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Russ Henke
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Author: |
Russ Henke |
Created: |
3/2/2007 6:15 AM |
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Thoughts of interest to COFES and COFES attendees |
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Economic news.... |
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By Russ Henke on
11/23/2007 6:06 PM
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Crude-oil futures ended November 23, 2007 at the highest-ever closing level. Crude oil for January 2009 delivery settled up 89 cents at $98.18 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The session touched an intraday high of $98.45. Crude ended the week up $4.34, or 4.4%.
The US dollar also helped boost oil as it touched a new historic low of $1.4966 per euro before “recovering” to $1.4834. A sliding dollar makes oil cheaper for buyers holding other currencies. These buyers are likely to increase demand and bid up oil prices. You think?
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More news in the Rich-get-Richer series… |
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By Russ Henke on
11/21/2007 7:34 AM
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On November 19, 2007 from Bloomberg News comes word that shareholders in the securities industry are having their worst year since 2002, losing $74 billion of equity. But it appears that won't prevent Wall Street from paying record bonuses for 2007, totaling almost $38 billion. That's billion with a "b", folks!
By way of comparison, Bloomberg News reported that the industry's 2007 bonuses are larger than the gross domestic products of Sri Lanka, Lebanon or Bulgaria. The average $201,500 bonus is more than four times the $48,201 median household income in the US last year, according to US Census Bureau statistics.
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Truth hurts... |
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By Russ Henke on
11/19/2007 7:19 AM
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Just in time for the Annapolis peace conference planned for the last week of November 2007 comes news over the weekend November 17-18 from PBS: In Israel, a new word has been added to the official Hebrew Dictionary. The new word is “Condel”. It means, “to run around, have lots of meetings, and get nothing done.” Condel is a real word, frequently used in Israel and spreading elsewhere, inspired by the US Secretary of State Condi Rice.
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Blackstone back in the news |
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By Russ Henke on
11/12/2007 6:52 PM
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If you missed paying $35 per share in the Blackstone IPO in July 2007, you’ll be somewhat gratified by this news.
Shares of Blackstone Group traded as much as 11% lower November 12, 2007, as investors reacted negatively to the private-equity firm reporting a third-quarter loss. The company's quarterly loss amounted to 44 cents a share. On average, analysts had been expecting Blackstone to earn plus 30 cents a share for Q3 2007.
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Still More Figures... |
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By Russ Henke on
11/10/2007 9:34 AM
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The Figure: Number of US deaths in Iraq in October was 39.
The Lie: “This number of 39 proves the surge is working.”
The Facts: Bush implemented “The Surge” in January 2007. As of early November,
the year 2007 had already become the deadliest year yet for US troops in Iraq. At
least 852 American military personnel have died in Iraq so far this year — the
highest annual toll since Bush began the Iraq war in March 2003.
The Figure: Six US troops were killed when insurgents ambushed their foot patrol
in the high mountains of eastern Afghanistan on November 9, 2007.
The Lie: “The US vanquished the Taliban in 2001, to avenge 9/11.”
The Facts: The year 2007 has just become the deadliest for US troops in
Afghanistan since the 2001 in ...
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One more Figure... |
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By Russ Henke on
11/8/2007 7:22 AM
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The Figure: On November 7, 2007, the US national average gas price for Unleaded Regular reached $3.04 per gallon.
The Lie: Autumn always means falling gasoline prices, as demand eases after the busy summer travel season.
The Facts: The average price per gallon of Unleaded Regular Gas has gone up 28 cents in 30 days. In some states the average price is much higher. In California, the price on November 7 averaged $3.31.
Related Fact: The price of a gallon of Unleaded Regular Gas when George W. Bush took office on January 20, 2001: $1.46
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Figures lie; Liars figure… |
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By Russ Henke on
11/7/2007 6:09 PM
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The Figure: Real US gross domestic product (GNP) -- the output of goods and
services produced by labor and property located in the United States -- increased
at an annual rate of 3.9% in the third quarter of 2007, according to advance
estimates released by the US Bureau of Economic Analysis at the end of October
2007.
The Lie: “The proves that the economy of the US is strong and resilient.”
The Facts: The advance estimate of GNP proves nothing. It’s a very preliminary
estimate. The dramatic impact on GNP of the value of the US dollar being at record lows
against foreign currencies has yet to be analyzed.
The Figure: The US economy added 166,000 jobs in October 2007, the fastest pace in
five months, the Labor Department said.
The Lie: “The proves tha ...
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Jobs and Trade Deficits |
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By Russ Henke on
10/9/2007 4:44 PM
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Most economic writers hailed the monthly unemployment report from the Labor Department last Friday October 5, 2007, as evidence that a US recession is now less likely. Net jobs created in September 2007 were a “healthy” 110,000, they gushed. The same writers also seemed pleased that the originally reported loss of 4000 jobs in August, was restated as a net gain for August of 89,000. The stock markets dutifully rose.
However, few writers pointed out the troubling facts behind those numbers. First, as has been mentioned in this blog space before, figures like 100,000 new jobs in a month are far below the levels needed just to take care of the number of people entering the US job market every month from sheer population growth. Indeed, the unemployment “rate” rose in September to 4.7%, the highest in just over a year.
Second, one has to look at exactly what sectors of the US economy are producing the gains. In September, the increases came from services th ...
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Autumnal Equinox – and All Is Not Well |
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By Russ Henke on
9/23/2007 5:26 AM
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Did your personal net worth increase by more than $300 million in the last 12 months ending August 31, 2007? No? Then you’re probably no longer eligible for the Forbes list of the 400 richest Americans! Indeed, if your net worth is not greater than $1.3 billion, forget it! The collective net worth of America’s 400 richest people rose $290 billion, to $1.54 trillion from $1.25 trillion last year, or a 23.2% increase. What’s that you say? You didn’t even get a 23% raise in the last year?
Wall Street led the charge for wealth creation, despite the stock market problems of recent months. Nearly half of the 45 new members of the list of 400 made their new fortunes in hedge funds and private equity. The youngest member of the Forbes 400 this year is 33-year-old John Arnold, a former Enron trader who now runs hedge fund Centaurus Energy and has now amassed a $1.5 billi ...
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Follow Up to Past Blog Entries -- September 1 |
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By Russ Henke on
9/1/2007 9:20 AM
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Among the many enervating political and economic factors that have emerged in the last six and a half years, is the unmistakable and increasing trend of a rich-get-richer, poor-get-poorer US income distribution.
Over the last week, a report was issued by the Institute for Policy Studies and United for a Fair Economy that revealed quantitatively what we have known qualitatively for a long time; namely, that chief executives of American companies made an average of $10.8 million in 2006, more than 364 times the average pay of American workers.
Moreover, according to this year's report, CEOs received an average of $1.3 million in pension benefits last year. By contrast, less than 60 percent of US households led by someone aged 45 to 54 had any retirement account at all.
The 20 highest-paid CEOs of US public companies were paid an average of $36.4 million, three times more than the 20 highest-paid European CEOs, and 204 times more than the 20 highest-paid g ...
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