiss resort of Davos will be asked to urgently find ways to reform a capitalist system that has been described as "outdated and crumbling." "We have a general

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-14569961513060396792012-01-23T12:57:00.001-08:002012-01-23T14:01:46.210-08:00

The folks interviewed are incorrect about the imminence. There may be some Cloward-Piven Strategy "Make it ungovernable" tactics should the President lose re-election but the "gangs roving the countryside" scenarios don't happen until financial collapse which itself is a ways down the road. It ends not with a bang but a whimper. For now the best advice probably comes from the founder of

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-19255269645316593392012-01-23T10:13:00.000-08:002012-01-23T14:07:48.584-08:00

CHK is up 5% at $22.01, natural gas futures up 5.5% at $2.471. The writer is correct, this is just a bounce in an oversold market. What we'll need to see is wells being shut in, not just a slowdown in drilling. The current calendar of well completions will overflow storage capacity sometime this spring which means gas will be directed onto the spot market for whatever bid it can catch. From

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-66131140726930390792012-01-23T09:00:00.003-08:002012-01-23T09:25:01.691-08:00

From Debka: India is the first buyer of Iranian oil to agree to pay for its purchases in gold instead of the US dollar, debkafile's intelligence and Iranian sources report exclusively.  Those sources expect China to follow suit. India and China take about one million barrels per day, or 40 percent of Iran's total exports of 2.5 million bpd. Both are superpowers in terms of gold assets. By

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-63328264610183619622012-01-23T08:45:00.000-08:002012-01-23T10:17:13.621-08:00

Via the Dilbert blog: Source Too true to be funny.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-47939212738801669642012-01-23T08:30:00.000-08:002012-01-23T08:30:08.769-08:00

Here's a tidbit to round out last Wednesday's "No Bidders for Latest Solyndra Auction". From Reason's Hit & Run blog: Solyndra, the bankrupt Fremont, California maker of tube-component solar panel that lost $518 million in a taxpayer-guaranteed loan approved by the Obama Energy Department, is disposing of its assets the old-fashioned way: by throwing them in the garbage. As I have noted in

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-34259634900791137232012-01-20T13:00:00.003-08:002012-01-20T13:00:46.266-08:00

Thanks to a reader. From Harvard Business School's Working Knowledge: When to Sell Your Idea: Theory and Evidence from the Movie Industry Published:January 9, 2012 Paper Released:November 2011 Author:Hong Luo     Executive Summary: How completely should an innovator develop his idea before selling it? HBS assistant professor Hong Luo addresses

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-61011159072529016492012-01-20T11:48:00.001-08:002012-01-20T14:05:18.798-08:00

MarketBeat both delivers the first part of the post and tips us to the second. Talk about doing it all. With the DJIA up 54, GE is down a penny at $19.14. S&P 500 down 3.85 at 1310. From MarketBeat: GE Earnings Reax: Wall Street Thinks You Should Probably Buy It General Electric is not bringing good things to life today, if by “life” you mean “its stock price.” The mega-conglomerate and former

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-89876395945360540562012-01-20T09:37:00.000-08:002012-01-20T14:10:22.481-08:00

I've always been slightly bemused by the idea of the Public Intellectual, seeing it as somehow akin to being famous for Being Famous. In that respect Bernard-Henri Lévy is sort of the Kim Kardashian* of the brains rather than the booty, salon.** [see: bootykim.com, now with daily updates -ed] From the HuffPo: Could we be living in an era of such madness, one that has lost its compass and its

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-84771909822702701952012-01-20T08:21:00.002-08:002012-01-20T08:21:21.117-08:00

From BusinessWeek: How wildcatter Harold Hamm became the biggest winner in the biggest American oil find since Prudhoe Bay Harold G. Hamm is lost. The 66-year-old founder, chairman, and chief executive of Continental Resources (CLR) is steering a Chevy Tahoe past sunflower fields and grazing cows in western North Dakota. He’s found millions of barrels of oil in these low prairie hills, but

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-39056393327024239112012-01-20T07:02:00.003-08:002012-01-20T07:21:15.875-08:00

From Unsettling Economics: At a time when finance is coming under intense scrutiny, it is heartening to learn about hedge funds’ concern about human rights. Greece is wrestling with the idea of asking (forcing) investors to accept 32 cents on the dollar. Hedge funds have been buying up the paper in the expectation that they can force Greece to pay in full. Now the hedge funds is toying

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-47512086246271982922012-01-20T06:28:00.000-08:002012-01-20T06:28:02.573-08:00

Update: After posting this I moseyed over to Alphaville to get the lay of the land. Lo and behold FTA's Izabella Kaminska has the story at the top of the Further Reading list. I don't think I would like Ms. Iz to take the other side of an oil bet I was making, she's pretty sharp in the areas on which we post, energy, banks, skullduggery.... From Naked Capitalism: The death of MF Global and JP

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-76785099862562516912012-01-20T06:26:00.005-08:002012-01-20T06:26:50.918-08:00

From the Post Carbon Institute via Energy Bulletin: With Gas so Cheap and Well Drilling Down, Why is Gas Production so High? Natural gas prices have declined to below $3.00/mcf, levels not seen for years, yet the EIA posted the highest gas production ever in October, 2011. U.S. gas production is growing despite annual well completion rates that are half that at the peak of the drilling boom

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-64843333413447074952012-01-20T05:33:00.003-08:002012-01-20T05:35:13.110-08:00

Thanks to a reader. From Morgan Stanley's Global Metals Playbook via Clusterstock: . (click the link to enlarge)

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-68500169244679874652012-01-19T13:32:00.000-08:002012-01-19T13:32:21.266-08:00

We're thinking of starting a lifestyle section. Here's Newt via NetNet: Newt Gingrich's Ex-Wife: He Wanted an Open Marriage

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-60639381670610196912012-01-19T13:09:00.002-08:002012-01-19T13:09:56.288-08:00

By the time the commentators spot the trend... The stock is up another 72 cents at $86.94. From Schaeffer's Research: DE's positive price action may result in a shift in sentiment Early this morning, brokerage firm Baird made a slew of price-target adjustments, cutting some and raising others. Construction concern Deere & Company (DE - 86.27) found itself on the receiving end of one of the

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-23962895942984677282012-01-19T12:58:00.001-08:002012-01-19T12:58:44.199-08:00

Lifted in toto from Bespoke Investment Group: After tanking 32% in 2011, natural gas is already down 22.42% in 2012.  It had a 3 handle just a few days ago, and now traders are already talking about a 1 handle.   On Tuesday, the commodity broke below its financial crisis low of 2.50, and it has fallen down to 2.30 over the past two days.  It hasn't been this low since February 25th, 2002.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-32922891504268552632012-01-19T12:14:00.001-08:002012-01-19T12:14:48.763-08:00

From Slope of Hope: Incredible. Just beyond belief. Just remember, kids - - the financial crisis never happened. Just a bad dream.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-71987461718299472812012-01-19T10:22:00.000-08:002012-01-19T10:24:50.787-08:00

Back in June 2011 we posted "Why Does George Soros Keep Buying Westport Innovations? (WPRT; CLNE; UNG)". The stock closed at $21.10 that day. Here's what the stock has done (via Yahoo Finance): At $34.20, off 97 cents on the day, it seems kinda pricey but I've got to think that a natural gas engine maker has some potential. Apparently Mr. Soros does too, he's the company's largest

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-5320377055415484802012-01-19T05:44:00.005-08:002012-01-19T05:44:58.107-08:00

A couple stories that dropped out of the terminals. First up Foreign Policy's Passport blog: ...This year will make the 30th anniversary of the Falklands War -- a conflict that today seems to belong to another geopolitical epoch entirely. But last week, as the Telegraph reports, we seem to have entered the history repeating itself as farce phase (standard British media caveats apply):

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-84834943088025656332012-01-18T14:23:00.000-08:002012-01-18T14:23:04.639-08:00

From DealBook: It is quite possible that the Carlyle Group, the private equity firm that is preparing to go public, is proposing the most shareholder-unfriendly corporate governance structure in modern history. It starts with the fact that Carlyle is providing its soon-to-be public shareholders with no power over the company. Carlyle shareholders will have no ability to elect directors.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-86175567729545453562012-01-18T12:50:00.002-08:002012-01-18T12:50:47.237-08:00

Talk about your dark horse, longshot, out of the blue... From Knowledge@Wharton: Wikipedia, Google and Others on Their ‘SOPA’ Box

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-49883343312981035822012-01-18T12:44:00.001-08:002012-01-18T13:02:45.044-08:00

Of course Frau Chancellor said no such thing. In fact the silence out of Berlin seems a bit strange. After the S&P moves on France and Austria last week the WSJ headline was: German Finance Minister Takes Aim At Rating Agencies So far, and I've been waiting two hours, nothing. The closest to the Germany we've all come to know and love was (on a slightly different topic) "...Economy Minister

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-1221948224364214752012-01-18T08:30:00.001-08:002012-01-18T08:30:12.636-08:00

It was a month ago that we posted "Gavekal Research: Long Term, the U.S. is the Bet". One more occurance and we got us a meme! [probably just in time for a pullback -ed] From Yahoo's Breakout blog: Like golfers and LeBron James, traders need short memories lest they become haunted by their failings in critical moments. Both life and trading are about living in the now, regardless of past

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-38003365541921774832012-01-18T08:08:00.000-08:002012-01-18T14:43:14.275-08:00

In a world gone mad... Here's our third or fourth Zeitgeist post this morning. From the WSJ Europe's The Source blog: Germany’s largest reinsurer Munich Re is to insure solar park operators against the risk of their suppliers going bust. By assuming the risk of the panel makers’ insolvency, “major projects in particular have better access to financing,” said Munich Re board member Thomas

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-6163511984480811952012-01-18T07:32:00.001-08:002012-01-18T14:43:44.360-08:00

From Reuters: Solyndra fails to garner bids for sale Solyndra LLC failed to attract any bids on Tuesday from buyers who could have restarted production, brought back some laid off staff and kept the bankrupt solar panel maker operating, according to a company adviser. Solyndra, which owes more than $500 million to the U.S. government, has said a turnkey buyer is the best hope for getting

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-54009082847665340442012-01-18T07:09:00.000-08:002012-01-18T07:13:21.006-08:00

It's gotta be tough being a politician. From Reuters. In other #Occupy news: Pelosi Distances Dems From Occupy ‘We Don’t Really Have Much Of A Connection’ From ABC News:(Oct. 2011): Pelosi Supports Occupy Wall Street Movement From Talking Points Memo (Dec. 2011): Pelosi: Occupy Movement Enhances Dems’ National Message From Politico (Oct. 2011) Nancy Pelosi: ‘God bless’ Wall Street

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-71788512797829383812012-01-18T06:56:00.003-08:002012-01-18T06:56:36.764-08:00

Not us, that's the headline at Resource Investor. Just a bit o'Zeitgeist.

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-23467706749379659072012-01-18T06:46:00.006-08:002012-01-18T06:46:55.643-08:00

Thus sayeth the Fed via Economix: Measuring the Top 1% by Wealth, Not Income  After our demographic profile of the 1 percent appeared on Sunday, there were a lot of questions from readers about the top 1 percent by wealth, rather than the measure we used, the top 1 percent by income. We used income because the Census measures income, not wealth, and the Census contains the most timely

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-45040696598996030242012-01-17T13:14:00.003-08:002012-01-17T13:28:18.093-08:00

From The Hill's E2 Wire: President Obama’s jobs council called Tuesday for an “all-in approach” to energy policy that includes expanded oil and gas drilling as well as expediting energy projects like pipelines. “[W]e should allow more access to oil, natural gas and coal opportunities on federal lands,” states the year-end report released Tuesday by the President’s Council on Jobs and

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-28105715740170411372012-01-17T13:01:00.002-08:002012-01-17T13:29:17.380-08:00

Giving society cheap, abundant energy . . .  would be the equivalent of giving an idiot child a machine gun. – Paul Ehrlich, “An Ecologist’s Perspective on Nuclear Power,” May/June 1978 issue of Federation of American Scientists Public Issue Report From Bloomberg: Electricity Declines 50% in U.S. as Shale Brings Natural Gas Glut A shale-driven glut of natural gas has cut electricity

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-83455837953306973222012-01-17T08:32:00.002-08:002012-01-17T10:45:44.478-08:00

Louise was very sharp during her time at Smith Barney but had a stumble just before the start of the bull back in 2009* that made me shy away from posting. This piece is provocative enough that I could be wooed back. From King World News blog: Yamada - Gold Strong, Bear Market in Stocks to Last Until 2022 With gold trading near the $1,650 level and silver at $30, King World News interviewed

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-91807679320539914762012-01-17T08:08:00.002-08:002012-01-17T08:08:50.288-08:00

Old news for pros, a good read for everybody. This piece is from 2011, I'll link to the current issue after the jump. From the London Review of Books: What goes on in stock markets appears quite different when viewed on different timescales. Look at a whole day’s trading, and market participants can usually tell you a plausible story about how the arrival of news has changed traders’

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-45499591832039021602012-01-17T07:49:00.000-08:002012-01-17T13:32:55.516-08:00

There was a story out last week that purported to show a correlation between time spent on the www and changes in brain physiology. I'm dubious. As Britain's NHS News put it: ...Several news headlines have suggested that internet addiction can cause changes to the brain, but this description is inappropriate, as the study design did not look at changes over time. It looked at how the brains

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-757745589273536962012-01-17T06:48:00.002-08:002012-01-17T06:48:52.084-08:00

LNG plants in Australia that is. The scope of the developments is breathtaking. From The Australian: THE Gillard government says it will discourage more onshore standalone liquefied natural gas plants, apart from the controversial Browse project planned near Broome and another potential Gladstone plant, with six LNG hubs in northern Australia seen as enough.    At the same time,

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-88779373082751406592012-01-17T06:37:00.002-08:002012-01-17T06:37:38.889-08:00

A lot of information packed into a few pixels:  (click to enlarge) -From BP via FT Alphaville's "How will the world live with $100 oil?"

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-84508722634484406182012-01-17T05:00:00.001-08:002012-01-17T05:00:03.598-08:00

1952. Color by Technicolor. Here's the DJIA January 1950-December 1959, from TradingEconomics :  

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-22652010021775143052012-01-17T05:00:00.000-08:002012-01-17T05:00:00.286-08:00

The forecast for 10282 (the NYMEX) is much warmer tomorrow, with cooling Wednesday into Friday.* From Bloomberg: Hedge funds turned bearish on U.S. natural gas for the first time in eight weeks as a surplus and warmer-than-normal weather pushed the price of the heating fuel to the lowest level in more than two years. The funds and other large speculators switched from bets that futures will

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-6771952618321698182012-01-16T21:30:00.000-08:002012-01-16T21:30:01.742-08:00

From the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries: Impact of the Euro-zone debt crisis on the oil market In the fourth quarter 2011, crude oil prices remained volatile despite the partial return of supply from Libya and higher OPEC production, which should have reduced price volatility associated with the fear of a supply shortage. The OPEC Reference Basket remained volatile,

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-53117047451148257822012-01-16T14:54:00.000-08:002012-01-16T14:54:36.997-08:00

Not to be confused with the 2009 ($65Mil) Graff's robbery or the 2003 ($41Mil) job. No word on whether this will affect Graff's $1 Bil. Hong Kong IPO. From the Daily Mirror: Diamond snatched in Graff robbery by Bentley-driving bandits turns up in Hong Kong pawn shop A big diamond snatched by Bentley-driving bandits in a brazen, £26million London robbery has popped up in a Hong Kong pawn shop,

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-75346459118818607942012-01-16T06:31:00.005-08:002012-01-16T06:31:54.331-08:00

I hate question marks in headlines, it's usually a weak attempt at sensationalism without being forthright but in this case I'm actually asking the question. From Reuters: Areva uranium deal eyed amid fraud allegations  Controversy over Areva's $2.5 billion purchase of uranium miner UraMin grew on Friday after a consultant said the French state-owned company may have

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-39290059712909755222012-01-16T05:59:00.004-08:002012-01-16T05:59:56.991-08:00

As the old-timers used to say: "Softs continue to be 'well offered'". Corn down another 12 cents to just under six bucks, soybeans down another 2%, wheat off 1/2%... From Agrimoney: Goldman Sachs remained optimistic on prospects for corn and soybean futures despite cutting its prices forecasts for the main crops following the higher-than-expected US inventory data which sent markets tumbling

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-28985464062419949242012-01-16T05:51:00.000-08:002012-01-16T06:04:20.242-08:00

The grins and giggles guys [a little alliteration? -ed] we first met in "Dutch Scientists Have Genetically Altered the H5N1 Bird Flu Virus to Make it More Contagious" (could kill half humanity) are back in the news. From The Independent: Dutch lab that created deadly bird flu virus attacks America for redacting its research. America should not be allowed to dominate the debate over who

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-29441562367754928572012-01-15T14:55:00.000-08:002012-01-16T05:28:00.092-08:00

DB Alex. Brown via the Los Angeles Times: This private prospectus was developed by Deutsche Banc Alex. Brown in 2000 for those who could invest a $1-million minimum in Bain Capital funds. It includes the investment history of Bain Capital from 1984 through 1999, most of the years that Romney ran the firm. After obtaining the prospectus, the Los Angeles Times asked Stanford University economics

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-25040024796616510252012-01-15T14:54:00.001-08:002012-01-15T14:54:34.379-08:00

From Forbes: Paul Krugman has a Nobel Prize in economics, so we should trust him when he says to relax about the “allegedly urgent issue of reducing the budget deficit” because governments, unlike families, don’t have to pay back their debts. But still…Grant’s Interest Rate Observer (subscription required) this week has some disturbing statistics about just how hard it will be for Uncle Sam to

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-50537741112940658722012-01-15T14:53:00.001-08:002012-01-16T06:07:12.332-08:00

From Reuters: In quantum mechanics — i.e. in the real world as we understand it today — matter can have two kinds of formerly apparently contradictory qualities. The same applies to people. Matter propagates as a wave but materializes (for observers) as a particle. Similarly, people can be both free and yet enslaved, depending not only on circumstance but on the observer too....MORE The

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-89823834475739845462012-01-15T14:45:00.001-08:002012-01-15T14:45:59.769-08:00

From Overcoming Bias: My last post talked about inequality among sand grains, diamonds, firms, and cities. Specifically, that their sizes are distributed like lognormals, but with thicker power law tails. I noted that firms and cities are distributed quite unequally, with a (Zipf’s law) upper tail power near one. In this post I’ll focus on wealth. In the 1890s Pareto found that the (upper tail

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-45152459081217564122012-01-15T14:11:00.000-08:002012-01-15T14:11:12.901-08:00

A couple weeks ago I tried to convey my impression of what was going on in Hungary, links below the headline story. From Reuters: Thousands protested against the EU Saturday at a rally of the far-right Jobbik party, calling for Hungary's exit from the bloc and adding pressure on the government which is seeking a funding deal with the EU and IMF to avert insolvency. Two MPs of Jobbik, the second

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-25591509866542841572012-01-15T13:58:00.004-08:002012-01-15T13:58:40.054-08:00

We have over 1300 feeds in various readers and terminals and it's about time I started introducing them to our readers. From Frontrun the Delta: "When I was settled in London, the East India Company had £800,000 worth of gold to sell.  I went to the sale, and bought it all.  I knew the Duke of Wellington must have it.  I had bought a great many of his bills at a discount.  The Government sent

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-89562801659078560672012-01-15T10:30:00.003-08:002012-01-15T10:30:31.693-08:00

From the Village Voice: It was an unlikely marriage from the start. When DJ Spooky invited the Occupy Wall Street Library to hold a book-party / dance-party at the chichi Vandam club Work in Progress, it was an open question how the revolutionary politics of the occupation and the glitz of the downtown nightclub scene would mesh. The answer is: Not at all. The collaboration ended early with

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-28282735371530149422012-01-14T15:41:00.000-08:002012-01-14T15:41:34.403-08:00

We haven't checked in with The Mess that Greenspan Made for a few weeks, here's the latest: ...Things appear to be livening up a little bit around here after weeks of mostly dull police reports, the first item below being a summary of this story in today’s paper that, for some reason, editors felt deserved to be a featured report. This was just one of multiple similar reports last week, a

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-61411855079280173292012-01-14T15:40:00.000-08:002012-01-15T10:05:13.433-08:00

This is the third in a series. I can't wait 'til the trend catches up with economists and market strategists. From the Telegraph: Weather forecasters in South Africa have been threatened with prison if they get their predictions wrong. Independent forecasters have been told they could be imprisoned for up to ten years – or fined up to £800,000 – if they issue incorrect severe weather

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-83064035909428113562012-01-14T15:39:00.001-08:002012-01-14T15:39:47.264-08:00

From New Geography: Robert Sarnoff , the CEO of RCA before it was absorbed by GE, once said, “Finance is the passing of money from hand to hand until it disappears.” That process is very clearly defined in The Age of Greed by Jeffrey Madrick. It recounts, in concise terms, how a few dozen individuals—some in the private sector, some in government--brought us to our current economic pass

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-843089482007836682012-01-14T15:38:00.001-08:002012-01-14T15:38:53.402-08:00

From Fortune: His many lives: entrepreneur, fraud fighter, pastor, movie actor - and serial swindler. In 2009 a writer named Jon Meyers was hired to furnish a screenplay for what soon became the strangest movie project of his life. The film was to star a number of well-known actors -- James Caan, Talia Shire, Mark Hamill, Ving Rhames -- and it would chronicle the life of Barry Minkow. Minkow (

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-56787927769201989392012-01-14T15:38:00.000-08:002012-01-14T15:38:34.120-08:00

From The Atlantic: If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, the U.S. Navy has a backup plan to save one-fifth of the world's daily oil trade: send in the dolphins. The threat of Iran closing the strait has reached a fever pitch, reports today's New York Times, with U.S. officials warning Iran's supreme leader that such moves would cross a "red line" provoking a U.S. response. Iran could block the

climateerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12588010121648399850noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6442514321358119004.post-22415724383949253262012-01-13T14:22:00.001-08:002012-01-13T14:22:06.432-08:00

Not the smoothest of rides. From Barron's Tech Trader Daily: Shares of electric car maker Tesla Motors (TSLA) plunged $5.46, or 19%, to $22.79, late in today’s session but regained 7% in late trading after the company said its head of engineering, Peter Rawlinson, for chief of chassis engineering for its “Model S” line, Nick Sampson, quit, as related by Bloomberg’s Alan Ohnsman....MORE

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No, not Highway to Hell you little cynic you. From Reuters: At the start of the 20th century, inventors Thomas Alva Edison and Nikola Tesla clashed in the "war of the currents". To highlight the dangers of his rival's system, Edison even electrocuted an elephant. The animal died in vain; it was Tesla's system and not Edison's that took off. But today, helped by technological advances and the

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From Reuters: Oil major Total and its partner Japan's Inpex Corp. are to invest $34 billion in a huge offshore liquefied natural gas project in Australia set to begin production in 2016. Construction is set to begin in the second quarter of 2012, Total said in a statement on Friday. Total and Inpex aim to build offshore facilities to produce natural gas and condensate, and an undersea

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