1). RISKY BORROWING MAKES A COMEBACK
— A decade after reckless home lending nearly destroyed the financial system,
the business of making risky loans is back. This time the money is bypassing
the traditional, and heavily regulated, banking system and flowing through a
growing network of businesses that stepped in to provide loans to parts of the
economy that banks abandoned after 2008.
It's called shadow banking, and it is a key source of the credit
that drives the American economy. With almost $15 trillion in assets, the
shadow-banking sector in the United States is roughly the same size as the
entire banking system of Britain, the world's fifth-largest economy.
Welcome to October — It can be a very spooky month for stocks with
giant drops in 1929, 1987 and 2008. But October is actually the third best
month for stocks over the last 20 years.
Still, with impeachment and China
trade on everyone's mind, we could be in for a ride.
What has us worried this October is the fact that September this
year was historically calm. ... Markets don't stay calm forever and after a
dull market last month, we could be due for some usual October volatility.
2). IMPEACHMENT
- Remember
that impeachment, which only takes a majority vote in the House, doesn’t end
Trump’s presidency.
That only happens if two-thirds of the Senate votes to convict and
remove him — 67 senators if they all show up.
The wall gets weaker if you factor in Trump’s approval ratings.
They’re negative in some of the states he won in 2016.
But even if all of those senators jumped ship — which is a stretch
— he'd still have more than enough votes to block conviction.
That would only change if he started to lose senators from states
where he's still popular, too.
By the numbers: 36 Republican senators represent Trump states
where he’s still popular. 15 of them are up for re-election.
15 Republican senators represent Trump states where his approval
ratings are underwater, but only 4 of them are up for re-election.
Trump could lose 17 senators from his red wall — or 19 Republicans
if Collins and Gardner were in the mix — and still stay in office.
Trump believes the combination of right-wing media backing, plus
GOP senators' fear of crossing Trump voters will save him.
3). THE COSMIC CRISP - A
new apple variety, the Cosmic Crisp, launches this fall.
For 50 years, Red Delicious was the most-grown apple in the U.S.
That came to an end last harvest season, when Gala took over the throne. Some
in the industry consider Red Delicious “obsolete.”
The first crossbreed that led to the Cosmic Crisp apple was made
in 1997. It's hitting shelves this year, so we count 22 years of testing before
launch.
It could be worth it. According to insiders, bringing the Cosmic
Crisp to grocery stores may be “the largest launch of a single produce item in
American history.”
So how do you market an apple? The Cosmic Crisp is partnering with
a theater production of Johnny Appleseed and a group of social media
influencers.
The Cosmic Crisp’s biological identity, under patent as WA 38, is
owned by Washington State University. Cosmic Crisp growers must pay royalties
on every tree they buy and every box they sell.
4). BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK
– Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to Karen Ball …famous sister, Devorah
Lieberman …famous College President, Bruce Springsteen (70), Karla Suffredini …famous
sister,
5). CATHOLIC CHURCH - Nearly 1,700 priests and other clergy members that the Roman Catholic
Church considers credibly accused of child sexual abuse are living under the
radar with little to no oversight from religious authorities or law
enforcement, decades after the first wave of the church abuse scandal roiled
U.S. dioceses, an Associated Press investigation has found.
These priests, deacons, monks and lay people now
teach middle-school math. They counsel survivors of sexual assault. They work
as nurses and volunteer at nonprofits aimed at helping at-risk kids. They live
next to playgrounds and day care centers. They foster and care for children.
And in their time since leaving the church, dozens
have committed crimes, including sexual assault and possessing child
pornography, the AP’s analysis found.
A recent push by Roman Catholic dioceses across the
U.S. to publish the names of those it considers to be credibly accused has
opened a window into the daunting problem of how to monitor and track priests
who often were never criminally charged and, in many cases, were removed from
or left the church to live as private citizens.
6). RED SNAPPER - This October marks the 80th anniversary of the bloody mary. The iconic
brunch cocktail was created at the St. Regis Hotel's King Cole Bar in 1934 by
bartender Fernand Petiot.
The history behind the Bloody Mary is a beautiful
cocktail fairytale which began in the center of an iconic bar in Manhattan.
The St. Regis Hotel was founded by John Jacob Astor
IV one of the wealthiest men in Manhattan. While abroad, Astor's son in law,
Serge Obolensky, met bartender Fernand Petiot in Paris. Obelensky brought
Petiot to NYC to be the bartender of the King Cole Bar at the St. Regis.
Obolensky had a penchant for vodka (he had Russian
aristocratic roots afterall) and asked the bartender to make the vodka cocktail
he had in Paris. Petiot made the cocktail and spiced it up with salt, pepper,
lemon, and Worcestershire sauce and presto! The Bloody Mary was born. The St.
Regis deemed the "Bloody Mary" too vulgar of a name for the grand
King Cole Bar, so it was renamed the "Red Snapper".
The Red Snapper is now the signature cocktail of the
King Cole Bar, one of NYC's most iconic spots to enjoy a libation in the world.
This October, in celebration of the 80th anniversary, the King Cole Bar is
featuring a special anniversary cocktail menu. There are numerous variations of
the Bloody Mary to choose from with recipes from The Lion, Fat Radish, The
Dutch, A.O.C, and more. And if you need ANOTHER reason to indulge in a few
bloodies at the King Cole Bar this month, a percentage of the proceeds from the
sale of all Bloody Mary cocktails during October will benefit City Meals-on-Wheels.
The King Cole Bar (2 E 55th St, New York, NY)
7). TOP TEN SPORT FRANCHISES - The Dallas Cowboys. And you don’t need to be named Tony Romo to have
predicted this—the Cowboys have topped Forbes’s list for four straight years.
Here's the rest of the top 10, along with their valuations:
Dallas Cowboys: $5 billion
New York Yankees: $4.6 billion
Real Madrid: $4.24 billion
Barcelona: $4.02 billion
New York Knicks: $4 billion
Manchester United: $3.81 billion
New England Patriots: $3.8 billion
Los Angeles Lakers: $3.7 billion
Golden State Warriors: $3.5 billion
Tie between New York Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers:
$3.3 billion
8). YOUTH SPORTS EXODUS - The average child today spends less than three years playing a sport and
quits by age 11, according to a new survey of sports parents conducted by the
Aspen Institute and Utah State University.
On top of that, only 28% of kids aged 6 to 12 played
team sports on a regular basis in 2018, down from 45% in 2008, per the Sports
& Fitness Industry Association.
For parents who see the benefits of their kids
playing sports and for a nation in the midst of a childhood obesity epidemic,
keeping kids active is extremely important.
According to the survey, three of the main reasons
kids quit sports are (1) a lack of fun, (2) bad coaches and (3) financial
pressure. It's that third reason — financial pressure — that I'd like to focus
on.
The youth sports economy has always been big
business, but as competitive travel teams have crept into increasingly younger
age groups over the past decade, the industry has doubled in size to more than $15
billion.
The result is a world of private coaching,
interstate travel and mega-complexes (look at this place!) full of families
willing — and able — to spend as much as $20,000 per year on youth sports.
"They may be holding back on vacation or on a
car, but they will make certain that Susie goes to the cheerleading competition
in Orlando and Johnny gets to his Little League tournament in Georgia."
Youth sports in America is becoming a story of the
haves and the have-nots. I don't know about you, but I absolutely hate it.
9). SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –
NFL Football Pick of the Week – Sunday 10/6, 1:25 PM (PT), FOX: Green Bay
Packers (3-1) vs. Dallas Cowboys (3-1). Are the Cowboys for real? No, Packers
win in Dallas 24 – 21. (Season to Date 3-1)
NFL Football Pick of the Week – Sunday 10/13, 1:05 PM (PT), FOX: San
Francisco 49ers (3-0) vs. Los Angeles Rams (3-2). Rams bounce back from two
straight losses to win big, 40 – 20.
College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/5,
12:00 PM (ET), FOX: #14 Iowa Hawkeyes (4-0) vs. #19 Michigan Wolverines (3-1).
Jim, time to start coaching… Blue wins 27 – 20. (Season to Date 4-2)
College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/12,
12:00 PM (ET), FS1: #6 Oklahoma Sooners (4-0) vs. #11 Texas Longhorns (3-1).
Soooooweee 38 – 28.
DIII College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/5
1:00 PM (ET), HGTV: #11 Ithaca College Bombers (3-0) vs. St. Lawrence
University Saints (2-2). Appleton Arena is not the only thing being rebuilt at
St. Lawrence; The Saints are too young for the boys from South Hill. IC wins
big, 45 – 20. (Season to Date 3-1)
DIII College Football Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/12,
2:00 PM (ET), HGTV: #7 Bethel Royals (3-0) vs. #4 St. Johns Johnnies (3-0). A
huge MIAC conference match up, Johnnies prevail 32 -30.
SCIAC Pick of the Week (Volleyball) – Friday
10/4, 7:00 (PT), Hallmark: Chapman University Panthers (14-2) vs. University of
La Verne Leopards (10-6). First place is on the line in this SCIAC thriller, Leopards
win 3 – 2. (Season to
Date 3-1)
SCIAC Pick of the Week (Football) – Saturday
10/12, 7:00 PM (PT), Hallmark: #18 University of Redlands SATs (3-0) vs.
Chapman University Panthers (2-0). This early conference game could decide the
SCIAC Champ, Panthers win a close one 30 – 28.
MLB Pick of the Week – The Swami likes a Los Angeles Dodgers, New
York Yankees World Series match up. (Season
to Date 9-4)
English Premier League Pick of the Week – Saturday 10/5, 7:00 AM (PT) NBCSN: Liverpool Reds (7-0) visit
Leicester City Foxes (4-2-1). Can the Reds stay undefeated, Yes 3 – 1. (Season to Date 2-4)
2019 Season
to Date (38-25)
10).
ANDREW TOMPKINS – We lost a fine young man this past month,
Andrew Tompkins, 21. He was a student/athlete at the University of La Verne, he
died of cancer. Andrew was a business student who embraced life’s challenges
with love and spirit.
Though he is no longer with us, his spirit and soul
will live on. In these difficult times, his positive spirit I know will guide
this writer to become a better human being.
God Bless Andrew Tompkins.
Next Blog: Words of the Month, Dear Rink Rats, and NHL ’19-20 Season picks
Until
next time Monday October 14, Adios
Claremont,
California
October
4, 2019
(Weekend
Edition)
#X-10-399
1,993
words, five minute read
CARTOON OF
THE WEEK – The New Yorker, Julia Suits
RINK RATS
POLL – Will President Trump complete his
Presidency?
_____ Yes
_____ No
_____ Don’t
Care
_____ Who
is President Trump?
QUOTE OF THE
MONTH
– “A person is smart. People are dumb.”
—Atticus Finch, “To Kill a Mockingbird”
Rink Rats is a blog
of weekly observations, predictions and commentary. We welcome your comments
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Posted at Rink Rats The Blog: First Published – May 3, 2010
Our Tenth Year.
