DVD Wars are coming!

This sounds like a big mess that I am going to try to miss all together.

Here's the problem: Both camps are shooting themselves in the foot before they get to the starting line. Consumers already were faced with the prospect of mass confusion, thanks to two next-generation DVD formats, whose disks do not work in each other's machines but look essentially the same. Remember Betamax versus VHS? At least then you could tell one tape from the other.

Yup, if you choose poorly you may get a big, fat white elephant on your hands and you will be forced to buy the other format player just to watch the newer DVDs. But this is the worst part:

But that's just the tip of the iceberg. Turns out, most of the 20 million high-definition TVs sold over the past three years aren't capable of displaying the disks in their full resolution. Worse, at least one major studio intends to downgrade the picture even more unless consumers hook their players up through a special, pricey cable aimed at preventing piracy.

That is right you just bought a lemon HD-TV if you bought one in the past few years since it won't show the full resolution with these new DVD players. I have a feeling that these new DVDs will cost more money since they include the high-def option. So you will be essentially paying more for something that you won't be able to see. Plus, you may even see that picture all blurry because you don't have that anti-piracy cable.

New software included on both Blu-ray and HD-DVD releases, however, will automatically slash the picture quality in half, unless consumers have a relatively new connector and cable called HDMI to hook up players to their televisions. Only one in 20 HD sets sold to early adopters over the past few years has the right version of the connector. Only 15% of new sets sold this year will include it, and deliver the full 1080 resolution capable of showing such detail. "What do you have then? A very expensive DVD player," says Sony Senior Vice-President Tim Baxter.

This is all going to be a big logjam at Christmas when people realize this is going down. I have a feeling that they will get confused and end up not buying anything while waiting for the dust to settle. Could be a good idea to check out shorting Best Buy, Circuit City etc. They may have a bleak Christmas depending on what the public does with this news.

I certainly won't be buying a new DVD player until I know which one is going to be the Betamax and the price of this cable comes down. What will really suck is when Netflix sends you the wrong DVD and you can't play it at all and have to send it back.

I guess there will be a Blue-Ray or HD-DVD button on the site that you will have to hit before you ask for the DVD. I have no idea. I would bet that carrying a number of copies of two different formats will cut into their bottom line. Netflix could be another short candidate.

US Talks to Iran about Iraqi Violence

Hmm, it looks like we will be talking to Iran to try to curb some of the Iraqi violence.

Analysts say both the United States and Tehran are worried about worsening violence in Iraq, pushing them to agree to talks. Iraqi political sources have said they expected Khalilzad to meet Iran's representatives this week. Iran has not announced its team.

This could be the initial salvo in a thawing of the Iran/US relationship? I don't think so though. I think Iran is just playing nice to buy themselves some time to get their nukes online. As long as this doesn't turn into a North Korea situation. They shucked and jived the Clinton Administration just long enough for them to get their nukes finished. If Iran does pull it off then the Bush administration can be rightly be called big, fat failures.

Interesting Article on Sleep

It seems that people who get 6-7 hours of sleep have a lower death rate then those sleeping 8 hours or more. Even though this article is basically a screed against sleeping pills but I found this pretty interesting.

Sleep problems could be increasing, Kripke says, but there is no evidence for this. If they are increasing, it could be a result of less exposure to daylight (due to cable TV, the Internet, indoor gyms) and increasing obesity, which causes apnea. But he still recommends against taking sleeping pills in nearly all cases and in favor of improved sleep habits.

This point is worthy of serious study. I wonder if the lack of daylight we get actually hurts our ability to sleep. This isn't a lack of sunlight or people in Nordic countries would be walking zombies. Since people are cooped up inside so much nowadays maybe it is affecting our sleep patterns. I think that apnea thing is a big deal too.

Intel Strikes Back?

It seems that they are getting their butts in gear to challenge AMD again.

Intel is getting paranoid again and bringing a rocket-launcher to AMD's knife fight. This year Intel will lap AMD by finally scrapping the old Pentium-chip architecture in favor of a suite of lower-temperature, dual-core microprocessors that consume 35% less power and increase performance by 80%. Intel is also bringing on four $3 billion upgraded chip factories capable of producing chips on silicon wafers that are 2.25 times the size of AMD's wafers and have twice as many transistors per square inch. That leapfrogging should put Intel's gross profit margin, already better than AMD's, still further ahead. "We're more focused and more angry," says Gelsinger. "We're ready to turn the corner and prove naysayers really wrong."

Lucent and Alcatel to merge?

Seems like they are in talks to.

The companies, which broke off tie-up talks in 2001, said Thursday night they're "engaged in discussions about a potential merger of equals that is intended to be priced at market," meaning no stock-price premium for shareholders of either company.

It sure is good for Lucent stock which is up 7% on the news.

Alzheimer's May be Like Diabetes

This is a very interesting study by Dr. Suzanne M. de la Monte, a neuropathologist at Rhode Island Hospital and a professor of pathology and clinical neuroscience at Brown Medical School, in Providence, R.I.

According to the researchers, the study demonstrates that Alzheimer's is a brain-specific disorder, distinct from other types of diabetes, such as the inherited form, type 1, and obesity-linked type 2. "This study shows that Alzheimer's is a [new] type of diabetes," de la Monte said. "It's type 3 diabetes."

According to de la Monte, a loss of insulin in the brain may trigger Alzheimer's onset because brain cells need insulin to function and survive. When this happens, oxidative stress increases, the brain deteriorates, and there is loss of cognitive function, plus a buildup of plaques and tangles in the brain, she said.

Hutchison Whampoa to Run Nuke Scanners

I can hear the outcry from Congress even as I type this. Sure enough here it is:

"Giving a no-bid contract to a foreign company to carry out the most sensitive security screening for radioactive materials at ports abroad raises many questions," said Sen. Charles Schumer (news, bio, voting record), D-N.Y.

Um, Chucky boy as much as we would like to this is a company screening materials coming into the US from a foreign port. We have no jurisdiction over the Bahamas or their workers. We have to trust both this company and the Bahamian government. Or we can drum up the same xenophobic and isolationist rhetoric that killed the Dubai ports deal.

Wal-Mart to go Upscale?

It certainly seems they are experimenting with one store in Plano Texas.

The store in Plano, Texas opens today, and it will feature pricey wine, high-end electronic gadgets, jewelry, an espresso bar, and yes, the aforementioned sushi bar. Forget the gun section -- it's yoga here. Anyone who likes to tinker with their cars would be barking up the wrong tree at the Plano store; it has a much smaller automotive section than your usual Wal-Mart. Although Wal-Mart's not planning on any similar stores, word has it that if certain items are hot, it will consider selling them in its stores in other upscale areas.

Wal-Mart Sushi sounds kind of scary to me. What they need to do is create a new name for the upscale Wal-Mart. Kind of like how Sam's Club is their big box store. I think S. Waltons would be a good name for an upscale store. They just need to separate the brand identities and it should be able to make pretty decent money. This move would make them more of a direct challenge to Target and be able to snare some of their higher-margin market share.

al-Qaida to go after Israel

It looks like al-Quida terrorists are going after Israel.

But al-Qaida itself is making an effort "to operate both in the Palestinian territories and inside Israel proper," said Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Mark Regev. A Palestinian security official in Gaza agreed that al-Qaida "is in the process of organizing cells and gathering supporters."

Good luck with that one al-Quida because you are *really* going to need it. If the Israelis get into the Global War on Terror I think scumbags like Ayman-al-Zawahri and Osama's days will be seriously numbered.

Bush Ups Fuel Standards

I guess his "Addicted to Oil" comment wasn't just bunk. He is raising fuel standards again and it should be a good deal.

The proposal issued last summer would lead to a projected fleetwide average of 24 mpg by 2011, a total improvement of 1.8 mpg over four years. Automakers would need to meet fuel economy targets based on their mix of vehicles.

He also is beginning to sound like an environmentalist in his speeches about this subject.

Bush, in a news conference on Tuesday, did not mention fuel economy changes but expressed interest in working with Congress "to advance an agenda that will make us less dependent on foreign oil, an agenda that includes hybrid cars and advanced ethanol fuels and hydrogen cells."

MSFT Vista Consumer Delay no Big Deal

It seems that people are thinking that Microsoft delaying Vista Consumer will be bad for the computer industry. I don't think holiday sales will be impacted very much. Most of the people who buy a PC during Christmas will probably get a free upgrade coupon that would come with their PC. I don't think they will have to be stuck with Windows Home for much longer then a month or so.

I think some consumer electronics stores will have a dip in sales but they will probably make them back up in January when people interested in Vista could use their Gift cards to defray its cost. Or if they are real early adopters they can get the Vista Corporate edition which seems to be shipping on time. I think it is no biggie.

Disney's Comeback Story

This is a very interesting article on how Disney is capturing the family market again and starting to right the ship after Iger took over.

Over the years, Disney failed its animation studio legacy. It grew formulaic, cost-conscious, and irrelevant. It cheapened the brand with direct-to-video sequels, somehow unaware of the long-term harm it was committing in the pursuit of near-term profitability.

Yeah these direct-to-video sequels are really a sign of how far they had fallen. They were just quick-buck knockoff versions of animated movies that many Disney lovers cherished. Most of them sucked badly and thus damaged the brand that they were trying to milk.

I think Pixar will bring some of the idea that when their movies come out they are events and not a quick buck. For instance Incredibles 2 will be an almost guaranteed $200 million+ movie and that is because Pixar knows how to leverage its content to make the most money. If the Eisner Disney made Incredibles 2 it would have been a quick buck direct to DVD or even a really crappy cartoon program that would have damaged the brand. I think Iger knows that a $200 million event is much better for a brand then 10 $20 million crappy DVDs.

Chicken Stocks Good for your Portfolio?

Hmm thinking of investing in chickens? It seems like there is some very interesting information in this article. I agree that best time to buy these stocks would be when the avian flu actually hits in the US. You would get a nice bump up when the stocks go back up to the pre-flu level as well as any growth afterward.

OQO tablet PC

I was doing some research on Transmeta corporation and found this interesting tablet PC from a company called OQO. This thing looks a lot cooler than the other tablet PC that I saw from Samsung a while back. It kind of has a mini-laptop vibe or it can double as a controller for a digital house. Kind of like one of those fancy clickers that the stars have on Cribs.

I'm still not sold on the whole concept of the tablet PC. But this item certainly looks better then any other tablet PC that I have seen. If you whip out one of these at a coffee shop or at the airport you may get some interested looks your way. I would certainly think that that person was part of the technorati.

South Park Creators vs. Scientology

I love their sense of humor when it comes to attacks by proponents of that pseudo-religion called Scientology.

"South Park" has declared war on Scientology. Matt Stone and Trey Parker, creators of the animated satire, are digging in against the celebrity-endorsed religion after a controversial episode mocking outspoken Scientologist Tom Cruise was yanked abruptly from the schedule Wednesday - with Internet rumors it was covert warfare by Cruise that led to its departure.

Yup Tommy Boy went to Viacom and had them yank the rerun of that show. I guess he jumped on their couch and accused them of taking that street drug called Ritilan. Their response is one for the ages though.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for Earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!

-- Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu

I want a T-shirt from Cafepress with that written on it!

European ETFs heat up

This is a very interesting article about how Eurozone ETFs are starting to pick up speed and are outpacing Japan and Emerging Markets.

So what's spurring renewed optimism in European markets?

Surveys point to growing economic confidence. In particular, executives are planning more hiring and more spending on capital goods.

They do have a low GDP growth but I think the smart money is following Europe because they are starting to see signs of life and it seems that the markets for other nations are near multi-year highs already. It seems there is even some M&A life in Europe too. With L'Oréal taking over Body Shop and Zurich Financial Services possibly taking over St.Paul Travelers.

GM Management Is a Joke

I think they should look into replacing the CEO after this stuff came up.

General Motors Corp. shares and bonds fell on Friday after the automaker increased its 2005 loss by $2 billion due to accounting errors, raising questions about the company's management and renewing doubts about its long-term survival.

Whoops, we messed up the loss by $2 billion. Now that is not something you want to tell investors when you are already fighting hammer and tongs (and losing) against the Japanese carmakers. Could we see a GM bankruptcy filing coming soon?

Iran Talks Fruitful?

Hmm it looks like the Big 8 are coming together better on the Iran Nuke talks.

"Everybody has agreed it is important to send a strong signal to Iran that their nuclear weapons program is not permissible," said U.S. Ambassador John Bolton.

"I would describe today's meeting as the best we have had so far. There are still areas of disagreement" Bolton said.

Maybe we won't have to fly a bunch of sorties into Iran after all.

March Madness on Demand

Now this is a very good deal from CBS. They are showing all of the games for the first 3 rounds of this years March Madness for free. They stream the games to you in this little screen that looks pretty clear for the most part. I feel like I'm on the cutting edge of the merging of TV content with the computer.

Jessica Simpson Snubs the Pres

Now his approval ratings must be pretty low when you are snubbed by Jessica Simpson. This guy is right though:

NRCC spokesman Carl Forti said he was surprised at Simpson's position.

"It's never been a problem for Bono," he said, referring to the U2 rock star who has met regularly with political leaders of all stripes to promote various causes, including Third World debt relief. " I find it hard to believe she would pass up an opportunity to lobby the president on behalf of Operation Smile."

Yeah, he knows that when you talk to the most powerful man in the world you might be able to get some money/recognition for your pet causes. Bono knows how the Washington game is played. I have a feeling that Operation Smile might be getting a very thorough audit in the next few months.

Class Action Suit next up for H&R Block

Now the class action lawyers are getting in on the act.

The class action filed by Lerach Coughlin on behalf of all H&R Block account holders makes similar allegations, but seeks unspecified damages. It was filed today in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo. The complaint alleges the Express IRAs were "uniformly marketed and sold to consumers without regard to the consumer's tax, investment, and income requirements, and without adequate disclosure of the significant referral fees and commissions received by the tax preparers at H&R Block for pushing these Express IRA accounts."

Unspecified damages? I would hate the sound of that if I was H&R Block.

What to do with an Express IRA from H&R Block

This is pretty sound advice from Marketwatch:

You might want to wait and see, according to Sarah Ludwig, director of the Neighborhood Economic Development Advocacy Project, a New York-based nonprofit working for fair financial-services access for low-income residents.

"Hopefully, there will be full restitution through the lawsuit, and hopefully people who have one of these will get compensated for the financial harm this has caused them. If you have one of these right now, pay attention to what's happening in the lawsuit," she said.

They also name the two people in the complaint that Spitzer is filing the lawsuit on behalf of:

Spitzer's statement offered examples of two New York state residents: A 32-year-old Albany resident with taxable income of $17,847 made a one-time contribution of $300 to an Express IRA in 2002. Over four years, the investment earned $10.29 in interest while incurring $45 in fees.

A 68-year-old Brooklyn resident with taxable income of $25,421 made a one-time contribution of $300 to an Express IRA in 2004. The consumer paid a $15 account opening fee, a $10 account maintenance fee, and a $25 closing fee when the account was closed after 18 months. The account earned $5.18 in interest.

Heavy Put Buying on H&R Block Options

I was looking at this stock in light of the fraud allegations and noticed that there was some very heavy put buying on the April 20s. And the put to call ration is like 10 to 1. Check this out. A firm like H&R Block lives and dies by its reputation and this kind of thing could be a serious blow to it.

I know that I wouldn't trust them to do my taxes if they are funneling money into non-performing crap to make a few extra bucks. Of course they are still in the allegations phase so they could come out of it smelling like a rose.

H&R Block Fraudsters?

Wow these are some serious charges if they are true.

The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, says Block advised clients to buy an "unsuitable, fraudulently marketed, poorly performing, fee-ridden 'retirement vehicle' called the Express IRA," an account that actually shrinks over time.

The court papers, filed by Attorney General Eliot Spitzer, say the money in the retirement account decreases because the only investment option offered is a money market account with an interest rate so low that it does not cover the fees — "fees that H&R Block fails to adequately disclose."

It seems that they were conning people into buying a money market fund that for for instance would pay you 1% interest but charges you 2% in management fees. I have never heard of such a thing before. I have seen mutual funds underperform and thus hand someone a loss and charges you a management fee for that loss. But I have never seen something like this happen to a money market fund though.

Motorola Fixes RAZR problem

Hmm I wasn't even aware that there was a problem in the first place. Well it seems that they fixed it and they are selling RAZRs again.

The faulty component, which was used in GSM (Global Systems for Mobile Communications) versions of the Razr, was found to sometimes disconnect calls, power down, and then automatically restart the handset, Motorola said last week.

That problem was quickly resolved by Motorola and the Razr is once again shipping to the two operators, Zander said. "The impact on the consumer was very minimal because we caught it in time," he said, noting that most of the affected handsets were found in the operator's inventory.

This seems like something a company in a leadership position in that industry would do. See a problem and catch it before it really hits the consumers. Good job MOT.

Jay Leno is a Standup Guy

Even though he is a multi-millionaire that is on TV every day he is still a pretty nice guy according to this.

Jay Leno knows that comedy means sometimes having to say you're sorry. After Leno's "Tonight Show" aired a sketch that compared Vice President
Dick Cheney's hunting accident to a 2003 videotaped shooting outside a Los Angeles courthouse, he received a letter of complaint from a viewer.

Wendy Brogin, a friend of shooting victim Gerald Curry, wrote to Leno condemning the recent sketch as offensive and asking him to "do the right thing relative to this matter."

Within days, Leno responded with a phone call that greatly impressed Brogin, the Daily News of Los Angeles reported Tuesday.

"He said, `Hello, Wendy, this is Jay Leno'," she said. "`I'm calling about the letter you wrote and I want to apologize. I just want to let you know we make mistakes sometimes and we don't mean to hurt people.'"

There is a reason I like watching the Tonight Show and Jay's likeability and general niceness is what it is. Other celebrities should take a cue from him.

FED Spells out Inflation Target

Well at least this is what they are thinking of using. No more trying to interpret what they are trying to say or speculating what the specific economic numbers that Greenspan may like are. This number has just become one of the more important ones on the economic calendar.

Yellen said she favors an inflation target of a 1.5% as measured by core personal consumptions expenditures price (PCE) index.

There could be a "comfort zone" extending between 1 and 2% around the target, Yellen said.

The Comments from Chuck Schumer are Funny

And this gets even better with this senior Senator sounding almost like we are dealing with the Soviet Union or Iran or something.

"If things are as they appear, this is a great victory for national security. But make no mistake, we are going to scrutinize this deal with a fine-tooth comb to make sure the separation between American port operators and Dubai Ports World is complete and security is tight as a drum," Schumer said.

We can't even trust Dubai's word on them handing over operations to a US firm? I mean they have humbled themselves already by making Dubai Ports World back down. Now Schumer needs to fire at them on the retreat? I thought the Dems were supposed to be the party of tolerance. I guess that stops at the moderate Arab street.

Bush is Right on Dubai Ports

He and I are on the same wavelength on this Dubai Ports mess.

"In order to win the war on terror, we have got to strengthen our relationships and friendships with moderate Arab countries in the Middle East," Bush told newspaper editors.

Yup we have to look at who our friends are and who our enemies are in the Middle East and draw a line. We can't treat friends like crap and hope the best occurs. We need the reward our allies in the Middle East with a little trust. And now the blowback is happening:

In a possible repercussion, the United Arab Emirates broke off talks on a free trade agreement with the United States the day after the ports deal fell apart.

Gulf Arabs reacted bitterly to the company's decision, saying the political storm that forced the emirate's hand could provoke a backlash among regional investors.

"Do you think we are happy this morning? The mood is black, very, very black," said a senior official in the region involved in the Dubai Ports deal.

Yup, they won't take this lying down and rightfully so.

Bush's Approval Ratings in the Toilet

It looks like they have dropped to the lowest level in his Presidency now.

The poll suggests that most Americans wonder whether Bush is up to the job. The survey, conducted Monday through Wednesday of 1,000 people, found that just 37 percent approve of his overall performance. That is the lowest of his presidency.

Yup and even his supporters are jumping ship on him:

Bush's job approval among Republicans plummeted from 82 percent in February to 74 percent, a dangerous sign in a midterm election year when parties rely on enthusiasm from their most loyal voters. The biggest losses were among white males.

I think this is all blowback from the bungling they did on the Katrina aftermath. He had a chance to look like the same leader that pulled the nation together after 9/11 but he blew it. He trusted inept cronies like Brown and it cost him. He also let people like Kathleen Blanco and Ray Nagin dominate the news when he should have been the one drawing the headlines.

He didn't look caring enough because he stayed on vacation as the hurricane hit and then first commented he made was about some Republican guys home. It showed he was out of touch and didn't seem to care about the regular people's suffering.

He should have been on the scene at the command center getting briefings on the first day after the levies broke. He needed to be be giving the appearance that he was running things.

A photo Op of him flying over damaged areas in a Navy Helocopter on day one with a concerned face would have been as indelable as him with his arm around the fire department guy after 9/11. Instead he fooled around and looked like a big idiot while trusting the wrong people and he is paying the price for it.

Biodiesel glut not so good for ADM?

According to this article by Motley Fool that is the truth. This is because there is a new entrant into the market:

French company Louis Dreyfus Corp. The firm is set to begin construction soon on the nation's largest biodiesel plant. When completed, the facility will have the capacity to produce 80 million gallons of biodiesel annually. It's a major investment considering that the National Biodiesel Board estimates that a total of just 75 million gallons of biodiesel were produced in the U.S. last year.

This article forgets that diesel is a big deal in Europe where this new company will be based. The ADM production will probably go to feed the need of the trucking industry in the US. This could be a boon for that industry since it will be a way to cut fuel costs. Hmm, I wonder if Congress could be smart enough to pass a tax break for trucking companies that switch 100% to biodiesel? Seems like it would be a good idea to me.

Dubai Ports World mess hurts the Presidency

I honestly feel this way. I think the Bush presidency has been dealt a mortal blow and might not recover. It shows that even when Bush wants to reward a loyal ally of the War on Terror he was let down by his own party.

It is true he wasn't able to articulate this thing in such a way that the American people weren't scared that the evil-Dubai Aaarabs were putting bombs into every shipping container coming into Newark. They couldn't get the hint through that this company was simply going to control everyday operations and we were still on security detail. Also doing all the dealing in such secrecy did not help matters as well.

However he wasn't able to control his party well enough to ask them to wait until they could at least study the deal before they rushed to block it. I mean the White House said that they had the thing fully vetted and free of security holes. Still Repubs in Congress rushed to block the thing when poll numbers turned against them. In other words even Bushes own party does not trust him enough to do their own due diligence.

Also Bush looks like a chump to the moderate Arab world. He tried to stand up and show that the US doesn't just take their oil, bomb their homes, and sneak out the backdoor when things get dicey. We can actually trust the Arabs to run a few of our ports like we trust them to protect our warships docked in their ports. Or when we need to trust them when we are working with them to go after Al-Quida.

Instead Bush is met with anti-Arab sentiment and stiff-necked protectionism when it comes to our so-called Arab friends. How can they trust us when we look down our noses at them and dub them as untrustworthy without even checking them out. We even accused them of having Al-Quida sympathizers or even agents hiding in the Dubai Ports World company and perhaps many others. I would hate being called a terrorist sympathizer if I was a moderate Arab country.

Would this have even been an issue if that Oriental Steamship Navigation company was bought out by a Brazilian or a Dutch concern? It would have been a footnote in the business press and nothing more. But when a moderate Arab company gets the contract we do everything we can to block them even after the White House has studied the security angle and given them the green light. I guess Bush has officially entered the lame-duck period with 2 full years to go in his term. Let's hope his foreign policy agenda hasn't been dealt a mortal blow as well.

Dubai World Blinks

It looks Dubai is letting the President off of the hook on this mess.

An Arab-owned company said Thursday it was giving up its management stake in U.S. ports, a move made as congressional leaders warned President Bush that both the House and Senate appeared ready to block the takeover.

And it looks like the UAE prime minister was the one to push the company in that direction:

Warner said that Sheikh Mohammed Al Maktoum, prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, “advised the company ... that this action is the appropriate course to take.” Dubai is in the emirates.

I think Bush needs to send this guy a mess of Texas BBQ from his ranch or something because he got him off the hook.

Republicans Nix Dubai Port Deal

Another case of Republicans shooting themselves in the foot.

The deal closing comes after a key House panel voted overwhelmingly Wednesday to block its plan to acquire the right to manage terminals at several major U.S. seaports, setting President Bush and defiant House Republicans on course for a major legislative collision.

The House Appropriations Committee voted 62 to 2 to amend an emergency-spending measure with language that would effectively bar Dubai Ports World from taking over terminal operations from P&O.

Yes, they tacked this ports mess to a spending bill for Katrina relief and for war appropriations. This kind of knee-jerk reaction is something that will get them booted out of Congress come this fall. This Dubai company has bent over backwards and gone beyond what they need to and the Repubs pulls this kind of stunt. They even put the President in a bad position by forcing him to veto a spending bill for disaster relief and body armor. Way to help out those sagging approval ratings numbers.

I think we can chalk this all up to anti-Arab sentiment. Dubai doesn't want to destroy Israel or kill Americans like Iran. They probably have about the same amount of lurking Al-Quida operatives as any Saudi company yet we do business everyday with them. And the whole idea of "foreigners" running our ports being bad sounds like some thinking out of the 1800s. Everyone forgets that the company that originally ran the ports was a British company. I guess they aren't as "foreign" as those untrustworthy Aaarabs.

This is only going to hurt US companies looking to do M&A abroad. Whenever a US company wants to buy a foreign firm we should understand that the stonewalling and blocks set up by their country as justifiable anti-American sentiment. I mean we blocked Dubai Ports World so they will be justified in blocking Exxon, Merril Lynch, or whoever. This kind of knee-jerk protectionism will get us in recession mode if they aren't careful.

Microsoft busts out the Origami

It seems like an interesting concept but I think it will suffer the fate of all tablet PCs. Most people will just buy a smaller laptop if they don't want to lug a bigger one around on the road. They already have a wireless e-mail gadget that fits in their suit pocket or purse so they won't use the Origami for that. I guess they can browse with it but you can do that from both their Blackberry/cell-phone and their smallform laptop.

I wouldn't play games on that tiny screen because I would have to plug in a mouse and a keyboard to play any twitch game. I have a mouse and keyboard built into a laptop already. It also looks unwieldy and not built to be a handheld game system like the PSP. Plus, I would have to carry it around in its own special case or stick it in a backpack. A PSP is just much more portable and easy to manage then this thing.

So what else can you do with it? I guess you can use it to read web books or as a giant Ipod or something. And this last move just sucked the entire cool factor out of the thing:

Instead, the company is calling it the "Ultra-Mobile PC," said Mika Krammer, a marketing director for Microsoft's Windows mobile unit.

Could they have come up with a little more imaginative name? It sounds like a Japanese floor cleaner or something. It is the new ultra-mobile particle cleanser for floors and even walls. Keeping it the Origami would have given it a bit more cool factor. I goes to show you that MSFT needs some of Apples design nowhow. The thing even looks ugly. It kind of has a pull-down DVD player on a minivan vibe:

This Girl has Spirit!

Yes she Does! She fell on her head from 15 feet up and then worries about the team? Now this is the kind of sports star that we should be holding up as an example for youngsters to emulate.

“My biggest concern was that I didn’t want my squad to be distracted — so that they could continue cheering on the team — and I didn’t want my team to be distracted from winning the game,” Kristi Yamaoka, 18, told NBC’s “Today” show.

Here is a pic of her doing some kind of fight song cheer in a neckbrace. I hope she gets some kind of minor celebrity heat out of this.

Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau, Bavaria

This is a really cool winter wonderland sort of pic from the AP:

People Fight Back against Property Tax

It is good to see Americans fight back against these sorts of confiscatory taxes. I agree with this statement by first-term state Rep. Edward Lindsey:

"Not even the IRS is so bold as to tax people on unrealized gain," says Mr. Lindsey. "These are essentially backdoor tax increases that give government no incentive to be efficient or responsive."

Yup this is essentially a tax on something that might never even happen. Some homeowners may never sell their homes and should not be taxed for holding on to the American dream. This is essentially like taxing capital gains on a stock even though you haven't sold the thing. I hope these tax payer revolts get some attention and change the state of this kind of tax.

Iran Threatens the US

It looks like they are dropping the direct threats now.

"The United States has the power to cause harm and pain," said Ali Asghar Soltanieh, a senior Iranian delegate to the IAEA. "But the United States is also susceptible to harm and pain. So if that is the path that the U.S. wishes to choose, let the ball roll."

I remember the Saddam's Iraqi stooges saying things like this as well. Where are those guys now?

Blackberry settles.

Looks like cooler heads have prevailed in this whole mess.

RIM has paid NTP $612.5 million in a "full and final settlement of all claims," the companies said.

I agree with the judge too on this:

"He basically questioned the sanity of RIM, and said it wasn't acting very rationally," said Rod Thompson, patent attorney at Farella, Braun and Martel in San Francisco. "His prodding of the parties worked."

It really looked like RIM was acting on emotion and anger and not thinking things through. That shutdown would have dealt them a mortal blow that they might never have recovered from. It was a true tipping point moment.

NYSE to Trade Bonds

Hmm this seems like a good idea for investors like me.

John Holman, vice president of fixed income at the NYSE, said the move is aimed at creating a market for retail investors who have been at the mercy of big brokerages to buy and sell bonds. The system could be in place as early as May.

For instance, investors will have access to real-time prices on company debt. An investor with an online brokerage account will be able to place orders using ticker symbols, limit orders and other features currently available for stock investing.

That means I could purchase AAA corporate debt without having to buy a bond fund or figure out how to do it from a big broker. Hmm, I wonder how much E-Trade will be charging for this feature? If it is cheaper then buying a bond fund then I will definitely be waiting in line for it.

Amateur Computer guy Cracks German Enigma Code

This is a pretty interesting result of shared computing power.

The M4 Project, the brainchild of Stefan Krah, a violinist and amateur cryptographer of German birth, is credited with cracking one of the three remaining ciphers. The project was named in honor of the M4 Enigma machine that originally encoded the messages.

This is the ciphered text:

NCZW VUSX PNYM INHZ XMQX SFWX WLKJ AHSH NMCO CCAK UQPM KCSM HKSE INJU SBLK IOSX CKUB HMLL XCSJ USRR DVKO HULX WCCB GVLI YXEO AHXR HKKF VDRE WEZL XOBA FGYU JQUK GRTV UKAM EURB VEKS UHHV OYHA BCJW MAKL FKLM YFVN RIZR VVRT KOFD ANJM OLBG FFLE OPRG TFLV RHOW OPBE KVWM UQFM PWPA RMFH AGKX IIBG

And this is what it means when translated to english:

"Forced to submerge during attack. Depth charges. Last enemy position 0830h AJ 9863, [course] 220 degrees, [speed] 8 knots. [I am] following [the enemy]. [Barometer] falls 14 mb, [wind] nor-nor-east, [force] 4, visibility 10 [nautical miles]."

I kind of wanted it to say that Nazi gold hidden in bottom of abandoned salt mine or something like that but oh well. Here is a picture of an Enigma Machine. It looks a little like an early build- it-yourself computer.

Now we are selling Warplanes to India?

Hmm, it looks like we are going down a real road of cooperation with India now.

"Where only a few years ago, no one would have talked about the prospects for a major U.S.-India defense deal, today the prospects are promising, whether in the realm of combat aircraft, helicopters, maritime patrol aircraft or naval vessels," the U.S. Defense Department said as President George W. Bush paid a three-day visit to India.

Hmm, this should set those national policy wonk's tongues wagging. Is this a check against China? Will India back our play if we need to jump China to protect Taiwan? Is this adding a big, potentially powerful nation to the coalition of the willing? Are we trying to redraw Asian alliences? Anyway you look at it this is a great deal for Boeing and Lockheed Martin.

India and US Ink Nuke Deal

Seems like a very good move for Bush and the US. Congress doesn't think so though.

Critics in Congress say the United States is making an exception for India, which has nuclear weapons but won't sign the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

"Proliferation is certainly a concern and a part of our discussions, and we've got a good-faith gesture by the Indian government that I'll be able to take to the Congress," Bush said.

It seems Bush knows what business leaders have known for years. India is coming on strong as an economy and as a nation and should be given respect. The same respect as we are now giving China. We shouldn't be fighting our friends but rewarding them for loyalty and contributing to the world at large.

Plus with that growing economy they are guzzling oil like crazy. More civilian Nuclear Plants would go a long way toward weening them off of oil and might help the poor of India. Whatever happens thsi deal will be great for Westinghouse and other US nuclear power firms.

Happy Now?

This is a very interesting article on what makes us happy as a people.

Sonja Lyubomirsky of the University of California at Riverside has discovered that the road toward a more satisfying and meaningful life involves a recipe repeated in schools, churches and synagogues. Make lists of things for which you're grateful in your life, practice random acts of kindness, forgive your enemies, notice life's small pleasures, take care of your health, practice positive thinking, and invest time and energy into friendships and family.

Also this is important too:

"Research shows that people who are grateful, optimistic and forgiving have better experiences with their lives, more happiness, fewer strokes, and higher incomes," according to Easterbrook. "If it makes world a better place at same time, this is a real bonus."

Hmm could this explain why conservatives are happier then liberals? They are grateful to be living at the time they are and for what they have achieved. They are optimistic for the future not only for the War on Terror but for Iraq as well. And they are more willing to forgive and forget because they are generally more religious then liberals.

I think a positive attitude mentioned above is very important to being happy. If you expect the worst out of government, people, and daily life then you will be rarely disappointed but you will always be looking on the dark side. If you expect the best out of everything you will be disappointed but you will looking for the bright side in everything.

So a liberal who says the economy has been destroyed, Iraq is a mess and is the next Vietnam, Social Security will be gutted, and Bush is a moron and should be impeached is looking on the dark side of life.

If you are positive you would say that the economy is robust but could be better, Iraq is in turmoil but it could be a beacon of Middle Eastern democracy, Social Security needs to be fixed but how will we do it, and Bush isn't very smart but is a generally caring individual.

If you have some historical perspective this time in America is nothing compared to what we went through in the last century. We had two World Wars in which more Americans died in a single day then in the entire Iraq war. We went through stagflation, an oil shock, and a depression where 1/4 of the workforce was unemployed. We also didn't have the best Presidents. Some were in over their heads (Hoover,) were too nice (Carter,) too mean for their own good (Nixon,) or were sex-fiends (Clinton.) In other words things are going pretty well nowadays considering what went on just a few decades ago.

Bad News for Google

This is quite an announcement by their CFO.

"Most of what is left is just organic growth," Reyes said on a Webcast from the Merrill Lynch Internet Advertising conference in New York.

"Clearly our growth rates are slowing. We see that each and every quarter," he said. "We are going to have to find new ways to monetize the business."

I like that candor but it really torpedoed the stock. Lots of high hopes were rolled up into that 72 trailing P/E. I think Google should take a page out of Yahoo's book and start selling services on their site. Maybe a Google dating service with the robust searching of their technology allowing people to find a mate. Or sell some java games or something. Hmm, or maybe a buyout offer for Yahoo? That would make an Internet colossus that would make MSFT quake in their boots.

Barry Bonds shows his Scary Feminine Side?

Oh crap, this is a side of Barry Bonds I don't want to see. At least he is loosening up the club house or something like that. And the sad part is they raised only $337 from it.

Interesting Thoughts on First Hour of Trading

Hmm this would be an interesting research project to carry out.

Of course, a 36 session sample is not much to go on. Prodded by my reader's inquiry, I went back to January, 2004 (N = 543 trading days) and examined the number of occasions in which the day's high or low was registered in the first hour. It turns out that we saw daily highs in the first hour on 177 occasions and daily lows in the first hour on 179 occasions. All in all, we saw either a daily high or low in the first hour about two-thirds of the time. It's not quite the 71% quoted by my reader's source, but it's not far from it.

That seems to be something you can trade on for sure. A 75% chance of something happening in the market seems like great odds to me.

New York Times goes after the Pentagon

Looks like the NYT is getting a little froggy here.

The New York Times sued the U.S. Defense Department on Monday demanding that it hand over documents about the National Security Agency's domestic spying program.

The Times wants a list of documents including all internal memos and e-mails about the program of monitoring phone calls without court approval. It also seeks the names of the people or groups identified by it.

I have a feeling that the editors and the reporters there had better have some really clean slates. If they have any skeletons in the closet, secret affairs, or weird associations the NSA might dig it up and give it to the Daily News. And shouldn't this be Congress' job in the first place?

al-Quida admits to attack on Saudi Refinery

It looks like its the usual suspects again. This looks like the second shot in a long term war against Saudi oil infrastructure. This was the first shot:

In May 2004, attackers stormed the offices of a Houston-based oil company in the western Saudi oil hub of Yanbu in fighting that killed six Westerners, a Saudi and the militants. Several weeks later, al-Qaida-linked gunmen stormed oil company compounds in Khobar, on the eastern coast, and took hostages in a siege that killed 22 people, 19 of them foreigners.

This would be an interesting turn of events. Al-Quida really can't get at US as easily as they could before 9/11. They killed some people in the Britain attacks but it looks like the Brits are clamping down their security too.

If they drive up the price for oil then they could cause an economic destabilization of the West. $100 oil will *really* put a dent into spending and some economists have said it will toss us into a recession. Perhaps this destabilization could hurt King Fahds government so badly they could try for some kind of coup de tat and take over Saudi Arabia? Maybe that is too James Bond villian a plan though. Probably al-Quida just bought a mess of oil futures and want to artificially drive up their price.

Dubai Ports World Gives Congress more time

It looks like they are delaying the deal so we can get the lawmakers to shut their yappers. I still can't believe that all this fuss is being made over a legitimate forgien power taking over another company. They happen to be our ally in the war on terror. This isn't the Red Chinese or North Korea or something.

Domenici crystalizes my thoughts on this whole mess:

Sen. Pete Domenici R-N.M., said much of the criticism has an anti-Arab bias.

"We are at war against terrorists, not any religion or ethnicity. Some politicians seem to have forgotten that. ... Such alarm, verging almost on hysteria, harms our efforts to have the broadest coalition possible against worldwide terrorism," Domenici said.

Exactly, if we treat our friends this way we won't have many more left. Some of the statements are even getting into the moonbat territory:

"The fact that you are putting a company in place that could already be infiltrated by al-Qaida is a silly thing to do," said Mike Scheuer, who headed the CIA unit until 1999.

Yup this company is positivly infested with al-Qaida operatives! Shouldn't the CIA have vetted this company already? And if they didn't, can't they start the process now? Even if the deal is in place they can still check this company out. Or are we just going to let this company run wild while the CIA, Homeland Defence, and the Coast Guard just stands around? I have to go back to what my Dad used when he used to work for the Army. "Trust but Verify!"

Commodities Exposure?

Seems like an easy way to get some diversification if you want to trade commodities without losing your shirt.

On Jan. 27, an easily accessible exchange-traded product from Deutsche Bank called the DB Commodity Index Tracking Fund will be listed on the American Stock Exchange under the ticker DBC.

However, its composition will be much narrower than the Rogers product, with exposure to only six commodities. It will have 35% in light sweet crude, 20% in heating oil, 12.5% in aluminum, 11.25% in corn, 11.25% in wheat and 10% in gold.

However this ETF from our friends at iShares looks even better when it comes out:

iShares will have its own commodities ETF soon and that may end up being a better way to go, given the narrow scope of the Deutsche Bank fund.

Maybe with this ETF you too can feel like Mortimer and Randolph Duke from Trading Places and trade in Frozen Concentrated Orange Juice (FCOJ) futures.

Violence gets crazy after Askariya Shrine bombing

Things seem to be getting dicey in Iraq over the Askariya shrine Bombing.

The hardline Sunni Clerical Association of Muslim Scholars said 168 Sunni mosques had been attacked around the country, 10 imams killed and 15 abducted since the shrine attack. The Interior Ministry said it could only confirm figures for Baghdad, where it had reports of 19 mosques attacked, one cleric killed and one abducted.

Shiites have a right to be mad but of course not violent about it. This Mosque was 1200 years old and was one of the great cultural and artistic achievements of the Muslim world. And scumbags from al-Quida blew it up. This should show in no uncertain terms that al-Quida has nothing to do with religion and only want to spread death and destruction to everyone. Here is a before and after shot taken by the AP:



I think the US should pledge a certain amount of gold or building experts or something to help the Shiites rebuild the place. In other words we should be seen as the rebuilders while al-Quida is seen as the destroyers of Islamic treasures.

I agree with Bush on Portgate

This statement says it all:

The president said he was struck by the fact that people were not concerned about port security when a British company was running the port operation, but they felt differently about an Arab company at the helm. He said the United Arab Emirates was a valuable partner in the war in terror.

Yup, this is more disrespect from the West toward Muslims. These aren't the funamentalist blow-up-Israel-Death-to-America Muslims either. This is a country that is an ally in the War on Terror and has allowed our military ships to land in their port all through the Iraq War.

A British company can go ahead and run those ports without a peep but the second a moderate Muslim state takes control of them all sorts of alarm bells are ringing. If we are going to trust these guys with the lives of our sailors and servicemen landing at their ports we should trust them when they are running the day-to-day activity in ours. The Coast Guard is still on Security duty there.

We need to back these good-guy moderate Muslim States. If we can't trust them then it is true that our only friend in that whole region is Israel. And we will deserve the cold shoulder and the lack of help in the War on Terror that these moderates will be giving us.

UAE Portgate a Big Joke

Now isn't this some stupid statements from Dems on this whole mess.

Brushing aside Bush's assurances, Sen. Carl Levin of Michigan, the panel's ranking Democrat, said the UAE backed the Taliban and allowed financial support for al-Qaida. Levin also charged that the UAE has an "uneven history" as "one of only a handful of countries in the world to recognize the Taliban regime in Afghanistan." He added that millions of dollars in al-Qaida funds went through UAE financial institutions.

Does Levin even know who the other two nations that backed the Taliban? Or did he not get briefed on that info on his march to Get-Bush. The other two nations were Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. Yup, both staunch allies in the War on Terror. But Levin throws that around like some sort of indictment. Also perhaps billions of dollars went through Saudi financial institutions and came from Saudi's themselves to fund al-Quida. So are we going to boycott their oil? This is an even more muddle headed statement from you guessed it:

Sen. Hillary Rodham, D-N.Y., also was critical, calling the approval process "a failure of judgment" because officials "did not alert the president, the secretary of the treasury and the secretary of defense" that several of our critical ports would be turned over to foreign country.

Um, they were already turned over to a foreign country if you missed that briefing while getting ready for your presidential run. The country that ran those ports in the first place was a British company. Yes Hillary, Britian is not part of this country. Perhaps she needs to go take a Geography course at the Learning Annex.

Buy A Hybrid it's Your Patriotic Duty?

I was watching a GE commercial about Alternate Fuels this past weekend and I was struck by the people they used in their commercial. Of course they used these hipster doofuses with soul patches touting "like-Yellow Fuels-dude."

These are the kind of folk that smell of patchouli, are militant Vegans, and like to wave placards that read "Good Soldiers Kill their Officers" at Anti-Bush rallies. In other words fringe elements that the majority of Americans have learned to tune out. I think this is the wrong way for GE to go when it comes to green fuels. These fringe weirdos are already in your camp and using them to push your product hurts your cause. They need to go after the bulk of America with a line like "Green Fuels Means a Safer America."

They need to push the fact that buying Green Fuels means less oil money to fund terror or build Iranian nukes. So it will be your patriotic duty to buy a Hybrid car or fill up your tank with corn and switchgrass. That way we can turn the debate from Green Fuels means a happy world or some other easily tuned out stuff to Green Fuels means safety for America. If they push that safety and patriotism line the thinking will change when it comes to this stuff. This should be Toyotas new sales slogan:

Radioshack's CEO, David Edmondson is out

Well at least he saved the company some trouble by bowing out gracefully. Now the next person, Claire Babrowski got some real work to do. I wonder is she can get the company back on track. Could be a decent turn around play depending on the steps she takes.

I was listening to Squawk Box last night and Carl Quintanilla brought up a great point about Radio Shack. He said that in this Wireless Age the word Radio really doesn't help you sell products. It sounds like the kind of place you want to come to buy a Philco radio to listen to Uncle Miltie on.

Plus you probably won't want to buy high-end electronics from a Shack. It always sounded to me like they are selling you stuff that fell off of the back of a truck. Or it was like a fence or a pawnshop or something. Actually this chart tells to whole tale of Radio Shack:

Bush the Environmentalist?

Wow he sounds like a downright tree hugger with some of the things he is saying now.

There is technology available now, there is the know-how now," Larney said. "What is lacking is leadership on the large scale at the national level."

The White House says Bush is providing that leadership. They say he wants to invest more in zero-emission, coal-fired plants, as well as support solar and wind research, promote cars that run on hydrogen, encourage more nuclear power plant construction and fund work to produce ethanol — not just from corn, but from wood chips and switch grass.

Of course the Libs are seeing shady, ulterior motives to Bush's evironmental push.

Clapp claims the president is promoting renewables because polls show his job approval numbers are being weighed down by Americans' concerns about high utility bills this winter and the cost of gasoline at the pump.

Or course this guy fails to see the real reason why Bush is behind this stuff. He said in no uncertain terms in his State of the Union that he is doing it for national security. We keep getting our energy from unfriendly nations. The moment that environmentalists get wise to this fact the sooner they will be accepted by regular Americans. Oil money goes to fund Jihaddis. Green fuel money goes to fund farmers in the Midwest. It is just that simple.

Japanese Housewives Love to Save

I guess there is a bonus to running the family finances in Japan.

About 46 percent of housewives said they had secret funds, with the sum averaging 2.41 million yen (20,000 dollars), according to a survey of 500 wives in salary-earning households by Sompo Japan DIY Life Insurance.

The hidden savings seem to be accumulating with time, as the average sum was four million yen for housewives in their 50s, nearly three times as much as the 1.46 million yen for those in their 20s.

However Japanese men are only socking a little bit away:

On the other hand, 76 percent of the women believe their husbands keep no such secret money.
Even those who suspect their husbands have funds they don't know about estimate the sum at a modest 364,000 yen.

Radio Shack's Big Mess

They are going to shutter 700 stores and their CEO lied on his resume?

Fourth-quarter earnings fell to $49.5 million, or 36 cents per share, from $130.9 million, or 81 cents per share, a year earlier.

According to Reuters Estimates, excluding 22 cents per share for the inventory write-down and a 2-cent charge for an accounting change, profit would have been 60 cents, which compares with the analysts' average forecast of 66 cents.

Sales rose 5 percent to $1.67 billion, compared with analysts' target of $1.62 billion.

I guess that sales figure was fairly decent though. That 22 cents is a one time deal but missing by 6 cents is big. I guess closing those stores should help the bottom line but I think Radio Shack is just getting their asses beat by the big box electronics retailers. Best Buy and Circuit City both had pretty good quarters but still Radio Shack misses by 6 cents.

This could be a decent short candidate simply because of the CEO controversy. It may get a bump if they fire him though. The new guy they pick needs to be good at a turn around play that will compete with some powerful competitors or we might see Radio Shack shutter more then 700 stores. If they keep the lying CEO Edmondson then all bets are off. Could we see a KKD style implosion of the stock?

US Asks for Aid back from Palestinians

I hope other countries follow our lead.

The money was demanded as part of a full review of all U.S. aid for the Palestinians that began soon after the militant group Hamas' surprise victory in elections last month. A Hamas-led parliament was set to be sworn in on Saturday but it could take several weeks for a Cabinet to be formed.

My tax money better not be funding bomb belts for hapless Palestinian youths. Maybe Bush should use the carrot on this thing though.

For a Hamas government to get direct aid, it would have to renounce violence, recognize Israel, disarm militias and agree to past Israeli-Palestinian agreements.

Why don't we increase aid 10 fold if Hamas does agree to do these things. Kind of like we did with Libya. It probably won't work though. Violence is too deeply ingrained in Hamas for them to take these steps willingly.

Somewhere over the Rainbow...

Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades hides! I wonder if these guys will be getting 100 male virgins?

Israel to seal up Gaza

It seems the Palestinians are going one step forward and two steps back all the time. At least Abbas is kind of putting Hamas' feet to the fire though.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, meanwhile, will demand that Hamas publicly accept his goal of reaching a peace deal with Israel and recognize past agreements with the Jewish state, officials said. Aides to Abbas declined to say what steps he would take if Hamas rejects his demands.

Notice he doesn't say anything about having Hamas keep that little trifle about destroying Israel out of their charter. And this article goes on to blast the Israelis:

Israel will immediately bar laborers from Gaza from entering Israel, stripping about 4,000 Palestinian families of their main source of income, and halt the movement of Palestinian officials between the West and Gaza, security officials said.

Israel will consider tougher economic sanctions later, including restricting Palestinian exports, the officials said. Barring access to Israel would be devastating for Gaza. The Israeli market is the largest for the impoverished coastal strip, and most of Gaza's exports go through Israeli ports.

Um, Israel doesn't have to be hard-line if Hamas would recognize Israel's right to exist and not want to see them wiped off the map. It looks like we are going to see a return to the poor-Palestine and mean-bully-Israel mentality in the AP. It is Hamas that should be the bad guy until they step forward and take the reigns of state. Israel seems to be just trying to protect themselves from getting blown up again.

Iran Renames the Danish

More crazy stuff from the Mad Mullahs of Iran.

"Given the insults by Danish newspapers against the prophet, as of now the name of Danish pastries will give way to 'Rose of Muhammad' pastries," the union said in its order.

So I guess they will be called RoMs for short. This is as stupid as renaming french fries to freedom fries that went on a few years ago. If Iran truely wants to hurt Denmark then cut off all oil exports to the EU. World markets will surely feel the wrath of Iran then.

HP beats the Street

Wow these are some great numbers and they raised next quarters earnings expectations as well:

For the current quarter, HP said it expects a per-share profit before items of 47 cents to 49 cents per share on revenue of $22.4 billion to $22.6 billion.

On that basis, analysts expect a profit of 45 cents per share, on average, within a range of 42 cents to 49 cents per share, on revenue of $22.6 billion.

They also grew every revenue catagory in the company. It looks like CEO Mark Hurd is lightyears better then Carly Fiorina

Fox's Bulls & Bears: Ethanol Talk

This Fox show is normally a weird-assed screamfest with a bunch of money managers all talking at the same time. Last night I was able to cut through all the garble to notice that they mentioned Ethanol stocks. I think it was Mike Norman who picked Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) as his long term stock play simply because of their tie to Ethanol. It was kind of like they were on the same wavelength as me when it came to how green fuels can increase the gains in your portfolio.

I think it was Tobin Smith who mentioned that another stock that I have been doing research on PACIFIC ETHANOL (PEIX) He said it was a pure play that was poised to do well in the space. I think it could be an interesting take over target for Big Oil or even ADM depending on what direction they are going.

If it doesn't get taken over it could be a great growth story. They are building several ethanol plants in California so the transportation costs won't be as high to move the raw materials to the refinery. It is kind of like the Brazillian company Companhia Vale do Rio Doce's steel mill which is right next to their iron mines. Plus California already mandates that a certain amount of ethanol must be added to gas. This article also mentions PEIX as well.

Muhammad Bomb Head Mess - Lack of Respect

The Danish are really feeling the heat of this thing with the PM saying that they are unfairly portrayed as intolerant. It is a very interesting clash of two cultures here. We have on one hand the highly secularized Europe who looks at making fun of the top dog in a religion as nothing more then a free speech issue. On the other hand we have the highly religious Middle East who feel that their Prophet is being attacked by Denmark who isn't even one of their traditional enemies.

I have a feeling that the Danish certainly weren't prepared for the backlash of just printing a few cartoons would cause. They are looking at it with secular eyes where all things are fair game for ridicule and lampooning. This shows the lack of respect the secular West has for the Muslims and their beliefs. They can go ahead and make fun of Muhammad and Muslims have to just sit there and take it since the West is operating under the auspices of "free speech."

The far left shows this lack of respect whenever they talk about pulling the troops out of Iraq willy-nilly without any rhyme or reason. They all know that Iraq will fall to pieces and many Muslims will be slaughtered in the ensuing civil war. They don't care about that because a civil war will win them Senate/House seats and possibly hurt Bush. They don't have enough respect for the Muslims in Iraq to see them through to a prosperous future. In their eyes our soldiers aren't worth dying so Muslims can be freed.

You even see this lack of respect whenever you see someone saying that Western style democracy cannot flourish in the Middle East. Some liberals view Muslims as too corrupt, backward, or ignorant to understand democracy. They even seem to dislike how democracy is flourishing in the Middle East since it is helping Bush build a legacy.

One thing that I found interesting is that it might have been easier for the Muslim world if these cartoons were first printed in the New York Times or in Haaretz. It is more hate from the same sources. The idea that all this disrespect came from the supposedly tolerant Europe must really feel like a slap in the face. This is the same Europe that sided with Palestine when their suicide bombers were slaughtering innocent Israelis. They sided with Saddam against the US. They even have some of the largest concentrations of Muslims living within them outside of the Middle East. So now the Muslim world might perceive that they have no real friends to turn to anymore.

This is much closer Ahmadinejad

Just keep that hand strait out and you've got it.

Thoughts on Green Fuels - the Countries

Here you will really see a big changeover and you might even see some historical things going down. You will see major changes in different parts of the world for sure.

There is so much potential arable land in Africa and South America that could produce the raw materials for green fuels it is scary. Much of that land seems untouched because there is no oil or other raw materials buried beneath them. However that land suddenly becomes very valuable once they start growing corn and green fuel refineries start to sprout up right next to them.

In the past there were only altruistic reasons to help turn crap land into farm land. Now there will be an actual financial incentive involved. The more and better corn you grow the greater the amount of money you will make. Scientists would work to turn scrub land into agricultural land. It will be like oil exploration projects but with less work and geologists involved. They would also have to work on making the stalks yield more corn and having that corn create more energy per bushel. Could super-corn be on the way?

The Middle East will probably cease to be a world-wide concern I think. Crazy fundamentalists backed by Iranian and Saudi oil money will go the way of the anarchist bomb thrower or the Communist nationalist. Something that was a concern way back when but not so much in the future. Now every nation (that has enough arable land) would be able to generate their own energy right out of the ground. Corn won't be only used to feed hungry people but to run their cars as well. The source of the worlds energy will go from being controlled by people that hate us to being available to any nation that has a lot of land.

Of course the only way this could come about is if oil prices get so high that green fuels will not only look attractive but be the cheaper alternative. I will bet any money that the Saudis and other oil controlling nations will do anything they can to squelch this whole deal though. The wealth and importance of their kingdom is at stake.

So they wouldn't be adverse to start pushing down prices by any means necessary to get oil to look more attractive then green fuels. This could be good for consumers and might be bad for the oil majors depending on what they are going to do in response.

Would the Saudis kill to see that green fuels will always be a pipe dream of environmental types? Probably not, but the Iranians and the Venezuelans might depending on how much green fuels cut into their money and influence. Whatever the case it sure will be nice to fill up your gas tank and know for a fact that the money that you used didn't pay for a bomb belt for some hapless Palestinian kid.

Thoughts Green Fuels - Oil Majors

Ever since I was doing research on Ethanol and Methanol being used to replace oil to run cars I have been thinking about the impact of what it all means.

Right now there is an entire oil infrastructure in place to get the oil out of the ground. They already have integrated suppliers who pump the oil out of the ground. They have suppliers who sell drill bits, slurry pumper dealies, and other stuff that only an oil man can understand the use for. They also have transporters that either move the oil by pipeline or by tanker. Finally, they have refiners that turn the oil into gasoline and other things. So basically this infrastructure takes up nearly 10% of the S&P 500. 3% of it is Exxon Mobil alone.

All of this infrastructure will be at risk by the move from oil to green fuels. That means 100,000s of jobs, billions in capital, and 10% of the market will all be affected by the changeover. So I was thinking what could the oil majors do to counter this.

1. They could lower the price of oil to compete with green fuels. Why would you pay double to fill up your car with green fuels when you can just use the same old amber fuels? They are already making record profits so if oil dropped down to $30 a barrel again green fuels again look like big losers.

2. They could buy out ADM and other big agribusiness concerns with the record cash hordes that many oil majors have. So Exxon will go from pumping oil out of the ground to growing corn in the ground and shipping them to green fuel plants. This move will kill off tankers, oil service, and oil explorers. But the big oil majors might survive.

3. They could do nothing and become the next airline industry. Lots of top-heavy, bankrupt concerns that cannot compete with nimble and newer arrivals. However they will have lots of cash and political clout left so they can still effect the picture some.

Basically it comes down to the oil majors embracing change or fighting like mad to keep the change from happening. Will they buy ADM out simply to gut the company's ethanol production? Or will they resort to buying off major green fuel scientists to stifle innovation?
It will be interesting to see since supposedly we will reducing our dependence by 75% by 2025. Something is going to happen here before too long.

Yield Curve Inversion Different this time?

Hmm, it seems that even John Snow is saying that this inversion is different.

But government officials, including Treasury Secretary John Snow and former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, have insisted that the inversion now reflects boisterous global appetite for U.S. assets, rather than deteriorating U.S. economic fundamentals.

New Fed chief Ben Bernanke attributes the inversion to a global savings glut that has sent unprecedented flows of capital from all over the world to U.S. Treasurys.

I guess that is good news if those foreign investors keep buying the debt. It seems that economists are all over the page on this issue though. With some thinking the FED has raised rates too much and others saying it is not enough. We won't be able to tell until we get a recession though.

Ethanol Good for your portfolio?

Seems like a good idea to me. These company's could become the Exxon of an economy independent of foreign oil. I like Archer Daniels Midland myself because they are so big and can afford to put the research dollars into ethanol. They also have the expertise in moving and finishing the soybeans, corn, and sugar that it will take to make ethanol.

Still ethanol isn't cost effective and relies on government subsidies. However if Iran gets sanctioned, oil will go through the roof and powering your car with corn stalks and things will start to sound like a good idea. Here is their webpage. Those school lunches look unappetizing though.

US Senators to Revoke Normalized China Trade?

Now this is a true bone headed move.

U.S. Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., announced legislation Thursday that would revoke normal trade relations with China.

Under the legislation, Congress would have to vote annually to grant China normal trade relations with the U.S.

So they will be using this as some sort of club to punish China. So the trade deficit is too big then we punish them stopping trade to them. Or lets say they aren't paying workers enough. So would US steelmakers not ship to them? It is idiotic protectionist crapola.

This would first hurt US consumers who get their cheap stuff from Wal-Mart made in China. That is almost like an inflation buster in itself. People pay less for everyday stuff and they could then use that money for investing, retirement, health care, or some other thing.

We would also close off one of the biggest markets in the world from buying out goods as well. They still need the steel, cars, technology and other stuff we currently produce and will go to another source to buy them. Basically we will let our competitors get unfettered access to their market while we stand on the sidelines and watch them to save a few lousy manufacturing jobs? That is why Senators shouldn't have anything to do with trade.

Jyllands-Posten Hypocritical; Well not Really

Ah the title of this article does not correctly tell us what is being said in it. Taken how it is it looks like the Danish paper hated Mohammed on one hand but protects Jesus on the other.

"Danish paper refused "offensive" Jesus cartoons"

Yup showing Jesus is offensive but Mohammed with a bomb on his head is not so much. But if you read down the article should be titled "Danish paper refused silly Jesus cartoons"

Jens Kaiser, the former editor of Jyllands-Posten's Sunday edition who turned down the cartoons three years ago, said he had done so because they were no good.

"Having seen the cartoons, I found that they were not very good. I failed to see the purportedly provocative nature," he said in a statement.

"My fault is that I didn't tell him what I really meant: The cartoons were bad." Kaiser said he told Zieler he had not used the cartoons because they were offensive to some readers.

Zieler's five colored cartoons portrayed Jesus jumping out of holes in floors and walls during his resurrection. In one, gnomes rated Jesus for style, another entitled "Saviour-cam" showed Jesus with a camera on his head staring at his feet.

Hmm, I wonder if the media is trying to stoke the fires of controversy here?

Johansson, Knightley Bare it all for Vanity Fair

They sure are some pale girls. I think Tom Ford needs to let them get some sun and then do the shoot again. Also Keira has a really weird look on her face. Maybe Ford is telling her something that is making her queasy.

Bomb-Head Mohammed claims first Lives

I wonder if the Danish newspaper is rethinking their editorial policy now that we have some people killed over this thing. As you know it's all fun and games until someone gets killed.

Afghan troops opened fire on demonstrators Monday, leaving at least four people dead, while Iranian police used tear gas to disperse hundreds of protesters hurling stones and firebombs at the Danish Embassy in Tehran as anger mounted over the publication of caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad.

Yup words and cartoons do have the power to kill people still. I am just glad a US newspaper doesn't reprint that stuff and throw us deeper into the anti-Western crucible.

Sheehan Loves her some Chavez

Now she is really getting out of hand by giving the thumbs up to a person like Chavez. I really think she is hurting the cause of the Peace Party with this kind of behavior. Coddling socialist dictators and admirers of Castro like this really hurts her cause.

The Peace Party simply needs to give the rest of America a cogent plan for getting out of Iraq without having that country descend into civil war. Also if that withdraw plan could look like something other then the insurgents winning and driving us out of the country then let us know that as well. But cutting and running *will* doom Iraqis to a civil war and the possible breakup of the country. I have a feeling that Chavez won't be giving her any good advice on this subject.

US gets out of the way of Mohammed Bomb-head

The US got out of the way of this thing pretty fast. At least we don't have the LA Times reprinting this stuff in solidarity to their oppressed European brethren. I agree with the State Department though.

The State Department called the drawings "offensive to the beliefs of Muslims" and said the right to freedom of speech must be coupled with press responsibility.

"Inciting religious or ethnic hatred in this manner is not acceptable," State Department press officer Janelle Hironimus said.

Yup Ms. Hironimus is 100% correct. One thing that Denmark should really be watching out for is the crazy so-called "religion of peace" perverters will now be targeting them. I would hate to be working for that paper now.

Now this is Weird

This is probably the first picture I have seen of reactionary nutjobs not burning the US or Israeli flags.

Wow Mohammed Bomb-head is going ape now!

Protests from all over the Muslim world now. And things are getting pretty dicey for the Europeans now too. I wonder if crazy riots are going to engulf France again? Check this out:

Interesting Thoughts on Protecting your Portfolio

This is from dollar risk. Lots of foreigners are sponsoring our spending habits to the tune of massive trade deficits. This is the fear:

If foreigners became less inclined to buy our debt, the Treasury would have to raise interest rates to entice more buyers. Rates on commercial loans and mortgages would rise, too. Those higher rates, in turn, could slow the U.S. economy.

So this guy is advocating the following to stave off a dollar meltdown:

1. Grant recommends gold, which gains in value when paper currencies fall in value. An easy way to invest in gold is through the iShares Comex Gold Trust (ticker: IAU). It's an exchange-traded fund that invests in the yellow metal. You can buy or sell shares through your broker.

2. If you're really bearish on the buck, there's the Rydex Weakening Dollar fund (ticker: RYWBX). It uses futures and other investments in its effort to rise 2% for every 1% fall in a dollar index. If you're less bearish, the Falling Dollar ProFunds (FDPIX) is designed to rise 1% for every 1% fall in a dollar index.

3. If you're down on the dollar but eager for euros, you could invest in the Euro Currency Trust (FXE), an exchange-traded fund that invests in euros. It rises when the dollar falls against the euro, and vice versa.

4. Another avenue is bank CDs denominated in foreign currencies. EverBank, in Jacksonville, offers CDs and other accounts denominated in a variety of currencies, as well as some linked to currency indexes. You'll gain if the dollar falls. It's no sure thing, though. Even though the CDs are insured by the federal government against the bank's collapse, you could still lose money if the dollar rises. EverBank's Internet address is www.everbank.com.

5. Probably the most sensible way to hedge against a dollar decline is an international stock or bond fund. Still, both would run into problems if worldwide interest rates rose. International bond funds are probably the better currency play. Some international stock funds use futures to hedge against currency risk.

Boehner in as Republican Leader

Lets hope old Hammer DeLay is behind the party now. This guy seems to be a pretty good fit and at least he is willing to work with Dems on things.

Boehner is considered a mainstream Republican conservative who is willing to work with Democrats. He is also known as foe of "pork barrel" spending, which is the funneling of federal money into lawmakers' pet projects and considered a factor in a lobbying scandal now shaking Washington.

Now they can work on the business of the people and not influence peddling and defending themselves from ethics violations.

You almost got it Ahmadinejad

Put the arm out a little straiter and keep the fingers together.

Bomb-Head Mohammed Claims first Job

I wonder if the managing editor of Frances Soir, Jacques Lefranc knew that the company he worked for was owned by an Egyptian shipping magnate? I guess not since he published the offending cartoons again. I wonder if this legal challenge will get any traction?

Mohammed Bechari, president of the National Federation of the Muslims of France, said his group would start legal proceedings against France Soir because of "these pictures that have disturbed us, and that are still hurting the feelings of 1.2 billion Muslims."

Is it slander against Mohammed or is it suing on behalf of the hurt feelings? If someone gives you the finger in France then are you allowed to sue the guy for hurting your feelings. Maybe it is somehow a hate crime.

EU solidarity on Mohammed Bomb-Head Flap

The French and the Germans jump in to support Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten . I guess I agree with their central thesis that a democratic society can pretty much make fun of anyone's religion. It was just the meanspirited way that they did it that I didn't like. It just implies that Mohammed is a homicide bomber that I don't like and apparently the Muslim world thinks the same as I do:

Angered by the drawings, masked Palestinian gunmen briefly took over a
European office in Gaza on Monday. Syria called for the offenders to be punished. Danish goods were swept from shelves in many countries, and Saudi Arabia and Libya recalled their ambassadors to Denmark.

I thought we were trying to seperate Islam from the Extremists. By putting a bomb on Mohammed's head you simply fuel the anti-Western fires. If this happened in the US we would see some serious backlash including firing and resignations. In the EU they have solidarity.

US to Go to War to defend Israel?

This Bush statement won't go over well in the Muslim world.

"I am concerned about a person that, one, tries to rewrite the history of the Holocaust, and two, has made it clear that his intentions are to destroy Israel," Bush said.

"Israel is a solid ally of the United States, we will rise to Israel's defense if need be. So this kind of menacing talk is disturbing. It's not only disturbing to the United States, it's disturbing for other countries in the world as well," he added.

Asked if he meant the United States would rise to Israel's defense militarily, Bush said: "You bet, we'll defend Israel."

Bush should have added that the US will defend any solid ally that is directly threatened like this. So if Iran threatened to destroy Iraq or Kuwait the US will use the same force to defend that nations right to exist as well.

It is good that Bush points out who his real friends are in the Middle East. We have backed the Israelis since their existence and it is no time to let them twist in the wind.

Michael Bowers the New Thomas Edison?

Soon you may be saying Thomas who? This is really some invention from Michael Bowers, a graduate student at Vanderbilt University. And it seems to have been done by accident.

When you shine a light on quantum dots or apply electricity to them, they react by producing their own light, normally a bright, vibrant color. But when Bowers shined a laser on his batch of dots, something unexpected happened.

"I was surprised when a white glow covered the table," Bowers said. "The quantum dots were supposed to emit blue light, but instead they were giving off a beautiful white glow."

Then Bowers and another student got the idea to stir the dots into polyurethane and coat a blue LED light bulb with the mix. The lumpy bulb wasn't pretty, but it produced white light similar to a regular light bulb.

Now that is pretty cool science. Kind of like the legend that an apple falling from a tree made Isaac Newton create his theoreys of motion. This LED invention has the potential to change the world and make the US alot more energy independent. Good job Vanderbilt University grad student Michael Bowers.