“Top Ten Reasons Economy Is Still Weak”
10). Mr. Thirty
Hour Work Week is only working 25 hours.
9). The hottest
new business on Foothill Boulevard is a Big Five Sporting Goods.
8). Labor force
participation rate is now the lowest since 1981.
7). 10 Year U.S.
Treasury note yield 1.88%
6). Leo and Lea
find it cheaper to not get married.
5). 40% of
students drop out of four-year universities before graduation.
4). Job growth
slows for the second straight month.
3). Workers with
tattoos are being hired before workers without tattoos.
2). College
administrators are getting their haircuts at SuperCuts.
1). People are still
taking advice from Larry Summers.
MIDDLE
CLASS KEEPS LOSING GROUND - "Barack Obama campaigned four years ago assailing President
George W. Bush for wage losses suffered by the middle class. More than three
years into Obama's own presidency, those declines have only deepened. ...
Underlying the erosion of the middle class, defined by some economists as the
middle 60 percent of income earners, are trends that stretch back decades,
including competition from lower-wage workers overseas and technological
advances that allow factories and offices to produce more with less labor. As a
candidate in 2008, Obama blamed the reversals largely on the policies of Bush
and other Republicans. ... Yet real median household income in March was down
$4,300 since Obama took office in January 2009 and down $2,900 since the June
2009 start of the economic recovery"
WELCOME
TO 2012: YEAR OF CONFUSION - "Don't like the economy we have?
Just wait a day and you'll get a new one. One day, [GDP] is a growing at a
dismal 2.2 percent rate. The next day manufacturing is at a 10-month high.
Jobless claims are up again. That's not good. But maybe it's a just a quirk of
the warm winter? Another bad sign: The S&P 500 just posted its first
monthly drop since last year. But wait. The Dow is at a 4-year high. ...
Welcome to the 2012 economy, a frustrating maze of conflicting - even
confounding - data highly subject to partisan spin and defiant of all attempts
to fit into a clean narrative.
COSTCO
LUNCH – Since 1985 Costco has sold a hotdog and a soda for $1.50.
NETWORK
NEWS ALERT - "Harvard, MIT plan free Web classes: Schools hope
$60 million initiative will be research boon," by Mary Carmichael in
Cambridge: "Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of
Technology will team up on a $60 million initiative to offer free online,
college-level courses under a joint superbrand known as edX ... The Harvard-MIT
move -- an altruistic giveaway, a potential research bonanza, and an audacious
bet on the future of higher education all in one -- instantly made the schools
preeminent players in the burgeoning worldwide online education sector . ...
The full edX program is expected to be up and running by fall."
MOOD
MUSIC - "JPMorgan Chief Jamie Dimon Blasts Obama, Asks For
Simpson-Bowles Now" - Forbes.com: "Dimon was speaking .... at the
University of Rochester, where he received the 'Executive Of The Year' award.
... 'The U.S. is the opposite of Europe, we know the way [to solve our crises],
it's called Bowles-Simpson. ... Our problem is that we don't have the will ...
Why the hell are we so depressed[?] ... We have the best military in the
planet, the best universities and ... incredible innovation ... When things go
wrong, finance gets blamed, just like this ridiculous stuff of blaming
speculators for oil prices."
FACEBOOK EYES $96 BILLION VALUATION - "Facebook
Inc. pulled back the curtain on how much it thinks it is worth, targeting a
valuation as rich as $96 billion in what would be a record debut for an
American company. ... Eight-year-old Facebook would become the most valuable
U.S. technology company at the time of an IPO, exceeding Google Inc.'s $23
billion valuation in 2004. At nearly $100 billion, it would also rival the
current market values of more established companies including Amazon.com Inc.
and McDonald's Corp., and longtime tech giants like Hewlett Packard Co.,
despite having a fraction of the revenue-or profit. ...
"Facebook's IPO will be a watershed moment for Silicon Valley,
spawning a new generation of millionaires, and a handful of billionaires,
including founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, whose stake is worth as
much as $18.7 billion. ... But while the social network is growing rapidly-more
than 900 million people now use the site-there are questions whether its
trajectory is slowing. Its revenue in the latest quarter rose 45% from a year
ago, but fell 6% from the previous three months."
BIRTHDAYS
THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Bill
Cowher (55), Tom Petersson (62), Mort Sahl (85), Rick Santorum (54), Toni
Tennille (72), Steve Yzerman (47).
DINING
– Looking
for a great sports bar and food in central Michigan? The Beach Bar in Clark Lake, Michigan is the best beach bar in the
Great Lake State. Michigan State and University of Michigan alumni are abundant
in this central Michigan institution. Detroit Tiger, Red Wing, Lions, and
Piston games are exclusively shown on the many HD televisions. The best of all:
Ohio citizens in any shape or form are cordially asked to leave the building.
There is still some sanity in this world.
3505 Ocean Beach Road in Clark Lake, Michigan
(517-529-4211); specializing in pizza and burgers, the Beach Bar is a must when
visiting Ann Arbor, Jackson, or surrounding areas.
RINK
RATS TMZ.COM – A Rink Rats TMZ.com insider reports that panty
hose is making a comeback, yes panty hose. This staple of fashion of the 1970’s
& 1980’s is returning to women’s purses again.
DRIVING THE WEEK - Today is all about
global market react to the anti-austerity votes across Europe. Conventional
wisdom holds that after an early equity sell-off, things should calm down once
it becomes clear that further ECB monetary easing is now more likely and that a
modest tweaking of the dials away from austerity might not be the worst thing.
And in any event, Germany is not likely to budge much from austerity and there
is not much any other euro zone country can do (short of leaving the common
currency) absent German support. The big wild card is once again Greece and the
possibility that it will leave the euro ...
Consumer credit out at 2:00 p.m.
today expected to show an increase of $9.7 billion ...
Mitt
Romney campaigns in Cleveland today ... House Financial Services subcommittee
has a field hearing in Chicago this morning on FHFA's Real Estate Owned (REO)
Pilot Program ... House Financial Services subcommittee led by Rep. Ron Paul
has a hearing on Tuesday on reforming the Fed ... Senate Banking has mortgage
refi hearing Tuesday morning ... Other top U.S. data include jobless claims on
Thursday (expected to stay at 365K) and University of Michigan/Reuters consumer
sentiment on Friday expected to dip to 76.2 from 76.4
Next week, Dear Rink Rats and the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Until Next Monday, Adios.
Claremont, CA
May 7, 2012
#III-2, 107
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