AT&T Looks Stupid On IPhone Bills

Now this is a boneheaded move by AT&T.

When Justine Ezarik, a video blogger in Pittsburgh, saw that a box from AT&T
had been delivered to her doorstep a couple of weeks ago, she thought that
perhaps she had been sent a complimentary accessory for her new iPhone. Instead, she found a 300-page, double-sided, excruciatingly well itemized bill.

This bill is itemized Kilobyte by Kilobyte. So this resulted in massive piles of paper that AT&T will have to eat the cost of shipping for. AT&T had to pay $7.10 just to get this bill to her.

Wasn't there someone in corporate that said "should we send out a 300 page bill in a box for $7.10 to this customer?" Wasn't there some VP that said lets send out summaries and keep the itemized bills online and we'll save a few bucks? A 300 page bill seems like something that would be red flagged for special handling in their automated billing system. There had to be someone at AT&T that called the shipping company and placed 300 pages worth of paper put into a box and sent it out. It was a failure of controls, fallbacks, and thought by upper management. It really speaks ill of AT&T since the rampup of the IPhone was a pretty long process and wasn't just a rush job on short time.

This kind of screwup also makes AT&T look even worse since this is a failure in handling perhaps one of their most lucrative exclusive contracts. It also makes Apple look like crap because they love to push how green their company is. Yeah, they are so green that tons of extra trees were cut down just so they can show page after page of 2KB for $0.00. I guess this is case in point of the danger of providing exclusive contracts.

Iraqi National Intelligence Estimate Interesting

This article mostly focused on how the al-Maliki government is about to fail or is nearly failing. I think this part buried at the bottom is the most important part:

• Iraq's neighbors will continue to focus on improving their leverage
in Iraq, expecting the U.S. and its allies to leave. "Assistance to armed
groups, especially from Iran, exacerbates the violence inside Iraq," the report
said. Since January, there is mounting evidence of Iran's support for Shiite
militants, including highly lethal explosive devices.

• Syria has cracked down on al-Qaida networks inside its borders
because they threaten Damascus' security. However, Syria is increasing the range of groups it supports in Iraq to bolster its influence there. And it still
allows roughly 50 to 80 foreign fighters a month to travel into neighboring
Iraq.

• Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states have not supported the
al-Maliki government, but they haven't provided arms or other support to Sunni
fighters, choosing instead to stay on the sidelines.

So Iraq will be the next Arab land grab and influence rush when the Americans pull out? Iran has the most to gain by supporting Shiites and hopefully being able to create a client state out of Southern Iraq. A failed Iraqi state and Iranian influence might lead to a Saudi Arabia/Iran war sometime in the future depending on who holds what. You know which side the US is going to be on. I can see the Saudis beefing up their military in the next few years.

Also that part about Syria keeping Al-Quida out so that the terrorists can't destabilize their government may be in interesting gambit to play in the future. Maybe some behind the scenes reaching out by Europe could get Syria to back away from Iran and come into the anti-terror fold. The sooner we break up the pro-terror powers the better we can frame the War on Terror as Al-Quida against the Arab Leaders and not Al-Quida against the West.

Is Having an Online Wife Adultery?

Some people are considering it anyway.

Confusing? It should be. Turns out that Ric and Sue's marriage is on
the rocks. She contends that he spends more time online in Second Life, a
virtual universe currently home to 30 million players, with his online wife. Sue
spends her days in front of the television, while Ric is in the other room
running a virtual night club and consorting with his online wife, sometimes for
as long as 14 hours at a time on weekends.

I wonder if having an online wife will actually be grounds for divorce in this case. I think that spending 14 hours on weekends on a game would be a better grounds in my opinion. This "gaming widow" effect will get worse the larger and more mainstream things like World of Warcraft and other MMOPRGs become.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/23/07

+$342.00 +0.83%

GameStop's Outstanding Numbers

It looks like my love for Gamestop has translated into some big gains.

Shares of GameStop gained $4.74, or 10.9%, to $48.16, after the company
announced second-quarter earnings that grew 581.3%, to $21.8 million, or 14
cents per share, from $3.2 million, or 2 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts
polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of 9 cents for the
period ending August 4.

The stock was up from $38.98 when I started to take a look at it to $47.45 today. A nice 20% paper gain in 5 days. The stock still seems pretty well poised for more gains in the next few quarters due to that lineup of cool new games I talked about. The stock is priced to perfection at a 44 PE though This tidbit could be a key to further margin expansion as well:

Used video game sales continued to be incredibly lucrative for GameStop.
Like other game retailers, GameStop allows customers to trade in old games at a
steep discount for new games. GameStop then marks up the trade-ins and sells
them at a handsome margin.

GameStop earned $173.2 million on used game sales at a gross profit percent of 48.5%. That towered over the gross profit percentage earned by new game hardware and software sales, which were 7.3% and 20.3%, respectively.

I think GameStop should try to expand its Used Game reach by starting an online market to buy and sell used games. They could start an Ebay store or even do something with their website where you will be able to buy used and sell used games online. The buyer will then pay a shipping cost or pick it up at one of their stores for free. The seller, on the other hand, would drop off the game at a nearby GameStop (where they might buy some additional product) then their account will be credited.

Of course they won't offer any first run games for sale for a certain period of time to prevent the used market from eroding their current game market. I think this move would expand their reach and allow them to corner the market in used games. This segment really doesn't have any credible competitors that could challenge GameStop once they got rolling. I don't see Best Buy stocking rows of used games and buying games from the gamer in need of cash.

I have to say that any business where you can charge like $10-$15 for a used game and turn around and sell that same game for $25-$30 is great for gamers and GameStop alike. The gamer gets games at a discount and an outlet in which to get rid of games that they have already passed. While GameStop gets to pocket the spread. It is a win-win

Bill Gross Tells Bush to Save Housing Market

It seems that only Bush can save people from losing their homes in foreclosure according to Gross. What is the the reason that he has to get this little dig in on Bush though?

"Write some checks, bail 'em out, prevent a destructive housing
deflation that (Fed Chairman) Ben Bernanke is unable to do. After all 'W',
you're 'the Decider,' aren't you?" Gross wrote.

Part of me doesn't want to see millions of foreclosures but sometimes people need to wake up and understand what they were signing up for when it comes to Adjustable Rate mortgages.
Adjustable rates mean they might adjust in the future. People should have realized that interest rates will eventually go up.

Plus some of these home owners bought more house then they can afford to reach that Bling-bling Cribs lifestyle then it makes things even worse. This is why there needs to be a mandatory financial literacy classes given in high school. The government shouldn't always have to backstop people who have made bad decisions.

Rangers Punish Orioles 30-3!

Now this is one hell of a box score. I mean there were 7 home runs and 29 hits given up in this game! This is the new American League record for most lopsided game beating the former record of Boston of the Boston Red Sox beating the St. Louis Browns 29-4 on June 8, 1950 according to this. This a site shows another game as the National League record holder.

The Chicago Colts score in every inning to demolish Louisville 36-7
while setting the NL record for runs scored. Chicago amasses 32 hits good for 51
bases with Barry McCormick hitting 4 singles‚ a triple‚ and a HR in an ML
record-tying 8 at bats. Tying another league record set by an earlier Chicago
club‚ 6 players score 4 runs each with McCormick and Jimmy Ryan each scoring 5 runs. Winning pitcher Nixey Callahan is 5-for-7‚ the first of three times he'll collect 5 hits in a game (May 18‚ 1902; May 8‚ 1903, a record for a pitcher. Chick
Fraser starts for Louisville‚ but gives way in the 3rd to Jim Jones, who makes his major league debut with his team down 14-0. Only 9 runs are earned as Louisville kicks in with 9 errors. Jones will make one other pitching appearance, in 1901, but will play as an outfielder that year and next.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/22/07

+$2,089.00 +5.32%

Pigeons May Have Been Factor in Bridge Collapse

I know these flying rats would eventually cause grief for mankind.

Pigeon droppings contain ammonia and acids, said chemist Neal
Langerman, an officer with the health and safety division of the American
Chemical Society. If the dung isn't washed away, it dries out and turns into a
concentrated salt. When water gets in and combines with the salt and ammonia, it creates small electrochemical reactions that rust the steel underneath.

"Every time you get a little bit of moisture there, you wind up
having a little bit of electrochemistry occurring and you wind up with
corrosion," said Langerman. "Over a long term, it might in fact cause structural
weaknesses."

They needed to put those little spikes on the bridge so that these little vermin don't land on the bridge and rust the supports with their crap. It would be a sad deal to die because of pigeon poop.

Opposition to Morning After Pill a Joke

This is the kind of stuff that makes it tough to be associated with the Right sometimes.

A coalition of conservative groups, including the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington seeking to reverse the FDA ruling. The groups contend that the FDA acted unwisely under political pressure and lacked authority to approve the same drug for both over-the-counter and prescription-only distribution based on the user's age.

"Barr may be making a healthy profit, but women are paying the price," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, who believes Plan B is less effective that its backers assert.
So since the thing is less than 100% effective the FDA should ban it? These groups want to stop someone from taking a pill that may prevent them from having an abortion in the future. So in a way this pill will "save the unborn" as these groups advocate.

I guess their view is that since pregnency begins at the moment of conception then any type of birth control is bad. I know this is the Catholic view but a pill that will prevent someone from having to have an abortion should be viewed as a good thing. That is why I have a hard time with the religious right since they always seem so against things that may actually help mankind like Stem Cells and in this case the morning after pill.

Bush Tries to Calm Markets

At least that is what he seems to be doing.

"The fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong," Bush said. "The
fundamental question, 'Is there enough liquidity in our system?' And the answer
is `Yes, there is,'" the president declared.

So the fundamental question is that the fundamentals are strong? What if the new view on decreased liquidity is shifting the fundamentals? I mean there have been 87,962 job cuts so far this year caused by this mortgage mess. The days of people using their home as piggy banks to buy stupid stuff are over as well. Now people are having a hard time getting a mortgage even if they have decent credit. If tightening credit moves to the credit card market things will be even worse I think.

In any case it seems that the Dems want to make the mortgage mess the governments mess as well.

On Capitol Hill, some Democrats would like to see mortgage giants
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which are recovering from accounting scandals --
play a larger role in the mortgage market. Some would like to see the two
mortgage companies buy "jumbo" mortgages of more than $417,000.
Separately,
others, like Dodd, would like to see investment caps relaxed on the companies'
investments. The administration, however, opposes that idea.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/21/07

-196.00 -0.50%

Americans Hardly Read

This is a pretty bad stat for the publishing industry.

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year,
according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did
read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction
were the top choices.

You have to add this to how busy people are nowadays. If you don't have time to take a vacation then you probably don't have a lot of time to sit down and read. I also think that when people take work home with them via Blackberry, GoToMyPC etc. their reading suffers as well.

Capital One to Shutter Mortgage Unit

It looks like it is a bad time to be a mortgage broker.

Capital One said it will shut down GreenPoint Mortgage and eliminate
most of the jobs by the end of year. The McLean, Va.-based company will close 31
GreenPoint locations in 19 states and "cease residential mortgage origination"
effective immediately but said it will honor commitments to customers with
locked rates who have loans already in the pipeline.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/20/07

+$525.00 +1.35%

University of West Virgina Top Party School

I guess that is some distinction if you are going to college for parties and not for academics.

Senior Katie O'Hara, 22, said WVU is No. 1 because "no matter what kind
of party you want it's here — bars, fraternities, house parties. ... If you want
to take shots all night, there's a bar; no matter what you want to do, it's
there."

They missed describing the the part where Katie double-fisted some Jager shots and collapsed in a stupor under the bar stool.

Still, O'Hara said her friends "know how to manage their time. They
know when to party and when not to," which wouldn't explain the school's No.
1 ranking in the category of Their Students (Almost) Never
Study.

It is kind of sad when their students aren't partying they aren't studying either. I guess when West Virgina students aren't partying they are simply recovering from or getting ready for the next party. I think Budweiser or Diageo PLC needs to subsidise some of this schools tuition in order to give something back to the school that uses their products so well.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/17/07

+1,305.00 +3.47%

FED is the White Knight?

It sure seems that way since the market went strait up after that.

The Fed cut the discount rate by a half percentage-point to 5.75
percent but left the federal funds rate -- its main economic policy lever --
unchanged at 5.25 percent.

However, it said it stood ready to act to keep the U.S. economy on
an even keel, giving an immediate boost to beleaguered stock markets.

Right now they have tried everything in the arsenal except for dropping the fed funds rate. I think if they did that outside of their normal FED meeting it might panic the market. It would be an admission that they were to break the glass and hit the "Big Red Button." I wonder what this is doing to the liquidity of that Asset Backed Paper market?

In any case it seems the FED is now the backstop if anything goes wrong in the markets. If the Hedge Funds are leveraging 6x to get maximum returns and their black box goes haywire then the FED will be there to ride in on that white horse. I think they saw what would go down if the Hedge Funds had to really sell assets to cover redemptions. I still think they may not have averted the "Big One" depending on how this mortgage thing works its way through the markets. I still think cash is the way to go until we get more

confirmation.

FTC Appeals Whole Foods Ruling

Is it just me or does someone in the FTC has a personal vendetta against Whole Foods or something?

Mitch Katz, a spokesman for the FTC, says the agency is now asking a
Washington, D.C., district court for a temporary injunction on the deal, pending
its appeal. Whole Foods and Wild Oats have agreed to hold off on any proceedings
to close the deal Monday at noon.

They should close the deal over the weekend in an emergency meeting or they might have to fight the FTC all the way to the Supreme Court. It is almost as if the FTC thinks when this deal closes Whole Foods will own all the organic fruit orchards in the US. Maybe the Whole Foods CEO kicked the FTC Chairman's dog or something.

The FTC should know full well that almost every supermarket has an Organic section nowadays. Whole Foods needs the merger to protect their market share from the Safeways and the Krogers of the world. I guess they should have called their merger deal "Project Fluffy Bunny" instead of "Project Goldmine."

Watching GameStop

Gamestop (GME) has just launched their Monday Night Madness event to kick off Madden 2008. The stock however has been trading pretty flat in a range of about $38-$39 in the past few days. Part of the reason for the sluggish performance is the push back of GTA4 to 2008 which will make for lower revenues in the Christmas season.

I think this will be small potatoes because the game hasn't been delayed indefinitely or anything like that. When it comes out it will be a shoe-in for the top game of the first quarter of 2008. I would expect that quite a few gift cards will be hoarded to plunk down on this game.

In the meantime there will be a pile of category killers coming out for the different platforms. First of all we have Madden 2008 which will be a huge seller if the past games are any indication. The last game sold 6 million copies and now the installed base for the PS3, Xbox360, and the Wii are much bigger then last year.

Then we have Bioshock on August 21st. I have read quite a bit about this game and from what I see it is going to be big. It has lots of customisable game play and tries to stretch the limits of the Xbox 360. Also the visuals are stunning and it looks like the kind of game that you may have bought your Xbox360 to play. Then we have Halo 3 coming out on September 25th so the Xbox360 will have lots of great games in the near future. Halo 3 will be huge and it will sell millions of copies no matter what.

Then we have Assassin's Creed coming out September 1 for the PS3. If this game lives up to the hype it will be one of the reasons why people will buy a PS3. From what I have seen the graphics are outstanding and it used the PS3 graphics and processor as much as possible. It may be the kind of game that actually makes people buy a PS3.

Another top seller will be Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock which comes out on October 29th. The Guitar Hero series has been a huge success and this new one will probably do as well or better then the other versions have for Activision. Also EA will bring out Rock Band in November hot on the heels of GH3. If Rock Hero is a big seller for EA (it sure looks that way,) they will have a get a nice margin bump from selling the guitar, mike, and drum add-on peripherals. These babies will raise the average selling price of each copy of the game and bring in a pretty good windfall for EA in the 4th Quarter.

In any case, each one of these games will be great for GameStop since gaming is one of the more recession proof entertainments out there. It seems that GameStop has doubled in that past few months since people are looking at the stock as a way to play the console switchover without having to bid on the higher risk gaming stocks. If they can keep same store sales up and people keep buying games like crazy GameStop will look cheap at $38 a share.

FTC Reveals Some Whole Foods Secrets

I guess the FTC doesn't know how to redact company secrets when it reviews merger candidates:

The AP revealed some of the information that was released before the
error was fixed, including the "Project Goldmine" strategy -- Whole Foods'
hypothesis that acquiring Wild Oats would result in 80% to 90% of Wild Oats'
customers coming into its fold and ultimately increasing Whole Foods' revenues
in related stores by 85% to 90%. The information also revealed that Whole Foods
is attempting to make arrangements with suppliers to drive up costs for Wal-Mart and in a particularly odd piece of data for the FTC to cite, it was revealed
that Whole Foods seeks to position its stores in areas where there are large
numbers of college-educated people.

The first thing does seem like it was pretty logical seeing as they are acquiring the company to increase their organic food footprint. You would think that they want nothing more then to bring all of the people that used to shop at Wild Oats into their stores.

However the Wal-Mart thing is something you want to keep secret. Knowing this information, Wal-Mart can retaliate by trying to get their organic suppliers to boycott Whole Foods. Now Wal-Mart can use the fear of banishing these suppliers from their stores as a big hammer to hit Whole Foods with. This leaked information would be something Whole Foods should try to sue the FTC over (if it is even possible.)

Finally, the last thing, as the article points out, seems pretty logical. They want to put there stores in neighborhoods that have people with college degrees and thus better chances of having high incomes. This means they can stock their shelves with higher margin stuff that Costco or Safeway doesn't usually carry. They have some of the best margins in the grocery industry so they need to keep them high. Whole Foods is trying to sell a way of life and a lifestyle and not just a massive bruised pile of mismatched "organic" pears next to a pallet of 69 cent toilet paper.

Judge Okays Whole Foods Merger

Now this is great news for people that are bulls (like me) on Whole Foods (WFMI.) When they buy Wild Oats they will almost double the amount of stores they own.

Whole Foods operates 190 stores, while Colorado-based Wild Oats has
about 110. Both are relatively small players in the grocery business, but
government lawyers said the combined company would essentially corner the
industry market on premium and organic food.

Quite a few people I have talked to swear by Whole Foods in the mainland and love to shop there not just for the Organics but also for the upscale food as well. There will soon be a slew of new Whole Foods in Hawaii and I plan to do some serious market research before jumping in on this one. I've heard tell of good sandwiches and soups so I must investigate.

Nordstrom Profit Up and they Raise Forcasts

This is one of the companies I have been watching for some time and it looks like they had a pretty good quarter recently.

Sales rose 5.2 percent to $2.39 billion, helped by strength in designer
apparel, accessories and men's clothing.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key metric of financial
health, rose 5.9 percent in the quarter, above the company's expectation of a
rise in the low-single digits.

Nordstrom now expects full-year 2007 earnings to range from $2.91
to $2.97 per share. It earlier forecast earnings between $2.81 and $2.90 per
share.

Luxury is one of the few pockets of consumers that aren't be hurt by gas prices or by food inflation. They also hold up well in any type of economy short of a true recession. I think as the credit crunch works its way through the market stocks with solid fundamentals like Nordstrom's will reap the rewards. It is also good to see a stock like this that have 5.9% same store sales when the rest of the industry has break-even or negative same stores.

HP Beats Estimates on Cost Cutting

It seems that HP is humming along as always.

Net income in its fiscal third quarter advanced to $1.78 billion, or 66
cents per share, from $1.38 billion, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, HP earnings came in at 71 cents per share.

Revenue in the quarter rose to $25.4 billion from $21.9 billion a
year earlier.

They also bought cheaper components so they led to a boost in their bottom line. I like that revenue boost myself since it shows that people are still buying printers, computers and laptops despite that consumer spending slowdown.

J Michels Uranium Index 8/16/07

-$1,458.00 -3.73%

Art Industry Is Big Bucks

I knew they brought in money but I never knew it was this much.

The study's results show that this field generates $166 billion in
economic activity every year, resulting in almost $30 billion in federal, state
and local tax revenue.

It also provides 5.7 million jobs as well. I guess buying, selling, showing, and creating art is quite a big deal. I wonder if it would be possible for a really rich guy to buy out a bunch of galleries and become a mighty patron in the industry. A kind of arbitrator of taste in the art work by sending the bucks in the right direction.

A Good Healthcare Pick?

This guy is saying that Apria Healthcare (AHG) is that stock. It isn't something to buy now but it certainly is something you can buy cheap when this credit crunch is over. I think there are all kinds of these kinds of "stocks on sale" in this market if you dig deep enough and have some patience to wait out the storm.

The overall tape still concerns me, and even though AHG is
significantly lower than the April 52 week high of $34.36, I still think there
may be some further room on the downside. That being said, AHG already reported 2Q EPS on July 31 and although full year guidance was not great, it was far from a disaster. However, with a relatively small float and a large short interest of around 21%, the bears will use the weakness of the overall tape to push the stock lower. I think we should use any bearish price action as a buying
opportunity, especially if we see AHG down around $24.00.

Goldman Hedge Funds at a Deep Discount

I guess Goldman pulled out all the stops to rescue their dying Hedge Funds including dropping fees to lure in new money.

Goldman on Tuesday night said it had agreed to waive its annual
management fee for the investors, who contributed $1bn in new capital to the
fund. The investors will pay a performance fee of just 10 per cent on any
profits the fund makes once it has achieved a 10 per cent return.

Earlier an investor had to pay 2% of assets for a management fee and then 20% of profits they make passed a 10% return. This article is saying that even dropping their fees is still like putting bad money in after good.

Sorry Goldman, the game is up. Half-baked measures will no longer do.
People shouldn't be willing to pay 20% (now 10%) of profits plus a 2% management fee (now 0%) to a fund that is down two consecutive years and 30% in a flash. Is the greater fool's game over or not? I guess we soon find out.

That is a stomach churning fund if I ever saw one. Down two years strait and then down 30% in 6 days. Now that is not the kind of volatility you want to see in a fund. Those investors should have just stuck with a nice Vanguard fund with its 0.20% management fee. They would have been down only a few points right now.

Hedge Fund Speak Revealed

This is a pretty funny article on what Hedge Funds really mean when they say the things they do.

Hedge-Fund Phrase: This isn't a rescue.
Translation: THIS IS TOTALLY A RESCUE!!!!!!!

Goldman Sachs' GEO fund lost 30 percent of its value in a week and
was leveraged at a rate of 6-to-1. But to hear Goldman tell it, the cratering of
its own fund simply presented an irresistible buying opportunity. "We are
investing not because we have to, but because we want to," said Viniar during a
conference call. At another point, he noted: "No, let me just clarify. This is
not a rescue." And if you believe that, I've got some subprime debt I'd like to
sell you.

Yeah they really "want to" not have the fund go insolvent and ring up billions of dollars of losses for Goldman. The irresistible buying opportunity was there so that the Goldman guys could get through this mess with their jobs still intact. Hmm, I would be willing to bet that those big bonuses paid out last year may not happen again this year. Time to go short on expensive painting dealers, private jet rental companies, and guys who make yachts.

Obama Seeks Spirit of Openness

This seems like a good idea in theory.

To make the government more accountable, Obama said he would post all
non-emergency bills online for five days before he signed them into law,
allowing Americans a chance to weigh in on the legislation. In addition, he said
he would post all meetings between lobbyists and government agencies
online.

I just wonder if he is going to let the American people have a veto if they don't like the legislation. I guess this is just a way for Americans to pick what pork barrel spending got tacked onto the latest appropriation bill before the money is doled out. Of course that pork can't be cut but I guess it can at least be shown the light of day. Posting the meeting minutes part would be interesting to see though.

Obama said he would require Cabinet officials to speak to
Americans via national broadband town-hall style meetings to discuss issues
at their agencies. He also pledged to issue an executive order that
information about the government's operations must be released to those
seeking it unless it could harm a protected interest.

I'm not sure the information about the government operations would be worth seeing though. If it is about top secret stuff it will be heavily redacted so it wouldn't be worth seeing. Also I would be willing to lay even money that quite a few people in both parties will do everything in their power to suppress some of this stuff. What Senator wants his pork barrel projects and wasteful spending to come out day after day? Also I would be willing to bet that people will be thinking more about fooling people with the government operations forms then actually thinking about how the money is going to be spent.

Amgen Cuts Workforce; Guides Lower

Losing all those sales on that anemia drug, Aranesp is finally going to cost some people their jobs. It is also causing Amgen to guide lower.

The company said it plans to reduce its work force by 12 percent to 14
percent, or between 2,200 and 2,600 positions and will get hit with a
restructuring charge between $600 million and $700 million. Amgen also reduced
its adjusted earnings per share guidance for the full-year to between $4.13 per
share and $4.23 per share from previous guidance of $4.28 per share.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/15/07

-$1,566.00 -3.85%

"Run on the Bank?" That Sounds Serious

I had no idea this thing existed until they stopped redemptions today.

Sentinel, like Goldman Sachs (GS) when referring to their Global
Equities Opportunities firm, now says they own securities selling at "deep
discounts to their fair value" and that would cause their investors "unnecessary
losses." So, the bottom line is they don't want to sell those assets and
give investors back their money. Yes, no one likes to sell things for a
loss. Of course, markets care nothing about "fair value."
Fair value is what someone is willing to pay, not what an investor deserves to
receive.

These securites may have been those illiquid mortgaged backed securities (or bundles of these securities) that they couldn't unload when people came looking for their money.

This seems to be what made Goldman pour that $3 billion into their Global Equity Opportunities (GEO) fund. They had 30% losses on their books in that fund from in just 6 days of wild market swings. They also had about 3.5 times leverage in place on the thing. Goldman perhaps couldn't get rid of their mortgaged backed debt obligations to pay redemptions (or margin calls) so they were forced to sell their equities instead. They then had to inject an extra $3 billion into the fund to keep the thing from going the way of those Bear Sterns funds.

Hmm, I wonder how bad this credit mess is going to get? The idea of an entire class of credit obligations that are stuck in limbo because you can't sell them (or put a value on them) is crazy. I know it is time to avoid the financials like the plague but what industries won't get hit by this credit crunch stuff?

This article says the sectors to be in are biotech and telecom. Isn't biotech the realm of the companies that are financed almost totally by debt? If the credit market dries up or bankers become more risk adverse maybe they will pull the plug on financing some of these long shot drugs that may or may not get FDA approval. That may lead to mass bankruptcies in those small one shot biotech names and maybe even big problems at the big guys as well.

I guess that leaves only telecom which will probably be pretty strong unless the consumer truly gives up the ghost and cancels his cell phone plan or something. Or you can go to accumulating cash which I have been doing. I think when things blow over it will be a great time to buy good stocks cheap.

This is Why the White House Never Comments

As soon as the White House opens their mouth.

As to the merits of it, I think it's outrageous. This is a president
who, first and foremost, has helped millions of seniors across the country have
access to prescription drugs at a much lower cost," Perino said. "As to whether
or not our troops are invisible to this president, I think that is absurd and
that it is unconscionable that a member of Congress would say such a
thing."

The Hillary Hype Machine goes into action:

Campaigning in Dubuque, Iowa, Clinton referred to the White House
criticism of her "invisible" comments.

"Apparently I've struck a nerve. The White House just attacked me a
few minutes ago," Clinton said. "Not only have I said it and am saying it, I
will keep saying it because I happen to believe it."

That is exactly why you always say "No Comment" to attacks. Is Hillary trying to win the 2004 election or something? I think Bush is going to be a huge albatross around the necks of the Republican candidates come election time. He needs to get out of the way of this crap and set his party up to at least hold the line in the House and Senate. If he keeps this up it looks more and more like the "modern progressive" agenda is going to be firmly in place come 2008.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/14/07

-$1,138.00 -2.72%

2000 Year Old Etruscan Tomb Found

Now this has to be quite a find.

Inside the tomb, a narrow corridor led to a small burial chamber, about
2 meters long and 1.79 meters wide, he said. It housed about 80 objects
including vases and mirrors in bronze and ceramic. Urns holding human remains
were also found.

It is pretty weird that almost none of their literature and very little of their history exists to this day even though they lived for 1000 years. I guess that is the reason why you need to constantly record your history and put constantly put current events in context. Or perhaps a 1000 years from now no one will know that there was a Simpsons Movie or that there was such a thing as a Pecanbon from Cinnabon.

Rove Out at White House

Would the last person to leave 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue please turn off the lights? I have a feeling you won't hear the end of this guy though.

Rove also predicted conditions in Iraq would improve and that the
Democrats would nominate Hillary Rodham Clinton for president, calling her
"a tough, tenacious, fatally flawed candidate." Rove does not intend to work
for any candidate in the 2008 presidential election, White House press
secretary Tony Snow said.

I agree that the Dems will nominate Hillary as well. I also have a feeling that the GOP is going to nominate Romney and she is going to take the White House. 4 years of Hillary? It may be time to move to Staad, Switzerland or your luxury apartment in Dubai if you are a Conservative. Normally I would say Canada but what conservative wants to live there?

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/13/07

-$556.90 -1.31%

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/10/07

+$893.90 +2.16%

Black Mesa Warns of "Massive" Liquidation by Another Hedge Fund

Could this create a chain reaction where lots of these Market Neutral Hedge Funds need to liquidate portfolios in order to meet margin calls? Maybe this is what is causing the insane whilesawing in the markets in at 3:00PM each day.

Black Mesa Capital, a hedge fund firm that uses computer models to
track down arbitrage opportunities, has told investors that at least one very
large hedge fund or investment bank is liquidating "massive" trading portfolios,
according to a letter the Santa Fe, NM-based firm sent to investors on
Wednesday. That's causing disruptions and triggering losses among other
so-called market-neutral hedge funds, Black Mesa said in its letter, a copy of
which was obtained by MarketWatch on Thursday. "Clearly, something is amiss in the markets that few in our strategy, if anyone, have experienced before," Black
Mesa wrote.

Oil Prices Drop to $71.59 per Barrel

Hmm, it seems that Oil Prices are dropping and thus gas prices should follow.

Worries about shrinking oil consumption in a slowing global economy
continued to suppress crude prices, according to Alan Mandel, analyst at Alan M.
Trading. However, investors shouldn't expect oil to fall much further, Mandel
says.

"There will be a buying opportunity if oil falls below $68," he says.
"Geopolitical hotspots around the world are still relevant, and we haven't yet
entered the peak of hurricane season."

I have a feeling that oil prices may drop further here because demand seems to be slowing and these geopolitical hotspots are kind of moving to the back page. Also there seems to be few if any hurricanes so far this season that I know of. There may be some big ones later this month but it would seem that there would be more throughout the season and not a big clump at the end. I'm still in the camp that New Orleans won't see another levee breaking whopper hurricane for another 40 years.

Companies Pulling Debt and Bond Deals

It seems that compnaies are do not want to issue debt at this time.

In the past two weeks, another 13 corporate loan or bond deals have
been postponed or reduced, representing just under $43 billion, in new research
released Thursday by Baring Asset Management. The total number of deals pulled since June 22nd now stands at 46, analysts at the firm said, valued at more than
$60 billion. That compares to last year where there were no pulled deals
counted.

That kind of sucks when the pulled debt deals went from 0 to 46 in one year.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/9/07

-$2,092.00 -4.80%

Apparel Chains take Beating

I guess it just wasn't time for kids to do their back to school clothes shopping yet.

Mall traffic has also fizzled and people aren't as willing to rush to stores for the latest back-to-school merchandise in July, instead waiting for markdowns.

"We've been seeing this trend for the last five years," Perkins says. "Kids have been going back-to-school shopping closer to need."

I'm still puzzled at who thinks kids do their back to school clothing purchasing in July? What kid is all pumped to buy a jacket and long pants when it is super hot outside? Also you would think they would rather procrastinate until they actually need the products as well.

Couple this with the parents knowing that retailers mark down stuff in August and September so they just wait the retailers out. When gas prices as high as they are you have to bring in any savings that you can. They might even get a break buying in August because gas prices usually dip during the late summer so it frees up more money to buy their kids back-to-school clothes.

Plateosaurus Mass Grave Found in Switzerland

This is quite a find.

"It could be that the area extends for 1.5 kilometers (0.9 miles) and
in that case, you could certainly say it's the biggest site in Europe," said
Martin Sander, a dinosaur paleontologist at the university of Bonn in
Germany.

The Frick area contained the bones of one animal per 100 square
meters, Sander said, so the entire area might contain bones of 100 more
Plateosaurus.

These Plateosaurus' seem to be similar to elephants. This article says how older elephants die close to water and their skeletons pile up. I wonder if these Dinosaurs had the same behavior?

This is a Plateosaurus (I thought they were those Bonehead Plated dinosaurs when I first red the article.)

Goldman "Rumor" Whipsaws Market

Now this is a weird development:

U.S. stocks had pared gains in late trading on market speculation that
the world's largest investment bank (GS.N: Quote, Profile, Research)
would make an announcement, possibly related to one of its hedge
funds.

Several traders told Reuters there was speculation that an
announcement was forthcoming, but said there was no consensus on what Goldman might say.

So there was a rumor that Goldman might say something but noone knew what. People assumed it was bad and sold and the market which went from up 180 to almost negative territory in little less then an hour. Then when Goldman denied the rumor the market recovered to settle up 150 or so. Now that should ping someones fear quotient a little big. We might be doing some serious "wall of worry" climbing this week. In any case it will be a great time to put in some hedges on the cheap.

J. Michels Uranium Index 8/8/07

+$711.00 +1.66%

Weird Trading Persists at 3PM each day

This behavior seems to be really throwing off some money managers.

Oddly, though, in every session the wildest action has taken place
right around 3 p.m. EDT -- an hour before the close of regular trading.

Just why this is happening isn't clear, though market watchers have
some theories. Richard Bove, an analyst at Punk Ziegel, suggests technical
or program trading may be responsible for the wild midafternoon swings. Others
speculate that a large investor -- perhaps even a foreign buyer such as China --
may be targeting the U.S. markets.

I like the mental image that Mao-Suited Red Chinese Bankers manipulating the US markets at 3AM in China. I can see them now, sitting in a darkened ministry building with ethernet cables snaking in all directions from state-of-the-art trading stations. There are perhaps thousands of identical desks in this building where shady Commie moneymen control the movement of trillions of dollars while the rest of Beijing sleeps. It makes for something out of a spy thriller written by Jim Cramer.

XBox Online Community Could Be Golden

Minyanville says that it may be even bigger selling point then that $50 price cut.

Xbox Live is 7 mln strong and growing. Gamers from around the world are
linking up every night to play their favorite games, creating a brand new
experience. Users can chat, email and download TV shows, movies and classic
arcade games. Heck, gaming leagues are now popping up on TV.

I agree with this 100%. I think XBox live is one of the biggest selling points for the XBox360 and it will be hard to match for the other consoles. This could be a big source of ancillary income when it comes to certain gaming companies. For instance I used the example of the extra songs for Guitar Hero 2 from Activision. I would be willing to bet even money that if these add-ons could be a pretty nice income stream going forward. The gaming companies just need to come up with add-ons that are ITunes-like that will make people come back again and again and pay $1 per pop for. This could potentially make a game that is 5-6 old bring in revenue quarter to quarter.

Also this 7 million strong group is made up of one of the hardest to reach demographics when it comes to advertisers. They are the largely male 18-40 year olds that hardly watch TV in real time, barely react to net ads, and come late to movies to avoid those 10 ads at the beginning. They also have that disposable income that the advertisers like so much. For advertisers Xbox Live is a goldmine when it comes to reaching those unreachable eyeballs.

Some of the things the advertisers can try is to have those Viral Ads that people talk about as downloadable content. They could also have something like the Axe Effect All-Star bikini team for Madden with downloadable uniforms and everything. You can replay Bikini Bowl 2006. Also you can have a Guilty Gear type game where you can download the Burger King so you will be able to kick the crap out of him. You could even have those virtual billboards in-game that will change periodically to kind of freshen up the look of certain games. Finally, it would be so nuts to have something like an American Eagle in-game in GTA4 that has merchandise that changes from time to time depending on the season. I think as long as the ads aren't too intrusive the sky is the limit for this kind of thing.

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.