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Ignorance Is BLS

Tyler Durden's picture




 

In one of the most coherent take-downs of the government's data gatherers, economists, reporters, and the general investing public that soak up the propaganda spewed forth by the former, TrimTab's CEO Charles Biderman destroys today's 'Advance' retail sales, and crushes the Census Bureau's process. Needing little additional comment, we can only hope that the 'ignorance is bliss' approach of the mainstream media and self-serving talking heads is at least questioned by the broad investing public when they hear the sense that Biderman speaks with regard to the antiquated methodologies used to gather data and the factual destruction of Wall Street Journal "I am the law" headlines straight off the government's press releases. The simple fact is that while anyone suggesting the government's data may not be accurate is dismissed as a tin-foil-hat-wearing conspiracy theorist (Goldman Sachs client 'muppetry', high-frequency-trading liquidity destruction, rehypothecation and shadow-banking deleveraging, LTRO-Stigma, and real European sovereign balance sheet aside for example), when faced with the facts - the unadulterated numbers - it is hard to argue with tough reality; leaving only the shrug, 'money-on-the-sidelines', 'trend-is-your-friend', 'retail not participating yet', self-fulfilling mutual masturbation that is now become our virtuous circle of reporting, government data, and sell-side economists.

 

 

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Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:52 | 2350482 tempo
tempo's picture

There is no alternative but to lie when Foxconn (AAPL) pays $1.25/hr and destorys the environment and worker's health so the pampered youth in the West can Facebook endlessly and mindlessly on their Smartphones.  It so stupd and it will end.

 

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:54 | 2350486 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

You are insane. The problem is the progressive tax rate. Thank you -- Grover Norquist.

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:59 | 2350498 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

Grover Norquist is an American hero!

He not only knows what is happening but has been the major organizer in opposition to the bloated USG.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:06 | 2350509 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

American corporations paid forty percent of taxes a few decades ago.  Today, ten percent.  The job creators evidently take their money and buy hookers. Job creators.  

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:30 | 2350566 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

Government is a convenient tool for special interests including some businesses which use the power of the regulators they own to rig the game in their favor. Does this surprise you?

Government is the problem. Free people have no reason to transact business with those who provide uncompetitive goods and service. Only government can redistribute wealth from those who produce useful goods and services to those who don't. This inevitably becomes the default role of all governments as the legislators and regulators learn to siphon income from the stream of redistributed funds.

Individuals not only have a right to conduct themselves as freely in the marketplace as they do in their own bedrooms, the free choice of individuals is the only regulating mechanism which can keep an economy in balance. When the economy goes horribly out of balance the government must resort to day after day, week after week, month after month and year after year pronouncements of growing income and employment contrary to all visible evidence. Kind of reminds you of Atlas Shrugged, doesn't it?

But you go right ahead and tell the government to tax the corporations more. Because then those corporations will pass the cost of those tax increases along to you and every other consumer in the nation. That'll show 'em who's boss. And the government will use that additional money which it takes from your pocket just as wisely as it spends the approximately 50 percent of your income which it is currently taking.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:43 | 2350580 FEDbuster
FEDbuster's picture

"self-fulfilling mutual masturbation that is now become our virtuous circle of reporting, government data, and sell-side economists."  

A good old CNBC nine box circle jerk? 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:50 | 2350727 AldousHuxley
AldousHuxley's picture

Americans now live in Jewnited States of America which includes all of her colonies around the world:

 

http://nationalpostnews.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/fo1029_usbases9401.gif

 

ignorance can be corrected, but willful ignorance is what Americans are all about as long as they can buy shit they don't need at Walmart.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:US_Crude_Oil_Production_versus_Hubbert...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 07:01 | 2350831 Element
Element's picture

You realise all the US has to do is build a chain of giant white-hat factories and it's off to the races again?


Tue, 04/17/2012 - 07:38 | 2350858 economics9698
economics9698's picture

AH, the winds are changing.  When bread is $10 a loaf you will see the bastards hanging at the end of a rope.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 05:48 | 2350779 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

 "A good old CNBC nine box circle jerk?"

~~~

So... You mean 'Alice' too?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:42 | 2350581 Oh regional Indian
Oh regional Indian's picture

Government

Govern + Ment (Mental, Mentate etc... of the mind)

Ergo:

Government = Control of the Mind

Enough Said?

ori

/stream-of-consciousnesstwo/

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:31 | 2350568 GFKjunior
GFKjunior's picture

I have a better idea. 10% no 5% flat tax for everyone and every company and corporation. We don't need more taxes we need less spending.

 

Every company in the forbes 500 has a combined total of about $20trillion in assets. We could tax them all at 99% and we would still only fund the US gov for ~4years.

But whatever I've seen your posts here everyday saying the same thing and getting downvoted into oblivion. Don't you have better stuff to do? Or at least a like minded online community to hang out in?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:21 | 2350700 BeetleBailey
BeetleBailey's picture

fairtax.org

 

period.

 

ENOUGH of the gimmickry of scales and bullshit.

 

Obama says he wants it fair.....well then.

 

This is.....and i can argue it all night long. The pre-tax structure makes it easy to adapt for.......everyone....corps...peeps....rich...poor.....

ONLY problem is it would take away too much power and elminate all this political BS......that's why none of these spineless bastards wants it.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 04:24 | 2350752 Hobbleknee
Hobbleknee's picture

No tax! Period! Taxation is theft.

 

_________________________________

compare gold and silver prices

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 18:09 | 2350795 Optimusprime
Optimusprime's picture

Why not go to the source?  The combination of government-mandated debt-based money and usury is the basis of the money power these days, and it is the money power that controls.  It even controls the Jews, although the biggest families of the money power happen to be Jewish.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:56 | 2350590 FinalCollapse
FinalCollapse's picture

Hookers? It is so called trickle down economics for which USA is very famous...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 06:46 | 2350821 Monedas
Monedas's picture

Trickle down her leg when she stands up ?   Monedas   2012    CJWT

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:35 | 2350631 Harbanger
Harbanger's picture

The job creators evidently take their money and buy hookers." So? :)  And I bet it's not the $47 Columbian hookers.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:51 | 2350650 Talons Point
Talons Point's picture

@LTER Corporations have never paid a dime of tax....customers do. Corporate taxes are sales taxes in disguise.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:57 | 2350731 El Gordo
El Gordo's picture

Corporations don't pay taxes - their customers do it for them.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:47 | 2351164 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

Absolutely! Redistributionists seem to believe we can get all of our tax revenues from the corporations when we all know that business MUST pass all of it's costs, including taxes, to its customers. The beauty of our system is that we only tax OUR companies which only makes us unable to compete globally, and we wonder why our jobs are leaving. Lets raise taxes on the oil companies, afterall, gas is too cheap and we would much rather be under the thumb of a foreign oil company than Exxon.

If you must tax, tax consumption. Stimulate savers! But i guess that just wouldn't give our government enough control to pick winners and losers. Hell, they don't even want us to grow our own food...we might hurt ourselves, or worse, damage our government's ability to control us.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 06:26 | 2350801 odatruf
odatruf's picture

Maybe you've missed the news: it's the government that's taking our money and buying hookers.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:56 | 2351195 ella
ella's picture
26 Major Corporations Paid No Corporate Income Tax For The Last Four Years, Despite Making Billions In Profits

Why worry, only the little people should pay taxes.  Additionally, Bush's tax cuts for off shore income was designed to encourage the off shoring of American jobs.  Nice job. 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:13 | 2350525 Seer
Seer's picture

Norquist is a pig.  He and his ilk want their OWN govt so that they get THEIR way.  No, folks like this NEED a govt to continue to help with their theft.  If he was a real "hero" he'd be calling for ZERO GOVT (not to be confused with a poster here on ZH by that name).

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:44 | 2350582 Michael
Michael's picture

When do we as a nation begin a serious discussion on how we're going to deal with an economic disaster?

A complete and total worldwide economic collapse is a 100% mathematical certainty. Do we deal with the situation wily nilly when that day comes or do we make contingency plans for the inevitable event?

The Congress of the US should be having a serious discussion on viable solutions like maybe printing $100 billion in treasury notes, maybe backed by US gold, to be deployed when the Federal Reserve fails the nation. Things like this should be discussed in an open forum along with other vital preparations that should be made. We prepare for natural disasters, an economic disaster should be planned for and the details widely disseminated.

 And don't tell me build more FEMA camps and give the TSA 450 million bullets, that's just sick.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:34 | 2350626 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

 

When do we as a nation begin a serious discussion on how we're going to deal with an economic disaster?

 

We'll be dealing with that disater as individuals. The trick will be to come out of it as free individuals.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:47 | 2350644 Michael
Michael's picture

If an astronomer calculated the trajectory of a small asteroid that was going to strike the planet at precisely this day and time, can't be sure where exactly on the planet it will strike with greater than 50% precision. Most people on the planet will survive and many more will, if we prepare for it's arrival that's not so far away.

Preparing for economic disaster is just like that.  Should we?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:51 | 2350649 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

The "nation" is still busy creating the disaster and calling it a rose garden. If you're waiting for a national plan then I don't know what to tell you.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:26 | 2350672 Michael
Michael's picture

I really was worried about President Obama's safety during his past weekend trip to Columbia with the Secret Service scandal and all, even though I hate the guy.

So many people want to kill that guy and the SS are whoring around on him at the time. I don't know what to say.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:54 | 2350692 Michael
Michael's picture

Misses Carol Paul raised some really sick twisted children. Just look at Rand Paul.

I just want someone to talk about Carol Paul instead of Mrs Romney.

Mon, 06/18/2012 - 06:53 | 2535752 l.hauri
l.hauri's picture

Somehow that is a good alternative and I am sure that you will have many users. Great job! lose weight

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:32 | 2351118 knightowl77
knightowl77's picture

I despise the mocking arrogant elitist who sits in the WH....He is such a pompous ass that thinks he knows what is best for everyone, and the constitution be dammed he will have his way....That said, I don't want him hurt. I want him impeached for his anti-constitution power grabbing BS and frog marched out of the country that he hates and sent back to Indonesia or whichever country that wants him...Maybe Venezuela?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 13:27 | 2352034 Debt-Is-Not-Money
Debt-Is-Not-Money's picture

Say "President BIDEN!

OMG

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:14 | 2350669 natty light
natty light's picture

Like James Howard Kunstler says, we will have to function on a local level.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 05:45 | 2350776 blueridgeviews
blueridgeviews's picture

The TEA Party has been talking about it for 3 years. Karl Denninger has been talking about it for 5 years. Ron Paul has been talking about it for over a decade.

Unfortunately, the elected politicians will only do something when it becomes a crisis.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:17 | 2350591 i-dog
i-dog's picture

 

"Grover Norquist is an American hero!"

Grover Norquist is a member of the very secretive Council for National Policy ... along with:

  • Jack Abramoff
  • Pat Buchanan
  • Rush Limbaugh
  • Steve Forbes
  • Newt Gingrich
  • Nelson Bunker Hunt and William Hunt
  • Trent Lott
  • John McCain
  • Oliver North
  • Larry Pratt
  • Ed Prince
  • Pat Robertson
  • Kathleen Rothschild
  • Donald Rumsfeld
  • Phyllis Schlafly

 ... and many other "progressives" you'd admire....

[edit] Norquist is also a founder and board member of the Islamic Institute. He married a Hamas radical in 2005 and has converted to Islam. :/

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:28 | 2350674 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Grover Norquist?

Doesn't he run an encyclopedia company?

Anyways, let's form a bi-partisan committee, I'm sure that will solve the problem lickety-split.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:44 | 2350720 BeetleBailey
BeetleBailey's picture

Go easy on the "hero" moniker. Norquist may be good, but he is far from any sort of savior.

We have that problem now, with zombies licking the "throne" of Obama for the love of Mike.

Biderman is correct - of course, with regards to the data.

I just wish he wouldn't come across akin to Uncle Herschel at a Seder post-feast.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:47 | 2350723 vxpatel
vxpatel's picture

you are an american idiot...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 05:46 | 2350778 Bobbyrib
Bobbyrib's picture

Grover supports agricultural subsidies. He is for government intervention when it is in his own interest. When it's not he opposes government subsidies. He is just another Neo-Conservative.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:19 | 2350537 walküre
walküre's picture

so the pampered youth in the West can Facebook endlessly and mindlessly on their Smartphones.  It so stupd and it will end.

Bravo.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:42 | 2350640 RafterManFMJ
RafterManFMJ's picture

I am soooooooo Facebooking this!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:10 | 2350657 akak
akak's picture

I'm waiting for Assbook myself.

 

Oh, I forgot, they already invented it --- RedState and The Huffington Post.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:37 | 2350709 Intoxicologist
Intoxicologist's picture

Or, as seen in Bizarro,..

"I'm working on an anti social networking site.  It's called GetOutOfMyFace Book."

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 06:42 | 2350818 krispkritter
krispkritter's picture

I'd call it 'Macebook'...should be a smash with the DHS, TSA, and other 3-letter org crowd...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:02 | 2350656 Peter Pan
Peter Pan's picture

The closer to the end we get, the greater and more frequent the lies that will be told.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:42 | 2351147 knightowl77
knightowl77's picture

Then we must be very very close, cuz the stuff they are sayen i just cannot believe....

I swear they are callen black, white; night, day; and evil, good. I want to scream when I hear  this crap they spew...................

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:51 | 2350483 Timmay
Timmay's picture

 

We will soon know the true value of everything, and it ain't gonns be pretty (for some).

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:20 | 2350538 Hansel
Hansel's picture

Soon like before I'm dead? Or soon like by the end of the Cenozoic era?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:24 | 2350552 knukles
knukles's picture

Post Xanaxzoician

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:57 | 2350484 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

The problem is taxes on the rich.  The .01 percent need more mega yachts.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:01 | 2350502 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

The last time the 'megarich and their yatchs' were demonized it was the yatchmakers who paid. It crippled the industry. I'm certain the wealthy found something else to spend their mega dollars on.

Don't shoot messangers or innocent crafts people.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:08 | 2350515 LetThemEatRand
LetThemEatRand's picture

The yacht makers surely could earn a living doing something other than sticking their tongues up the inflamed bleeding asses of the mega rich.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:20 | 2350546 walküre
walküre's picture

The yacht makers of today are supplying the pirates of today. The money of the mega rich is loot.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:58 | 2351201 Oldwood
Oldwood's picture

What we really need is a large government agency that can study the situation and decide which jobs we should have. If we work with our hands for some wealthy ass, we should have them removed like a muslim thief. If, on the otherhand, you make your living through gambling on the internet (day trading?) you would be golden! And maybe theft would become an honored occupation. After all, those of us who prostitute ourselves everyday, performing tasks for others, are obviously the problem here.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:36 | 2350574 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

The yacht makers surely could earn a living doing something other than sticking their tongues up the inflamed bleeding asses of the mega rich.

 

It takes a lot of gall to tell working men and women that they got what they deserved when the government killed their jobs.

Within eight months after the change in the law took effect, Viking Yachts, the largest U.S. yacht manufacturer, laid off 1,140 of its 1,400 employees and closed one of its two manufacturing plants. Before it was all over, Viking Yachts was down to 68 employees. In the first year, one-third of U.S. yacht-building companies stopped production, and according to a report by the congressional Joint Economic Committee, the industry lost 7,600 jobs. When it was over, 25,000 workers had lost their jobs building yachts, and 75,000 more jobs were lost in companies that supplied yacht parts and material. Ocean Yachts trimmed its workforce from 350 to 50. Egg Harbor Yachts went from 200 employees to five and later filed for bankruptcy. The U.S., which had been a net exporter of yachts, became a net importer as U.S. companies closed. Jobs shifted to companies in Europe and the Bahamas. The U.S. Treasury collected zero revenue from the sales driven overseas.

 

http://lewrockwell.com/williams-w/w-williams92.1.html

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:06 | 2350607 LowProfile
LowProfile's picture

Can't vote you up or down when you put italics in the first line.

But Seer has your number, baby.  http://www.zerohedge.com/news/ignorance-bls#comment-2350532

-1

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 05:56 | 2350783 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

Looks like he voted himself up, so that's nice...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 19:16 | 2353021 i-dog
i-dog's picture

That was me who voted him up! Though I disagree with Crockett on many other topics, he's not one of those insecure tools who immediately votes their own posts up within seconds of posting.

The "looking in other people's pockets" tone of this sub-thread also really irked me.

'Lasvegaspersona' hit the nail on the head ... Woe betide any businessman in a world populated by the likes of 'LetThemEatRand', wandering the countryside looking for other people's money to plunder using the guns of government. It's no wonder that LTER hates Rand so much ... she pegged him exactly!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 06:23 | 2350799 GCT
GCT's picture

Right on Crockett.  Most people here do not realize the companies mentioned do not even build mega yachts.  Kinda sorta like the president talking about private aircraft.  All the while cetain members of Congress flying their families all over the country on our dime in military planes and jets.  Falcon jet and honeywell beechcraft in my state have laid off thousands of people.  For some commentators that always want to go back to true capitalism, they are now showing their true colors.

Junk me all you like but the .1% would never own a yacht from these companies.  To really piss you off mega yacht sales are up last year.  Funny how we want to pick and choose what companies are good for the people and I thought most here were better then that.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:17 | 2350532 Seer
Seer's picture

Geez, this sounds an awful lot like massive subsidies to prop up shitty industries.  And always couched through the BS of "it's for jobs."

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:05 | 2350608 LowProfile
LowProfile's picture

Fucking brilliant +10^10

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:27 | 2350704 mkhs
mkhs's picture

Hmmmmm, not so much.  Rich still got their yachts, but no taxes or jobs.  It is exactly like  the way rules, regulations, enviornmental impact studies, etc. raise costs and drive away production.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 05:51 | 2350780 Bendromeda Strain
Bendromeda Strain's picture

Rather like John Kerry (D-France) and his yacht tax avoidance scheme.

http://bostonherald.com/track/inside_track/view/20100723senator_skipper_...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 06:00 | 2350786 francis_sawyer
francis_sawyer's picture

All the yachts I ever owned sunk to the bottom of the sea (with all my gold onboard)... If all those fired workers want jobs, they can try their hand at deep sea diving...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:25 | 2350584 LowProfile
LowProfile's picture

Yes, because building more yachts is clearly in the best interest of the most people. (sarc/off)

 

You want to fix this?  Simple:

 

1.) Let GOLD trade free of taxation and derivatives.  No more levered futures contracts.  1:1 allocated only.  No tax on gold sale, capital gains or otherwise.  Do it with silver too, while we're at it.

2.) Impose a national progressive real estate tax on the TOTAL amount of real estate owned by an individual (whether directly or via stock in a company), with a super high threshold, say $10,000,000.   No federal taxation below that level.  Amend The Constitution to allow the threshold to rise based on the amount of gold produced each year (approx 1.5%).  Amend The Constitution so that the states cannot tax real estate below a threshold of $5,000.000.

3.) Ban all other forms of taxation with a Constitutional amendment.

 

That fixes the problem for about 1000 years.  Taxation is progressive, but only above a very high threshold, allowing those who want to live simply and self-sufficiently to do so if they wish.  This forces the monied elite to deploy their capital towards CAPITALISM (seeking profit via production of goods and services), as opposed to their current method of seeking a return on their money, COLLECTING RENT.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:03 | 2350506 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

Right. Government is lying to you because it's all part of their plan to help the poor people by taxing the bad rich people.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:38 | 2350576 i-dog
i-dog's picture

LOL ... -2 already. TD really needs to reintroduce the captcha to filter out the totally brain-dead with no sensa-yuma!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:47 | 2350585 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

I had completely forgotten about the CAPTCHA but what I'd like to see make a comeback is the "Track" tab on our profile pages.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:11 | 2350614 iDealMeat
iDealMeat's picture

Just follow your own comments....  same thing.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:36 | 2350630 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

It's not the same thing. The "Track" tab sorted the topics in which you had recently participated by the latest activity. It had better functionality and was much easier to sort through than the current comment tracking feature in my opinion. But why not have both?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:25 | 2351089 i-dog
i-dog's picture

I totally agree. I've posted a few times asking for it to be reinstated, but ... <crickets> ...

Apparently, customer satisfaction is no longer high on the ZH agenda! ... or, this new arrangement generates more clicks as we furiously click on old posts to see if we ever got a reply!!

I asked for the new list---and really appreciate Sac providing it---but as a supplement to, not a replacement for, the old 'track'.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 08:06 | 2350883 tarsubil
tarsubil's picture

It is not how much money you have; it is how you got it. A man that cures cancer deserves to have as many mega yachts as he wants. Jon Corzine deserves to be derriere raped by every American. Raising taxes on those with a lot of money does not solve any of the injustices of this world. Enforcing basic laws against fraud and theft will. Jon Corzine isn't going to pay those higher rates anyways.

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:57 | 2350493 alexwest
alexwest's picture

yeah... straight off the ball park...

memo to Mr Adler... you CANT dismiss GOV adjusted figures and same time base your analysis on un-adj figures.. both data series are garbage... its still the question which is worse adjusted or not..

alx

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:58 | 2350494 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

painfully funny

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:59 | 2350497 CreativeDestructor
CreativeDestructor's picture

Poor Charles, he'll completely loose it one day. Both thumbs up to him!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:45 | 2350583 WaterWings
WaterWings's picture

In case anyone didn't see it, John Stewart skewers The Bernank

Show to sleeple friends.

Mon, 04/16/2012 - 23:59 | 2350499 SoCalBusted
SoCalBusted's picture

Chuck can barely contain himself.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:00 | 2350500 NERVEAGENTVX
NERVEAGENTVX's picture

I have to disagree that "it's not the fault of the reporters, it's their editors." You mean to tell me that out of the entire MSM there isn't one single reporter capable of looking behind the numbers they are reporting? Sooner or later all of these bogus numbers are going to come back and haunt them and (hopefully) completely ruin their credibility. How much bullshit can be swept under the rug before markets rebel?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:03 | 2350507 lasvegaspersona
lasvegaspersona's picture

but no one could have seen it coming...

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:18 | 2350540 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

Reporters can write whatever they want but if it doesn't conform to the editors guidelines sent out by the Ministry of Truth it won't be printed. If they try getting around the guidelines enough times they will need a job flipping burgers.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 06:51 | 2350810 Benjamin Glutton
Benjamin Glutton's picture

nailed it DF.

And the award for coverage of the Haitian cholera epidemic goes to …

No, not The New York Times, nor The Washington Post, nor even the Miami Herald.

No it goes to Al Jazeera, the news organization that found the cause of the epidemic and told the world about it.*

Al Jazeera, the Arab world’s version of our AP broadcast, is like an upstart intruder, trying to build a reputation in the self-denominated land of the free press. Last December, Al Jazeera won a DuPont Award for its “uncompromising look at the shortcomings of international aid and peacekeeping in Haiti … after the devastating earthquake” and for “reminding the world that the survivors still face urgent crises.”

How did the New York reading public come to learn lately of Al Jazeera’s journalistic coup?

The information was offered in an April 1, front-page Times report headlined “In Haiti, Global Failures on a Cholera Epidemic.”

More than halfway down into the 6,000-word article, Times writer Deborah Sontag noted that back on Oct. 27, 2010, Al Jazeera took film of the cholera epidemic’s source.

It was an area where UN peacekeepers from Nepal kept their septic tanks. After Al Jazeera broadcast its report, which was followed by other reports, it became increasingly clear to experts that the epidemic originated in Nepal.

One might reasonably expect that if a paper is publishing a 6,000-word article on an epidemic, the person or organization that discovered the epidemic might be mentioned high in the piece, rather than 3,000 words down into it. On a matter of such import, to Haiti and to journalism, the bold and very impactful work of Al Jazeera should merit more than a brief paragraph in a 6000-word story. [Update: Not to mention the work of the Associated Press. See the end of this piece for more.]

But as a 30-year veteran of American newspapers I know that journalistic kudoses are typically reserved for buddies and kindred thinkers, not rivals and those who challenge your assumptions. Op-Ed columnists give prominent credit to Times colleagues whenever they can, it seems to me. But the Times and other papers are nowhere near as quick to credit rival outlets when they get a scoop.

Al Jazeera wasn’t the only entity that got short shrift in the Times story. Cuba is the nation that has worked most strenuously to contain the Haitian cholera epidemic. But Cuba, still formally a Communist state and reluctant to let Times reporters into its country, was not credited by the Times until pretty close to the end of the long story:

“The Cubans alone, who claimed in a report that without their help ‘another 1,000 Haitians would have died at Haitian Health Ministry institutions,’ dispensed antibiotics to all cholera patients and preventively to their relatives.”

Consider yourself recognized, Cuba.

Such problems of downplaying credit are due, generally, to unwritten editorial restrictions, most notably at MSM papers where opaqueness rather than transparency are the rule. A reporter, in other words, after years of working at a publication, intuits what’s going to be yanked from a story and what’s going to be rearranged. And so that silent voices says to them as they’re writing, “Hey, choose your battles wisely and go with the flow.”

And let’s be clear about something. Sontag, the Times reporter who did this far-ranging update on the Haitian cholera epidemic, is a wonderful, principled journalist who has covered Haiti devotedly for years.

Having followed her for years, I suspect that Sontag would agree with my complaints here—theoretically at least.

This pickiness of mine is a screwface that’s moving to front rows of the mass reading room. Seasoned readers today see between-the-lines words once thought to be invisible. And, increasingly, those characters left out of big media stories are able to strut the stages of the blogosphere and of potentially viral three-minute videos.

Who knows? Maybe one day there will be a reawakening at the Times, and at other big papers, so that the biases of their editors and publishers are on display for the world to see. The result will be a transparency that can only make the exchange between news conveyors and consumers more open and, inevitably, more honest.

*Update: We should note that the Associated Press was also there on October 27, 2010; in fact, the wire service got the story of the Haitian cholera epidemic slightly before Al Jazeera did. What’s more, the AP continued to cover the story, running numerous follow-up reports, including an important piece from November 19, 2010 investigating whether UN peacekeepers brought cholera to Haiti. If Al Jazeera deserves to be recognized by other outlets for its excellent coverage of the epidemic, then the AP certainly does, as well.

http://www.cjr.org/the_kicker/nyt_gives_a_very_reluctant_kud.php

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:22 | 2350547 Seer
Seer's picture

"You mean to tell me that out of the entire MSM there isn't one single reporter capable of looking behind the numbers they are reporting?"

Do you not understand who is paying them?  And do you not know why those who give a shit end up getting paltry sums to report as independents?

It's all a huge joke, EVERY-FUCKING-THING around you!  Even Biderman's views are a joke: I'm sure that he believes that if things were cleaned up it would be fine; problem is is that that's like cleaning the decks on the Titanic- the entire voyage, the entire premise (the unsink-ability of the ship) is crap!  Everything works on growth and, whether we like it or not, growth WILL stop- even if we were all the most pious folks ever we'd still crash if we operated under this premise.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 04:46 | 2350759 mvsjcl
mvsjcl's picture

Hypertiger, is that you? I didn't know you read ZH.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:28 | 2350562 grgy
grgy's picture

Writers write, editors edit. Nothing gets by the editors. 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:03 | 2350503 smb12321
smb12321's picture

I hear the now familiar sounds of "experts were surprised by ________ " (fill in blank) that is heard regularly when data from one group contradicts data from another group.  I say go back to the Carter years in the way we track inflation and unemployment for a truer picture. 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:10 | 2350519 Bear
Bear's picture

This has been going on since JFK in 1962, who got away with changing how unemployment was calculated, CPI fell with Nixon, and Clinton's Boskin Commission guaranteed that BS was going to be the only product of the BLS, with substitution, weighting, and hedonics. Today, I think there is no longer any pretense .... just lies

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:44 | 2350587 Oracle of Kypseli
Oracle of Kypseli's picture

Control perception and it appears as real. That's due to the amazingly low awareness of most Americans on what's going on. Maintain a calm face even when the ship is at 450 to the horizontal. Not to worry, we are just in a hairpin turn and we will be okay.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:07 | 2350510 Mercury
Mercury's picture

So, has anyone seen a recent, detailed report based on Mastercard/Visa retail data?

Why would we expect this to be much different from from what's reflected in retailers' 10Qs?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:27 | 2350556 Hansel
Hansel's picture

And if people/algobots still trade on the government's made-up numbers, does having real-time 'fundamental' data even matter? 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:14 | 2350616 Bazza McKenzie
Bazza McKenzie's picture

Assuming your question is a real request for information:

  • first the BLS surveys are subject to response accuracy by respondents
  • the BLS surveys are subject to a form of survivor bias (ie those that have gone out of business don't answer)
  • the BLS surveys are not good measures of what is occurring over the internet

Those are all accuracy issues.  In addition, as Biderman pointed out, because of their snail mail form, they are slow, whereas the CC firms have continuous real time data.  And it is data based not on a sample but on 100% of retailers, including internet, new entrants and takes account of those firms that dropped out.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 08:53 | 2351009 Mercury
Mercury's picture

Agreed. But after the fact you should be able to look back and show in detail how far off BLS data was vs. CC data, retailers' quarterly revenue figs etc.

I'd expect it to be off of course but it would be nice to see by how much, how consistently etc.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:13 | 2350512 DormRoom
DormRoom's picture

Ignorance is institutionalized @ this point.

 

You have some smart people graduating from Stanford that still can't ask basic questions like how  web2.0 company X going to make money? 

 

Online ads, you say?  Well google's market cap is 180B.  Facebook's market cap is 100B.  The entire global online ad market is expected to be 105B by 2016.  So the market cap of two companies already make up 3x the entire market.

ignore that constraint line?

Well how do you reconcile how the hundreds of other web 2.0 companies with lofty valuation thriving despite the limitation of the market size?

 

they just will?

Cuz Instragram got bought out for $1B?

facepalm. Can't believe they graduated from stanford.

 

 

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:53 | 2350528 Bear
Bear's picture

I graduated USC and I agree completely about the Stanford grads!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:21 | 2350548 GittyUP
GittyUP's picture

You obv have no concept of how companies are valued. If your going to make a rant about being smarter then Stanford grads at least actually be smarter then them.

And in case you actually decide to search out answers to your ignorance I'd start with googling dcf valuation. Then you'd quickly realize how two companies can have market caps larger then the entire market they compete in.

Lol the irony in your post actually got me typing fr once.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:48 | 2350569 DormRoom
DormRoom's picture

My point is that at current valuations, two companies are valued at 3x the entire global online ad market size.  This is before including the valuation of other online ad giants like (yahoo, aol, microsoft, ...) etc.

 

There seems to be a disconnect somewhere between valuation and market considerations for web2.0 companies.

 

Also, I'm not saying I'm smarter than anyone.  It's just when you ask a silicon valley web programmer these questions there's a cognitive dissonance.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:55 | 2350643 vast-dom
vast-dom's picture

GittyUP okay so why don't you trype fr once more the answer to this most simple of questions: in your opinion, on average, how accurate is the dcf valuation of late in valuing a company? Put another way: when you factor in the total BS of most input variables and the utter BS going on in fanatical (financial) sectors across the board, not to mention synthetic flow propping up all markets, including ad sector, you quickly realize that the safety of bullshit formulas is akin to the safety of hopium. Or put yet another way: just because it's the industry standard doesn't mean it's gonna be accurate or even viable. 

 

Douchbaggery Phony Valuation or DPV for short.

 

Gitty and while you're at it why don't you figure out if Instagram's dcf valuation jives with its $1B sale.....amuse me just fr once....

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 03:50 | 2350725 LarryDavis
LarryDavis's picture

Valuations??????You mean decerebrate fucks multiplying a column in excel by a scalar? Here is a Wall St. Valuation model: AAPL x 1.2 or APPL x 27. At this point the numbers are relatively arbitrary and the disconnect really lies in how people perceive "economies." Wall St. is respsonsible for an exponentially higher proportion of transactions when compared to yesteryear. Basically, they have a monopoly on your money and have made it so that all other industries have been marginalized. Where do all the pensions and retirement funds go? Exactly. You get a tax break for fuck's sake to invest in IRA. I wonder if mutual funds lobbied for that? When inflation is probably 10 percent why are there TV networks dedicated to interviewing people that can barely return 10% in a good year? Wall st and Co ahve warped everyone's expectations....risk everything to make 12%???? THE DOW DIDNT RETURN TO 1929 LEVELS UNTIL 1954. The past decade HAS BEEN DEAD FUCKING MONEY BUT THE SHOW GOES ON. Government and banksters have made it so that you can 't make it without aligning with these corporate fucks. I work for myself and paid over 30 percent in taxes. Small Business Taxes???? These companies just incorporate in the Caymans and leave the little guys to foot the bill. Where do my taxes go? Towards some RPGs in fucking Afghanistan? A Senator's salary? To the Fed to buy stocks/bonds so Ben has friends at lunches? My health insurance is $750 a month so you can infer the rest.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 12:48 | 2351906 vast-dom
vast-dom's picture

LArry speaketh the righteous speak.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:41 | 2352250 Debt-Is-Not-Money
Debt-Is-Not-Money's picture

 

 

Valuations??????

We ain't got no valuations,

We don't need no valuations,

We don't gotta show you no stinkin' valuations!

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:18 | 2350518 Cognitive Dissonance
Cognitive Dissonance's picture

The last two sentences.

"Am I missing something? Or is this just plain nuts?"

It would appear that the answer is both.

We are deliberately kept misinformed.........and it is totally Planters. :)

Sometimes you feel like a nut....

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:22 | 2350550 DeadFred
DeadFred's picture

LOL as I read this I'm geasing up my keyboard while downing peanuts (roasted unsalted).

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:14 | 2350523 mr. mirbach
mr. mirbach's picture

Sorry Charles, but the Government's Ministries are immune to LOGIC.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:14 | 2350524 zonetraders
Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:28 | 2350564 walküre
walküre's picture

AAPL down to $430 is probably exactly where Ben & Co. need the share price to fall. There is a gap to fill. Why is there a gap? Could it be that Ben & Co. left that gap there for this very reason? From $580 to $430 is 25% which is how much S&P needs to fall before Ben & Co. can start up the presses. S&P to 1000 points is giving him cover to do what he wants. Or Ben & Co. start raising rates which will bring S&P down to 1000 as well. Either way, the math makes sense.

If you consider that Ben & Co. are running and frontrunning the markets any which way they need to. They are using the markets as a backdrop for their policies. Fed owns the markets and Fed colors the markets any shade it wants to. I chuckle when I read markets "reacted" to this or that statement from the Fed.

So, yes AAPL to $430 could be and S&P to 1000 points. There's room for that and the world won't end.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:58 | 2350602 DCFusor
DCFusor's picture

Hope so, short aapl since $621.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 14:19 | 2352212 TheFourthStooge-ing
TheFourthStooge-ing's picture

zonetraders will never see your comment. he's a spammer whose sole contribution to the site is spamming for crapital3x.

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:27 | 2350560 Fred Hayek
Fred Hayek's picture

So, let's see. Why would people choose to do something in a stupid way that produces poor, inaccurate data when methods by which to get good data are perfectly obvious?

One can only suppose that those presenting the poor data get something out of it. In this case, the cynical cut of Occam's Razor answers . . . the ability to flagrantly lie!

Biderman correctly notes that our sub-moronic fourth estate never bothers to check on these things. (Remember this the next time you hear some liberal pine for the days of no internet and 3 networks. You would never be hearing Biderman's report.)

But, equally complicit in this fraud enduring are the pretentious dolts in the world of finance who accept this data out of some amalgam of ignorance and corruption. If the expensively tailored sphincters whose professions, in part, revolved around this data refused to accept it and denounced it for the trash it is, the government would be forced to use the data Biderman suggests. But lies are the carbon atom of the finance professional's life! Refuse to accept a lie?! Wh-what?! If you do that, pretty soon you'll be questioning whether the herd of dullard finance professionals deserves compensation out of the ordinary or any sort of prominence in the economic life of the country.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:29 | 2350561 Bear
Bear's picture

Tax the rich ... Soros just found out the he pays a smaller percentage in taxes than his secretary ... The Buffett Tax didn't pass the Senate, maybe the Dems try again and call it the Soros Tax ... might work since everyone wants to tax Soros

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:39 | 2350577 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

Maybe they should just cut the secretary's tax rate in order to make things more fair.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:56 | 2350601 Bear
Bear's picture

He/She probably makes $300k+

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:10 | 2350611 CrockettAlmanac.com
CrockettAlmanac.com's picture

That's true. But you could still keep things "fair" if you cut the secretary's rate below Buffet's and give even bigger tax cuts to those with progressively less income.

"Fairness" can be created through cuts and there is no need for tax increases on anyone. Taxing the rich 100% wouldn't even make a dent in the debt and the government has also long been committed to spending levels far beyond what tax revenues bring in. Providing the government with timely operating funds has already been made a non-issue by the reliance on and apparent preference for credit based "solutions."

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:29 | 2350563 BlackholeDivestment
BlackholeDivestment's picture

...I love Chuckles. ''but nooo''. Lol

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwuzX38x_Ro

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:57 | 2350599 geekgrrl
geekgrrl's picture

Hahah. I caught that reference too, and thanks for the link.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:34 | 2350572 OldPhart
OldPhart's picture

More fun and games...last week I got notice that I have to participate in the big census.  It's a royal pain in the ass for thirty four companies.  They want number of people working at each on the 12th of each third month, revenues, expenses, capitalized expense, new assets, it's like a damned audit.  And then they'll make up whatever numbers they want.

I expect to recieve, again, the questionnaire on our iron working shop that says "assuming unlimited funding, unlimited resources and unlimited manpower what would be your output?"

Last time I answered "Unlimited.  What the fuck are you assholes planning anyway?"

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:33 | 2350677 LowProfile
LowProfile's picture

 

I expect to recieve, again, the questionnaire on our iron working shop that says "assuming unlimited funding, unlimited resources and unlimited manpower what would be your output?"

Given that your output would be without limit to increasing mass, it would eventually create a ultra-supermassive black hole almost big enough to engulf the stupidity of the bureaucrat who asked that question.

Almost.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:54 | 2350592 Questan1913
Questan1913's picture

The Establishment has created an alternate universe of statistcs reporting that is tailored to the needs of the FIRE mega-corrupt sector.  Gravity in that conjured Universe pulls objects UP, not down.  In that Universe truth is falsehood, ignorance is strength etc.  The so called investing public makes their decisions based on a view roughly analgous to peering into a fun house mirror.  FIRE simply positions the investing public on the wrong side of all of its trades and products by proviiding false data ostensibly provided by "govenment" and therefore sacrosanct, unimpeachable TRUTH, to the gullible which happens to be just about everyone incliuding pension and other funds who are continually asset stripped by "the Street".  As usual some ass clown commenters are shooting the messenger, so to speak.  Too funny.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:54 | 2350594 MeelionDollerBogus
MeelionDollerBogus's picture

I think the best taxation system is one that's 100% opt-in and always allows immediate movement of funds directly to specific purposes - just like we use exchanges & brokerages to trade funds electronically for FOREX and options, stocks & bonds. In, out, and the option to not participate. Society & the ability to pay will find the equilibrium, unlike a situation of force inducing evasion, fraud, theft, conquering and violence.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 00:56 | 2350595 Bear
Bear's picture

I don't know 80% for PETA and 20% for everything else.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:07 | 2350610 slewie the pi-rat
slewie the pi-rat's picture

do more with lessTrimTabs

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:18 | 2350618 walküre
walküre's picture

OT

http://www.4-traders.com/GROUPON-INC-9350075/news/GROUPON-INC-Hagens-Ber...

GRPN getting sued. The law firm is picking the best of the best. More to follow, I'm sure. After all, lawyers need to make fees as well. If there's no deal flow, they turn around and start a wave of lawsuits against the fraudsters who walked into the same law offices, day in and day out when the deals were made.

Viper eating tail.

EDIT: ZNGA down 7% and close to IPO price. Next candidate for class action suit?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:23 | 2350623 Gamma735
Gamma735's picture

You can not manipulate raw data so why would the goverment want to release realtime raw data? 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:43 | 2350639 Mike Cowan
Mike Cowan's picture

Yea, but I bet BLS can throw one hell of a party.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:47 | 2350645 LarryDavis
LarryDavis's picture

Tylerzzzz.......if you want to have a real laugh PLEASE WRITE AN ARTICLE ABOUT SAME STORE SALES COMPS/NUMBERS. Each month the "analysts" get paid good money (money that could be spent dissecting them and using their body parts for research instead of monkeys/rats) to render these "predicitions" that are extremely arbitrary and beyond meaningless. It is a great little bit of Wall St. insanity cum fuckery. Here is the problem: there is actually no research being performed. Trust me look into it. Im going to keep writing posts reminding you. Same Store Sales. It's amazing.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:50 | 2350647 q99x2
q99x2's picture

Reality is being vaporized which is, as I understand it, not supposed to happen for another 100 billion years. The clearing in the forest is shrinking. I'm melting. I'm being carried to hell in Christine LaGarde's handbasket. Hurry Ben print me up some of that counterfiet fiat. We're still falling. We're all falling. Down is up. Bad is good. aaagghhh another report from the BLS. I'm dancing at the feet of my Lord. All is Bliss. All is Bliss.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 01:52 | 2350651 i_fly_me
i_fly_me's picture

Love this guy.  I'd vote for him.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:24 | 2350673 ebworthen
ebworthen's picture

Corzine.

Lest we not forget our perp who walked with $1.2 Billion thanks to J.P. Morgue (Chase Bank for the uninitiated) and his cronies.

CORZINED.

An innocent couple, robbed of their watches, wedding rings, and savings on the street by a thug with a snub-nosed .38 who pistol whipped the old Lady just for fun and laughed as he walked past the beat cop who was told to look the other way by the Mayor.

That's right, they were CORZINED.

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 02:32 | 2350675 chump666
chump666's picture

hilarious

 

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 04:30 | 2350746 NuYawkFrankie
NuYawkFrankie's picture

Regarding across-the-board phony Govt numbers, is there really anything new being said here that John Williams/ShadowStats hasn't been saying since, what seems like, time immemorial?

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 04:20 | 2350748 TWSceptic
TWSceptic's picture

*awkward forced laugh*

 

lol

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 07:29 | 2350851 Monedas
Monedas's picture

Who will be the French Anders Behring Braevik ?  Death tax on Muslims praying in Paris streets and along the Seine....it's hurting tourism and spring romances ! Do Muslims glue ass high plastic profets-a-praying on their camel's dashboards ? I miss Abu Grab !  Monedas  2012  CJWT

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 07:30 | 2350852 Northeaster
Northeaster's picture

"TrimTab" -

While this article may be great for ZH "doomer" readers, those with industry expertise can find that TrimTab's past performance isn't all that great, especially prior to 2008.

FWIW

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 09:06 | 2351042 Herkimer Jerkimer
Herkimer Jerkimer's picture

Mr. Biderman,

 

Right F%$#ing ON! Guy!

 

Thank you for saying what all the muppets feel in their guts, but don't have access to the facts to decide one way or another, that this data is bogus and there is good data out there. 

 

•J•
V-V

Tue, 04/17/2012 - 10:12 | 2351261 Shizzmoney
Shizzmoney's picture

The job creators evidently take their money and buy hookers.

Well, they are (blow) job creators.

Charles is spot on here.  Ask a retial shop owner how business is.  Ask Best Buy or KMart/Sears how business is. 

Again, there are two economies.  The one that Wall St trades on and rich people invest in, and the one the 99% actually lives in.

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