File this under weird:
Bjork (yes that Bjork) Iceland wants to reverse Magma deal
"International pop music queen Bjork says the government of her native Iceland is prepared to reverse a deal that saw Vancouver-based Magma Energy Corp. buy geothermal energy producer HS Orka, denouncing the transaction as a secretive agreement with “no benefit” to the local economy.
The award-winning singer has been on a crusade against foreign takeovers of Iceland’s resource assets. Following a karaoke marathon and petition she helped organize earlier this month, she met with Iceland’s prime minister and finance minister to make her case for scuttling the Orka purchase."
Onion News Network - Keeping You Safe From The Lies
The Onion is starting it's own network ONN, and this story caught my eye:
Morbid Curiosity Leading Many Voters to Support Palin
"A recent poll shows 62% of Americans say they don't want to vote for Palin, but kinda just have to see what would happen."
Giants Fan Visiting Philadelphia Feels Betrayed By Bud Light Ad For Eagles
"PHILADELPHIA—New York Giants fan Mark DeLeon, 36, told reporters Monday that he felt shocked, hurt, and betrayed after seeing a billboard stating that Bud Light was also the official beer of the Philadelphia Eagles. "What the hell is this? The Eagles—our division rivals for Christ's sake," said a visibly distraught De≠Leon, adding that at the moment he saw the billboard, he realized all the posters, commercials, and promotional plastic cups pairing the low-calorie lager with his favorite football team were "complete bullshit." "While they're at it, why not just put a stake in my heart and tell me Bud Light is also the official beer of the fucking Red Sox." DeLeon added that he plans to take revenge on the disloyal company by drinking Bud Light Lime.
"Go Bears!
Bud Light Lime! Too funny.
ReplyDeleteGo Bears!
ReplyDeleteWhile I am not a big football fan, even I have to root for the Bears especially against the cheese head Packers.
ReplyDeleteGo Patriots!!!
ReplyDeleteActually, I went to Soldiers' Field, sat there with my feet and hands in paper bags using 3 Jon-E hand warmers (2 for feet and one for hands) while my brother had electric socks with 2 huge 6V batteries, and we (and my Dad) watched the Bears cream the Packers. It is one of my best memories.
But, after living so long in Boston, and in fact real near Foxboro, I'm sorry Dss, I just have to emote with the Patriots.
But on Bears VS Packers, that's a no brainer. GO BEARS
I wanted to mention it a couple days ago, but negelected to do so. So pardon the lateness.
ReplyDeleteI bought V right after the plummet. The big drop bas based on a report about limiting the transfer fees. The report said that this would lower V and MA's revenues, but they didn't know what they were talking about. My next-door-neighbor in CA was the V IT VP (retired) who told me these fees were pass-through. When I heard that, I bought V immediately.
I made a lot of money on V.
Now, it's pulled back, except yesteday it did a pop. I think when V reports, because the economy is improving credit card expenditures will be increasing, V will be making money. That's the fundamentals. The technicals, well look at the chart, there's a higher high.
You may want to think about investing in V on a pullback.
Well, I guess the past two days were our "correction"? Buy the damn dip! LOL.
ReplyDeleteMorning all! SO much for our correction :-/
ReplyDeleteAs a disappointed Pats fan (just didn't come to play, bad coaching too last week), I gotta go with the Pack. Or the Bears. Anyone but Pittsburgh or even worse, the Jets.
ReplyDeleteOne more input on V: see the volume increase on V the last 2 days.
ReplyDeleteMy volume study shows this to be (how can I politely put it?) illegal advanced warning to revenue number announcement.
Now, I'm not saying I know anything, because as we all know, I'm dum as a Rock. But I've seen this a whole bunch of times before.
I'm putting my money where my mouth is. I'm already two full positions long in V, I'm going 4 today.
I'm talking to win the Super Bowl. As long as the NFC is the winner, I'm good with that. I could even live with Pitt if I had too, but not the Jets.
ReplyDeleteDon't look now but my longer term holdin of RTN doing quite well. Ramping up for more wars? Down a bit today though.
ReplyDeleteHenry Kissinger's on Bloomberg now here. I'll be back.
ReplyDeleteJets vs. Packers, please. I don't want to see the Cutlersmirk or the Steelers again.
ReplyDelete62 bucks to fill up this morning.
ReplyDeleteAnother loss for BofA. So much for mark to whatever
@Thor(10:33)
ReplyDeleteBuy an oil producer and hedge your loss. LOL
ICan
Me-thinks that THIS is the next Black Swan and how it will all unravel....
ReplyDeletehttp://www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/01/will-we-have-us-state-bankruptcies/comment-page-2/#comment-493787
@emmy: I can't stand Cutler or the Steelers either. It wouldn't kill me to see the Jets make it to the Super Bowl (be a GREAT story and I usually like the underdog) but I don't like how they carry themselves, so I can't root for them to win it all.
ReplyDeleteAnd after my visit to Lambeau earlier this year, I was kind of sold in the Packers and their whole deal. Shhhhh, don't tell anyone that here in Vikings-land.
ReplyDelete@Jeff(10:44),
ReplyDeleteAfter States, cities then personal. Where does it stop?. Someone's largesse paid for by the whole world through inflation(tax).
ICan
@Mannwich
ReplyDeleteWhat they have up there is special. So special that the NFL banned their form of ownership structure.
Entitlement culture and food inflation in India.
ReplyDeleteMy mother was making a comment on Indian govt.'s subsidising onion prices. She was saying how generations before, make-do with whatever they had. Mostly onions were not available in winter due to lack of proper storage(cold storage on mass basis). Why do people have to have certain things at a certain price? Entitlement? Is the govt. responsible for that? And who will bear the burden of that entilement?
ICan
Brrr! -2 below here in Chicago, looks like -11 for Manny. They say the weather will be a balmy 20 on Sunday for the outdoor game.
ReplyDeleteExactly emmy. Can't have that now, can we?
ReplyDelete@Denise: This tends to always be the worst week and weekend of the year here in Minny for temps. At least it has been since I've lived here. So dry too. Been battling a cold and sore throat since Jan. 1. Voice is jacked too. Not sure how many more winters I can live here. It really is tough (on me, anyway). Life's too short to live in a place where the winter basically sucks for at least 1/3 of the year or more.
ReplyDelete@Manny,
ReplyDeleteSame here, but since global warming the duration has been shorter, we used to routinely get two weeks of sub zero temps but that is rare now, but the warmer weather places sure look good to us, too.
Which is why I like the Denver area as the winter temps are very bearable. 46 will be the high there today. The dry climate is the biggest negative.
@ICan,
ReplyDeleteThe same was here in the US, winter time was canned vegetable time as unless things kept in cold storage they were not available.
Now there are fruits and vegetables flown around the world which is nice, but a ridiculous waste of energy, but at the core of it is profits. It allows countries to export to the countries who need the food.
Manny - That's a great thread over at TBP.
ReplyDeleteI love how some of the very same people who argue out of one side of their mouths that 250K isn't "all that much" money when talking about the tax increase last year, while out the other side of their mouths, they say 70K is too much money for a teacher to make. It's as if these people don't even give a shit that their hypocrisy is right out front for everyone else to see.
I'd rather spend time talking about the salaries of wall street bankers and ceo's that the people who teach our children. We can talk about being able to fire bad teachers, or increasing the school year, but do we seriously want to start nickel and dimeing the people who teach our children?
I meant the WEATHER basically sucks for 1/3 of the year or more....
ReplyDelete@Denise: I'm with you on CO, Denise. As you know, we have family there and I have my longer term sights set down there.
ReplyDeleteGREAT point, Thor. You should make it over on that thread. I hadn't made that connection before.
ReplyDelete@dss,
ReplyDeleteMy question is why should the govt. be held responsible for a certain food that one could do without? Basic flour and lentils, and other basic needs I can understand. Onions?????? WTF?
ICan
I'm glad to report that contrary to public opinion, there truly are smart people in government. Henry Kissinger is one.
ReplyDelete@Ican;
Yes, my curry went up about $.80 US for the whole pot. But I refuse to make it without onions.
Sadly, my wetmarket chicken bryani went from $4 Sing to $4.50. For you currency geeks, that's lunch that used to cost $3.20 U$D up to $3.55 U$D.
I like going out to eat here.
@Rock,
ReplyDeleteTake a look at BKX.TSX. The company said they are not aware of any material news!
Disc. I own a few shares. Do your own due diligence.
ICan
Rock - Your Go Patriots comment made me LOL, maybe they can play the Seahawks in a Special the Best vs the Worst game.
ReplyDeleteThe Patriots (Even though I don't care for them) are the Best team in the NFL and have been for some time, but they did get out played last week.
The Seahawks are one of the Worst teams (But it's kinda like Santa Clause - You just gotta keep believ'n) who happend to out play their division and the Saints.
Of course my money would be on the Pat's, but I would be cheering for the Hawks.
Mangy Mutt
Wet market produce, where prices are going up, but you do get a free slap in the face with every order :)
ReplyDeleteMutt
@Mutt:
ReplyDeleteNo, not on every order, just when I use the wrong tone.
Or maybe she just wanted me to notice her.
Naw. Wishful thinking.....
So Obama picks Immelt to "focus on jobs". Where? Outside the U.S? You couldn't make this shit up. These people truly live in a different reality than the rest of us.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/22/business/economy/22immelt.html?hp
@ICan,
ReplyDeleteThe world's countries have used ag subsidies to achieve their goals for decades or longer.
Just like when they were pushing for NAFTA or free trade with China they told all kind of lies so that the sheeple would support free trade.
The only one who got it right during that time was crazy Ross Perot with his prediction about the "giant sucking sound" of jobs leaving the US.
It is all defined by a profit motive for someone.
@Manny,
ReplyDeleteImmelt ran GE into the ground, what's not to like?
"Mr. Immelt will be chairman of the new Council on Jobs and Competitiveness that Mr. Obama intends to create by executive order. In a statement issued shortly after midnight, Mr. Obama said he wanted the council to “focus its work on finding new ways to encourage the private sector to hire and invest in American competitiveness.” "
ReplyDeleteNow that is an oxymoron if I have ever heard one.
"Let's have nice council where we can pretend that the private sector will hire Americans and not send jobs over seas, but we will continue to reward said companies for doing so".
Manny - Was listening to the radio this morning in the shower and they were having discussion on China, and how the country has "taken" all our manufacturing jobs. I'd like to see the discussion about that start to change the way it has for illegal immigration (us businesses are the bad guys here, not poor immigrants).
ReplyDeleteIt's US Companies who have sent all our manufacturing jobs to China, they are the bad guys here. Can't have that though can we - better to have the "others" be the bad guys.
LOL Denise. Things get surrealer and surrealer by the day. At this point, I WANT Palin or Bachman running for prez for the sheer entertainment value. Might as well go all the way with it, right?
ReplyDeleteMore clueless empty suits running the country.
ReplyDeleteClear the way for the Bears
ReplyDeleteNU basketball reschedules, funeral homes to be quiet, other events tout their intermissions
Charles S. Childs Jr. won't have to worry about his two Chicago funeral homes while he's watching the NFC championship game from his seats at Soldier Field.
That's because no one has scheduled a wake or funeral for Sunday, traditionally a busy day for services, Childs said. Not that anyone would admit they'd move a funeral for the mega matchup between the Green Bay Packers and Chicago Bears. But Childs thinks the coincidence is, well, too coincidental.
"I've seen it before," said Childs, an owner of A. A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Home. "I saw it during the Bulls' championship games. I've seen it obviously with the Bears in '85, the White Sox when they were in the World Series. I think people are intentionally avoiding that day."
This is a big deal here more because of the rivalry between Green Bay and the Bears than just the mere playoffs.
ReplyDelete@Manny,
ReplyDeletePalin is the gift that keeps on giving and Bachman should be her running mate. I am sure that there was a collective cheer from the WH when Palin said "she wasn't going away".
She is arrogant enough to believe with a 33% approval rating she has a chance with the 10% of the GOP who supports her.
Favorite comment from that TBP debate -
ReplyDeletegd Says:
January 21st, 2011 at 12:00 pm
This is a classic. Every other developed country on the planet solves the problem after facing the reality that old-age security and affordable health care is a society-wide question. Americans sit around pissing on each other.
So depressingly true.
So true, Thor. Amazingly sad, sorry spectacle to witness. Plays right into the hands of TPTB every time. They must enjoy watching it unfold.
ReplyDelete@Thor,
ReplyDeleteWe are in a country that values nothing except celebrity and fame. Education - let's make it as shitty as possible and as expensive as possible, as that is the sure way to fix our economy.
Decades of corruption and rot in our corporations, government, and society and now it's the teacher's, fire fighter's and policeman's union pensions that are the blame.
The goal since Reagan has been to break up the unions because they stood in the way of decimating the middle class. They were a voting bloc and source of funds that stood in the way of corporate greed which is the key to all of this.
Corporate America wants a pliant and beaten down pool of employees because they can maximize their own paychecks and benefits and no unions to stand in their way.
Goldman’s monster financial-crisis pay award
ReplyDeleteBarry must have turned the comment moderator off.
ReplyDelete@Emmy,
ReplyDeleteWow, that is just crazy. There is no end to the greed on Wall Street and GS.
@Emmy,
ReplyDeleteI am still angry that Paulson had his entire capital gains tax forgiven on his divestiture of $500 million of GS stock when he joined Treasury.
Denise - Get with the program, he EARNED that money damnit!
ReplyDelete@Denise: I think the comments volume had gotten a little light over there lately, so BR probably decided to turn things up a bit today. It worked.
ReplyDelete@Denise: That is why this will end in violence. Maybe won't happen for a LONG time but that's the road we're taking, however slow it may seem. I'm not advocating violence but it's coming because the only the the Goldman types will cease their activities is when they are stopped by some outside force. Clearly our gov't isn't going to do it so the people will at some point.
ReplyDeleteManny - that's what I fear as well. Not a complete sudden collapse, but a slow, grinding one. So pretty much just more of what we've had the last few years :-/
ReplyDeleteAnd meanwhile, the Quimby types will celebrate as his/her neighbors get smoked. Once it reaches them personally, they won't know what hit them or who to blame? Minorities, perhaps? It won't be the "evil unions" because they'll be done for at that point
ReplyDeleteWe are such a large country that any protests are muted by the fact that they will occur in one city, and then muted again by the media by design.
ReplyDeleteLook at the hundreds of thousands that protested before the War of Choice and how little impact it had. The only that that mattered is that the administration needed for the protesters to STFU.
Now in Europe when they go on strike, the whole country is paralyzed. Not that I think that is a good idea ever, but obviously it works for them.
The problem is that capitalism needs a counter balance, a cop on the corner, or it becomes corrupted by the ability to exploit everyone, and now by design, it has corrupted our government at all levels. They work hand in glove.
Gimme some of that Bud Lite Lime!
ReplyDelete@Manny,
ReplyDeleteIt is just that those folks who need a scape goat, it if ain't the unions, it's the free loading brown people, or women, or their dog. Look at Lou Mish.
The real cause is always hidden by the perpetrators because they need secrecy to do their dirty work and they need propaganda that Quimby and others parrot to do it's magic.
Brainwashing the little people, it always works and is provides good cover.
It is how they split the country, Jesus, guns, abortion, bad unions, etc.,
mmmmm - bud light lime :P
ReplyDeleteIt sounds so disgusting.
ReplyDeleteDJ-30 up .42%
ReplyDeleteSP-500 up .41%
Nasdaq down .26%
Russel 2000 down .39%
I have been short the Russell since yesterday.
ReplyDeleteMichelle Bachman in Iowa to "set the table for 2012". Oh goodie, this is going to be such fun. The media has to be loving her.
ReplyDeletehttp://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2011/01/michele_bachmann_iowa_2012.php
I'm not always in agreement with ZH but this is a good post.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.zerohedge.com/article/brief-tally-immelts-catastrophic-job-creation-skillz
I love it how these quasi-socialist countries rank as having the happiest people, 1st place ranking in education civil liberties (New Zealand), low business start up costs, the highest standard of living, and the highest per capita GDP.
ReplyDeleteThe world's happiest countries
We certainly found that New Zealanders were a happy bunch of people, and that they could not understand how the US operates.
We inquired about their immigration policy and if you are broke, over 40 or have no skills they will not let you in.
[Immelt] runs a big company, but Immelt has shown more skill at cutting jobs, frankly, than creating. GE finished 2009 with 18,000 fewer US workers than it had at the end of 2008, and US headcount is down 31,000 since Immelt's first full year in 2002. During his tenure, GE workers based in the US as a percentage of total employees has fallen to 44% from 52%.
ReplyDeletePlus how many of those folks were outsourced, not just laid off.
To have this bozo be in charge of job creation in the US is like having Hannibal Lecter in charge of a room full of defenseless children.
Doesn't anyone besides ZH see the idiocy in this? Corporate heads are about reducing the size of their companies to make them more efficient, not increasing them.
ReplyDeleteThey look for ways to get rid of every single body and increase the work load of who is left. That's how they make their big fat bonuses.
Denise - I suppose it's official, the foxes have taken over the hen house and don't even give a rats ass anymore if anyone notices.
ReplyDeleteZH is on a roll today.
ReplyDeleteSuddenly gold becomes a pariah
And if all that weren’t enough, the authors of this piece, Carolyn Cui and Liam Poleven, trotted out Dennis Gartman, the Darth Vader of the precious-metals world, to spout the kind of vague hyperbole that could sound even dumber a few months down the road, as so many of Gartman’s bearish pronouncements on bullion have over the years. “Everywhere you went,” said Gartman, “everyone you knew was aggressive long [sic]. That’s a bad sign because it means everybody has already bought.”
@MAnnwich, Dss
ReplyDeleteThey could have given the job to Craig.
From:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703882404575520232436064498.html
"Companies outsource for two reasons. The first centers on the nature of the global economy. In today's world, outsourcing can save companies money, reduce the time it takes to deliver products and services to customers, and provide access to skilled employees unavailable in the U.S. Outsourcing also allows companies to capitalize on incentives offered by foreign governments to attract investment. Outsourcing is here to stay"
I once told Craig that I told my son "You can always find a reason not to be successful. the key is to find ways that make you successful; remove roadblocks, tear down obstacles and navigate around them. Make what you know to be ther right thing happen".
Euro making a run for it.
ReplyDeleteFinancials are leading the way today with STI up 6.06%.
ReplyDeleteA little slice of Cheeseland in Lakeview
ReplyDeleteIt's known far, wide and on Google as the top Packers bar in Chicago, a place where transplants from the north can grab some deep-fried cheese curds and a bratwurst, and tear up at the mention of Vince Lombardi's name, all under the unflinching gaze of wall-mounted moose and muskies.
@Manny,
ReplyDeleteI have to think that they put someone like Immelt in the job so that they can say "see, we are working on this terrible problem", not for any meaningful outcomes.
@Rock,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tip on V.
Agree with you about Craig. It is the way of the future and will not stop until there is more equilibrium world wide.
Rock - how was that Kissinger interview? I missed it on my way in to work this morning.
ReplyDelete@Denise:The only one who got it right during that time was crazy Ross Perot with his prediction about the "giant sucking sound" of jobs leaving the US.
ReplyDeleteActually, I'm more intrigued at people who DID NOT predict this. Ok, maybe you'll think that, like trading, the prediction seems easy once you've got the charts.
Still, it has always sounded dead clear to me that the unbalanced trading between developed and emerging nations was a serious threat to the former.
And I'm struggling to find excuses for Western leaders to have let their nations engage in such a dead-end situation
Wolfie -
ReplyDeleteAnd I'm struggling to find excuses for Western leaders to have let their nations engage in such a dead-end situation
Greed perhaps?
I think most thinking people knew this would be the outcome. They just lied about it. Lying comes easy for some, especially after they get good at it.
ReplyDelete@Thor,Manny:Yeah, once again, I see no alternative but to draw the same conclusion as always:guilty.
ReplyDeleteGuilty the incompetent who have helped design such a system. Let the sheeple delight in this "made in China" over-consumption, while it lasts. Meanwhile, get them prepared for another distinctive product of these exotic lands: “made in China” unemployment.
The "incompetent" verdict is for the soft version. The other, probably more realistic one, as you suggest, is:Criminal short-termist crooks
ReplyDeleteS&P making new lows, but it still has not closed the gap from this morning, yet.
ReplyDelete@Thor
ReplyDeleteThe interview with Kissinger was quite good. Even at his age, he holds back from saying "you dummy, don't you know......".
There are 2 things that he said that I believe are highly important and need to be grasped by both sides of the water:
1. We are universalist socities. We cannot accomplish what needs doing alone. We have to do it together in some way.
2. He said that elites in both nations would like more confrontation. He did not say why, but Charlie agreed.
3. The Chinese believed when it came to finance, we were the leaders, and we knew what we were doing, until the collapse of 2008. The collapse reversed that. Now they no longer believe we know what we are doing, and are much more assertive in their financial actions.
Exactly, Wolfie. These people certainly aren't stupid. They likely knew what would happen and didn't care.
ReplyDeleteRock - damn, I'm going to have to watch that this weekend. I agree with all three points - with 1 and 2 most especially.
ReplyDeleteIt's all about having the sheeple turn on each other - ala MQ in the State Bankruptcy thread over at TBP. The more we fight each other, the less we're able to see what's really going on.
Anyway. I know we've gone other this stuff before. Nothing new to see here.
ReplyDeleteOn the same theme, a surprise for our critical stalkers:some Obama bashing.:p Found this one (somewhat) funny:
Obama-Hu Summit Ignores our Imports from China
After that meeting, President Obama said:
"The positive, constructive, cooperative U.S.-China relationship is good for the United States. (...)We’re now exporting more than $100 billion a year in goods and services to China, which supports more than half a million American jobs."
(...)
The mystery: Why has President Obama eliminated imports from the basic equation of economics? That equation reads:
GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Purchases + Exports - Imports
Obama's new version of this equation:
GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Purchases + Exports
No correction this week. Can we keep grinding higher in slow motion though? Maybe but I'm guessing not before some sort of a real pullback first.
ReplyDeleteThe higher we go without correcting . . . .
ReplyDelete@Rock,
ReplyDeleteI have read a number of 2008 collapse books and the universal truth that I have come to believe is that there was a toxic combination of greed, incompetence, magical thinking, and incredible hubris that contributed to the collapse.
@Manny:Your call for a correction this week has not fared that bad:SPY down -0.76% plus it's our first week down for the year.
ReplyDeleteLet's see if selling can gain traction next week.
'Night all.
Nite Wolfie!
ReplyDeleteTrue Wolfie, but this hardly qualifies as "correction", or least not one in my book, or the one I've been expecting.
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend, everyone!
ReplyDeleteKissinger knows?????
ReplyDeleteThis is the guy who was Pakistan's friend in the Indo-Pak war of 1971. My father's generation does not have a very favorable view of this guy. I'll leave at that.
ICan
GM doubling the Volt production. So much for it being a bomb.
ReplyDeleteYou know what else I can't stand hearing anymore. Politicians throwing out "The will of the people".
ReplyDeleteThey seem pretty intent to ignore the will of the people 99.9% of the time, throwing that statement out there seems a little too transparent to me.
@Manny:maybe that's how a correction looks like in 2011.:p
ReplyDeleteKidding. Seriously, it doesn't qualify at all for a correction per se. But it may still prove the beginning of a correction. We'll find out in a few days.
Olberman is no longer with msnbc. Wonder what that was about.
ReplyDeleteWolfie - One of these days I'm going to have to tell you about our horrific experience with Air France in Paris.
ReplyDelete@Thor:youll tell me about it. Dont know how Air France performs vs other companies.I dont travel much.not a big fan of tourism.
ReplyDeleteMore interested in living abroad. Get a real taste of the people and their culture. As a starter, im planning to move to London this year,or early 2012.
@Wolfstreet:
ReplyDeleteI knew abroad once....