January 2009

Get ready for bigger government.   Much bigger. President-Elect Barack Obama today give his weekly radio address.  It was primarily aimed at the economy (and strangely silent on Israel/Gaza) and again discussed the massive government growth plan that is coming down the pike. Here is the key paragraph: That’s why we need an American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that not only creates ... read more

Apple CEO Steve Jobs directly addressing the persistent rumors about his health which have moved Apple (AAPL) shares lately.   Here is the letter he sent out: Dear Apple Community, For the first time in a decade, I'm getting to spend the holiday season with my family, rather than intensely preparing for a Macworld keynote. Unfortunately, my decision to have Phil deliver the Macworld ... read more

The dollar likes the proposed stimulus plan and is moving higher again today. We when wrote about the dollar back on August 4th the PowerShares DB Dollar Bullish ETF (UUP) was trading just under $23 per share.     That ETF hit a high of just under $27 back on November 21st.   While it then came off its highs to the mid-$24 range, the UUP has firmed back up and is back above $25.    ... read more

Thanks to the following from the always excellent blog by Harvard Professor and former White House Council of Economic Advisors Chairman Greg Mankiw for finding the data behind the tax debate.   Pretty clear where the "shares" truly lie. Here is a link to the official report from the Cogressional Budget Office Here are the total effective federal tax rates for 2005, the most recent year ... read more

Stories I'm watching this Wednesday: Congressional Budget Office scares the heck out of everyone, sees recession lasting all year, deficit topping $1 trillion and unemployment climbing to more than 9% by 2010 Economic damages turns personal (again) as real estate executive kills himself Family Dollar proves Wal-Mart doesn't have monopoly on recession ... read more

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer gave Fox Business the first interview from the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas ahead of his keynote address.    This is the first televised interview Ballmer has done in months and the first since the economy took a major downturn. We asked him about what Microsoft was unveiling from the show, the economy and his future plans. ... read more

Today Barack Obama will give what he is calling a "major" speech on the economy.   The Wall St Journal has a preview of some of his prepared remarks.   That should occur around 11:00am ET.   Obama has said that the deficit could reach more than $1 trillion dollars.  With nearly daily speeches on the economy and announcements of job appointments one wonders when when the President-Elect ... read more

The economy is sick and only big government has the medicine. That was the primary message in a economy-focused speech today by Barack Obama.   It was a speech perhaps written to try and instill consumer confidence, though the message came through as one more of economic fear that will lead us to accept tax increases and bigger government.   You would've thought the President-elect ... read more

Here come the jobs.   And they rely on two big things: construction and a consumer turnaround. This weekend President-elect Barack Obama unveiled more specifics about his proposed plan to create 3.5 million jobs over the next two years.  That is an ambitious goal and has understandably faced skepticism, especially without specifics on how this would happen.     We now have a more ... read more

Stories I'm watching over the weekend: Obama details his jobs plan (see my previous blog entry) Some commentators are already criticizing parts of the plan, saying the tax changes won't work Citibank's run as one giant company may be coming to an end Need a job?  Move to D.C. State of California finally starts to get serious about cost cuts; ... read more