Month: August 2012
The Friday file: From Neil Armstrong’s moon walk in ’69 through the last Luna mission in ‘76, 843 lbs. of moon rock were brought to earth, all of which belongs to the US Government. In ’93, 0.2 grams (one carat)…
Read MoreTo keep Spain and Italy in the euro, the ECB must buy Italian and Spanish bonds, as nobody else will. And, it can only do so if Merkel allows it. Separately, there’s the possibility that the German Constitutional Court will…
Read MoreWhen the Fed announces a third round of quantitative easing, expect unintended cross-currency consequences. Last time, the dollar fell against a host of currencies, but now central banks in many of those same countries will actively intervene to prevent their…
Read MoreWith Hertz’s purchase of Dollar-Thrifty, the number of major players in the rental-car industry is down to just three. Enterprise Holdings, owner of Alamo, National and Enterprise, controls 53% of the market. Following the merger, Hertz-Dollar-Thrifty will hold 23% of…
Read MoreIn the mid-2000s, American made roughly 160 million doctor visits/year. Since ’09, that number has fallen to 140 million, and has stayed there. Thus, real US per-capita spending on healthcare has been growing at just 2.1%/year, down from 4.3%/year earlier…
Read MoreThe Friday File: The fine art market isn’t overpriced because it’s not part of the normal economy. Prices for fine art are determined by the super-rich — and they have been doing very well. So, if you think income inequality…
Read MoreWhile GDP grew by 1.8% in ’11, carbon emissions fell by 2.4% and total energy consumption fell by 0.5%. Better yet, since ‘90, GDP has risen 66% while carbon emissions have risen just 9%! A major reason for this is…
Read MoreReal median household income (RMHI) fell from $51,190 in ’09 to $50,046 in ’10, a drop of $1,144! Not one state showed an increase. Between ’08 and ’09, only ND experienced a rise. Between ’07 and ’08, KS, LA, NY,…
Read MoreTo reduce greenhouse gases, the UN gives firms more carbon credits (that they can sell on the open market) the more destructive the gases they capture and destroy. Rather than ridding the planet of these gases, firms now, ironically, produce…
Read MoreWith today’s record closing price of $665.55, Apple, Inc. has a market value of $621 billion, far outpacing #2 Exxon Mobile at $405 billion. More interesting, Apple can now lay claim to being the most valuable company ever, edging Microsoft…
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