Economy

As Ben Stein so eloquently put it in this weekend's NYTimes, the fact is that by any standard definition of "recession" (typically defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth) that we're not in one.  Yet, we've already thrown hundreds of billions of dollars of your tax money into the banking system through intraday liquidity injections, ... read more

They asked me to go to the NYC Auto Show. I think they meant that high-falutin, tax-dollar subsidized NYC Auto Show from the Javitz Center. Instead, I headed up to Willet's Point, where there are no sidewalks or sewers, for a kept-real Pimp-My-Ride Auto show from the streets. As I ask in the video, I wonder just how much these people's lives could be improved with that $286 million of taxpayer ... read more

Well, it's certainly not quite the boom time it was from 2002-2007, now is it?   That's a large part of why I kept my mom 20% in cash when she was on the show this week looking at her 403b. Fed-Ex, a great tell for the consumer and other trends in this digital age: "Our fourth quarter earnings read more

I keep hearing people confusing yesterday's stock market rally with an "all clear" signal for this financial crisis. While I do think the free market forces combined with this trillion dollar bail out for Wall Street have put us on a path for strong growth during the 2nd and 3rd quarter of this year, I'm far from thinking we're through with the ramifications of the real estate bubble popping. ... read more

Luke: You know, I think that R2 unit we bought may have been stolen. Uncle Owen: What makes you think that? Luke: Well, I stumbled across a recording while I was cleaning him. He says that he belongs to someone named Obi-Wan Kenobi. I thought he might have meant old Ben. Do you know what he's talking about? Uncle Owen: Uh-uh. Luke: I wonder if he's related to Ben. Uncle Owen: That wizard is just a ... read more

Wait a darn minute here...I thought we were supposed to be down 1000 points today!   What's this green doing on my screen? Remember -- you wanted to sell the euphoria of late 2007.  The markets are down 20-25% since then and many of the brokerage stocks are down 70% plus since then.    Not all of the brokerages were as big as idiots as the guys at Bear Stearns (remember they started SHORTING ... read more

Turnin the pages in this old book Seems familiar, it might be worth a second look Wrapping up dope in a paper bag Talking to yourself taking a drag Who are ya' kidding is what you say What does it matter, you'll never hear it anyway, Gotta get past the negative things Lawyers and business, you get what you bring No one's sorry you did it yourself It's time to relax now and then give it ... read more

So today, the government lies to us again about inflationary pressures running rampant throughout our economy. Yup, seriously, they want you to believe that: The Labor Department reported Friday that consumer prices were unchanged last month. They also want you to believe that inflation's only been running at about 2 or 3% for the last few years. Let me explain a little how the government ... read more

We ain't heard or seen the last of Carlyle-type blow ups. 32x leverage these idiots were using....why? Because the mortgage market is so safe in the US! LOL Idiots. Heck, we ain't even heard the last of repercussions of Carlyle's blow up itself. Look at that post below called Colluding Central Bankers Screw Joe Sixpack, and think it through. A bunch of institutions and family offices ... read more

Happy Hour viewer, Jim, sent me this link with this intro: Should I get a 'good' house' for $450, or two houses for $100 each? read more