Global Economic Intersection - News Blog

America: Cheap Natural Gas Disrupts European Plans

Admin — Sun, 27 May 2012 05:28:12 +0000

Econintersect: Europe’s strategy to develop natural gas supplies from non-Russia Asia is in shambles. Yes, the Nord Stream natural gas pipeline on the Baltic Sea floor has been in operation for six months bringing Siberian natural gas into Germany. But the planned pipeline from the Caspian Sea basin into Austria, bypassing Russia, has not even been started - the Nabucco pipeline may never be built, according to Spiegel, because the costs keep escalating and the supplying countries, Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan, have not made commitments to supply the gas. A Spiegel article says that a second line from Russia across the Baltic is now likely given the failure to develop the southern route. Germany already depends on Russia for 35% of its natural gas and further concentration of supply with Russia and Russian energy giant Gazprom is considered risky.

Space History: First Private Spacecraft Docks with Space Station

Admin — Sat, 26 May 2012 05:07:23 +0000

Econintersect: It happened over the Indian Ocean at 12:02 pm Eastern U.S. time 25 May 2012. The SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies) spacecraft Dragon was attached to the entry port of the International Space Station. This was the first commercial vehicle in history to successfully attach to the International Space Station. Previously only four governments – the U.S., Russia, Japan and the European Space Agency – had achieved this. The docking was accomplished just over two hours after the spacecraft was “captured” by a robotic arm on the Space Station. The spacecraft, which was launched three days earlier from Cape Canaveral in Florida, carried 1,000 pounds of equipment and supplies for delivery.

Click on picture for super large view of artist’s simulation of Dragon approaching Space Station.

Week Ending 19May2012: Year-over-Year Growth Continues Without Coal

admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 01:44:41 +0000

Econintersect: Week 20 of 2012 ending 19 May 2012 shows rail traffic is still below 2011 levels according to data released by the American Association of Railroads (AAR). However, excluding coal which is not an economic indicator, rail is expanding 3.5% year-over-year.

“Twelve of the 20 carload commodity groups posted increases compared with the same week in 2011, with petroleum products, up 49.4 percent; motor vehicles and equipment, up 23.3 percent, and lumber and wood products, up 17.9 percent. The groups showing a decrease in weekly traffic included nonmetallic minerals, down 16.3 percent; coal, down 16.1 percent, and coke, down 8.6 percent.”

Netherlands Parliament Approves Mischaracterized ESM

Admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:28:48 +0000

Written by Rudo de Ruitjer , Court Fool.Info

Econintersect: (Updated and corrected 4:52 pm New York time 25 May 2012) Today (24 May 2012), the Dutch Parliament voted in favor of the ESM (European Stability Mechanism), 100 yes and 47 no. The Dutch Senate still has to vote but the more than 2/3 majority in Parliament makes it unlikely that the measure will fail. If the agreement is approved by 90% of the capital providers it will become effective. The treaty was misrepresented to the Netherlands’ Parliament. On 23 May 2012, the Dutch Minister of Finance, Jan-Kees de Jager, told the parliamentarians that the expenses for the ESM are limited to the price of the shares. (For the Netherlands this is 400,190 shares of 100,000 euro each.)

India, China Object to EU Carbon Tax for Airlines

Admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:25:05 +0000

Econintersect: India has issued a warning that, if flights of their airlines into Europe are restricted, a reciprocal action could be taken by India against European carriers. The dispute has arisen because the EU has been demanding that foreign airlines comply with EU carbon tax requirements. India, as well as China, have refused to cooperate and will not share their carbon emission data for 2011. According to the Financial Times, other countries including Russia and the U.S., have also protested the imposition of the Brussels requirements. In April The New York Times reported that China had suspended $14 billion in orders from Airbus in the ongoing dispute.

Mars: Incredible Shifting Sand Dunes

Admin — Fri, 25 May 2012 00:22:28 +0000

Econintersect: Mars has a much thinner atmosphere than does our own planet earth. That’s why the latest report from NASA’s Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) is so surprising: Sand dunes on that planet are showing movement across the surface similar to those experienced by dunes on earth. Since movement of sand dunes is primarily driven by wind the movement on the surface of Mars is rather incredible. Yet such action is clearly shown in two years of images from MRO's High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera.

Coal Usage and U.S. Carbon Emissions Decline

Admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 05:14:06 +0000

Econintersect: The railroad carload data for coal has been declining over the past couple of years and especially so in the past several months. Steven Hansen has been reporting this data monthly at GEI Analysis and GEI News also has weekly reports. The reason for this decline is due at least in part to the reduced amounts of coal used for electrical power production. The EIA (U.S. Energy Information Agency) reports in its latest data that use of coal for power generation fell by 17.7% for the U.S. from February 2011 to the same month this year. The reason for the decline? Increased use of cheap shale gas is displacing coal as the fuel in power plants. Click on photo for large picture of eastern U.S. Marcellus shale drilling rig.

CBO: No Government Action Equals Recession

Admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 03:42:23 +0000

Econintersect: The current direction of the government, unless changed, will take 1.3% out of GDP and likely cause a 2013 recession. The downturn is projected to be more like the recessions of 1991-92 and 2001 than The Great Recession. But the impact on employment could be more like the 2007-09 recession with unemployment remaining elevated over the next six years with a 9.2% unemployment rate projected for 2018. The problem that the CBO report addresses is the automatic budget restrictions that kick in as a result of the legislation passed in 2011 that specified what would happen if Congress passed no budget reform legislation.

Trucking Tonnage Less Good in April 2012

admin — Thu, 24 May 2012 01:00:53 +0000

Econintersect: The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) trucking index fell 1.1% month-over-month in April 2012 following a 0.6% rise in March. Compared with April 2011, seasonally adjusted tonnage was up 3.5%. Please note that the ATA does not release an unadjusted data series where Econintersect can make an independent evaluation.

From the press release:

“While April’s decrease was a little disappointing, the March gain turned out to be stronger than originally thought,” ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said. “The ups and downs so far this year are similar to other economic indicators.”

Treasury Direct for China

Admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:39:02 +0000

Econintersect: Individuals, money managers and institutional investors can sign up to buy Treasury securities as they are issued by the U.S. government in a program called Treasury Direct. There are a number of financial institutions, known as primary dealers (PDs), are required to bid for all Treasury issuance not sold through the direct channels. These (currently 21 in number after the collapse of MF Global) large financial entities (mostly large banks) form the secondary distribution channels for all debt not sold to direct buyers, including trade with the Federal Reserve whenever the Fed conducts open market operations. All the central banks in the world buy U.S. debt through the PD channel. It has just been learned that actually is all except China.

Pictured are U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and China's Vice Premier Xi Jinping at a recent meeting. Click on picture for larger image.

Parking: $3,623.19 a Square Foot

Admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:36:45 +0000

by Michael Haltman, The Political Commentator

Econintersect: What will $1 million buy in New York City? How about a 12' wide, 23' deep and 15' high parking spot!

Is this merely supply and demand or a case of decadence, thy name is NYC!

This concrete slab is located at 66 East 11th Street in a building where the penthouse apartment will have an asking price of $38.8 million.

Click on picture for large view of Maserati Birdcage concept car.

First Commercial Rocket to Dock with Space Station

Admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:34:47 +0000

Econintersect: After an aborted attempt to launch on Saturday, a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket was successfully launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida Tuesday morning (22 May 2012). The payload was half a ton of supplies for the International Space Station that had its last manned NASA visit by the space shuttle Atlantis ten months ago. After that flight Atlantis, the last space shuttle vehicle in operation was permanently retired.

SpaceX is a privately held company headed by Elon Musk. Musk is perhaps better known as the co-founder of Pay Pal predecessor X.com and the CEO of Tesla Motors (NASDAQ:TSLA), developer of electric automobiles. Pay Pal has been a wholly owned subsidiary of E-Bay (NASDAQ:EBAY) since 2002.

TSA Info Graphic: Grope and Pillage

Admin — Wed, 23 May 2012 06:32:42 +0000

Econintersect: The headline is provocative but so is the data presented in the info graphic below. The data paints a picture of a Transportation Safety Authority (TSA) that is bloated, inefficient and even downright incompetent. Authorized and formed under the Homeland Security legislation that was enacted after 9/11, the information available and summarized in the info graphic raises a lot of questions about just what is being accomplished and what opportunity costs have been endured to operate the TSA. An academic study has calculated that the total costs for the ten years 2002-2011 are over $1 trillion, without including such costs as two miltary wars, additional crime not prevented or prosecuted, costs engendered because of restrictions to funding for Mediacare, Medicaid, education, etc. and diminished effectiveness of responses to natural disasters.

Is the Universe We Know Just a Spec?

Admin — Tue, 22 May 2012 05:25:54 +0000

Econintersect: It has been a science fiction fantasy that everything we know as an infinite and expanding universe is actually an infinitesimal spec suspendend in some sort of multi-dimensional space with billions or trillions or uncountable other universes as comples as ours. Or maybe they are even more complex. It is mind boggling that something too big for man to understand could be so small in the grand scheme of things. But yet that is what a Newsweek article this week is suggesting. The idea is not just pure speculation. It is an idea that is consistent with mathematics which describe the limited range of what we do know. Following the break is a video of an interview with physicist Brian Greene.Read more »

CMRE Speakers: Looming Disaster

Admin — Tue, 22 May 2012 01:01:46 +0000

by Guest Author Rick Ackerman, Rick’s Picks

I’m reporting some highlights from Thursday night’s program (16 May 2012) at the the annual spring dinner of the CMRE, the Committee for Monetary Research and Education. The members come mostly from the financial community, although they are hardly what one would call Wall Street types. They are more like libertarian firebrands, deeply committed to sound money, truth and accuracy in journalism, free enterprise and muscular capitalism. The program was held at the at the Union League Club in New York City. Nine speakers' presentations are summarized in what follows.

Facebook's Successful IDO

Admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:47:30 +0000

Econintersect: (Corrected, 9:58am New York time, 21 May 2012) Yes, the headline has a typo, but perhaps not the one that you think. The letters are all as they should be; the typo is a missing space. The "IDO" should be "I DO". Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg and new med school graduate Priscilla Chan tied the knot Saturday (20 May 2012) in the groom's backyard in Palo Alto, CA. The couple reportedly had been dating since 2002 or early 2003 when both were undergraduate students at Harvard. The two had been a couple longer than Facebook and Zuckerberg have been a "pair." The company was founded in 2004 in Zuckerberg's college dorm room. Click on photo for larger image with readable caption.

What is Going on with CEOs These Days?

Andrea Rangel — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:45:24 +0000

Econintersect: As published in a report from Challenger, Gray, & Christmas Inc. through the first four months of 2012 a total of 411 CEO changes were announced, a 5.3 percent increase from 390 over the same period in 2011. These CEOs resigned (118), retired (91), found positions in other companies (51), stepped down (69), ended their interim period (29), merged (14), were moved to a different position (12), were removed (9) or died (5). However, some of these Chief Executives left their companies under very unfavorable circumstances, such as, scandals (4) or bankruptcy (4). Examples of them are Jon Corzine- MF Global, Brian Dunn- Best Buy, and Scott Thompson- Yahoo.

220 Years at the New York Stock Exchange

Admin — Mon, 21 May 2012 02:41:42 +0000

Econintersect: Securities Technology Monitor has a great slide show that walks one through the history of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE:NYX) from its founding under the buttonwood tree (pictured) right up to today. Notable milestones, in addition to the first trading rules agreement signed on May 17, 1792 under the buttonwood tree in front of 68 Wall Street, include building its first permanent home in 1865 and the opening of the newly built New York Stock Exchange Building in 1903. That building, at 20 Broad Street, is still the NYSE home today.

Counterfeit Currency Info Graphic

Admin — Sun, 20 May 2012 06:00:58 +0000

Econintersect: Have you ever passed a counterfeit bill? Chances are you have, although Econintersect hopes it was inadvertent. Currency counterfeiting is something of a silent problem in the U.S. Few of us knowingly come across counterfeit bills very often, yet they’re most definitely out there. According to the estimates of some economists, the total amount of forged currency in circulation in the US right now could be as much as $220 million. In fact, the United States has the most widely counterfeited currency in the world, with at least as much funny U.S. cash being intercepted abroad as domestically.Read more »

Interns Not Getting Job Offers

Andrea Rangel — Sat, 19 May 2012 17:45:47 +0000

Econintersect: Just landing a good internship is not enough in today's competitive job market. According to a press release from Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. (CGC), data indicates internships are now playing a big role when it comes to firms hiring workers. Employers are more focused on looking for the best candidates they can find. Thus, internships have become a way to test possible workers and to define whether or not a person has enough potential for a company. Some of the characteristics employers are looking for are skills, experience, and how interns really fit into the environment of the company.

However, more than 40% of interns are not hired permanently. A problem arises for some interns because they do not try to be better than the average intern. Meeting requirements is usually not sufficient to impress. As a result, many non-competitive interns do not get a full time job. The press release announcing the results of the CGC study gives very clear advise to those that are in the internship’s world.