B4 The Bell Fryday

[DrStool]

By buying Treasuries hand over fist, thereby keeping US interest rates down, the BoJ is indirectly lending US consumers the cash to keep buying Japanese consumer goods.

 

This seems stupid to me. It's a subsidy to Japanese manufacturers. We should charge them for unfair trade practices due to their dumping of yen.

[Guest]

Some Military Humor

 

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In 1968, Herman James, a Tennessee Mountain man, was drafted by the army.

 

On his first day of boot camp, the army issued him a toothbrush.

That afternoon, an army dentist yanked several of his teeth.

 

On his second day, the army issued him a comb.

That afternoon, an army barber sheared his head.

 

On his third day, he was issued a jock strap.

 

The army is still looking for him.

 

*********************************************************

[brian4]

The duties imposed by the E.U. on American products which start tomorrow begin at 5% on everything and by March 2005 will exceed 17.5% on everything-including intellectual property. Link is at bbc.co.uk-E.U. Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamey points out the U.S. is defying both the W.T.O. whose rules they agreed to as well as the E.U.!

[zensmoke]

More on Manufacturing Jobs from the Economic Report of the President

The Manufacturing Sector Chapter 2

Box 2-2: What Is Manufacturing?

 

The value of the output of the U.S. manufacturing sector as

defined in official U.S. statistics is larger than the economies of

all but a handful of other countries. The definition of a

manufactured product, however, is not straightforward. When a

fast-food restaurant sells a hamburger, for example, is it providing

a "service" or is it combining inputs to "manufacture" a product?

 

The official definition of manufacturing comes from the Census

Bureau's North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS.

NAICS classifies all business establishments in the United States

into categories based on how their output is produced. One such

category is "manufacturing." NAICS classifies an establishment as

in the manufacturing sector if it is "engaged in the mechanical,

physical, or chemical transformation of materials, substances, or

components into new products."

 

This definition is somewhat unspecific, as the Census Bureau has

recognized: "The boundaries of manufacturing and other sectors? can

be somewhat blurry." Some (perhaps surprising) examples of

manufacturers listed by the Bureau of Labor Statistics are:

bakeries, candy stores, custom tailors, milk bottling and

pasteurizing, fresh fish packaging (oyster shucking, fish

filleting), and tire retreading. Sometimes, seemingly subtle

differences can determine whether an industry is classified as

manufacturing. For example, mixing water and concentrate to produce

soft drinks is classified as manufacturing. However, if that

activity is performed at a snack bar, it is considered a service.

 

 

 

(I see new Manufacturing Jobs on the horizon----I think they are commonly called "McJobs")

[brian4]

link -The Mexican view is similar to Canada's and the E.U. unless Bush backs off their is trade trouble ahead.

[soup]

Brian: Funny I was just thinking of the developing trade war. Not exactly what a mkt needs that is trading in the stratosphere in terms of valuation

[zensmoke]

More on the EU sanctions (Just part of the system---nothing to see here...move along now....):

 

 

BRUSSELS, Belgium (Reuters) - The European Union launches sanctions on the United States for the first time Monday as a dispute over tax breaks for U.S. firms turns into a trade war that could cost American exporters $300 million this year.

 

The lower tax rates for exports for firms, including Boeing (BA: Research, Estimates) and Microsoft (MSFT: Research, Estimates), were judged an illegal subsidy by the World Trade Organization, which ruled the EU could impose $4 billion in sanctions a year on U.S. goods.

 

But European Trade Commissioner Pascal Lamy decided to apply gradual pressure by phasing in the measures, which will hit a wide range of goods, including textiles, jewelry and toys.

 

The sanctions are intended to prod the U.S. Congress quickly to replace the tax breaks with measures in line with WTO rules.

 

Officials have tried to play down the impact of the trade row, the first time since the WTO was created in 1995 that the EU has retaliated on U.S. goods.

 

"This is not the beginning of a trade war. WTO disputes are all part of the system," one Washington official told reporters ahead of the March 1 deadline for the sanctions to apply.

 

http://money.cnn.com/2004/02/29/news/inter...sanctions.reut/

[zensmoke]

However, good news just in for Finland:

 

Finns await 40% drop in beer, alcohol prices

02/29/04

Matti Huuhtanen

Associated Press

 

Helsinki, Finland - Hundreds of trucks prepared to roll onto frozen roads at midnight today, stocked with beer and hard cider for a population that eagerly awaits a historic government measure that will cut alcohol prices by nearly 40 percent.

 

But anticipation was mixed with fear in Finland, a country known for heavy drinking and the violence it can spawn.

 

Officials warned of the harmful effects of an expected surge in consumption after taxes and prices are slashed Monday in a move to prevent much cheaper Estonian drinks from flooding the country when that Baltic state joins the European Union in May.

http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/...52107178150.xml

[brian4]

Yes Soup you are right-the market is in nosebleed territory-the EU is putting on sanctions, there are zero beef and chicken exports etc. All of this will reflect itself in a alltime, alltime record trade deficit in the next 30 days. The farmers and ranchers are already screaming and Boeing and Mr. Softy and the other big dogs become non competitive once duties are added.

[machinehead]

You never cease to Amaze me M.H.!

 

I love ya , man.

Ditto, T.E.

 

Just tryin' to think outside the box.

 

Strange days have found us

Strange days have tracked us down

They're going to destroy

Our casual joys

We shall go on playing or find a new town

 

Jim Morrison, Strange Days, 1967.

[Guest]

Speaking of BA...check out their chart - negative divergence at resistance and rolling over in the face of a trade war:

 

http://139.142.147.218/StockChart_ImageOnl...=INX&ref_rate=0

[depends]

At this time I will watch BA. If it goes above 43.50 will look for a top to short with

a tight stop, but a drop below the 50 ma at 42.80 might be the start of a breakdown. I'll enter at 42.68 on a volume drop. Also here an interesting chart of it. Notice the up volume.

[Guest]

In what has to be one of the most incredible attempts at reflation in modern central banking history, the virtual complete and utter lack of domestic wage and salary inflation stands out like a sore thumb.? For ourselves, it is nothing short of one of the key indicators of the moment.? If you stuck us on a desert island for the next year and only allowed us to have access to one economic indicator, this would be the one.? Why?? Simple, consumer spending accounts for 70% of current domestic GDP.

 

Because it's so important, one last quantitative perspective on personal income in the current post recessionary environment.? The following table documents the point to point change in personal income 26 months after the official end of each of the last six recessions covering over four decades in this country.

???????

26 months following the conclusion of each of the last six recessions (on a point to point basis), personal income growth increased 17.6% on average.

 

In the 26 months since the (purported) conclusion of our most recent recession, personal income growth increased 3.9%

 

 

ANY QUESTIONS?

 

 

http://www.contraryinvestor.com/mo.htm

[zensmoke]

The PBGC incurs losses when it terminates an underfunded pension plan. In the past, the agency covered the losses with little difficulty because its premium income exceeded the losses. However, losses sustained from completed and probable terminations of pension plans increased nearly 50-fold over the past two years.[11]

 

In addition, the losses registered by the PBGC in the past two years (2002 and 2003) alone is 18 times greater than all the combined losses incurred from 1993 to 2001.[12] Most ominous is the fact that the PBGC estimates that it will sustain a $35 billion loss from plan terminations in 2003, and its assets total only $25.43 billion.[13] Its projected losses for the current year are 138 percent of its total assets.

 

The Next Big Bailout? How Underfunded Pensions Put Taxpayers at Risk

[brian4]

The EU trade duties have the Forex boyz in a feeding frenzy the $ is getting beaten like a rented mule.