Tag Archives: unemployment

Business/Economics, U.S.

Media Incompetence: CNN & other main stream media keep touting no new U.S. refineries built since 1976. But oh yes Virginia, there are new refineries in the United States!

05 October 2012, once again I read a mainstream news media article about high gas prices, and they state that: “Given that a new refinery has not been built since 1976…..”-CNN/Fortune

CNN, you’re a big FAIL!  You moronic U.S. main stream media, yes, there have been new refineries built since 1976!

The information concerning new fuel refineries in the United States comes directly from the U.S. Energy Information Agency!

According to the USEIA, at least 12 refineries have been built since 1976!  The latest refinery to go online is in Douglas, Wyoming, in 2008!!!

Those 12 refineries are all ‘simple’, meaning they convert oil into fuels on the ‘first run’.  A ‘complex’ refinery uses hydrocracking (which uses the hydrogen, usually from natural gas, aka Feedstock) to squeeze more fuel out of ‘first run’ fuels.

And there are more refineries in the works (as I’ve said before, Obama is a true oil man), like the new DSO (Diesel/naptha) refinery being built 16 miles south of Williston, North Dakota!

According to Dakota Oil Processing LLC, the new Williston refinery could pump out a max of 8,000 barrels per day of ultra-low sulfur DSO (this is good news for the trucking industry, and people with efficient Diesel cars)!

Dakota Oil Processing hopes to have the refinery up and running by the end of 2013.

And it’s not just new refineries, but several older refineries that had been closed for years, have been rebuilt and restarted!

Examples: The Orion Refinery in Louisiana, upgraded and reopened in 1998.  And a refinery in Corpus Cristi, Texas, upgraded from a ‘simple’ refinery to a ‘complex’ one in 1983.

As of 01 January 2012, there are 144 operating refineries in the U.S.  However, there could be a lot more.

According to the USEIA, the oil industry has “permanently” shut down approximately 69 U.S. refineries (including Puerto Rico). The majority of those closings took place in the 1990s.

And that’s the kicker, it’s the oil industry that shut those plants down, not the government!  The website, Public Citizen, states that it’s all about getting more of your money: “…the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) concluded in March 2001 that oil companies had intentionally withheld supplies of gasoline from the market as a tactic to drive up prices—all as a ‘profit-maximizing strategy.’ A May 2004 U.S. Governmental Accountability Office (GAO) report also found that mergers in the oil industry directly led to higher prices—and this report did not even include the large mergers after the year 2000, such as ChevronTexaco and ConocoPhillips. Yet, just one week after Hurricane Katrina, the FTC approved yet another merger of refinery giants—Valero Energy and Premcor—giving Valero 13% of the national market share.  These actions, while costing consumers billions of dollars in overcharges, have not been challenged by the U.S. government.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Business/Economics, Idaho, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? I warned you! U.S. gas & Diesel prices about to launch, weekly stockpile report shows supply shortage! Blame PADD 1 & 3! Western U.S. being made to pay for shortages in Eastern U.S.?

“‘This is ridiculous,’ said Criley, 55, who pulled into a Valero station off Hamilton Avenue in San Jose where gas was selling for $4.61 a gallon. A station attendant told him that he had just raised the price 20 cents five minutes earlier. ‘It had been holding at $3.99 for a couple of weeks. Now this. You betcha this hurts.'”-The Oakland Tribune, 04 October 2012

“Gasoline station owners in the Los Angeles area including Costco Wholesale Corp. are beginning to shut pumps because of supply shortages that have driven wholesale fuel prices to record highs.”-Bloomberg, 04 October 2012

“The U.S. average retail price of regular gasoline decreased five cents last week…Prices decreased in all regions of the Nation except the Rocky Mountains….The national average diesel fuel price decreased a nickel…”-U.S. Energy Information Agency, 26 September 2012

So, in September average retail fuel prices slightly decreased.  In some places, like Idaho, per gallon Diesel (distillate fuel oil, DSO) prices held almost steady while gasoline went down a piddly few cents.  Now prices are already going back up.

Do not blame the gas station operators!!!  I managed a gas station in Santa Maria, California, decades ago, and I can tell you the profit margin is just too small at the retail level.  In fact, the current situation in California is shutting down family owned gas stations: “Gas is costing me almost $4.75 a gallon with taxes. There’s no sense in staying open. The profit margins are so low it’s not worth it.”-Sam Krikorian, owner Quality Auto Repair in North Hollywood

A Montana based petroleum industry analysts agrees: “The mom and pop gas stations are having to close down from either not being able to obtain gasoline from their regular distributor or cannot afford the break-even price of almost $5 per gallon!”-Bob van der Valk

Back at the beginning of September I warned of higher fuel prices for October.  This was based on the futures (commodity) prices of fuel, which are usually four weeks out. I basically warned that on 12 October 2012, DSO fuel prices could hit around $5.15 per gallon!

I also explained that fuel prices in the Petroleum Administration for Defense Districts (PADD) 5 area (Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Washington) was being hit by fuel refinery shut downs, for reasons known and unknown (and so is the rest of the country).  It looks like that situation has not changed, and might actually be worse on the east coast and along the Gulf of Mexico!

Several media sources are reporting that California fuel refiners are actually rationing out fuel!   The result is that gasoline is reported to have jumped by a full dollar in one week in some parts of the Los Angeles area!

Phillips 66 is shutting down two California refineries for maintenance.  A Chevron pipeline was shut down because of contamination.  On 01 October, a ExxonMobil refinery was shut down because of a power outage. And according to a Bloomberg report, the narcissistic environmental policies created by California politicians/environmentalists have made it impossible to import fuels from outside California!

So don’t blame Obama!  Obama has allowed the opening of more oil fields than any other U.S. President (a true oil man)!!! It’s the fault of the oil companies and fuel refiners, and stupid laws in California!  And that’s the real crux for the drivers in California, the stupid laws!

Even though California is part of PADD 5, their fuel refining laws are so strict that fuel made outside California, yet still within PADD 5, can not be sold inside California!!!

Oh, and the prices Californians are seeing now don’t even reflect what the gas station owners are paying: “Really, since the Chevron Richmond fire, inventories have been tight. As other refinery problems occur, there isn’t much or any available inventory. Retailers are not yet reflecting the wholesale price increases they have experienced...”-Tom Robinson, Robinson Oil

How about PADD 4 (Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Utah, Wyoming)?

Phillips 66, Pocatello, Idaho, 04 October 2012.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Agency, the current average retail price for PADD 4 area DSO is $4.20 per gallon.  If you notice in the pics I posted, here in Bannock County, Idaho, diesel prices range from $4.30 to $4.40 per gallon, at the cheap fuel stations.

CommonCents, Chubbuck, Idaho, 04 October 2012.

For regular octane gasoline, USEIA says the average PADD 4 area retail price is $3.76 per gallon.  My pics show that where I live it’s at least $3.82-$3.84 per gallon.

Padd 4 fuel stockpiles have been stable for all types of gasoline, around 6 million barrels, that’s according to 28 September 2012 data.  All types of DSO, in PADD 4 area, has a stockpile of about 3 million barrels, steady for the past four weeks.  So stockpile issues do not explain why prices in Idaho are higher than the PADD 4 average.

It’s not production issues either.  PADD 4 production has gone up.  DSO production at the end of September was averaged at 0.174 millions of barrels per day (mbpd).  Last year it was 0.156 mbpd.

PADD 4 gasoline production ended September with an average of 0.296 mbpd. At the same time last year it was 0.254 mbpd.

In fact, even in the troubled PADD 5 area, USEIA data shows stockpiles and production hasn’t changed that much in the past four weeks.  (stockpiles of DSO in PADD 5 have actually gone up in the past two months!)

Is it demand?  Nope.  According to USEIA, overall demand for fuel in the United States has gone down slightly since last year!

Average demand for gasoline was at 8.6 mbpd at the end of September, last year it was 8.9 mbpd.  For DSO the average demand was at 3.6 mbpd, compared to last year’s 3.8 mbpd.

The USEIA reported that at the end of September, for the country as a whole, raw oil stockpiles were down by 500,000 barrels.  The ‘expert’ media analysts had expected an increase of 1.5 million barrels!  Overall stockpiles of gasoline went up by 100,000 barrels.  The big loser is DSO, with stockpiles falling by 3.7 million barrels!!!  The net result being an overall reduction in petroleum supplies!

Well, if stockpiles and production are steady or actually up in PADD 4 & 5 areas, and demand is slightly down for the country, then why would overall supplies be low?

Blame PADD 1 and 3!  Stockpiles and production are crashing on the east coast and in the Gulf states!

At the end of September PADD 1 had 41.1 million barrels of DSO, a 20 million barrel drop from last year’s 61.5 million!  Gasoline is at 46.1 million barrels, compared to last year’s 55.3 million barrels!

PADD 3 ended September with 67.4 million barrels of gasoline, last year they had 74.9 million!  DSO saw a huge drop, from 50.8 million barrels last year to 37.4 million barrels at the end of September this year!

For such a big drop in stockpiles, PADD 3 averaged DSO production is unchanged from last year, at 2.4 mbpd.   PADD 1 DSO production average is down slightly from 0.4 mbpd last year to 0.38 this year.

The same can be said of PADD 1 gasoline production; 2.8 mbpd this year versus 2.9 mbpd last year.  Average gasoline production for PADD 3 ended September at 1.8 mbpd, last year it was at 2.1 mbpd, so a big drop there.

This begs the question: Is the western half of the United States being made to pay for shortages that should only be affecting the eastern half of the country?

“I see no reason for this at all. Sounds like a load of rubbish to me!”-Errol Emrich, pissed off California driver

PS: Wholsale/futures/commodity prices for refined fuels ended September 2012 higher.  So expect even higher prices at the pump next month!  Wish the U.S. petroleum industry a Happy Thanksgiving!

Idaho, U.S.

Ann Romney pissing off U.S. women?

The following was posted in the Tuscola County Advertiser in Michigan:

Ann Romney made a concerted effort to paint a picture of her husband and herself as supporters of women in her talk at the Republican National Convention. She was definitely out of her element when she tried to show empathy for women and families struggling to pay bills, to buy gas and fuel, and coping with daily personal tensions.

Unlike most families with moms working outside the home, or a single parent without a partner to assist and support them, Ann has had cooks, maids and nannies. While her battles with cancer and M.S. were trying, she was able to afford top-notch treatment and emotional support.

She has neither the personal or professional authority to talk about the difficulties of poor, working class or even middle class Americans. Her remark about women doing more and doing it happily made many women cringe. She must not be aware that with working women making 80 percent of what men do, women have to do more just to break even. And her husband has been a proponent for such unfairness.

It’s important to know that the Romneys’ LDS church (Latter Day Saints or Mormon) opposed the passage of the Equal Rights Amendment which would have guaranteed women equal rights. In addition, the southern Bible Belt states plus those states with a strong Mormon presence (Utah, Nevada, Idaho and Arizona) opposed the passage of the ERA amendment. The church even ex-communicated Sonia Johnson, a part-time school teacher and mother for her role in organizing Mormon support for this amendment.

The LDS is a male dominated hierarchy. Women are not allowed to hold the priesthood or serve as elders in their church. They cannot reach as high a ranking in heaven as their husbands. Mothers stay home and are primarily responsible for the nurturing of their children. Women’s “sacred” and “divinely” sanctioned job description as homemaker, wife and mother is heavily emphasized. Large families are encouraged.

Since LDS couples marry so young, women must forfeit their own education and careers. Without college degrees or marketable job skills, most women are financially dependent on their husbands, with few options should their marriage not last “into the eternities”. They believe only women who are married in a church temple will have eternal life and parents are unable to attend the ceremony if not Mormon. (Of course they believe any non-Mormon will go to hell.)

A majority of our population is not aware of the LDS church’s impact on its members. Their beliefs aren’t in agreement with what most women want and need. While living in Idaho among LDS neighbors, working in professional fields for seven years, and our sons attendance at Boise State University, our family learned about this church’s insidious domination of and influence on state government policies, public schools and lifestyles.

Don’t let Ann’s sweetness and charm overshadow the Romneys’ true beliefs and motives.

Bonnie Johnson

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

World War 3: U.S. occupation of Afghanistan; 01 – 04 October 2012. Massive attack planned! Karzai wants war with Pakistan! Karzai wants more advanced weapons, will buy from Russia or China! Karzai does not want to be President anymore! Afghan government to make peace with Mujahideen! Afghan GDP better than U.S.!

04 October 2012

In Nuristan Province, the governor says he has information saying that at least 400 Mujahideen are preparing for a massive attack.  He also says the Mujahideen will be supported by the Pakistani military!

President Hamid Karzai steps closer to declaring war on Pakistan, after he condemns the United States for not doing so: “…U.S. has clearly denied to defend Afghanistan and even their military officials deny the statistics provided by Afghan officials regarding the Pakistan shelling!” 

Karzai also said: “Afghanistan is ready to take every steps to fight in case war was declared among the forces of the two countries.”

The Afghan President says the Untied States is refusing to sell his country the weapons it needs to adequately defend itself, and he is now willing to buy them from Russia or China: “If U.S. and NATO does not want to equip Afghan forces then should Afghanistan wait for it or Afghanistan should take steps to purchase its required equipments from Russia, China, India or elsewhere? We are going to decide in this regard to purchase the required equipments for the Afghan security forces if United States is unable to do so.”

Karzai made the statements just three days after sending thousands of ANA troops to the border with Pakistan.

Afghan politicians say Karzai has been too lenient towards Pakistan.  Tribal elders in Nangarhar Province say they will launch their own retaliatory attacks against Pakistan, the next time Pakistan launches a rocket strike into their province.

Karzai also warned that the United States is planning on staying in Afghanistan beyond Obama’s 2014 pull out date. 2014 is also when presidential elections take place in the Central Asian country.  Karzai indicated he did not want to be re-elected: “The election will definitely happen. Go on and choose your own favorite candidate. My term, if prolonged by even a day, will be seen as illegitimate.”

In Farah Province, two children killed, four in critical condition, after an explosion.  The children might have been playing near a recently planted mine, accidentally setting it off.

In Kandahar Province, a U.S. led airstrike killed at least 15 people.

ISAF said: “An International Security Assistance Force service member died as a result of a non-battle related injury in southern Afghanistan today.”

The Asian Development Bank (ADB) stated that Afghanistan’s GDP for 2011 was 5.7%, better than the approximately 2.8% for the United States.  The ADB expects Afghanistan’s GDP rate for 2012 to be 6.9%, this after the expected 2012 GDP rate for the U.S. dropped to 1.7%!

Economists say true GDP growth occurs at 3% or higher, clearly Afghanistan is growing while the U.S. is stagnating.  Maybe the taxpayers of the U.S. should stop throwing billions of dollars at Afghanistan and bring that money home?

The ADB admits that if foreign military forces were pulled out of Afghanistan, that country’s GDP would drop!

03 October 2012

ISAF said: “Dozens of Afghan soldiers and police, supported by coalition special operations forces, concluded a six day operation against insurgent networks in the Chak district, Wardak province…..More than 30 insurgents were killed…”

Afghan foreign affairs minister, Zalmai Rassoul, said: “We will continue to pursue the peace process vigorously. This is the just and deserving right of the Afghan people and the surest path to ending the cycle of violence in Afghanistan.”

Loser U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, said peace talks were part of a plan “….to guide the relationship between Afghanistan and the United States, as we move to the next phase of our relationship.”

02 October 2012

ISAF said: “An U.S. Forces-Afghanistan service member died of wounds following an improvised explosive device attack in southern Afghanistan today.”

A day after an attack left three U.S./NATO personnel dead, numb nuts U.S. Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta, called Afghan government officials to whine about it!  He then lied and restated “…the United States’ continued commitment to a secure and stable Afghanistan.”

In Zabul Province, a U.S./NATO helicopter crash landed.  ISAF says it was due to technical problems.  Mujahideen claim they shot it down.

Despite having a GDP growth rate that is the envy of the United States, only 4% of Afghans have access to modern “western” banking.  That’s according to the Afghan Banks Association.  What this tells me is that the overwhelming majority of the wealth being created in Afghanistan is only in the hands of an extreme minority!

Afghan banks are also charging interest, which is a violation of Islamic law (one of the real reasons the elites of the West are afraid of Islam).

01 October 2012

ISAF said: “Three International Security Assistance Force service members and an ISAF-contracted interpreter died following a suicide improvised explosive device attack in eastern Afghanistan today.”

The deaths of U.S./NATO personnel, and the contractor, are believed to be part of a massive suicide bombing in Khost Province. Reports say up to 70 people were killed (including the local police chief) or wounded after a man with a bomb blew himself up.  Witnesses say the man was wearing the bomb, other reports say a motorcycle bomb was also used.

The Afghan National Army (ANA) has deployed thousands of troops to the border with Pakistan.  ANA officials say the next time Pakistan launches artillery attacks against Afghanistan, they will be prepared to retaliate with attacks against Pakistan.

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

What Economic Recovery? IMF says world economy to suck for at least 10 more years, says recovery relies on Japan & China! Inflation must take place!

“…it will surely take at least a decade from the beginning of the crisis for the world economy to get back to decent shape.”-Olivier Blanchard, IMF Chief Economist

“The current status of the economy and the global economy needs both Japan and China fully engaged.”-Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director

Officials with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are making some very concerning statements.

While the U.S. main stream media seems focused on the economic disaster unfolding in Europe, the IMF says look to Asia.  Maybe that’s because it’s looking more and more like the IMF policies in Europe are failing big time.

In fact, on 04 October 2012, the IMF just warned the European Union to get its rear in gear: “No one has the luxury of time, this is really urgent!”-Christine Lagarde, IMF Managing Director

Despite the urgent call to action by the IMF, some European leaders say the U.S. based IMF is actually delaying action: “There are circles, by which I mean the IMF, who are pressing for a delay until after the U.S. election in November…”-Dimitris Hadzisokratous, Democratic Left, one of three political parties running the Greek government

What about China and Japan? The IMF seems to think the two countries are the Holy Grail in saving the World economy.  There are major problems with that!

Japan’s economy is in the toilet!  Japanese factories have been laying people off, and offshoring what ever they can. Japan is in bigger debt than any European country (yet where’s the U.S. media coverage).

China is no longer the economic wunderkind it was just a few years ago.  GDP growth is dropping.  The Asia Development Bank (ADB) predicts it’ll drop almost two percentages, from 9.3% in 2011 to 7.7% for 2012, and even lower after that: “The years of two digit growth in Asia are coming to an end!”-Changyong Rhee, ADB chief economist

And why is the economy in China going down?  Firstly the Chinese government imposed economic restrictions in the hopes of holding off inflation.  But here’s the big reason; orders from Europe and the United States are way down.

Some of those orders are down because of the bad economies in Europe and the U.S., but also because of protectionist policies.

Many European countries have banned specific products made in China, and  U.S. President Barack Obama imposed ridiculous tariffs on Chinese made solar power products (that move also killed the Hoku polysilicon factory in southeastern Idaho, that was hoped to provide hundreds of good paying jobs.  smooth move exlax!).

The IMF is also expecting the cash flushed Chinese banks to help bailout Europe!  Can you believe that?  The Europeans are screwing over Chinese businesses and then the IMF expects the Chinese to help bail out the Europeans?

As expected the Chinese banks said hell no! Several major Chinese banks have cancelled their plans to attend the largest ever IMF/World Bank meeting, to be held in Tokyo, Japan, next week!

But get this, IMF chief economist, Olivier Blanchard, told Hungarian media that Japan would take decades to get its debt problems straightened out, and that the United States has become a financial deadweight:  “It remains the case that, in a number of advanced countries, notably the U.S., a return to full health requires replacing some of the domestic demand that fueled growth before the crisis by external demand. But, the arithmetic is again unforgiving here.”

Blanchard also said inflation was “…necessary and desirable…”

So, in a round-a-bout way officials with the IMF are expecting any World economic recovery to be messy (are they expecting World War 3?), and they’re placing their bets on China and Japan (two countries on the verge of war with each other over some tiny barren islands)!

Like the Colonial Marine, Hudson, said in the kick ass 1986 movie Aliens: “Oh dear lord Jesus, this ain’t happening, man… This can’t be happening, man!”

Business/Economics, U.S.

Class Warfare: While the rich decry social help for the poor, thousands of millionaire U.S. jerk wads get the lion’s share of unemployment payments! Middle & lower classes get a pauper’s pittance, even though they pay lion’s share in taxes!!!

“Sending millionaires unemployment checks is a case study in out-of control spending. Providing welfare to the wealthy undermines the program for those who need it most while burdening future generations with senseless debt.”-Tom Coburn, U.S. Senator for Oklahoma

A Congressional Research Service (CRS) report revealed that 2,362 people in the same class as Mitt Romney (millionaires), who publicly decry government help, actually got unemployment money from the government in 2009!

Even more the year before that:  2,840 millionaires got unemployment money in 2008!

But wait there’s more!

People with incomes between $100,000 USD and one million dollars also got unemployment money; 954,000 in 2009 and 816,700 in 2008!!!

Lets put this in a better perspective.  Middle and lower class unemployed persons get an average of $300 per week for 37 weeks (if they’re approved, for some reason the state of Idaho always finds some excuse to deny my unemployment claims. The last excuse was that I didn’t make enough income during the “reporting period”.  The reporting period didn’t even cover all the months I was employed with my last employer).

Here’s what millionaires get for unemployment (according to a Bloomberg article):  Income between $1 million and $5 million averaged $11,113 per week for 37 weeks of unemployment!

Income between $5 million and $10 million averaged $18,351 per week of unemployment!

Income more than $10 million averaged $12,333 per week!

But wait, there’s more!

Unemployment compensation is paid for by federal and state taxes (here in Idaho the state taxes come from the employers, who actually get part of that refunded based on number of unemployment claims made against their companies.  Several Idaho Job Service employees have confided to me that the system is set up to favor the employers, because Job Service is mainly funded by those employer taxes).

The Library of Congress CRS report shows that the majority of unemployed (middle and lower classes) make up the lion’s share of tax filers yet get the pauper’s pittance in unemployment help.  The report shows that the higher the income the smaller the share of tax filings.

In 2009, unemployed people who had incomes between one dollar and $100,000 made up 91.07% of tax filers.

Unemployed people who had incomes between $100,000 and $200,000 made up only 7.3%!

Incomes between $200,000 and $500,000 only 1.06%!!

Incomes between $500,000 and $1 million only 0.07%!!!

Unemployed people who had incomes more than $1 million made up only 0.02% of tax filers in the United States!!!!

The CRS report, titled Receipt of Unemployment Insurance by
Higher-Income Unemployed Workers (“Millionaires”), was released back in August, but is only now hitting the mainstream media!

What was that about the rich bastards and bitches getting richer and richer?

 

Business/Economics, U.S.

Media Incompetence & What Economic Recovery? Sears & Kmart not ‘closing’ stores, just not gonna renew their leases. Misleads lazy media, dozens more stores being shut down before Xmas, due to expired leases!

02 October 2012, the local media in the state of Maine reported that “Unlike last winter’s mass closings……Lewiston’s Sears is the only one closing now.”-Sun Journal, Lewiston, Maine

That’s a big FAIL Sun Journal!!!  There’s at least a handful of Sears and Kmart store being shut down for the same reason as the Lewiston, Maine, store: Sears Holdings is not renewing leases!

The people of Morristown, Tennessee, were shocked to learn their local Sears is not renewing their lease, and as many as 72 employees will be laid off!  Sears Holdings hopes to have the store shut down by January 2013.

The local mayor said Sears gave them no warning: “It was a surprise to us. Also, it’s disappointing. Although we have a lot of good news going on in our city with new jobs, it’s disappointing to lose 72.”-Danny Thomas, Mayor of Morristown

A resident of Morristown is pissed off: “…people havin’ trouble findin’ jobs, I mean it’s gettin’ close to Christmas and stuff, what’s these people gonna do?”-Nicole Harbin

Another store closing (which could have been part of the June announcements) is the Sears at the Liberty Fair Mall, in Martinsville, Virginia.  Even if it was announced back in June, folks around Martinsville say it’s news to them.

Officially the Liberty Fair Mall Sears is being closed due to “…failing to come to terms on a new lease…”-Martinsville Bulletin, 16 September 2012

That wasn’t the reason given in the June announcement, anyway, another 75 employees out of work by Xmas!

Here’s a store closing that definitely wasn’t on the June list: Village Mall Sears in Auburb, Alabama.  “We’re expected to exit the building by the end of December. The lease is not being renewed at that store.”-Kimberly Freely, Sears Holdings

This is the second Sears Holdings store closing in Auburn.  The local Kmart was shut down back in April.  Sears had been in operation in Auburn since 1951!

At the end of 2011, Sears Holdings said they would close up to 120 U.S. stores in 2012 alone.  They even established a store closing list, which recently disappeared from their website (I checked again this morning, 02 October 2012)!

So far, since the end of 2011, Sears Holdings publicly announced at least 102 closings (on their now missing store closing list) and also announced the possible sale of 11 stores to major mall owner General Growth Properties (GGP).

What the mainstream media doesn’t tell you is that Sears Holdings has been aggressively closing down stores since 2010.  At least 174 stores closed with the result of 13,920 people losing their jobs!

Sears Holdings continues quietly closing Kmarts as well.  Recently the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry was notified that a Kmart store will be closed at the Pittsburgh Parkway Center Mall.  54 employees out of work by 06 January 2013!

In Florida, local media surprised that yet another Kmart is closing, despite the fact that it’s probably part of the June announcement.

A Jacksonville Business Journal article talks about the two Florida Kmarts mentioned in the December 2011 announcements, and seems ignorant of the 2012 announcements: “In December 2011, Sears Holdings released a list of 79 stores it was closing. But the company planned to close between 100 and 120 in total. On that list, two local stores were closed…”-Jacksonville Business Journal, 17 September 2012

I guess they weren’t paying attention to my postings in Blind Bat News!!!

Another Florida media source, Jacksonville Daily Record, does not mention the June closing list, but did say the Jacksonville (on Beach Boulevard) Sears is not mentioned on the Sears Holdings website (as I stated above, the closing lists have disappeared).

Don’t expect things to get any better, recently Sears was ranked 5th out of 12 companies with the Least Valuable Employees.  And don’t forget the Mitt Romney/Bain Capital/Carlyle group connection!

Just to help out those mainstream local media sources, and to give you an idea of the impact this is having across the United States, here’s a list of known store closings/closed stores for 2012.

Alabama: Gadsden Kmart, Mobile Sears Grand/Essentials, Auburn Kmart.

California:   El Monte Sears Grand/Essentials, two San Diego Sears Grand/Essentials.

Colorado:  Broomfield Kmart, Glenwood Springs Kmart, Lone Tree Sears Great Indoors, Longmont Sears.

Georgia: Macon Sears, Buford Kmart, Douglasville Kmart, Atlanta Kmart, Columbus Kmart, Jonesboro Kmart.

Florida: Fernandina Beach Kmart, Callaway Kmart, Orange City Kmart,  Deland Sears Grand/Essentials, Stuart Sears Grand/Essentials, West Palm Beach Sears Grand/Essentials, Port St. Lucie Sears Grand/Essentials, Crystal River Sears, New Smyrna Beach Kmart, St. Augustine Kmart, Pompano Beach Kmart, and recently revealed Jacksonville Kmart.

Idaho: Lewiston Sears.

sears chubbuck

Floundering Sears at the GGP owned Pine Ridge Mall in Chubbuck, Idaho.

Kmart Pocatello

Floundering Big Kmart in Pocatello, Idaho. Are they next to go in Idaho?

Indiana:  Anderson Sears Full Line, Saint John Kmart, Indianapolis Kmart.

Iowa:  Cedar Rapids Kmart, Davenport Kmart.

Kansas: Lawrence Sears Full Line.

Kentucky: Middlesboro Sears Hard lines, Winchester Kmart, Hazard Kmart.

Maine: Lewiston Sears.

Maryland: Ellicott Sears Grand/Essentials.

Michigan: Brighton Sears Grand/Essentials,  Harper Woods Sears Full line, Monroe Sears Full line, Adrian Sears Full line, Washington Township Kmart, Chesterfield Kmart.

Minnesota: Willmar Kmart, Duluth Kmart, New Hope Kmart, White Bear Lake Kmart.

Mississippi: Jackson Sears Full line, McComb Sears Full line, Columbus Sears Full line.

Missouri: Lee’s Summit Sears Grand/Essentials, Saint Louis Sears Full line.

New Hampshire: Nashau Sears Grand/Essentials, Keene Sears Grand/Essentials.

North Carolina: High Point Sears Full line, Moorehead Sears Full line, Rocky Mount Sears Full line, Statesville Sears Full line.

Ohio: Chagrin Falls Kmart, Springfield Kmart, two Toledo Kmarts, Medina Kmart, Columbus Kmart.

Oregon: Roseburg Sears Full line.

Pennsylvania: Upper Darby Sears Full line, Pottstown Sears Full line, and recently revealed Pittsburgh Kmart.

South Carolina: Sumter Sears Full line.

Tennessee: Antioch Sears Full line, Cleveland Sears Full line, Oak Ridge Sears Full line, Hendersonville Kmart, and recently revealed Morristown Sears Full line.

Virginia: Norfolk Sears Full line,  Midlothian Kmart, Richmond Kmart.

Washington: Walla Walla Sears Full line, Lacey Kmart.

Wisconsin: West Baraboo Sears Grand/Essentials, Rice Lake Kmart.

Don’t forget, this is the 2012 known list of closings, there were closings in 2011 and 2010 as well, and they’ll be more for 2013.

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

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard boss to reveal her secret plans!

“I believe in creative destruction.”-Meg Whitman, CEO Hewlett Packard

“It’s staggering, this is now the cheapest big stock in the last 25 years. That reflects an industry belief that the company is going to decline.”-A. M. Sacconaghi, Bernstein Research

According to a New York Times article, Meg Whitman will reveal her tactical plans for rejuvenating Hewlett Packard (HP) on Wednesday, 03 October 2012.

HP employes thousands of people in the United States (Boise, Idaho. Houston, Texas. Costa Rica), but those jobs have been disappearing, and under Whitman’s plans could be reduced even more. She wants to continue HP’s spread across the world, already HP has at least 60,000 employees in India alone!

Whitman says she hopes to get her changes completed within four years.  But one thing’s for sure, HP has got to stop buying up losing companies: Just last year HP spent $10 billion USD buying a company called Autonomy.

Here’s a good thing about Whitman, she hates bureaucracy.  The first thing she did at HP was to consolidate and trim the upper management.

On 03 October we’ll find out just how much more trimming she’ll do to the rest of the company.

 

 

Business/Economics, International, U.S.

What Economic Recovery? Mitt Romney’s Staples to close 75 stores! Downsize 30 more!

26 September 2012, Staples, considered an example of success for vulture capitalist Bain Capital (Mitt Romney sat on Staples’ board of directors for more than a decade), is in big trouble.

On 25 September, officials with Staples announced they will close down 75 stores worldwide (at least 30 in the United States with 15 of those being accelerated closings, 45 stores and delivery businesses in Europe).  Staples will also downsize/relocate another 30 stores in the U.S.

Will the Pocatello, Idaho, Staples make the new closings hit list?

Common sense tells you that means more job losses, even though company officials are claiming that won’t happen.

Sales at Staples are crashing, especially for computers.  Company officials say they are shifting to more internet based business.

For the quarter ended July 2012 Staples reported an overall 6% decrease in sales, compared to the same time in 2011: “Our second quarter results fell short of our expectations due to softer than expected sales trends in North America and ongoing weakness in Europe and Australia.”-Ron Sargent, CEO

In North America sales decreased 3%, but around the world Staples saw a 10% decrease!

Staples has also revised its future sales outlook downward, and is expecting hundreds of millions of U.S. dollars in costs just to close down all those stores!

Mitt Romney, and others with Bain Capital, once called Staples their prime example of success.  Here’s just a sampling of other companies that Bain Capital is involved with: AMC Entertainment, Aspen Education Group, Brookstone, Burger King, Burlington Coat Factory, Clear Channel Communications, Domino’s Pizza, DoubleClick, Dunkin’ Donuts, D&M Holdings, Guitar Center, Hospital Corporation of America (HCA), Sealy, The Sports Authority, Toys “R” Us, Warner Music Group and The Weather Channel.

Once you start investigating all the companies that Bain Capital is involved with, or affiliated with, it becomes clear that it is unAmerican Corporate America’s vulture (venture) capitalist investment companies that are killing our economy.

And Mitt Romney says as President of the United States he’ll do for the country what he did for Corporate America!

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

What Economic Recovery? Hewlett Packard spending millions to save money in Idaho? Announces even more layoffs! Refuses to pay fair share in taxes! Hoping to save itself by making a deal with the devil: Israel!

“Just think of all the value that they have destroyed. It has been a case of just horrible management.”-Brian Marshall, ISI Group

23 September 2012, the past month has been a busy month of announcements from struggling computer maker, Hewlett Packard (HP).

At the end of August, HP reported a quarterly loss of $8.9 billion USD! (Dell computer maker also reported a big loss)  Then at the beginning of September, HP officials announced they will layoff 29,000 employees by 2014, that’s an increase of 2,000 from their layoff announcement in May of this year.

HP blamed the quarterly loss on down sales, and the cost of downsizing the company!

According to an Idaho Statesmen report, HP spent $50 million, over the past few years, downsizing its operations at the huge Boise HP campus.

The report also pointed out that HP is refusing to publish just how many people have lost their jobs at the Boise campus.  The Idaho Statesmen estimates it to be in the hundreds (at least 320).

HP also isn’t mentioning the fact that they’ve spent more than $40 billion on buying up worthless companies!

Just days ago a U.S. Senate investigation revealed that HP is one of thousands of unAmerican Corporations (including Microsoft) that are working hard to avoid paying taxes.

“The bottom line of our investigation is that some multinationals use our current tax system to engage in shams and gimmicks to avoid paying the taxes they owe.”-Carl Levin, Senator from Michigan

The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations discovered that HP avoided paying $4.5 billion in taxes, from 2009 to 2011, by using complicated offshore loan deals  (you see it’s not just Mitt Romney, everyone in unAmerican Corporate America does it).

Of course HP officials deny it: “I can assure the committee that HP takes seriously its obligations to accurately follow accounting principle and to pay taxes that it owes.”-Lester D. Ezrati, HP

HP also has operations in Israel, and today it was announced that HP is in the running for a huge military contract worth half a billion USD!  (IBM, Dell and Lockheed Martin have also bid)

The contract will be for a new huge Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) computer server farm based in the Negev desert.  It will be the main server farm for electronic logistics, communication and military intelligence operations being run by other newly built bases in the Negev.