Global Economy Bursting?

[Randolph Kinney]

Complex Investments Prove Risky as Savers Chase Bigger Payoff

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/11/b....html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20130211

Regulators across the country are confronting a wave of investor fraud that is saddling retirement savers with steep losses on complex products that until a few years ago were pitched only to the most sophisticated investors.

The victims are among the millions of Americans whose mutual funds and stock portfolios plummeted in the wake of the financial crisis, and who started searching for ways to make better returns than those being offered by bank deposits and government bonds with minuscule interest rates.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

State lacks doctors to meet demand of national healthcare law

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/09/local/la-me-doctors-20130210

SACRAMENTO — As the state moves to expand healthcare coverage to millions of Californians under President Obama's healthcare law, it faces a major obstacle: There aren't enough doctors to treat a crush of newly insured patients.

Lawmakers are working on proposals that would enable physician assistants, nurse practitioners, optometrists and pharmacists to diagnose, treat and manage some illnesses.

"We're going to be mandating that every single person in this state have insurance," said state Sen. Ed Hernandez (D-West Covina), chairman of the Senate Health Committee and leader of the effort to expand professional boundaries. "What good is it if they are going to have a health insurance card but no access to doctors?"

Hernandez's proposed changes, which would dramatically shake up the medical establishment in California, have set off a turf war with physicians that could contribute to the success or failure of the federal Affordable Care Act in California.

Currently, just 16 of California's 58 counties have the federal government's recommended supply of primary care physicians, with the Inland Empire and the San Joaquin Valley facing the worst shortages. In addition, nearly 30% of the state's doctors are nearing retirement age, the highest percentage in the nation, according to the Assn. of American Medical Colleges.

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Spending Is The Problem

http://www.businessinsider.com/jane...Of The Day&utm_campaign=Moneygame_COTD_021113


Janet Yellen Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Federal Reserve has a big new speech out about how slow this recovery has been, and why.

One of the culprits for the slower recovery?

Fiscal policy.

Specifically? Were not spending enough.

Government spending, which usually provides a boost to the economy in the quarters following the recession, has been a net drag this time because the government is spending less than it normally does.

As this chart shows, in the initial 4 quarters since the start of ths recovery, government spending provided its standard boost to GDP.

But in the 8 quarter and 12 quarter period after that, fiscal policy has been a drag, as spending growth has been a lot slower than in past recoveries.

So yes, spending is the problem. We just need to crank it up.

 

[Riick]

>>> "....coupled with other government action, will force bond rates up"

The question is: how long can they kick the can down the road?
Europe has managed to hold off their disaster for ...what.. two years now....??

/

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Households On Foodstamps Rise To New Record

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-02-11/chart-day-households-foodstamps-rise-new-record

... since [Obama's] inauguration, the US has generated just 841,000 jobs through November 2012, a number is more than dwarfed by the 17.3 million new foodstamps and disability recipients added to the rolls in the past 4 years. And since the start of the depression in December 2007, America has seen those on foodstamps and disability increase by 21.8 million, while losing 3.6 million jobs.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

People who bailed out of their mutual funds AFTER those funds had lost a third or more of its value are the big losers. Had they stuck tight, likely that fund would have recovered by now. All my mutuals overall lost 44%, but have regained it all with a couple still lagging and a couple outperforming... That's a much better outcome than buying bonds at the nadir of your portfolio's value. And to invest in REITs or more exotica is asking for trouble looks to me like.

 

[Restrain]

When they started the fall, I bailed for cash. When they bottomed, I bought back in. Rode the upside. That is why you should not be afraid to move in and out of the market.

 

[Terrel L. Shields]

Janet Yellen Vice-Chair of the San Francisco Federal Reserve has a big new speech out about how slow this recovery has been, and why.

Fiscal policy. Specifically? Were not spending enough...Government....is spending less than it normally does...So yes, spending is the problem. We just need to crank it up.

Yellen is likely to succeed Bernanke. The economy is mimicking Japan which has yet to exit recessionary pressures after being A - out of debt and B - Booming circa 1989. So for 24 years, they have struggled with deflationary pressure on housing prices while keeping Zombie banks (often guilty of defalcations related to hiding losses of their "best" customers etc.) afloat.

We are doing the same. Every Trillion we spend (1 year) will have to be paid back. It will take 5 to 10 years to pay back a Trillion we spent in a year. When will we balance the budget? We have to do it and do it now. In a generation, the inevitable has to happen. We default or like Japan the economy remains stagnant because we cannot make the money cheap enough (reducing exports.)

 

[Randolph Kinney]

Virginia Obamacare Coverage Affecting State Employees' Hours

As Affordable Care Act reforms continue to take effect, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell's (R) new budget is simultaneously bringing change to the lives of part-time workers.

The Virginian-Pilot reports that thousands of state employees have received word that their new maximum work week is 29 hours. The news coincides with a segment of the health care law, which defines full-time workers as individuals putting in 30 hours of work per week.

Back in December, Forbes broke down the penalties employers face for failing to provide adequate insurance under the Affordable Care Act. "Large" companies with more than 50 full-time workers are required to pay $2,000 per uninsured person on an annual basis. Failure to provide "affordable" coverage -- designated at 9.5 percent of the employee's family income -- results in a $3,000 annual fee per worker facing that situation.

 

[Restrain]

The IRS has come out with its final rules on "Affordability" for health care offered by employers. It ONLY applies to the employees. There is NO requirement to provide "affordable" health care to spouse, children, etc. So there may well be a very significant price hit if the employee wants to add the family onto the plan. No, make that, there WILL be a significant price hit....