Headline of the day:
Fernández, to copy US inflation data methods
Cristina
Fernández, Argentine president-elect, has vowed to restore credibility
in the country’s official inflation figures by copying US
data-gathering methods, in an attempt to calm fears about government
manipulation of statistics. (FT)
Classic!
Source:
Fernández to copy US inflation data methods
Jude Webber
FT, October 30 2007 21:26 | Last updated: October 30 2007 21:26
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/14fddb84-872d-11dc-a3ff-0000779fd2ac.html
Nice work. If all the other countries would adopt our model as well then we could crush global inflation once and for all.
I wonder if I can employ US data-gathering methods for figuring out my income for tax time. Income -ex income! Fantastic!
Smart, and she’s not bad looking, either. Just about my age, too….
(Billy Joel – Goodnight Saigon)
Didn’t Bush buy a ton of land in Argentina? Isn’t that where retired despots go? He’ll feel right at home, I guess.
We have a big box of numbers to send, too.
not just despots. we’re all gonna want to live someplace as cheap and nice as BA’s Palermo Viejo before long
Tom B:
No, that was Paraguay.
If you don’t want to know the answer, don’t do the math.
Yep. Don’t know if you caught this one from last week:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=axTqfaTiLf4I
It’s global, baby.
OT: Just checked the ticker – yikes! Maybe the Fed should cut another 50BP today.
Don’t lie with me, Argentina
Cause food and fuel do matter
It’s what we eat
and how we drive
to try and stay alive
BR,
I know you avoid ad hominem comments, but I thought you might appreciate this contrarian indicator, as you yourself deserve credit for its genesis.
As you noted over the summer, the Forbes shill Dennis Kneale called the market top– almost to the day. Well, he has just sounded the death Knell (or Death Kneale) for the chosen segment of momentum in the market: Technology.
Today, after the markets shed a few pounds, he offered this advice: “Tech is on sale. Investors should jump into tech here.” Sure, still up 15% on the year, the index is completely immune from any selling. RIGHT.
Prediction: the crowded trade du jour– short financials, long tech– is going to unwind. While sane investors are managing risk, and paring over-heated positions, we can count on the clueless like Mr. Kneale to ring the bell for us.
Thanks, Dennis. Keep up the Kudlow Lite happy talk.
Gotta e-mail this to Kudlow, See how he spins this straw into gold for his loser buddies.
Does this guy really think anybody listens to him. What a joke!
Snippets from ‘Don’t cry for me Argentina’
It won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange
You won’t believe me
I had to let it happen, I had to change
From The Economist:
“””
…Now, inflation is thought to be near 20%—the exact figure is not known because the government has modified the consumer-price index to keep the official rate in single digits—and energy shortages last winter caused blackouts and rationing…
“””
The real trouble is that you don’t know if that is about Argentina or the USA…
http://economist.com/world/la/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10050072
Larry Krudlow and Ben Stein are totally out of touch with their prediction of 40 dollar Oil. Please remind him Barry.
That is funny ! Nicely picked up.
-K
Jim,
“Larry Krudlow and Ben Stein are totally out of touch…”
That’s a given.
“with their prediction of 40 dollar Oil.”
Which dollar ?
.
Doug Kass said that Citi’s board is going to hold an emergency meeting this weekend to can Prince, anybody want to bet on the size of his package?
And no, I don’t mean that package – get your mind out of tha gutter
Oooh! What’s that? His package, you say?? Will Brett Weir be there?
Peter Schiff on the GDP figure.
“Yesterday (October 31st), as the dollar fell to new record lows and oil and gold prices surged to new highs, Wall Street remained fixated on wholly meaningless government data that managed to report the lowest inflation in the last half century. These bizarre numbers were integral in allowing the Commerce Department to report 3.9% annualized GDP growth in the third quarter, which was heralded by the bulls as evidence that a resilient U.S. economy had shrugged off the problems in the housing and mortgage markets. However, the government’s ability to make “economic growth” magically appear is based purely on statistical finesse.
To arrive at this rate, the government had to assume that inflation during the quarter ran at an annualized rate of .8% (that’s less than 1%). That is the lowest rate of inflation used to calculate U.S. GDP since the Eisenhower administration. With oil priced at almost $100 per barrel, gold futures trading over $800 per ounce, the dollar hitting record lows, and the Fed printing money like it is going out of style, the government has the nerve to claim that current inflation is the lowest it has been in half a century. Unbelievable!”
OK, with that said, Argentina is now going to emulate US data gathering methods???? That has to be some sick satirical joke!
One wonders how people can be so stupid and/or grossly ignorant and/or blind (willfully or otherwise).
C’mon guys, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery! Argentina just wants to mimic the US so they can get away with this BS without being called on it.
Unfortunately they don’t have CNBC to tell them how swimmingly everything is going, so it probably won’t work for them.
Well, some people reckon he’s heading to Paraguay since Bechtel just won a contract to build a big runway there, but my money’s on George and Dick following Halliburton to safety in Dubai.
Either that, or the Bush clan kept one of those old USAF bases in Saudi Arabia and converted it to a family compound.
Is it my imagination, or are fast-food prices going up? Had not eaten at a Mac Donald’s in over two years until yesterday and it seemed criminal, to charge what they charged, for so little.