Dick Allen Posted January 29, 2018 Share Posted January 29, 2018 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 29, 2018 -> 11:01 AM) Every One of the World’s Big Economies Is Now Growing I give all the credit to a certain orange very stable genius. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 (edited) Minimum wage was $1.60 in 1973. In 2018 equivalent, that would be $9.28 per hour. Using that 5.8 multiplier, another way of thinking of it is this...if a worker was making the princely sum of $4.03 per hour in 1973, it would be like earning $23.37/hour in today's dollars. Essentially, any family today earning $50,000 or less (per household, without kids) would be living on the equivalent of $4.03/hr in terms of 1973 buying power. That, right there, explains a lot of what has happened to the middle class from the 1970's through today. Edited January 30, 2018 by caulfield12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 https://www.npr.org/2018/01/23/579690595/th...hy-so-many-guys A new NPR/Marist poll finds that 1 in 5 jobs in America is held by a worker under contract. Within a decade, contractors and freelancers could make up half of the American workforce. In a weeklong series, NPR explores many aspects of this change. Alex Belfiori has a big day coming up later this week. He'll sit down with his boss in a conference room at the Dick's Sporting Goods headquarters near Pittsburgh. The topic: his future with the company. "I was told ... there were no guarantees for me getting hired full time," says the 28-year-old Belfiori. For the past eight months, he has been a contract worker at the company, taking care of its tech needs. He likes his job. It's hands-on and involves making sure that projectors, TVs, computers and audio equipment are all working properly. The pay is decent — about $20 an hour — but not great. So he hopes that when he sits down with his boss, he will nail a job that's more challenging and financially rewarding Young contract workers, and not just men, start their careers in a very different place than their parents did — one that's more flexible but a lot more unpredictable. Since graduating from college, Belfiori has already had five jobs. He earns enough to pay the rent, make his car and student loan payments and put up to $50 a month into a retirement account. His experience mirrors what other contract workers told us in the NPR/Marist poll: There's plenty of work available. But careers with a solid future — something to build a life around — are much more elusive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 Stephen Miller had to be behind this Russian sanctions joke, right? "We were waiting for this list to come out, and I'm not going to hide it: we were going to take steps in response, and, mind you, serious steps, that could push our relations to the nadir. But we're going to refrain from taking these steps for now," Putin said. The Russian president said he does not expect the publication to have any impact but expressed dismay at the scope of the officials and business people listed. "Ordinary Russian citizens, employees and entire industries are behind each of those people and companies, so all 146 million people have essentially been put on this list," Putin said at a campaign event in Moscow. "What is the point of this? I don't understand." Russia hawks in Congress had pushed the administration to include certain names, while Russian businessmen hired lobbyists to keep them off. In the end, the list of 114 Russian politicians released just before a Monday evening deadline included the whole of Putin's administration, as listed by the Kremlin on its website, plus the Russian cabinet, all top law enforcement officials and chief executives of the main state-controlled companies. President Putin even joked on Tuesday that he felt "slighted" that his name wasn't there. A companion list of 96 "oligarchs" is a carbon copy of the Forbes magazine's Russian billionaires' rankings, only arranged alphabetically. It makes no distinction between those who are tied to the Kremlin and those who are not. Some of the people on the list have long fallen out with the Kremlin or are widely considered to have built their fortunes independently of the Russian government. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/state-depart...--politics.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockRaines Posted January 30, 2018 Share Posted January 30, 2018 I think they are just lazy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted February 1, 2018 Share Posted February 1, 2018 Trump administration strips consumer watchdog office of enforcement powers in lending discrimination cases The Trump administration has stripped enforcement powers away from Consumer Financial Protection Bureau office that specializes in pursuing cases against financial firms for breaking discrimination laws, according to two people familiar with the matter and emails reviewed by The Washington Post. The move comes about two months after President Trump installed his budget chief Mick Mulvaney at the head of an agency that has long been in the cross-hairs of Republicans. The Office of Fair Lending and Equal Opportunity had imposed penalties on lenders that it said had systematically imposed higher interest rates on minorities than whites. Beyond moving the Office of Fair Lending, Mulvaney has also dropped lawsuits against payday lenders and said the agency would reconsider aggressive rules the industry complained would cripple it. In a memo to staff last week, Mulvaney said the CFPB would no longer attempt to “push the envelope” in enforcement cases. “We are government employees. We don’t just work for the government, we work for the people: those who use credit cards and those who provide them,” he said. Critics say these moves collectively could hobble an agency created after the global financial crisis to protect consumers against the financial industry. “If you remove enforcement power from an office, you are essentially gutting its power,” said Vanita Gupta, the former head of the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice during the Obama administration. “What we’re seeing in this move is a push to erode the federal civil rights machinery.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Dow down 600+. VIX almost to 18 for the first time in forever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 02:11 PM) Dow down 600+. VIX almost to 18 for the first time in forever. I was actually coming in here to ask about the VIX. Does the VIX always correspond so closely (timewise) to the dropoff? How forward looking is it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 2, 2018 -> 03:29 PM) I was actually coming in here to ask about the VIX. Does the VIX always correspond so closely (timewise) to the dropoff? How forward looking is it? It is a measure of volatility. It is used as a "fear" index. It is expected change in the SP 500 over a 30 day forward period. From a math standpoint down days create more volatility because you are shrinking the overall index number, while putting the total change into it. A 500 point change in a 10000 market looks like 500 in 9500 for a down move, but 500 in 10500 for the same move up. Historically a VIX of 18 to 20 is normal, with 30 showing a period of selling/fear of selling. In 2007-8, the VIX got up over 70 during the height of the collapse. Today was the first time we have been over 17 since the Presidential election. The VIX of 9 to 10 we have seen lately are hugely abnormal, and a result of day after day of small increases, with no real fear. https://www.investopedia.com/terms/v/vix.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 2, 2018 Share Posted February 2, 2018 Oh, yeah I guess that makes sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caulfield12 Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) Markets hate dramatically rising bond yields, interest rate increases and political uncertainty...we’re about halfway to a 10% correction. Edited February 3, 2018 by caulfield12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted February 3, 2018 Share Posted February 3, 2018 (edited) Paul Ryan actually tweeted about a secretary taking home an extra $1.50 a week from the very successful tax cuts. This is actually real. https://mobile.twitter.com/TeamPelosi/statu...sh%2Findex.html Ryan got a $500k campaign contribution from the Koch brothers for passing the bill. Maybe he can cover a few memberships. Edited February 3, 2018 by Dick Allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iwritecode Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 QUOTE (caulfield12 @ Jan 29, 2018 -> 07:34 PM) Minimum wage was $1.60 in 1973. In 2018 equivalent, that would be $9.28 per hour. Using that 5.8 multiplier, another way of thinking of it is this...if a worker was making the princely sum of $4.03 per hour in 1973, it would be like earning $23.37/hour in today's dollars. Essentially, any family today earning $50,000 or less (per household, without kids) would be living on the equivalent of $4.03/hr in terms of 1973 buying power. That, right there, explains a lot of what has happened to the middle class from the 1970's through today. I've been having a conversation with someone on Facebook the past few days that has been trying to justify his position that $20/hr is poverty level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Yikes, another 600+ point drop. Bitcoin's also crashing back to earth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmags Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 This is a day I wish Yellen was still Fed Chair (also her first day not there) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) Funny, Trump hasn't mentioned 401ks for several days. Using short term things to promote long term things many times blows up in your face. Edited February 5, 2018 by Dick Allen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 (edited) QUOTE (bmags @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 01:57 PM) This is a day I wish Yellen was still Fed Chair (also her first day not there) Actually managed to hit the Fed's dual mandate and still kicked out after one term. e: jesus another 150 points in the couple of minutes since my first post Edited February 5, 2018 by StrangeSox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 1070 and accelerating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dick Allen Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 The correction is on. Probably has something to do with Obama or Hillary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StrangeSox Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 It is at least partially because wages are increasing, a hilarious outcome of modern capitalism. VIX up to 27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 What an afternoon! All of the way down to 1400+ down on the dow, and now we are back to the down 700 range. VIX blew a 35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buehrle>Wood Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 QUOTE (southsider2k5 @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 02:34 PM) What an afternoon! All of the way down to 1400+ down on the dow, and now we are back to the down 700 range. VIX blew a 35. Total algo flash crash today. That was fun trading. Finally some volatility in the market. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
southsider2k5 Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 QUOTE (Buehrle>Wood @ Feb 5, 2018 -> 02:37 PM) Total algo flash crash today. That was fun trading. Finally some volatility in the market. Absolutely. They hit a technical level and bids just disappeared. I actually tried dumping the VIX Calls I had, but I missed it before it tightened back up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jenksismyhero Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 Lol, of course: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ptatc Posted February 5, 2018 Share Posted February 5, 2018 QUOTE (StrangeSox @ Jan 30, 2018 -> 06:59 AM) https://www.npr.org/2018/01/23/579690595/th...hy-so-many-guys This is the stuff I was talking about earlier. Unemployment figures are low but many of those employed aren't full time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts