Hillary's Plan to get us out of the Sub Prime Mess

It pretty much boils down to having the government backstop some of the bad loans, add more government oversight of the mortgage market, and also educate the poor-dumb borrowers. I do like her plan to eliminate prepayment penalties though.

-Require mortgage brokers to disclose to borrowers that their compensation rises when borrowers' mortgage rates and mortgage fees are high.

-Work with states to develop strong licensing standards and require federal registration for mortgage brokers.

-Eliminate prepayment penalties on mortgage products.

-Require mortgage lenders to include the cost of taxes and insurance in the underwriting assessment of higher-risk mortgages.

-Establish a $1 billion fund to assist state programs that help at-risk borrowers avoid foreclosure.

-Expand Fannie Mae's and Freddie Mac's foreclosure prevention efforts.

-Establish a $1 billion fund to provide federal support to housing trust funds established by state, county and municipal governments.

Netherlands Might Ban Magic Mushrooms

It looks like the Shroom Industry is facing major shutdowns if the conservatives in the Netherlands get their way.

A majority of parties in parliament ranging from centrist to far right
have demanded the hallucinogenic mushrooms be outlawed.

If the government does ban mushrooms, it will be in keeping with
conservative trends that have been sweeping the country in recent years. Since
2001, Muslim immigrants have been under pressure to learn Dutch and integrate,
and there have been calls by some to ban Islamic schools and radical
mosques.

CSCO Beat Estimates

It looks like they had a pretty good quarter for the most part.

Revenue rose 18.1 percent to $9.4 billion. Analysts on average expected
revenue of $9.275 billion.

In May, Cisco Chief Executive John Chambers forecast fourth-quarter
revenue growth in a range of 15 percent to 16 percent.

Hey they beat their own revenue growth estimates. I guess all those routers and such are just flying off of the shelf. It looks like Options guys front ran this one to the tune of 74,000 contracts trading on the 30 and 32.50 August Calls. If tomorrows trades match todays after market move (+1.72 to 31.42) then the investors holding that 30 strike will be in the green.

J.Michels Uranium Index 8/7/07

+$439.00 +1.03%

Dropping Energy Prices to Save the Day?

All that gloom and doom in the housing sector may mask a ray of hope according to some analysts. This ray comes from lower oil prices and thus energy not taking such a big bite of the consumer budget.

At the pump, meanwhile, gas prices also extended their declines,
falling 2 cents over the weekend to a national average of $2.838 a gallon,
according to AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. Retail prices, which
typically lag the futures market, peaked at $3.227 a gallon in May. At that
time, gas futures were rallying on concerns about the refining industry, which
struggled all spring with maintenance issues and unplanned outages.

Maybe the consumer will be able to ReFi their loans so that they can absorb any rate increases. Or if they are able to get out from under those expensive homes and possibly sell them they will be in the clear. They may need to rent or buy a condo or something but at least it will help them not go bankrupt and lose their homes. However these oil guys are hopelessly split according to that article though.

In any case I wonder if we will see another 30% drop in oil prices from now until October like we saw last year? Someone placed a $7 million bet on 9000 contracts of Oct 2007 OIH Puts today. This person is betting on a 14.9 point drop from the current levels in the Oil Services HOLDR by October to break even. The OIH dropped about 20% last year from August to October (A 20% drop would put OIH at about 132.) Finally there is an almost 3 to 1 Put to Call ratio in that series as well. Could all this option positioning mean people are hedging for a drop in OIH (and oil prices) from now until October? It seems reasonable.

Pretty Grim Take on the Housing Blowup

It seems that not even the FED can save us from things going belly up in the mortgage markets. This is the scariest part of the article I think:

Inquiring minds are no doubt asking why even more miracles may be
needed. The reasons center around debt servicing and jobs. There is simply no
pent up demand for housing, no growth in wages, and no way cash strapped
consumers can service current debt loads. There is also no source of jobs that
an overheated housing market created. There is no need for more Home Depots
(HD), Lowes (LOW), Pizza Huts (YUM), Applebees (APPB), nail salons, strip malls,
Walmarts, etc etc. In fact there is a need for less stores not more and the
coming consumer led recession will prove it. Overcapacity is simply rampant. It
would take even more miracles to correct all of that.

No jobs, no wage growth, and no housing demand means there will be widespread foreclosures unless people take 2nd and 3rd jobs to service all that debt. If you think people are cranky now wait until they are working 3 jobs to pay more and more every month for that $600K house that is now worth only $500K.

I'm guessing there might be some knee-jerk reaction on the part of the Dem Senate to bail these people out. Will Fannie and Freddie, financed by the taxpayer, buy all those underwater/defaulted mortgages? Or will there be a bail out of the mortgage market just like we saw in the bail out of the savings and loans in the 80s? I guess it depends on the pain that the US consumer will be feeling and how much they clamor for a government quick fix.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/6/07

-$545.00 -1.26%

Dems Introduce Censure Motion

Here is another half-assed attempt to "get Bush" from the Dems.

One resolution (S Res 302, H Res. 625), would censure Bush and Cheney
for “misleading the American people” about the need to invade and occupy Iraq,
as well as for poor planning and conduct of the war.

The other measure (S Res 303, H Res. 626) would censure Bush and
Gonzales for “undermining the rule of law and the separation of powers” by,
among other things, authorizing the National Security Agency to conduct
warrantless surveillance of American citizens and making “misleading” statements about the application of the a sweeping 2001 anti-terrorism law (PL 107-56).

The guy will be gone in a little more then a year. Censure him or fine him or whatever after that. Until then concentrate on the so called "progressive agenda." Don't waste any more time on grandstanding for the Far Left.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/3/07

-$1,500.00 -3.36%

Take-Two Postpones Grand Theft Auto 4

And the stock got smashed for a 16% loss on the day for it.

Due to additional time needed to complete the title, Take-Two said it
was now planning to release "Grand Theft Auto IV" in the second-quarter, which
ends next April, as opposed to the original release date of this
October.

There goes a "must have" Christmas category killer. From what I read about the game it would have been a serious contender for game of the year for 2007. Whatever the case TTWO is a real joke of a company. First that Manhunt 2 release fiasco and now they have to push back the release of their bread and butter game.

Bush to Call Global Warming Meeting

It looks like Bush is finally getting around to confronting global warming.

Under pressure for tougher action against climate change, Bush
invited the European Union, the United Nations and 11 industrial and
developing countries to the September 27-28 meeting in Washington to work
toward setting a long-term goal by 2008 to cut emissions.

Of course environmentalists are poo-pooing it as always:

But John Coequyt, a policy analyst with Greenpeace, expressed concern
the Washington talks would be used to "erode support for the process that's
strengthening at the U.N."

Yup instead of trying to work with the White House to craft some type of bipartisan environmental effort the Greens accuse Bush of "eroding support for the process." He is calling the worlds polluters together to craft some type of sensible plan which seems like advancing the process to me.

Why doesn't Greenpeace offer to craft Bushes message for this meeting or sit down in a face to face with him? If Bush refuses to meet with them then they can jump on him for not listening to the point of view. Put poo-pooing proactive movement on global warming is another sign of not taking "yes" for an answer.

Activision has Great Quarter led by Guitar Hero 2

It seems that the game makers have made the transition to the new platforms with flying colors.

Video game publisher Activision Inc. posted fiscal first-quarter
earnings and revenue above Wall Street's expectations Thursday, boosted by
strong sales of "Guitar Hero II" and its latest "Spider-Man" title.

For the quarter ended June 30, Activision earned $27.8 million, or 9
cents per share, versus a loss of $18.3 million, or 7 cents per share, in the
same period a year ago.

I can say with firm conviction that Guitar Hero II is a great game and probably carries a pretty nice profit margin for its $90 price tag. Also Guitar Hero can have an added revenue stream due to downloadable content via Xbox 360s Live service. I would be willing to plunk down a few bucks so I would be able to play a new song via this game. Some hot licks form an AC/DC song goes a long way. Now they need to come out with Drum Hero or something like so they can sell a drum kit as well. That would also be a perfect fit for the Wii and its weirdo controller.

2/3s of Americans Can't Define the word Recession

Here is another sign that Americans are clueless when it comes to economic matters.

Nearly half the survey respondents, 46 percent, believed a recession
was already under way.The conviction comes despite a 3.4 percent rebound in
economic growth during the second quarter, according to Commerce Department data released last week.

A recession is generally defined as two consecutive quarters of
declines in gross domestic product.

There still hasn't been 1 quarter of declines in GDP. It slowed to 0.6% in the first quarter but didn't go negative at any time. I guess this is another sign that Americans cannot be trusted to handle their own Social Security money. They will probably blow it on lottery tickets or a new deck or something. Also this same ignorance is what keeps the Mutual Fund industry knee deep in bags of money.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/2/07

+$134.00 +0.30%

Obama backs Bombing Allied Country

And it seems that the Pakistanis don't like that talk one bit.

Obama warned Wednesday that if he is elected president, he would order
US forces to hit extremist targets on Pakistan's frontier with Afghanistan if
embattled military ruler President Pervez Musharraf failed to act.

"Such statements are being made out of sheer ignorance," Pakistan's
Minister of State for Information, Tariq Azeem, told AFP. "They are not fully
apprised about the ground realities and not aware of the efforts by
Pakistan."

At least W is for striking targets in "enemy" countries and doesn't back bombing stuff in a key ally in the war on terror. I thought the Dems were all for political solutions, polling the world community, respecting the sovereignty of nations, and stuff like that. One thing that is interesting is how the AP immediately deflects some criticism from Obama to the Bushies:

Islamabad has bristled against a string of similar threats in recent
weeks by the administration of US President George W. Bush, whose top
counter-terror official in July refused to rule out US strikes in
Pakistan.

Refusing to rule something out and actually saying you will bomb an ally if you are elected are two very different things. I guess the AP thinks that "all options are on the table" actually means we "will use those options no matter what." I guess the AP doesn't believe in the diplomatic adage of freedom of maneuver.

Dems Turn their Back on Principles Regarding Iraq

That is according to some strategists:

House Democratic leaders are intent on sidetracking bipartisan attempts
to change course in Iraq at least until fall, officials said Tuesday, rather
than allow nervous Republicans to vote for legislation that lacks a troop
withdrawal deadline.

Several lawmakers and aides said the goal was to deny members of the
GOP rank and file a chance to proclaim their independence from President Bush by voting for a limited measure — after months of backing his policy in an
increasingly unpopular war.

So instead of bringing the Republicans around to their way of thinking and ending the "illegal war of conquest" in Iraq they would rather punish them instead. So they aren't sticking to their guns and getting bipartisan support to end the war they are just delaying things until the fall. Basically, they are selling out the Far Left "get out of Iraq now" crowd in order to keep people from agreeing with them. And they wonder why their approval rating is in the toilet.

Opposition Party Wants Abe Out

Here is some more fallout from the LDP getting trounced in the Upper House elections in Japan over the weekend.

Ichiro Ozawa, the Democrats' leader, made clear the opposition would
make Abe's ouster a rallying cry.

"I do not believe that such action that defies common sense and
rules will receive the understanding of the people," Ozawa said at a party
meeting on nationally televised news.

Not all of the people according to this poll:

But a nationwide telephone survey by Kyodo News was not as clear cut on
whether Abe should resign, with 49.5 percent of the respondents saying Abe
must leave, and 43.7 percent saying he should stay.

Is it just me or does this Ichiro Ozawa character look kind of like Boss Nass

Edwards Wants to Hold up Middle East Weapon sales

According to Edwards it is okay to renege on weapons deals that have already been struck for this reason:

Edwards said the arms deal could backfire by giving Iran an incentive
to build its nuclear strength.

"They have to try to offset the conventional arms deficiencies that
they're faced with," Edwards said. "That's the whole problem with this idea that
you deal with these things in terms of what's helpful at the moment instead of
what needs to be done over the long term."

Yup selling the Saudis weapons will give the Iranians incentives to build the nukes that they are probably already building. So I guess Edwards is going to stiff the Saudis and have them buy those weapons from the Russians/Europeans/Chinese instead? This guy should not be trusted in any foreign policy capacity.

Murdochs Pressure May be Working

It looks like the idiot Bancroft family is going to finally accept an offer that values their company at almost double what it was a few months ago. It isn't a done deal but they would be stupid not to take the money and run.

Members of the Bancroft family had a 5 p.m. deadline Monday to tell
the family's lead trustee how they would vote, but negotiations apparently
continued over other matters in an attempt to persuade holdout votes to sign
on. The Journal reported Tuesday that Dow Jones' board had agreed to set
aside funds to pay the Bancroft family's advisory fees, which could total at
least $30 million.

What a racket. They even get an extra $30 million for "consulting fees" on top of the billions that they might soon be getting. I assume that they will be getting that money simply for taking the time to vote for the offer or not. I wish I could charge a consulting fee every time I got a proxy notice and took the time to vote.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/31/07

+$646.98 +1.42%

Murdoch may Pull His Bid for DJ

I guess he is just tired of waiting for these crazy Bancrofts to make up their minds.

On Monday a News Corp. spokesman said the company was "highly unlikely"
to go ahead with the deal if the level of support among the Bancrofts remained
at just 28 percent of the shareholder vote, which The Wall Street Journal
reported was the level of commitment as of Sunday.

You might see DJ fall off the page as soon as Murdoch steps away from this thing. There does seem to be more puts in play then calls but you never know how this thing will come out. I figure there will be some sell off and then the stock probably will hover higher then the pre-buyout price for a while thinking that this company is worth more then it actually is.

The deal seemed pretty much like Murdoch going after the Wall Street Journal so he can name his new finance network the Wall Street Journal Channel or something like that. Right now there is just too many complications to make that happen with the Bancrofts running things.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/30/07

+$1,518.01 +3.46%

Republican Candidates To Duck the YouTube Debates

It looks like the frontrunners on the Repub side are going to try to dodge the YouTube debates scheduled for Sept. 17:

A story in the Washington Post this morning suggested that “sources familiar” with the Giuliani campaign said that the GOP frontrunner was considering bypassing the debate. A spokesman for Governor Mitt Romney said that the campaign had received 7 debate invitations over an 11 day period in September and had not committed to any of them. Romney himself expressed some good natured skepticism with the YouTube format saying “I think the presidency ought to be held at a higher level than having to answer questions from a snowman,” referring to a questioner at the Democratic debates on Monday night who dressed as a snowman to ask about global warming.

That was a snowman made by an American citizen that is asking a question of a person that wants to lead his country. Romneys scoffing opinion of an American that did something creative to get his voice heard is indicative of why Romney will lose this thing strait up if he manages to win the Republican nod.

The Rebulicans are show time and time again that they are simply unwilling to embrace technology and try to use it to its fullest. The Dems know that this "intraweb thing" is very powerful and is a game changer when it comes to trying to become President for here on in. These YouTube debates allow actual Americans to ask questions of their potential leaders in their own voice. They get to do so on a national stage without being put on the spot with all eyes on them like at a Town Hall meeting.

These aren't questions posed by elites, journalists, or big media types. Instead they are written by any regular American that owns a webcam. The only bad part is that the YouTube questioners don't get a followup so they can cut through the political BS that is usually shoveled out by candidates.

If the Republican frontrunners dodge this thing then they are thumbing their nose at Web 2.0. How will this person handle all of the technological change that will occur during the next 4-8 years in office? Will Romney be the next Republican Luddite to stand in the way of Stem Cells, Alternative Energy, or any other type of technological change coming down the pike?

In any case I can't trust a guy like Romney when he is unwilling to listen to an American because he feels that he is "higher level" then that American. Romney should remember that he is at a job interview and the American people are his potential employer. And he better give our snowmen some respect.

Dem Congress Finally Does Something

I guess the criticism is finally getting to them. The Dems are finally passing some bills.

Along with a boost in the minimum wage, which went into effect on
Tuesday, the 9/11 Commission bill would be at the top of the Democratic
majority's achievement list if President Bush signs it into law.

The White House has expressed opposition to several provisions in the
bill, particularly a requirement that within five years all ship containers be
scanned for nuclear devices before they leave foreign ports for the United
States, but it has not issued a veto threat.

The administration has questioned the feasibility of installing
radiation monitoring equipment in more than 600 foreign ports. To soften
opposition, the bill's authors gave the Homeland Security secretary authority to
delay implementation in two-year increments if needed.

I question that feasibility as well. How can they scan the contents of 7.8 million containers per year quickly and easily without slowing down foreign trade? Just screening the exports coming out of China would be a Herculean task. Will the Chinese install these monitoring device and will they screen containers that are going to Australia or Venezuela or some other country as well? Or are they going to keep all the US bound containers in one place or coming out of just one port or something? Also will they bill the US for the installation and maintenance cost of this equipment? How are you going to force foreign 600 ports to do anything at all?

Finally, what keeps the terrorists from shipping the material to Mexico or Canada and simply driving them across the porous border in a truck? I have a feeling that this provision will be delayed for quite a few years after that 5 year deadline. Then it will probably be taken out by another bill.

Clinton and Obama Spar on direct talks to Iran/Cuba

It looks like Senator Clinton has a wedge issue to separate her from Obama.

Clinton considers the first-term senator from Illinois naive for saying
he would be willing to meet leaders of hostile nations like Iran and Cuba, while
Obama thinks Clinton is sticking to the foreign policy status quo of the
much-criticized Bush administration.

This is also the status quo for many Presidents Democrat and Republican through the years. You don't engage the foreign leaders face-to-face without lower level contacts paving the way. The last thing you want is Iran to use a failed meeting for propaganda purposes. I guess sitting down with murderous, thug, dictators and religious radicals and legitimizing them is what the Obama campaign is all about.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/27/07

-$858.00 -1.92%

Porche Hybrid?

This seems like a good idea to make rich environmentally conscious people choose Porche.

Porsche's Cayenne hybrid is being developed in part with Volkswagen AG
and Audi AG, and when complete is expected to reduce the sport utility vehicle's
fuel consumption by almost one-third.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/26/07

-$2,663.00 -5.61%

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/24/07

-$2,078.89 -4.13%

YouTube Debate Throws Off Dems

Now this is a weird crossroads of Web 2.0 with the old media of CNN. This was funny when I read this:

To Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois: Are you black enough? "You know, when
I'm catching a cab in Manhattan ... I'm giving my credentials," he
replied.

To Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York: Are you feminine
enough? "I couldn't run as anything other than a woman,"

Her answer drew a challenge from former Sen. John Edwards, who said
he was the best advocate for women on the debate stage. "I have the strongest,
boldest ideas," he said.

I thought the challenge from Edwards was going to be "no Sen. Clinton you are far too manly to be a woman." Or maybe he would reveal that he is indeed a woman trapped in a man's body or that he was much far more feminine then Clinton will ever be. He even has the $400 haircut to prove it.

Of course Obama answered the Iraq question in the typical mealy mouthed Democratic fashion:

Obama took the opportunity to take a slap at his rivals who voted to
give Bush authority to invade Iraq, including Clinton and Edwards. "The time to
ask how we're going to get out of Iraq was before we got in," he said, without
naming Clinton, Edwards and other foes.

No Sen. Obama we ARE IN IT we need to ask those "How are we going to get out of it" questions right now. Trying to ask questions that are 5 years old and rehash this stuff wastes time when we need to decide things right now. It smacks of the Howard Deans famous "I'll tell you what were not going to do" line.

Finally this has to be the all-time stupid question ever:

When was the last time a presidential candidate was forced to promise
to work at minimum wage? That is effectively what seemed to happen when a voter asked whether the candidates would serve four years at $5.85 an hour rather than the president's annual $400,000 salary.

"Sure," replied Clinton.

I'm sure she thought "because I am already rich." Edwards was thinking "I'm taking a big pay cut to take that $400,000 salary, I made that much just chasing 1 ambulance."

"Game-changer" from Corning?

It seems they have figured out a way to make Fiberoptics bend without losing its signal. Their President says it is a "game-changing" breakthrough:

"This is a game-changing technology for telecommunications
applications," said Corning's president, Peter Volanakis. "We have developed an
optical fiber cable that is as rugged as copper cable but with all of the
bandwidth benefits of fiber."

This should be great for all those people who want a fast network in their apartment without having to resort to DSL. This will also be good for those people that have to share their bandwidth with a bunch of people in the other apartments surrounding you. So you don't have to worry about being lag killed when your next door neighbor is on YouTube 24/7 or using Joost to watch High Def TV.

It doesn't look like a gamechanger for the stock since it only rose $0.18 to $26.71 but there is heavy Call buying in the Aug, Nov, and Jan 30 strikes. It could be a good long term play once we see how much of this new super-bendy cable Verizon will be willing to lay and if other telecom providers switch to this stuff as well.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/23/07

+$331.09 +0.66%

Weird Symbol Saved from NYC Building

Now this is a pretty odd symbol that they found on a NYC warehouse built 175 years ago:

There are 7 bricks facing north south at the top and 14 bricks at the bottom. It kind of looks like a Freemason symbol to me. The triangle looks a little like that triangle with the eye in it that you see in some of their iconography. And the bricks going north south kind of look like the plane and measuring device in this picture.

Obama Won't Stay in Iraq to Prevent Genocide

It is another case of the Dems being soft on genocide. However he does have to cleave to the Far Left "don't use troops to stop the killing" wing of the party.

"Well, look, if that's the criteria by which we are making decisions on
the deployment of U.S. forces, then by that argument you would have 300,000
troops in the Congo right now — where millions have been slaughtered as a
consequence of ethnic strife — which we haven't done," Obama said in an
interview with The Associated Press.

"We would be deploying unilaterally and occupying the Sudan, which
we haven't done. Those of us who care about Darfur don't think it would be a
good idea," he said.

There is nothing better then deploying 300,000 troops to save the lives of millions. I thought these were the Progressives that want to help people in foreign places not be slaughtered by the millions. The UN is worthless when it comes to genocide so someone needs to step up. We unfortunately are on the short list of countries that would be able to do it. I guess all the FDR and JFK Democrats have retired.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/20/07

-$262.21 -0.52%

Hillary "Reinforces Enemy Propaganda" Says Pentagon

Now this is some pretty strong words from the Pentagon.

A copy of Edelman's response, dated July 16, was obtained Thursday by
The Associated Press.

"Premature and public discussion of the withdrawal of U.S. forces
from Iraq reinforces enemy propaganda that the United States will abandon its
allies in Iraq, much as we are perceived to have done in Vietnam, Lebanon and
Somalia," Edelman wrote.

I'm pretty sure the Pentagon can draw up a withdrawal plan without telegraphing it to the Insurgents like Hillary wants them to do. I think this might cleave to the notion that Hillary doesn't trust the military to do their jobs. And she wants to be Commander and Chief?

Google Misses Estimates by $.03

I guess they were just hiring too fast and the bill came due.

Instead, the company hired more aggressively than even it had planned
to during the beginning of the year, CEO Eric Schmidt told investors during a
conference call.

"We exceeded spending when it came to headcount, and going forward
we will watch this very carefully," Schmidt said. The bulk of the new hires were
sales, marketing, and engineering personnel, the company said.

I wonder if any of this shortfall was due to Ebay pulling their ads off of the Google US sites in for that Google Checkout spat in June?

SAN FRANCISCO (Thomson Financial) - EBay Inc and Google Inc have turned
from ardent partners to nettled adversaries, with the renowned online auction
site yanking it ads from the world's most popular Internet search
engine.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/19/07

+806.00 +1.63%

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/18/07

+$444.01 +0.90%

Dendreon Supporters take out Washington Post Ad

Now this is an interesting development from the Dendreon support camp.

Usually activist shareholders target an actual company for change to
enhance share prices, but a group of shareholders, patients, advocates, and
activists have a made an unusual move. In Sunday's Washington Post, this
group took out an advertisement calling for citizens to contact their
Congressional representatives to urge the FDA to reverse their delay of
Provenge.

This drug is a big deal for these people because Provenge is one of the few drugs that will combat late stage Prostate Cancer. It is a drug that could potentially keep a guy alive for another few months so people are going to be passionate about it.

A few months doesn't seem like much to some people but it is enough to gather your family members together for a nice sendoff. And to these people the FDA is standing in the way waiting by waiting 2 or 3 years for more data. I think I'll e-mail my Congressman like the ad says to do.

Another IPhone Supplier: ST Microelectronics (STM)

This is the company that makes something called the LIS302 accelerometer according to this article. There is nothing like an item that will bring in $2.95 per IPhone sold when the company looks like a real dog according to Sramana Mitra's rundown of the company.

One of the coolest features of the iPhone is the orientation sensor
that detects whether you are holding the phone vertically or horizontally
and automatically changes the display to portrait or landscape. ST Micro is
the supplier for this orientation sensor, also known as the LIS302
accelerometer. Considering the estimated price of $2.95 per unit, the ST
Micro accelerometer accounts for around 1.3% of iPhone’s component
price.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/17/07

-383.01 -0.77%

IHOP to buy Applebee's

I guess IHOP figures that pancakes goes well with whatever crap that Applebees serves (I have heard that Applebees really sucks.)

Stewart, a former Applebee's International Inc. executive, said once
the deal closes, IHOP Corp. would revive the Applebee's brand and increase its
emphasis on franchises by selling most of the 508 company-owned stores at a rate of 40 per quarter, a process that could take until 2010 to complete. In doing
so, the company would reduce the percentage of company-owned stores to 5 percent from the current 25 percent, a transformation similar to the one she led at IHOP beginning in 2003.

More Theater when Dems pull All-Nighter

Now the Dems are going for even more idiodic theater pieces when it comes to the Iraq.

The rare, round-the-clock session Tuesday night through Wednesday
morning is intended to bait Republicans into an exhaustive debate on the
politically unpopular war, as well as punish GOP members for routinely blocking
anti-war legislation.

"How many sleepless nights have our soldiers and their families
had?" said Democratic Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

Yup they are pulling an all-nighter simply to "bait" Republicans and "punish them" for blocking anti-war legislation. They can't even give the colleagues enough respect to debate this stuff like regular people. The Dems don't care about the actual debate they just want to pretend like they are doing something substantial. I guess the Hollywood Wing of the Democratic party is in charge now. I think the Repubs should just show up with sleeping bags and dressed in casual clothes and call the Dems bluff.

This is all a big joke anyway because nothing at all is going to get done until we have that September assessment in hand. I swear the Dems have such contempt for the generals in Iraq that they can't even wait until the guy can give is honest opinion on the surge. They just declare that it has failed and they need to pull the troops out. And they want to run the "War on Terror?"

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/16/07

-$955.00 -1.89%

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/13/07

-$1,386.00 -2.68%

McCain's Campaign might be DOA

One bad thing after another might scuttle his chances at becoming the next president.

The campaign raised $25 million in the first half of the year, but blew
through nearly all of it during the same period. By Sunday, the campaign will
report to the Federal Election Commission that it has $2 million cash on hand
but more than $1 million in outstanding debt, according to officials. They say
McCain could end up having as little as a couple hundred thousand dollars to
spend as he tries to revitalize his campaign.

How could they have blown through $23 million and it isn't even the same year that the primaries will be held in? They aren't even close to the meat of the campaign and it looks like they are almost broke. McCain is not the fiscal conservative that I made him out to be. I guess this is what he has been spending most of his money on.

For April, the measurement firm reported John McCain 2008 ran over 11.5
million impressions, but Romney had none. The only other presidential
campaign running ads online in April that were tracked by AdRelevance was
the Hillary Clinton for President Exploratory Committee, which ran just
395,000 impressions.

It is sad when Hillary's people, who seem to be net savvy, are holding their powder on the Internet while McCain is going hog wild. I would be willing to bet even money that he isn't doing anything but spinning his wheels on the Net this early into the campaign.

I think some slick, Internet ad broker sold his campaign managers a bill of goods. He probably said something like "Howard Dean became a Net celebrity and you could be one too if you drop big bucks on the Net." Instead McCain is broke and his campaign is a mess. Oh well lets hope Rudy is doing a better job managing his campaign funds.

Outstanding Slate Article on Pullouts

This should be required reading for all the Cindy Sheehan "let's-pull-them-out-now" crowd.

But one thing is clear, and it can be seen time and again in the
examples above: Leaving a chaotic place with no one to hand the keys to can be
very dangerous. In Vietnam, the result was victory for the North; in
Afghanistan, the emergence of the Taliban regime; in Lebanon, the strengthening
of Hezbollah; in Gaza, the domination of Hamas.

And there's something else we shouldn't forget: When a decision to
withdraw is made, there's hardly ever a chance to turn back. The players on the
ground in Iraq are already watching and adjusting to the possibility of a
pullout. Once the wheels are set in motion, there's rarely a chance for "further
discussion."

Advice to the Dems

Give up going after Bush. His presidency is going down in flames and the American people have already turned against him. He is damaged goods and it looks like they are intent to follow him down the drain. I think the so-called Bush Derangement Syndrome may come back to haunt the Dems if they aren't really careful.

However this looks like as good a time as any for the Dems to look like true statesmen. Instead of wasting all this money and time going after Bush they could be giving us a taste of the so-called "Progressive Agenda." They can bring forth some sort of Health Care Reform that may be radical or game changing as Michael Moore wants in "Sicko." This "socialized" medicine may cost us all a bundle and raise taxes through the roof but at least the Dems will be cleaving to their principals.

The Dems could give us a comprehensive way forward in Iraq that doesn't involve leaving the Iraqis and their so-called "failed government" to their own devices. What is the Democratic plan anyway? Pull every troop out of the combat zone by April of next year and let the country fall to chaos? What is the Democratic plan if things get even worse and there is wholesale slaughter or true civil war with Shiite and Sunni armies marching in the field by May of next year? I think the American people don't see any Democratic plan other then to put this whole mess in Bushes lap and catcall against *any* strategy that anyone else comes up with be they military general or White House staff.

Also what the hell happened to their first 180 days? They didn't get a single thing passed other then to have Bush veto a "cut-and-run bill." Where was the minimum wage hike? That would have at least theoretically helped the poor people that the Dems normally care about. They haven't done a thing to help anyone since they got into power. Are they waiting on winning the White House before they introduce America to the "Progressive way of doing things?" What if they don't win? Are they going to just bash Giuliani all day long and still not get anything done?

Also can't the Dems come up with anything better on energy then to rob Big Oil of their record profits? I thought they were the green party? They can't come up with a comprehensive energy bill that would increase alternative fuel spending by like a $200 billion dollars over 10 years or something like that. They could mandate raising the taxes on coal fired plants by a certain amount while providing tax subsidies to other more "green" forms of power like nuclear or natural gas. The Dems need to provide incentives for Big Oil to change into Big Nuclear, Big Ethanol, or Big Alternative Energy.

In any case the Dems should start thinking for themselves and stop thinking about what they can do to hurt Bush. Bush is knocked out already. They simply need to step over the wreckage of his administration and lead this nation. Stop saying "I'll tell you what I won't do " and say "I'll tell you what we will do ." Or they can just talk to empty chairs and fight border wars with the Vice President over funding. Maybe they are just intent on waiting until next November when this Bush Derangement Disorder that afflicts so many on the Left will finally be cured.

Dems talk to an Empty Chair in Miers Absence

And they are wondering why they are at multiple year lows in approval rating?

Incensed, Democrats held the hearing anyway. Addressing an empty chair
at the witness table with a nameplate reading "Ms. Miers," Sanchez and Conyers
left little doubt that contempt proceedings by the full Judiciary Committee —
and later the full House — would be the next step unless Miers and the
administration change their positions.

"What we've got here is an empty chair. I mean, that is as
contemptuous as anybody can be of the government," said Rep. Steve Cohen,
D-Tenn. "I resent the fact that this lady is not here."

Yes you read this right. These men and women who make $165,200 per year in my tax money were talking to an empty chair. These Dems could have been debating health care reform, human rights in the Muslim World, raising the minimum wage, coming up with a better immigration bill, or coming up with an alternative energy bill that could break the backs of the Oil Sheiks. Instead they are talking to an empty chair. If this isn't the very highest form of political theatre, and a case-in-point of how messed up the Dem Congress is, then I don't know what is.

IPhone Review

Well I finally got my hands on an IPhone at the Apple store in Kahala Mall and I have to say I am very impressed. It kind of lives up to that high-tech, must have, gadget of the century hype that Apple wants to make it out to be.

The Design:
It has that cool chrome-backed look that has the made the IPod famous. The front screen is a nice dark color and there is only one button on the front. I also almost missed the camera because it was so tiny. It is a little pinhole looking thing the upper back part of the phone. The display is nice and bright and the colors are pretty vibrant. The design of the menu is attractive to the eye and is very intuitive.

The Touchscreen:
This was the thing I wanted to check out the most since it would be the make it or break it thing of the phone. Since there was only one button on the phone you will have to use the touchscreen nearly 100% of the time. If it didn't register your touches or didn't respond quickly enough the IPhone would stink IMO.

I was surprised that this was not the case. The Touchscreen was a gem and even typing with my fat fingers was possible. In fact I found it a bit easier to type then the Blackberry for some reason. Everything that I touched came up quickly and without any problems. There was a Stocks option on the main screen and I typed in the stock price for VRSN quickly and easily.

Ease of Use:
This thing is a snap to use and you don't have to make a ton of different button presses to get something like the calculator to come up. It is just one press and you are figuring out the tip. The Motorola KRZR that I have takes 4 presses to get to the calculator and it takes 23 different button pushes (and several minutes of time) to make my stocks come up. The IPhone just needs one push and you can check what your Yahoo portfolio (it seems linked to Yahoo so I'm not sure if you could link it to Etrade or something) is doing. There is even a little chart below the stock (which is a novelty since when you study the chart you want it pretty big.)

The camera came up pretty quickly by again hitting one button in the menu. The pictures that it took were very clear and can be checked easily on the touch screen. The KRZR just shows about 4 grainy photos when you check them out. They are sometimes hard to see clearly until you enlarge them. On IPhone it was very easy to make out all the doofs who took pictures of themselves at the Apple Store.

The map feature (which uses Google maps) came up after only a little wait. I figure it would be a very handy thing to have when you are out walking and looking for some place to eat or something. I didn't use it too much so I can't give a really good rundown of its ease of use.

This was just a preliminary walkthrough so I don't know how easy it would be to add contacts or make phone calls. But if it is as easy as getting the other stuff to work then this device will be a real winner. Too bad it costs so damn much or I would seriously think about switching to AT&T to get my hands on this thing.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/12/07

+$74.00 +0.14%

SEC Investigates Dendreon

At least it is an informal probe into the goings on at DNDN.

Dendreon reported multiple insider sales from April to May 9--when the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration ultimately denied the prostate-cancer drug an
immediate approval. For instance, on April 2, Chief Executive Mitchell
Gold sold 202,000 shares at $13.46 for a profit of $2.7 million.
Two other directors also unloaded shares during this period.

It looks like the CEO may get accused of selling some shares ahead of the tape. I should have bought even more puts then I already had if I knew this was happening.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/11/07

+866.00 +1.70%

Gap: The Brand for Weird, Emaciated People

I was recently researching some retail short candidates and I came across Gap Inc. corporate webpage. Is it just me does it seem like Gap makes their clothes for emaciated freaks?

The one on the left just took a double take on seeing a person eating ice cream.

It is almost like Gap photoshopped her head to make her look even more weird.

Watch out these women will bite your face off if they even smell carbs!

Chinese Broadband

This is an interesting story on how China is growing their broadband base. This fact pisses me off though:

Chinese broadband users now pay about $8 monthly, roughly 40% lower than in
2003, says BDA.

We end up paying more just because of the monopolies that some of the Telecoms control. If there were 5 different broadband service companies then we would get rates like this as well. Instead we are stuck with DSL from Hawaiian Telcom, Road Runner, and Clearwire. None of them costs $8 a month.

In any case this trend of Chinese Internet adoption should be good for these companies:

China's broadband growth will boost sales and profits for a wide range
of companies trading in the U.S., from Chinese portals Sina.com
(NasdaqGS:SINA - News) and Sohu.com (NasdaqGS:SOHU - News) and Chinese
search leader Baidu.com (NasdaqGM:BIDU - News), to U.S. giants Amazon (NasdaqGS:AMZN - News), Yahoo (NasdaqGS:YHOO - News),
eBay (NasdaqGS:EBAY - News) and Google (NasdaqGS:GOOG - News) as
well as infrastructure firms.
Shares of Sina, Sohu and Baidu have all done well this year. So have Chinese firms focusing on e-commerce, new media and online gaming. They include Global Sources (NasdaqGS:GSOL - News), Ctrip.com (NasdaqGS:CTRP
- News), Shanda Interactive (NasdaqGS:SNDA - News) and The9 Ltd. (NasdaqGM:NCTY - News)

I have owned Ctrip.com and made some pretty decent money off of them with both stock appreciation and selling their calls. I have also been checking out The9 for quite a while and they seem like a great company as well. They have some pretty nice call selling opportunities as well.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/10/07

-$1,600.99 -3.05%

Why Does Britian Grow Terrorists and America Doesn't?

This is a very interesting article on why the English Muslim is more likely to become a terrorist while the American Muslim seems less likely.

Bob Ayers , a security and terrorism expert with London's Chatham House
, a foreign-policy research center, thinks that immigrants to the U.S. actually
become Americans, giving the United States a huge advantage in avoiding
homegrown al Qaida terrorists. Europeans encourage immigrants to retain their
native cultures, causing them to be ostracized more readily.

"The Islamic population in the United States is better assimilated
into the general population, whereas here, in Germany , in France , they're very
much on the outside looking in," he said. "When people get disaffected, sadly,
there's not much loyalty to country in that sort of situation."

Yup, that is a big advantage to keeping home grown Al-Quida from spreading. It seems we are much more accepting of foreign religions then Europe. We can relate to people that believe in One God with a Prophet since Americans are much more religious then Europeans. Basically Americans don't belittle their beliefs or try to marginalize Muslims.

In fact the US Muslim has freedoms that many in the Muslim world don't even enjoy. We don't require anyone to wear a Berka or cover their hair unless they want to. We let Muslims worship how they want without putting any restrictions on their conduct or way of life. About the only thing that the US cracks down on is polygamy. If you are a Muslim and aren't radical enough to strap on a bomb belt then the US is the place for you.

We might bother you if you start to pray in a group before going on an airplane in front of people. But that is basically because we are ignorant when it comes to foreign cultures. If Muslims just understand that Americans fear what they don't know and jump to conclusions we can all work things out.

Target and Macy's on the Buyout Block?

It might be because of its extensive real estate portfolio. That was one of the catalysts on the Hilton Hotels buyout earlier this week. They get to use that real estate portfolio as leverage to help in the buyout. Here is what that article says about Macys and Target:

Big retailers Macy's Inc. and Target Corp. -- whose shares
were each up about 5 percent late on Friday -- may be attractive buyout targets
due to the embedded value of their real estate. Such deals would be similar to
the 2005 buyout of Toys 'R' Us, which leveraged off its properties for
financing.

It would be interesting to see how much Target's real estate portfolio is actually worth. It says their property plant and equipment is valued at $21 billion. However it is hard to tell what properties they actually own though. In any case that number could make that $57 billion purchase price go down a little easier for the private equity buyer.

There might be something up though because call volume is almost double put volume from the 62.50 to the 75.00 strikes. It is kind of similar to what was happening before the Hilton Hotels deal. However the Hilton deal had some straddle action though because there were quite a few puts bought as well. Maybe people weren't so sure of the Hilton deals numbers (because they were on vacation or getting ready to go because of that short trading day.)

Some people are also talking insider trading on that Hilton deal as well. Maybe some of the same things are in the air on a potential Taget deal as well.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/6/07

+$93.99 +0.18%

Italian Tomb Raiders

This is a very interesting story on how Italian Tomb raiding has gone down in recent years. One thing the Italians could do is to employ some of these guys to help their archeology departments:

He soon developed a keen eye for promising sites — sometimes using a
friend's glider to spot them from above, but more often by paying attention to
details on the ground.

"When I dig I often know beforehand what I will find, because I
have learned to read the land," he said. "For example if you see brambles
growing tall and yellowish you know the roots are leaning on buried walls."

But since this guy didn't have a PhD and such (or any formal education at all) he would be iced out of any legitimate archeology work. He instead used his skills to steal stuff out of the sites with a bulldozer.

I wonder if he were given the chance to pursue archeology without having to endure decades of schooling he would have chosen to be a tomb raider like this? He might have been pretty skilled at excavating these sites without having to be tenured, published, credentialed, or any of that other stuff. Too bad his schooling only gave him enough potential to either carry the dirt on a legitimate project or bulldoze for treasure on an illegal one.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/5/07

+$872.02 +1.72%

Apple sold 700,000 IPhones

Now this is good news for all those APPL shareholders.

After speculation earlier in the week that Apple had sold between 400-500,000 iPhones, the actual new sales figures for the iPhone are even wilder than earlier figures: Apple and AT&T moved 700,000 iPhones to the close of business Sunday.

According to MacNN, Apple is said to have sold out of iPhones in 95 of 164
stores and AT&T has nearly depleted its entire stock. The report quotes
American Technology Research predicting that the iPhone would likely be
AT&T’s fastest ever selling product and that the iPhone could rank among the
fastest selling consumer electronics devices of all time.

More IPhone Suppliers

We can add National Semiconductor to this list now.

Infineon Technologies found its way into the iPhone with its digital
baseband, radio-frequency transceiver and power-management technologies, and National Semiconductor Corp. supplies the chip that connects the iPhone's
display to its graphics controller.

ISuppli said the touch-screen, considered to be one of the iPhone's
top selling points, is supplied by Epson, Sharp and Toshiba Matsushita, while
the display module is provided by German company Balda and its Chinese partner, TPK Holdings.

Balda is traded on the XetraDAX and TPK Holdings is 50% owned by Balda. It seems that Balda was pretty much a plastics injection modeling company from what I read. They seem to be branching out into a very technical field using this TPK Holdings expertise. I haven't read too many complaints about the touchscreen yet so this may be an interesting stock as well.

IPhones Fat Profit Margin

I guess only Apple can get away with a 55% profit margin on a tech device.

On Tuesday, iSuppli reported that a teardown analysis of the iPhone
showed its bill of materials and manufacturing costs totaled $265.83. That means
Apple would generate a margin of more than 55 percent for every 8 gigabyte
iPhone it sold for the $599 retail price, iSuppli said in a report.

Eric Pratt, iSuppli's senior director of teardown, said iSuppli is
still fine-tuning its report and it now thinks that the product's margin is over
50 percent, when accounting for factors like royalties and software costs. He
wasn't surprised by the margin, he said, because the company's earlier
research-based modeling called for a basic iPhone cost of $264.85.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/3/07

-$232.99 -0.46%

What Companies make the guts of the IPhone?

This is a great article on taking apart an IPhone to see what is inside of it. However this is the most important part to investors.

The chip on the bottom center that looks blank in our image actually has this text: MARVELL, W8686B13, 702AUUP. This is Marvell's 802.11b/g 18.4mm2 chip.

The chip in the upper right is a Skyworks GSM/Edge Power amplifier (SKY77340)

The silver chip to the left of the Skyworks chip reads CSR 41814 3A06U K715FB. This is a CSR BlueCore4-ROM WLCSP single chip radio and baseband IC for Bluetooth 2+EDR.

The chip covered by the white sticker in the photo has the part numbers 338S0289 and 8G60710 on it. EETimes claims this is an Infineon M1817A11.

The chip with the blue dot on it is rumored to be an Intel Wireless Flash 32 MB chip. Part numbers 1030W0YTQ2, 5716A673, and Z717074A. EE Times adds the part #PF38F1030W0YTQ2.

The chip in the lower right reads 338S 0297 G0719. Some claim this is an Apple-branded chip, but it's purpose is currently unknown.

The chip in the lower left is an Infineon PMB8876 S-Gold 2 multimedia engine. Part numbers: 337S3235, 60708, and EL629058S03.
So the companies we have on this list are Intel, Marvell, Skyworks, Infineon, (CSR isn't traded in the US) and a chip who's purpose is unknown. This may be a Broadcom chip according to this article. But your guess is as good as mine.

UBS' Gauna believes Broadcom's supplying the chips controlling the
device's touch screen, perhaps its most unique feature. As a result,
Broadcom could see up to a 7 percent boost in sales in 2008 should Apple hit
its iPhone sales goal, he estimates.

In any case it seems that Skyworks may be an interesting play judging from how much Call interest has gone into the stock. The Jul 07 alone is trading 10 to 1 Calls to Puts and there seems to be heavy short interest at 13%. Too bad the company is negative in EPS and revenue growth. Maybe that IPhone money pouring in will turn those numbers around. In fact it is already sold out at AT&T stores.

In a sign of strong initial demand, AT&T said it had sold almost
all its phones within hours of the device going on sale at its 1,800 stores. The
company did not say how many units it had sold.

J. Michels Uranium Index 7/2/07

+$1,353.99 +2.74%

Meredith Vieira is an IPhone Doof

I was watching the Today show this morning and I think the IPhone had its first major gaff. This article had the rundown of Meredith Vieira failing to use the IPhone on national television.

Apple's media blitz didn't escape first-day glitches. On NBC's "Today"
show, co-host Meredith Vieira first met with problems simply getting the iPhone
to work to show off its features, laughing that "this is why gadgets drive me
crazy."

Later, with a team of Apple representatives hovering off-screen,
Vieira was supposed to receive a call from co-host Matt Lauer in London. The
iPhone — billed by Apple as the most user-friendly smart phone ever — displayed
the incoming call, but she couldn't answer it.

She was furiously trying to get the thing to pick up and couldn't do it correctly. I wonder if other clueless folks out there are having trouble with their IPhones as well? It that is true then Research In Motion (RIMM) with today's massive numbers will probably be the big winner. Maybe I'll look carefully at RIMM stock when they have their 3 for 1 stock split on August 17th.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/29/07

+$419.99 +0.86%

Info on the Uranium Market

This is a great article on the ins and outs of the Uranium Market.

The physics start with the little-understood but widely recognized
formula E=MC². Einstein's formula reveals the energy in nuclear reactions that
convert matter into pure energy--something physically impossible with chemical
reactions. A large nuclear reactor that powers some 700,000 homes invisibly
destroys just five pounds of uranium (roughly a 2-inch cube of pure uranium)
each day. The same amount of energy from a combustion power plant is produced daily by combining 20 million pounds of coal with 200 million pounds of air, not
incidentally yielding an equal weight in ashes and gases.

This is real reason why nuclear power is such a good idea. You can either destroy 5 pounds of something or 20 million pounds of another thing. Add this to the amount of green house gasses that is pumped out by coal plants and there is no comparison. I think all environmentalists should be pro-nuke if they are serious about avoiding global warming.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/28/07

+$554.01 +1.14%

Cytori has an Interesting New Product

I was recently researching Stem Cell stocks and came across Cytori Therapeutics (CYTX) This article really went into detail on a new product that they will take to market later this year.

Cytori has invented a device that can withdraw stem cells from patient
fat for re-use elsewhere in the body. The entire process takes around an hour
and, at $2,500 to $10,000 per treatment, looks downright cheap for stem
cell-based therapy.

Unlike fat itself, once used with limited success for breast
reconstruction surgery, Cytori says that fat-derived stem cells bring needed
blood supply to reconstructed breasts. Thus, the company says that breast
reconstruction surgery patients should finally have an option that will work and
actually last.

This market might bring in $85 million and they can also leverage it into the breast augmentation market as well. If they can get that process approved it would be a $100 to $300 million opportunity.

In fact since these cells come from a persons own body they would be far preferable to silicone or saline implants. There will be no risk of rejection and there will be no foreign objects leaking into a woman's body and possibly giving her cancer down the line. If it is easier to pull off and results in less scarring or complications this process might be able to dominate the industry.

They are also working on this as well:

Still, Cytori expects to pursue an even bigger opportunity down the
road. Right now, the company is enrolling patients in a study designed to test
its stem cell treatment for cardiac ischemia, a common ailment characterized by
poor blood flow. That therapy, unlike current drugs on the market, aims to
regenerate heart tissue rather than simply slow its deterioration.

"It depends on how good the data is," he admits. "But if we can get 3%
to 4% of the market share (for cardiac ischemia), that would be $1.5 billion in
revenue even at our price point ... That's an enormous market."

This is far down to road so and actual therapy will not come about for years. In the future it would be an interesting stock driver as it moves through the FDA.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/27/07

+$762.20 +1.60%

Tom Cruise Barred from Filming in Germany

I guess the Germans don't like those weird cultists filming movies in their cities.

Defense Ministry spokesman Harald Kammerbauer said Monday that the
production "will not be allowed to film at German military sites if Count
Stauffenberg is played by Tom Cruise, who has publicly professed to being a
member of the Scientology cult."

Even Count Stauffenberg's son is against Cruise doing his dad wrong.

Stauffenberg's oldest son, 72-year-old Berthold von Stauffenberg, told
a German newspaper Saturday that Cruise "should keep his hands off my
father."

"I hoped for a while that it was all just a publicity stunt by Mr.
Cruise," the younger Stauffenberg told Sueddeutsche Zeitung.

"It is sure to be crap. Of course, I could be wrong—I would like to
be."

He called Cruise's involvement with Scientology "off-putting," and
referred to the church as a "business."

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/25/07

-$772.00 -1.55%

"Pants Suit" Pearson Loses Case

It looks like common sense and decency has prevailed in the "Pants Suit" case.

The owners of Custom Cleaners did not violate the city's consumer
protection law by failing to live up to Roy L. Pearson's expectations of the
"Satisfaction Guaranteed" sign once displayed in the store window, District of
Columbia Superior Court Judge Judith Bartnoff ruled.

"A reasonable consumer would not interpret 'Satisfaction
Guaranteed' to mean that a merchant is required to satisfy a customer's
unreasonable demands" or to agree to demands that the merchant would have
reasonable grounds for disputing, the judge wrote.
Bartnoff ordered Pearson to pay the court costs of defendants Soo Chung, Jin Nam Chung and Ki Y. Chung.

I think the Chungs should sue him for emotional distress as well as attorneys fees. There should also be some sort of frivolous lawsuit fine that he should pay as well. In any case this guy should never be allowed onto the bench again for pulling this stunt. If he gets his administrative law judge job back then someone needs to resign.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/22/07

-824.00 -1.63%

Manhunt 2 to get Kiss of Death AO rating

This is really bad news for TTWO.

In the United States, the video game industry's self-regulated ratings board gave a preliminary version of "Manhunt 2" an "adults only" rating instead of the more lenient, and far more popular, "mature" rating for ages 17 and up.

Slapping "Manhunt 2" with the Entertainment Software Rating Board's most stringent rating would likely doom sales. Large retailers including Best Buy Co., Target Corp. and Wal-Mart Stores Inc. won't stock AO-rated games.

Blackstone IPO prices at $31 a share

It looks like it will be the biggest IPO in 5 years. And the founder got some big money from the deal as well. That is quite a feat to turn $400K into $7.7 billion.

For Blackstone's founders -- who launched the private equity firm in
1985 with a $400,000 investment -- the IPO will mean a big payout. Chief
Executive Stephen Schwarzman will walk away with a stake in the company worth about $7.7 billion, putting him among the richest of the rich on Wall
Street.

White House May Finally Close Gitmo

From the it should have happened 2 years ago file. The Bushies may finally close Gitmo and shut up all those critics.

The advisers will consider a proposal to shut the center and transfer
detainees to one or more Defense Department facilities, including the maximum
security military prison at Fort Leavenworth in Kansas, where they could face
trial, said the officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they
were discussing internal deliberations.

They should have done this ages ago instead of concentrating them in one place. Having them in Gitmo just made it easier for them to be in contact with one another. It was like putting all the Crips in one prison so they could hang out together.

It also just made America look bad. If they simply spirited them away all over the US then allegations of torture and waterboarding and things would never have gotten human rights groups in such an uproar. Also why they didn't have a trial for so long is ludicrous as well. Almost all of them are guilty so just try them and lock them up for life.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/21/07

+$840.00 +1.69%

Blackstone to Price Thursday Night at $29-$31

It looks like it is time for Blackstone to IPO starting Friday.

The Blackstone Group L.P. confirmed its initial public offering of
common units will price Thursday night at a range of $29 to $31 per unit and
begin trading Friday.The offering was originally scheduled for next week.

It should be an interesting day of trading for it. I wonder when options are going to trade on it though so I can hedge downside if I consider pulling the trigger.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/20/07

-$933.00 -1.84%

Bush to Veto Stem Cell Bill Again

I'm really tired of this argument brought by the right in support of the President.

Opponents of the latest stem cell measure insisted that the use of
embryonic stem cells was the wrong approach on moral grounds — and possibly not even the most promising one scientifically. They cite breakthroughs involving
medical research conducted with adult stem cells, umbilical cord blood and
amniotic fluid, none of which involve the destruction of a human
embryo.

How do they know if it isn't promising? We might have cures for diabetes, spinal cord injury, and Alzheimer's possibly tied to stem cells. They might even be able to cure heart disease. Some of the best stem cells can be harvested from embryos that are currently destroyed as medical waste. Why doesn't Bush wise up and let women who abort fetuses sign a waver that allows scientists to harvest the stem cells. The scientists won't be deliberately making embryos for stem cells but just reusing something that would normally be thrown away as medical waste. Bush is such a moron when it comes to this issue.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/19/07

+$664.00 +1.33%

Judge "Pants Suit" Pearson

Hopefully we will soon be able to write ex-judge and former lawyer Pearson but that is up the the Washington D.C. establishment.

Best Rundown of the $67 million dollar Pants Suit

This is a court case that I am following very closely. It is case in point on why there needs to be tort reform and an end to the idiotic lawsuits out there.

It all began two years ago when Mr. Pearson walked into Custom
Cleaners, a Northeast D.C. establishment owned by Jin Chung, Soo Chung and Ki
Chung. He laid down $10.50 to have a pair of pants altered. The results
dissatisfied him: The job wasn't finished on time, and he says the pants he was
given were someone else's, which the Chungs deny. He demanded $1,150 for a new suit; the Chungs demurred. So it was off to court, with the claimed damages
subject to alterations, in an expansive direction.

How billowy did those damages get? Well, it seems Mr. Pearson
needed to be paid for 10 years' worth of weekend car rentals so that he could
patronize a different dry cleaner. He wanted $500,000 for emotional distress
and--though representing himself--$542,000 in legal fees. Best of all, he
claimed that the signs on display at Custom Cleaners, "Satisfaction Guaranteed"
and "Same Day Service," were fraudulent, entitling him to damages of $1,500 each per day under D.C. consumer law. He multiplied 12 violations by three defendants by 1,200 days, and soon was up over $65 million (later cut to a mere $54 million).

This Pearson is now an administrative law judge who makes $100K a year. Let's hope they fire him, then disbar him, and finally fine him a few million for engaging in a frivolous lawsuit. They need to give him the proverbial "Nifong."

Semel Out at Yahoo

Yahoo Inc. Chairman Terry Semel stepped down as chief executive in a
surprise move Monday, ending his increasingly ineffectual pursuit of online
search leader Google Inc. -- a losing battle that had demoralized Yahoo's
shareholders and employees.

Finally, this stock might start to go up again. They faced a shareholder revolt just last week that didn't seem to prove anything other then people want this guy out. Now lets home that the next guy Jerry Yang can allow them to compete one-on-one against Google. The stock has already seen a 7% jump today and after hours.

I think that Yahoo is going to sell the company to Microsoft or someone in the next several quarters. It just seems like a likely conclusion of ousting a rock-star CEO and then putting in one of the founders at the top spot. In any case we will probably see a Carly Fiorina-out-at-HP bump in the stock going forward depending on how things play out.

Even More Web 2.0 Sites

It seems like these things are multiplying like rabbits. Here are 25 more sites and my comments on a few that I tried.

BuzzDash: It seems like a pretty fun site but I don't like how it shows the results before you voted. This sometimes skews how you vote. If you see that there are lots of people on one side then that might effect how you vote. They need a button that you can put on to hide the results until after you have voted.

Spock.com:

Spock is a search engine dedicated to finding information about
people. If you spend more time than you should googling folks, you need to
check out Spock.com, a search engine designed to dig up
information about people. Start by typing in a name, or a search term that
describe a group of people--for example, Motown Singer, or Rastafarians. The
site then searches through various social networking sites such as MySpace and
Friendster, along with more-general Web sites, and reports on what it
finds.

It seems like a good idea but since it is beta we can't try it out. I guess it would be better then Google so you can filter out the ads from the regular stuff. I just hope they don't link to Google maps and show the location of your house or something like that. I think that would suck.

Swivel.com: This site would only be as good as the charts listed on the site. The stuff on there currently is kind of crappy and are mostly links to other sites. I do like the chart of which console is kind the Wii, Xbox360, or the PS3. I've never thought about how badly the PS3 is getting whipped until I saw it in chart form. If would be cool if it could tie into a universal survey collecting service so you can gets lots and lots of data points to put up against one another.

Trulia: This is the home run site of the bunch. Being able to see on a map all the houses and apartments that are selling close to you and their prices is outstanding. If they could add rentals in your area as well this site will be the next million dollar or more acquisition from Google or whomever. And I agree with this as well:

The Trulia Voices section hooks you up with other people to discuss
neighborhoods, housing issues, or real estate in general. Trulia is relatively
new, so that section is as yet quite sparse. But if the site gains traction,
Trulia Voices may prove to be the most useful tool of all.

I think this will be something that would make it so you might not need a real estate agent to tell you a bunch of crap anymore. You can actually go to this area and see what other people say about the neighborhood, the schools, the amenities etc. This should be closely watched if you are a real estate professional or investor.

What People Are Doing Online

This is a very interesting chart from Business Week that breaks internet users down to what people are doing and how old those people are. Gen X Breaks down to:

19% Creators (write blogs etc.)
25% Critics (comments on blogs, writes reviews)
16% Collectors (Gather information with RSS)
29% Joiners (Part of social networking sites)
41% Spectators (Read blogs, watch YouTube etc.)
42% Inactives (No social media use)

One interesting thing is that 18-21 year olds use Social Networking sites more than double the amount of time as Gen Xers do. Also there is a 19% dropoff for teens using those sites. Could it be because schools are banning MySpace etc. and this it becomes less popular as a result? It might be something NewsCorp should bo on the look out for in a few years.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/18/07

-135.00 -0.27%

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/15/07

+$999.00 +2.03%

Goldmine Sachs Hit By Subprime Lending Woes

I guess the subprime market's implosion has really been a drag on Goldman Sachs. I wonder if the whole subprime mess has worked its way out of the market or do we still have a few more quarters to absorb the pain?

Goldman reported that revenue from its trading and principal
investments business fell 6 percent from the year-ago period to $6.65 billion,
and was down 29 percent from the first quarter. Though stock trading was higher, the investment bank blamed the drop on weak results in its mortgage business because of "continued weakness in the subprime."

Hamas Takes Control of the Gaza Strip

While America had its head in the sand about Paris Hilton it looks like Hamas has suddenly taken control of the Gaza Strip.

In Gaza, it was a day of major victories for Hamas and its backers in Iran
and Syria and of devastating setbacks for the Western-backed Fatah. In one
particularly humiliating scene, masked Hamas fighters marched agents of the
once-feared Preventive Security Service out of their headquarters, arms raised
in the air, stripped to the waist and ducking at the sound of a gunshot.

I wonder if the UN is going to make the West Bank into a Fatah controlled Palestine and the Gaza Strip into Hamasistan? Whatever the case the Israelis pulling out of Gaza has pretty much made an enemy Islamist state right on its border. It looks like Israel has just gone back to 1968 and are surrounded by enemies once again.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/14/07

+$1,122.29 +2.34%

Mars 2 Billion Years Ago

There might have been giant oceans on Mars 2-3 billion years ago.

The ocean may have covered a third of the Martian surface during
the first half of the planet's history before disappearing at least 2
billion years ago for unknown reasons, the researchers said.

It would be very interesting to figure out why these oceans of Mars boiled away. My money is on global warming caused by George Bush? In any case here is a picture of Mars 2 billion years ago.

Unbelieably Boring Finals

This has to be the most boring NBA Finals ever. Even their ad campaign shows how desperate they are by enlisting David Blaine to "spice" things up. Maybe his new stunt is to endure the slow, ponderous, low scoring games like he had to endure all that time in the glass box and underwater.

This last game was an absolute joke and had a college basketball score as well. Too bad the NBA can't inject a little March Madness into what has become the June Slog. I just want the Spurs to finish the Cavs off as fast and possible so we can fast forward to football season arleady.

J. Michels Uranium Index 6/13/07

+$1,661.71 +3.59%

Sheriff to the Stars Lee Baca on the hotseat

They should recall this guy and get someone in there who doesn't coddle celebrities at the expense of regular lawbreakers.

At a morning hearing, County Supervisors Mike Antonovich and Yvonne B.
Burke said that Baca must outline why Hilton was allowed to go home as opposed to the other inmates at Century Regional Detention Facility compatriots
complaining of emotional and physical problems, especially since Los Angeles
Superior Court Judge Michael T. Sauer expressly forbade home detention and
electronic monitoring in his sentencing ruling.