Cited: CNN

2011 might have been a better year for retailers overall, posting the best yearly gains since 2007. However, sales of personal computers were nothing to write home about and that has analysts wondering when the consumer will be back for the latest in PC technology. Shipments of PCs fell by 6% in the last quarter of 2011 with the public seemingly completely occupied with tablets and smart phones. One glimmer of hope for the PC market according to those in the know are the ultra thin laptops that are making their way into the market. These sleek versions of a conventional laptop were brought into the market slowly during the Holiday season and as such didn’t have much of an impact on overall sales of PCs.

The PCs that got the  most attention from consumers were those all-in-one devices with large, high-definition screens. The ultrabooks were still something of a mystery to buyers and most seemed unwilling to pay the price for these newest versions of the old laptop. Looking into the future though, analysts think that sales of ultrabooks are going to boom over the next few years the same way that netbooks led the way in 2007, but that was prior to the iPad, which hit the shelves in 2009.

Ultrabooks accounted for just 2% of PC sales last year with fewer than one million making their way into America’s homes. Analysts are looking for sales of the ultrabooks to grow to 13% of all laptops sold by this time next year.

Much of the reason for the slow sales in PCs overall is that consumers are finding that smart phones, iPads, and other similar technology can do many of the same functions as the PC and for a lot less money. The same results that technology companies found regarding PC sales in the U.S. were also noted overseas with PC sales falling 1.4% globally in Q4.

My take:

There is only so much technology that the consumer can absorb in one shot, or doses. The number of products now on the market that do similar things is substantial so its not surprising that PC sales would suffer a bit. However, it’s probably little  more than a temporary blip.

Filed under: Technology

Cited: Los Angeles Times

From all appearances it looks like the auto industry is set to hire more employees going into 2012, or at least the German automakers operating in the United States will. Some industry analysts say that the hiring at German-owned plants in the U.S. will be nothing short of a binge. For example, Daimler Trucks of North America says that it will be hiring 1,100 workers this year while adding a second shift in order to get more trucks out of its Freightliner truck factory in Cleveland, N.C. BMW will also be among the companies hiring more U.S. workers saying that it will add 300 more to the payroll at their Spartanburg, S.C. factory, which builds sport utility vehicles. They also note that they will be investing up to $900 million in this particular plant by 2014.

Spokesmen for BMW say that the investment in manpower and its plant is to meet the global demand for its X SUVs, which have become one of the most popular vehicles in the BMW line of cars and SUVs. In 2011 this plant built 280,000 of the trendy sports utility vehicle to satisfy demand in 130 markets around the world. BMW is planning on expanding capacity to 350,000 per year at the plant.

On a positive note for many, the hires at Daimler will mostly be those employees that were laid off in 2009 following cut-backs that effected the entire auto industry. Daimler notes that demand for their Freightliner Cascadia model truck is picking up significantly and as such they need to get more workers back on the line to get these vehicles rolling off the line.

Domestic automakers in the U.S. have also announced plans to hire more workers, which is incredible news to an industry that just a short time ago seemed to be ready to melt away into the annuls of economic history, a victim of the Recession of 2007.

My take:

This is fantastic news all the way around. The auto industry is critical to the manufacturing base of the U.S. and supports so many other businesses that supply this industry. When people are back to work the entire economy benefits and hopefully the good news will spill over into other sectors of the economy.

Filed under: Services

Cited: The Wall Street Journal

Shares of mega-retailer, Sears Holdings, on the surface, or on paper as it were, look like something of a bargain from one of their “Sales” bins. Industry analyst point out that if Sears shares actually traded on the market at anywhere near their book value, the price would be about 110% higher than it is trading at now. Supporting this view is the fact that the company owns brands like Lands End, Kenmore, and Craftsman and that they own about 100 million square feet of retail holdings as well as leases on another 150 million square feet. Add to that several billion dollars in inventory and you can understand why some might feel like Sears shares are relatively cheap.

On the other hand, some very untimely news is making everyone nervous, particularly the vendors that Sears owes money to, a situation that could quickly erode the value of the stock further to say nothing of the trust of those involved with Sears. When CIT Group decided that it would stop financing loans to suppliers waiting for payments from Sears, the outlook for them became a bit more murky and the actual value of their assets a bit more shaky. Sears is trying to put a good face on the setback saying that CIT payables account for less than 5% of their inventories, and that other vendor financing firms are still lending to these Sears suppliers so there is nothing to worry about. But its hard to ignore the fact that CIT is the biggest player in the factor and vendor financing market and if they are pulling out, there’s no telling if others won’t follow their lead.

The value of Sears assets is also somewhat dubious, especially it’s real estate holdings with market analysts noting the many Border’s locations still sitting empty on the market, Barnes and Noble barely holding on, and Gap also looking to close many of its locations.

Perhaps Sears shares aren’t cheap afterall.

My take:

Sears has been playing catch-up with the market for a long time now and with the consumer side of the economy still taking quite a hit and probably not going to recover too quickly, the outlook for them is not good. Perhaps a smaller, leaner version without so many products will be the way to go for this iconic American store.

Filed under: Retail

Cited: CNN

The ongoing investigation surrounding the biggest leak of classified information in U.S. history continues with an Army officer involved with the WikiLeaks leak recommending that Pfc. Bradley Manning be tried on all 22 counts facing him. Lt. Col Paul Almanza’s findings and recommendation will  now head up the chain of command before a final decision is made as to whether Manning will indeed be tried for all of these serious charges, among them aiding and abetting the enemy.

The widely publicized and highly charged case against Manning followed from his allegedly leaking over 700,000 secret document to WikiLeaks, which then published the information on it’s Web site. Lawyers defending Manning allege that the young man was a troubled individual and that he never should have been deployed to Iraq in the first place, much less been given access to the classified material. Manning was stationed in Iraq from 2009 through  mid-2010 during which time he conspired with WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in order to get the documents out to the public.

Lt. Col Almanza was in charge of the preliminary hearing in December at which time the military showed that while he was stationed in Iraq, Manning downloaded and transferred hundreds of thousands of classified documents to WikiLeaks including battlefield reports, diplomatic cables, and controversial video footage of an Army helicopter attack that WikiLeaks dubbed, ” Collateral Murder.”

Manning’s lawyers have countered by saying that the soldier was deeply troubled about being gay and being in the military at a time when homosexuals were banned from service and that he showed so many signs of being unstable, irresponsible, and unable to follow simple security measures that the Army should have prevented him from having access to sensitive material. They also contend that the military’s computer system was not secure whatsoever and that the material funneled to WikiLeaks did nothing to harm national security.

My take:

Wow, sounds like a continuation of this cluster….bomb. It seems that there is more than enough blame to go around and while Manning sure as hell is going to face his share of the charges, as he should, the superior officers that continued to pass him through the system without taking notice of his unusual behavior and obvious lack of regard for procedure should also be held accountable.

Filed under: Legal

Cited: CNN

You can’t escape from the barrage of ED (erectile dysfunction) ads filling the airwaves, TVs, and every corner of cyberspace these days. And while it may be hard to tell one remedy from the another, should you need a remedy, one thing that experts agree on whether you are male or female, a good sex life starts with good blood flow. Even when doctors and therapists discuss other sexual problems such as arousal issues, they agree that the first place to start the discussion is your overall blood flow and cardiovascular health.

Blood flow has always been associated with your heart, brain, and  muscle function but it is also crucial in the way your genitals work too. In both men and women, the flow of blood to all areas of the body is key to sexual performance and sexual satisfaction. When it comes to the biggest sex organ in the human body, the brain, blood flow is key as it ensures that the proper flow of hormone signals get from the brain to the “tools of the trade.”

On another level, sexual problems such as ED can often be the first signal of other blood flow medical problems having nothing to do with sexual performance. When a man comes into a doctor’s office with ED, that physician more often that not will check him for other blood flow problems such as atherosclerosis. In fact, a recent analysis of 12 studies found that men with ED are significantly more likely to have cardiovascular disease.

And now for the good part. If you want to keep all of your parts in good working order and you want to ensure that your blood is flowing everywhere it is needed most, have sex at least once a week. That’s right. Doctors say that when it comes to maintaining the healthy function of your sex organs the old adage “use it or lose it” definitely applies.

My take;

It makes sense to know that healthy blood flow will benefit your sexual performance. However so many people do so little to make sure to keep up a strong cardiovascular system. A good diet, exercise, and as the doctors say, an active sex life, can go a long way to keeping you young where it might  matter more and more as we get a little older.

Filed under: Healthcare

Cited: MarketWatch

The mortgage giant Freddie Mac said today that mortgage rates nationwide fell to 3.89% for the week, remaining under 4% now for the sixth straight week. The record low rates offered in the housing market were on 30 year fixed mortgages, though analysts said that rates across the board continue to hover at record low levels. These rates are considerably lower than the 4.71% seen at the same time last year.

Adjustable rate mortgages, which are tied to a variety of benchmark rates offered on Treasury securities and other posted government rates, also dropped this week as 5-year adjustable mortgages fell to 2.82% from 3.72% one year ago, while mortgages tied to one-year treasury notes averaged 2.6%, down a few tics from last week and lower than the 3.23% from the same time last year.

Mixed data in the markets is said to underlie the lower rates, especially some mixed signals coming out of the labor market according to Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist at Freddie Mac. Nothaft noted that the employment side of the economy was much better in 2011, with 1.6 million people getting back to work, the most since 2006. However, the unemployment rate still hovers at 8.5%, which is still at a high enough level that many families cannot afford to enter the housing market despite the historically low interest rates. In addition, interest rates are often a function of economic activity, and with the economy still trudges along slowly, interest rates won’t be moving much higher until the economy gets moving at a much faster pace. Adding to the somber economic outlook hanging over the economy and weighing on interest rates and  mortgage rates was the release this week of the Fed’s Beige Book, which indicated that most areas of the economy saw limited permanent hiring at the end of last year.

My take:

Lower interest rates and lower mortgage rates are a double-edged sword in that they are an obvious bonus to anyone able to take advantage of these historically low levels, but at the same time they are also a result and a reflection of an extremely weak economy.

Filed under: Real Estate

Cited: The Sacramento Bee

The California school system is known to be tops for setting high standards for the over 6-million students that it covers. However, when it comes to meeting those standards the story is a bit different. When graded on actual performance, the California school system is barely treading water, getting a grade of ‘C ‘ in the latest national school rankings from Education Week magazine. The magazine rates schools nationwide on a six-criteria scale: chances for success, K-12 achievement, standards and assessments, teaching profession improvement, finance and preparing students for work or college.

California’s average grade was based on its overall rate of 76.1 on a scale of 1 – 100. The ‘C’ grade was about average compared to other states in the United States as a whole. Heading the top of the class for the fourth year in a row was Maryland at 87.8 while South Dakota found itself in the corner with the dunce cap, coming in last at 68.1. California got an ‘A’ for standard assessments, ‘B’ for preparing students for the future, a ‘C’ for chances for success as well as teaching profession improvement and finance, and a ‘D’ in K-12 achievement.

School budgets have come under the blade of the state legislatures across the country as the recession has reached into every corner of the economy with local governments looking to cutback in every area of spending. often targeting school budgets. California is no exception and Education Week’s survey noted that in giving the state an “F” in spending based on its abysmal level of per-pupil support from state and local taxes.

As with other states, California has lost billions of dollars in state and the prospects going forward don’t look much better for legislators to spend more money on education. However, Governor Jerry Brown is still advocating programs that will change how aid is allocated the hope being that more aid will be available for schools with poor and low performing students.

My take:

A state the size of California must have massive problems managing it’s school system, especially given the recent cutback in school funding. Perhaps a ‘C ‘ was the best they could do while at the same time perhaps looking at the example of Maryland to find out how to improves while making sure to steer clear of anything that South Dakota is doing.

Filed under: Education

Cited: MSNBC

Home foreclosures have been both an economic problem and a political problem for lawmakers, to say nothing of the problem they pose for the homeowner. However, a small silver lining is appearing in this otherwise dark cloud hanging over the American landscape and that is that perhaps the rate of foreclosures is slowing. The foreclosure listing firm, RealtyTrac Inc., reported today that approximately 1.9 million homes entered into foreclosure proceedings in 2011, which was the lowest number since the recession began in 2007.

While having the number of foreclosures post figures that are the lowest in four years, despite being alarmingly high to many, there is reason for caution and reason not to draw too many conclusions from the report just yet as extenuating circumstances might be behind the lower numbers. Analysts point out that many foreclosures have been delayed due to confusion over documentation and legal issues involved in the process. Another issue that may have contributed to the levels reported are problems with the way many lenders were handling the foreclosure process. These lenders were engaged in a process known as “robo-signing” whereby they did not verify and check into all of the documentation necessary to foreclose and therefore were not in compliance with government regulations on the process. As such, many of these banks and mortgage companies put the process on hold and are now re-evaluating and re-accessing those documents that are being questioned.

RealtyTrac expects the number of foreclosures to rise again in 2012, but not to nearly the number recorded in 2010. They say that foreclosure activity is down by approximately 34% overall but states such as Nevada, Arizona and California still posting the most foreclosures nationwide.

My take:

Its good news that foreclosures are down, but that is still a huge number. This period will go down in history for the inhumanity and suffering in the aftermath of the recession for those that lost their homes. If the data for 2012 is lower still then  perhaps we can breath a sigh of relief that the worst is over.

Filed under: Business