Retailers to Wage Psychological Warfare

As the retail industry sifts through the rubble of its disastrous holiday shopping season, the next challenge begins: A struggle over the consumer psyche. Despite hopes for a massive economic stimulus plan under a new Obama administration in January, consumer confidence plunged to an all-time low in December [more...]

Date: 2009-01-05 11:00:58

Blog posts (139) | Videos (51)
 

DrumBeat: December 31, 2008

The Peak Oil Crisis: Civil Unrest Before grappling with 2009, it might be useful to remind ourselves that there is a dark side to what lies ahead ... College had released a report talking about preparing for civil unrest in the U.S. When you read the report, it turns out to be yet another warning about generals preparing for the last war. It devotes [more...]

Date: 2008-12-31 13:58:02

Looking ahead

For Thursday: • Congress holds a joint session to count the electoral ballots for president and vice president. ( ... . • Economic reports: The Labor Department announces the latest unemployment claims; retailers report December sales results;Freddie Mac updates weekly mortgage rates, and the Federal Reserve releases [more...]

Date: 2009-01-08 02:07:47

Obama’s Jobs Plan Doesn’t Seem to Add Up

“There is no there there,” is what famed writer Gertrude Stein aforesaid when she returned to her childhood home in the 1930s ... with employment. The jobs report is based on payrolls and reflects the number of paychecks issued each ... are not the same. An single through two jobs would be counted two times in the payroll report, but only [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 13:50:34

DrumBeat: December 18, 2008

Oil drops 9 pct as demand outlook overshadows OPEC NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. crude prices dropped more than 9 percent to $36 a barrel Thursday as slumping demand and swelling U.S. inventories offset OPEC's record supply cut agreement. The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries on Wednesday agreed to cut output by 2 [more...]

Date: 2008-12-18 13:42:11

PC sales stank last quarter, but HP, Apple and a few others kept growing

No wonder there's been so much buzz about layoffs at Microsoft: PC sales just stank in the last quarter ... in the fourth quarter, according to a new report from research firm IDC. The holiday season drop pulled ... reduction in spending among both consumer and commercial segments amid tightening credit, eroding [more...]

Date: 2009-01-14 21:20:33

International Forecaster September 2009 (#8) - Gold, Silver, Economy + More

By: Bob Chapman GoldSeek.com Sunday, 27 September 2009 US MARKETS Nearly half the nation’s 25 biggest retail chains expect to hire fewer holiday workers this season than they did last year, another sign that retailers aren’t counting on recession-strained shoppers to relax the tight grip on their pocketbooks this year. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-27 17:39:33

The New China, Bush Asks for TARP, 2009 Oil Surprise, Buy Turkmenistan and More!

by Addison Wiggin & Ian Mathias Chinese exports dive; oil imports, money supply and leverage rise… sound familiar? Bush asks for rest of $700 billion TARP… S&P says USA’s credit rating getting shaky Dan ... . Unfortunately, the model was still dependent on mass consumption in the West. Without credit-fueled [more...]

Date: 2009-01-08 01:36:29

Pertinent Obituary, Dimon Says Worst Not Over, Oil Producers Struggle, The Next Bubble and More!

One company to summarize all of the last 10 years… now on its deathbed Credit crisis survivor predicts “worst… not yet behind us” Oil ... and now the epitome of the credit crisis: Nortel had $2.4 billion of cash in hand yesterday ... for most of 2009. In terms of our sector, we expect consumer loans and credit cards to continue [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 19:40:53

Revised G.D.P. Figures Show Signs That Recession May Be Ending

It now appears that the economy shrank even less than first calculated in the second quarter: The American economy performed better than expected this spring, contracting at its slowest pace in a year, the government reported on Wednesday. The report offered more evidence that the recession probably ended this summer, and that the economy would now grow through the end of the year. [more...]

Date: 2009-09-30 15:38:47

Factory Orders Tumble, Retail Sales Fall, Foreclosure Sales Triple

The string of bad news continues as factory orders plunge, retail sales fall, home prices sink and foreclosure sales soar ... down as credit is more difficult to get,” said Douglas Smith, chief economist for the Americas ... Wood, president of Insight Economics LLC in Danville, California, wrote in a note to clients. “ [more...]

Date: 2009-01-06 20:25:00

Words from the (investment) wise 12.28.08

Investors spent the holiday-shortened Christmas week in an un-merry mood, digesting more gloomy economic data and taking stock of a tumultuous 2008 ... s exuberance), but also still be battling with the implications of the credit crisis for the global economy ... Index (-0.3%), the Reuters/Jeffries CRB Index (-1.6%), West Texas Intermediate crude (-11.0 [more...]

Date: 2008-12-28 12:31:33

5 Reasons Why the Economy Might Recover Faster Than Obama Thinks

by James Pethokoukis, U.S. News & World Report  Let's all hope Barack Obama is wrong when he says that getting the U.S ... in gas prices to, say, $1.50 a gallon would represent a savings in their annual gas bill of $2,500 ... for a 30-year, fixed-rate mortgage fell to a low, low 5.19 percent last week thanks to the Federal [more...]

Date: 2008-12-22 13:24:30

Saving your credit and credit scores

I have blogged about my experiences with American Express and their systematic reductions in my credit lines ... , but in my case Amex decided to start chasing the balance.  I pay them $500, then they reduce my credit limit ... as “closed as consumer’s request”)  which would have locked in the higher credit limit on the credit [more...]

Date: 2009-01-14 23:51:28

Retail sales plummet 2.7 percent in December

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER The Associated Press WASHINGTON – Retail sales plunged far more than expected in December, a record sixth straight monthly decline as consumers were battered by a recession, a severe credit ... , a sharp turnaround after a 4.1 percent gain in 2007. It was the first time the annual retail sales [more...]

Date: 2009-01-14 16:38:24

The $85 Billion Non-Event

by The Mogambo Guru If you want a real-world example of how inflation in consumer prices follows an increase in the money supply AND how an increase in anti-social, war-like behavior follows increases in prices, then a report from Bloomberg.com is just what you are looking for. It says, "Iran's annual inflation may accelerate to 50 [more...]

Date: 2008-12-09 20:51:16

Media & Politics

Media & Politics 13-Jan-09 Permanent link to MTA daily media news Our Little Shop of Horrors (by Pat Racimora at No Quarter) ... Credit (The Trail, Washington Post) President-elect Barack Obama will address Senate Democrats ... as negotiations unfold, Obama is expected to drop his least popular proposal, a $3,000 tax credit for companies [more...]

Date: 2009-01-08 06:35:02

Media & Politics

Media & Politics 07-Jan-09 Permanent link to MTA daily media news The Heretik Freedom Rider: Bush Goes Out a Winner (by Margaret Kimberley at the Black Agenda Report) Bush is leaving office in the popularity ... monitoring their sense of understanding. They may in fact be swinging between doubt and closure [more...]

Date: 2009-01-07 18:33:23

The Economic Downturn and Student Loans: Some Practical Advice for Borrowers

Today's post is from Alan Michael Collinge, author of The Student Loan Scam: The Most Oppressive Debt in U.S ... to shareholders in their 2003 annual report that their record earnings that year were attributable to collections on defaulted loans. So, no bankruptcy protection for the borrower means free money [more...]

Date: 2009-01-11 01:14:50

FRIDAY JANUARY 16, 2009

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Date: 2009-01-16 14:29:00

British pound pares Asian gains against majors, slides to 9-day low versus franc

The British pound pared its Asian session gains against the other major currencies during early European deals on Wednesday ... . Today, UK’s Business Secretary Lord Mandelson announced a package of measures designed to address the cash flow, credit and investment needs of small and medium businesses. The government [more...]

Date: 2009-01-14 14:35:43

South Asians Flee Dubai as Economy Slows

Dubai police have found at least 3,000 automobiles -- sedans, SUVs, ... from South Asia who have lost their jobs after Dubai's real estate crash, according to a DNA report. Dubai ... about the large debt load Dubai has taken on in recent years to finance its explosive growth, mostly in real [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 18:13:55

Wall Street Breakfast: Must-Know News

TARP's first report card. In the first full audit of the government's bailout program, the Government Accountability Office GAO ... and taxpayers, but 'more can and will be done in these areas.' The GAO report also noted that as many as 200 ... transition into the White House. (Read the full GAO report (.pdf) or just the highlights (.pdf [more...]

Date: 2008-12-03 12:15:33

Quango Irish Bank.

So, starting close to home, finally, it’s Anglo Irish Zero ... more of the taxpayer’s cash, which means no new business; just switch off the ignition and run down the “bank” day by day. Anglo’s business model was never a “model” just a house of cards, and persevering [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 02:21:50

January 10 2009: Hornswoggled Absquatulation

Russell Lee Tobaccy Candy 1940 Pool hall, Shasta County, California Ilargi: The revolving doors between Washington and Wall Street are swinging like never before. Lawrence Summers and Robert Rubin are the finance powerhouses in the upcoming Obama administration. They were in the exact same place 10 years ago [more...]

Date: 2009-01-10 16:28:00

DrumBeat: January 1, 2009

Blackout fear for EU as gas row escalates Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, called on Moscow and Kiev to solve the dispute as soon as possible. While Gazprom, the Russian ... , there are fears that Germany, Italy and other customers could eventually be hit if the dispute escalates [more...]

Date: 2009-01-01 13:44:53

Q3 GDP down, consumer spending lowest since 1980

No surprises, but hardly good data. Reuters:The U.S. economy shrank at a 0.5 percent annual pace in the third quarter as expected after consumers and businesses cut spending ... Brothers in September, which froze credit and sent households and firms into a defensive crouch [more...]

Date: 2008-12-23 17:15:00

DrumBeat: January 12, 2009

DrumBeat: January 12, 2009 A novel plan for economic stimulus What’s different now? In the 1930s, even though the U.S ... Intelligence Council’s “Global Trends 2025″ report concluded that, in the near term, pressure ... report. It would appear that we need to plan for a less energy-intense future. StatoilHydro drills [more...]

Date: 2009-01-14 16:56:17

Russian Industry Heads For Poll Position As The Downhill Stretch Of The Tourmalet Extends Itself Before Us

Well as far as I can see, in this the great second depression cycling race, ... ” hailing from the United States and the UK, and, no doubt about it, they do seem to be closing fast ... widespread production and job cuts, according to the latest PMI report from VTB Bank Europe. VTB’ [more...]

Date: 2009-01-03 14:06:49

Sony to layoff 16,000 employees, loses charm among consumers

Sony to layoff 16,000 employees, loses charm among consumers Posted by Andrew Nusca @ 8:47 am Categories: Sony, Corporate news Tags: Sony Corp ... consumer electronics maker plans to eliminate 16,000 jobs — making it the largest reduction announced by a Japanese company since the credit crunch spurred a global recession, according to the Bloomberg [more...]

Date: 2008-12-09 16:47:15

TANSTAAFL - Ya gotta pay it sometime!

When TMEW and I spend more than we should, we end up paying for it later - by not buying much later ... more debt than they took on... Seasonally adjusted consumer debt -- including credit cards, auto loans and other unsecured debts -- fell by a record $7.5 billion, or a 3.7% annual rate, to $2.58 trillion [more...]

Date: 2008-12-16 18:44:16

Online Credit Reports

Every time you ask for a mortgage, make a payment, ask for a personal loan or use a credit card, the information is recorded in your credit report. A credit report has all kinds of information about your credit status, mortgage or billing ... you should keep a tab on your credit report. Another important reason is to prevent identity thefts [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 06:17:32

What Is The Level Of Deflation Risk In Germany?

Only one thing is really clear about the Germany economy at the present time, and that is that it is shrinking rapidly. In fact it contracted far more than most analysts and observers expected in the third quarter (although I, for one, was not especially surprised) [more...]

Date: 2008-12-24 09:13:06

A review of 2008 predictions

#fullpost{display:inline;}Well, unfortunately, it's that time of the year again - time to look back at the first of the year to see how yours truly did with his Predictions for 2008 and be humbled as never before.During the two prior years, things had gone largely as expected:A review of 2006 predictionsA review of 2007 predictionsIn fact, [more...]

Date: 2008-12-31 17:16:00

An Example of What the Credit Bureaus Try to Sell You

experian1 I mentioned yesterday that you can set up a quasi-credit monitoring service for yourself ( ... annual report without a credit score attached to it. This is the link you want. The second image ... ) and the offer is to give you your Experian Credit Score for “only” $5.95″!”. As I said yesterday [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 13:00:15

Plunging Auto & Gas Sales Hurt Retail Sales in November

Dragged down by plunging gasoline prices and an auto industry struggling for survival, retail sales fell by 1 ... since May. “The financial markets were braced for a horrific retail sales report for November ... since it accounts for about 50% of all consumer spending. There were some promising stats, however [more...]

Date: 2008-12-15 12:35:47

Protect Yourself from Identity Theft

Identity theft is on the rise and people must be vigilant not only protecting their personal information, but monitoring their credit to ensure that they do not fall victim.  employeescreenIQ’s Rob ... that individuals can protect themselves. Don’t Let Someone Take Credit For (From) You!- By Rob [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 14:44:54

U.S. Economy: Retail Sales Decline for a Sixth Month

By Bob Willis Jan. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Sales at U.S. retailers fell more than twice as much as forecast in December as job losses and the lack of credit led Americans to cut back on everything from car purchases to eating out. The 2.7 percent [more...]

Date: 2009-01-14 17:37:00

Secured and Damaged Credit

Secured and Damaged Credit January 10th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed The Secured and Damaged Credit Most people end up with a damaged credit ... for you to obtain a new one. Those credit mistakes you made in the past can be nearly impossible to live ... chance. And so, in order to reestablish your credit, but cannot obtain a credit card, you [more...]

Date: 2009-01-08 17:52:29

Media & Politics (one section only today)

Media & Politics (one section only today) 06-Jan-09 Permanent link to MTA daily media news Quote of the Day (Political Wire) ... is a Professor of Law at Indiana University, a former OLC official in the Clinton administration (as well as a former ACLU counsel), and a graduate of Yale Law School.  She’s become a true expert on executive [more...]

Date: 2009-01-06 18:43:24

Bailout bio for American Express

American Express was founded in 1850 and is headquartered in New York, New York. It is known best for its global payments and travel operations. The Company’s principal products and services are charge and credit card products, and travel-related services offered to consumers and businesses around the world.  The company operates under two [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 21:51:52

DrumBeat: December 22, 2008

Pemex Oil Output Falls 6.5% to 2.711 Million Barrels a Day (Bloomberg) -- Petroleos Mexicanos, the state-owned oil company, said crude oil output fell 6.5 percent in November from the year-earlier period as production at its Cantarell field declined at a faster-than-expected rate. Production dropped to 2.711 million barrels a day, from 2 [more...]

Date: 2008-12-22 14:01:59

And If The Promotion Doesn’t Yield A Sale? What’s Next?

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “Foreclosure filings in Gallatin County have tripled since 2006, when 37 homes were foreclosed upon ... of Consumer Credit Counseling Service in Tulsa, said the past year shows that the state isn’t immune [more...]

Date: 2009-01-16 21:04:08

DrumBeat: January 12, 2009

A novel plan for economic stimulus What's different now? In the 1930s, even though the U.S ... Intelligence Council's "Global Trends 2025" report concluded that, in the near term, pressure ... " report. It would appear that we need to plan for a less energy-intense future. StatoilHydro drills [more...]

Date: 2009-01-12 14:02:56

Home sweet home builders?

Hopes that government intervention will bolster the housing market are giving a boost to home-builder stocks ... Bros., which isn’t in the index, rose 6.9% to $20.55 despite posting its worst annual results since ... defaults that is a root cause of the current credit crisis [more...]

Date: 2008-12-05 00:38:41

Report: Cybercrime is Winning the Battle Over Cyberlaw

Report: Cybercrime is Winning the Battle Over Cyberlaw Law enforcement agencies worldwide are losing the battle against cyber crime at a time when ... more computers and computer users to further illegal online activities, a scathing new report from security vendor McAfee concludes. McAfee's annual "Virtual Criminology Report" (PDF) notes that the [more...]

Date: 2008-12-09 15:44:59

PMI Winter 2009 Risk Index Indicates Broader Risk of Home Price Declines

posted by Steven Wevodau WALNUT CREEK, Calif., Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — PMI Mortgage Insurance Co., (NYSE: PMI - News), today released its Winter 2009 Economic and Real Estate Trends Report, and its widely cited U.S. Market Risk Index(SM). The index shows that the risk of lower house prices two years [more...]

Date: 2009-01-15 14:12:58

Stock Market Gyrates as Reports Show Economy Deep in Recession

The stock market struggled to recover from a tumultuous 2008 yesterday (Tuesday) while digesting a trio of downbeat economic reports from the manufacturing, housing and service ... , as well as the Institute of Supply Management report on the non-manufacturing index for December [more...]

Date: 2009-01-07 13:58:00

Deflation, Deleveraging, and the Stimulus Effect

Forecast 2009: Deflation and Recession January 10, 2009 By John Mauldin Where are we headed in 2009? We will explore that in detail over the next few issues of Thoughts from the Frontline, but today we will start with some of the larger forces which will have a major impact on the economies of the world, [more...]

Date: 2009-01-11 12:32:28

Toyoda to be Toyota president!

TOKYO: Toyota Motor Corp would change the top management order for improving business performance ... credit and consumer sentiment. ... , has been responsible for the firm’s Japanese and overseas operations. The report comes a day after the world’ [more...]

Date: 2008-12-23 06:45:10

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