10 Thursday AM Reads

March 26, 2015 7:30am by

Hard to believe, but this is our first morning train reads of the post-Clarkson era:

• Stock Market Downdraft Is a Buying Opportunity (Barron’s) but see Nasdaq Composite Falls Most Since April as Tech Shares Tumble (Bloomberg)
• The biggest mistake investors are making right now (Fortune)
• How Much Cash Is Too Much Cash for Your Portfolio? (US News)
• Weak Demand? Strong Dollar? U.S. Businesses Aren’t Investing Much (Real Time Economics) but see Economist Says U.S. Consumer Spending Is About to ‘Surge’ (Bloomberg)
• How China used more cement in 3 years than the U.S. did in the entire 20th Century (WonkBlog)

Continues here

 

 

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  1. tigerlilac commented on Mar 26

    It must be close to ten years since I spent a couple of weeks in China.

    From a standpoint of fascination, no place compares with the contrasting history and modern urbanization of China. Shanghai, in particular, is a wonderful blend of old and new, and even a short visit to that city will dispel Western misconceptions about China and the Chinese people. Most fascinating to me was the trip I took from the Three Gorges Dam project that was coming online before travelling up the Yangtze through the actual three gorges. They were raising the level of the river by an unfathomable amount, flooding old rural population centers, and building new modern cities.

    The amount of construction was mind-boggling but paled in comparison to the cultural evolution at hand. Clearly, they were not only building structures, they were changing the cultural landscape, pulling people out of their rural and agrarian roots into the modern world. I can only imagine the courage it took for the individuals impacted and the divergence in lifestyles between generations. The banks of the river were lined in cement to allow for the flooding. I lost count of the new bridges that seemed ubiquitous.

    Everyone I met was pleased to speak with an American and treated me with respect and genuine interest. If you have not made the trip, I highly recommend you do so.

    • VennData commented on Mar 26

      And remind everyone that the only way forward is through democracy. Not their sick, corrupt dictatorship.

      Free China.

  2. VennData commented on Mar 26

    U.S. engagement in Mideast conflicts may complicate Iran nuclear talks

    ​http://www.latimes.com/world/middleeast/la-fg-us-engage-iran-nuclear-talks-20150326-story.html

    ​Obama’s attack on Yemen can be rejected by the next President!!!

    ​Where is Congress’ approval? Lawless!​

    Where are the 47-Senators when you need ’em?!​

  3. Jojo commented on Mar 26

    A Novel Way to Mandate Sick Leave, From Microsoft
    MARCH 26, 2015

    It is difficult to imagine, at least in the current political climate, that the federal government would require paid sick leave for workers, let alone vacation time.

    But the White House announced Wednesday that senior officials, including the labor secretary, would begin a monthlong roadshow around the country to promote paid leave. And in his State of the Union address, President Obama urged Congress to pass a bill giving workers seven days of paid sick leave.

    But any federal requirement would need the support of Congress, a tough obstacle.

    Yet there is another, emerging model: companies forcing other companies to adopt these policies. On Thursday morning, Microsoft announced that it would require many of its 2,000 contractors and vendors to provide their employees who perform work for Microsoft with 15 paid days off for sick days and vacation time.

    …

    http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/26/upshot/26up-leave.html

  4. Jojo commented on Mar 26

    Wired
    03.26.15
    Amazon’s New Unlimited Cloud Storage Is Absurdly Cheap

    The steady march towards cheaper cloud storage has just turned into a sprint. Rather than being merely competitive with leaders like Google Drive, Dropbox, and iCloud, Amazon has decided to undercut their pricing by more than half. In some cases, much, much more.

    Amazon’s Unlimited Everything plan means that you now can stash all of your digital stuff in your own private Amazon cloud locker for $60 per year. That’s compared to the $100 per year that individual Dropbox users pay for a plan capped at 1TB (there’s also a $15 per month unlimited plan for business accounts), $120 per year for 1TB on Google Drive, and $240 for the same amount on iCloud. Throw in Amazon’s three-month free trial offer–and consider that truly unlimited plans aren’t even an option for individual users on most rival services–and the unprecedented value of Amazon’s Unlimited Everything Plan comes more into focus.

    …

    http://www.wired.com/2015/03/amazon-unlimited-everything-cloud-storage/

    • willid3 commented on Mar 26

      maybe just the cynic in me. but maybe retirement will be just health care. just for some

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