The Chronicles of…

Čujemo se uskoro… ;-)

Big Layoffs No Longer Help Boost a Company’s Stock
In normal times, investors generally react positively to layoffs, on the sentiment that personnel cuts are a critical way to resuscitate an underperforming company. But no longer, as firms that lay off thousands of workers are continuing to see their share prices plunge with little relief in sight.
 

Got a Mortgage or Credit Card? Don’t Pay Them
Finally something that we can all get behind: Don’t pay your bills. It’s not my idea, although it has appeal. It’s the Fed’s and it’s the cornerstone of the new Homeownership Preservation Policy. To qualify for aid, the homeowner must be at least 60 days past due on his or her mortgage payments. (This program is for mortgages acquired from Bear Stearns and AIG rescues. Another program begun in December 2008 required that the homeowner be 90 days late.) At the same time, the mortgagee must be able to make a reduced monthly payment, therefore, must have some income, presumably a job. The having a job part might be tough; the missing two payments part, easy.

“The I.M.F. does not have enough money for what is coming,” said Guillermo Ortiz, the governor of Mexico’s central bank.

So Far, Wireless Data Looks Recession-proof
After taking a look at the earnings of the largest U.S. wireless carriers, it’s clear that growth in wireless data at the top carriers is still going strong, despite a recession. There are concerns that some of this is the result of holiday sales (all those new iPhones for Christmas), so we’ll keep an eye on next quarter’s numbers to see if folks are ditching their data plans so they can pay rent, or if the ongoing layoffs are resulting in disconnects as employers stop subsidizing plans.

Why Your Bank Is Broke
Even without doing the math, you probably get that the government’s financial-rescue effort is failing. The signs are hard to miss. Your friend in finance got pink-slipped. A house sale down the street fell through because the buyer couldn’t get a mortgage. A local bank is closing a nearby branch or maybe shutting down altogether.

China Tells Obama What to Do With His Yuan Views
Jan. 28 (Bloomberg) — China took Barack Obama’s views on the yuan seriously. So seriously that it is doing the exact opposite of what the U.S. president would like.
China let the yuan fall the most in a month on Jan. 23, right after Timothy Geithner, Obama’s pick for Treasury secretary, relayed Obama’s campaign position that China was “manipulating” its currency. The reaction was China’s way of telling the new U.S. leader what he can do with his foreign-exchange views.  

 US-China currency war eclipses Davos, and threatens the world
Turning a corner in the labyrinthine corridors of the Davos nerve-centre, I ran smack into Chinese premier Wen Jiabao – followed by a regiment of retainers and senior offices in full regalia.
They have not quite adapted to the "sport" dress code of capitalism in Alpine retreat. Jeroen van der Weer – a Davos stalwart – wears horrendous corduroy trousers (pink sometimes) with a 1950s-era Tyrolean woolly. I dread to think how they react to Swiss prices if they venture into the restaurants.
Mr Jiabao smiled at me benignly, but he is not in a good mood. Indeed, he is fuming over the remarks by US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner that China was "manipulating" its currency to gain market share. Reports were circulating this afternoon in Davos that Mr Jiabao erupted into a tirade after lunch at the mere mention of Mr Geithner’s name.

Life after the apocalypse
What if the doomsayers are right … what if society, as we know it, really is about to collapse? Do you have what it takes to make it in a world without electricity and running water? Tanya Gold offers an essential survival guide

Ako zamislimo da je…

€1 = 1 sekunda

… onda je…

€1000 = 16 minuta

€ milijun (milion) je 277 sati ili 11 i pol dana

€ milijarda (bilion) je 37,7 godina

€ bilijun (trilion) 31.709,7 godina

Hrvatska je dužna … hm… koliko ono… 37,7 milijardi eura … :-)

Ovo sam čuvao baš za ovakav dan…

Kaže vijest da su dva zatvorenika vezana lisicama pokušala pobjeći ali su zaglavili i da je to najgluplji pokušaj…

OK ali da ih ne muči savjest nisu jedini …

Ako se Europa ikad stvarno naljutila na kampanju "Kupujmo Hrvatsko" izgleda da je stvar bila samo malkice preuranjena jer se sada sličnim parolama služe jednostavno svi.

Perhaps canceling purchases of the Financial Times won’t be enough
On my flight back to Beijing last night I noticed an article in the Financial Times in which Miguel Sebastián, Spain’s industry minister and someone hotly tipped for finance minister, called on Spanish households to stop buying foreign goods and to buy more Spanish goods.
“Right now,” he said, “there is something that our citizens can do for their country: bet on Spain, bet on our products, our industry and our services – bet, in short, on ourselves.”

Što se pak tiče ulaska u Europu i Eura i Kune i svih tih priča kako bi nam bilo bolje da smo u Europi nego da ostanemo tu gdje jesmo isto postoje radikalno drugačija razmišljanja. U stvari… možda sam ulazak u Europu i ne bi bio tako strašno iskustvo kad bi postojala svjest o lokalnoj ekonomiji i to ne na nivou države nego na još manjim područjima… rfecimo županija ili čak gradova.

Da li znate da svaka županija ili grad mogu mirno početi štampati svoju vlastitu valutu. To se i ne mora zvati novcem, mogu to nazvati lokalpatriotskim bonovima ili već kako im drago. Nešto kao (ako se netko sjeća) one kartice sa popustima pomoću kojih se kupuje u određenim dućanima pa sve ostaje u "krugu" onih koji su organizirali takve kartice. OK, kartice su zamišljene kao marketinško sredstvo i usmjeravanje potrošnje na određenu grupu dok bi ovakav kvazi novac bio orjentiran na lokalnu ekonomiju. Slično… jer pravu valutu tj. novac i ne smiješ koristiti pa moraš to nekako zakamuflirati…

 Print Your Own Money

Toronto Dollars – Community Money for the Community Minded

 Recimo da se pokrene "Istarski boškarin" koji bi vrijedio 100 "Istrijanskih koza" ili tako nešto… Jedna zagrebačka čarapa koja bi vrijedila 100 maraka… i tako neke kombinacije…

How to Print Your Own Money, Build Community & Not Get Arrested by the Feds

Nije to baš zamjena za valutu, više kao recimo "Novac 2.0" ili "Open Source Money". Ako se može organizirati socijalan mreža tipa Facebook nema nekog razloga da se ne organizira i valuta koja bi bila utemeljena na nekakvoj social networking platformi/ideji. Čisto kao hint… ;-)

Nije baš sasvim luda ideja. Ili možda da zadržimo kunu paralelno sa eurom? Naravno, ne ovako organiziraju kao sada nego kao nešto malo drugačiju "valutu". Jer ako pogledamo zašto je svijet u banani otkrit ćemo da je sve za sobom povukao dolar koji se nametnuo kao glavna valuta, zamijenio je zlato u procjeni koliko što vrijedi. Pa kad rokne dolar ode i sve ostalo. Neh… ko zna možda je i blesava ideja. Jedino je čudno što i bilo kakava ideja nakon ideja koje su servirali ekonomski stručnjaci, zvuči… jednako suludo.

Kad nemate svoju valutu onda ste prepušteni na milost i nekilost idiotima i pohlepnim kriminalcima kojih su pune bankei fondovi. Više se niti ne skrivaju. Ako ste mislili da su političari najveći kriminalci i krivi za krizu… razmislite još jednom. Mislim, možda su načelno krivi što nisu ništa poduzimali ali najveći dio kolača nije završio u njihovim džepovima (satovima).

Evo jednog genijalnog ekonomskog stručnjaka koji je vodio preogromnu banku. I dok se Ameri zgražavaju nad Blagojevićem i njegovim "sitnim" kriminalom nekako čisto sumnjam da će se dići tolika prašina oko direktora banke koji je svoju 14 milijuna dolara vrijednu kuću prodao za 100 dilara… svojoj ženi… Ne, uopće nije sumnjivo… :-))))

Ex-Lehman chief sold $13m home to wife for $100
Richard Fuld, the disgraced former chief executive of Lehman Brothers, sold his $13.3 million (£9.6 million) Florida mansion to his wife in November for $100, according to real estate records.

Čisto da se malo smanje one glupe tvrdnje kao da je kod nas sve shebano jer su naši primitivci i balkanci pa se tako ponašaju… hehe… da, svakako… samo što se ovi uglađeni businessamni sa naprednog zapada ponašaju još gore. No sad je barem svima jasno da su političari samo marionete koje su plaćene da izigravaju dežurne krivce… kao Šuker je zasro ili Polanče ili Saander ili … svejedno… a u stvari nije nitko zasrao nego igraju po naređenjima onih koji imaju lovu i korporacije i određuju gdje će koja kuna. Oni određuju a političari odglume predstavu već kako kome kada zatreba i za to bivaju nagrađeni… ako se desi da moraju "pasti" dočekat će ih već neka fotelja pa kome nije jasno tko u stvari vodi državu samo pogledajte po kojim nadzornim odborima sjede propali političari… hehe… ajde… nije teško. Tako da.. da… svi su političari isti, razlikuju se samo čije direktne naredbe slušaju… iz koje banke ili korporacije stižu uputstva za ponašanje. Tja… ali naravno, većina ljudi niti sad ne vidi baš ništa pa smo osuđeni da opet ponavljamo rituale izbora i glasanja i cijelu skupu prc paradu… neka, tako nam i treba i stvarno smo si stvarno sami krivi. Sve nam je nacrtano da ne može biti jasnije a mi se i dalje pretvaramo i vjerujemo u vile i vilenjake.