Infusion of TARP funds has not really brought liquidity back in the market. More and more companies are asking for bailout money and even the bailout is not helping the common man. The Obama administration has a great chance to set the economy on the right path and ensure the government plays a positive role in setting the correct path for the US economy for years to come by adopting simple and effective policies. We definitely need to have the Obama administration adopt good commons sense trade policy, economic policy, industrial policy, manufacturing policy, technology policy amongst others.
Targeted tax cuts to stimulate employment and economic growth are needed.
In fact we are now afraid of deflation. Companies are cutting back, employees who are still employed are being asked to take pay cuts, and companies are dumping unsold inventory at losses just to get rid of the carrying costs of inventory.
At the same time while property values have dropped, the property taxes have not.
So if corporations are cutting back and the gas prices have not pulled back in line with the price of barrel of oil, the fixed cost for a family still comprises of mortgage interest and travel costs being the highest.
Instead of tax breaks to the middle class to the tune of $1000/- per couple what really needs to happen in my humble personal opinion is as follows:
1. Reduce the long term mortgage interest rates to say 3% (both new purchase money rates and refi rates)
2. Let those who are able to refi due to loan to value ratios holding up should be allowed to refinance.
3. Those who cannot refinance due to home values having depreciated below the amount owed, the lender should be forced to absorb at least 50% of the loss and the rest could be funded via the TARP ( or split between TARP and adding to the back end of the mortgage to be adjusted as home values appreciate over time)
The effect of this would be as follows:
1. It will get rid of toxic mortgages that have yet to adjust
2. It will immediately provide liquidity to homeowners who will now have more disposable income which will bring financial stability to their personal life as well as provide stimulus to the economy as these folks will increase spending to a smaller extent than before the meltdown (one hopes they have now learnt not to spend spend spend)
3. It will generate employment in the lending industry and related ancillary industries like real estate brokers, title companies, appraisers, home improvement companies etc
4. Home values will start to stabilize
Sure folks holding the debt (big investors) will have to absorb losses and banks will not get super interest rates but then the interbank borrowing rate is under 1%.
The US government should also look at adopting sensible trade policies, energy policies and industrial policies as this is the role of any government regardless of whether US is a free market or not...
This is just one different way of looking to stimulate the economy instead of just providing bail out money willy nilly, or increasing government spending on pork projects in name of infrastructure spending….
Of course you can adopt a few variations of what I have proposed here......
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Fedor vs Arlovski video
Watch MMA fighter Andrei "The Pitbull" Arlovski preparing for his upcoming fight against the best fighter in the world, Fedor Emelianenko.
The video shows Andrei working out with Freddie Roach in Hollywood, California to prepare for his fight with Fedor.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski - Affliction: JAN 24th
The Fight:
The video shows Andrei working out with Freddie Roach in Hollywood, California to prepare for his fight with Fedor.
Fedor Emelianenko vs. Andrei Arlovski - Affliction: JAN 24th
The Fight:
Friday, January 23, 2009
Britney Spears' Latest Song - "If U Seek Amy" - Too Hot for the Radio
It's too hot to play on the radio as it mimics a sexually vulgar phrase when pronounced too quickly. Sure fire way to put Britney once again in the spotlight of publicity. Famous or infamous...sure is good for her albums.....
Watch and listen to the song here:
“We plan to play an edited, super-clean version,” Tom Poleman, senior vice president of programming for Clear Channel, tells The New York Daily News. “We’re just waiting for a good edit.”
"The record label will be providing the edit," added Sharon Dastur, Z100's program director, referring to Spears's label Jive Records. "They've been letting us preview some potential options to make sure it's appropriate. Last I heard, they were going to have Britney go back into the studio to re-record some tracks for it."
Watch the radio version here:
Watch and listen to the song here:
“We plan to play an edited, super-clean version,” Tom Poleman, senior vice president of programming for Clear Channel, tells The New York Daily News. “We’re just waiting for a good edit.”
"The record label will be providing the edit," added Sharon Dastur, Z100's program director, referring to Spears's label Jive Records. "They've been letting us preview some potential options to make sure it's appropriate. Last I heard, they were going to have Britney go back into the studio to re-record some tracks for it."
Watch the radio version here:
Thursday, January 22, 2009
John Thain Quits BoA
John Thain has resigned from his position as head of global banking, securities and wealth management division, per mutual agreement with Bank of America Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis after BoA discovered the scope of losses at the Merrill Lynch brokerage it bought three weeks ago.
The resignation was with immediate effect. Brian Moynihan, 49, a former investment banking chief will succeed John Thain, while Tom Montag, chief of Global Markets will take over setting the bank's strategy. In this position he will now report directly to Ken Lewis.
BoA shares closed down 14.5 percent.
Just a day before his resignation Thain purchased 84,600 share of BoA worth approx. $483k. This was disclosed in an SEC filing.
Last week, the government agreed to loan $20 billion from the TARP funds, and to share in losses on $118 billion of debt.
John Thain and Lewis had worked together on the merger after less than 48 hours of negotiations in mid-September, but Lewis threatened to back out of the deal when it appeared that Merrill Lynch's financial position was worst than anticipated.
Lewis said U.S. regulators pressed him to complete the deal.
Merrill's losses in the 4th quarter of $15.31 billion in addition to BoA's losses of $1.79 billion forced BoA to slash its dividens to a penny a share.
It is possible the AG of NY will investigate a large bonuses that were paid by Merrill in December just prior to the merger in January.
"This is a huge crisis of credibility," said David Dietze, chief investment officer at Point View Financial Services in Summit, New Jersey. "Someone has to fall on a sword." (source: reuters)
Further, CNBC reported John Thain hired well-known Los Angeles interior designer Michael Smith to redecorate his Merrill office a year ago and ran up a $1.22 million bill, including for a $35,115 "commode on legs" and a $1,405 parchment waste can. For a list of items bought by John Thain click here:
The resignation was with immediate effect. Brian Moynihan, 49, a former investment banking chief will succeed John Thain, while Tom Montag, chief of Global Markets will take over setting the bank's strategy. In this position he will now report directly to Ken Lewis.
BoA shares closed down 14.5 percent.
Just a day before his resignation Thain purchased 84,600 share of BoA worth approx. $483k. This was disclosed in an SEC filing.
Last week, the government agreed to loan $20 billion from the TARP funds, and to share in losses on $118 billion of debt.
John Thain and Lewis had worked together on the merger after less than 48 hours of negotiations in mid-September, but Lewis threatened to back out of the deal when it appeared that Merrill Lynch's financial position was worst than anticipated.
Lewis said U.S. regulators pressed him to complete the deal.
Merrill's losses in the 4th quarter of $15.31 billion in addition to BoA's losses of $1.79 billion forced BoA to slash its dividens to a penny a share.
It is possible the AG of NY will investigate a large bonuses that were paid by Merrill in December just prior to the merger in January.
"This is a huge crisis of credibility," said David Dietze, chief investment officer at Point View Financial Services in Summit, New Jersey. "Someone has to fall on a sword." (source: reuters)
Further, CNBC reported John Thain hired well-known Los Angeles interior designer Michael Smith to redecorate his Merrill office a year ago and ran up a $1.22 million bill, including for a $35,115 "commode on legs" and a $1,405 parchment waste can. For a list of items bought by John Thain click here:
Monday, January 19, 2009
Peanut Butter Recalls over Salmonella Outbreak
Peanut Butter Recalls due to Salmonella affects many products and companies:
The latest in the peanut butter recall being Little Debbie snack foods in a nationwide outbreak of peanut butter salmonella. They are recalling two types of crackers that could be contaminated.
This outbreak has been connected to Peanut Corporation of America's (PCA) facility in Georgia which supplies peanut paste and peanut butter to many other companies including institutions, food service industries and private label food companies.
Salmonella found in the King Nut peanut butter was confirmed to be the outbreak strain, and late last Friday(Jan 16, 2009), investigators announced they found salmonella in peanut butter at PCA's Blakeley, Georgia facility. That plant has since been closed pending further investigation. In addition to peanut butter, the PCA factory also makes peanut paste used in a variety of foods from sauces to baked goods.
21 lots of peanut butter recalled were sold in 5- to 50-pound containers. The peanut butter was sold in bulk under PCA's name, Parnell's Pride or King Nut.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this strain of Salmonella Typhimurium has sickened 474 people in 43 states with almost a quarter of them requiring hospitalization and resulting in six known deaths.
For young children, frail or elderly and those having weakened immune systems Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. Amongst the Healthy persons infected with salmonella they experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare instances, salmonella infection can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses, such as arterial infections (i.e. infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
The first peanut butter recall was announced by Kellogg's for their snack foods which include several varieties packaged under the Keebler and Austin brand snack crackers and cookies, in addition to the famous peanut butter Amos cookies.
Little Debbie is now among an increasing list of companies involved in peanut butter recalled snacks.
McKee Food Corporation recalled all sizes of Little Debbie Peanut Butter Toasty sandwich crackers and Little Debbie Peanut Butter Cheese sandwich crackers.
Peanut butter recalled products are amongst the following growing list of companies:
Ralcorp Frozen Bakery Products, Inc.: Food Lion Bake Shop brand Peanut Butter Cookies;
Some varieties of Lofthouse brand Peanut Butter Cookies and Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies;
Parco Foods' Chuck's Chunky food service brand Peanut Butter Cookies; and Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
Hy-Vee Inc.: Peanut Butter Cookies, Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Reese's Pieces Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lunchbox Reese's Pieces Cookies, Lunchbox Peanut Butter Cookies, People Chow Party Mix and Assorted Truffle Fudge
The FDA is cautioning consumers and asking them to avoid all food snacks containing peanut butter or peanut paste until the current investigation over the salmonella outbreak is completed by the agency.
However, according to the FDA most peanut butter sold in jars at retail stores appear to be safe.
PCA said the recalled products were distributed to institutions, food service industries and private label food companies in 24 states (including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and South Carolina) and the recall affected only products at the Georgia facility for products made after July 1, 2008.
People mainly in schools, restaurants, long-term care facilities, hospitals and cafeteria's are most at risk of coming in contact with the contaminated peanut butter as they were mainly sold in bulk.
Safe List: (Please research further and confirm before consuming)
Products by Lance Inc, Tasty Baking Co, Hershey Co and ConAgra Foods.
Girl Scout cookies are safe to eat, as the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) did not supply any peanut products to them.
Please continue to research further Peanut Butter Recalls due to Salmonella as updates occur due to new findings. The above is in no way authoritative as the findings continue to evolve.
The latest in the peanut butter recall being Little Debbie snack foods in a nationwide outbreak of peanut butter salmonella. They are recalling two types of crackers that could be contaminated.
This outbreak has been connected to Peanut Corporation of America's (PCA) facility in Georgia which supplies peanut paste and peanut butter to many other companies including institutions, food service industries and private label food companies.
Salmonella found in the King Nut peanut butter was confirmed to be the outbreak strain, and late last Friday(Jan 16, 2009), investigators announced they found salmonella in peanut butter at PCA's Blakeley, Georgia facility. That plant has since been closed pending further investigation. In addition to peanut butter, the PCA factory also makes peanut paste used in a variety of foods from sauces to baked goods.
21 lots of peanut butter recalled were sold in 5- to 50-pound containers. The peanut butter was sold in bulk under PCA's name, Parnell's Pride or King Nut.
According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), this strain of Salmonella Typhimurium has sickened 474 people in 43 states with almost a quarter of them requiring hospitalization and resulting in six known deaths.
For young children, frail or elderly and those having weakened immune systems Salmonella can cause serious and sometimes fatal infections. Amongst the Healthy persons infected with salmonella they experience fever, diarrhea (which may be bloody), nausea, vomiting and abdominal pain. In rare instances, salmonella infection can result in the organism getting into the bloodstream and producing more severe illnesses, such as arterial infections (i.e. infected aneurysms), endocarditis and arthritis.
The first peanut butter recall was announced by Kellogg's for their snack foods which include several varieties packaged under the Keebler and Austin brand snack crackers and cookies, in addition to the famous peanut butter Amos cookies.
Little Debbie is now among an increasing list of companies involved in peanut butter recalled snacks.
McKee Food Corporation recalled all sizes of Little Debbie Peanut Butter Toasty sandwich crackers and Little Debbie Peanut Butter Cheese sandwich crackers.
Peanut butter recalled products are amongst the following growing list of companies:
Perry’s Ice Cream sold under the Wegmans brand peanut butter have been recalled.
Peanut butter cookies sold at Walmart under the Walmart brand have been recalled.
South Bend Chocolate Co., Indiana: certain products and bulk candies that contain peanut butterRalcorp Frozen Bakery Products, Inc.: Food Lion Bake Shop brand Peanut Butter Cookies;
Some varieties of Lofthouse brand Peanut Butter Cookies and Peanut Butter Fudge Cookies;
Parco Foods' Chuck's Chunky food service brand Peanut Butter Cookies; and Pastries Plus Gourmet Cookies
Hy-Vee Inc.: Peanut Butter Cookies, Monster Cookies, Peanut Butter Reese's Pieces Cookies, Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies, Lunchbox Reese's Pieces Cookies, Lunchbox Peanut Butter Cookies, People Chow Party Mix and Assorted Truffle Fudge
The FDA is cautioning consumers and asking them to avoid all food snacks containing peanut butter or peanut paste until the current investigation over the salmonella outbreak is completed by the agency.
However, according to the FDA most peanut butter sold in jars at retail stores appear to be safe.
PCA said the recalled products were distributed to institutions, food service industries and private label food companies in 24 states (including Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Missouri, and South Carolina) and the recall affected only products at the Georgia facility for products made after July 1, 2008.
People mainly in schools, restaurants, long-term care facilities, hospitals and cafeteria's are most at risk of coming in contact with the contaminated peanut butter as they were mainly sold in bulk.
Safe List: (Please research further and confirm before consuming)
Products by Lance Inc, Tasty Baking Co, Hershey Co and ConAgra Foods.
Girl Scout cookies are safe to eat, as the Peanut Corporation of America (PCA) did not supply any peanut products to them.
Please continue to research further Peanut Butter Recalls due to Salmonella as updates occur due to new findings. The above is in no way authoritative as the findings continue to evolve.
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