The Original six is a term for the group of
six teams that composed the National Hockey League (NHL) for the 25 seasons
between the 1942–43 season and the 1967 NHL Expansion. These six teams are the
Boston Bruins, Chicago Black Hawks, Detroit Red Wings, Montreal Canadiens, New
York Rangers, and the Toronto Maple Leafs. All of the Original Six are still
active franchises in the league.
The name is something of a misnomer, since
there were other NHL franchises that ceased operations before 1942, including
some that were founded before some of the Original Six. The term dates from the
1967 expansion which added six new franchises; hence the six expansion teams
and the "Original Six". Only two of these six teams were members of
the NHL in the inaugural 1917–18 season, but all six do date from the NHL's
first decade, and pre-date the other 24 teams currently in the league by over
forty years.
Hockey is a great sport; fast, physical,
requiring skill and precision. The current stars; Sydney Crosby, Pavel Datsyuk,
Steven Stamkos are down to earth quality people. In the next few weeks as the
NHL Stanley Cup playoffs proceed, try taking in a game. Though difficult for
some to watch on television, the sport is a great one and there is nothing
better than Original Six playoff hockey.
“NEW NORMAL” IN COLLEGE DEBT – We are reaching a crisis point in this country’s higher
education system. As college tuitions rise and federal, state and local funding for
higher education falls – along with median household incomes – students are
taking on staggering levels of debt. And many can’t find jobs that pay well
enough to quickly pay off the debt. This has long-term implications for our
society and our economy, as that debt begins to affect when and if young people
start families or enter the housing market.
The student debt crisis may become a dangerous
“new normal”, according to a report this past month by the nonprofit State
Higher education Executive Officers Association.
In the new normal; retirement and health care
costs simultaneously drive up the cost of higher education, the new normal no
longer expects to see a recovery of state support for higher education, the new
normal expects students and their families to continue to make increasingly
greater financial sacrifices in order to attend college, the new normal expects
schools and colleges to find ways of increasing productivity and absorb
ever-larger budget cuts, while increasing degree production without, we hope,
compromising quality. Over the past
decade average college tuition has increased 55%, while median household incomes
fell by nearly 7%. Thus higher borrowing by students, student debt is now the
second largest balance after mortgage debt. The relative burden of student loan
debt is greatest for households in the bottom fifth of the income spectrum. And
many of those graduates can’t find work or are underemployed.
Yet, this country needs a more knowledgeable
work force to be competitive. While the number of college graduates in America
is increasing, that number is growing even faster in many other countries. Our national
educational aspirations and the debt crisis that they’re creating are
colliding. We are on an unsustainable track. This will not end well.
GENERAL (GOVERNMENT) MOTORS IS BACK? – General Motor’s Company’s stock closed at $33.42 a share
Friday, up 3.8 percent and hitting its highest close in more than two years.
Friday’s close also beats the company’s initial public offering price of $33 in
November 2010.
The stock has been growing steadily since
early last year, as GM’s profitability and sales have been strong in the U.S.
and China and it has shown improved financial performance in Europe. GM is
looking to get out from government ownership to help the company’s perception
among the public and ultimately help boost auto sales and market share. The
Treasury Department still owns about 241.7 million shares of stock, the
government plans to exit GM completely by the end of March 2014. The U.S.
Treasury has recouped about $30.4 billion from its $49.5 billion bailout of the
automaker.
BIRTHDAYS
THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to: Tommy
Chong (75), Joe Dumars (50), Mike Myers (50), Stevie Nicks (65), Ron Reagan
(55), Molly Sims (40).
COMMENCEMENT
2013
– The 2013 college and university commencement season week number three, here
are this weeks’ notable speakers – May 21 – University of Baltimore;
Bill Cosby, entertainer: May 25 – Bard College; Gabrielle Giffords and
Mark Kelly, former Congresswoman and astronaut: Elon University; Brian
Williams, news anchor: Hartwick College; Deepak Chopra, author: May 26 –
Vassar College; Kristen Gillibrand, U.S. Senator New York State.
MARKET
WEEK - Barring a major selloff in the month's final two weeks,
investors clearly have not "sold in May and gone away". The major
averages are coming off their fourth consecutive week of gains, with the Dow
and S&P 500 at record highs once again and the S&P having chalked up 17
gains in 21 sessions.
BORROWING
PICKS UP - "America's credit crunch is easing. For the past six
years, consumers and businesses have struggled to borrow money, but slowly,
things are getting easier. Large U.S. companies are taking advantage of low
interest rates to borrow record amounts. ... Banks are opening the spigots for
commercial and industrial firms, and loans grew at an 11 percent annualized
rate in the first quarter of this year, the sixth double-digit percentage
increase in seven quarters, Federal Reserve data show.
"... Residential lending began edging up last year, and
even people with bad credit can get a loan to buy a car these days. In all,
some $713 billion in credit flowed to U.S. households and nonfinancial
businesses last year, double 2011's $336 billion, according to the Fed. That is
still a fraction of the $2.2 trillion in credit that lifted American consumers
and businesses in 2007."
U.S
HITS DEBT LIMIT: EMERGENCY CLOCK STARTS TICKING - Treasury ran
out of borrowing authority under the debt limit on Sunday beginning what could
be a relatively lengthy period of "extraordinary measures" to avoid
default. The debt limit essentially vanished for three months under a deal
passed by Congress in February. That period ended May 19th. Treasury Secretary
Jack Lew can now deploy the usual arsenal of moves to forestall a default
including not issuing certain state and local securities and not investing in
federal retirements funds (which would be made whole after the debt limit is
hiked). Treasury is also enjoying better tax receipts and expects big checks
from Fannie Mae so the U.S. may have until well into the fall to get a deal.
But a deal still needs to get done. And there is no path to one yet apparent.
TOP
STORY: YEN KEEPS DROPPING - "The Japanese yen has broken
through a major psychological barrier against the dollar for the first time in
four years, setting the stage for further weakness seen as a boon for the
country's exporters and economy. For the past month, the yen had stalled before
the 100 threshold and traders said its rise in afternoon trading in New York on
Thursday to Y100.79 reflected stop-losses being triggered that sparked selling
of the yen. ... The yen has weakened substantially against its major trading
rivals since December, when Shinzo Abe was elected prime minister after
campaigning to arrest the country's past two decades of falling prices and
boost its economy.
"The sharp drop in the currency in recent months has
already boosted profits for Japan's exporters and sparked a massive rally in
the country's equity market, with the Nikkei 225 index up 36.5 percent this
year. The Nikkie rose 1.8 percent in early morning trading in Tokyo on Friday.
Further yen weakness is expected to boost inflation and push equity and
property prices higher, but may also incur the wrath of Japan's trading
partners as the country's exporters become more competitive. ... Analysts
predict that if Japan's army of retail investors decides to wade into the short
yen trade, the Japanese currency could weaken further."
BRAZIL
AUTO CRISIS - The cars roll endlessly off the local
assembly lines of the industry's biggest automakers, more than 10,000 a day,
into the eager hands of Brazil's new middle class. The shiny new Fords, Fiats,
and Chevrolets tell the tale of an economy in full bloom that now boasts the
fourth largest auto market in the world.
What happens once those vehicles hit the streets, however,
is shaping up as a national tragedy, experts say, with thousands of Brazilians
dying every year in auto accidents that in many cases shouldn't have proven
fatal. The culprits are the cars themselves, produced with weaker welds, scant
safety features and inferior materials compared to similar models manufactured
for U.S. and European consumers, say experts and engineers inside the industry.
Four of Brazil's five bestselling cars failed their independent crash tests.
Unsafe cars, coupled with the South American nation's often
dangerous driving conditions, have resulted in a Brazilian death rate from
passenger car accidents that is nearly four times that of the United States,
according to an Associated Press analysis of Brazilian Health Ministry data on
deaths compared to the size of each country's car fleet. In fact, the two
countries are moving in opposite directions on survival rates — the U.S.
recorded 40 percent fewer fatalities from car wrecks in 2010 compared with a
decade before. In Brazil, the number killed rose 72 percent, according to the
latest available data.
WHY
GOLD IS OVER - "Gold, down 17 percent since January, is
poised to lose 20 percent in a year as inflation fails to accelerate and with
the worst risks to the global economy waning, Credit Suisse Group AG said. Gold
will trade at $1,100 an ounce in a year and below $1,000 in five years. Investors
are losing faith in the world's traditional store of value even as central
banks continue to print money on an unprecedented scale."
WORDS
OF THE MONTH –
motza \MOT-ser\,
noun: a large amount of money, especially a sum won in gambling.
“Good
business to be in. I bet they made a motza
out of that.”
pepino, noun:
cucumber
Pepino is the Spanish word for cucumber. For example, if
you’re shopping at the market, you could say: “Dos pepinos, por favor.” Two cucumbers, please.
WEDDING
OF THE WEEK - --N.Y. Times: "Paulette LaRay Aniskoff and
Matthew Reid Tinning were married Saturday evening at WeatherLea Farm and
Vineyard in Lovettsville, Va. Malcolm Forbes Baldwin, the owner of the farm and
a civil celebrant licensed by the County of Loudoun, Va., officiated. The
bride, 36, is keeping her name. She works in Washington as a deputy assistant
to President Obama. She is the director of the White House Office of Public
Engagement, which creates opportunities for direct dialogue between the Obama
administration and the public. She graduated from the University of Colorado.
She is the daughter of Ellen B. O'Connor of Indianapolis and Walter Aniskoff
Jr. of Windsor, Conn. Her father is an owner of a construction company in
Windsor that bears his name.
"The bridegroom, 37, is the executive director of the
Marine Fish Conservation Network, a nonprofit coalition of national fishing,
conservation and scientific organizations in Washington that promotes
environmentally sustainable fisheries. He graduated from the Australian
National University in Canberra, from which he also earned a law degree. He is
a son Barbara Joan Tinning and Rodney Warren Tinning of Canberra. His father
retired as the director of staffing for the Australian Agency for International
Development, a government agency in Canberra that provides financial assistance
to developing nations." With pic http://nyti.ms/161sVtc
THE
SWAMI’S TOP PICKS: NHL Playoffs, Second Round – Chicago
Blackhawks, Los Angeles Kings, Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers. Season to date (6-4)
DRIVING
THE WEEK - IRS hearings
continue including House OGR on Wednesday at 10 a.m. with Deputy Treasury
Secretary Neal S. Wolin, IRS Inspector General J. Russell George, IRS Director
of Exempt Organizations Lois Lerner, and Former IRS Commissioner Douglas
Shulman ... Senate Finance has an IRS hearing at 10:00 a.m. Tuesday featuring
outgoing acting IRS Commissioner Steven Miller, Russell George and Shulman ...
Lew testifies before Senate Banking at 10 a.m. on Tuesday on the annual FSOC
report, though the IRS scandal is sure to arise. Lew testifies before House
Financial Services on Wednesday at 10 a.m. on the FSCO report ...
House Ag has a hearing at 10 a.m. Tuesday on the future of
the CFTC ... HFSC subcommittee has a hearing Tuesday at 10:00 a.m. on the CFPB
and the qualified mortgage rule ... Fed Chair Ben Bernanke testifies Wednesday
at 10:00 a.m. before he Joint Economic Committee on the economic outlook ...
House Financial Services subcommittee has a hearing Wednesday at 2 pm. on
whether DoJ views some banks as "too big to jail" ... Existing home
sales on Wednesday at 10 a.m. expected to rise to 4.99M from 4.92M in March ...
FOMC minutes at 2 p.m. Wednesday not expected to include new
info ... Apple CEO Tim Cook testifies Tuesday before Senate Permanent
Subcommittee on Investigations on the company's tax mitigation activity ...
JPMorganChase shareholders vote on Tuesday in Florida on whether to recommend
that the bank split the roles of chairman and CEO. If they do it would be a big
blow to chairman/CEO Jamie Dimon.
Next week: Top Five and Jack Ass of the Month.
Until Next Monday, Adios!
Claremont, CA
May 20, 2013
#IV-5, 162
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