Thread: The strongest economy in the world

Some very daunting data. I'm glad this thread is still going because if shows that the last couple of decades were fueled by illusions.
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Americans saw wealth plummet 40 percent from 2007 to 2010, Federal Reserve says

By Ylan Q. Mui, Updated: Tuesday, June 12, 2012

The recent recession wiped out nearly two decades of Americans’ wealth, according to government data released Monday, with [at]middle-class families bearing the brunt of the decline.

The Federal Reserve said the median net worth of families plunged by 39 percent in just three years, from $126,400 in 2007 to $77,300 in 2010. That puts Americans roughly on par with where they were in 1992.

The data represent one of the most detailed looks at how the economic downturn altered the landscape of family finance. Over a span of three years, Americans watched progress that took almost a generation to accumulate evaporate.

Entire: Americans saw wealth plummet 40 percent from 2007 to 2010, Federal Reserve says - The Washington Post

It's real good business for the select few when given trillions of dollars

Federal Reserve Board Members Gave Their Own Banks $4 Trillion in Bailouts
Thursday, June 14, 2012

"Following the 2008 financial crisis, the Federal Reserve provided more than $4 trillion in near zero-interest loans and other help to banks and businesses whose executives also served as directors for the national bank.

At least 18 current and former Fed regional bank directors had a direct stake in the trillion-dollar bailout given to teetering institutions, according to a report produced by the Government Accountability Office, but released by Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont).

“This report reveals the inherent conflicts of interest that exist at the Federal Reserve,” Sanders said in a prepared statement. “At a time when small businesses could not get affordable loans to create jobs, the Fed was providing trillions in secret loans to some of the largest banks and corporations in America that were well represented on the boards of the Federal Reserve Banks.”

Sanders wants to end the potential conflicts of interest that come with having bank executives serving on the Fed’s boards. The senator introduced legislation in May that would prohibit banking industry and business executives from serving as directors of the Fed’s 12 regional banks.

To bolster his case, Sanders cited the example of Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase. A director of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York since 2007, Dimon was part of the Fed’s leadership when it approved $391 billion in emergency funds to JPMorgan Chase to help it through the Wall Street chaos.

In another example, Jeffrey Immelt, the CEO of General Electric, was a member of the New York Federal Reserve when it created the Commercial Paper Funding Facility, which then lent $16 billion to…General Electric.
"

Net Worth Decline Is Damaging to America | Business | TIME.com

"It was hard not to be shocked by last week’s Federal Reserve report showing that the typical American family’s net worth fell 39% between 2007 and 2010. Similarly, figures released by the U.S. Census Bureau on Monday showed a 35% decline in net worth between 2005 and 2010. For people between the ages of 35 and 44, the drop was a staggering 59%, although the dollar amounts were smaller."

Continues......

The S & P is noted as well as the jobless numbers creeping back up to the 400,000 mark.


Forget Europe, It’s US That Poses Bigger Threat: O’Neill
Published: Monday, 25 Jun 2012


News Headlines

Hmm, US economy meltdown, sudden China slowdown, or Europe. . .I'd go with Europe as the clear and present danger, but it's a toss-up. Then there's Tokyo.

Seems you can get away with blue murder when you are in the inner circle...

Report: JPMorgan trading losses may reach $9B



Updated 04:01 a.m., Thursday, June 28, 2012

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of JPMorgan Chase & Co. tumbled in premarket trading as a published report said that the bank's trading losses may be as much as $9 billion — far higher than the estimated $2 billion loss disclosed last month.
In May, JPMorgan said the loss came from trading in credit derivatives that was designed to hedge against financial risk, and not to make a profit for the bank.
The New York Times, citing sources it did not identify by name, said that the losses have grown recently as JPMorgan has been unwinding its positions. It said its sources were current and former traders and executives at the bank.
The bank plans to give more details related to its losses when it reports second-quarter earnings on July 13.
JPMorgan's stock dropped $1.79, or 4.9 percent, to $34.99 in premarket trading.
A company representative could not be immediately reached for comment.

Read more: Report: JPMorgan trading losses may reach $9B - seattlepi.com

^Moves this loss from 5th highest overall to No. 1! Go JP Morgan!

BBC News - Barclays: Cameron says bank faces 'serious questions'


Funny that two 'Diamonds' are running these banks. Jamie Dimon at JPM and Bob Diamond at Barclay's.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

JPMorgan said the loss came from trading in credit derivatives that was designed to hedge against financial risk, and not to make a profit for the bank.

Ahh....those ol' derivatives.

Of course they are still "playing" with them.

A comparison produced by BOA.

A statistic on returning-veteran graduation rates:

Among the approximately 800,000 military veterans now attending U.S. colleges, an estimated 88 percent drop out of school during their first year and only 3 percent graduate, according a report forwarded by the University of Colorado Denver, citing the analysis by U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor and Pensions.

Thousands of veterans failing in latest battlefield: college - U.S. News

Originally Posted by barbaro

A statistic on returning-veteran graduation rates:

Among the approximately 800,000 military veterans now attending U.S. colleges, an estimated 88 percent drop out of school during their first year and only 3 percent graduate, according a report forwarded by the University of Colorado Denver, citing the analysis by U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor and Pensions.

Thousands of veterans failing in latest battlefield: college - U.S. News

That's terrible. We need to help these people. More remedial classes and teachers for those? Is it medical (mental health/brain injury) issues?

^ ^^ They would probably be better off with some vocational training. That is, if there were jobs for them when they completed it.

Originally Posted by misskit

if there were jobs for them when they completed it.

There won't be with Obama giving out new Green Cards for votes...

^ Is he? Or just more baloney.

Originally Posted by misskit

just more baloney.

With Obama it's all baloney all the time. Wasn’t it just last month when Obama told us the private sector is doing fine? Meanwhile, in the real world…

U.S. manufacturing shrank in June for the first time in nearly three years, a troubling sign as evidence builds that economic growth is slowing.
The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its index of manufacturing activity fell to 49.7. That’s down from 53.5 in May and the lowest reading since July 2009, one more after the recession officially ended. Readings below 50 indicate contraction.
Production fell to a three-year low and a measure of new orders plummeted by the most in more than a decade, suggesting the weakness will likely persist in the coming months.

Stocks, which had largely been flat when the market opened, fell immediately after the report was released at 10 a.m. The Dow Jones industrial average dropped more than 70 points in morning trading.

“This is not good. Not good at all,” said Dan Greenhaus, chief economic strategist at BTIG, an institutional brokerage. While the report “does not mean recession for the broader economy, it is still a terribly weak number.”
Manufacturing, which has helped drive growth since the Great Recession ended, has begun to falter as the U.S. job market has fizzled and global growth has weakened.

News from The Associated Press

Looks like Obamanomics are working out just fine, eh?

[QUOTE=robuzo;2147455]

Originally Posted by barbaro

Originally Posted by robuzo

Originally Posted by barbaro

A statistic on returning-veteran graduation rates:

Among the approximately 800,000 military veterans now attending U.S. colleges, an estimated 88 percent drop out of school during their first year and only 3 percent graduate, according a report forwarded by the University of Colorado Denver, citing the analysis by U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education and Labor and Pensions.

Thousands of veterans failing in latest battlefield: college - U.S. News

That's terrible. We need to help these people. More remedial classes and teachers for those? Is it medical (mental health/brain injury) issues?

Help how?

I think a sizeable percentage of these people may not have been interested in attending university.

Sure, that must be why they enrolled.

Let me say, "interested enough. Slow economy, and other reasons may have motivated some to enroll. As for the Community Colleges, a high percentage of non-veterans do not graduate.

By the way- "Many of these folks IMO, went to school because they qualified under the G.I. bill."- Yeah, so?

Another motivator to enroll.

Sorry if I hit a sore spot, Robuzo.

It is not a personal issue with me, if that is what you mean. Never joined the military. I think you have reached some very ill-founded conclusions about veterans trying to improve their prospects through education. It betrays your personal prejudices, nothing more.

Originally Posted by robuzo

It is not a personal issue with me, if that is what you mean. Never joined the military. I think you have reached some very ill-founded conclusions about veterans trying to improve their prospects through education. It betrays your personal prejudices, nothing more.

Perhaps it does betray my personal prejudices.

I have changed my views of Americans in the US military since the Iraq invasion, and the Neo-con movement gaining power for 8 years.

Many civilians however, go to Uni and Ccs, to try it, for something to do, or because it's "something."

The article I posted shows that this person was not suited for college.

Perhaps tutoring could help him. How did he get accepted?

Oh yeah, the US wants everyone and their brother and uncle to get a Uni degree.