California
Next Shoe to Drop in Broke California’s Lopsided ‘Recovery’
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Next Shoe to Drop in Broke California’s Lopsided ‘Recovery’
Silicon Valley Frenzy: Big Bucks, Big Data, and Spying
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Silicon Valley Frenzy: Big Bucks, Big Data, and Spying
The government spy-services marketplace, part of Big Data, is juicy. Investors clamor to get in on it. Scores of startups have sprung up. The hottest one is Palantir. Its valuation jumped 50% in three months – to $9 billion! Its technologies, designed for the CIA to track terrorists, have transitioned to track you and me.
The Day The Bubble Became Official, And Everyone Was Happy
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Day The Bubble Became Official, And Everyone Was Happy
American Boondoggle Meets Chinese Methods
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on American Boondoggle Meets Chinese Methods
BYD, the name of a Chinese electric vehicle and solar panel maker, stands for “Build Your Dream.” Maybe that’s what they’re trying to do in China. But here, they’re building a nightmare: broken promises, falsehoods, design flaws… all lushly funded by American taxpayers. And they paid Chinese workers in California $1.50 per hour to do it.
California To Grapple “Indefinitely” With Nuclear Hangover
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on California To Grapple “Indefinitely” With Nuclear Hangover
The costs of nuclear accidents can be catastrophic, for generations. But there are also the routine costs after reactors are shut down, when decommissioning expenses pile up, for timeframes beyond human comprehension. True costs are unknown. Now, the scandal-plagued San Onofre plant in Southern California has become a test case – indefinitely.
“A Feeding Frenzy, A Mad Dash To Snap It Up” – House Flipper
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on “A Feeding Frenzy, A Mad Dash To Snap It Up” – House Flipper
You can’t get away from it. The media fawn over it. Rational neighbors drool unexpectedly. Ads flood the airwaves. “Learn our simple three-step system on how to flip homes,” the announcer says. Everyone knows: untold riches are waiting for you. “Right here in the Bay Area,” he says. It’s hot, so hot that people will get burned. And banks will get hit (again).
Whose Capital Will Get Destroyed? Wall Street Tries To Cash Out Of Newfangled “Asset Class”
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Whose Capital Will Get Destroyed? Wall Street Tries To Cash Out Of Newfangled “Asset Class”
Oaktree Capital and Carrington Mortgage are trying to dump a portfolio of 500 single-family homes they’d bought out of foreclosure. They’re trying to get the heck out of the once hot buy-to-rent trade. Blackstone, which gobbled up 32,000 of these homes, is trying to get its money out. They all are. That trade is turning sour. Trouble in the housing market!
Surveillance Society: If You Drive, You Get Tracked
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on Surveillance Society: If You Drive, You Get Tracked
A technology that surreptitiously captures data of people out on the street, combines it with other data, and mines it ad infinitum? Local and federal government agencies love it. It’s increasingly sophisticated and cheap. It’s spreading. And it led a professor at West Point to warn: “We don’t have a police state in this country, but we have the technology.”
The Next Big Thing: The Fear Of Climate Change
by Wolf Richter • • Comments Off on The Next Big Thing: The Fear Of Climate Change
The last big thing was green tech – from wave-power generators to the smart grid. Hyped in the bipartisan stimulus bill, it promised gobs of jobs, billions in revenues, and untold riches. Private investors plowed in billions too. It ended up in a massive pileup of capital destruction. Fatalities were everywhere.