The Third debate of the election season went off this evening.
I found myself so upset by Romney that I could not watch.
The pundits tell me that Obama won.
I am not comforted.
We will have a Republican House. That House will block all additional spending.
The resulting depression will confuse them.
I am almost depressed enough to buy physical metals. Tin might be a good choice. The Chinese copper hoard makes me nervous.
http://robertreich.org/post/33755789131
. . .
"Romney was also an automaton — moving robot-like across the stage, repeating the same scripted paragraphs in answers to different questions as if he had been programmed with a limited number of options.
Obama, by contrast, seemed steady and relaxed.
The debate left me relieved — the President’s performance will almost certainly stop Romney’s momentum, and may turn the tide — but also left me perplexed. Where was this Barack Obama in the last presidential debate? Was it the altitude in Denver, a failure of preparation, exhaustion, a temporary emotional glitch?
Mostly, though, I’m glad Barack is back."
Greece is trying to bring pressure against the EU and the ECB.
Negotiation will end with new elections in Greece.
I opine that the EU will last about another year.
Greece will take down Spain and the other insolvent governments.
That will knock down Italy and shortly France. Messy.
Moody's holds Spain's low rating unchanged
16 Oct 2012
| Comment
UK deficit before crisis 'was £38bn bigger'
16 Oct 2012
| 49 Comments
Germany shocks EU with fiscal overlord demand
16 Oct 2012
| 239 Comments
European shares 'are the most undervalued'
European shares are the most undervalued in the world as investors shun the continent because of the debt crisis, fund managers say.
16 Oct 2012
| 1 Comment
Britain's bid for veto over banking union 'illegal'
Britain's bid to win a veto over the eurozone’s new banking regulator is legally impossible, European officials have warned, dousing David Cameron’s ambitions ahead of a crucial leaders’ summit later this week.
16 Oct 2012
| 6 Comments
Greece aid talks break down after Athens rejects further cuts
16 Oct 2012:
EU, ECB and IMF introduced 'unreasonable' 11th-hour demands that
were not part of deal Athens signed up for, claim officials
First Greece -- then Ireland, Italy, Spain and Portugal: The European common currency has come under pressure from large national debts and the effects of the global financial crisis, ultimately requiring a rescue package close to a trillion euros.
http://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.cfm?id=8390
"October 16, 2012
ENERGY STAR homes accounted for 26% of new construction in 2011
Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration, based on ENERGY STAR.
Note: Percentages represent number of ENERGY STAR single-family homes as a percentage of single-family housing completions reported by the Census Bureau.
Note: Percentages represent number of ENERGY STAR single-family homes as a percentage of single-family housing completions reported by the Census Bureau.
Homes built to voluntary ENERGY STAR® specifications made up about 26% of all new homes constructed in the United States during 2011. Under the latest update of the specifications that went into effect earlier this year, ENERGY STAR homes consume at least 15% less energy than those built to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC).
There is currently no national building energy code. States have adopted a variety of codes with different levels of stringency, mostly based on the IECC, a building energy code created by the International Code Council. Often the stringency of these state building codes and ENERGY STAR participation is correlated: all but one of the eight states lacking a statewide energy code have low ENERGY STAR participation, while Arizona's strong utility support for energy-efficient construction has fostered a high penetration of ENERGY STAR qualified homes, even though there is no statewide code there.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) initiated the ENERGY STAR specification for residential construction in 1995, creating homes that were 30% more efficient than the 1992 Model Energy Code (MEC). The specifications were revised to create Version 2 in 2006, and Version 3 was released in 2012.
A home can get ENERGY STAR certification in one of two ways: the prescriptive path or performance path. Both paths have program requirements common to all qualifying homes across the nation. The prescriptive path incorporates predefined improvements based on a home's IECC climate zone, while the performance path uses home energy modeling to account for savings based on a more flexible use of energy savings measures. A certified Residential Energy Services Network (RESNET) home energy rater verifies that specific requirements of the guidelines are met."
http://bonddad.blogspot.com/2012/10/surging-vs-contracting-rail-traffic-its.html
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Surging vs. contracting Rail traffic: it's all about coal
- by New Deal democrat
About 1/3 of all goods and materials in the US move by rail. As such, rail traffic is an excellent economic indicator. In fact, before the interstate highway system was built in the 1950's, it was one of the premier coincident economic indicators. There are indications that it is returning to some of that prominence as energy prices improve the efficiency of rail transportation vs. trucking. This is why it is always included in my "Weekly Indicator" columns (particularly as there is no equivalent report by the trucking industry).
Recently, depending on how rail traffic is measured, it has either been modestly improving or sinking into deepening contraction. As it turns out, it's all about coal. Coal hauling generally has made up about 20% of all rail loads, and about 40% of non-intermodal car loads. With utilities switching over to other fuels such as gas, the amount of coal rail carloads has been declining.
To show you how crucial the inclusion or exclusion of coal is to the measure of rail hauling, here are the YoY increases or decreases in the number of rail carloads since July 1, as reported in my "Weekly Indicators" column (note: this chart does not include intermodal freight, which has been consistently positive YoY):
| Week ending | total carloads | coal loads | carloads ex-coal |
|---|---|---|---|
| 7/7 | -2500 | -4200 | +1700 |
| 7/14 | +4500 | -3000 | +7500 |
| 7/21 | -5600 | -2200 | -3400 |
| 7/28 | -4400 | -4500 | +100 |
| 8/5 | +100 | -800 | +900 |
| 8/12 | -3700 | -7300 | +3600 |
| 8/19 | -6800 | -11,400 | +4600 |
| 8/26 | -2500 | -9000 | +6500 |
| 9/1 | -10,300 | -12,700 | +2400 |
| 9/8 | -6300 | -11,800 | +5500 |
| 9/15 | -8700 | -13,100 | +4400 |
| 9/22 | -12,500 | -16,500 | +4000 |
| 9/29 | -16,600 | -24,300 | +7700 |
| 10/6 | -18,100 | -24,700 | +6600 |
Including coal loads, only twice since July 1 have car loads been positive YoY. Worse, the YoY comparisons are becoming more and more negative. But that is entirely due to coal hauling. When we exclude coal, rail carloads have been positive YoY in every week but one. Not only that, but the period of weakness in July has been replaced by increasingly strong YoY positive comparisons since late August. (N.B.: Since generally non-coal carloads average about 180,000, every +1800 improvement is +1% YoY growth.)
So which is the better measure? There are 20 types of loads reported in the weekly AAR car load data. Coal is one. Of the other 19, none is so large as to dominate the data. Without the secular change from coal to gas in utilities, there is every reason to believe that coal would be in a similar trend as to the other 19 types of carloads.
In summary, rail loads ex coal are probably better showing the real economic trend, and that is improvement from a midyear stall to modest growth.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Bank_of_Scotland_Group
They are said to be engaged in outright fraud.
These "opportunities" are quite persistent.
They are not the voice I want to hear.
Green coffee bean extract is snake-oil.
Cutting out sugar and its fructose is working for me.
I am not interested in broadening my attention.
I am distracted enough.
If this were such a great opportunity it would not shout fraud.
I am not skilled with hair. Experts earn their income.
Trumpet vine has been called a noxious weed.
As has been said of dandelion: "What a lovely flower. Such a pity it's so common."
As far as I know "Magic Jack" borders on fraud. There are areas where the power line is connected to the internet. It is called the smart grid. The band width is not large. The demand is heavy. The service stinks.
The Sprint - Softbank merger is of interest as is a dedicated radio link. Even satellite service is better than a very slow packet stream.
"Payday Loans" are addictive. Best not to start.
"Payday Loans" are addictive. Best not to start.
eHarmony? Sour note. The aftertaste lingers.
My credit score remains of little interest.
The schemes I have seen to remodel windows were unfortunate.
Designers have thought hard about windows.
I would not second guess them.
Weather striping is a good idea. Thermopane is another.
Term life is cheap. I am not fond of the concept of "worth more dead than alive".
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