Search Results for: january 13

Coping: Flu, Robotics, Davos, and Useless Eaters

I’m almost totally immune to colds, flue, and “that stuff” that goes around every winter. But it gets me to thinking about flu, robots, Davos, and mass murder or excess humans…in roughly that order. My logic may seem a bit circuitous, but that’s the marvel of swilling cold medicine, isn’t it?Also, notice the qualifier word “almost?” When my son came back from skydiving last week he attributed his bronchitis and hoarseness to yelling a lot (which is something that skydivers do a lot of when doing link-ups and such).

Playing to the Fed, Quantitative China

The market looks to open firmer this morning…and why not? We still have more than a week to run until the Federal Reserve meeting, at which time most of the smart money seems to think that new Fed chair Janet Yellen will not rock the boat and will take a “go slow” attitude toward ending quantitative easing, which though losing its effectiveness has, nevertheless, allowed the Fed to keep the economy from catering. The latest bit of financial candy is that China is boosting liquidity and that, in turn, should give markets a goose globally. Between now and Fed day next week, we have a paucity of news and data to look forward to. There aren’t any big releases set this morning.

Droughtonomics – California Exodus II: 4-Million?

While the S&P is off into record setting territory and our Peoplenomics trading model is showing its stuff nicely, we need to consider the impacts of a left-field event that may lead to a California Exodus: The quickly evolving Drought. As you can see in the latest report out this week, the map has a big ugly spot that’s located right over the Central Valley and that’s where a good chunk of the nation’s fresh (and frozen) veggies and fruits come from. According to the data released with the report, and I don’t think there’s an issue sharing this because it is BIG news and of public concern: “There seems to be no relief in sight as the calendar flips over to 2014.

The –39% Baltic Dry Problem

“What the hell is the Baltic Dry problem and why are we being harangued about that on this fine Tuesday morning?” The Baltic Dry is an index of ocean shipping activity (by Dry Ships) that shows up most places on a delayed basis. You can see it updated yourself at www.dryships.com (see the market info) and then it lands in charts like this one over here with the symbol BDIY.

Jobs: What’s Not to Love?

As we expected, based on the reports out earlier this week from ADP and Challenger, the jobs picture does not paint a country on the verge of financial collapse. Quite the contrary, this morning’s report from the Labor Department is positively ducky… The unemployment rate declined from 7.0 percent to 6.7 percent in December, while total nonfarm payroll employment edged up (+74,000), the U.S.

Thursday NewsJay: Technical Note on the Missing Recovery

The longwave economics perspective is, at its core, skeptical of much of the HS&J (hype shuck, and jive) that passes in transfictional media as fact. Despite my membership in a couple of journalistic groups, I don’t see much being able to change at the public perception level because when you start writing about how the game really runs, eyes glaze over, people nod off, and snoring is soon heard. To counter this, I hereby create my news job title around here: NewsJay. Click here for the moodsetting music.

Coping: Why Government Doesn’t Fear The People

Earlier this week, we were running through some of the math about how We the People are still in charge of ‘Merica. But there’s another view as well. Reader Rick’s rebuttal is pretty good and he makes the point government doesn’t need to fear the people anymore: George,Oilman2’s math aside, the relationship of police/military action to “politik” needs to recognize the math of Carl Philipp Gottfried von Clausewitz. The current administration’s margin of electoral victory is less than 10% and historically the margin has averaged about there; Nixon’s 62% was extraordinary.

Beyond Turnaround Tuesday

We’re gearing up for a marvelous lesson in public relations later this month when the Fed holds its last meeting under the gavel of outgoing Ben Bernanke. That will happen January 29 & 30th. And, although the press won’t be in the room, a ceremonial “handing over the gavel” may be anticipated. According to some, a rather obscure indicator of markets will flip over right in that period: The Bradley Siderograph.

Chill Monday

There’s not a word for this one. No longer warm doesn’t get it. Cool doesn’t work either. Cold just sort of sneaks up on it. “Freezing our asses off” is closer still.

Coping: With the “Number of the Beast” – and Me!

Very quietly, the nibbling away at the edges of the “old and familiar” is moving ahead at serious speed this week in the odd intersection between physics, mathematics, and “urge to find truth” as 2014 spins up. The view is based on a cluster of events in headlines and the appearance of two items in my personal life, one of which comes from the “I Ching” Inbox. No, you can’t buy an I Ching inbox…they just sort of happen when you’re on the right path of a stupid initiate who seeks truth of all things. Item #1: In come the disclosures from Ed Snowden’s latest which is about how the NSA is building a quantum computer that’s designed to do a much faster job of breaking encryption keys than present-day technology.

The Feds Go Prepping in Healthcare

My, this must be the morning for the odd to crop up on my desk. Here’s a note in the Federal Register today that says: Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers This proposed rule would establish national emergency preparedness requirements for Medicare- and Medicaid-participating providers and suppliers to ensure that they adequately plan for both natural and man-made disasters, and coordinate with federal, state, tribal, regional, and local emergency preparedness systems. It would also ensure that these providers and suppliers are adequately prepared to meet the needs of patients, residents, clients, and participants during disasters and emergency situations. We are proposing emergency preparedness requirements that 17 provider and supplier types must meet to participate in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

Coping: Did U.S. “UFO” Tech Testing Cause Japan Quake?

Sit down, relax, and open your mind up. We’re going to venture into the most highly speculative thing I’ve written in a good, long while. There is a longish chain of data to follow, but it leads to a very interesting bit of speculation. This is a complicated story and we are still barely upright apes. We’ve only recently figured out electricity, after all…so come on along on one of my holiday rambles… The timing of this is important, as we head to what some (like Patrick Geryl) have hypothesized as an early January quake.

Coping: Waiting for Ragnarok, Here Fenir

As 2013 draws to a close, we come to the start of another year, and with it, perhaps, a change in how the world operates. There’s so much going on, it’s hard to all take in at a single sitting, but there are two points of interest which intrigue me. One, of course, is the Nordic legends of Ragnorok, but the good news is he holds off on the world-ending until a few days after my birthday, which I very much appreciate. I’m tempted to put a countdown timer (Days till Ragnorok) on the right panel of the site… Then, coincidentally we have 2012 researcher Patrick Geryl who’s on the track of major quakes and a possible poleshift in 2014 (or beyond) because the literature is just so very clear. Clearer in fact than the calendar, which if you recall from past discussions, doesn’t include a “Year Zero” – which can mess things up.

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