Friday, January 30, 2009

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Peanut Butter, Peanuts, Peanuts in everything

http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/peanut-butter-breakfast-lg.jpg

Po
inter over Company or product will bring you to the details of the product

Peanut Corporation of America Expands Nationwide Recall of Peanut Products (January 28) New!A Product of the South (The Devil is in the Details):

The FDA reported Wednesday -- citing PCA's own test results -- that the company had found salmonella in its product, but shipped it anyway after a subsequent test proved negative.- I'm sure that the people at PCA who made that decision - went to Church on Sunday.

PCA denied the implication that it had retested the product in an attempt to get a favorable test result. PCA also noted that the FDA's report had not been finalized and said the company had taken corrective action during the agency's two-week investigation, "where possible."


It should be noted: Skippy, Jif, Peter Pan and Smuckers - relate that none of their peanuts came from PCA

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

The Economy is Job Won!

From now on - all that matters - and the only indicator to watch for the next 3 to 6 months is the Jobs report - Unemployment on Fridays - and Jobs first week of every month.

Update Jan 26 - Caterpillar lowers 2009 outlook; 20,000 workers targeted for cuts, Sprint/Nextel cuts 8,000 jobs, Pfizer 19,000 jobs , Home Depot 7000 jobs, Royal Philips Electronics, Europe's largest consumer-electronics firm, cuts 6,000 jobs. - all announced before 10am

Jan 27 - Corning 3,500 jobs, 1400 Temp workers, IBM 2000, a few UK companies 6,000
(note: there are thousands of small companies laying off from 1 to 300 employees every week - and there are thousands of "under the radar" employees being laid off - with no government
unemployment support - cash only, illegal immigrants, side jobs, odd jobs, and less work by "women of the night." - the "tip" industry as well as students, etc.)

I will not be posting for awhile - lots of companies announcing 4th quarter news - the above is just the beginning (Monday 1/26 - 8am)

It's all about Jobs and the news is distressing. A continuation of the numbers will lead toward a Depression OK - the las thing anyone is going to say is that word - so, let's call it "Depression-Lite"

If anything changes, I'll look in my vast source of knowledge - discounted for purposely misleading statements by Politically Correct - Mis-Leaders!!

PS. Other news today, Vladimir Putin announced today, That the United States is responsible for the Russia/Ukaraine/Europe natural gas problem. No question Putin is a Psychopath. It has been my experience over 66 years - people who lose, tend to continuing losing, and winners tend to continue to win. Russia is trying to "Cold it Up" in the world and probably will suffer for it.
Israel, without any energy sources, discovers a fairly large find in Natural Gas, they have been hostage to Egypt for years...things are changing.

El Viejo

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Cell Service - Consumer Reports Jan 09

Recommended:
1. Verizon - Standout for most people - fastest (3G) network - also best prepaid service
2. Alltel - A fine alternative where Available (available to 26% - Verizon 87%)
3. T-mobile - if overseas travel frequently

Others to consider:
AT&T - has some cities as better - not many - biggest Feature - iPhone - carryover minutes, has largest percentage of calls dropped, erratic connections.
Sprint - although overall unfavorable - has Samsung Instinct HTC Diamond and 7pm night

Monday, January 12, 2009

Martha Stewart - Redux

http://www.savemartha.com/martha-stewart-3-5-04a.jpg

Martha Stewart went to Jail for What? How long was she there? Her Profit was how Much?

There are atleast 10,000 people who work or have worked on Wall Street who Manipulated Securities and Investors our of 10 to 1000 times her crime - and are walking free today without consideration of prosecution.

I am not a fan of Martha, but I was a fan of Justice Due. I am now - impressed with a good crime - won!

Bernard Madoff is a great criminal - almost a genius - he was not tripped up by his own mistakes - but by a economy turned south - a classic Greek comedy turned tragedy.

If you want to steal - don't get caught, otherwise make it so big and directly implicating a number of important people - and you too will walk free.

Like The sound of a tree falling in the woods - crime is only a crime if you get caught - otherwise it could be quite liberating to your life!

What are the actions of society teaching your children?
What is Television teaching your children?

It's not what you steal, who you hurt...it's how smart you are doing it!

Friday, January 9, 2009

The Market's Future - Follow the Money

Most of the money coming out of the market is out
Lots of cash around - looking for a safe home
private cash is held by fickle holders
Cash knows no home
Government will be spilling buckets of Cash
They want it to work immediately
They want it to stay mostly in the Country
Decreasing withholding does not have a direction
Government spending on infra-structure immediately
Creates jobs, use of Concrete, Steel, Plastic, Energy
Construction Materials - lots of wood, sheetrock, etc.
Energy is under the control of an oligopoly - the price
can move independently by manipulating supply and demand

Want to invest money - Follow The Money

Sunday, January 4, 2009

Some Attentive Bull Shit, Assholes of "The Word," Steven King, the writer, A tribute to Margarete.

There are some phrases I have chosen to discuss as we are in a new year - and they disgust me as a wordsmith (old line - and of minor importance)

A New Paradigm
- Sometimes referred to as (gag and puke) "Thinking outside the Box." Thinking outside the box is maybe a 10 year old phrase - slang for people of many past ages who developed thinking...different than others - leading to success - Actually, to breakdown the word Paradigm (god knows where the name "new" came from - it is mostly redundant) - prevailing paradigm often represents a more specific way of viewing reality. New?

It's Curious -Curiosity is a thought by a rational mind. What differs humans from all other members of the animal kingdom - is rationality. "its" are not human. "I am curious" I (a human) have curiosity. "It's Curious" is a bastardization of the ability for a human to express all the words - a short cut, if you will. - The apostrophe (') does not save the statement as correct - my opinion.

Cautiously Optimistic - I always think of someone who is cautiously optimistic as riding on the brakes as they accelerate. Caution belongs more to pessimism - "throwing caution to the wind" belongs to Optimism. - combining the two is an amorphism.

OfTen pronouncing the T - It has now become acceptable, in dictionaries, to pronounce the T, why (?) because no one in education could stop the rote reader from saying it. Where was William F. Buckley when all this shit went down.

Unintended Consequences is generally the result of moving before understanding decisions and their related variations - selling a product before it is finished and tested would be a good example - of Rush to Market - and the dire results. ...And I might add $700 Billion, much of which, were put to less than desirable use.

Possible Improbabilities - Not thinking broad enough (outside the box, if you will) in addition to Unintended Consequences - not taking the time to finish the job.

Perceived Improbabilities - A variation of the above

Persistence vs. Determination - persistence an often over used term for being Determined. Persistence has most of the word resistance, buried therein. Determination has "breaking through the wall" as its goal. Two entirely different attitudes.

Before I move on to one of the more pleasurable times in my life - I have found a book by
Steven King called "On Writing" - a wonderful discussion of writing techniques - who does, who doesn't - what should and what shouldn't. I have never seen or read any of his movies or novels. I place "On Writing" complimentary to "The Elements of Style" which he also recognizes as great.

Our Secretary (of equal footing in the office - to all) and I were probably the last office liaison to begin the morning with coffee and Dictation. She used shorthand on a pad split in the middle with a line. I dictated the Letter, note, cetra - she transcribed and presented me with the final product - not always...sometimes, she presented me with what was dictated - but corrected - what was necessary to make the Letter - Politically Correct - at that time called "easily digestible." We then discuss - my feelings of taking the "umph" out of the letter, but mostly the letter was sent with her suggested corrections. It became "our" letter.

Obviously I could not use the "7 obscene words banned from TV"

(There are seven obscene words referring to sexual intercourse, human waste, homosexuality,.Body parts, off-color and one who practices the sin of Oedipus, an odd compound curse-word, the (Mother) oath.) ( decoded: shit, piss, fuck, cunt, cocksucker, motherfucker, and tits. - Thank you George Carlin for this and a shit load of other commentary that made life colorful and interesting!) - as an aside - George Carlin has always been cast as a NY Jew, when in actuality he is from a devout Catholic Family, stayed clear of the Priests (for obvious reasons) until he remove himself from the Church permanently. The "7 obscene words banned from TV" became a Case in the US. Supreme Court, under the First Amendment as it related to George Carlin's usage before the screen.

I digress...

Ah, Yes - Margarete also did not like the use of "Ellipses" which you will notice after "I digress" "..." and after "Ah, Yes" "-". There are other Ellipses - and every time I used them Margarete would look up and raise an eyebrow - I would say these morning liaisons lasted about 18 years and are my fondest memory of "work as I knew it!"

Finally, a common "irk" is younger people speaking too quickly, "sing-songy" with nothing to say, speaking too quickly with poor pronunciation (marbles in their mouths, if you please)
Does this have something to do with my 66 years - sure!

I dedicate this post to Margarete Normann wherever you are!

Paul

“Possible Improbables” - Doug Kass

Doug KassDoug Kass
Doug Kass, a noted commenter on the Markets and Economy has a 60% success in predicting the “Possible Improbables” of past years. Here is his list. Based upon his past performance 12 of these 20 should come about:

1. The Russian mafia and Russian oligarchs are found to be large investors with Madoff.

2. Housing stabilizes sooner than expected.

3. The nation’s commercial real estate markets experience only a shallow pricing downturn in the first half of 2009.

4. The U.S. economy stabilizes sooner than expected.

5. The U.S. stock market rises by close to 20% in the year’s first half.

6. A second quarter “growth scare” bursts the bubble in the government bond market.
7. Commodities markets remain subdued.

8. Capital spending disappoints further.

9. The hedge fund and fund of funds industries do not recover in 2009.

10. Mutual fund redemptions from 2008 reverse into inflows in 2009.

11. State and municipal imbalances and deficits mushroom.

12. The automakers and the UAW come to an agreement over wages.

13. The new administration replaces SEC Commissioner Cox.

14. Large merger of equals deals multiply.

15. Focus shifts for several media darlings.

16. The Internet becomes the tactical nuke of the digital age.

17. A handful of sports franchises file bankruptcy.

18. The Fox Business Network closes.

19. Old, leveraged media implode.

20. The Middle East’s infrastructure build-out is abruptly halted owing to “market conditions.”

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Saturday, January 3, 2009

Playing For Change: Song Around the World

Pink Floyd

Hello.
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?

Come on, now.
I hear youre feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.

Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts:
Can you show me where it hurts?
Ok.
Just a little pinprick. [ping]
Therell be no more --aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.

Can you stand up?
I do believe its working. good.
Thatll keep you going for the show.
Come on its time to go.

I have become comfortably numb.

(Better living through Chemistry)

Remembering This Morining's Dream



I have spent the last few years reading and practicing Meditation. In side discussions on the subject were - the learning in remembering dreams - not so much of what they mean but how the mind works at different levels. After all, what else does one have to do at 66 years of age.

This morning I remained sleeping past my normal wakeup because I was at an outdoor fest, with tents, couches, music outdoors, seemingly with people of the 60's. I was lounging on a couch when others near by and on the same couch was Henry Kissinger, and the nearby couches in a semi circle were Thomas Friedman and George Will (Ann Coulter was not in this dream.)

Except for Kissinger (in a tie and no jacket - but short sleeve shirt no less) the others were in casual clothing except George Will had black shoes with black socks while Friedman had cross training shoes w/ white socks.

Since I was there, I at least got eye contact and head nods. The discussions were centered around "Where are the good writers?" - and what were the basics of Good Writing and Flow.
How quickly could the subject be presented - to the writers conclusion. My radio was on automatically as a form of alarm - NPR. They were just finishing up a discussion relating to a current statement that Henry Kissinger had made. How quickly we develope (what appears to be a long dream - maybe 15 minutes) by an outside stimulus within seconds.

Certain people who have never been in my dreams:
my 2nd wife
2 loves from several years ago
my dogs and horses.

Certain dreams that are frequently reoccuring:
Not being able to find a class, or test, or paper needed to graduate college.
falling but never landing.
Meeting with clients not being able to solve their problems, getting wrapped up in getting to the solution only to wake up and knowing that the problems did not need a solution - I was out.
Where I grew up - the home, etc.
My Father and his "being there" at times and discussions.

Do I try to analyze these Dreams? no, as I'm working on the remembering - haven't had a nighmare in many years - no cold or hot sweats - life is good!

My current "working on" is various levels of consiousness - how moving through problems speeds up actions - and moving through pleasures - slows down.

Whatever.....

an aside, and not related - I do suffer from Cognitive Dissonance.

Cognitive Dissonance occurs in the mind of an individual when a theoretical belief system is confronted by factual evidence demonstrating outcomes contrary to what theories dictate should occur. (the picture of the brain above is the brain's reaction to stimulus of fear and pleasure in its manufacture of Dopamine to deal with the stimulus - just an aside.)

Finally, I remember a statement made to me by my favorite niece: Paul, "it's always, all about you!' Wow, I said to myself...it's like my son telling me that I was insecure - and then realizing that "all about you" and "being insecure" are both assessments made toward everyone by someone - and by everyone to that someone! Reflex Reaction under, undo stress!

They are both on my short list of "Loved Ones." - both the statements and the beloved members of my family.

Thursday, January 1, 2009

2009 Immediate disappointment, Overreaction, jumping to conculsions

The immediacy of Obama becoming President with more problems than can be imagined - the press and talking heads will convince the impatient populace to become disappointed quickly in what they thought was a messiah and cure all to everything "not right"

I believe "steady as she goes" should be a reasonable reaction to the changes that will take time to take hold.

A Parable:

There was a merchant in Baghdad who went to the market with his servant. There they saw Death, who stared at the servant in what seemed a threatening way. Later the servant said "Master, lend me a horse. I shall ride to Samara, and there Death will not find me." The merchant did so, then returned to the market, where he again saw Death, whom he approached and asked why he had stared at his servant in such a threatening way. Death responded, "I wasn't threatening him. I was just very surprised to see him here in Baghdad, since I have an appointment with him in Samara later this afternoon."