Executives Paid more than what Companies Paid in Taxes

I don't really have anything to say about this so I'll get straight to the quote

At least 25 top United States companies paid more to their chief executives in 2010 than they did to the federal government in taxes, according to a study released on Wednesday.

More here

Utter Over-reaction to Irene

Atlantic Casinos Closing
Garden State Parkway to Close for Irene
NYC area Hospitals Evacuated
All NYC Public Transit Shut Down

I mean come on people way to completely shut down a city for a small percentage chance that this thing maintains its ferocity through Sunday. It has already been downgraded to a category 2 and will probably end up as a tropical depression by the time it hits NYC.

Maybe I will be proven wrong but this IMO is a ridiculous overreaction.

The Bernank's Jackson Hole Speech Transcript

I am paraphrasing

Everything is fine we hope the economy doesn't completely implode on our watch so we can collect usurious speaking fees after we are done ruining the American Economy.

That is all

Love,
The Bernank

A great video that I forgot about.

So my friend over at The Crimson Cavalier re-reminded me of this one while we were discussing our current music playlist. I mentioned I was listening to Bismarkie and he linked me this gem. As a Red Sox fan I thoroughly enjoyed both the enthusiasm of the crowd and the play on words.

Some Scary Facts About Irene's Probable Course and wind speed

Projected Path

Wind Speeds

 Looks like almost 74-95mph gusts in Manhattan!!!

Quick Quote From Goldman Regarding tomorrow and QE3

Taken together, our analysis suggests that QE3 is unlikely to be a panacea for growth. Nonetheless, our estimates suggests that $1trn of asset purchases–or an equivalent increase in the duration of the Fed's balance sheet–might increase GDP growth by up to 0.5 percentage point in the first year after any announcement of QE3.

Gold Margins Raised, leverage lowered to 11X. S&P leverage maintained at 45XHypocricy

So yea, CME raises gold margins on YG futures which results in 11X leverage to day trade the contract. Keep in mind folks you can trade ES (S&P 500 mini Contract) at 45X leverage. Volatility in indexes is totally OK but god forbid gold starts going parabolic!

Its just plain sad... they tried this with silver and it did not do much after the initial panic selling.

The simple fact is that more and more people will move to owning physical and these contracts which whose other side are taken by banks using fractional reserve lending much like your deposit accounts will come to an end and we will experience two kinds of markets, the physical market which will IMO command a 20-30% premium over the paper market (GLD, YG futures, etc.)

Apple has produced nothing of actual societal value. -Denninger Rant

So folks, after a month or two of ranting and raving (but mostly linking) I have decided to return to posting on my blog. I know i don't really have readership base but I'm having fun so I might as well continue. Without further adieu I present to you Karl Denninger who posted about Steve Jobs' resignation as the Apple CEO. Most of the post is pretty vitriolic, but I loved this part.....

Apple has produced nothing of actual societal value. Jobs is not Edison or Einstein, although I heard comparisons to both this morning. Utter balderdash. He invented nothing other than a consumer cult that has driven both the abuse of workers in China (Foxconn anyone?) to the point that they attempt suicide by throwing themselves off the building parapets and the acquisition of more more more by Americans (and others) through the use of cheap credit - that is, excessive leverage. Worse, the company embarked on an intentional act of exploiting that consumer cult through the embedding of non-replaceable consumables inside their products (specifically, batteries) which is nothing more than an attempt to guarantee repeat sales for products through intentionally destroying their economic value. I attack banks all the time for having done this with explodo-mortgages that effectively forced you to come back for a refinance in two years and I reserve the same disdain for corporations that do this with their so-called "consumer products." Embedding a component in a non-replaceable fashion that has a known 500-cycle approximate lifetime when each "cycle" is typically one day for the average user essentially embeds in the device a two-year ticking time bomb, exactly as did an "explodo mortgage." That consumers are starry-eyed and willfully put up with that crap doesn't change what was done - or why. Would you buy a car that had an engine that intentionally self-destructed at 100,000 miles? Then why did you buy an iPhone or one of the "ultra nice" iMacs that has a non-replaceable battery in it that will wear out, on average, in a couple of years? Aren't you in fact a few points short in the IQ department doing the latter, when it's exactly the same as doing the former?

Keep in mind Henry Ford really brought this idea of making things that break to the mainstream when he started the Model T line, Apple has done an even better job by literally making products that you can't fix when broken.


Steve Jobs: Do come on.