Day: January 26, 2009

I Apologize

I do not normally post on sleaze from the gossip columns and I truly dislike it….but when I see something that tickles the crap outta me I must say something…..

Prince Harry has been dumped by girlfriend Chelsy Davy.

The Telegraph reports that Chelsy Davy has broken up with Prince Harry. It is claimed that the long, five-year, rollercoaster relationship has come to an end after a series of lengthy phone calls. Davy has ended the relationship after growing tired of the prince’s playboy antics.

The News of the World reports close friends of Davy saying she “sobbed her heart out” after finishing the relationship with the royal last week. One source in particular is quoted as saying, “She has simply had enough. They have been going through what she calls a ‘rough patch’ and she didn’t see the point in going on. There has been talk of other girls – but Harry denied it. Chelsy felt it was time to call it a day.”

The prince is said to have told his father, Prince Charles, about the breakup, late last week.

What more can I say?  Well a bit more……give me a moment…….my side hurts……tears,,,tears…the pain….the laughter……(heavy sigh) okay I am better now….sucks to be Harry.

Criticisms Abound On The Stim Plan From Obama

Republicans signaled Sunday that they would not be daunted by President Obama’s soaring approval ratings, criticizing his proposed $825-billion economic stimulus plan, his strategy for closing the prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and his decision to exempt a top-ranking Pentagon appointee from new ethics rules.

Some of the sharpest criticism came from Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), the party’s challenger to Obama in the election and the recipient of aggressive outreach as part of the new president’s efforts to forge an image of bipartisanship.

And the senator said he would not support the stimulus plan in its current form, asserting that it should have more tax cuts and less emphasis on projects, such as repairing the National Mall or extending broadband access to rural areas.

McCain’s comments were echoed by House Minority Leader John A. Boehner (R-Ohio), who said on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that he and many of his colleagues could not support the measure in its current form because they “see this as a lot of wasteful Washington spending, padding the bureaucracy and doing nothing to help create jobs and preserve jobs.”

The plan being pushed by Obama and Democratic congressional leaders would add thousands of miles of electronic transmission lines, retool thousands of schools and federal buildings and build infrastructure to promote wind and solar energy. It contains $275 billion in tax cuts — not nearly as much as Republicans want — and would fund a range of programs that GOP officials say are unnecessary or would not stir economic activity quickly enough.

WAIT!  Tax cuts?  We had 8 years of tax cuts and we are where we are and these guys want to give more cuts.  The past ones did not create jobs or create more production or create more industry, but some how it will now.  Is that about what they want us to believe?  Sorry, guys….I am having a really hard time believe any of their rhetoric.  Maybe Boner, oh sorry, my bad, Boehner should break into tears to convince us.  I do so love theatrics.  (sarcasm intended)

Here Comes The 19th Nervous Breakdown

(CNNMoney.com) — Economists expect an already deep recession to get even worse in 2009, according to a survey released Monday.

Companies will lay off more workers and hoard more cash during the next 12 months, according to the National Association for Business Economics survey, a quarterly take from a panel of economists at private-sector companies in various industries. A vast majority of the 105 economists polled believe the country’s gross domestic product will continue to sink in 2009.

If business conditions indeed worsen during the year, they will be sinking from already historic lows. The survey’s measures of consumer demand, profit margins and capital expenditures all hit their lowest-ever levels in January’s edition of the 27-year old survey.

Nearly half – 47% – of surveyed economists said overall industry demand was falling, compared with 35% who said so in the October survey. Just 10% of respondents said profit margins were rising, compared with 52% who believe they are falling. And 38% of economists said capital expenses are falling, up from just 15% in October.

Credit conditions hurt businesses, according to the economists, as customers had less leverage to buy discretionary products. 78% of respondents said tightening credit conditions affected customers, and 52% said the credit crunch directly hurt businesses in their industries.

With business conditions souring, the outlook for jobs has grown increasingly negative. 39% of economists believe their industries will lay off employees in the next six months, compared with 32% in October.

The forecast was particularly poor for the goods-producing sector, in which 69% of economists saw layoffs in the future, and no one believed the industry would be adding jobs. Service-sector economists were the most optimistic, with only 9% seeing layoffs and 29% saying their industry would be hiring in the next six months.

Companies will likely curtail spending in the coming months as well, according to the survey. 44% of the economists believed capital spending in their industries would fall off in the coming year, compared with just 16% who believed their businesses would increase spending.

Rising unemployment, tightening credit conditions and a difficult lending environment led economists to give a more pessimistic outlook on growth for 2009.

Just 22% believed the U.S. economy would expand this year, down from 62% who thought so in October. Although 26% now believe the economy will shrink less than 1% this year, 52% now think the economy will shrink by more than 1%, which no one predicted in October.

If you watch the markets remember that they do not necessarily indicate a healthy economy just the confidence or lack of……become a miser…you can survive.

Who Else Is Going Down The Toilet?

While industry executives and shoppers will remember 2008 as the year the party ended, figure 2009 to be the year of the hangover. Already, Circuit City, Linens ‘N Things and Mervyn’s stores are going away. Sharper Image is too, though the company will continue to sell some of its high-end gadgets through license agreements with other retailers.

Expect closings and bankruptcies to rattle the likes of Lane Bryant, Gap, and Starbucks. It’s the inevitable counterpunch to the days of retailers fighting hand over fist for market share during an era of loose credit and minuscule interest rates.

Retailers at risk in 2009 include outerwear specialist Eddie Bauer and teen-apparel-seller Pacific Sunwear, along with Zales, the big jewelry chain. All three shuttered at least 8% of their U.S. stores last year, with many more closings expected. The same is largely true of Charming Shoppes, the owner of Lane Bryant, which closed 150 stores last year. With a mountain of debt and losses totaling over $260 million over the most recent 12-month reporting period, the company will close another 100 locations this year.

Another possible casualty: Sears Holdings, operator of Sears and Kmart stores. A key to hedge fund manager Eddie Lampert’s 2005 merger of the two chains was in the underlying real estate. But with those values down 30% or so since then, slumping sales hit even worse.

The coming year looks like a sucking year for retailers and many will not survive.  Maybe now Americans will go back to saving and stop the addiction to credit.

Gaza UpDate

Fishermen cautiously sailed out, and market vendors unpacked fruit and vegetables. Outside wrecked mosques, men spread carpets on the sandy ground. Gaza edged back toward normalcy Friday, the first Muslim day of prayer since the end of Israel’s war with Hamas.

The United Nations said some 200,000 children who study at U.N. schools were due in class Saturday for the first time since Israel launched its offensive Dec. 27. Thirty schools were damaged in the fighting, U.N. spokesman Christopher Gunness said.

Israel opened its pedestrian crossing into the Gaza Strip, allowing free access for international journalists and humanitarian workers for the first time since before the offensive.

On another side of the border.

International calls to investigate Israel over alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip prompted Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Sunday to promise military personnel state protection from foreign prosecution.

“The commanders and soldiers sent to Gaza should know they are safe from various tribunals and Israel will assist them on this front and defend them, just as they protected us with their bodies during the Gaza operation,” Olmert said.

On the economic side:

In addition to the difficult long-term security concerns that are sure to arise from Operation Cast Lead, the long-overdue Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip has also raised a number of ancillary concerns that will need to be addressed over the coming weeks, including the future of key offshore natural-gas supplies.

About a year ago, The Jerusalem Post reported that Israel and UK-based BG Group, one of the world’s largest purveyors of natural gas, broke off talks concerning the possible sale of the natural gas contained in the Gaza Marine gas field, an area about 36 kilometers off of the Gaza coast.

In 1999, after paying the Palestinian Authority an undisclosed sum, BG, along with its partner, Consolidated Contractors Corporations, acquired the concession to survey for natural gas in 1,000 square kilometers of the Gaza Marine area.

In their agreement with BG, the PA stipulated that BG must pay it at least 10 percent of the royalties from any future sales of the gas, which the PA said would be placed directly into its Palestinian Investment Fund.