10 Wednesday AM Reads

October 21, 2015 8:15am by

The New York Mets go up 3 -0 over the Cubs! Murphy’s law suggests you should dive into our morning train reads:

• Fed’s Williams Sees Reasons to Increase Rates Soon and Slowly (Bloomberg) but see NY Fed’s Dudley says too early to think about a rate rise (Reuters)
• Apple CEO Tim Cook: ‘Massive Change’ Is Coming to the Auto Industry (Re/code)
• The Ideological Flip Over Shareholder Primacy and Corporate Citizenship (Columbia Blue Sky Blog)
• Why Google Ventures didn’t invest in Theranos (Business Insider)
• New hope for cancer medicine: Researchers have found a way to fine-tune treatments that use a patient’s own immune system to attack cancer.  (Cosmos)

Continues here

 

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What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  2. RW commented on Oct 21

    Paul Ryan Wants to Shut Down the Government, Permanently
    This fact is one that is easy to find if a reporter is willing to do five minutes of research. Ryan directed the Congressional Budget Office to score his budget plans back in 2012. The score of his plan showed the non-Social Security, non-Medicare portion of the federal budget shrinking to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2050 (page 16).

    This number is roughly equal to current spending on the military. Ryan has indicated that he does not want to see the military budget cut to any substantial degree. That leaves no money for the Food and Drug Administration, the National Institutes of Health, The Justice Department, infrastructure spending or anything else. …

    NB: It seems more likely that Ryan is an innumerate con man. That is the generous interpretation at least because if he actually does understand the budgets he pumps out he would have to be far more radical and merciless than the most radical member of congress extant.

    “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.” –Hanlon’s Razor

    • VennData commented on Oct 21

      ​”…The House is gearing up to vote on a Republican bill Wednesday to prioritize payments in the event of hitting the debt ceiling. At least one analyst thinks such legislation could spell “political disaster” for the GOP…”​

      ​​Pay Social Welfare Last!​​

      http://www.marketwatch.com/story/debt-prioritization-bill-comes-to-a-vote-as-borrowing-limit-looms-2015-10-21

      ​…ie, Social Security.

      Pay Social Security LAST! And Medicare, VA and Defense Department Salaries.

    • rd commented on Oct 21

      I will have to remember Hanlon’s Razor. I run into it frequently, just didn’t realize that there was an aphorism for it.

      Its why I don’t believe in most conspiracy theories. Successful conspiracies take a lot of skill and secrecy, both of which are lacking in most cases. Cracking the Enigma code and the Japanese ciphers in WW II were two of the few that were successfully kept secret. Even the Manhattan Project was bleeding its heart out to the Soviets despite intense security measures.

    • willid3 commented on Oct 21

      well it was the ‘plan’ to just shut the government down wasnt it?

    • intlacct commented on Oct 21

      “NB: It seems more likely that Ryan is an innumerate con man. That is the generous interpretation at least because if he actually does understand the budgets he pumps out he would have to be far more radical and merciless than the most radical member of congress extant.”

      A young friend – 18 – watched the debates. He said the Dems sound sane and the Republicans like WWF. He says he constantly has to check Rs on facts and he basically assumes they are lying. Oy.

  3. howardoark commented on Oct 21

    When I got out of my parent’s house at 22, I was working with some guys who still lived at home. I thought that was odd until they started buying houses.

    • intlacct commented on Oct 21

      I was run out/left at 17. It cost me in some ways. I grew up a lot, too.

    • DeDude commented on Oct 21

      He is either dumber or smarter than we thought. There is a very high chance that the Tea Partiers (lets not confuse them with Freedom) will reject his demands. Then he can go back to the corporate conservatives and say “I tried”. That way he can avoid becoming speaker without looking as he abandoned the party in its time of need. If the Koch brothers somehow wake up and browbeat their minions to accept his demands, then he has a position of power.

  6. VennData commented on Oct 21

    Strong Rebound for Architecture Billings Index

    http://www.aia.org/press/AIAB107451

    Here is a summary of new developments in my neighborhood:

    86-story tower designed by star architect Helmut Jahn that would be the 6th tallest in the city, 1000 South Michigan

    ​​http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20150924/CRED0701/150929921/check-out-helmut-jahns-new-86-story-south-loop-tower

    Chicago-based developer Oxford Capital filed a proposal last month for a 48-story, 515-foot high-rise with 388 apartments at 800 S. Michigan Ave. Designed by Hartshorne Plunkard Architects, the building would include on-site parking and ground floor retail, with plans to open by 2018

    http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20150925/CRED03/150929868/but-wait-theres-more-another-tower-for-south-michigan-avenue

    A 48-story tower at 1326 S. Michigan Ave., with 500 apartments, 240 parking spaces and 8,000 square feet of retail space. The project’s architect is Solomon Cordwell Buenz of Chicago.

    http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/ct-south-loop-development-boom-1004-biz-20151002-story.html

    Chicago developer Keith Giles has expanded his plans for an apartment tower on Wabash Avenue near Roosevelt Road in the South Loop. A venture led by Giles recently filed plans with the city for a 25-story, 320-unit building at 1136-1140 S. Wabash Ave.

    http://www.chicagobusiness.com/realestate/20151006/CRED03/151009900/formentos-building-for-sale-cdm-media-leases-google-space-south-loop

    Local developers Draper & Kramer have announced a project for the newly emerging McCormick Place Entertainment District that will bring 144 hotel rooms and about 250 apartments to the corner of Cermak and Wabash,

    http://m.chicago.curbed.com/archives/2015/09/23/2109-s-wabash.php

    When complete, there will be 62 townhouses ranging in size from 2,800 square feet to 4,300 square feet; each with two parking spaces.

    http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2015/04/10/status-update-18th-and-prairie/

    Marriott Marquis Hotel meeting rooms, retail space on drawing board as part of revitalized entertainment district around McCormick Place convention center

    http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-04-04/business/ct-mccormick-place-abc-building-0404-biz-20140404_1_mcpier-mccormick-place-convention-center-american-book-co

    DePaul Basketball arena

    http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20150217/south-loop/depaul-arena-hotel-construction-begin-this-summer-near-mccormick-place

    ​Not to mention…

    ​​http://www.wbez.org/news/emanuel-counts-surprising-projects-neighborhood-development-111685
    ​
    http://www.motorrowbrew.com/
    ​

    • intlacct commented on Oct 21

      Yeah but it’s still Chicago. (joking, Venn)

  10. VennData commented on Oct 21

    Paul Ryan’s offer challenges the permanently disgruntled conservative class

    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2015/10/21/paul-ryans-offer-challenges-the-permanently-disgruntled-conservative-class/

    Sorry you’re so ANGRY after stock prices trebled under Obama when you predicted they would not.

    Sorry you missed the rally, GOP Rock Ribber.

    Sorry you think Valeant’s business model of buying miss-priced stocks from foreign tax havens was a good idea.

    http://www.usatoday.com/story/money/2015/10/21/valeant-shares-plunge-negative-research-report/74330120/

    We will find a way to stop your delirious need to shut down the best government the world has ever seen.

    America, Love it or Leave it. Please fell free to pack up and move to your favorite tax haven.

  11. rd commented on Oct 21

    I think this article on financial crimes being too complex to prosecute is missing the point. Many of the biggest financial crimes that are simpler are so big that nobody wanted to prosecute them for fear of upsetting the system.

    For example, during the financial crisis it was clear that mortgage servicing companies were simply making up paperwork with numerous people using the same notary public’s stamp resulting in many very different signatures to go with the same stamp. This should be a clear cut case of fraud since the key paperwork had forged signatures and other made-up things. However, this was rarely prosecuted because slowing down the foreclosure mill could have been financially destabilizing. Nobody wanted to flip over the log because they didn’t want to see the termites in the first place. Instead, they went after complex insider trading cases and whine about losing them.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-21/has-it-become-impossible-to-prosecute-white-collar-crime-

    • willid3 commented on Oct 21

      wonder how the homes being foreclosed on will do when they get sold next? will they be able to based on a questionable chain of ownership? will the companies that insure against that even look at those homes that were foreclosed on going forward?

    • rd commented on Oct 21

      I think many of them were snapped for cash by private equity as rentals and skipped the title question altogether. I imagine they will want to unload them at some point. It is going to be very interesting to see how the mortgage and title insurance industry handle the MERS foreclosures going forward. I have seen title and survey questions stop house sales dead in their tracks in the past.

      Of course, the obvious solution will be for people to simply save enough money to buy the homes with cash to avoid closing problems.

    • Iamthe50percent commented on Oct 21

      rd, you are such a kidder! For most Americans it is impossible to save for a house while paying rent. Maybe by forgoing everything, a working couple might buy a retirement home. By buying with a mortgage, they can save the rent, essentially renting to themselves for free. A home mortgage on a non-mansion is about the same cost as renting a one or two bedroom apartment and the cost is fixed, not jumping every lease signing. Forget the house as investment, yes. But remember the house as a place to live.

  14. RW commented on Oct 21

    Debt Déjà Vu
    For two years, financial markets have repeated the same error – predicting that US interest rates will rise within about six months, only to see the horizon recede. This serial misjudgment is the result not of unforeseeable events, but of a failure to grasp the strength and global nature of the deflationary forces now shaping the economy. …

    NB: I make it closer to seven years but, hell, who’s counting.

    • ilsm commented on Oct 21

      Aside from character assassinating Mrs. Clinton, the witch hunt is about ‘why there are not enough aircraft carriers and supports to get an F/A 18 over every US consulate around the globe.in under 10 minutes”.

      It would not have saved the 4 Americans but bombing hell out of Benghazi would have made Murkans feel “strong”.

    • rd commented on Oct 22

      Actually F/A 18s aren’t particularly useful for close quarter fighting such as people storming an embassy. Instead, the real need is to be able to drop a company of Marines into any building in the world occupied by a US diplomat in less than 10 minutes.

      The US diplomats were deliberately going light on security because they were trying to show they were peaceful. Moving diplomats in the equivalent of a Presidential motorcade everywhere and hunkering down in fortified positions would generally reduce their effectiveness. Chances were taken and some mistakes were made, and some brave people lost their lives on the diplomatic frontlines. However, they had the option all along of bring along a heavily armored presence and decided that would not help their mission.

    • rd commented on Oct 22

      I think this is a different case from and ethical and legal standpoint. Honda and Takata were exploring a hypothesis. I think they waited too long to release the (somewhat inconclusive) results, but pre-mature release of exploratory hypotheses and preliminary results is generally not good science the way the media grabs onto things and hypes them. There have been no end of these types of hyped stories based on inconclusive or erroneous information over the years that have actually resulted in societal harm – vaccines are a classic example.

      VW deliberately designed emission control defeat software into their vehicles showing a specific will and intent to circumvent environmental regulations and consumer expectations. Takata discovered a problem with airbags they designed in good faith years earlier and was trying to do the forensics to puzzle out what the cause was. These are two totally different types of cases.

  22. ilsm commented on Oct 21

    “Defying a Taboo, Trump Condemns George W. Bush for 9/11 attacks .”

    There ain’t near as much money in point defense and airport security as there is in aggression with war to build nations in US’ least democratic image.

    The big taboo would be to condemn the armed aggression and war crimes Bush, Cheney, and Wolfowitz perpetrated.

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