The Terrifying Danger of the Trillion Dollar Coin
“The bottom line is that the Trillion Dollar Coin removes profit the financial system makes on the interest payments to holders of the Treasuries – this reduces the cost to government (and its citizens) for operations. It would be logical to think that the financial system oligarchy would oppose loss of this profit.”
USDA declares drought disaster in much of Wheat Belt | Reuters
“The government declared much of the central and southern Wheat Belt a natural disaster area on Wednesday due to persistent drought that imperils this year’s winter wheat harvest.”
Geithner’s Treasury Tenure Defined by Financial Crisis – NYTimes.com
“Looking forward, Mr. Geithner has no plans. A regulator of Wall Street but not a creature of it, he will probably be the least likely former Treasury secretary to land there. “I’m going to take a long time,” he said in the second of two exit interviews, one conducted in the midst of the recent fiscal fight and one just after the news conference on Thursday at which President Obama formally nominated his successor, Jacob J. Lew.
Looking back, he is remarkably sanguine. He is comfortable with his decisions: the policy choices available to him were far from ideal, he said, but his team did the best it could within the realm of the politically possible. “
Nokia Boosted by Brisk Lumia Sales – WSJ.com
“Nokia shipped 4.4 million Lumia devices in the fourth quarter of 2012, bringing its total smartphone shipments to 6.6 million devices, the first increase in smartphone shipment numbers in a year. Investors have kept a close watch on Nokia’s smartphone deliveries to gauge its ability to compete with the likes of Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd.
But the Finnish handset maker still expects its main devices and services unit to record a fall in net sales in the fourth quarter of 2012, to €3.9 billion ($5.10 billion) from €6 billion a year earlier, with total device shipments projected at 86.3 million units, down from 113.5 million. The company also expects its results for the first quarter of 2013 to be pressured by seasonality and the competitive mobile environment, and it is currently battling to overcome supply constraints related to its latest products.”
” In June 2012 Samsung announced sales had hit 28 million units — a figure it told TechCrunch is now “very much out of date”, so make your best guestimates for how many millions of S IIs are out there in the wild. (In the S II Plus’ release, Samsung dubs the S II “one of the world’s most recognized phones”.)
Whatever that figure clearly Samsung reckons, given the right software atop it, this 2011 handset can continue to sell — and so enter stage right: the S II Plus.”
ZTE enters the 5-inch 1080p smartphone game with Grand S | Android and Me
This is another Chinese manufacturer that I am not familiar with. They are making a 5-inch 1080p phone for Android. This reinforces my thesis that the mobile market is moving toward a larger screen size and that Apple is a laggard in this move.
Platinamynt het fråga i USA-debatten | Världen | SvD
The swedes are talking about the platinum coin like everyone else. Most people marvel at the inanity of this whole political spectacle.
U.S. Death Penalty Support Stable at 63%
“Americans’ support for the death penalty as punishment for murder has plateaued in the low 60s in recent years, after several years in which support was diminishing. Sixty-three percent now favor the death penalty as the punishment for murder, similar to 61% in 2011 and 64% in 2010.”
“In Vancouver, sales in the top-tier market fell 34% to 1,983, and it took 54 days to sell a $1-million or more listing on average in the last six months of the year, well above the first half or the previous year. Still, five per cent of listings sold over asking.
It was a different story in Calgary, where sales of homes listing over $1-million rose 20% to 535 with five per cent selling above asking.
Toronto and Montreal experienced more modest swings from the previous year, but the trend was positive.”
” The value of building permits issued in Canada during November tumbled to the lowest level since January 2012 due mainly to a slowdown in housing and non-housing construction in the province of Ontario, Statistics Canada said on Thursday.
Building permits slid 17.9% to $6.2 billion, the biggest monthly drop in 19 months in percentage and value terms, following a 15.9% increase in October. Statscan revised its October estimate from a 15% gain previously.”
Bank of Ireland bonds trade higher as investors push demand – Irish, Business – Independent.ie
“THE €1bn of Bank of Ireland bonds sold yesterday has traded higher in the markets, a sign of even stronger investor demand.
The bonds sold by the Government yesterday at a small profit of 101pc of face value traded as much as 104pc of face value today, the first day they were available in the so called secondary debt market.
The higher price suggests some of the same buyers could be interest in buying similar government held bonds backed by AIB and Permament TSB.
Michael Noonan said yesterday that he intends to sell the €6.9bn of the state’s remaining bank bonds over time.”
Econbrowser: Guest Contribution: “The Myth of ‘Jobless Recoveries'”
“It is rare to call an economic relationship a “law.” But Okun’s Law has earned its name. In 1962, Arthur Okun found a relationship that has become enshrined in textbooks as Okun’s Law. The textbook version states when U.S. output dips one percent below its potential, unemployment rises above its natural rate by about half a percentage point.
Fifty years after Okun’s paper, we find that this relationship fits very well, including during the Great Recession.”
Colleges Caught in Value Trap, Study Finds – WSJ.com
“The demand for four-year college degrees is softening, the result of a perfect storm of economic and demographic forces that is sapping pricing power at a growing number of U.S. colleges and universities, according to a new survey by Moody’s Investors Service.
Facing stagnant family income, shaky job prospects for graduates and a smaller pool of high-school graduates, more schools are reining in tuition increases and giving out larger scholarships to attract students, Moody’s concluded in a report set to be released Thursday.”
Ford doubles quarterly dividend to 10c – MarketWatch
” it’ll pay a quarterly dividend of 10 cents per share, double the previous rate. The auto maker said its “strong balance sheet, increased liquidity and positive business performance” enabled the increase.”
Strong auction pushes Spanish yields to 10-month lows | Reuters
“Spain sold 5.82 billion euros worth of new 2015 bonds and re-opened 2018 and 2026 debt – more than the 4 billion-5 billion euros targeted as investors bid more than at previous auctions of similar-dated paper.
Improved appetite for high-yielding assets this year after the United States averted a fiscal crisis with a last-minute budget deal was the main reason behind the strong result, analysts said.”