F.D.R versus H.L Mencken(the crabman of Baltimore).

The spectacle of self-important was on full display the other night at,indeed,a Saturday special the White House Correspondents Association were boring elicits meet and greet telling lame jokes impressing each other to the point self-aggrandizement is comman place.Then phonies from Hollywood airing there sense of being to common folk superiority believing there are so clever,so amusing but in reality are just so insipid.And talking about being in insipid,there was host Conan O'Brien,lack luster performance,a son of Ireland,but taste of blend soup over cooked,oh yeah some good lines but mostly a dud.The President wasn't bad,his lines well written far more tasty and less pasty then O'Brien's.
This event remembered me,of time when Hollywood didn't meet Washington and Press corp was the business of news not entertainment.Indeed,in such event there was show down between Franklin Delano Roosevelt(F.D.R) and H.L Mencken.Mencken was dean of journalists,a great word smith,cynic and the crab man of Baltimore(my words to describe Mencken).For Mencken was very much part of Baltimore,as is crab cakes.
On 12/11/1934 F.D.R and Mencken went to the Gridiron Club dinner(which still held today).The Gridiron Club is composed of leading members of the Washington Press Corp.The principal speakers at the off-the-record affairs usually are a prominent member of the opposition party and the president.
In a departure from custom,the opposition speech was given by H.L Mencken of the Baltimore Sun.In reply,the president engaged in what seemed to be a diatribe against the American press,which he said was shot through with "stupidity,cowardice and philistinism," and staffed by men "who could not pass the entrance examination for Harvard and Tuskegee,or even Yale." It was several minutes before the audience came to realize that he was quoting Mencken's essay,"Journalism in America."    

If John Maynard Keynes is right and there real stickiness with prices then just maybe worst is over for economy.

If John Maynard Keynes is right,and there is a real stickiness with prices(another words prices don't move lower for long time in bad economy)then just maybe the worst is over for the economy.According to Keynes,the last thing a businessman does cut prices,in bad times the first thing will be cut back on overtime,then you don't hirer anymore workers,then you might layoff workers,and finally out desperation to create demand you lower prices.So when prices are lowered or deflation,it maybe a sign that unemployment has peaked and just maybe the beginning of the end bad economic times.However,in the 1870's to 1890's in most of the world especially the U.K there was world depression,although  the U.S was hit by the panic of 1869 and 1873 and 1893which cause much economy distress, but they were short in duration but not so with U.K and Europe as a whole.The down turn in the economy, was caused by two factors:one, more efficient modes of transportation,railways and the opening of the Suez Cancel,which lead to much cheaper goods,hence businesses can't make money,economists call that creative destruction,add a tight monetary policy,most countries were on Gold Standard,hence,good were cheap but less money to buy them and less margin for profit.  
The world has truly become upside down,when Russian leader Medvedev says Russia might use stimulus(i.e Government actions) to help the economy but he worries about too much state inference with economy.Boy this isn't the world I grew up in.
So many central banks are buying bonds these days,you do wonder when it end and how? Maybe a bubble? The policy doesn't seem to be working,but policy makers I think don't want what to do.So we are quagmire economically.

U.S G.D.P grows at weak 2.5 but still better then Europe.

U.S G.D.P grows at weak 2.5 but still better then Europe.For example Germany grow at .5 and the U.K at .3 bad signs maybe heading for recession?
Earning for U.S companies tend to beat estimates,however, not so with revenues and one must ask the question just how much can companies continue to cut,soon or later if revenue don't increase profits will disappear.
My two biggest holdings reported earning this week Exxon and Colgate-Palmolive.
Exxon,a great company,very well managed except in P.R department, report profits of 9.5 billion or 2.12 a share up from 2 a share last year,however,revenues did drop by 12 percent and production fall by 3.5 percent,however,management claim due to the Canadian sands project production will raise in 2014 to 2017 about 4.4 percent.Exxon did well in Downstream(refining and marketing)operations also did well with chemical division however upstream(explosion and production) operations was down just is because of lower oil prices.Usually in oil business it the upstream operations where the money is made but with lower price for oil less money comes in from production,however,margin for refineries can improve since buyers cruel.
Colgate-Palmolive ran counter to trend of higher profits but less revenue thanks to Hugo Chavez,may you rot in hell.Because of devaluation of Venezuelan currency profit for Colgate-Palmolive were down .97 cents per share without devaluation profit will be up 1.32 per share.Now what makes me worry is Argentina were Colgate does a lot business and crazies ran asylum there too!

Germany just like Venezuela?

Germany just like Venezuela? Sounds crazy but in Venezuela if you even talk about economic activity in dollars(U.S) you can go to jail for seven years.This morning in the New York Times, a story about soccer player( I know in rest of world it's football) admits guilt for having Swiss foreign bank account and can get ten years in jail.Maybe Uncle Putin on the Ritz, is wrong there are problems in Germany.
Anyway talk about soccer I think of suckers,ran into woman in elevator yesterday and she was so happy because she got check from government a tax refund.But what she doesn't understand,as people don't,is tax refund is suckers game.It's not income,it's refund because you overpaid your taxes and since government doesn't pay you interest on your overpayment,in effect you given the government an interest free loan.
According to sight,seeking alpha you should buy a ticket(stock) on CXS before it leaves the station.I like this stock,in fact I own it railroads in U.S have great business model oligopoly,for example the Eastern part of U.S mainly only has two railroads:CXS and Norfolk Southern.
Yumi Brand ain't so yummy in China these days hurting the bottom line and stock,maybe has something to do with bird flu?
Netflix is crazy rock and roll stock in 2011 it hit of high of 286 then drop crazy down to 66 early today 216.Nuts maybe built stack of cards? I don't know but this stock is crazy.

As good as gold? That's what John Paulson said.A merger between Time-warner and CBS?

As good as gold? That's what John Paulson said and he's the guy who clean up from housing bubble.He predicted the housing crash before 2008 shorted many mortgages and make small fortune.Indeed,while gold is falling as a rock,many hedge fund,big time players are buying gold.Is buying gold a fools error or way to male small pile? I don't know,but heard an currency analyst Sterling Smith(what great name for money guy Sterling) on Bloomberg T.V say if gold fall below 1400 it might go down to 1310 but if stays above 1400 it's going up.And of course,always the talk about gold as hedge against inflation but inflation seems to be a bugaku  dance.
A merger between Time-Warner and CBS? Well,Time-Warner does need a network,like Disney has ABC,News Corp Fox,Comcast NBC.Already Time-Warner has joint venture with CBS CW network.However the stock for CBS is high and last big merger for Time-Warner was a merger between Warner Communication and Time wasn't exactly a marriage made in heaven didn't work out as planned.
Putin on the Ritz,said only Germany in EU has no problems.Curious isn't there election coming up in Germany? Is Merkel Putin's secret girlfriend? Putin on the Ritz also says,while things are still,even after Cyprus, ritzy for him not so much for the rest of Russia.
Two interesting stocks,not recommending them to buy but they do seem cheap:One is the Norwegian State controlled Oil Company Statoil,at 23 cheap over 4.5 dividend yield and the dividend is very safe,indeed,likely to go up.The other is U.S Steal and just might be a steal at 16,it once and that wasn't all that long ago was over 100,bad times have hurt the stock but think it's good company and yes it might go lower but then again the up side is so promising.

A letter to editor I got published today in New York Post on the Boudin outrage.

Today 4/20/13 I got a letter published in New York Post on the outrage of how we deal with kid gloves radical Communist killers.
This is what appeared in the New York Post today,"I remember the Murtaghs' home being firebombed.It was so strange for Inwood,a peaceful neighborhood.
Think of the misery caused by empty people.What price have people like Boudin and Bill Ayers,with his ties to The Weatherman,paid?
If Boudin was a white supremacist,would she be out of jail? Would Columbia have hired her?
No,and if Ayers wasn't a millionaire's son,he might be in jail today or dead.
Boudin and Ayers have had privileges most could only dream of. People blessed with so much took away what little  other people had.

Gary Schwartz
Fort Lee

Boudin and Ayers both were member of the Weatherman and did many crimes,including murder,in the Communist cause.Boudin did go to jail,but now is free and works at Columbia University.Ayers never went to jail,no doubt because people were paid off,instead he become educator with high friends,indeed,he once did fundraiser for Obama and served on board for a non-profit with Obama.

The disgrace of the Obama Administration

The disgrace of the Obama Administration is not sending any one consequence to Lady Thatcher's funeral.I mean,you could love Lady Thatcher or hate her,that's not the point, but there is no arging she and Clement Attlee were two most consequential British Prime Ministers post World War Two.At least Sec. of State John Kerry should have gone,there is no excuse for shameful behavior by the Obama Administration.
Wrote a letter to today to the News Director at WABC-TV complaining about unprofessionalism of Bill Ritter,an anchorman. Ritter did story on Violent terrorist acts where he called, and made a point of it, Tim McVeigh a right winger.The trouble is if McVeigh was left-winger would say so? No way,look he didn't mention the Fort Hood killing because it is political incorrect to point out Muslim terrorism.
One great myth,is in Untied States after 9/11 Muslims were given a hard time.That's lie,indeed,I remember just few weeks after 9/11 downtown I saw Muslims in there garb,sort parading around and in a way putting they finger in the eyes of the public,yet they were safe,nobody touch them,oh yes no doubt dirty looks but that's all.And that wouldn't happen in Muslims country,if Christian or Jews slaughter there people,indeed, a price of blood would paid by the Christian or Jews.