WTF 'Insights' of the Day

1. "Stocks Soar on Surprisingly Strong July Job Report" (Associated Press)

Stocks are surging on Wall Street, breaking a four-day losing streak, after the government reported a sharp pickup in hiring by U.S. employers in July.

The Dow Jones industrial average shot up 226 points to 13,105 as of 3 p.m. on Friday. The Dow was heading for its best day since June 29.

Markets had been slumping all week after central banks in the U.S and Europe took no new action to shore up the economy, as many investors had hoped.

The Labor Department's closely watched monthly jobs report gave investors assurance that the U.S. economy may be doing better all on its own. U.S. employers added 163,000 jobs last month, a sharp turnaround following months of sluggish hiring.

(Editor's note: so, stocks were apparently down all week because central bankers sat on their hands, but rallied today because this morning's "good" data means they can keep doing so?)

2. "Look How Much The Unemployment Rate Really Rose" (Business Insider)

The unemployment rate ticked up from 8.2% to 8.3%.

But Eddy Elfenbein reveals the full numbers.

Unemployment went from 8.217% to 8.254%.

(Editor's note: how desperate do you have to be to suggest that one place to the right of the decimal point is not enough to tell us what is really going on?)

3. "Comeback Nation: Why the U.S. Economy Is Much Stronger Than You Think" (The Atlantic)

Polls show that a majority of Americans think China is already the world's "leading" economy, even though it is still about one third the size of the U.S. economy. The reality is that, at 2.5 percent growth, the US remains the fastest-growing rich economy, and is in fact regaining some of the recent ground lost to newcomers like China.

America's performance should be measured against the current competition, not against the records it set in the 1990s or 2000s.

(Editor's note: aside from the fact that a great deal of quantitative data [e.g., the very high U-6 unemployment rate] and qualitative data [e.g., numerous surveys that reveal the majority of Americans believe the U.S. remains in a recession] is at odds with the official GDP statistics, why should the notion that we are the best house in a bad neighborhood -- a situation that already looks to be changing for the worse -- be viewed as a "comeback"?)

4. "The Greatest Economic Indicator of All Goes Positive!" (The Reformed Broker)

From BBC:

World of Warcraft (WoW) subscriptions are at their lowest level since 2007.

Activision Blizzard has disclosed the video game had just over nine million paying users at the end of June. That is down from a high of more than 12 million two years ago.

That's right, the role-players are emerging from mom's basement at a record pace.  This is the lowest rate of World of Warcraft membership since the last economic peak, 2007.  The malcontents and misanthropes who've spent the past five years hiding out in a magical land where dragons can be slayed and female warriors will let you touch their breasts are coming out of the darkness.

They are laying down their virtual battle axes, rejoining the productive economy and the labor force.  Some of them may even move out, leading to even more economic stimulus in the form of household formation.  Some of them might even get married and have children!  "Some" I said!

People retreat into these fantasy worlds in dire economic times, but they end up coming back to the real world once there is proof that there is something here worth doing.

(Editor's note: why is there no mention of the fact that WoW is an 8-year old game, the video game industry has generally been slowing, and activity hs been shifting towards other platforms [e.g., mobile]. Is this the best the bulls can offer?)

Comments

[roger]

Stock Market= Phantasmagoria.
The stock market is not an index for future profits, it is simply a casino where money speculates on money.
Since value no longer rises from the production in the factories, Capital
now creates it's own artificial wealth. A repeat of the housing market
bubble with consequences far more severe.

[Painhertz]

Nahhh...they've moved on to Free to Play games such as Runes of Magic. They're still in the basement.

[Better get used to it]

wtf? watch this...

Anthony Baxter on Donald Trump’s Callous Capitalism

Bill talks with independent filmmaker Anthony Baxter, director of You’ve Been Trumped, a new documentary about the perils of rampant capitalism and gluttonous conspicuous consumption, epitomized by Donald Trump’s aggressive efforts to build “the greatest golf course in the world” across ancient sand dunes in Scotland. A veteran journalist, Baxter says what Trump and the Scottish government are hailing as an economic boon is actually a disaster to the environment and a callous disruption of people’s lives by a ruthless one-percenter run amok.

“It seems to me there’s one rule for the super-rich and one rule for everybody else,” Baxter says. “And the 99 percent of people in the world are tired and fed up of having money and power riding roughshod over their lives and our planet… Our planet, I don’t think, can afford these kinds of decisions.”

http://billmoyers.com/segment/anthony-baxter-on-donald-trump%E2%80%99s-callous-capitalism/

[Tom]

The amazing thing to me is that these poor excuses for humanity (the 1%ers) are only good at being psychopaths to make money. They have no feelings toward the environment which they view as their free resource base and at the same time their free dump for all wastes, toxic or otherwise. And many others want to emulate these cretins? i don't get it. They're killing us all with their stupidity, greed and one-track minds! We better start doing something about this in the short window of time we "may" have left. (i personally think it's too late and that the human species is on its way out - taking a lot of others with them).

[fledermaus]

They've been gaming the numbers so long they've forgotten they have been doing it. Of course every change along the way has been blessed by our economic high priests. Inflation, unemployment you name it. Now they are looking around and wondering where the disconnect is.

[roger]

Yes Tom. The incredible unbelievable thing is the naivete of the average person, slavery existed not to long ago,purpose get rich by other peoples work, in the 1800-1900's ,10,12 yrs.old worked 15hrs. a day seven days a week, men & women got a pittance not even enough to by a piece of bread when they got sick the best thing for them was to die, the horror of human exploitation are well illustrated in "the potato eaters" those who spoke up against such injustice where ruthlessly beaten up jailed or deported,are people stupid enough to believe that the one% of to day are any different? blaming a financial crisis without understanding it's provenance is just what the 1% love, working people are like cattle on the farm, milk them for all they got then dispose of them. It can happen again,who said vigilance is the price for liberty, and I may add a right to make a fair living.