Wall Street disconnect
The jobless rate was announced today. It has climbed to a 16-year high of 7.6%. Bizarrely, the stock market rallied on the news, and is currently up almost 3%, apparently on the mistaken and deluded belief that this means the…
Politics in the Zeros
"A republic, if you can keep it." Vegas, taxes.
Politics in the Zeros
"A republic, if you can keep it." Vegas, taxes.
Month February 2009
Why Microsoft is losing it
My HP notebook came with a trial version of Microsoft Office installed. It expired today, so either I pay or stop using it. Seems simple enough, right? I clicked the upgrade feature to go online and buy the registration key…
California collision cometh
The State of California has started issuing IOUs. Governor Lunkhead and the Keystone Cops in the legislature have missed yet another self-imposed deadline to pass a budget. California counties are threatening a tax revolt against the state. S&P slashed the…
LAPD: Acts like thugs, pays more damages
You’d think LAPD would eventually get it, that acting like gang members with badges just means more multi-million dollar lawsuits and bad press. But nope, the City of LA just had to pay out $32 million more in police brutality…
Moody’s about to neutron bomb CMBS market
Moody’s is about to downgrade as much as $300 bn in commercial mortgage backed securities. This will force many entities that hold them to sell, as they are not permitted to own lower-rated securities. Plus, everyone will have to write-down…