Financial News

[mr_genius]

I generally looked for good balance sheets, low debt load and some good avenue for growth in the future.

 

basically, the exact opposite of the overall US economy.

[mr_genius]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/business.../05jobs.html?hp

 

Employers added 431,000 nonfarm jobs nationwide in May, the biggest increase in a single month in a decade, the Labor Department said Friday. But the bulk of the growth was in government jobs, driven by hiring for the 2010 census, and private-sector job growth was weak.

 

Mr. Chandler noted that private-sector job creation, a crucial measure, reached only 41,000, compared with expectations for 180,000 and a three-month moving average of 155,600.

 

a terrible jobs report. the private sector can't support all these new government 'jobs'. at least the census stuff is temporary.

 

need more private sector jobs

Edited June 4, 2010 by mr_genius

[Balta1701]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/05/business.../05jobs.html?hp

 

 

 

a terrible jobs report. the private sector can't support all these new government 'jobs'. at least the census stuff is temporary.

 

need more private sector jobs

The dotted line on here excludes census hiring.

[mr_genius]

The dotted line on here excludes census hiring.

 

whats your point?

[Balta1701]

whats your point?

The dotted path could easily be the start of the 2nd dip.

 

Especially when we fire a couple hundred thousand teachers this year.

[StrangeSox]

It does appear to have plateaued rather nicely.

[NorthSideSox72]

The dotted path could easily be the start of the 2nd dip.

 

Especially when we fire a couple hundred thousand teachers this year.

Over an extended period - say, since January - the great majority of leading indicators have shown a solid, though slow, recovery is likely. Only in the past couple weeks have we seen some disturbing numbers. I haven't thought at any point that a 2nd dip is likely, even though people have been calling for one being about to happen since early 2009. I still don't see it as being a likelihood. Possible though.

 

I still like WHERE the private jobs are stronger. Its weaker in home construction, where a lot of job losses are still going on, and I actually like to see that at this point. Manufacturing is still surging, maybe almost too much.

 

Let's see how the next month or so shakes out. If that little tail keeps tailing, instead of being a blip, then I'll worry more about a 2nd dip.

 

[Balta1701]

Manufacturing is still surging, maybe almost too much.

The collapse of the Euro is going to hurt that. A lot.

[NorthSideSox72]

The collapse of the Euro is going to hurt that. A lot.

Eh, we don't export a whole lot to Europe anymore anyway, so I don't think so. Euro makes me worry, but the manufacturing losses from it (along with tourism losses) are not by biggest concerns. I'm more worried about the European debt that is held globally, and the effect of that on the financial sector here.

 

[Balta1701]

Hiring of temporary workers has also slowed considerably.

[NorthSideSox72]

Hiring of temporary workers has also slowed considerably.

Um no, did you read the article? temp help has sped up significantly. 31,000 last month in fact. So it says the opposite of what you are saying here.

 

The article is in fact stating that it did grow a lot since the bottom, but that contrary to the belief some held, it didn't result in similar gains in permanent jobs. Which is not surprising given the very slow recovery, so naturally, that will cause a balloon and extension of temporary help, as companies move more cautiously.

 

 

[Balta1701]

Um no, did you read the article? temp help has sped up significantly. 31,000 last month in fact. So it says the opposite of what you are saying here.

 

The article is in fact stating that it did grow a lot since the bottom, but that contrary to the belief some held, it didn't result in similar gains in permanent jobs. Which is not surprising given the very slow recovery, so naturally, that will cause a balloon and extension of temporary help, as companies move more cautiously.

Take a look at the graph. Compared to previous months, temp hiring has dropped from 60,000 temp jobs to 30,000 temp jobs.

[NorthSideSox72]

Take a look at the graph. Compared to previous months, temp hiring has dropped from 60,000 temp jobs to 30,000 temp jobs.

If by slowed you mean the gains are declining, but still rising, than sure. They were going up ridiculously fast for a while there, that wasn't going to continue. But when you say "hiring has slowed", that's not really true.

 

This, by the way, looks like a trend of the future to me. Not just as a result of this recession. I think temporary and contract work will be increasing as a % of the workforce generally for some time. JMHO.

 

[Y2HH]

If by slowed you mean the gains are declining, but still rising, than sure. They were going up ridiculously fast for a while there, that wasn't going to continue. But when you say "hiring has slowed", that's not really true.

 

This, by the way, looks like a trend of the future to me. Not just as a result of this recession. I think temporary and contract work will be increasing as a % of the workforce generally for some time. JMHO.

 

It will, it's another way for companies to skirt around having to invest in 401k's and avoid healthcare costs, as if you are a contractor, you are paid X$, but you're responsible for health insurance, 401k, etc., on your own. Also, this way, they can cancel the contract whenever they want, and also don't have to give you vacation time.

[NorthSideSox72]

It will, it's another way for companies to skirt around having to invest in 401k's and avoid healthcare costs, as if you are a contractor, you are paid X$, but you're responsible for health insurance, 401k, etc., on your own. Also, this way, they can cancel the contract whenever they want, and also don't have to give you vacation time.

I think its that flexibility that is the biggest reason for it. Companies will still be willing to give those benefits for some people they know they want long-term, but they will use the contractors to be part of the ebb and flow segment of the work when they can.

 

[Balta1701]

I think its that flexibility that is the biggest reason for it. Companies will still be willing to give those benefits for some people they know they want long-term, but they will use the contractors to be part of the ebb and flow segment of the work when they can.

If there's 10% unemployment long-term, then he's right, because the workers that are hired will have lost all of their bargaining power; there's always someone equally qualified out there who is currently unemployed.

[NorthSideSox72]

If there's 10% unemployment long-term, then he's right, because the workers that are hired will have lost all of their bargaining power; there's always someone equally qualified out there who is currently unemployed.

You are exaggerating the swing in bargaining power here. You are telling me that at 6% UE the employees are mighty and control all, but at 10% have nothing? Its not nearly that wild of a swing. Companies still need staff to function, and there is not unlimited supply of most skill sets. Most employees still have plenty of leverage, it doesn't all just disappear. Sure, in this ecomony they have LESS of it. but you make it sound like by going from 6% to 10% that employers can all pay minimum wage and no benefits to anyone.

 

[Balta1701]

but you make it sound like by going from 6% to 10% that employers can all pay minimum wage and no benefits to anyone.

Wow, the perfect Republican world.

 

Of course there's some hangover, but really, the increase in competition between 5% unemployment and 10% unemployment is huge. A couple percent of the unemployment is always built in, so you're going from nearly full labor force participation to massive underutilization. There's a massive shift there in employees available per position.

 

A good chunk of that leverage you refer to is inertia...the fact that it takes some time to retrain an employee. But really, the change in the labor market between those 2 numbers is monstrous.

[southsider2k5]

2nd time through 10,000 on the dow, and a weekend to think about it. Monday ought to be interesting. Last time we rallied well off of it.

[Balta1701]

The Financial Crisis commission today issued bipartisan subpoenas aimed at Goldman Sachs today. They flat out ripped them while doing so.

Referring to its conduct as "abysmal," "unacceptable," "egregious," and "disturbing," the federal panel created to probe the causes of the financial crisis slapped Goldman Sachs with a subpoena on Friday for its "very deliberate effort to run out the clock" in failing to turn over key documents and make company executives available for interviews with federal investigators.

 

The Financial Crisis Inquiry Commission turned to the subpoena after "multiple requests" and "months" of stalling by Wall Street's most profitable firm to turn over requested information.

 

Goldman Sachs missed at least seven deadlines, requested extensions that were subsequently missed at least three times, and was threatened with a subpoena on at least three different occasions, according to a summary of the back-and-forth provided by the financial crisis panel. The requests for information stretch back to January.

 

The panel's vice chairman, former Rep. Bill Thomas, said during a conference call with reporters on Monday that the months-long delay appeared to resemble "an agreed upon strategy."

 

Sullivan & Cromwell LLP serves as Goldman's lead outside counsel in representing the firm before the investigative panel. Most of Goldman's communications with the FCIC went through the law firm, according to two sources.

 

The panel's chairman, former California state treasurer Phil Angelides, reminded reporters that the panel has been tasked by Congress to investigate the roots of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, adding that the investigative panel wouldn't allow Goldman to continue its "especially egregious" tactic of delaying the release of key documents.

Story continues below

 

"We're not going to allow the American people to be played for chumps here," Angelides said.

 

[mr_genius]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/13/realesta...ml?ref=business

 

Study Says Math Deficiencies Increase Foreclosure Risk

 

IF you can’t divide 300 by 2, should you qualify for a loan?

 

That is one of the questions raised by a new study led by a Columbia University assistant business professor, Stephan Meier, who found that borrowers with poor math skills were three times more likely than others to go into foreclosure...

 

Over all, 21 percent of the respondents whose math abilities placed them in the bottom quarter of the survey experienced foreclosure, versus 7 percent of those in the top quarter.

 

 

 

 

[mr_genius]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/as...amp;twt=nytimes

 

Some big news coming out of Afghanistan

 

The United States has discovered nearly $1 trillion in untapped mineral deposits in Afghanistan, far beyond any previously known reserves and enough to fundamentally alter the Afghan economy and perhaps the Afghan war itself, according to senior American government officials.

 

The previously unknown deposits — including huge veins of iron, copper, cobalt, gold and critical industrial metals like lithium — are so big and include so many minerals that are essential to modern industry that Afghanistan could eventually be transformed into one of the most important mining centers in the world, the United States officials believe.

 

[NorthSideSox72]

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/14/world/as...amp;twt=nytimes

 

Some big news coming out of Afghanistan

Wow - that could change the situation over there drastically, long term.

 

[Balta1701]

Wow - that could change the situation over there drastically, long term.

Mineral wealth has a habit of being as large of a corrupting influence as anything in a state these days.

[NorthSideSox72]

Mineral wealth has a habit of being as large of a corrupting influence as anything in a state these days.

Eh, the corruption is already there, that's not going to be the new aspect.