Econ70
Amazon recently announced earnings. And, while revenues and profit margins always change, ’11 was clearly not a banner year for earning. In Q4 ’11 Amazon had revenue of $17.4 billion but net income of only $177 million, a margin of…
Good News: Vacancy rates at malls averaged 9.4% in Q4 ’11 down from an 11 year high of 9.6% in Q3 ’11 but way up from the all-time low of 5.5% in ’07. Meanwhile vacancy rates at strip malls held…
One reason car sales hit an annualized rate of 13.5 million units in December, the best showing in years, is lenders are chasing borrowers who are behind on their mortgages! From Q1 throughQ3 ’11 205K loans were made to buyers…
Starting today, my emails posts are being sent using new technology. To that end, above this email is a “button” that allows you to opt out of receiving my posts. I hope you elect not to click it! For those…
The Friday File: According to a recent Bureau of Labor Statistics study, married full-time working childless women work 8 minutes more a day than their full-time working spouses if you include both office and housework. For similar couples with children…
While Bernanke undoubtedly wanted to do more in the way of monetary stimulus than he did, yesterday’s Fed’s decision to explicitly commit to keeping rates low through late ’14, was the best he could do in place of another round…
The IMF sees global growth in ’12 slowing to 3.25% from 4% in ’11. It’s because the 17 nation Euro-zone will contract by 0.5% and China’s growth will slow from 9% to 8.2%. Growth here is expected to be 2%;…
Since the first of the year, planes landing in or departing from Europe must pay a carbon tax based on the length of the flight, even if the flight does not originate or terminate in Europe. To reduce the tax,…
Many individuals needing organ transplants die waiting for a donor. Therefore, nlarging the pool of donors would save lives. But, paying people to donate organs is distasteful as it encourages the poor to sell organs for money. The solution, grant…
The Friday File: With the Packers losing last Sunday, they are the 8th straight team with the best regular season record not to win the Super Bowl. Moreover, wildcard teams have won 3 of the last 6 Super Bowls. Why?…