More Great Economic News
- Thread starter sandy
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Most people can afford stocks if they budget wisely. If they use their "fun" money they can have more fun when their stocks skyrocket. I bought Google at its IPO of 85. It's doing very well now.
Hey Billy,
I was just looking in the paper today at some different ETFs. Two caught my attention. An UltraShort Fincancial ETF and an UltraShort Real Estate ETF. Surely theses are huge bets agaisnt the market, but based on everything I've been reading, there looks to be a good 3-6 months left of a bear market driven by those two sectors. Now even looks like a good time consdiering the huge boost the financials have gotten after the Citi news hit yesterday. All this good news cant last much longer, haha.
I was just looking in the paper today at some different ETFs. Two caught my attention. An UltraShort Fincancial ETF and an UltraShort Real Estate ETF. Surely theses are huge bets agaisnt the market, but based on everything I've been reading, there looks to be a good 3-6 months left of a bear market driven by those two sectors. Now even looks like a good time consdiering the huge boost the financials have gotten after the Citi news hit yesterday. All this good news cant last much longer, haha.
kmguru
Staff member
Signs of times in great economic news....
November 30, 2007 - New York Times
Food Banks, in a Squeeze, Tighten Belts
By KATIE ZEZIMA
MANCHESTER, N.H., Nov. 26 — Food banks around the country are reporting critical shortages that have forced them to ration supplies, distribute staples usually reserved for disaster relief and in some instances close.
“It’s one of the most demanding years I’ve seen in my 30 years” in the field, said Catherine D’Amato, president and chief executive of the Greater Boston Food Bank, comparing the situation to the recession of the late 1970s.
Experts attributed the shortages to an unusual combination of factors, including rising demand, a sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm products, and tighter inventory controls that are leaving supermarkets and other retailers with less food to donate.
“We don’t have nearly what people need, and that’s all there is to it,” said Greg Bryant, director of the food pantry in Sheffield, Vt.
“We’re one step from running out,” Mr. Bryant said.
“It kind of spirals,” he added. “The people that normally donate to us have less, the retailers are selling to discount stores because people are shopping in those places, and now we have less food and more people. It’s a double, triple, hit.”
The Vermont Food Bank said its supply of food was down 50 percent from last year. “It’s a crisis mode,” said Doug O’Brien, the bank’s chief executive.
For two weeks this month, the New Hampshire Food Bank distributed supplies reserved for emergency relief. Demand for food here is up 40 percent over last year and supply is down 30 percent, which is striking in the state with the lowest reliance on food banks.
“It’s the price of oil, gas, rents and foreclosures,” said Melanie Gosselin, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank.
Ms. Gosselin said household budget squeezes had led to a drop in donations and greater demand. “This is not the old ‘only the homeless are hungry,’” she said. “It’s working people.”
Lane Kenworthy, a professor of sociology and political science at the University of Arizona, agreed, saying: “The overall picture is that household incomes are kind of stuck. There’s very little way to increase income, and most people have a very heavy debt load. Any event that increases your costs is really, really troublesome, because you’re already stretched thin.”
The food bank in Manchester delivers provisions to a housing project each week, and on a recent Monday, Matthew Whooley, 26, of Manchester, was waiting in line with his wife, Penny, and their four children.
“Every week there’s less and less food,” Mr. Whooley said. “It used to be potatoes, meat and bread, and last week we got Doritos and flour. The food is getting shorter, and the lines keep getting longer.”
In part, food banks are suffering because farmers are doing well. The food banks rely on supplies from the federal Agriculture Department’s Bonus Commodity Program, which buys surplus crops like apples and potatoes from farmers.
“Right now, the agricultural economy is very strong and the surpluses aren’t available for us to purchase,” said Jean Daniel, a department spokeswoman. “Certainly we’re empathetic, but unfortunately we cannot count on those bonus commodities every year.”
Supplies from the surplus program dropped to $67 million worth last year, from $154.3 million in 2005 and $233 million in 2004. Figures for this year are not available, Ms. Daniel said.
Food bank operators are lobbying for passage of a farm bill currently stalled in the Senate that would raise emergency aid for food banks to $250 million a year, from $140 million. That figure has remained steady since 2002.
Susannah Morgan, executive director of the Food Bank of Alaska said, “The biggest problem is that the federal government’s programs are dropping as need is growing.”
Ms. Morgan said the decline has affected rural Alaska, where native tribes run most food pantries. She said about 10 percent of the state’s rural food banks have closed because there is not enough federal help coming in.
“They don’t feel staffing and heating is worth it for the small amount of food,” Ms. Morgan said.
Further complicating the picture, Ms. Morgan and others said, is tighter inventory monitoring, which has left many stores with less to donate.
“They know exactly what they have, down to the can,” said Darren Hoffman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, whose supplies are down 11 percent this year. “They can track a lot better and don’t order in bulk. Efficiency has kind of been the enemy of the food bank.”
Extra food — items that are not selling or seasonal inventory that is no longer needed — is now often sold to low-cost retailers, said Tim Viall, executive director of the Greater Stockton Food Bank in Stockton, Calif.
“We’re getting fewer canned goods than last year from retail grocers, because they’re selling it to warehouse food stores,” Mr. Viall said. “We’re putting more reliance on canned food drives, and we’re trying to ramp up the fresh fruit and produce. We are in the heart of one of the most productive agriculture areas in the world, and we’re trying to take advantage.” In places where community donations are down and there are no food manufacturers to solicit, pantries and food banks are making difficult choices. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Cincinnati is giving families less food this year because there is not enough. It has started to ask smaller families to take fewer products.
“Donations are down, and people who need help is up,” said Liz Carter, executive director of the food bank. “So what are we going to do. We just made the decision that instead of giving people six or seven days worth of food, we’re going to give them three or four days of food, which is a drop in the bucket.”
Ginny Hildebrand, executive director of the Association of Arizona Food Banks, said many pantries were facing similar situations.
At a recent conference for food bank employees, Ms. Hildebrand said, “Everybody was saying the same thing. They’re all hit by an increase in demand, all hit by the impact of the higher costs of food, and all hit by federal reductions. We just don’t have the quantity of products available that we used to.”
Ross Fraser, a spokesman for America’s Second Harvest, which distributes more than two billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually, said the shortages at food banks were the worst the organization had seen in 26 years.
“Suddenly it’s on everyone’s radar,” Mr. Fraser said. “Food banks are calling us and saying, ‘My God, we have to get food.’”
November 30, 2007 - New York Times
Food Banks, in a Squeeze, Tighten Belts
By KATIE ZEZIMA
MANCHESTER, N.H., Nov. 26 — Food banks around the country are reporting critical shortages that have forced them to ration supplies, distribute staples usually reserved for disaster relief and in some instances close.
“It’s one of the most demanding years I’ve seen in my 30 years” in the field, said Catherine D’Amato, president and chief executive of the Greater Boston Food Bank, comparing the situation to the recession of the late 1970s.
Experts attributed the shortages to an unusual combination of factors, including rising demand, a sharp drop in federal supplies of excess farm products, and tighter inventory controls that are leaving supermarkets and other retailers with less food to donate.
“We don’t have nearly what people need, and that’s all there is to it,” said Greg Bryant, director of the food pantry in Sheffield, Vt.
“We’re one step from running out,” Mr. Bryant said.
“It kind of spirals,” he added. “The people that normally donate to us have less, the retailers are selling to discount stores because people are shopping in those places, and now we have less food and more people. It’s a double, triple, hit.”
The Vermont Food Bank said its supply of food was down 50 percent from last year. “It’s a crisis mode,” said Doug O’Brien, the bank’s chief executive.
For two weeks this month, the New Hampshire Food Bank distributed supplies reserved for emergency relief. Demand for food here is up 40 percent over last year and supply is down 30 percent, which is striking in the state with the lowest reliance on food banks.
“It’s the price of oil, gas, rents and foreclosures,” said Melanie Gosselin, executive director of the New Hampshire Food Bank.
Ms. Gosselin said household budget squeezes had led to a drop in donations and greater demand. “This is not the old ‘only the homeless are hungry,’” she said. “It’s working people.”
Lane Kenworthy, a professor of sociology and political science at the University of Arizona, agreed, saying: “The overall picture is that household incomes are kind of stuck. There’s very little way to increase income, and most people have a very heavy debt load. Any event that increases your costs is really, really troublesome, because you’re already stretched thin.”
The food bank in Manchester delivers provisions to a housing project each week, and on a recent Monday, Matthew Whooley, 26, of Manchester, was waiting in line with his wife, Penny, and their four children.
“Every week there’s less and less food,” Mr. Whooley said. “It used to be potatoes, meat and bread, and last week we got Doritos and flour. The food is getting shorter, and the lines keep getting longer.”
In part, food banks are suffering because farmers are doing well. The food banks rely on supplies from the federal Agriculture Department’s Bonus Commodity Program, which buys surplus crops like apples and potatoes from farmers.
“Right now, the agricultural economy is very strong and the surpluses aren’t available for us to purchase,” said Jean Daniel, a department spokeswoman. “Certainly we’re empathetic, but unfortunately we cannot count on those bonus commodities every year.”
Supplies from the surplus program dropped to $67 million worth last year, from $154.3 million in 2005 and $233 million in 2004. Figures for this year are not available, Ms. Daniel said.
Food bank operators are lobbying for passage of a farm bill currently stalled in the Senate that would raise emergency aid for food banks to $250 million a year, from $140 million. That figure has remained steady since 2002.
Susannah Morgan, executive director of the Food Bank of Alaska said, “The biggest problem is that the federal government’s programs are dropping as need is growing.”
Ms. Morgan said the decline has affected rural Alaska, where native tribes run most food pantries. She said about 10 percent of the state’s rural food banks have closed because there is not enough federal help coming in.
“They don’t feel staffing and heating is worth it for the small amount of food,” Ms. Morgan said.
Further complicating the picture, Ms. Morgan and others said, is tighter inventory monitoring, which has left many stores with less to donate.
“They know exactly what they have, down to the can,” said Darren Hoffman, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Regional Food Bank, whose supplies are down 11 percent this year. “They can track a lot better and don’t order in bulk. Efficiency has kind of been the enemy of the food bank.”
Extra food — items that are not selling or seasonal inventory that is no longer needed — is now often sold to low-cost retailers, said Tim Viall, executive director of the Greater Stockton Food Bank in Stockton, Calif.
“We’re getting fewer canned goods than last year from retail grocers, because they’re selling it to warehouse food stores,” Mr. Viall said. “We’re putting more reliance on canned food drives, and we’re trying to ramp up the fresh fruit and produce. We are in the heart of one of the most productive agriculture areas in the world, and we’re trying to take advantage.” In places where community donations are down and there are no food manufacturers to solicit, pantries and food banks are making difficult choices. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul food pantry in Cincinnati is giving families less food this year because there is not enough. It has started to ask smaller families to take fewer products.
“Donations are down, and people who need help is up,” said Liz Carter, executive director of the food bank. “So what are we going to do. We just made the decision that instead of giving people six or seven days worth of food, we’re going to give them three or four days of food, which is a drop in the bucket.”
Ginny Hildebrand, executive director of the Association of Arizona Food Banks, said many pantries were facing similar situations.
At a recent conference for food bank employees, Ms. Hildebrand said, “Everybody was saying the same thing. They’re all hit by an increase in demand, all hit by the impact of the higher costs of food, and all hit by federal reductions. We just don’t have the quantity of products available that we used to.”
Ross Fraser, a spokesman for America’s Second Harvest, which distributes more than two billion pounds of donated food and grocery products annually, said the shortages at food banks were the worst the organization had seen in 26 years.
“Suddenly it’s on everyone’s radar,” Mr. Fraser said. “Food banks are calling us and saying, ‘My God, we have to get food.’”
Like you?
Now THAT is propaganda...We're feeding 50 million criminal aliens, lazy Americans who won't work, and much of the world. Everyone who needs food here has free access to it. That story is propaganda.
why do you think the New York Times would jeopardize its international reputation as a reliable news source by fabricated "propaganda"? Do you have even a shred of proof for your claim? If the story were "fabricated propaganda", instead of a true report of current conditions, why has not one of the local papers in one of the many locations named contacted some of the many people and organizations named? Be a little bit logical if you can.
I am 100% sure than many reporters at each of these named locations would love to expose the NYT. Thus, I am forced by logic, to conclude it is Sandy who is fabricating propaganda with no basis in fact.
I attack false posts, usually in physics, but some times the actions of Democrats. For example, just yesterday I came to the defense of a big pharmaceutical company, which was attacked by a "Grandstanding Democratic" (Senator Kohl, of Wisconsin). He not only was seeking votes at the expense of the public health, but investigating Pfizer because Pfizer was trying to prevent the misuse of one of its drugs by limiting their availability for non FDA approve applications. (i.e. Pfizer was being taken to task by Senator Kohl for following the FDA's rules!) For that post critical of a Democratic Senator see:
http://www.sciforums.com/showpost.php?p=1651740&postcount=46
Your loyalty too should be more to truth than Bush and The GOP. Unfortunately, times are getting more difficult for many American and the NYT's story is true, not "propaganda."
Which specific companies are you investing in? I'm an optometrist, so I'm pretty well informed on these drugs. It's a truly amazing new treatment for macular degeneration. It can take someone from legally blind to seeing well enough to drive! The down side, at this point, is that the treatment requires that you get a shot in the eye once a month. To save or regain your vision, it's worth it. But we're hoping to figure out a less intensive/invasive treatment regimen.
Still, it's truly amazing. Previously, the only treatment for "wet" macular degeneration was to blast the new blood vessels with a laser. Sadly, this often left the patient with worse vision than before the treatment; but after a year the outcome was slightly better than if they hadn't had the laser procedure.
kmguru
Staff member
More propaganda....???
November 8, 2007
Fed Chairman Says Economy Likely to Slow
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress today that the economy is going to get worse before it gets better, a message that got a chilly reception from both Wall Street and politicians.
On a day when stock prices swung wildly, the dollar hit another new low against the euro and further signs emerged that consumers are growing more cautious about spending, Mr. Bernanke warned that the economy is about to “slow noticeably” as the housing market continues to spiral downward and financial institutions tighten up on lending.
November 8, 2007
Fed Chairman Says Economy Likely to Slow
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
WASHINGTON, Nov. 8 — Ben S. Bernanke, chairman of the Federal Reserve, told Congress today that the economy is going to get worse before it gets better, a message that got a chilly reception from both Wall Street and politicians.
On a day when stock prices swung wildly, the dollar hit another new low against the euro and further signs emerged that consumers are growing more cautious about spending, Mr. Bernanke warned that the economy is about to “slow noticeably” as the housing market continues to spiral downward and financial institutions tighten up on lending.
"...reliable news source"...:roflmao:
The NYSLimes is a liberal POS, treasonist, traitor rag that I would not even use to line my cat box. Their circulation is in the toilet. Their reporters plagarize/make up stories. They have no credibility. Ugh...
uke:http://www.anncoulter.com/
kmguru
Staff member
Most people can afford stocks if they budget wisely. If they use their "fun" money they can have more fun when their stocks skyrocket. I bought Google at its IPO of 85. It's doing very well now.
so the guy making 26k can afford stocks. Right
So which news source has credibility. Oh, of course. Coming from you, it must be the "national enquirer"....
If he can afford cigarettes, booze, drugs, condoms, women and whatever else he spends his money on, yes. He can afford stocks. He can buy one share/week if that's all he can afford. Smart investing at an early age pays off. I was saving/investing my birthday/First Communion/confirmation/etc money since I was 5. It turned out quite well.
Drudge, Hot Air, FOX, Newsmax, WorldNetDaily, Debbie Schlussel, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Little Green Footballs, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Boortz, Savage, Jihad Watch....
Usually/Sometimes: AP, Reuters, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Pravda, Scripps, Forbes, UPI...
Seldom: CNN and the networks. CNN just defended its' use of democratic plants in the GOP debates. They lost any credibility they had left with me on that one.
The National Enquirer does break some stories: usually entertainment stories.
Yes it is a very exciting time in many new drug areas. I may not make much money in this very high risk early stage drug developers area, but I love to learn and am doing a lot of it. Biology is to this century what physics was to the last -I.e. a total change in man's relationsip to the world.
I do not recomend specific companies to anyone. I "attend" many presentations via the internet and keep files on about 65 companies up dated, often with the slide they presented, but often they are well protected against me making copies and I just take notes. I am sure several I follow have drugs that target wet MD, but will not take the time to search for you.
One I looked at today (to up date it for fact that Sanfio just increase its ownership in REGN from 4 to 19%) has the following entry in my REGN file (I own only 100 shaires of REGN.):
" ...09Ap07 updated P2 on VEGF Trap-Eye for wet AMD results presented. Showed highest does (2mg intravitreal injection every 4 weeks), produced ave gain >10 letters after 12 weeks of treatment. (The primary end point. All does groups averaged gain of 5.9 letters, p < 0.0001) Equally important is that one dose decreased excess retinal thickness (p < 0.0001) and an increase in visual acuity (p = 0.012) still after 12 weeks, suggesting less frequent than monthly administration is possible. Only adverse events were those typically associated with intravitreal injections...." ("P2" is my compact notation for Phase II clinical trial. This appears to be my notes. I WILL ASK YOU TO TELL ME, AS EYE DOCTOR, DOES THIS SEEM "GREAT" OR NOT. I.e. please comment on how much of an advance this would be if confirmed in P3 and it gets to market.)*
Again, I just happen to open this file today. REGN may not be the most promissing developer of new drug for AMD in my files (and how could I really know?) They have a unique system which they call "trap" with many of their drugs. - I forget just what it refers to, but I like unique things in this early stage field. I do not think this AMD appliaction is the focus of ANY company I now own, but most I own do have several different drugs, some with several pottential applications each, "in the pipeline." The companies, like me with at least 40 different compaies owned, know that most will fail to get to market. (You can only lose 100%, and seldom even that, but the "up side potential" is easily 1000+% if their drug does get to market in a major medical need area, even if it is only "second line" or a combo-use drug.)
----------------------
*I hate needles, even in the arm. The thought of getting a shot in both eyes every four weeks would make me serious consider the option of learning braille instead. Thus, if "...an increase in visual acuity (p = 0.012) still after 12 weeks, {following a single dose} suggesting less frequent than monthly administration is possible. ..." holds up in P3, they do not need to better than drugs already on the market to have a "winner." (They could do to Lucentis and Avastin, what they did to Macugen, in the eye application. Macugen was only every 6 weeks, but was moe expensive and not as effective as these two, so now it has only the people with heart problems also part of the market.)
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If he can afford cigarettes, booze, drugs, condoms, women and whatever else he spends his money on, yes. He can afford stocks. He can buy one share/week if that's all he can afford. Smart investing at an early age pays off. I was saving/investing my birthday/First Communion/confirmation/etc money since I was 5. It turned out quite well.
Drudge, Hot Air, FOX, Newsmax, WorldNetDaily, Debbie Schlussel, Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Little Green Footballs, Ann Coulter, Rush Limbaugh, Boortz, Savage, Jihad Watch....
Usually/Sometimes: AP, Reuters, Breitbart, Bloomberg, Pravda, Scripps, Forbes, UPI...
Seldom: CNN and the networks. CNN just defended its' use of democratic plants in the GOP debates. They lost any credibility they had left with me on that one.
The National Enquirer does break some stories: usually entertainment stories.
out of the news things you stated and i recognize i would only say the a/p and reuters are reliable. most people who make low incomes say 26k even if they budget cannot afford stocks. food, healthcare, a house, a car these things eat up a person budget. why don't you try and spend a year attempting to live on only 26k.
You don't need a house and a car, though.
shelter is considered a need witch a house fufills. i was using the word house in general refering to any dwealing. and a car is almost a need witch is why i included it.
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