The price of oil rose further above $108 a barrelThursday after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept its monetary stimulus in place and
U.S. oil supplies fell more than expected.
* FOLKS. WE'VE BEEN DOING THIS A LONG TIME. YOU REGULARS
KNOW THAT THERE'S OFTEN A DISCONNECT BETWEEN SUPPLY/DEMAND AND PRICING... (SPECULATION
OVERRIDING MARKET REALITY)... BUT THE DOLLAR GOING UP AND DOWN... IT'S A PRETTY
STRAIGHTFORWARD RELATIONSHIP. THE DOLLAR GOES DOWN; OIL GOES UP.
* MY POINT? THE MEDIA IS GONNA THROW FALSE FLAGS OUT
THERE IN AN EFFORT TO CLOUD AND CONFUSE THE REAL ISSUE... THE REAL CAUSE OF
INFLATION.
By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for October
delivery was up 29 cents to $108.36 a barrel in electronic trading on the New
York Mercantile Exchange.
Prices spiked Wednesday after the Federal Reserve
unexpectedly maintained its stimulus for the U.S. economy and the Energy
Department reported a bigger than expected drop in supplies of crude oil and
gasoline. The Nymex contract climbed $2.65, or 2.5%, to close at $108.07.
6 comments:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/101045968
The Federal Reserve's shocking decision...has reignited talk of a global currency war.
Now some analysts say the Fed's decision could prompt other central banks to devalue their currencies in an attempt to retain a competitive edge.
"We are on the verge [of a currency war]... especially if the Fed does not taper in October or December..." said Boris Schlossberg, MD of BK Asset Management.
* FOLKS... UNDERSTAND... YES, THE DEVALUATION OF THE DOLLAR HARMS MOST AMERICANS BY STOKING THE DESTRUCTIVE FLAMES OF INFLATION AND THUS SIGNIFICANTLY ADVERSELY IMPACTING THE STANDARD OF LIVING FOR NON-WEALTHY AMERICANS... BUT AT THE SAME TIME OTHER GOVERNMENTS LOOK UPON THE FED'S ACTIONS AS BASICALLY "ECONOMIC WARFARE" BEING WAGED AGAINST THEM. (THINK OF WHAT OUR POLITICIANS SAY ABOUT CHINA AND THEIR CURRENCY MANIPULATION OF THE YAUN.)
The other G10 countries will have to react and the only thing they can do is provide "even more accommodative policies in order to try and equalize all these currency differentials," Schlossberg added.
Risk-on currencies like the Australian dollar, the euro and the British pound soared in response, while the greenback dropped across the board. [T]he Australian dollar rallied above the $0.95 handle in Asia on Thursday, a high not seen since mid-June, while the sterling surged to around $1.61, its highest level since January, and the euro reached highs not seen since February of around $1.35.
(*JUST SHAKING MY HEAD*)
http://www.kvue.com/news/state/224406971.html
A Texas Court of Appeals in Austin has overturned the conviction of former U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, attorney Brian Wice told KVUE sister station KHOU 11 News.
DeLay, 66, was convicted in 2010 for his alleged role in a scheme to influence Texas elections.
He was found guilty of money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering after he was accused of helping funnel corporate money to Texas candidates in 2002.
In documents released early Thursday, however, an appeals court said the evidence in the case was "legally insufficient to sustain DeLay’s convictions."
The court said all judgments against DeLay were reversed, and the former congressman was formally acquitted.
For both DeLay and his critics, the process was frustratingly slow, due in part to some of the appeals court justices in Austin recusing themselves as well as DeLay’s successful effort to have a judge on the panel removed because of anti-Republican comments she made.
DeLay was sentenced to three years in prison, but he stayed free while his case made its way through the appellate process.
* WHAT TO MAKE OF THIS? I DON'T KNOW. (*SHRUG*) I WAS NEVER A BIG TOM DELAY FAN. THAT SAID, THIS WAS ALWAYS A POLITICAL PROSECUTION. IS THIS OVERTURNING ALSO POLITICAL? FRANKLY... I HAVE NO IDEA.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-09-19/women-waiting-tables-provide-most-of-female-gains-in-u-s-.html
Unemployment data appear to reflect big advances for women.
* WITH THE KEY WORD BEING "APPEAR."
(*SMIRK*)
The jobless rate in August for females 20 years and older was 6.3%, the lowest since December 2008, compared with 7.1% for men.
* THUS... "APPEAR."
(*SNORT*)
* SORRY FOR THE SNARKINESS... BUT I KNOW WHAT COMES NEXT!
(*WINK*)
About 60% of the increase in employment for women from 2009 to 2012 was in jobs that pay less than $10.10 an hour...
* OOPS!
...compared with 20% for men, according to a study by the National Women’s Law Center using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
* DOUBLE-OOPS.
(*SIGH*)
* SEE WHERE I WAS COMING FROM NOW...?
[Women's employment] gains have been largely in lower-paying industries such as waitresses, in-home health care, food preparation and housekeeping.
The numbers expose a soft spot in an economic recovery that has reduced the overall unemployment rate to 7.3% from 10% in October 2009.
* FIRST OF ALL, AS YOU ALL KNOW... THE ABOVE STATS ARE BASICALLY PHONY... MEANINGLESS IN THE SENSE THAT THE MAIN REASON UNEMPLOYMENT IS "DOWN" IS BECAUSE THE LABOR PARTICIPATION RATE IS DOWN! (BY ABOUT 10 MILLION PEOPLE!)
* SECOND... DO THE MATH: GOING FROM LET'S SAY A PRE-DEPRESSION JOB THAT PAID $160,000/yr. TO A POST-DEPRESSION JOBS THAT PAYS $80,000/yr. AND ADDING TO THAT A PART TIME JOB THAT PAYS MAYBE $30,000/yr. MEANS WHAT? IT MEANS YOU'RE WORKING MORE... GETTING PAID LESS... $50,000 LESS!
Quality of jobs is an increasing concern for U.S. policy makers and economists since it affects the level of incomes and wage disparities.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
Of the 125,000 jobs women gained last month, 54,000 were in retail, leisure and hospitality, and just 24,000 in professional and business services. Many of those are part-time, 34 hours or less a week.
* AND WHILE MEN HAVE DONE BETTER... (*SHRUG*)... AS THE PREVIOUS FIGURES SHOW, THEY HAVEN'T DONE THAT MUCH BETTER!
* TWO-PARTER... (Part 1 of 2)
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/09/19/food-stamps-snap-poverty-poor/2832289/
If there was ever a sign of post-recession abundance and prosperity in the USA, this would be it:
At the bustling weekly Sunday farmers' market here, $7 buys a gallon of freshly pressed apple cider, $10 a wedge of award-winning goat cheese. Eight kinds of melons spill over one farmer's table, while another overflows with organic kale, collard greens and purple heirloom tomatoes.
* AND IT IS A SIGN OF ABUNDANCE! BUT FOR WHOM? FOR THE 1%? THE 2% THE 5%?
* HE WHOSE NAME MUST NOT BE MENTIONED LIVES LIKE THIS... (OR AT LEAST HIS WIFE DOES...) MANY OF HIS FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES DO. I'M A FOODIE AND I CERTAINLY DON'T STOCK MY PANTRY, FRIDGE AND FREEZER WITH CHEAP CRAP... BUT NOR DO I BY $7 GALLONS OF FRESHLY PRESSED CIDER.
* WHAT'S MY POINT? MY POINT IS THAT THERE HAVE ALWAYS BEEN RICH AND POOR. THERE'LL ALWAYS BE RICH AND POOR. BUT THE STRATIFICATION WE'RE SEEING IN TODAY'S AMERIKA IS DESTROYING THE MIDDLE CLASS.
* NO. HE WHOSE NAME DARE NOT BE MENTIONED ISN'T TRULY "RICH." HE'S NOT "MANSION, YACHT, AND LEARJET RICH." HE'S WELL OFF. HE TAKES HOME PERHAPS SIX TIMES WHAT THE AVERAGE WORKER DOES... NOT 100 TIMES... NOT 1,000 TIMES. AND FOLKS... BELIEVE ME... HE EARNS HIS MONEY! HE WORKS LIKE A FRIGGIN' SLAVE! (OR AT LEAST A SERF!) MY POINT IS... IN A SENSE I UNDERSTAND WHY ALL THROUGHOUT THIS DEPRESSION WE'RE IN HE'S LOOKED SLIGHTLY ASKEW AT ME WHEN I INSIST THAT OUR ECONOMY IS FALLING OFF A CLIFF. HE DOESN'T LIVE IN THIS WORLD. ALTHOUGH HE HATES THE OLIGARCHS, THE WALL STREETERS, HE HAS MUCH MORE IN COMMON WITH THEM THAN DOES YOUR AVERAGE MIDDLE CLASS AMERICAN NOWADAYS.
* ANYWAY... BACK TO THE ARTICLE...
Yet in the span of a few hours Sunday morning, dozens of shoppers queued up at an unmarked awning near the market's entrance, each handing over a bright orange debit card that allows them to buy fresh fruits and vegetables with federal food stamp benefits. City workers swiped the bright orange "Independence Cards" 53 times. The contrast suggests just how far the USA still has to go to pull out of its economic malaise, and Census Bureau data released today confirm it: 13.6% of U.S. households received federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits last year, up from 13% in 2011 and only 8.6% in 2008 at the height of the recession. For many here and elsewhere, this is the Recovery That Wasn't.
* EITHER THEY'RE EXTREMELY SMART SHOPPERS... BUYING BASICS AT BELOW MARKET PRICES... OR ELSE IT SEEMS TO ME THEY SHOULD BE INVESTIGATED FOR SUSPECTED FRAUD.
* TO BE CONTINUED...
* CONCLUDING... (Part 2 of 2)
* ANYWAY... TO REITERATE THE POINT:
13.6% of U.S. households received federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits last year, up from 13% in 2011 and only 8.6% in 2008 at the height of the recession. For many here and elsewhere, this is the Recovery That Wasn't.
Experts say part of the rise in food stamps results from states expanding eligibility...
* PAID FOR IN LARGE PART BY THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT, WHICH UNDER THE OBAMA ADMINISTRATION HAS PUSHED FOOD STAMP EXPANSION AND MADE IT LUCRATIVE FOR THE STATES TO COOPERATE. (SAME OLD CARROT AND STICK APPROACH THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT USUALLY TAKES.)
...but that much of the past few years' increase is due to extended unemployment.
(*PURSED LIPS*)
Congress is debating whether to tighten eligibility, which could reduce the number of people receiving the food aid. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., supports allowing states to require able-bodied recipients to spend 20 hours a week in either a job or job training. And a House vote on cutting nearly $4 billion a year from food stamp assistance could come Thursday.
* I'LL BELIEVE IT WHEN I SEE IT!
At the farmers' market, many SNAP recipients wait eagerly to trade their benefits for special $1 wooden tokens that they can exchange for produce.
* AH...
One woman holds a crumpled nylon Trader Joe's grocery bag at her side as a tiny child clings to her leg. A tall man in a purple Baltimore Ravens jersey, his child riding high in a baby backpack, waits behind her. Another woman, standing nearby, pulls a stainless steel travel mug from her bag and says her first stop each week is Zeke's Coffee stand — if you provide the mug, she explains, coffee is $1 instead of the usual $2.
* WHO IS SUBSIDIZING THE WOODEN TOKENS AND HALF-PRICE COFFE? IF IT'S THE MARKETEERS THEMSELVES THEN SO BE IT. (BUT IT'S STILL PROBLEMATIC. AGAIN... THE RICH DON'T CARE ABOUT THE PRICES... THE POOR ARE BEING SUBSIDIZED... WHAT OF THE MIDDLE CLASS?)
Jennifer Johnson, 37, of Baltimore, a nanny for 20 years, says she's happy to be able to afford the fresh fruits and vegetables, even on SNAP. "Because we have issues and we have to be on this doesn't mean that we're second-rate," she says.
* YES! IT DOES MEAN THAT! YOU MADE THE DECISIONS THAT PUT YOU IN THIS SITUATION AND YOU EXPECT TAXPAYERS TO BAIL YOU OUT AND SUPPORT YOUR LIFESTYLE! NO ONE MADE YOU BECOME A NANNY AND WORK AS A NANNY FOR 20 YEARS! TAKE RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR DECISIONS...!!!
http://www.myfoxny.com/Story/23477378/wells-fargo-to-lay-off-1800-mortgage-employees
Wells Fargo & Co. says it plans to lay off an additional 1,800 employees from its mortgage department. The plans come after the bank cut about 2,300 jobs from the same unit in August. The jobs are in locations across the country.
* 2,300 + 1,000 = 3,300.
Wells Fargo spokesman Alfredo Padillo said that the bank is cutting jobs in the mortgage department because fewer people than it expected are refinancing their mortgages.
* I ACTUALLY VIEW THIS AS GOOD NEWS. (DEBT RATIOS STABALIZING... PERHAPS EVEN SHRINKING RATHER THAN GROWING.)
The affected employees were given 60 days' notice. The bank says that is looking for other positions for those people within the company.
* MEANING IN 90 DAYS THESE PEOPLE WILL START APPEARING ON THE UNEMPLOYMENT ROLLS...
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