jessefurgos3: June 2012

Saturday, June 30, 2012

Adobe Can't Photoshop Away Its Own Fading Prospects

Filed under: Technology, Earnings, Adobe Systems

Let's see Adobe Systems (ADBE) try to Photoshop its way out of this one.

Shares of the leading desktop publishing software company opened sharply lower on Wednesday morning after posting uninspiring quarterly results and disappointing guidance.

"Adobe Reports Strong Second Quarter Financial Results" may have been the headline of the company's earnings release, but Mr. Market didn't see it that way at all.

Adobe is Everywhere -- So Why Isn't It Booming?

Adobe is the undisputed champ when it comes to arming publishers with the tools to stand out in cyberspace. Fire up YouTube or play a social game online and it's probably Adobe's Flash in action. If you open a PDF file it was probably authored on Adobe Acrobat -- and you're probably reading it using Adobe Reader.

If you've ever wanted to see what your head would look like on a goat, Adobe Photoshop is there for that, too. There are also many other high-end software programs that publishers use to both design websites and push out publications.

This would normally seem like a booming place to be these days, but Adobe's not seeing it that way. The software company is now only targeting revenue growth of 6% to 7% this fiscal year.

Adobe points to weakness in Europe as a reason for lowering the high end of its top-line outlook, and the troubled region has been a popular scapegoat -- with a human head, no doubt -- lately.

Get Off My Cloud

Adobe is also in the process of transitioning many of its traditional customers to the subscription-based Creative Cloud platform.

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Instead of meaty up-front payments for Adobe's programs, its cloud-based patrons will be shelling out subscription fees in installments. The move may result in a more predictable stream of revenue, but it may also make it easier to switch to cheaper alternatives.

The market is generally mesmerized by the concept of cloud computing. The ability to make applications truly portable by storing them on a Web-accessed server has helped transform enterprise software darling salesforce.com (CRM) and Linux solutions provider Red Hat (RHT) into multibillion-dollar companies.

However, the compelling reason for companies to go with Salesforce or Red Hat instead of old-school PC-stored solutions is that they usually save companies money. Adobe is the premium brand in desktop publishing already. It is more likely to be disrupted than to be a disruptor itself.

Picture a World Without Adobe

Adobe will continue to matter for power users, but its relevance with the masses will fade. We're already seeing signs of disruption.

When Apple (AAPL) decided not to support Adobe's Flash in the iOS platform that fuels iPhones, iPads, and iPod touch devices, it seemed to be a deal-breaker. Apple created workarounds for YouTube videos, but how could Apple succeed with an incomplete computing experience?

Well, after selling hundreds of millions of iOS gadgets -- and the gradual adoption of HTML5 as an alternative to Flash -- it seems the consumers have spoken. Adobe's products will continue to be popular with desktop publishing pros, but the company's grip on mainstream users will probably fade over time.

Why did Facebook (FB) fork over $1 billion for Instagram earlier this year? The appeal of the free photo-sharing service was difficult to ignore, but it's also the ability to touch up snapshots -- something that casual users would often lean on Photoshop to make happen in the past -- that drew users to Instagram.

Gallery: 5 Companies Getting Burned By Facebook

Who needs Adobe Premiere Elements to edit videos when even YouTube is offering free cloud-based tools?

Once again, Adobe finds itself cursing Apple. It was Apple, after all, that created the App Store ecosystem, which leveled the playing field for developers. Instead of having to worry about bankrolling a project and costly physical distribution, the next Instagram is only an inspired coder away. Traditional makers of productivity software have a right to be worried.

The company can always fire up Photoshop to make things look better, but reality is not as kind.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the stocks in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Facebook, salesforce.com, and Apple. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of salesforce.com, Adobe Systems, and Apple.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/20/adobe-cant-photoshop-away-its-own-fading-prospects/

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In Memorium

A Bill Moyers essay.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/ehFEtgU9WSI/watch3.html

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youngandthrifty’s June net worth update +0.14%

$150, 451 (+0.14%) Talk about barely squeaking by this month in the positive territory. The major reason for this month’s lacklustre net worth performance is because the stock market has been lacklustre. 20/20 vision- should have sold in May and gone away! I’m tempted to buy some more BMO at current pricing… tempted to sell [...]

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Computer scientist Paris Smaragdis on "machine listening"

Source: http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/VideoPosts.aspx?id=17438

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Oil Prices Hit 8-Month Low as Spain Optimism Fades

Filed under: Energy, Economy

By PABLO GORONDI

The price of oil hovered above $82 a barrel Tuesday after touching an eight-month low near $81 earlier in the session amid concern Spain's bank bailout won't be enough to stem Europe's debt crisis and suggestions OPEC could boost production targets.

By early afternoon in Europe, benchmark oil for July delivery was down 24 cents to $82.46 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier on Tuesday, oil dropped to $81.07, the lowest since October, having dropped $1.40 on Monday.

In London, Brent crude for July delivery was down 72 cents at $97.37 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

Crude jumped temporarily on Monday after the 17 countries that use the euro common currency pledged to lend Spain $125 billion to rescue its faltering banks. However, attention soon turned to the Greek election this weekend, the outcome of which could determine if Greece stays in the euro.

"There are highly uncertain and fragile economic conditions across the eurozone that dominate the markets and cause nervous trading and volatility," said analysts at Sucden Financial in London.

Oil has plunged about 24% from $106 since early last month amid signs of slowing economic growth in the U.S., China and Europe.

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Traders will also closely watch a quarterly meeting of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries in Vienna on Thursday. Some members of the cartel have suggested recently that OPEC is producing too much crude, and the group could decide to cut supplies to help boost prices.

An OPEC report showing oil output at its highest in the last four years is sure to be used by price hawks such as Iran and Venezuela. The monthly report, published Tuesday, showed OPEC production just short of 33 million barrels a day. That's almost 3 million barrels more than the organization's overall quota and more than 630,000 barrels above the May figure.

The report said it expected world demand this year to increase by 0.9 million barrels a day while saying at the same time that economic uncertainty might upend that prediction and lead to "a further decline in world oil demand."

Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi, however, said OPEC needed to raise its production target of 30 million barrels a day.

Gallery: The 10 Cars That Lost the Most Value

Al-Naimi's remarks indicate "that the world's leading oil supplier has no intention of cutting back on production despite recently lower prices and an apparent oversupply in the market," said a report from JBC Energy in Vienna.

"If production remains at its current level, the global oil market risks seeing a supply surplus of well in excess of 1 million barrels per day in the second half of the year, which would exert further pressure on the oil prices," said analysts at Commerzbank in Frankfurt.

In other energy trading, heating oil was unchanged at $2.6357 per gallon while gasoline futures fell 1.13 cents to $2.6453 per gallon. Natural gas lost 1.4 cents to $2.204 per 1,000 cubic feet.

___

Alex Kennedy in Singapore and George Jahn in Vienna contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/12/oil-prices-hit-8-month-low-as-spain-optimism-fades/

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Richard Trumka on the State of the Unions

America's workers need jobs, and AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka is calling on them to stand up and fight. Trumka joins Bill Moyers to offer his perspective on President Obama's first State of the Union address and on whether organized labor can grow and generate jobs in the 21st century. Trumka has previously worked as a coal miner, a lawyer, and president of the United Mine Workers of America.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/b52mzX5q6nQ/profile.html

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Financial Crisis Creates Productivity Bonanza? No.

This morning's productivity numbers showed a huge gain in output per hour in the third quarter--up at an annual rate of 9.5% in the nonfarm business sector.

But here's something else. If we are to believe these numbers, the biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression has actually produced a productivity gain of 5.1% since the downturn started in the fourth quarter of 2007.

If you think that productivity has risen by 5.1% during the financial crisis, I've got a subprime bond to sell you.

Let me get this straight. We have a collapse of the housing and construction sector, massive layoffs in almost every part of the economy, a sharp downturn in consumer spending, and bank failures on an astonishing scale---and the numbers show an increase in productivity?

It defies common sense.

I suggest two reasons why the numbers are off. First, as in my recent cover, companies are cutting educated workers such as scientists and engineers who are not directly involved in the immediate production process. This means a drop in important but unmeasured intangible investments in R&D, product development, training, and advertising, which are not getting picked up by the GDP statistics.

Second, and this is relevant to the DC conference mentioned in the previous post, the statistics are being greatly distorted by globalization. Let's take a look at the computer purchases and supply, as reported by BEA.

According to the BEA's number, final sales of U.S.-produced computers has *risen* by 3.9% since 07IV, while imports of computers have *fallen* by 1.5%. Over the same stretch, employment in the computer industry has fallen by 12.5%. Being incredibly simple-minded, that would suggest that productivity in the U.S. computer industry has risen by about 19% in the downturn. Not bad, if true!

But there's a problem. According to the BEA's stats, the price of imported computers has fallen by 9.6% since the end of 2007, while the price of computers to consumers has fallen by 22.2%.

That doesn't make sense. It's far more likely, as I argued here, that the import price stats are mismeasured.

If we assume that import computer prices really fell at the same rate as domestic consumption, that would mean import growth is really faster, and domestic output growth is slower, as is productivity growth. By my back of the envelope calculation, the effect on computer industry productivity growth is potentially huge (I'll give the details later after I have had a chance to check them). This sort of calculation extends to the rest of the economy, though less dramatically.

So for these two reasons, I am quite skeptical of the proposition that the financial crisis has increased output per hour.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/11/_financial_cris.html

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Verizon to Ditch Most Phone Plans for Multi-Device Deals

Filed under: Company News, Technology, AT&T, Verizon

By PETER SVENSSON

Verizon Wireless, the nation's largest cellphone company, is dropping nearly all of its phone plans in favor of pricing schemes that encourage consumers to connect their non-phone devices, like tablets and PCs, to Verizon's (VZ) network.

The new plans will become available on June 28, and reflect Verizon's desire to keep growing now that nearly every American already has a phone. The plans let families and other subscribers share a monthly data allowance over up to 10 devices.

It's the biggest revamp in wireless pricing in years, and one that's likely to be copied by other carriers. AT&T (T) has already said that it's looking at introducing shared-data plans soon.

Change, across the industry, was inevitable. In the first quarter of this year, phone companies, for the first time, reported a drop in the number of phones on contract-based plans, which are the most lucrative. To keep service revenues rising, the phone companies are betting on increased data usage, and that means getting more data-hungry devices on their networks.

Verizon's new "Share Everything" plans, announced Tuesday, include unlimited phone calls and texting, and will start at $90 per month for one smartphone and 1 gigabyte of data. If used only with a smartphone, "Share Everything" prices are lower than for current plans with unlimited calling and texting, but higher than plans with limited calling and texting.

The plans will push many subscribers toward spending more, by including unlimited calling and texting by default. Unlimited calling plans provide peace of mind, but not many people need them, and the average number of minutes used is declining.

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From the carrier's perspective, providing unlimited access is an efficient use of its network, because calling and texting take up very little capacity. Data usage, on the other hand, consumes a lot of network resources.

The savings will come to subscribers who add more devices like tablets to their plans. In such cases, the new pricing system will be cheaper compared with separate data plans for each device. Today, few consumers put tablets on data plans, probably because they dread paying an extra $30 or so per month, on top of their phone bills.

Under "Share Everything," adding a tablet to a plan will cost $10 per month. Adding a USB data stick for a laptop will cost $20.

Verizon's limited-calling and texting plans will disappear, except for one $40-per-month plan intended for "dumb" phones. Verizon is keeping its limited-data plans for single non-phone devices, like the $30 tablet plan.

Current Verizon customers will be able to switch to the new plans or keep their old ones, with one exception. Those who have unlimited-data plans for their smartphones won't be able to move those to new phones, unless they pay the full, unsubsidized price for those phones. (For example, an iPhone 4S that costs $200 with a two-year contract costs $650 unsubsidized, with no contract.)

Verizon stopped signing people up for unlimited-data plans last summer. The industry as a whole is moving away from the plans, since the data capacity of their networks is limited.

Under the new plans, subscribers can stop worrying about monitoring the number of calling minutes or text messages their families use in a month, but they'll have to keep a close eye on data consumption. Verizon will allow subscribers to adjust their data allowance from month to month, but if they go over their monthly allotment, that will cost $15 per gigabyte.

The data allowances start at $50 per month for 1 gigabyte. That's enough for prudent two-smartphone users who use WiFi a lot, but Verizon recommends getting 2 gigabytes for $60. After that, each additional 2 gigabytes cost an extra $10 per month.

Under "Share Everything," Verizon will stop charging extra for letting devices act as "mobile WiFi hotspots." That means subscribers who have a recent smartphone could use it to connect a tablet to the Internet, without paying the extra $10 per month for a tablet.

Verizon had telegraphed the move toward shared plans, but had not revealed the details or pricing.

Verizon Wireless has 93 million subscribers on its plans. It's a joint venture of New York-based phone company Verizon Communications and Vodafone Group (VOD), a British cellphone company with wide international interests.

Verizon shares rose 2 cents to $42.58 in morning trading. The shares are close to a four-year high of $42.95.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/12/verizon-to-ditch-most-phone-plans-for-multi-device-deals/

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Weekend Reading – changing the mortgage rules, again, and great blogs

Our government certainly keeps things interesting… Today, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced they’re tightening the rules on our housing market. Flaherty confirmed Ottawa will reduce the maximum amortization period to 25 years from 30 years, reduce the maximum amount homeowners can take equity out of their homes for refinancing purposes from 85% to 80% and [...]

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/myownadvisor/CsCc/~3/x3jbYnN4xYA/

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Finance Fox Weekend Recap: 7 Reads You Might Haved Missed This Week

Every week thousands of great personal finance articles get published. Heck, I published nine articles last week alone spanning across three great websites (including FF). Some articles don’t get enough praise, and others get more than their fair share, but every article shares hard work and thoughts put into it in order to be published. [...]

Source: http://www.financefox.ca/weekend-money-recap-2/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=weekend-money-recap-2

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Morgan Solar Announces Low Cost, High Efficiency Solar Power System

(Toronto, Canada) Morgan Solar Inc., a Toronto based solar energy start-up specializing in concentrating solar optics, has developed a new type of high concentrated photovoltaic system called the Sun Simba HCPV. By reducing the required materials and complexity of the system, Morgan Solar will deliver a highly efficient HCPV system mounted on a dual [...]

Source: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/press/morgan-solar-low-cost-solar-power-system/

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Friday, June 29, 2012

Over-saving is inefficient

So is over-spending. But I won’t get into that here.
I had a question from a reader asking what my Myers Briggs type is – and it’s INTJ.
Despite the rarity of that personality type (aren’t we all such special snowflakes though?), there’s been some anecdotal surveys that determined that INTJ’s are overly represented amongst the early [...]

Source: http://singlemomrichmom.com/over-saving-is-inefficient/

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Wii U GamePad: Will Nintendo's New Touchpad Controller Win Back Gamers?

Filed under: Technology, Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo

After a year and change of sluggish sales, Nintendo (NTDOY) hopes its new console -- Wii U -- will win gamers over.

Ahead of this week's E3 conference, Nintendo has unveiled the new tablet-like controller that it hopes will revolutionize the way video games are played.

The Wii U GamePad is a new game controller that features both traditional analog controls and a features-rich touchscreen in the middle.

Nintendo has given gamers two screens to play with before: The portable 3DS and 3DSi feature dual screens.

However, the limitation there is that the distance between the two screens is fixed. The possibilities between a touchscreen that is portable and the larger TV where the games are played are endless. In teasing the possibilities, Nintendo shows a golfing game where the GamePad is on the floor displaying the actual golf ball in a sandy bunker. The moment the gamer swings the traditional Wii motion-based controller, the ball clears out in a sea of dust.

Another example of the GamePad's dual screen utility is its effectiveness in two-player sport games. Since the GamePad screen's actions can differ from what's being displayed on the screen, players can secretly select baseball pitches or call football plays in private.

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Wii U Also Wants to Be a TV star

The original Wii didn't win gamers on its spec sheet. Microsoft's (MSFT) Xbox 360 and Sony's (SNE) PS3 packed superior processing power.

The Xbox and PlayStation consoles also performed double duty as home theater appliances. The Xbox plays DVDs, while the PS3 plays both Blu-ray discs and DVDs.

Now Nintendo is hoping to raise the stakes by making its GamePad controller an infrared TV remote. Even if the Wii U isn't turned on, the new GamePad can be fired up to perform as a programmable TV remote control.

Speed Is Everything

Sony and Microsoft are probably at least a year away from updating their Xbox 360 and PS3 platforms, giving Nintendo a head start in the battle for supremacy in the next generation of systems.

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Things won't be easy. Hardware and software sales have been struggling through most of the past three years, and it usually takes a few years for a new platform before it builds a large enough audience to move the needle.

However, Nintendo is definitely turning heads this week with where it sees the direction of interactive gaming. Now it's simply a matter of waiting to see what Microsoft and Sony can do to top it.

Motley Fool contributor Rick Munarriz does not own shares in any of the stocks in this article. The Motley Fool owns shares of Microsoft. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended buying shares of Microsoft and Nintendo. Motley Fool newsletter services have recommended creating a bull call spread position in Microsoft.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/04/wii-u-gamepad-will-nintendos-new-touchpad-controller-win-back/

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Bill Moyers on Twitter

Bill Moyers contemplates the pressing question, "To tweet or not to tweet?"

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/rR-sevIZVlM/watch3.html

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Tory MP: 'there is a powerful case for a EU referendum'

Conservative MP John Baron explains why he and over 90 MPs have called on the Prime Minister to commit to a referendum on the nature of the UK's relationship with the EU within the next Parliament.

Source: http://telegraph.feedsportal.com/c/32726/f/579300/s/20d24eb3/l/0L0Stelegraph0O0Cnews0Cnewstopics0Ceureferendum0C93633780CTory0EMP0Ethere0Eis0Ea0Epowerful0Ecase0Efor0Ea0EEU0Ereferendum0Bhtml/story01.htm

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Simon Schama Part 1

Bill Moyers speaks with historian Simon Schama, who spent months traveling across America in the run-up to an historic election to discover what events in our nation's past can tell us about how we live today and what's in store for the future.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/ASbwyzVXTZ8/profile.html

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John Sexton

Bill Moyers sits down with NYU president and modern renaissance man John Sexton for a wide-ranging conversation about God, baseball, and the importance of thoughtful discourse in society. Previously a champion debate coach and scholar of religion and law, Sexton discusses his unique take on theology, contemporary politics, and the evolving role of universities throughout the world. Born to a struggling Catholic family in Brooklyn, John Sexton still teaches undergraduates in addition to his work as president of one of the world's largest and most prestigious universities.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/ssAaZuPYXOE/profile.html

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Last lump sum payment

So today is payday :-) Oh happy joy joy. Really wishing I were Scrooge McDuck today and able to roll and dive through my money for the one day I get it. Less than a day, really. I spend about 10 minutes online this morning moving bits around here and there. I went to the ATM and got my jar money for the week.

I headed out at noon to the 'other bank' and made my final lump sum payment on my vehicle loan. There remains a $1070 balance. At the beginning of May, my second last regular payment will come out and at the beginning of June, my final regular payment will come out. And then it's game over.

I put $300 today as the final lump sum payment.

I probably could have really stretched money and played with the budget lines to kill off the June payment and make May my final one. Call me crazy though, but I really wanted to savour that last month of seeing a balance of only $500something on the account.

After my start May payment, I will have 98% of my loan paid off. I tried playing with the numbers to see how much more I needed to add to see that at 99% paid off for the last month, just to enjoy it. I would have needed to put down half of my remaining payment.

I guess in the spirit of fully visualizing my money, I need to get a sidebar up indicating my LOC. I shall put that on my weekend to do list.

Source: http://shakingthemoneytree.blogspot.com/2012/04/last-lump-sum-payment.html

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College Students' Guide to Charitable Giving

Filed under: college finance, Charity

You researched what college to attend. You research term papers every semester. You even look up that cute History 101 classmate on Facebook before making your move. So why wouldn't you research a charity before donating your hard-earned money this holiday season? Doing your homework before writing that charitable check can not only help your dollars do the most good, it could save you from becoming the victim of a scam, according to one expert who recently spoke to Money College.

Continue reading College Students' Guide to Charitable Giving

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2010/12/23/college-students-guide-to-charitable-giving/

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SCOTUS and Campaign Finance

Are America's elections now up for sale? The JOURNAL explores what the Supreme Court's decision means for campaign finance reform and the future of our democracy with progressive legal experts Monica Youn and Zephyr Teachout. Monica Youn directs the campaign finance reform/money in politics project at NYU's Brennan Center for Law and Justice and Zephyr Teachout teaches law and politics at Fordham University's School of Law.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/lktKkMJ_Qzw/profile2.html

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Increased Market Value of Wind Energy

Precision Wind, LLC of Las Cruces, New Mexico unveiled its Wind Resource Management Suite™ at the WINDPOWER 2008 Conference and Exhibition, North America’s largest wind energy event organized by the American Wind Energy Association (AWEA).
Presenting before a record-breaking crowd of WINDPOWER attendees, Dr. James Stalker, CTO of Precision Wind, participated on a panel discussion [...]

Source: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/press/market-value-wind-energy/

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Does Wall Street Have Your Best Interest At Heart?

It's no secret that Wall Street is an essential part of the United States' overall economy. Without it, the infrastructure would be severely threatened. Knowing how important it is, you would think that Wall Street investors would have the public's best interest at heart, seeing as how if the system falls apart, the economy might not be too far behind.

Unfortunately, it has become clear in recent years that Wall Street definitely doesn't "have our backs," which makes it hard to know who to trust as you attempt to strengthen your retirement plan.

An Ongoing Issue

Investors defrauding their clients is a tale as old as time. Or, at least, almost. Although some clients have become more astute concerning certain practices and warning signs, a great number of them simply go about their daily business, unaware that a problem might be lurking around the next financial corner.

The problem seems to have gotten worse over the past few years. If not the frequency, at least the severity. Take the case of Bernie Madoff, for example. He defrauded millions out of investors, even the more savvy ones. Yet most people haven't taken any steps to protect themselves, because they trust the people they're working with. Arguably, so did Madoff's clientele.

If you want to protect yourself, now is the time, and no financial advisor worth his or her weight in gold will question your motives for doing so. After all, it is your retirement we're talking about here.

A Public Resignation

The financial world can be a cutthroat business. Just ask Greg Smith.

Greg started out as a summer intern for Goldman Sachs. He worked for the company for nearly two decades, and the job took him from New York to London, and he moved all the way up to an executive position. His growth with the company is what many employees would kill for. And what did he do? He quit.

The reason why he quit was covered in an op-ed piece he wrote for the New York Times. He used it as a letter of resignation and laid it all out very candidly. He explained that he had been given the opportunity to witness the inner workings of a large financial company and he didn't like what he had seen. He recounted how Goldman Sachs had once been a great company, but in recent years, he had witnessed a number of events where the focus had been taken off of client satisfaction and placed onto the company's bottom line. He also indicated that the financial giant could become what it was once again, but as long as they continued down the path they was currently on, he wanted no part of it.

Who Can You Trust?

Seeing as how companies like Goldman Sachs and investors like Bernie Madoff haven't had the clients' best interest at heart (in the case of Madoff, that is a gross understatement), it is important that you take steps to protect yourself. Don't simply choose a financial company to advise you in your retirement plans because of name recognition. Get a feel for how they do business and how they treat you. If you're especially skittish, start with a small investment and grow your portfolio as you gain confidence in their ability. And don't be afraid to get a second opinion from an outside source who can analyze your financial strategy and make sure that the course your advisor has set up is a wise one.

Source: http://firstsecurityfinancialshow.com/blog/bid/136348/Does-Wall-Street-Have-Your-Best-Interest-At-Heart

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WSJ Story Hints At Bond Buying

The Wall Street Journal published an interview this morning with German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schäuble. Since Germany holds the purse strings, his comments are important. Two potentially positive developments are included in the interview. The first relates to trying to calm markets in the short-term:
Mr. Schäuble acknowledged that Europe might have to [...]

Source: http://ciovaccocapital.com/wordpress/index.php/stock-market-us/wsj-story-hints-at-bond-buying/

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Thursday, June 28, 2012

youngandthrifty’s June net worth update +0.14%

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Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Youngandthrifty/~3/y6xAh0mBa08/

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Critical Condition Pt 1

Bill Moyers Journal presents CRITICAL CONDITION, a film by Roger Weisberg that follows families fighting illness without health coverage. The families discover that being uninsured can cost them their jobs, health, homes, savings, and even their lives.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/JGJCmczltCc/profile.html

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Corruption in America's Banks? William K. Black

The financial industry brought the economy to its knees, but how did they get away with it? With the nation wondering how to hold the bankers accountable, Bill Moyers sits down with Bill Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Black offers his analysis of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/bmjvodcast/~3/Rehm0zzPh_8/profile.html

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jpmorgan: @petermillar Nope, it was light blue with a "The Players" logo on the breast...can't find it anywhere! It was very sharp!

Source: http://twitter.com/jpmorgan/statuses/203232884176322560

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U.S. Gasoline Prices Are Now Cheaper Than a Year Ago

Filed under: Energy, Economy

By CHRIS KAHN, AP Energy Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -- After dropping for most of the month, gasoline is now cheaper in much of the U.S. than it was a year ago.

That hasn't happened in more than two years, and it could be part of a larger decline in gasoline prices that could lift consumer confidence ahead of the summer driving season.

"Gasoline prices are right in your face," said Fred Rozell, retail pricing director at the Oil Price Information Service. "It's something you have to spend money on every week. If prices continue to decline, people will feel better."

Pump prices have dropped by 9 cents a gallon since the first week of April to a national average on Tuesday of $3.85. A year ago, the average price was $3.86 per gallon. The price of gas is coming down now because crude oil prices are lower and refineries, which turn crude into gasoline and other refined products, are getting back up to speed.

OPIS said that drivers in the Midwest and Great Lakes states are seeing the biggest drop in gasoline prices. Pump prices in Minnesota are 21 cents a gallon cheaper than they were a year ago. In Michigan, they are down 16 cents a gallon. Prices also dropped by 10 cents or more in Iowa, Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

The drop at the pump should be a relief for drivers, after some earlier predictions said that Americans would pay a record $5 per gallon for gasoline this summer. As gasoline gets cheaper, analysts say Americans probably will be more likely to head out on summer road trips. They also may be more willing to open their wallets at convenience stores, hotels and tourist destinations.

OPIS expects gasoline prices to keep falling a little more over the next few weeks. Gasoline futures contracts, which are quickly reflected in pump prices, have dropped by 7% this month, including a 1% drop on Tuesday.

Last year gasoline prices ranged from a high of $3.985 per gallon last May to a low of $3.206 per gallon in December. They rose again this year, peaking at a national average of $3.946 on April 6, following a surge in oil prices and concerns about refinery closures on the East Coast.

While pump prices were rising, drivers started buying less gas. MasterCard SpendingPulse estimated that U.S. motorists bought 2.55 billion gallons of gasoline last week, down 6.1% from the same week in 2011. Americans have found a variety of ways to cut down on driving, MasterCard economist Michael McNamara said. For example, consumers skipped trips to the mall and instead bought clothing and other goods online.

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"When you look at the overall retail environment, the American consumer has weathered this storm pretty well," McNamara said in a conference call with reporters.

On Tuesday gasoline futures prices fell by 2.8 cents to finish at $3.1593 per gallon in New York.

Meanwhile, oil prices were mixed as investors weighed strong U.S. corporate earnings with ongoing concern about European debt. Benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude rose Tuesday by 44 cents to end at $103.55 per barrel in New York. Brent crude, which is used to price international crudes, fell by 55 cents to finish at $118.16 per barrel in London.

Europe continues to be saddled with massive government debt, and borrowing costs rose Tuesday in Italy and Spain. In the U.S., stocks markets rose following strong first-quarter earnings from AT&T and 3M.

In other energy trading, heating oil gave up 1.03 cents to finish at $3.1295 per gallon while natural gas futures declined by 3.2 cents to end at $1.975 per 1,000 cubic feet.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/04/24/gasoline-prices-cheaper-than-year-ago/

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Ex-Lawyer Gets Longest Insider Trading Sentence Ever

Filed under: Investing, Market News, Crime

By DAVID PORTER

NEWARK, N.J. -- A former attorney who admitted feeding privileged information to two confederates over the course of a 17-year insider stock trading scheme was sentenced Monday to 12 years in prison, the longest sentence ever handed out for insider trading, and the trader who reaped more than $20 million in profits from the tips received a nine-year sentence, authorities said.

U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman said former attorney Matthew Kluger's sentence is the longest handed out for that crime. The scheme was carried out from 1994 to 2011 and is believed to be the longest ever uncovered by law enforcement, though the crimes charged dated only to 2005.

"At the end of the day, the judge agreed that these were extraordinarily serious crimes that betray people's trust in the stock market and were motivated purely by greed," Fishman said.

The 51-year-old Kluger, of Oakton, Va., and former trader Garrett Bauer, 44, of New York, admitted last year they conspired with a third man, New York mortgage broker Kenneth Robinson, who acted as the middleman.

Robinson was arrested in 2011 and secretly recorded conversations with the other men, including one in which Bauer discussed lighting $175,000 on fire to erase his fingerprints, according to court documents.

Robinson, who pleaded guilty to his role in the scheme, is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday.

Kluger admitted passing advance information on company mergers to Robinson, who would give it to Bauer. The trio was estimated to have made $11 million on tech company Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Judith Germano told the judge that Kluger was the mastermind.

"He had wealth, intelligence and family support," she said. "He abused it all. Why? Because he could."

The Temptation of Insider Trading: Why Top Professionals Might Slip

Defense Attorney Alan Zegas argued for a shorter sentence for Kluger and said that Bauer realized the lion's share of the profits while Kluger took only a small fraction of the total and was not aware of many trades that Bauer made on his own.

U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden rejected Zegas' argument and said that every one of more than 30 insider trades made by Bauer was based on information provided by Kluger, whom she characterized as "amoral" and "thuggish." She compared the trio to drug dealers for the way they used throwaway cellphones and multiple ATM accounts to withdraw cash and exchange it in envelopes or bags.

Zegas said he would appeal the sentence.

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Kluger, who said in remarks to the court that he was "deeply, deeply sorry," insisted afterward that the sentence was too harsh. Hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam was sentenced to 11 years in October after being convicted in the biggest insider trading case in U.S. history.

"I guess it's better to take $68 million and go to trial and be unwilling to accept responsibility for what you did," Kluger said, referring to Rajaratnam, who maintained that he traded only on publicly available information.

Defense attorney Michael Bachner attempted to persuade the judge to reduce Bauer's sentence by mentioning the numerous public speaking appearances Bauer has made since his arrest at business schools and law schools and the extensive work he has done with children's charities.

"He is not like Gordon Gekko," Bachner said, referring to the Michael Douglas character who said in the 1987 movie Wall Street that "Greed is good."

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Beck painted a contrasting picture to the court, pointing out that after Securities and Exchange Commission regulators began probing his activities in 2007, Bauer upped his trading volume.

"That's a moment of self-reflection for anyone," Beck said. "That's not what they did. Garrett Bauer instead began increasing the size of his trades. This is hubris like you've never seen."

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/05/ex-lawyer-gets-longest-insider-trading-sentence-ever/

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Traces of the Trade

The JOURNAL previews P.O.V.'s TRACES OF THE TRADE

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Bill Fletcher and Michael Zweig

With public support for labor unions at its lowest point in 70 years, Bill Moyers talks with experts Bill Fletcher, co-author of SOLIDARITY DIVIDED: THE CRISIS IN ORGANIZED LABOR AND A NEW PATH TOWARD SOCIAL JUSTICE and Michael Zweig, director of the Center for the Study of Working Class Life at SUNY Stony Brook, about the state of organized labor.

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Floyd Abrams

Next week, the Supreme Court reconvenes early for a special hearing on the constitutionality of campaign finance limits for corporations. Bill Moyers talks with Floyd Abrams, a First Amendment attorney arguing to overturn parts of McCain-Feingold.

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WEB EXCLUSIVE: Moyers on Choice

A Bill Moyers Essay.

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Justice for Sale

As two-thirds of American voters oppose the Supreme Courts decision in Citizens United v. FEC, Bill Moyers Journal takes a hard look at how campaign cash in judicial races may sway America's courts. The Journal revisits the 1999 FRONTLINE special "Justice for Sale" which looked at the growing concern - even among Supreme Court justices themselves - that campaign contributions may be corrupting the judicial process.

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Market Efficiency: A Glaring Oversight In Passive Strategies

Passive investors have been allowed to define active investing for active investors. I want to even out the discussion from an active investor’s perspective. How Passive are Passive Investments? Let’s first call into question whether passive investing is really passive investing. We’ll start with the American S&P 500 index. Unbeknownst to many investors, the S&P500...

Source: http://www.boomerandecho.com/market-efficiency-a-glaring-oversight-in-passive-strategies/

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Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Possible Intermediate-Term Approach

We have long exposure, which caters to bullish outcomes. We have a ton of cash, which aligns with our fundamental concerns. The significant bull/bear demarcation line sits between 1,268 and 1,240. Even if 1,240 holds and stocks rally, a drop to 1,240 represents a 5.5% decline from present levels. Based on [...]

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Kevin Phillips

Bill Moyers sits down with former Nixon White House strategist and political and economic critic Kevin Phillips, whose latest book BAD MONEY: RECKLESS FINANCE, FAILED POLITICS, AND THE GLOBAL CRISIS OF AMERICAN CAPITALISM explores the role that the crumbling financial sector played in the now-fragile American economy.

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How to Profit From the Biggest Potential Crises of 2012

Filed under: Investing

By Lawrence Meyers, InvestorPlace Contributor

Depending on how you view things, we either are in heaps of trouble economically or about to emerge from a terrible recession. Personally, I think it's the former. I always like to have a few trades on my watch list to take advantage of possible crises, as uncertainty creates opportunity. So in looking ahead for 2012, I'm looking to exploit other people's woes like the good capitalist I am.

Here are three bets I'd be pretty comfortable researching in greater detail and possibly pull the trigger on:

Bill Gross, of the famed PIMCO funds, has been a bond guy all his life, and he went bearish on bonds earlier this year. Hell froze over. You can see this either as capitulation or an ominous warning. I am very wary of municipal bonds. Our own country's debt crisis has reached all the way down to municipalities.

When it was revealed that the bond insurers did not have nearly the capital necessary to make payouts on defaulted collateralized debt obligations during the mortgage crisis, I lost all faith in bond insurers. To me, there is an equivalent risk and higher reward with preferred stocks. By purchasing a basket in an ETF such as iShares S&P Preferred Stock Index Fund (NYSE:PFF), you give yourself a 7% yield with minimal volatility. Get out if interest rates rise significantly, though.

Underfollowed and under-read fund manager Robert Rodriguez is a genius. He thinks we're headed for more recession next year, and Congress has been inept in its handling of fiscal policy. I agree. He hates bonds right now, except for very short-duration bonds, and so do I. Prices are near a double-top. I think bond prices will get hit next year, so I might short the iShares Barclays 20+ Treasury Bond Fund (NYSE:TLT).

Going hand-in-hand with our economic crisis has been the decline of the dollar. That trend will continue. That means you can short the dollar via PowerShares DB US Dollar Index Bearish (NYSE:UDN).

The real question at hand is this: Why the heck is the market doing so well in the face of really bad economic times? If you read my recent series on the Dow Jones Industrial Average, you know about several Dow stocks that would make for good long-term additions to a portfolio. That is the key to understanding investment in the market going forward - careful individual stock picking. Go with large-caps in general, and only go with small-caps that are directly benefiting from the situation. As for other systemic shocks that might or might not happen, have your trigger finger ready for these possibilities.

I expect some trigger event to knock the market down 20%. Perhaps it will come from Europe. Or, if Obamacare is upheld by the Supreme Court, expect the market to correct significantly. It will be a sign that overreaching regulation and legislation is acceptable to the High Court, and that's bad for business. However, if it is overturned, then go long Health Care SPDR (NYSE:XLV). Likewise, should Obama be re-elected, the market will react badly. So look at ProShares Short S&P 500 (NYSE:SH). If Obama is kicked out and the GOP takes over Congress, I expect a market surge, so you could go long the market with SPDR S&P 500 ETF (NYSE:SPY).

Stay far away from financials. There might be another big shock coming to the system. I am wary of Bank of America's (NYSE:BAC) stability, and certain sources tell me that the bad behavior of bond insurers, reinsurers and investment banks hasn't changed a bit. If you want to make an aggressive bet on this arena, double-short financials via ProShares UltraShort Financials (NYSE:SKF).

Finally, if you really want to bet against improvement in the global economic situation, believe Obama will be re-elected, that Europe will crater, that commodity prices will once again skyrocket, and that the dollar will crash, then you can short the market big-time via ProShares UltraPro Short S&P 500 Index Fund (NASDAQ:SPXU) and ProShares UltraPro Short Nasdaq 100 ETF (NASDAQ:SQQQ). These babies give you 3x leverage on your short bet.

Of course, all of these are highly speculative plays based on highly speculative crises of 2012. As always, do your own research and, for Heaven's sake, use stop-losses.

Lawrence Meyers does not hold a position in any securities mentioned but may have a position in several stocks the ETFs own. Check out InvestorPlace.com's other looks back at 2011 and ahead to 2012 here.

Hot Topics: BAC, Best of 2011 and 2012, Bill Gross, ETFs, Euro zone, Stocks to Short, XLV

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2011/12/12/how-to-profit-from-the-biggest-potential-crises-of-2012/

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Settlement By S.E.C. In Subprime Fraud Case

The Securities and Exchange Commission has reached a settlement with two former Bear Stearns hedge fund managers that will avert a second trial over accusations that they had misled investors as the mortgage market was crumbling. The deal, which is subject to court approval, could be announced on Monday, said two people with direct knowledge of the matter, who requested anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss it publicly.

Source: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E02E2D6103DF933A25751C0A9649D8B63&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

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News Analysis for the Investor on June 27, 2012

News Corp. May Split in Two
News Corp. may split into two publicly traded companies, according to USA Today, which describes the move as an attempt to limit contagion from the company's British phone hacking scandal. News Corp. may separate its newspaper and book publishing businesses from its entertainment businesses, which include 20th Century Fox and the Fox News Channel. News Corp. has been under investigation for allegedly hacking into phones and bribing public officials in Britain in an attempt to scoop news stories. The investigations have brought increased regulatory scrutiny to News Corp. and caused the company to drop its bid to control British Sky Broadcasting.
Negotiations Fail, Stockton Headed for Bankruptcy
Stockton, Calif. is set to become the largest American city ever to declare bankruptcy after officials said Tuesday that mediation with creditors has failed, Fox Newsreports. City Manager Bob Deis announced that officials were unable to reach a deal to restructure hundreds of millions of dollars of debt under a new state law designed to help municipalities avoid bankruptcy. The three-month negotiating deadline ended Monday. The city was still negotiating with some creditors and could reach deals with as many as one-third of them, Deis said.
Consumer Confidence Hits Five-Month Low
Growing concerns over jobs and incomes drove consumer confidence down for the fourth consecutive month in June, according to Bloomberg News, which says the drop in confidence could be a bad sign for consumer spending. The Conference Board's measure of consumer confidence fell to 62, a five-month low that reflects consumers' increased worry over employment and earnings. The decline in confidence raises fears that of a slowdown in consumer spending, which accounts for 70 percent of U.S. economic activity.
Cybercrime Sting Operation Nets 24 Arrests
A crackdown on financial cybercrime has resulted in the arrest of 24 people in the U.S. and around the world who allegedly stole credit card and banking data and exchanged it with each other online, according to CNNMoney. A two-year undercover FBI investigation, called "Operation Card Shop," nabbed 11 people in the United States and 13 others from eight countries on four continents. Law enforcement officials from a number of other nations helped with the coordinated investigation. An FBI spokesman described the sting operation as the latest example of the agency's commitment "to rooting out rampant criminal behavior on the Internet."
Pump it Up! Gas Prices at Five-Month Low
Will American drivers get freedom from high gas prices this Fourth of July holiday? Prices at the pump have dropped to their lowest level in five months. The national average fell Tuesday to around $3.40 per gallon. It fell below $3 in South Carolina and under $4 in all other states. Gas is down 54 cents from its early April peak of $3.94, saving Americans roughly $200 million less at the pump per day. But skittish Americans are buying about 5 percent less gasoline than they did last year, the Associated Pressreports
IRS Collects $5 Billion from Tax Cheats
A voluntary disclosure program has netted the IRS more than $5 billion from offshore tax cheats since 2009, CNNreports. Lured by the promise of avoiding jail time and reduced penalties, the program, now in its third incarnation requires offenders to provide information about their offshore bank accounts and to pay back taxes. So far, 34,500 taxpayers have taken advance of the programs. Taxpayers disclosing offshore accounts are required to pay a penalty of 27.5% of the highest aggregate balance in their offshore accounts during the eight tax years prior to disclosing the accounts. That's up from the 25% penalty in 2011, CNNsaid. Taxpayers with smaller accounts may be eligible for lower penalty rates of 5% to 12.5%.

Source: http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/news-analysis-investor-june-27-2012

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Biofuels: The Next Generation

Scientists and researchers say renewable forms of energy can help give America a new energy future that is cleaner, improves national security, strengthens the economy and contributes positively to the quality of life for all. Contributing to the urgency of developing this new energy future is the prediction from the Energy Information Agency that U.S. [...]

Source: http://www.alternative-energy-news.info/press/biofuels-the-next-generation/

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Deepening the American Dream: Pledge

Take part in our Web-only project about the future of the American Dream.

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EXPOSE on THE JOURNAL: Broken Justice

EXPOSE and THE JOURNAL follow a team from the Denver Post's award-winning reporting on the broken justice system on Indian reservations across the country.

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Kavita Ramdas

Kavita Ramdas, president and CEO of Global Fund for Women, the largest grant-making foundation focused exclusively on women's rights issues talks about human rights initiatives around the world.

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News Analysis for the Investor on June 26, 2012

Author(s):

Catherine McBreen

European leaders meet after Cyprus seeks bailout

Reuters is reporting that the Finance chiefs of the euro zone’s four biggest economies will hold last minute talks in Paris on Tuesday evening to try to narrow the differences on the euro zone’s future. The meeting was called after Cyprus became the fifth European nation to seek a bailout. Ministers from Germany, France, Italy and Spain will discuss how to manage the crisis in the short term and prepare for the summit meeting on Thursday. The Associated Press reports that a plan has been published on the European Council website that would grant a supranational authority the power to demand changes to national budgets. The goal is to get Germany to accept closer fiscal integration. Central control over the budget may reduce Germany’s fears. Financial markets are on edge and international pressure is mounting for decisive action at the summit. The Dow fell 138 points on Monday to close at 12,502. Asian markets were mixed, mostly down, on Tuesday and European markets are similar.

Cyprus bailout cost represents half of its economy

The Mediterranean island of Cyprus, heavily influenced by Greece, sought emergency funding from the European Union today. CNBC indicates that a 10 billion euro package was being requested for the17.3 billion euro economy. Cyprus is the fifth country to request a bailout after Greece, Ireland, Portugal and Spain. It is the third smallest economy in the region, after Malta and Estonia.

Moody’s Cuts Ratings on Spanish Banks

Moody’s Investors Service lowered its long term ratings on 28 Spanish banks by one to four notches on Monday, according to the Wall Street Journal. This is not surprising since earlier in the day Spain asked the EU for aid to help bail out its banks. The banks were hit by a severe housing slump in Spain. Moody’s downgrade apparently reflects its lack of confidence that Spain will be able to assist its banks. Moody’s downgraded Spain’s overall credit rating earlier this month to Baa3, one notch above junk.

Students in For Profit Colleges may lose Financial Aid

Students in for-profit career training programs may have trouble obtaining financial aid in the future. This is because former students have such a poor record in paying off their student loans. The Associated Press indicates that the Education Department reports that 193 programs at 93 schools were unable to meet any of the requirements of the agency’s new “gainful employment rule”. The rule requires that students from a program have estimated loan payments that do not exceed 30 percent of their discretionary income after graduation or 12 percent of total earnings. Or, of the students graduating from a program, 35 percent must be paying their loans. About 12 percent of all students in higher education attend a for profit college. They represent 45 percent of the student loans that are in default.

US homebuilder making deal with Chinese

Lennar Corp, one of the largest US home builders is in talks with the China Development Bank for $1.7 billion of capital to jump start two long delayed San Francisco projects, according to the Wall Street Journal. The projects would transform two former naval bases into large scale housing developments. China has been active in funding projects in developing nations but this is the first project in the US in which public funding was cut and then the Chinese stepped in. The deal would require Lennar to include China Railway Construction Corp to assist in the project.

Iraq’s economy shows signs of growth

Buoyed by an increase in oil production and declining violence, Iraq’s economy is expected to grow by 11 percent this year. According to USA Today, Iraq will produce 3 million barrels of oil each day, above the 2.5 million it was producing prior to the US led invasion. It anticipates that it will be able to expand to 10 million barrels daily in six years. Consumerism is also increasing with the sales of cars, microwaves and other items increasing. Real estate is expanding with a need for 800,000 homes or apartments. Political risk, however, still makes investors hesitant.

Source: http://www.millionairecorner.com/article/news-analysis-investor-june-26-2012

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Karen Armstrong, Part I

With economic, political, and social strife across the globe, prominent religious scholar Karen Armstrong discusses our human commonalities and her work on an international charter for compassion. The renowned author of The Battle for God and The Bible: A Biography, Armstrong is a 2008 recipient of the coveted TED Prize. In a distinguished career encompassing time as a Roman Catholic nun, an academic, and a television broadcaster, Armstrong has become one of the world's foremost commentators on religious affairs, who first drew attention with her critically-acclaimed book Muhammad: A Biography of the Prophet.

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Expose on the Journal: Worker Safety

Injury rates reported at America's poultry plants have dropped dramatically in recent years, and so have workplace safety inspections. Are regulators rewarding companies for inaccurate reporting of injuries? Bill Moyers Journal and Expose: America's Investigative Reports go inside America's poultry industry, which employs almost a quarter million workers nationwide, to show the reality of working conditions and to investigate how official statistics showing a drop in workplace injuries may have been the result of deceptive reporting.

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Tuesday, June 26, 2012

Restoring Accountability for Washington's Wars

A Bill Moyers essay.

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Globalization and Measurement Conference

I'm about to go down to DC to attend this conference (I'm giving the after-dinner remarks as well)

Measurement Issues Arising from the Growth of Globalization

This is a very important conference as we try to figure what is *really* going on in the U.S. economy. I'll be writing more about it.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/11/globalization_a.html

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Walgreens Will Begin Offering Free HIV Testing In Select Locations

Walgreens is launching a new initiative offering free, private HIV testing at a few locations, the company announced today. It's part of a program the company is working on with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to try and connect more people with HIV with care and resources. The pilot progam will be rolled [...]

Source: http://consumerist.com/2012/06/walgreens-will-begin-offering-free-hiv-testing-in-select-locations.html

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Globalization and Measurement Conference

I'm about to go down to DC to attend this conference (I'm giving the after-dinner remarks as well)

Measurement Issues Arising from the Growth of Globalization

This is a very important conference as we try to figure what is *really* going on in the U.S. economy. I'll be writing more about it.

Source: http://www.businessweek.com/the_thread/economicsunbound/archives/2009/11/globalization_a.html

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Emma Coleman Jordan

Georgetown University's legal and finance scholar Emma Coleman Jordan looks behind the headlines, and the politics, of the Wall Street bailout debate on the Hill and on Main Street.

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Americans Put Saving Energy Ahead of Vacations

Filed under: Energy

By DINA CAPPIELLO

WASHINGTON (AP) - As summer beckons, it seems Americans are thinking more about the stifling cost of energy than about making tracks to the beach.

Cutting energy bills and use is a bigger deal to them than taking a vacation or scoring the latest smartphone or tablet, according to an AP-NORC Center poll that asked people to choose priorities. Not even 1 in 5 ranked a summer trip or the latest gadget as a priority, while majorities said reducing electricity use and making homes energy-efficient are important. But in typical American fashion, by far the highest priority was having a reliable set of wheels.

The poll, paid for by a grant to the AP-NORC Center from the Joyce Foundation, shows that energy, especially in a weak economy, is prominently on people's minds - and may explain why it's being talked about in the presidential campaign. Nearly 8 in 10 called energy deeply important to them, trumping concerns about the federal deficit and the environment. The only issues that polled as higher concerns were the economy, education and health care. Almost three-quarters said gasoline prices were important to them personally, although those prices have abated since the poll was taken.

There are limits, though, on what people are willing to sacrifice for a more energy-efficient life.

Nearly 9 in 10 people said they had taken some action in the last year to save energy, with those making less money and on a tighter budget saying it was more important to make their homes more efficient or save money on energy. The idea of changing transportation habits rated as among the most difficult energy-saving actions for people to take.

Linda Pence, 50, in Spring Valley, Calif., buys everything organic, recycles, grows her own vegetables and doesn't turn her air conditioner on unless the oldest of her five cats starts to pant in the Southern California heat. Her highest priorities are buying environmentally friendly products, reducing the electricity she uses, saving money on energy and making her home more efficient. She wishes she could afford the up-front cost of solar panels.

Without serious conservation, she says, "the kids coming up are not going to have the resources they need. They are not going to have a planet to live on."

But in the driveway, she's got a Dodge Durango and a Lincoln Continental, neither squeezing out 20 miles to a gallon in combined city-highway driving, as well as a more economical Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

Indeed, about half in the poll said they would find it difficult in the next year to take steps such as buying a more fuel-efficient car or carpooling. This, despite knowing that such changes would make a difference. A clear majority - 64 percent - said Americans use a lot of energy and are unwilling to reduce their demand, making that the most frequently blamed reason for the country's energy problems

Smaller steps, such as turning off the lights, turning down the heat, installing more energy-saving appliances and driving less, were the more common ways respondents said they chose to reduce energy in the last year.

"Americans are extremely wasteful," said Army veteran Jerry Winter, 39, of Arnold, Mo., reached during a vacation. But instead of going away, Winter, a disabled vet, was attending the 26th National Veterans Golden Age Games in nearby St. Louis.

Winter said his energy-saving habits were influenced by being stationed in Germany twice over his military career. "I was in Europe five years, and they make us look like a joke," he said.

Margaret Edenfield, 83, from Marianna, Fla., was more willing than many to change her transportation routine to save money and gas. About a year ago, she started alternating driving with her neighbor next door.

"We have a deal where she drives one time, and I drive one time," said Edenfield. "I don't fill the car but once a month."

For Edenfield, ranking energy savings above a summer vacation was an easy choice.

"I'm by myself, I'm a widow," she said. "I wouldn't have someone to go on vacation with."

The AP-NORC Center poll was conducted March 29 to April 25. It involved landline and cellphone interviews with 1,008 adults nationwide and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points.

___

Associated Press Deputy Director of Polling Jennifer Agiesta and News Survey Specialist Dennis Junius contributed to this report.

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Source: http://www.dailyfinance.com/2012/06/07/americans-put-saving-energy-ahead-of-vacations/

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