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Posts Tagged ‘ Market ’

Iraq War Cost the U.S. Deficit $3 Trillion

Check out this info graphic from Perceptual Edge. The graphic presents the outrageous spending and the cost of the Iraq war. Money wasted and added to our deficit.

Thoughts from Ritholtz “Whenever I hear a a congress critter discussing deficit spending, the first thing I do is check their vote on the Iraq war to see if they are legitimately concerned about deficits, or not. … You will find most of these born again deficit hawks are hypocritical partisan hacks . . .”

“Deficit hawk or Hypocrite? You decide:”
• Iraq War Resolution, Roll Call Vote – House (clerk.house.gov)
• Iraq War Resolution, Roll Call Vote – Senate (senate.gov)
Sources:

www.ritholtz.com/blog/2011/01/the-three-trillion-dollar-war-2/
Perceptual Edge

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President Obama Presses Congress To Pass The Tax Cut Deal

President Obama presses congress to pass the tax cut extension that he negotiated with republicans. According to the president this extension would create millions of jobs, if its not passed Americans could face smaller paychecks and fewer jobs. The tax cut will affect all tax payers for two years. Part of the plan would ensure jobless benefits for millions would continue and a reduction in payroll taxes for all workers. Its up to the house to pass the bill!

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The Impact Of The Bush Tax Cut

Here’s another visual showing the impact of having the Bush tax cuts expire. The only thing that seem to be agreed upon by both parties is making sure that the lower and middle class retain their cuts, what to do with the upper class seems to be up in the air. Congress has till December 31st to renew or let expire. If the tax cut expires, the new income tax rate will be pre 2001.

Source: cnn finance

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As the economy continues its slow recovery from the “depression.” Below are the top 20 industries that have added jobs in 2010, and comparing the change since 2007.

Industry                                                                     Jobs Gained 2010                        Change from 2007

Admin and support                                                 286,000                                          817,000 jobs lost
Employment services                                              262,000                                          591,000 jobs lost
Healthcare                                                                 204,000                                         738,000 jobs gained
Restaurants                                                                143,000                                         150,000 jobs lost
Retail                                                                            128,000                                         1.1 million jobs lost
Mining                                                                          79,000                                           28,000 jobs gained
Religious and nonprofit groups                             56,000                                           9,000 jobs gained
Salespeople and customer-service reps                36,000                                          437,000 jobs lost
Computer systems design                                        43,000                                           52,000 jobs gained
Transit and ground transportation                      20,000                                           17,000 jobs gained
Hotels                                                                           27,000                                           124,000 jobs lost
Federal government                                                  19,000                                             88,000 jobs gained
Management                                                              16,000                                              63,000 jobs lost
Performing arts and recreation                             24,000                                             96,000 jobs lost
Warehousing                                                             12,000                                               30,000 jobs lost
Oil and gas extraction                                             11,000                                               17,000 jobs gained
Rail transportation                                                   9,000                                                9,000 jobs lost
Waste management                                                  8,000                                                3,000 jobs lost
Web portals and Internet publishing                   6,000                                                11,000 jobs gained
Management and technical consulting               2,000                                                 1,000 jobs gained

Source: RICK NEWMAN

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Apple Overtakes Microsoft As The World’s Largest Tech Company

Apple has dethroned Microsoft. Apple is the world largest tech company by $3 billion dollars!

From the New York Times:
“As of Wednesday, Wall Street valued Apple at $222.12 billion and Microsoft at $219.18 billion. The only American company valued higher is Exxon Mobil, with a market capitalization of $278.64 billion.

The revenue of the two companies are comparable, with Microsoft at $58.4 billion and Apple at $42.9 billion. Microsoft is sitting on more cash and short-term investments, $39.7 billion, to Apple’s $23.1 billion, which makes the value assigned by the market to Apple — essentially a bet on its future prospects — all the more remarkable.”

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U.S. Trade Deficit Increases

U.S. Census Bureau Release:
The U.S. Census Bureau and the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, through the Department of Commerce, announced today that total March exports of $147.9 billion and imports of $188.3 billion resulted in a goods and services deficit of $40.4 billion, up from $39.4 billion in February, revised. March exports were $4.6 billion more than February exports of $143.3 billion. March imports were $5.6 billion more than February imports of $182.7 billion.

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Retail Sales Surge In March

Brief rundown;

  • Retail sales increased 1.6% from February to March
  • February was reported at $355.5 billion
  • March was reported $363.2 billion

U.S Census Bureau Report:

“The U.S. Census Bureau announced today that advance estimates of U.S. retail and food services sales for March, adjusted for seasonal variation and holiday and trading-day differences, but not for price changes, were $363.2 billion, an increase of 1.6 percent (±0.5%) from the previous month and 7.6 percent (±0.5%) above March 2009. Total sales for the January through March 2010 period were up 5.5 percent (±0.3%) from the same period a year ago. The January to February 2010 percent change was revised from +0.3 percent (±0.5%)* to +0.5 percent (±0.3%).”

This graph shows the monthly retail sales.

Graph Source: www.calculatedriskblog.com

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United Airlines And U.S Airways Merger Talks

United Airlines and U.S. Airways shares rose on unconfirmed merger talks between the two companies. A United/U.S merger would create the second largest airline in the U.S. The CEO’s of both airlines are proponents of consolidating the industry because of competitiveness and overcapacities. With a consolidation and capacity cuts since 2008 the industry may be approaching positive earnings.

United shares up 8.87% at 2.45pm (eastern)
US Airways shares up 12.76% at 2.45pm (eastern)

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Spirit Air pushes the limit with $45 bag fee

Airlines have gone too far and are starting to cross the line with fees!

Where did all your (airlines) profits from the golden years of the 90′s go? I understand feul prices have gone up. However, when these airlines were raking in millions, ask yourself one question… why didn’t they save their profits in reserves? A rainy day fund? That would have been a great relief for airlines to have during this economic recession. Instead, they continue to take advantage of passengers for their mistakes! Enough is Enough!

Money doesn’t just disappear, mismanagement and lack of leadership results in failure. 

Check out this article “Spirit Air pushes the limit with $45 bag fee” by Kyle Peterson and Deepa Seetharaman
“The low-cost carrier is taking the blows that come with being the first to seize on an unpopular, but possibly lucrative idea. That does not mean that it will be the last.
A few years ago, paying up to $45 to stow a piece of luggage in the overhead bin seemed as unthinkable as installing a pay toilet in the coach class. But it’s a new day for U.S. airlines as many struggle daily for survival in a volatile business with razor-thin profit margins.”
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Top 10 Hedge Fund Managers 2009

Below are the top 10 Hedge Fund Mangers salaries. The top 25 earners were paid a collective $25.3 billion. The lowest was paid $350 million.

1.David Tepper, Appaloosa Management
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $4 billion

2. George Soros, Soros Fund Management
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $3.3 billion

3. James Simons, Renaissance Technologies
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $2.5 billion

4: John Paulson, Paulson & Company
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $2.3 billion

5: Steve Cohen, SAC Capital Advisors
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $1.4 billion

6. (tie): Carl Icahn, Icahn Capital
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $1.3 billion

6. (tie): Edward Lampert, ESL Investments
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $1.3 billion

8. (tie): Kenneth Griffin, Citadel Investment Group
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $900 million

8. (tie): John Arnold, Centaurus Advisors
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $900 million

10. Philip Falcone, Harbinger Capital Partners
Est. 2009 personal earnings: $825 million

Reference: Pay of Hedge Fund Managers Roared Back Last Year

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