Tag Archives: ows

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? U.S. job creation crashing! European unemployment holding at record high! Production falling in China! Japan going down! Government bonds at record lows! Dow Jones erases all gains of 2012!

1 June 2012, bad news for everyone, that is bad news for everyone playing the western (U.S./British dominated) game of capitalism (including the “communist” Chinese)!

Employment numbers did not live up to the expectations of experts in the United States. The U.S. Department of Labor reported that only 69,000 net jobs were created in May.  Employment experts in the private sector expected at least 150,000 new jobs.

To top that, the Labor Department revised the April and March employment numbers…down!  For the two months before May, the number of net jobs created was revised downward by 49,000!

In the past labor officials said that in order to have an economic recovery unAmerican Corporate America must create 200,000 net new jobs every month.  That hasn’t happened, and now it’s worse!  The latest estimates are that 362,000 net new jobs must be created every month, for three years straight!  That would bring down the unemployment rate to 6%.

Here’s some factual numbers: At least 12.7 million people in the U.S. are “officially” unemployed.  At least 100,000 million people are “unofficially” unemployed!  Both those factual numbers come from the U.S. Department of Labor!

As one of the many Low Income workers who recently went back to work, working for the Man in the U.S. (after two years of unemployment), let me just say this: No Shit Sherlock!

We Low Income workers, still with jobs, have seen the unAmerican Corporate America bullshit first hand, on a daily bases.  It’s now to the point many of us see it on an hourly bases!  Nothing has changed, people!  If anything the glorified, deified, well educated, well financed leaders of our country are only picking up speed with their snowballing moronic decision making!  Need proof?  How about JP Morgan Chase  (I now work for a contractor who lost a contract with Chase, now I think we know a major reason why Chase canceled the contract)?  Wake up people!!!  UnAmerican Corporate America is the cause of our economic decline!

Now for Europe.

The 17 member European Union held onto its record unemployment rate for the second month in a row. The latest report is for the month of April, and it stands at 11%.  When you break it down by EU member countries it gets worse: Italy  10.2%, Portugal 15.2%, Greece 21.7% (stats for February only).

But how about that Spain?  24.3% unemployment!  When you look at just youth unemployment (workers under 25 years of age) it’s 51.5%!!!  Can you say “get ready for civil war”?

The result of the collapse of the EU is causing the euro to crash & burn, and forcing the Japanese yen to increase in value.  Not only that, but today was the first day that China and Japan began trading their money (in order to avoid the U.S. dollar) and the yen gained in value over the Chinese yuan!

That will kill Japanese business.  Japan is a country whose economy depends on international trade.  Since 2011 the yen has gained in value, and has already caused major harm to Japanese companies.  Yesterday Toyota announced that it was selling $2.5 billion USD in bonds to raise cash, because they believed another credit crash was coming (funny how the U.S./British mainstream media misreported the news).

China is reporting a drop in the Purchasing Managers’ Index, down 2.9 points from April.  The drop is caused by a combination of decreased sales internationally, and domestically.  It means China’s economy is slowing down, and if China is the manufacturing center of the western capitalist world, then it makes for a good canary in the western capitalist economic coal mine.

Oh, let’s not forget those stable government bonds.  On 1 June 2012, U.S. ten year bonds hit a record low of 1.5% interest!   German government bonds hit a record low of 1.1%!

The result of all this doom & gloom, based on factual data, is that all the stock markets in Asia went down.  In the United States the Dow Jones Industrial Average (aka Wall Street) lost all its gains for January to May 2012, falling more than 200 points in one hour and 30 minutes!

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

Global Economic War: India & Iran to push forward with new oil deal! Iran “key” to world economy!

“Iran is an important neighbor and crucial trade partner for India, and also a major source of our energy supplies.”-S M Krishna, External Affairs Minister of India

31 May 2012, after a meeting between Iranian and Indian officials, India made it clear that Iran was India’s number one source for oil!

Indian officials are looking to Iran for other economic deals, as India considers Iran the economic gateway to Central Asia.  S M Krishna said Iran was also the economic key to the whole world!

The two countries also discussed “threats” being made against them.

Iran has invited India to attend the upcoming Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) Summit in August.  NAM consists of countries that do not kowtow to the United States/British Empire.

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? While India experiences GDP growth above 5%, the United States continues to stagnate and stink! Blame the government, blame inflation! Could have been worse!

31 May 2012, The U.S. Department of Commerce reported that the U.S. GDP continues to stagnate at 1.9%!  That was for January through March.

Once again, the experts were expecting it to be higher, like around 2.2% (which is still stagnation).  The problem is that the experts were expecting business inventories to be around $69.5 billion USD, instead they ended the 1st quarter at $57.7 billion.

Also, consumer spending was a tiny bit lower than what the experts were expecting; 2.7% instead of the expected 2.9%.

Government spending dropped by 3.9%, also more than what the experts were expecting.

Inflation went up 2.4% (price index for personal consumption), which is twice that of the 1st quarter of 2011!  By the way, the experts got this one right.

The inflation rate for core PCE gauge, which excludes volatile food and energy prices, was at 2.1%, which is up from the 4th quarter of 2011.

But wait, there’s more!  The Commerce Department said the 1st quarter GDP could have been even lower if it weren’t for an unexpected increase in business spending! Business spending went up 1.9%, the experts were expecting it to drop by 2.1%!

By the way, one of the BRICS countries, India, reported an explosive GDP growth rate of 5.3%, during the same time period, and keep in mind that’s a decline from the previous year!

Business/Economics

What Economic Recovery? Toyota cash hoarding by selling bonds. Preparation for coming World economic collapse!

31 May 2012, Japan’s Toyota Motor Corporation announced a huge bond sell off, to raise lots of cash in case of global economic crash!

Reuters reporting that Toyota wants $2.5 billion USD to buy new equipment, however, NHK (nippon housou kyoukai/Japan Broadcasting Corporation) is reporting that Toyota needs “…to increase its cash on hand in case of contingencies stemming from the European credit crisis.”

Toyota already has $62 billion USD in cash on hand, so that doesn’t explain Reuter’s report saying they need the $2.5 billion for new equipment.   The last time Toyota sold bonds was in 2009, in response to the global credit crisis triggered by the collapse of Lehman Brothers!

Business/Economics, International, Technology

Bridgestone Tires says they’ve created way to make tires without petroleum. Biomass!

31 May 2012, Japan’s Bridgestone Tires, and a food company call Ajinomoto, have worked together to create rubber without the use of oil or rubber trees.

The process uses fermented starches, and other sugars, from food waste, or biomass.  The process is able to extract a necessary ingredient in making rubber; isoprene.

If everything works out Bridgestone hopes to mass produce the fermented tires by 2020.

International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; May 28-30. 5 more U.S./NATO troops killed. Several Dozens of Afghans killed. Proof the War on Drugs is a joke!

30 May 2012: International Security Assistance Force reports two U.S./NATO personnel killed by Mujahideen attacks, and explosions in southern Afghanistan.

At least 172 occupying personnel killed since the beginning of 2012.

According to local security officials in Badakhshan Province, at least eight cops were killed and two wounded after an attack by Mujahideen.  Several police officers are missing.  The attack began late on 29 May and continued into the early hours of 30 May.  Local police officials claim they killed six Mujahideen. The Mujahideen launched coordinated attacks on three police check points.

In Herat Province, Mujahideen attacked an Afghan army check point, killing one soldier and wounding four others. Officials claim they killed four Mujahideen.

In Farah Province one Afghan soldier was killed, and another wounded after an explosion.

In Nangarhar Province about eight civilians were killed.  Five people were killed after their house was attacked with grenades.  Three other people were killed when they drove over a mine.

Afghanistan’s Ministry of the Interior reports that in the past 24 hours 30 Mujahideen were killed or wounded in battles in the following provinces: Kabul, Nangarhar, Faryab, Helmand, Uruzgan, Logar, Ghazni, Paktika and Paktia.

29 May 2012: Another school was targeted with poisoning of the female students. At least 120 girls became sick. This is the third school poisoning in Takhar Province in the past two weeks.  The “Taliban” are being blamed, however, “Taliban” reps swear they’ve had nothing to do with the poisonings.  Public health officials say blood tests are not revealing what poison (if any) is being used.  “Taliban” reps say the Afghan government is behind the poisonings.

Another tribal elder was assassinated while praying in a Mosque in Ghazni Province. Also, in Ghazni city, Mujahideen attacked the eastern part of the city and wounded between three and seven people.

The United Nations reported that only 5% of the Afghan population is involved in producing more than 5,800 tons of opium, or 90% of the World’s illegal opium!  The UN also said that so far less than 2% of the opium produced is being captured and destroyed.  That’s par for the course when you study the lack of success in the 30+ years of the U.S. War on Drugs!

In Nangahar Province two potential suicide bombers were killed, and three wounded after the car they were in exploded.  Officials think there was a mechanical problem which caused one of their bombs to go off too soon.

International Security Assistance Force is claiming they killed an al-Qaeda “leader” in Kunar Province.  They said he was from Saudi Arabia, an ally of the United States.

In Baghlan Province, Afghan officials claim they killed two Mujahideen “commanders”.

28 May 2012: International Security Assistance Force said at least one U.S./NATO soldier was killed by Mujahideen attack, in southern Afghanistan.  Two other U.S./NATO personnel were killed when the helicopter they were in went down in eastern Afghanistan.

Five police officers in Baghlan Province were killed when they drove over a mine.

An Afghan government official was arrested on murder and rape charges. The former deputy chief of the Afghan Passport Department is accused by several people from Badakhshan province of raping and killing women.

In Helmand Province, at least three people were killed when they drove over a mine.  Local officials said they arrested a man suspected of planting the mine.

ISAF, Afghan Ministry of Defense, and Ministry of the Interior, report six Afghan soldiers killed, and between 21 and 38 Mujahideen killed in the past 24 hours.  The battles took place in Laghman, Paktiya, Baghlan, Kabul, Kunar, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Faryab, Kandahar, Ghazni, Khost, Helmand, Uruzgan, Maidan Wardak and Logar provinces.

International Security Assistance Force claims two “leaders” were captured in Kandahar and Paktiya provinces.

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Idaho’s Coldwater Creek loses money again! Executives oblivious? Stocks worth less than $1.00

Idaho’s Coldwater Creek women’s clothing retailer just posted their 1st quarter 2012 results.

For the 1st quarter, which ended April 28, the struggling apparel company reported a loss of $23.8 million USD.  But that was less than company execs thought they were going to lose!

Chairman and Chief Executive, Dennis Pence, actually takes the news as a good sign: “Customers responded favorably to our spring and early summer collections, which offered an increased emphasis on color, print, and pattern.”

The problem with that train of thought is that Coldwater Creek lost money for the same reason as always, their sales are down!  Pence calls that “responding favorably”?

The news caused Coldwater Creek stock prices to drop to 84 cents per share before the closing bell on 30 May.  But, it’s dropped to 74 cents in after hours trading!

 

Business/Economics, International, Technology, U.S.

Oil & Gas Prices: Disparity in fuel prices; Eastern U.S. vs Western U.S. It’s all about supply vs demand! Western U.S. fuel supply lowest since 1999! Expect U.S. fuel prices to drop in long run!

I was upset by a Memorial Day report on one of the mainstream U.S. national TV news programs, ’cause they reported gas prices down across the country!  Wait a minute, I live in the United States and gas prices actually went up where I live!

I noted that the mainstream media report focused only on the eastern half of the United States. I checked the internet for reports concerning the western half, and sure enough fuel prices have been going up here!

In the Pacific Northwest U.S. state of Idaho gas prices average $3.64 USD, according to the American Automobile Association (AAA).  But here in eastern Idaho it’s more like $3.77 per gallon.  In Mackay (pronounced Mac-Key), Idaho, it’s $3.90.

In the U.S. state of California prices are more than $4.00 per gallon. Gas prices have not come down in the past few weeks, even though oil prices have!

What’s going on? Why have fuel prices come down in the eastern half of the U.S. and, in some cases, actually gone up in the western half?

For one, the eastern half has a glut of oil, from the fields in the U.S. state of North Dakota, and from the northern country of Canada.  However, in recent months there was a lot of predictions that fuel prices would actually go up for the eastern half of the U.S., because several major refineries were being permanently shut down.

Two of those refineries are located in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania.  Fears of skyrocketing fuel prices turned to joy when it was revealed, towards the end of April, that Delta Airlines and Energy Transfer Partners will buy those refineries, and keep them up and running!

Also at the end of April, it was revealed that a new refinery, also in Pennsylvania, was up and running on the Delaware River!  It’s primary source of oil is shale oil from North Dakota and Texas.  This is important because it turns out that many of the older refineries can not handle refining shale oil.

Another important fact is that finally new oil pipelines are opening up, helping to get that bottlenecked glut of oil in North Dakota, and from Canada, down to refineries along the Gulf of Mexico, and to ports in Portland, Maine.

Finally, there was a recent report that a new diesel fuel refinery will be built near Williston, North Dakota!

So what’s happening in the western half of the U.S.?

On 22 May it was reported that U.S. oil supplies were at a 21 year high. However, when you look at refined gasoline and break it down between eastern and western U.S. you get a different picture, because you’ll see that having a lot of oil does not translate into having a lot of gasoline.

The very next day, 23 May, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) released a report which stated: “PADD 5 gasoline inventories at 24.1 million barrels on May 18, about 5.1 million barrels (17 percent) below typical levels for that date, the lowest for the region since March 1999.”

The DOE explained: “Abnormally low refinery runs on the West Coast since February tightened local gasoline markets, causing both wholesale and retail gasoline prices to rise.”

The DOE blamed reduced fuel supply to the western U.S. on that fact that several refineries were shut down for maintenance.  One of those refineries, British Petroleum’s Cherry Point, in the U.S. state of Washington, should be re-starting.

The DOE also explained that the western half of the U.S. sees higher fuel prices because of a lack of pipelines: “While unplanned refinery outages generally cause retail product prices to rise, the West Coast market is especially sensitive to such shutdowns. That is because the West Coast market is relatively isolated. Given the West Coast’s lack of significant pipeline connections to other markets and relative distance from the active physical trading markets….”

According to the DOE, it takes six weeks for any change in the price per barrel of oil plus any shortage or surplus of refined fuel, to be reflected in western U.S. fuel prices at the pump, but, if there are no further interruptions in western refinery operations prices should start coming down.

Business/Economics, Idaho, International, Technology, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Problems, and hopes, for east Idaho’s Eagle Rock owner; Areva

Back in March, Areva announced a $3.2 billion USD loss, which is what it would cost to build the planned Eagle Rock Enrichment Facility near Idaho Falls, Idaho.

Now Areva, based in France, is struggling to raise cash just to survive.  But there is also some hopeful news for Areva.

29 May 2012, Areva announced “outstanding” performance results from their Steam Generator Repair Services crew.  They just finished work on the Indiana Michigan Power Donald C. Cook nuke plant:  “Constant monitoring and good peer checking by our team were the key factors that contributed to zero safety incidents and very low dose [radiation exposure].”-Mike Jefferson, Field Operations Manager

 

 

29 May 2012, Finnish media reporting that Areva is five years behind scheduled, for completion of Finland’s third generation nuclear power plant.  Areva officials blame it on the fact that no nuclear plant has been built in Europe for 20 years, resulting in troubles finding reliable supply chains for proper construction materials.

28 May 2012, The Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency started taking final public comments on the possibility of Areva operating a uranium mine located 700 kilometres north of Prince Albert, Saskatchewan.

15 May 2012, Areva announced that it will partner with Japan’s Mitsubishi to search for uranium in Australia.

2 May 2012, Areva announced it was selling its nuclear radiation measurement unit in Australia, to raise needed cash.  CEO, Luc Oursel, says the company needs to raise at least 1.2 billion euros by the end of 2013, to make up for huge loses!  He plans on doing that by selling off Areva assets.

At the end of April 2012, the country of Jordan announced that Areva and Mitsubishi were being considered to build the country’s first nuclear reactor.

 

 

 

Fukushima

Cesium contamination of soil in Japan, from study published in October 2011

The following quotes are from a cesium-137 soil contamination study reviewed in July, and published in October 2011, just months after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster began.

“The soils around Fukushima NPP [nuclear power plant] and neighboring prefectures have been extensively contaminated with depositions of more than 100,000 and 10,000 MBq km-2…”

“…around 90% of the total deposition of 137Cs occurs with precipitation.”

“…most of the eastern parts of Japan were effected by a total 137Cs deposition of more than 1,000 MBq km-2.”

“Airborne and ground-based survey measurements jointly carried out by MEXT and the US Department of Energy (DOE) (21) show high 137Cs deposition amounts were observed northwestward and up to a distance of 80 km from Fukushima NPP. It was estimated from the first measurement that by April 29, more than 600,000 MBq km-2 had been deposited in the area, which is greater than our estimate of less than 500,000 MBq km-2…”

“Overall, however, the highest potential deposition occurred over the Pacific Ocean…”

The study used soil samples taken by Japan’s Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), U.S. DOE and independent sources. Again, this was during the first few months of the ongoing the nuclear disaster.

The study is titled Cesium-137 deposition and contamination of Japanese soils due to the Fukushima nuclear accident.