Holiday Week is over for millions this morning, though the Fourth of July period has been a lot of fun…pass the aspirin and sunburn creme, please. But this morning we’re back to the grind of figuring out what’s ahead for the economy, which like figuring out women is insolvable but endlessly interesting. Both seem to run on money, by the way.
This afternoon the Fed (which isn’t really, it’s a banker club that rents the US money, but you know that) will release one of the BIGGIES: Consumer debt. So be sure and drop by tomorrow to look at that since it, more than anything but the Case Shiller/S&P Housing number, and the unemployment data (less made-up jobs from the CES Brith/Death model) gives us some useful insight into what’s in store for what’s left of ‘Merica.
Meantime, the markets are set to open flat, partly because interest rates in Spain are pushing 7% of their bonds, something the Wall St. Journal watches with (poor pun alert) interest.
Japan has seen a major drop in machine orders, and China is cooling. And some members of the People’s whatever are looking at stimulus programs and just saying Wen.
This is likely to be “resolution week” for our trading indicator over on the Peoplenomics web site and we’ll put up a note as soon as direction becomes clear…but going into this week we’re close to the ragged edge and cash is comforting since bulls and bears are still duking it out.
And I’m not the only one glum this morning. Here’s a news release just out in the past few minutes with much the same tone: “Continuing to expect a global growth recession with global GDP to grow at 3%, BNY Mellon Chief Economist Richard Hoey expects that stronger countries in Europe may begin to exit the recession by later this year, while Southern Europe is likely to remain in recession throughout 2012 and most if not all of 2013.”
Wake me up when the economy wakes up.
Switch & Bait
His Obamaness is planning to extend some of the Bush era tax cuts. Crafty move, since it may lighten the sting of the healthcare tax, which is leading to 16,000 new IRS tax police being hired, which has governor LePage upset, though we carefully note he is a Maine-iac, so to speak. Still “new Gestapo” is strong words, and we wonder if that will trigger a “coincidental” audit…
March to War
Syria is testing missiles designed to protect its shores from invasion. What’s really going on? Well, look at it this way: Gadaffi and now Assad (go ahead, I’m living large today, so toss in Hosni Mubarak, too) have found out that the New World Order is a very particular little clique. If they hold a popularity contest, even if you’re running a country allowing a good bit of Western thinking, you get tossed out because you’re just not…popular.
Doesn’t matter if x times any number of terror “suspects” are actually killed in the fighting to come. It’s all a business model, you see, and words like “freedom” lose their meaning when morphed from policies of non-interference to invasive searches and regime change.
Are Brits Sensible?
Last week I express some question about the IQ of our British friends since a pedophile managed to get off the hook for extradition to the US to face charges for more of the sick.
I may be guilty of excessively generalizing, though, since a reader “over thataway” sent me this follow-up note;
“Hi George. Just wonder whether you checked out the poll taken on that Telegraph article you quoted? Around 88% of readers would be most happy to send a convicted paedophile back to the States according to its results. Quite a few Brits are uneasy about The Human Rights Act imposed on us by our membership of the EU. On the face of it who can be against Human Rights? It’s like being against Motherhood and Apple Pie. In practise it is seen by the Man-In –the-Street as a fat rich lawyer’s final line of defence for every criminal or terrorist who has come to England and claimed exile.”
Fair enough, then. No, not all the kowtowing kneelers and nosers are morally corrupt, after all. And I apologize to our lone British reader with high morals and integrity if any offense was taken. The rest? They won’t notice from knee-level anyway.
Dancing to the Police State
A couple in NYC is suing the Apple for arresting them for what? Dancing on a subway platform… Banning ultra-large pop, and now putting the kibosh on dancing? I wonder how many people will take up my advice “Flee the City which you can!“
Stealth Kill Switch?
In case you were wondering, yes, the administration continues to grant itself powers to control the country and we have to wonder if last week’s Executive Order on “National Security and Emergency Preparedness Communications Functions” will turn out to be the long-sought internet Kill Switch.
But don’t let me ruin the Wheaties by asking “Who needs Congress, anyway?”
I particularly like Section 5.3 which calls for: “(f) administer a system of radio spectrum priorities for those spectrum-dependent telecommunications resources belonging to and operated by the Federal Government and certify or approve such radio spectrum priorities, including the resolution of conflicts in or among such radio spectrum priorities during a crisis or emergency.” Of course we know fiber is spectrum, too…
In other words, cell phones, wireless routers, and wire services (the net). Gotta love it. Shhhhsh! Don’t wake up congress…
I get such a kick out of America’s complacency: licensing “spectrum” is like claiming divine rights over air and the seas, already well established…
Peek-a-boo – You’re on Candid Cell Phones
1.3 million requests for taps on phones from le gov’t.
Hotties
Records falling. Thousands of ‘em says AccuWeather…
Hold onto Your Gun
Reports are George Soros is putting big money into anti-gun moves by the UN, which last time I heard our SecState was on board with.
Wait! Didn’t someone just ask a minute ago “Who needs congress?” Example 2.
More after this…
