Monthly Archives: October 2013

Another Heap Of Wall-Street Hype and BS

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Another Heap Of Wall-Street Hype and BS

Earnings estimates for Q3 have been crashing for a year. On October 1, 2012, our brilliant Wall Street analysts estimated that they’d leap 15.9%. As of Friday, these brilliant analysts have chopped their forecasts for the same brilliant quarter down to a measly growth of 2.1%. Stagnation! Now they’re hyping how companies are beating these crummy forecasts!

Dollar Destruction And Gold Over 47 Years – A Personal Story

by Johnnygeneric •  • Comments Off on Dollar Destruction And Gold Over 47 Years – A Personal Story

In a human life, 47 years isn’t all that long. So this is a personal data point of how the Fed has managed, or rather mismanaged, or rather utterly and willfully destroyed, the dollar since his mom sold their trailer in 1966 – and what that would mean in gold today.

David Stockman: Blackstone Double Dip

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on David Stockman: Blackstone Double Dip

The Wall Street machinery was back in business thanks to the Fed’s policies, David Stockman writes. When Extended Stay America exited bankruptcy, its new owner was, well, Blackstone – which had done the LBO. To underscore that speculators had returned to the scene of the strangulation, as it were, its partner in the deal was John Paulson’s hedge fund.

This Is What Happens When A Spanish Judge Sends A Senior Banker to Jail

by Don Quijones •  • Comments Off on This Is What Happens When A Spanish Judge Sends A Senior Banker to Jail

By Don Quijones: Four months ago, Miguel Blesa, ex-CEO of failed Caja Madrid and senior member of the governing Popular Party, was in jail. Accused of felonies ranging from irregularities in Caja Madrid’s purchase of City National Bank of Florida to wrongful “appropriation of funds,” Blesa was not even granted bail by the judge. But now he is free, and the judge is in trouble.

Delirious Construction And Property Bubbles Prop Up China GDP (And Buy Social Stability For Now)

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Delirious Construction And Property Bubbles Prop Up China GDP (And Buy Social Stability For Now)

China’s economy grew barely above the government-decreed minimum of 7.5%. Deep frustrations simmer beneath the surface and can explode at any time. To maintain social stability, the government douses the land with money. Growth at any cost. But the results are majestic property and construction bubbles – and they can’t be inflated forever.

Stockholders Got Plundered In IBM’s Hocus-Pocus Machine

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Stockholders Got Plundered In IBM’s Hocus-Pocus Machine

I’m not picking on IBM. I’m almost sure they have some decent products. So they had a crummy quarter – the sixth quarter in a row of sales declines. And their hardware sales in China have collapsed since Snowden’s revelations about the NSA and its collaboration with American tech companies. But in one area, IBM excels: its hocus-pocus machine.

NSA Revelations Kill IBM Hardware Sales in China

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on NSA Revelations Kill IBM Hardware Sales in China

The first shot was fired on Monday. Teradata, which sells analytics tools for Big Data, warned that revenues plunged 21% in Asia. Wednesday, it was IBM’s turn to confess: hardware sales in China had collapsed. Every word was colored by Snowden’s revelations about NSA’s collaboration with American tech companies, from startups to mastodons like IBM.

Alcatel-Lucent “Could disappear,” Says CEO Michel Combes

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Alcatel-Lucent “Could disappear,” Says CEO Michel Combes

“The company could disappear,” said Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes, not exactly the kind of wondrous hype CEOs normally sputter to bamboozle people into plowing their money into the company’s stock. The end, after two decades of ingenious Wall-Street engineering, fee extraction, fanciful accounting, executive wisdom, and brilliant strategic thinking.

Corporate Disease: Workers Are A Cost Not A Productive Resource

by Wolf Richter •  • Comments Off on Corporate Disease: Workers Are A Cost Not A Productive Resource

The amount in Federal assistance received by families of workers in the fast-food industry, who’re dogged by low wages, part-time work, and scarce employer-provided health benefits, amounted to $7 billion per year. A way for the $200 billion industry to shuffle off part of the costs of doing business to the hapless taxpayer.