Reality verses the so called "improving economy"

The American economy has many problems. Some 4 million homes are now on the market, enough to satisfy demand for over a year.

Unemployment has stalled to 9.5 percent. And tax credits for homebuyers are running out. Retail sales have also been disappointing.

However, the White House insists the economy is improving.

Ground Zero and Islam: A warning from abroad

Is this Self explanatory enough for Americans?

Pointing out what should be obvious, thank you & shout out to the UK's Pat Condell, spot on!

California's Congressman Pete Stark Provides a Great Example of Why Just 1 in 5 Approve of Congress

The headline is a FACT: http://ht.ly/2qOU5

Is a Crash Coming? Ten Reasons to Be Cautious

The Big Interview with David Rosenberg

1. The market is already expensive. Stocks are about 20 times cyclically-adjusted earnings, according to data compiled by Yale University economics professor Robert Shiller. That's well above average, which, historically, has been about 16. This ratio has been a powerful predictor of long-term returns. Valuation is by far the most important issue for investors. If you're getting paid well to take risks, they may make sense. But what if you're not?

2. The Fed is getting nervous. This week it warned that the economy had weakened, and it unveiled its latest weapon in the war against deflation: using the proceeds from the sale of mortgages to buy Treasury bonds. That should drive down long-term interest rates. Great news for mortgage borrowers. But hardly something one wants to hear when the Dow Jones Industrial Average is already north of 10000.

3. Too many people are too bullish. Active money managers are expecting the market to go higher, according to the latest survey by the National Association of Active Investment Managers. So are financial advisers, reports the weekly survey by Investors Intelligence. And that's reason to be cautious. The time to buy is when everyone else is gloomy. The reverse may also be true.

4. Deflation is already here. Consumer prices have fallen for three months in a row. And, most ominously, it's affecting wages too. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that, last quarter, workers earned 0.7% less in real terms per hour than they did a year ago. No wonder the Fed is worried. In deflation, wages, company revenues, and the value of your home and your investments may shrink in dollar terms. But your debts stay the same size. That makes deflation a vicious trap, especially if people owe way too much money.

5. People still owe way too much money. Households, corporations, states, local governments and, of course, Uncle Sam. It's the debt, stupid. According to the Federal Reserve, total U.S. debt—even excluding the financial sector—is basically twice what it was 10 years ago: $35 trillion compared to $18 trillion. Households have barely made a dent in their debt burden; it's fallen a mere 3% from last year's all-time peak, leaving it twice the level of a decade ago.

6. The jobs picture is much worse than they're telling you. Forget the "official" unemployment rate of 9.5%. Alternative measures? Try this: Just 61% of the adult population, age 20 or over, has any kind of job right now. That's the lowest since the early 1980s—when many women stayed at home through choice, driving the numbers down. Among men today, it's 66.9%. Back in the '50s, incidentally, that figure was around 85%, though allowances should be made for the higher number of elderly people alive today. And many of those still working right now can only find part-time work, so just 59% of men age 20 or over currently have a full-time job. This is bullish?

Brett Arends tells Simon Constable and Michael Casey a few of his ten reasons why investors should be cautious ahead.

(Today's bonus question: If a laid-off contractor with two kids, a mortgage and a car loan is working three night shifts a week at his local gas station, how many iPads can he buy for Christmas?)

7. Housing remains a disaster. Foreclosures rose again last month. Banks took over another 93,000 homes in July, says foreclosure specialist RealtyTrac. That's a rise of 9% from June and just shy of May's record. We're heading for 1 million foreclosures this year, RealtyTrac says. And naturally the ripple effects hurt all those homeowners not in foreclosure, by driving down prices. See deflation (No. 4) above.

8. Labor Day is approaching. Ouch. It always seems to be in September-October when the wheels come off Wall Street. Think 2008. Think 1987. Think 1929. Statistically, there actually is a "September effect." The market, on average, has done worse in that month than any other. No one really knows why. Some have even blamed the psychological effect of shortening days. But it becomes self-reinforcing: People fear it, so they sell.

9. We're looking at gridlock in Washington. Election season has already begun. And the Democrats are expected to lose seats in both houses in November. (Betting at InTrade, a bookmaker in Dublin, Ireland, gives the GOP a 62% chance of taking control of the House.) As our political dialogue seems to have collapsed beyond all possible hope of repair, let's not hope for any "bipartisan" agreements on anything of substance. Do you think this is a good thing? As Davis Rosenberg at investment firm Gluskin Sheff pointed out this week, gridlock is only a good thing for investors "when nothing needs fixing." Today, he notes, we need strong leadership. Not gonna happen.

10. All sorts of other indicators are flashing amber. The Institute for Supply Management's manufacturing index, while still positive, weakened again in July. So did ISM's new-orders indicator. The trade deficit has widened, and second-quarter GDP growth was much lower than first thought. ECRI's Weekly Leading Index has been flashing warning lights for weeks (though the most recent signals have looked somewhat better). Europe's industrial production in June turned out considerably worse than expected. Even China's steamroller economy is slowing down. Tech bellwether Cisco Systems has signaled caution ahead. Individually, each of these might mean little. Collectively, they make me wonder. In this environment, I might be happy to buy shares if they were cheap. But not so much if they're expensive. See No. 1 above.

President Obama's Muslim Faith and His Support of a Ground Zero Mosque

President Obama makes multiple Muslim proclamations and explains America is indebted to Islam.

Christians are Be-headed in Africa and not a word was heard from this president or any other leaders of Islam denouncing those actions.

... Now President Obama defends Muslims and a Mosque being built at the former sight of the Twin Towers.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) Asks President Obama For Troops On The Border

"America cannot have a rational discussion of immigration reform without real, effective border security."

He said the administration's plans to send 1,2000 National Guard troops to the border is "clearly insufficient" since just 286 personnel have been deployed. Perry cited four instances of attempted violence on U.S. soil, including bullets hitting the El Paso City Hall on June 29, 2010. But he also said that "death threats, torture, car bombings, kidnappings, assassinations and beheadings" had already cost 28,000 lives, presumably of Mexican citizens.

"We cannot afford to allow these cartels to believe they're free to extend their reach across the border onto American soil.

READ Gov Rick Perry's letter to President Obama:
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/documents/2010/08/texas-gov-rick-perry-r-asks-president-obama-for-troops-on-the-border.php?page=1

Private Sector Hiring Disappoints, Again

Private Sector Hiring Disappoints, Again
Posted Aug 06, 2010 11:45am EDT by Aaron Task

"Tepid", "anemic", "desultory" and "punk" are among the adjectives being used to describe Friday's July jobs report.

At 131,000 the headline payroll loss was worse than expected. In addition, the tally for May and June was revised down by nearly 100,000, further evidence the U.S. economy cooled considerably after its first-quarter spurt.

"This remains a terribly slow pace of job growth," writes Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at Miller Tabak.

The big disappointment was private sector hiring, which totaled 71,000 last month, weaker than anticipated. (As expected, government payrolls fell by 143,000 as temporary census workers were let go.)

"The private sector number is the most disturbing," Tig Gilliam, CEO of Adecco Group North America, says in the accompanying video. "It's great that we have a positive number but we're really not seeing an acceleration of private sector jobs, which is what we need to see fairly soon."

Year-to-date, the private sector had added about 630,000 jobs, far short of the level needed to replace the nearly 8 million jobs lost since the recession officially began in December 2007. The unemployment rate held steady at 9.5% while the "real" unemployment rate (U6) remained at 16.5%. With 14.6 million Americans out of work (44% for six months or longer), the unemployment rate being unchanged is not good news because it shows many Americans remain discouraged or are dropping out of the labor force -- and out of the official tally.

"We've got to expect that number to go up because we have so many potential workers sitting on the sidelines," Gilliam says. "As the job market gets better, more people will get active and engaged and that will have the effect of increasing the unemployment rate."

Gilliam notes temporary hiring continues to improve, which is traditionally a good leading indicator for future employment growth (and good for Adecco.) Both average hourly earnings and the average workweek rose in July, which are positive signs, but, overall, the U.S. employment picture remains grim.

Racist to make this arrest? - MA Dem Senator arrested for Accepting Bribes

An embattled Massachusetts state senator appeared in a federal courtroom today charged with taking $23,500 in bribes, including cash that she stuffed into her bra during a meeting at a tony Boston restaurant that was secretly videotaped by an undercover FBI agent, federal prosecutors said.
State Sen. Diane Wilkerson is arrested on corruption charges.

Democratic state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson faces 40 years in prison after federal prosecutors outlined accusations that she accepted the bribes over an 18-month period in a money-for-legislative influence sting operation, prosecutors said.
http://a.abcnews.com/TheLaw/FedCrimes/story?id=6132629