Hard hitting global and local news
Boehner Floats Fiscal Cliff “Plan B” Both house speaker John Boehner and president Obama have given ground in the “fiscal cliff” drama. The sides are still far apart but concessions now are steady
Many have heard of normalized P/E ratios based on 10-year earnings averages and the concept of reversion to the mean. To the best of my knowledge no one has attempted to normalize unemployment rates based on demographic trends, although some have attempted unemployment normalizations based on changing definitions of the meaning of unemployment
Also consider Calpers Bankruptcy Strategy Pits Retirees vs. All Others .
Empire State Manufacturing Index Declines 5th Straight Month; Profit Squeeze Underway Posted by Michael Shedlock at 2:46 PM Disclaimer: The content on this site is provided as general information only and should not be taken as investment advice. All site content, including advertisements, shall not be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security or financial instrument, or to participate in any particular trading or investment strategy. The ideas expressed on this site are solely the opinions of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the opinions of sponsors or firms affiliated with the author(s)
The days of getting carpal tunnel syndrome from cutting meat are now over, at least as measured by a meat processing plant in Greece, shown in the video below. The video starts out a bit slow, but is rather fascinating once it gets going.
The Japanese election hands former prime minister Shinzo Abe a chance for redemption according to The Guardian .
Courtesy of the Weekly Standard , please check out the following union thuggery: Pro-Union Activist Threatens the Michigan Governor: ‘We’ll Be at Your Daughter’s Soccer Game’ A speaker at a protest against Michigan’s right-to-work legislation said that Republican governor Rick Snyder will “get no rest” from pro-union activists if Snyder signs the bill into law.”Just know one thing, Rick Snyder: You sign that bill, you won’t get no rest,” said Rev. Charles Williams II at the Tuesday rally in Lansing, according to Michigan Capitol Confidential
Car sales are up in the UK, but down 10% on average in the EU. Overall sales, including the UK, are down for the 14th consecutive month
NATO tells tales of recently launched “Scud missiles” to retroactively justify Patriot missile deployment months in the making. December 15, 2012 (LD) – In a recent bid to psychologically break Syria’s government and military leadership, producing long sought-after defections, US-led NATO has decided to place Patriot missile systems along the Turkish-Syrian border. The announcement was made as far back as November with NATO Source Alliance News Blog reporting: “Turkey plans to officially request NATO deploy a Patriot missile defense system in its territories as a security precaution against a potential large-scale military offensive from Syria as Syrian shelling on the border raises tensions.” As this threat’s credibility diminishes, NATO has retroactively justified their November decision with a new tale of “Scud missiles” landing “fairly close” to the Turkish border, according to Reuters . Within the same report, “Scud missiles” would be downgraded to “Scud-style ballistic missiles,” in what appears to be immediate backpedaling that casts doubt on the entire narrative