Good oil-will-eventually-find-a-bottom morning train reads:
• Euro Tumbles to Nine-Year Low (WSJ) see also ‘Grexit’ Is Back: A Greek Exit From the Euro Raises Fears of Fiscal Contagion (Bloomberg)
• Byron Wien Lays Out 10 Surprises for 2015 (Barron’s)
• Thinking About International Bond Yields (NYT) see also UK sells 10-year bonds at record low yield (FT)
• Brokers With Hands On Their Faces (Tumblr)
• Cassidy: Twelve Geopolitical Lessons Learned in 2014 (New Yorker)
SpaceX Reusable-Rocket Launch Aborted
http://www.spacex.com/webcast/
Private space exploration is sooo much better than NASA.
Get Reagan out there to demand they go around normal pre-launch procedures…
…so he can give his big speech that night. And watch the Challenger blow.
Thanks again Reagan.
‘America’s Bitter Pill’ Makes Case For Why Health Care Law ‘Won’t Work’ (npr fresh air)non-profit hospitals making a killing
Exodus: the migration from parents’ basement has begun (Vox) will this break the internet?
Streaming service with ESPN may be a TV game-changer (The Amazon Newsletter) Comcast reps, get ready to stall
Sometimes I feel bad for these guys Bloomy gets on the phone for market commentary. They sound a bit dumb:
““Last year, we saw the VIX get above 30. I think it would take a lot more than a 20 reading to do that.”
Um, yeah. Like 10.1 more than a 20 reading?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2015-01-05/get-used-to-higher-stock-volatility-deutsche-bank-says-options.html
“Low oil prices here to stay . . .” I always wondered what the price of oil would be if based mostly on the cost of production without the cartel and state influences, my guess was about $60/bbl. . . and thought it would happen when the markets realized baked in saving of increased energy efficiency and decreased demand. Every new building is many times more efficient than the ones they replace. (The new supermarket here has the lights dim in the frozen food aisle when no one is there.) The baked in savings from mileage improvements like the Chevy Volt’s equivalent of 100 mpg were game changers I thought. I just didn’t see that the artificially high price would be broken by increased supply . . the tar sands and fracking.
One problem with this trend may be if fracking is discovered to have undeniable unforeseen consequences . . it just can’t be a good thing to contaminate and store that much poisoned water. But I am planning on spending about a third less for my heating oil next season. A good thing for me.
About That French Time Bomb
It’s really amazing how much bad press France gets — and not just from goldbugs and the like. It was the Economist that declared, on its cover more than two years ago, that France was the time bomb at the heart of Europe. And of course the inflationistas were even more certain that France faced imminent doom; for example, John Mauldin proclaimed that France was in fact worse than Greece.
Now that time bomb — which has actually had better economic growth since 2007 than Britain — can borrow at an interest rate of only 0.8 percent. ….
NB: Virtually all European countries can borrow at the lowest interest rates in the past seven years and while that’s certainly better news it is not necessarily fantastic news; see the “Thinking About International Bond Yields (NYT)” link above. It also falsifies the deficit-scold/inflationista/austerian argument (calling it a model would be too generous) of course but that’s already been done multiple times with little effect; zombie ideas are tough, shoot ’em and they just keep lurching along.
Don’t believe the liberal, So-called Scientist!. Geological Change is a Hoax!
Believe what you know to be true in your hearts! It’s not fracking! It’s End of Days!
http://earthquaketrack.com/p/united-states/oklahoma/recent
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/08/20/3473502/oklahoma-hit-with-20-earthquakes/
http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060011066
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2015/01/06/wonkbook-massive-spike-in-okla-earthquakes-may-be-due-to-fracking/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-07/oklahoma-temblors-outpace-california-as-fracking-booms.html
If we frack the ocean floor, that will lower the oceans and prevent so-called Global Warmings from raising the sea level!
I predict the end of days will occur in the late afternoon or evening between March and July or June during a period when oil prices are high.
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology/trends
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mississippi_River_floods
Anyone who isn’t a fully-paid member of the Josh Brown fan club after today’s Q&A with 50 Cent…
After a lyrical discussion of the rapper’s Apple, Beats and his Intel partnership
Josh Brown: After what happened on stage… blah… blah… will there be a reconciliation with Ja Rule?
50 Cent (pulling off the biz-TV hoodie personna): Ain’t gonna be no chance a that!
ROFL!
CNBC to Stop Using Nielsen for Ratings
http://www.wsj.com/articles/cnbc-to-stop-using-nielsen-for-ratings-1420520556
I know CNBC ratings aren’t what they used to be. But using Neilsen in this day and age is like using a rotary phone. These businesses get set up (Microsoft comes to mind, Big Oil, Big Food, Big Cable) and do everything in their power to maintain dominance.
Thats hilarious!
The Russian embargo and low oil prices are affecting F1 Race Teams.
http://thejudge13.com/
For those who don’t follow the sport, it is so expensive that the smaller teams hire “pay drivers” who bring money. That’s right. You’re not getting the best drivers in the world; you’re getting some of the best drivers in the world; the others buy their seats.
1) Marussia (based in Banbury) & Russian investors
So Marussia began 2014 in a hopeful economic position, with promises from Russian ‘investors’ that they would predominantly fund the team for the coming year.
In 2013, the team had run on a budget spend of $99 million.
However, revenue from the Russians in 2014 collapsed to just $38 million and by running up credit again, the Banbury racing team eventually produced a $45 million annual loss.
But if we look behind the numbers, interestingly they reveal that the Banbury team were not reckless or wasteful in their spending, but were operating in 2014 on a similar budget to that of 2013. Just over £60m, which is apparently less than should be possible given the fixed costs of competing in Formula One – and the huge $20 million jump in the costs of the engines.
Clearly, as the international sanctions against Russia began to bite and the Russian GP approached – the cash for Marussia dried up from the Russian ‘investors’ – leaving the team high and dry.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/117284
2: Venezuela and Lotus (based in Enstone)
In a country which is completely reliant on imports for basic goods such as food and medicine, it is questionable whether suffering Venezuelan’s will continue to support the annual spend of around Euro 30m by their government to fund Formula One driver – Pastor Maldonado.
Maldonado dodged the bullet of having his funding cut in 2014, following the death of his family friend and patron, President Hugo Chavez, and so far appears unaffected by the chaos back home.
However, were Lotus to lose this 30m Euro sponsorship, TJ13 sources reveal this would tip the fragile balance of sustainability at Enstone and see the team go under fairly swiftly.
Job Quality is about Policies, not Technology (ht EV)
The worry …is that technology will replace certain jobs (particularly goods-producing jobs) and that there will literally be nothing for …people to do. They will presumably exit the labor market completely and possibly need permanent income support.
Let’s quickly deal with the “lump of labor” fallacy sitting behind this. …We’ve been creating new kinds of jobs for two hundred years. …The economy is going to find something for these people to do. The question is what kind of jobs these will be. ….
On Infographics; How it is done: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3040415/how-designers-turn-data-into-beautiful-infographics
Best 2014, Fast company: http://www.fastcodesign.com/3039650/the-18-best-infographics-of-2014
1) Conservative Lawmakers Plan To Vote Against Boehner For Speaker 12/29/14
“Rep. Boehner was selected as the House Republican Conference’s choice for Speaker last month,” Boehner aide Michael Steel said in an email, “and he expects to be elected by the whole House next week.”Asked on Monday about possible repercussions for members who vote against Boehner, Steel referenced how the speaker has said publicly that there will be no punishment for those who do not support him in the public vote.
http://dailycaller.com/2014/12/29/conservative-lawmakers-plan-to-vote-against-boehner-for-speaker/
2) Boehner takes his revenge on those who ran against him
“…Boehner booted Florida Reps. Daniel Webster (R) and Rich Nugent (R) from the influential Rules Committee after Webster ran against Boehner in the speaker race with Nugent’s support. Punishment is also reportedly likely for the handful of other conservative lawmakers who opposed Boehner’s reelection Tuesday afternoon…”
http://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2015-01-07/boehner-pays-back-republicans-for-voting-against-him-for-speaker
Yeah, Obama can trust Boehner, Why doesn’t the President just sit down with Boehner and do a deal? LOL
I admit, “Brokers With Hands On Their Faces” make me feel better about some of my mistakes.