Boo!

Maverick... as seen in Nederland, Colorado about two weeks ago.

Classic French Flannel Shirt from Neiman Marcus, Minneapolis MN. $580 + tax

Buffalo Bill and the Masons

I did not know that...

(Lookout Mountain, Golden, Colorado.)

Down we go (again...)

S.&P. 500 closed at 876.77, 31.34 (3.45%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,378.95, 312.30 (3.59%) down
Nasdaq closed at 1,552.03, 51.88 (3.23%) down

The Dow index has actually finished higher than the early trading indicated, the fact stressed by many "TV stock analysts", so "minus three hundred" seems to be the new "plus one hundred..."
But, for the week, the DJIA is 5.4 percent down, Nasdaq 9.3% and the S&P 500 6.8% down.

More cheerful news:

• Chrysler will have fired 25% of white collar employees by Christmas.
• World markets tumble.
• The highest paid staffer on the McCain campaign? The Mrs. Palin stylist (boy, the Republicans do surely learn from the Katherine Harris' eyelashes...)

Up (a bit...) we go...

Markets today...
S.&P. 500 closed at 908.11, 11.33 (1.26%) up
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,691.25, 172.04 (2.02%) up
Nasdaq closed at 1,603.91, 11.84 (0.73%) down

Alan Greenspan, one of the main proponents of a very (very...) free market, has admitted today before Congress that he “made a mistake” believing that markets can regulate themselves.

Two comments:
1 - Duh!
2 - Mr. (ex) Chairman: peddling "securities" that bet on the condition of the soybeans market in 2009 based on the outcome of the 1936 Preakness race is not trading...

Mrs. Palin's wardrobe

Apparently Mrs. Sarah Palin has spent $150,000 of the NRC (National Republican Committee) geld on clothes, hair, makeup and little shiny things since being pulled out from the crowd to run with Mr. McCain. You may want to read more at http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/10/22/AR2008102202187.html?hpid=artslot. Damn, $75,000 at Neiman Marcus and nearly $50,000 at Saks Fifth Avenue...

Meanwhile, AP reports that Mrs. Palin has also charged her kids' travel expenses to the state of Alaska to the tune of over 21,000 dollars.

To put things in perspective, Mrs. Palin's annual salary is $125,000 ...

Oh, Mrs. Palin is running as a "change" candidate... (Change of clothes..?)

Down we go...

Markets today. This ain't funny anymore...
S.&P. 500 closed at 896.78, 58.27 (6.10%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,519.21, 514.45 (5.69%) down
Nasdaq closed at 1,615.75, 80.93 (4.77%)

Wachovia has lost 23.9 billion dollars in the third quarter, most of it "paper loss" on write-offs, but still - ouch!

Guns N' Roses N' Geritol

Guns N' Roses' (well, Axl Rose's, really...) new album is up for release in the US on November 23 2008 after 17 years in the making and reportedly $13 million dollars in expenses!

Oh My Sweet Fuckin' Child O' Mine: 1 Axl Rose, 13 million dollars, 14 songs, 17 years...

More here.

Down we go...

S.&P. 500 closed at 955.05, 30.35 (3.08%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 9,033.66, 231.77 (2.50%) down
Nasdaq closed at 1,696.68, 73.35 (4.14%)

Does the stock market reflects the economy? The AP story points out that athough the stocks may soon rebound, the US economy has a long way to go and and painful suffering lies ahead despite the recent quieting of the stock market. Source: ALL BUSINESS: Stock Market Doesn't Reflect Economy By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS Published: October 21, 2008 Filed at 3:42 p.m. ET

Up we go...

S.&P. 500 closed at 985.40, 44.85 (4.77%) up
Dow (DJIA) closed at 9,265.43, 413.21 (4.67%) up
Nasdaq closed at 1,770.03, 58.74 (3.43%) up

In a startling flip-flop (just a week ago it was a major NO!), "W", the Fed and the Treasury are again asking the American public to (pleeeeeease..!) accept another stimulus check.

Down (a bit) we go...

S.&P. 500 closed at 940.55, 5.88 (0.62%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,852.22, 127.04 (1.41%) down
Nasdaq closed 1,711.29, 6.42 (0.37%) down

The market has inched up a bit for the week, but that magnitude of swings..!

Ssssssssssssssave with Wachovia...

As seen last week in Golden, Colorado.

Indeed...

 Photo © 2008 Michael Liczbanski

Can you hear me now, Mr. Senator?

Verizon broke all land speed records in placing a new cellular tower in a crappy cellular reception area that just happens to include John McCain's cabin in New Mexico. Even though the words "technology" and "McCain" don't go together very well, watch the McCain's display of senatorial gratitude, provided, of course, he can stomach staying in the Senate after being "not voted in."

Swinging Wall Street

You can call it a positive misery, but the markets have gone up today.
S.&P. 500 closed at 946.43, 38.59 (4.25%) up.
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,979.26, 401.35 (4.68%) up.
Nasdaq closed at 1,717.71, 89.38 (5.49%) up

Oh, and oil is dirt cheap, cheapest in 16 months, below $70/barrel! And what's even more surprising, the pump prices follow: according to AAA, the average is $3.08/gallon for regular unleaded and I've even seen $2.98...

Tropical storms

Unnamed as of Monday morning disturbance near Nicaragua with a potential of becoming a T.S. and perhaps a hurricane. Stay tuned. Tuesday - become Depression Sixteen. Projected to pass over Honduras and Guatemala as a tropical storm. Wednesday: still a depression but dumping a lot of rain on Honduras and Guatemala. Thursday (Oct 16) depression no more, just a big area of low pressure, but generating strong winds and dumping lots of rain on Honduras, El Salvador, Belize and Guatemala while moving sort of west-ish.

Also Monday (Oct 13) Depression Fifteen, projected to hit Puerto Rico as a strong TS, then become a hurricane and go nuts in high seas. Tuesday - T.S. Omar (15th named storm of the season.) Wednesday: Hurricane Omar: the 7th hurricane of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season. Thursday (Oct 16) - a Cat. 3 hurricane in high seas.

There was also T.S. Nana (14th named storm, briefly, become a depression rather quickly in mid-Atlantic) and is gone poof as of Tuesday morning.

Market, market, market, market (stock, that is...)

After a history-making Monday and a tepid Tuesday, we've had a truly epic fall today (Wednesday, October 15 2008)
S.&P. 500 closed at 907.84, 90.17 (9.03%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,577.91, 733.08 (7.87%) down
Nasdaq closed at 1,628.33, 150.68 (8.47%) down

Oh, the word from Washington is that we are not in recession, of course.

And so it goes...

A lot of action during the last weekend, including a de facto nationalization of banking systems in the UK and many other countries, including a lot of government involvement (for lack of a better term…) in this US of A, resulted in dramatic gains on paper:
S.&P. 500 closed at 1,003.35, 104.13 (11.58%) up
Dow (DJIA) closed at 9,387.61, 936.42 (11.08%) up - the most points gained ever!
Nasdaq closed at 1,844.25, 194.74 (11.81%) up

As an aside, today would be a good day to purchase the entire country of Iceland and a lot of Russia: Iceland is practically bankrupt and the medieval financial system of the Putin's Russia seems unable to deal with a common cold, let alone a financial near-death pneumonia.

Also, Paul Krugman, a Professor at Princeton University, is awarded the 2008 Nobel Prize in Economics. Krugman has been a rather outspoken chap (see op-ed pages in The New York Times) and a real MPITA for the current US administration…

How deep is that hole...

...and why can't we do something (something, really, really bad...) to the people who supplied the shovels and promoted deep hole digging as a way of life...

S.&P. 500 closed at 909.92, 75.02 7.62%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 8,579.19, 678.91 (7.33%) down
Nasdaq closed at 1,645.12, 95.21 (5.47%) down.

The Wall Street Story

Bigger and swifter finger from the markets...
S.&P. 500 closed at 996.23, 60.66 (–5.74%) down
Dow (DJIA) closed at 9,447.11, 508.39 (–5.11%) down
Nasdaq closed at 1,754.88, 108.08 (–5.80%) down.

Sweet tidbits from today’s congressional hearings according to the story in The New York Times: a week after the Fed pumped 85 billion dollars into A.I.G., the good, compassionate managers of that outfit spent $442,000 on a weeklong retreat at the exclusive St. Regis Resort in Monarch Beach, California, including $23,000 in spa charges (!), and the former executive Joseph J. Cassano, who seems to be largely responsible for driving A.I.G. into the ground, continues to receive $1 million a month (he received over $280 million in various “compensations” in eight years.)

Marco

Tropical Storm Marco, the 13th named storm of the 2008 Atlantic hurricane season, has formed today (Monday, October 6, 2008) in the Gulf of Mexico. It is predicted to hit the central Mexican coast just below the hurricane strength.

The Wall Street

DOW (DJIA) highlights for today:

· A 500 point dive in the first hour of trading
· At times was down over 770 points and dipped below 9600(!)
· Closed at 9950, 369 (3.58%) down - another resounding vote of no confidence to the “rescue” package.
· Closed below 10,000 for the first time since 2004.

A year ago, on October 9 2007, DOW closed at the all-time high, 14,164.53.

Also lower: the FTSE 100 index in London; the Frankfurt DAX and the CAC-40 in Paris; the Nikkei 225 stock average in Tokyo; the Kospi index in Seoul; the Standard & Poor’s/ASX 200 index in Sydney; the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong, et cetera.

As an aside, as reported by The New York Times, the Lehman Brothers executives gave themselves millions of dollars in bonuses while begging the Fed for the taxpayers’ money…

Typo-no-typo

Seen on the NY Times web site around noon today (Monday, October 6 2008.)
A typo, but also oh so true: after the cost of bureaucracy and lawyers, 900 bucks is all what is likely to be actually distributed from the "rescue" package...

Fed Will Provide as Much as $900 in Loans to Banks

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: October 6, 2008
Filed at 11:44 a.m. ET

Two points of view...

Chicago Tribune
Cubs swept away in L.A.
It's going to take some time for the Cubs second straight playoff disaster to really sink in, but the mood in the clubhouse after Saturday's 3-1 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 3 of the National League Division Series was a mixture of sadness and disbelief.

Los Angeles Times
Dodgers party like it's 1988
The screaming fans, horns in the parking lot and dancing in the field signal something special: After a 20-year drought, L.A. has won a playoff series.

Who's afraid of Steve Jobs?

First "cancer" now this: a false story on the CNN iReport posted this morning (Friday October 3 2008) claimed that Steve Jobs had suffered a severe heart attack. Apple stock tanks, drops to the year-low $94.65 (it does recover a bit later in the day.)

We are rescued!

The "rescue" bill gets a thumb up at the House and is immediately signed into law. Wall Street shows a finger (albeit mildly...)
S.&P. 500 closed at 1,099.23, minus 15.05 (–1.35%)
Dow (DJIA) closed at 10,325.38, minus 157.47 (–1.50%)
Nasdaq closed at 1,947.39, minus 29.33 (–1.48%)

Excellent, dude!

Three new Microsoft research centers, or as the CEO Steve Ballmer calls them “centers of excellence” are slated to open in Europe, in France, the UK and Germany. Stated goal? The annihilation of Google, of course… Mr. Ballmer did not mention any firm locations, but Lourdes in France, Avebury in England and the Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria are considered likely.

Cohen in Poland

Leonard Cohen, the Canadian poet-singer and a true frigging-super-mega-star in Poland, gave a (three hour!) concert yesterday (October 1 2008) at the Warsaw’s prominent hockey rink. You know, stuff like “Dance Me to the End of Love” (or my own painful death, whichever comes first.) His raspy-sultry voice of a ram with a heavy case of laryngitis reverberated in that cavernous place long after the concert ended, and his spirit will dwell there forever. Hallelujah! (No, he was not wearing a “Famous Blue Raincoat” but did sport a Fedora.) Tix prices? Equivalent of $200 US for good seats (average monthly pay in Poland – equivalent of around $1500 US.)

B-L-A-H D-E-B-A-T-E

Sarah P. vs. Joe B. veep debate as seen in the on-line editions of some newspapers during or immediately following the debate:


LA Times: Palin, Biden hold their own in debate
Arizona Republic: Palin, Biden spar on economic crisis, Iraq
Miami Herald: Palin stands her ground in VP debate with Biden
Chicago Tribune: Biden, Palin debate economy, Iraq and energy
Washington Post: Biden and Palin Take Center Stage
NY Times: Palin and Biden Stake Claims on Change
Boston Globe: Biden, Palin battle over change

Meet me in St. Louis!

See

Deer-caught-in headlights!

Man with a foot in his mouth!

Tonite only!
Sarah P. and Joe B.
Fun filled evening of verbal puns, interesting insights, random thoughts and unbeatable Alaskan lore!

Going down....

Here is a vote of confidence from the US stock markets before the debate on the Charity Bill in the House:

S.&P. 500 closed at 1,114.28
minus 46.78 (–4.03%)

Dow (DJIA) closed at 10,482.85
minus 348.22 (–3.22%)

Nasdaq closed at 1,976.72
minus 92.68 (–4.48%)

I call it charity...

Newspeak in Washington, D.C.: RESCUE not BAILOUT. And the government is not SPENDING but INVESTING the $700 billion. Yeah, investing in a rescue...

In any event, the Senate passed 74:25 (Sen Kennedy to ill to attend) a changed version of the government charity bill with many new tax breaks and other distractions tacked on (oh, 200 billion dollars more...you know, hundred billion here, hundred billion there, and soon we are talking serious money...) The House is voting on Friday morning and the passage is not certain.