Solve the perception problem. Get Obama now.

Even if a company is financially sound and they have the numbers to prove it, the market can still snub those strong fundamentals simply because it perceives the economic environment to be unstable or negative.  The perception may be unfounded,  but it is the reality of the investor.

In the current US markets, the negative perception of the markets is caused by the political situation where Obama has promised much and delivered little.  Worse, "his spread the wealth"  policies has spooked investors and businesses to expand.  Hence it is not just a bad feeling of the capitalists, it is a bad feeling based on real taxes and real regulations.  So no one is just getting emotional because people are feeling the pinch when they have to stay late and submit more forms to the government and pay more taxes and fees.

Given all the these, anyone can see that Obama is the problem.  His side will deny that and blame Bush or come out with some other spin but, whom are they fooling.  Knowing that, we all know what the solution is i.e. simply get rid of Obama and undo his wrongs.  People know that and plan to vote him out in 2012.

In my mind, time is money.  So, why wait until 2012 and lose more jobs and exaccerbate the situation?  A stitch in time saves nine so, why don't we start stitching now?  Congress needs to focus on impeaching Obama with anything and everything - from his birth certificate to the impropriety of the loans given to political supporters. 

Once he's out, the perception will improve guaranteed - even if Biden takes over.  He does not have a Socialist agenda to begin with so, he's not a harmful.  Once the perception improves, investors invest, businesses expand and people start spending resulting into increased revenues, profitability and employment. 

Let's change the perception now and expel, impeach, arrest or get rid of Obama in one legal way or the other.  Now is the time because time is money and money is life.  2012 is too late and those who wait do a disservice to America.

Primer on govt unions, their monopoly power through collective bargaining. (Video)

If video fails click here or go to http://divine-ripples.blogspot.com/2011/03/primer-on-govt-unions-their-monopoly.html



Let's support Gov. Walker in his effort to stop this abuse.

The false value of inefficiency.

Would you raise capital by getting a second mortgage to start a business; then, run it in such an inefficient way that it is doomed to fail within a few years? It sounds absurd and ludicrous but government officials think it’s a good model as long as the enterprise creates jobs – even for a short time.

It is like a road project that purposely chooses a manual intensive operation instead of using heavy equipment. Instead of steam rollers, people pound the ground with stumps. There are no tractors, just shovels and picks. So, the roads costs 3 times as much, takes 3 times longer to finish and is 3 times weaker than one built with machines. On the other hand, it employed 10 times more people. And that is the benefit of waste and inefficiency.

That is how the stimulus money ran out without jump starting the economy. Instead, that money could have been used to encourage private businesses; those plan to stay around by being profitable. Businesses run operations tightly and watch every penny so there may not be much employment immediately. However, as the business thrives, it expands and as it does, continue to hire more. But it takes time.

For those who care about a lasting recovery, then this is the way to go. It may not show quick and dramatic results; but, the results will be real. For those who care about appearances and popular support, then putting the stimulus money is wasteful products will achieve their aim. By the time elections come around, the people who were employed temporarily would reelect those officials to come up with more inefficient projects. But sooner or later, the country will run out of money just like an entrepreneur who has to close shop and lose their home and possessions used as collateral. But that will be down the road many years from now and the politicians who would destroy this country will be long retired on fat pensions and benefits. I guess they don’t care about their children and grandchildren.

Stimulus Surprise: Companies Retrench When Government Spends

The results of a new study by Harvard Business School will certainly shock some Keynesian academics — and high-ranking government officials. Instead of providing a stimulating effect to the economy, government spending creates pressures on private industry to reduce staff and investment. 

The article starts out:  "Recent research at Harvard Business School began with the premise that as a state's congressional delegation grew in stature and power in Washington, D.C., local businesses would benefit from the increased federal spending sure to come their way.  It turned out quite the opposite. In fact, professors Lauren Cohen, Joshua Coval, and Christopher Malloy discovered to their surprise that companies experienced lower sales and retrenched by cutting payroll, R&D, and other expenses. Indeed, in the years that followed a congressman's ascendancy to the chairmanship of a powerful committee, the average firm in his state cut back capital expenditures by roughly 15 percent, according to their working paper, "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?"  More at  Cfr. http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/6420.html

NYT Exposes GM Hype & Bogus Claims. Shames MSM & lapdogs.

"What neither G.M. nor the Treasury disclosed was that the company simply used other funds held by Treasury to pay off its original loan."  (New York Times. May 2, 2010)

But watch the video to see how the media lapdogs swoon over the hype and how GM brazenly misleads the public. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHWwapIPMZo&feature=player_embedded

More buzz re: 401K Gov't takeover

With the collapse of the pension funds of SEIU, there is great pressure for a bailout.  And since the government cannot just print more money as the legislators are pushing back hard on that idea, then there's a need to find it elsewhere.  We've seen the recent SEIU organized protests to raise taxes.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlSA9iMgO-0


But that's not happening until next year.  Since as they say in the video, "They need cash fast.", then here's another place to get it.

Excerpt:  "...the federal government is desperate for cash, and the biggest untapped source of wealth is the hundreds of billions or trillions of dollars that Americans who are now nearing retirement age have saved over their lifetimes. I don't doubt for an instant that the Obama administration would like to get its hands on this money, which would go a long way toward resolving the current government debt crisis. An obvious way of doing so is to take the money now, in exchange for a promise to pay an "annuity" later. The bottom line is that, given what we know about the Obama administration's rapacious appetite for swallowing up private wealth, anyone who has savings should be vigilant."   More at:  http://www.powerlineblog.com/archives/2010/05/026260.php

Video: Lemonade Stand Economics - Greed or Envy?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ygl6REtY_EU

April 22, 2010 — Does capitalism promote greed or are its critics envious? A lesson at this lemonade stand helps a critic see things differently. Tell us your opinion and watch the other Lemonade Stand Economics videos at http://www.bit.ly/VirtuesOfCapitalism. To learn more: Read The Virtues of Capitalism by Scott Rae and Austin Hill

Why the private sector can't still create jobs.

"Red tape isn’t the only thing hamstringing American business. The Obama administration has sent plenty of price signals on taxes and burdensome regulation that will keep investors and businesses from betting on expansion. As long as the administration pursues those policies, it will keep the engine of American economic growth bound and gagged." (1)

What's worse is that we should have recovered by now.  Based on business cycles, jobs return around a year at the latest.  It's 2 years and half and there is still 10% unemployment and more  underemployment.  What extended the recession is the government intervention that intended to curb it.  Could an administration favoring businesses enacted better policies?  You bectha.

1.    http://hotair.com/archives/2010/04/27/ramirez-on-job-creation/

Variety: Stock Opportunity, Used Electronics, Living Large

Live like a millionaire without spending a cent:
The single leading pastime of the richest Americans (net worth of >$10 million) is spending time with their children or grandchildren.  I think we can all do that and know how it feels to live like a millionaire.

Investment Opportunity from Stimulus:
$3.4 billion of stimulus funds will be used to modernize the power grid to better accommodate renewable sources e.g. solar & wind.  The likely benefeciaries of this are companies that increase energy efficiency e.g Ener-NOC, Esco Technologies Inc. & Echelon Corp.

Used Electronics Bought:
Sears, Walmart & Costco are giving gift cards for used cell phones, cameras, laptops & other electronic devices.  Go to  sears.gazelle.com, walmart.gazelle.com or costco.gazelle.com for details.

Dems Pyrrhic victory; Buffet's winning choices; Wearing my gas mask first

Pyrrhic victory:
Democrats may skip procedures to push through health care legislation.  Read more here.  They won so they can do what they like and ignore more than half of the nation.  Why are they acting like that in an election year where there are 435 House seats, 36 Senate seats and 37 Gubernatorial seats that are up for vote?  They may win in ramming this into a law but lose everything because of it.  Perhaps, it does not matter;  because, they might be getting some form of reimbursement that is worth the loss of their political careers - must be nice and big.

Buffet's choices:
From the book:  Warren Buffett's Management Secrets: Proven Tools for Personal and Business Success, his investment choices are based on companies that:
have a consistent upward ten-year trend in earnings per share,
have less debt than its competitors or on average less than five times net earnings and have high gross margins e.g. Moody's rating service, Burlington Northern Railroad, and Wrigley Gum are all > 50%.

My gas mask first:
In an emergency the procedure is to help myself with the gas mask before attending to the kids - common sense.  So, looking out for number 1 is not always selfish.  When my beloved wife wanted to visit her mom for the new year celebrations, I was wheezing with asthma so I told her to just go by themselves as I may not be able to handle driving to NJ in the bitter cold.  I did find rest and relief but their absence was debilitating.  Anyway the point was, one needs to love oneself first - not overly but enough and that's not evil.  If not, one can burn out and be resentful.