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Friday Follies - Greece Job
Friday Follies - Greece Job
Courtesy of Phil of Phil's Stock World
Papandreou is trying to convince us he almost destroyed (the) Universe to get my consent. - Opposition leader Antonis Samaras
Ah the old "destroying the universe" ploy. It's the same one the Republicans are using in the Senate as they once again kill Obama's $60Bn infrastructure program that was meant to provide direct aid for highway and rail projects and set up an infrastructure bank. Without 60 votes, bills can't even make it to the Senate floor so nothing gets done.
This is ironic because, on the same day, China APPROVED another $160Bn of infrastructure spending - just to build new underground subway systems in 28 cities by the end of the decade - creating millions of Chinese jobs, lowering transportation costs and laying the foundation for continuing to kick our asses in the 21st Century. So, to be fair, the Republicans aren't destroying the Universe to advance their political agenda - just America.
Meanwhile, China's subway plans are coming AFTER they have developed the World's largest high-speed rail lines to connect to their World class shipping ports so goods can now be whisked around the country in a cheap and efficient manner while the knuckle-draggers in Congress debate whether or not it's worth fixing the potholes that are ripping the tires off trucks on our nation's roadways.
You don't make a nation great by talking about how great we are - you make a nation great by building a great nation and we are doing almost the exact opposite - squandering what once seemed to be an insurmountable lead in education, transportation, utilities, health care, housing and even environmental progress - and turning America into what is now one of the lowest-ranked developed nations in each of those categories.
Rather than employ millions of people to maintain our infrastructure, we allow it to decay and ship our manufacturing and jobs overseas to Nations that are willing to invest in their future and that leads to trade deficits that suck hundreds of Billions of additional Dollars out of our economy along with the hundreds of Billions of Dollars we ship overseas every year to pay for our addiction to oil because, for 40 years now - our Republican leaders have told us it's too difficult to kick the habit. Vote these fools in again and we're doomed - that's all I have to say about it. Fail to give Obama the majority he needs to get this country back on track and we're doomed. That's right, DOOMED!
In more bad news, 50M of the bottom 99.9% woke up this week and made a commercial telling Republicans it's time to look elsewhere if they want to balance their budgets on the backs of the poor. Like the man said, they are 50M seniors who EARNED their benefits and every time these jackasses pontificate in their debates that our nation's retirees are holding their hands out for entitlements, as if there were no promises made to them by the "job creators" for the past 40 years, they just push more and more people over the picket line.
8:30 Update: Speaking of our "job creators," America only added 80,000 jobs in the month of October with unemployment (as undercounted by the Government) still at 9%. This is what we expected as we stayed a bit bearish into yesterday's rally and ahead of the weekend but we blew it with oil puts (USO) and took a quick loss there and I imagine we'll be lucky to get even on our QQQ puts, which were a bit too aggressive, perhaps with today expirations.
The bulls are pointing out that revisions to September were pretty good but I will point out that we got very weak consumer confidence, comfort and spending data in October so if that was the result of BETTER jobs numbers than we thought we had, then the suckiness of these numbers cannot be understated!
(Chart via Barry Ritholtz, by BetaBeat)
While the jobs report may not have been a big downer, we still may have a no-confidence vote in Greece, which is fun for chaos and then we have Groupon's (GRPN) IPO today and that may not do so well and that could send the Momo's back down on a sea of doubt. Meanwhile Canada, very surprisingly, LOST 54,000 jobs with unemployment spiking to 7.3% over there - and they have oil! Come on folks, something is wrong with the Global economy as that's like the US losing 500,000 jobs in a month.
You won't hear about Canada in the MSM because it doesn't fit the current bullish narrative but let's stay ahead of the curve and remain bearish into the weekend and until they prove they can hold those +5% lines on our Big Chart for more than a couple of days.
Of course I still like shorting oil over the weekend. We got blown out of USO puts yesterday but I love playing the futures (/CL) bearish below the $94 line ($10 per penny per contract, so be careful) as well as those USO Nov $35 puts at .67 and we'll be grabbing 20 of those in our White Christmas Portfolio.
Be very careful out there and have a great weekend,
- Phil
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I was actually considering trying out phils world until i read this. i mean there are some good ideas in some of the phil submissions but like others have already pointed out, despite the fact that the republicans are morons, obummer has to seriously be in the list of the worst 3 presidents - ever, right down there below W. And ever is a long time.
This is what government is supposed to do, not give billions to big banks, but improve the life of all citizens.
Government spoending has a bad name because it all goes to the choosen few instead of making our country greater.
Ask a soybean farmer from the amazon what their transportation costs are to the ports-- like 3 years ago it was quoted at 11 buks a ton or so. I do not know now what it is but at the time it cost 70% or so of the total export cost
Infrastructure is what makes and will keep america great.
This is our edge and we must keep it to stay ahead.
Hey, that's like the fake "Button" Dennis Miller said they'd give Perot if he actually became POTUS.
I keep clicking the OK button at the top of the page and it isn't working. Anyone with some IT help?
Do unto others.
China has clearly misallocated untold amounts of capital with their infrastructure buildout. You don't make a wise investment simply because you are investing in infrastructure. Smart choices are much more difficult to come by.
When countries print money they create many misallocations of labor and natural resources. It happened in Germany after world war I and in the US during the 1970s. It keeps people employed in the near term, but it brings a society to its knees soon after.
Only a scarcity of capital ensues that labor and resources can be applied efficiently.
A do nothing Congress is a good Congress. A do nothing Government is a good Government. What happened to all those hundreds of billions sent up a couple of years ago for the same projects? Did it just vanish into thin air, or will JPM discover it in a dark corner of their vault somewhere?
unionized teachers don't work for free!
Wtf is this partisan left/right R/D BS?
We don't care about infrastructure. Never did ( except for a brief window in the early 20th century) Its an outright shame that we let everything disintegrate at an expedited entropy in this country ( in fact we tear shit down that will outlast anything we replace it with ) and then look for more ways - taxes - whining - excuses for why things are so fucked. Other countries don't do this, they actually upgrade and maintain their shit - look at the levees in New Orleans and compare them to the levees in Amsterdam or Europe - we are a joke, I am so sad to be saying this.
I am in Jim Kunstler's camp - if we don't put the railroads back then we are finished as a nation,but NOOOO we want the fucking rail trails instead, you think thats better for your property value? are you serious - where did the industries, jobs, and all related support systems go that used to be that railroad? What jobs are your kids going to have?
The world hit 7 billion people on Halloween ( appropriate I know) - has anyone thought about that? who is going to feed, clothe, house and get fresh water to the next generation, think about the fact that by 2018 we may have 8 billion people, and NO WORK, NO FOOD or NO WATER.
If we really think about it the perfect railroad beds are waiting for us - they are called highways, perfect rail beds just waiting for iron and ties. The end of the Eisenhower Interstate System may just be the rebirth of this country.
the perpetual debt machine has some problems.
Hey Phil, the U.S. is broke. Just in case you haven't noticed.
Yeah, phuque off Phil!
Wow, I respectfully dissent.
Vote in Republic as majority, then the US of A is doomed, guaranteed!
Vote in Demo(n)cractic as majority, then the US of A is doomed, categorically guaranteed!
In short, so long as two parties system extant, then the US of A is doomed, apodictic guaranteed!
There is, ironically, only one way that the US of A can be saved: Collapse of the system as we know! or alternatively, vote out all incumbents!
The Republican House has sent 15 jobs bills including infrastructure bills to the Senate but Harry Reid refuses to allow them to come to the floor for debate and vote. Phil is an Obama hack.
It sure is the Friday Follies, I think something big will be coming out this weekend and it may be about Jeffries (just a hint).
"Without 60 votes, bills can't even make it to the Senate floor so nothing gets done." The less our gov't does is a bad thing? Did you forget to - "Relax, relax, relax, relax."
http://www.medicaltoys.com/Big-Stanley-Butt-Plug.htm
Grouponium: newly-discovered element with no atomic mass, no protons, no neutrons, and an as yet uncounted but apparently large number of electrons, whose orbits appear to change constantly, as if each electron, suspecting some other electron near it had discovered something attractive, was attempting to change its path to follow that electron, but that electron was at the same time attempting to change its path to follow some other electron it suspected had discovered something attractive.
There should be a zero stars button............
Barry wants to launder yours and my tax payments into the pockets of his union buddies. that's why we need someone outside the government to make the business decisions. Sure Barry's friends can build but at a price that is ten times more expensive than people who will work just as hard. That's government induced inflation no? government mandates health care, that makes it even more expensive, no? They still can't replace the Twin Towers in NYC because of so many government and state rules, because those rules are very expensive. I don't know the middle ground here, but I do know that Barry and his friends are nowhere near the middle ground either and are one of the big reasons why so many people are currently out of work.
Rascal-you from Manhatten? I am,and redoing the Towers has nothing to do with rules or regs-It's all $s' dude.Stop drinking that shit-ass Repub-libertarian koolaid.
Additionally,"Barry and his friends",have absolutely nothing to do with jobs situ.
Wow,you use a literate nom-de-gare but with perspective and understanding of blindman.
Wake up bud
Hey Phil, heard Jon's looking for work.
I'm sure your tight with that loser.
This single quote - "Fail to give Obama the majority he needs to get this country back on track and we're doomed." - proves beyond any shadow of a doubt that the author of this article is a complete idiot.......or a political operative. A more accurate statement would be - Re-elect Obama for one more term and we are doomed. I mean, granted, the Republicans running for office are complete turds, but anyone cheerleading for Obama at this point is either a moron or on his payroll. I want to see a Republican ticket with Palin and Bachman on it with the victor of a good old fashioned nationally televised jello wrestling match deciding which one gets the president job. Very bullish!!
Ron Paul - 2012
We'd be much, much better off with NO president and NO congress.
NOTA, FTW!
The first "stimulus" went to pay off the unions, public and private that got Barry elected.
Harry Reid has refused to bring this turd to the floor because DEMOCRATS have begged him to not lead them to political slaughter like last year.
""destroying the universe" ploy. It's the same one the Republicans are using in the Senate"
Phil showing the world what a corrupted mind looks like. Not sure what camp to put Phil in. Does he use SEIU knee pads? Or AFL-CIO kneepads? Perhaps UAW kneepads?
No matter. Union leadership couldn't ask for better head. Well done Phil.
Who says he doesn't own all three? I'd just call him a power-worshiping statist, and be done with it.
Phil needs to get off the Obama bandwagon; many intelligent people already have; or is a closet corporate fascist/marxist. (2 divergent ideologies morphing in he new US reality show).
Fascism and Marxism are not that different. One authoritarian gov't party that rules everything with an iron fist. No elections, no freedom. What is the difference now?
For starters, the former is a social/cultural criteria, while the second is an economic criteria. So yeah, you're comparing apples to oranges. Both DO however have something in common.... a bias towards holism/collectivism.... just on entirely different domains.
And no, the government-style has nothing to do with any of both, just as libertarianism and capitalism aren't bound to a specific government style.
Phil - you need to quit hanging out with MaoBama and Krugman - they have planted a Keynsian chip in your brain!
I can tell you that where I live (Land O Lakes, FL) we are neck deep in recently improved roads, many with brand new interstate overpasses, flyovers, improved exits, new rest areas, widening, sidewalks added, resurfacing. Lutz, Odessa, Wesley Chapel and New Tampa have all seen their share of projects. Use the web or Google Maps to search a bit if you don't believe me.
In short, I have seen an astronomical amount of money spent recently and I have a hard time pointing out any nearby aspects of the highway system that are in poor shape or overcrowded and which aren't fixed or in the process of getting fixed. Two years ago I couldn't say that. One project, the Ridge Road extension, that looked dead has just recently come to life again.
Somebody is either cooking the books on the condition of the transportation infrastructure, or we have just been extraordinarily blessed locally.
I live in Tampa area also, and yes the roads in the southeast are much, much better than the roads in the northeast. Find the worst potholed back road you can in Lutz and it is much better than many of the main highways and interstates up north. Sad, but true. I spent some time around Cleveland recently and the interstates there are nothing but chains of potholes holding hands.
Toolshed, have you heard of something called winter? That may explain why Tampa's roads are better than Cleveland's.
He was bitching the other day about the crappy infrastructure in N.J. What party has run N.J. for the past 50 years and what is there to show for their corruption? What's the state have to show for Jon's tenure as governor? He's a cynical political democratic hack.
Phil, feel free to put your Karl Marx book down and ride on the Chinese subways. You first.
Besides - gov't doesn't create jobs, unless you call spending hundreds of thousands per job a created job. I call that bad money management, socialism, or forced redistribution of wealth.
Homer,
And what wonderful jobs will the private sector create? Getting government out is about people's perceived economic freedom, not creating jobs. Doh!
govt spends and cronies get-- anytime govt spends on anything it goes the meat to pals of govt and crums for everybody else-- China spends 160bl and most goes to corrupt local officials and substandard projects--(buildings that fall down and rail systems that crash) when US govt spends the guys (like unions) get the pork and the infrastructure gets worse--
If you want any true investment in infrastructure you must take govt and govt insured monopolies out of the picture
So...they want to do it "Greek Style"?
canadian real estate makes up for lousy unemployment numbers! maybe canada should trade oil for gold!
Not after what the US did to Iraq and Libya when they tried to sell oil for something else other than USD... of course I keep hearing that war is good for the economy :/
We should waste our money on pork barrel projects....why didn't we think of that before? Oh wait....we have been doing that for the last 70 years.
What a stupid article.
I didn't trust that I had understood correctly. Thought it might have been satire poorly written.
Let's get the government to employ a bunch of people to build ghost cities while we're at it. What's government for if not to provide make-work for us and pay us with stolen/inflated fiat?
The difference is that CHINA ACTUALLY HAS MONEY!
What part of dead-flat broke is so difficult to understand? Why do have the same conversation again and again and again and again and again and again?
The West sees China as this massively cash rich country....but China also has a massive pile of bad debt that it has to write off some day. That will reduce their pile of $US IOU's considerably.
Yes, they have money they got from us, the consumers, not producing, and selling out to China.
The most important part is that they are spending a great deal of the money we willingly send them to rip off 100 years of information and innovation to crush our economy and build up their military.
The bigger picture is:
Sovereign governments, in cohoots with central banks and TBTF banks, and corporations to create a crisis, threaten collapse, so they can rob the populace in much the same way a mugger would but with "austerity", currency debauchment, 0% interest on savings, inflation, unemployment, etc.
but once they have your money, they shoot you!
Or let you die because you couldn't afford the doctor or prescription meds you needed or the surgery from the crony corporate hospital and Kleptochatic state machine.