More "Good News"

With all the GOOD NEWS out there -- perhaps it's time to visit "Financial Armageddon" again. Here is some of the "cheerful news" he is making us all aware of (please follow link to original):


Bloody Fools

The time to buy is when there's blood in the streets.
--Baron Nathan Rotschild

Given today's sharp rally, I can only assume that the equity crowd -- clever contrarians that they are -- saw all these distressing reports and decided -- for the umpteenth time since the financial crisis began -- that things must be near a bottom -- right?

"Gallup Reports Underemployment Surges To 19.9%, February "Jobs Situation Deteriorates": As Bad As 2010" (Zero Hedge)

On one hand we have the Department of Truth about to tell tomorrow that NFP based on various seasonal and birth death adjustments increased by 250,000. On the other hand, we have Gallup which actually does real time polling without a procyclical propaganda bias. And Gallup does't have any good news: "Unemployment, as measured by Gallup without seasonal adjustment, hit 10.3% in February -- up from 9.8% at the end of January. The U.S. unemployment rate is now essentially the same as the 10.4% at the end of February 2010." And the one indicator that nobody in the mainstream media will touch with a ten foot pole: "Underemployment, a measure that combines part-time workers wanting full-time work with those who are unemployed, surged in February to 19.9%. This resulted from the combination of a sharp 0.5-point increase since the end of January in the percentage unemployed and a 0.5-point increase in the percentage working part time but wanting full-time work. Underemployment is now higher than it was at this point a year ago (19.7%)."

"The Shape of Fiscal Crisis to Come" (Guardian)

The US is living on borrowed dollars and, as political deadlock goes on, borrowed time. It must learn from Europe's misfortune

The American fiscal condition faces a perfect storm. The outlook for the medium term has deteriorated markedly, important causes being the Great Recession and the extension of the Bush tax cuts. Nor are the projections cheerful in the long term. And these issues will come to a head. On 4 March, the spending authority that has kept the US going in the past budgetary period is set to expire.

"Broke Town, U.S.A." (New York Times)

Vallejo, a city about 25 miles north of San Francisco, offers a sneak preview of what could be the latest version of economic disaster. When the foreclosure wave hit, local tax revenue evaporated. The city managers couldn’t make their budget and eliminated financing for the local museum, the symphony and the senior center. The city begged the public-employee unions for pay cuts — all to no avail. In May 2008, Vallejo filed for bankruptcy. The filing drew little national attention; most people were too busy watching banks fail to worry about cities. But while the banks have largely recovered, Vallejo is still in bankruptcy. The police force has shrunk from 153 officers to 92. Calls for any but the most serious crimes go unanswered. Residents who complain about prostitutes or vandals are told to fill out a form. Three of the city’s firehouses were closed. Last summer, a fire ravaged a house in one of the city’s better neighborhoods; one of the firetrucks came from another town, 15 miles away. Is this America’s future?

Cities across America are facing dire financial distress. Meredith Whitney, a banking analyst turned independent adviser who correctly predicted the banking meltdown, has issued an Armageddon-like prediction of mass municipal defaults. Others — notably Newt Gingrich — have suggested that state governments as well as cities should be allowed to file for bankruptcy. Congress held a hearing to examine the idea.

These forecasts of apocalypse have touched a nerve. Americans, still reeling from the devastating impact of the mortgage debacle, are fearful that the next economic disaster is only a matter of time. To anyone reading the headlines of budget deficits and staggering pension liabilities, it takes little imagination to conclude that the next big one will be government itself. The problems of cities are everywhere.

"Budget Hardships Continue for U.S. Counties -Survey" (Reuters)

Counties across the United State are still reeling from the effects of the recession, slammed by declining aid from state governments and lower tax revenues, according to a survey by the National Association of Counties released on Thursday.

Almost one-quarter of the 500 counties surveyed said they have laid off workers, with all counties of populations topping 1 million having eliminated jobs, the study found. Counties are also reorganizing, delaying projects and using reserves.

A decrease in state funding is the leading contributor to counties' low revenues, and finding replacement funds will be hard for most counties.

"Raising taxes is still not an option for many," the study found.

"More College Graduates Take Public Service Jobs" (New York Times)

If Alison Sadock had finished college before the financial crisis, she probably would have done something corporate. Maybe a job in retail, or finance, or brand management at a big company — the kind of work her oldest sister, who graduated in the economically effervescent year of 2005, does at PepsiCo.

“You know, a normal job,” Ms. Sadock says.

But she graduated in a deep recession in the spring of 2009 when jobs were scarce. Instead of the merchandising career she had imagined, she landed in public service, working on behalf of America’s sickest children.

Ms. Sadock is part of a cohort of young college graduates who ended up doing good because the economy did them wrong.

As job hunts became tough after the crisis, anecdotal evidence suggested that more young people considered public service. Exactly how big that shift was is now becoming clear: In 2009 alone, 16 percent more young college graduates worked for the federal government than in the previous year and 11 percent more for nonprofit groups, according to an analysis by The New York Times of data from the American Community Survey of the United States Census Bureau. A smaller Labor Department survey showed that the share of educated young people in these jobs continued to rise last year.

"On Charles Ponzi Day We Celebrate Another All Time Record In Food Stamp Usage" (Zero Hedge)

Bernanke's plan to recreate Libya in our own back yard is continuing to work magnificently. It is no surprise that on Charles Ponzi day, the update to food stamp usage indicates that in December those receiving an average of $134 per month has just hit 44.1 million people. These lucky people will soon be able to buy an inflation adjusted 2.3 crumbs of notional bread with this generous handout from the Chairsatan. In other words, America is now the land of the free, home of the brave, of whom 14.3% can't afford to eat, even with all the new jobs created by both the old QE1, Lite and 2, and soon to be 3. Don't forget that according to the Bernank, QE2 has already created 250,000 new jobs... all at the a modest cost of $1.3 million per job