Category: News and Views

Public Pensions Are Not The Whole Problem | ZeroHedge

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While it’s the latest new thing to vilify public employees and their pensions, this little known and understood threat is doing just as much damage:

In 2002 a little-known but powerful state agency in California and Wall Street titans Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, and Ambac consummated one of the biggest deals to date involving … an “interest rate swap.” A year later the executive director of the Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission, Steve Heminger, proudly described these historic deals to a visiting contingent of Atlanta policymakers as a model to be emulated.

Because of the economic collapse, and the decline of interest rates in 2008 to virtually zero, the MTA has been forced to pay the amazing sum of $658 million in net swap payments so far.

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Lowering interest rates to zero isn’t Fed policy, it’s Wall Street policy – Ed.

I am Woman. . . See Me Grow My $1 Million Business | Entrepreneur.com

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The new State of Women-Owned Businesses  looked at the past 15 years of business activity to track trends in womens business ownership. It found that American women are starting about 550 new businesses a day, opening more than 200,000 new enterprises in the past year. The rate of startup activity by women leaped 54 percent and far outstripped the overall business creation growth rate of 37 percent.

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Diapers to Furniture | CoolBusinessIdeas.com

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Each year over 160 million diapers (or nappies as they are known in the UK) are sent to Scotland’s landfills. However a new recycling scheme is aiming to take those used diapers and turn them into park benches, garden furniture, decking, bollards, railway sleepers, fencing, roof tiles and cardboard. Other bathroom wastewill also be recycled, including incontinence products, wet wipes, nappy sacks and cotton wool.

Read On.

Untapped Potential for Expanding Women’s Entrepreneurship Holds Promise to Grow the U.S. Economy, According to Kauffman Report

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Women who are capable of starting growth companies that serve global markets may be the nation’s secret weapon for achieving sustained economic growth.

Research shows that startup companies – particularly high-growth startups – are the most fruitful source of new U.S. jobs and offer the economy’s best hope for recovery. However, despite the fact that about 46 percent of the workforce and more than 50 percent of college students are female, and that women have risen to top positions in corporate and university hierarchies, they represent only about 35 percent of startup business owners. Their firms also tend to experience less growth and prosperity than do firms started by men.

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Brian’s Briefs | Brian Weide

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Brian’s Briefs, written and compiled Monday through Friday by Brian Weide, SunStar Mortgage Services

Friday, June 29, 2012

As I mentioned yesterday, bonds and Mortgage-backed Securities have been flip-flopping around like water on a hot skillet the last 10 days or so, and today was no exception. While closing off their lows, both securities closed lower today after having rallied yesterday. Data was mildly bond-friendly overall. Personal Income rose by .2%, which was twice the rate expected (see Moving the Market). Personal Spending was unchanged for May against expectations of +.1%. Core PCE Prices, which is a favorite gauge of the Fed in measuring inflation, as it works with consumer’s actual spending habits instead of a fixed “basket of goods” as does the CPI, was up by .1% vs. consensus estimates of .2%.

The Chicago Purchasing Managers’ Index landed at 52.9 for June- real close to estimates of 53.0 but not quite there. Finally, the final read for June for the University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment survey reported at 73.2; again, below estimates of 74.1. So with the exception of Personal Income, all the stats were below estimates, but yet very close; hence my insinuation that bonds were mildly supported by these numbers. However, data was not the main driver for bonds today. First off, stocks were strongly into rally mode (Dow +277.83 at 12880.09, Nasdaq +85.56 at 2935.05, S&P +33.12 at 1362.16), being buoyed by news that Eurozone officials have opened the door for Spain’s banks to be directly recapitalized with bailout funds once Europe sets up a single banking supervisor. Moreover, Spain will not have to take on additional sovereign debt.

Continue reading “Brian’s Briefs | Brian Weide” →

Broken Fences | Bruce Krasting / Zero Hedge

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When I (and others) book a job three months in advance, the contractor can hire more workers knowing when checks will be coming in. My visibility creates the contractors visibility. The predictability of revenue creates the opportunity for economic expansion and job creation.

The Federal Reserve is operating monetary policy using a simple formula:

Lower interest rates across all maturities ALWAYS increases economic growth.

My personal example proves this formula to be flawed. I think the formula is more complicated:

Lowering interest rates across all maturities has both positive and negative consequences. As interest rates approach zero, (with the prospect that they will remain so for years to come) the negative consequences outweigh any benefits.

The idea that lower interest rates are hurting savers is an old one. The question is, “How significant are the negative consequences of low interest rates?” The multi-decade efforts in Japan to reflate an economy with low interest rates is a shining example of policy that has not worked.

Read this article, you will have, in nutshell, exactly our economic situation. Read at least some of the comments. If you filter out the hyperbole of a few, the comments form a kind of crystal ball, with some sobering predictions.

Green Car Journal announces five finalists for 2012 award | reviews.cnet.com

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Green Car Journal announced five finalists for the publication’s annual Green Car Vision Award. The award recognizes innovations in fuel efficiency, low emissions, alternative fuels, or electric power.

To be considered for the Green Car Vision Award, vehicles must be in demonstration on public highways today or nearing commercialization but not yet widely available to consumers, Green Car Journal said in a press release.

The five finalists include

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Does Radioactive Tuna Mean Fukushima Was Worse than Expected? | LifesLittleMysteries.com

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Radioactive isotopes from Japans Fukushima nuclear disaster turned up in bluefin tuna caught off California in August, a new study reports. The 15 fish that were tested contained 10 times the background levels of radioactive cesium, including a short-lived isotope that the fish must have absorbed while swimming in contaminated waters near Japan before migrating east across the Pacific.

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