Hasbro, second largest toymaker in the US, confessed it would miss revenue estimates. Christmas wasn’t kind. Despite “double digit growth” in emerging markets, revenues fell by 2% for 2012 and by 3.8% for the quarter. Other corporations are in a similar predicament. But substantive inflation would have covered it up—not that the Fed hasn’t been trying.
What the Japanese Trade Deficit Says About the Fraying Fabric In China And Europe
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on What the Japanese Trade Deficit Says About the Fraying Fabric In China And Europe
European talking heads are reassuring us on an hourly basis, lest we forget, that the worst of the debt crisis is over. The Japanese trade deficit, a measure of reality, not words, tells a different story about the crisis in Europe. And about troubles coming to a boil in China. But neither can be cured by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s plan to decapitate the yen.
A Year After Declaring War On The Banks
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on A Year After Declaring War On The Banks
On January 22, 2012, French presidential candidate François Hollande shook up the banks: “It has no name, no face, no party, it will never be candidate, it will never be elected, yet it governs: that enemy is the world of finance,” he said. Freed “from all rules,” it “took control of the economy, of society, and even our lives.” He’d fight it, and promised tough reforms. But these days, you’d think he is being tutored by JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon.
Is The “Self-Promotion-And-Envy Spiral” Taking Down Facebook?
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Is The “Self-Promotion-And-Envy Spiral” Taking Down Facebook?
Facebook isn’t over the hill, exactly. Last October, it announced that 1 billion people a month used it, in a world of 7 billion. Leaping from one milestone to the next. But in key markets, such as the US where it derives most of its revenues, it is plateauing, and a shudder-inducing D-word has snuck into polite conversation: declining. Now we have a new reason.
Medicare, The Corporate Welfare Program
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Medicare, The Corporate Welfare Program
Congress excels at enriching corporate welfare programs—in this case, Medicare. Ironically, it happened while Congress is struggling to rein in Medicare’s gargantuan deficits with belt-tightening measures that would hit people who paid into the system throughout their working years. This time, the prime beneficiary was Big Pharma, particularly one company….
German Spy Agency: Geopolitical Consequences Of US Oil Boom
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on German Spy Agency: Geopolitical Consequences Of US Oil Boom
Much digital ink has been spilled about the US oil & gas boom, and whether or not it will lead to energy independence, or even turn the US into an oil exporter. Now a “confidential” report by the German version of the CIA, the Bundesnachrichtendienst, seeped to the surface. It sketched out the boom’s geopolitical consequences. Biggest loser? China.
The Currency Wars: Now US Automakers Are Squealing
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Currency Wars: Now US Automakers Are Squealing
Japan’s LDP went all out last year to re-grab power. Its platform: print and borrow with utter abandon to create asset bubbles and inflation, and to demolish the yen. Phenomenally successful! So far. But now, US automakers are squealing; they want President Obama to fight back—though the US has been printing and borrowing with utter abandon for years.
How Big Is “BIG”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on How Big Is “BIG”
“Repression” is what Richard Fisher, President of the Dallas Fed, called “the injustice of being held hostage to large financial institutions considered ‘too big to fail.’” He sketched out the destructive impact of these TBTF banks that, as “everyone and their sister knows,” were “at the epicenter” of the financial crisis. And he offered a “simple” plan for coming to grips with them. But he did something else: he defined BIG.
The Next Shoe To Drop In France
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Next Shoe To Drop In France
Paradigm Shift For The Healthcare Expense Monster
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Paradigm Shift For The Healthcare Expense Monster
A sadly familiar theme in the US—the growing ranks of the working poor—was fleshed out today. But the report did something else: it added graphic details to the conundrum of US healthcare spending: while it ballooned to $2.7 trillion, 17.9% of GDP, or $8,680 per capita, households have lowered their share. So have businesses. What gives?