Darkening skies over Europe

By Jon Markman, MarketWatch 

 http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=3814089687891528629#editor/target=post;postID=1133294423174584018

Seattle, Wash. (MarketWatch) — You can’t spell Spain without “pain,” and you can’t spell euro zone without nearly breaking down in tears as you contemplate the latest unraveling of the continent. 

On some level, it is hard to make room in your mind for how badly the financial condition of Spain has unwound in the past two months, but you need to do that because it is as serious as Greece, but with bigger consequences. 

Don’t get tired of all the bad news. You still need to pay attention even though policy makers are trying to cobble together another in a series of rickety, short-term fixes this week with twine and chewing gum. There is a controlled explosion rippling across the continent, and just because it is summer, does not mean it’s not real. 

Despite the efforts made toward the 100-billion-euro bailout of its banking system last month, Spain has not yet evaded a banking crisis at all. And it has not evaded its sovereign debt crisis. And its fiscal situation is worsening because the Spanish people are freaking out about the fourth in a series of harsh austerity measures. The regional government system in Spain is also getting worse, with Valencia needing a bailout now and Catalan soon to follow. 

READ MORE:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/darkening-skies-over-europe-2012-08-01?link=MW_story_popular

The depression is here — it’s just invisible

Commentary: The crash wasn’t sudden, but it’s still a tragedy

DENVER (MarketWatch) — The Great Depression that Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke claims to have averted has been part of the background radiation of our economy since at least 2008.  

It’s just that like radiation — it’s invisible. 

We’ve called it the recovery, the jobless recovery, the slogging recovery and more recently the fading recovery. We’ve measured modest growth in our nation’s gross domestic product to record that our so-called Great Recession ended in June 2009. And now we are saying that if this disappointing growth suddenly disappears, as currently feared, we will be in a new recession.

Unemployed men in February 1931 queue outside a soup kitchen opened in Chicago by Al Capone.

There is nothing more depressing than hearing about a new recession when you haven’t fully recovered from the last one. I take heart in suspecting that in a still-distant future, historians will look back with clarity and call this whole rotten period a depression.

The precise definition of a depression, of course, remains as debatable as anything else in the field of economics. By some definitions, it is a long-term slump in economic activity, often characterized by unusually high unemployment, a banking crisis, a sovereign-debt crisis, surprising bankruptcies and other horrible symptoms we can find in the headlines almost every day. 

READ MORE:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-depression-is-here-its-just-invisible-2012-08-01?link=MW_story_investinginsight

The Real Crash is dead ahead as 2008 is forgotten

Commentary: Ironically, you’ll win by buying banks now

 

SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. (MarketWatch) — “Facebook will become the poster child for the current social-media bubble,” warns economist Gary Shilling in his latest Forbes column, “just as Pets.com was for the dot-com bubble.” Yes, Wall Street is repeating the 2000 dot-com crash as today’s social-media bubble crashes and burns. 

 

 Think history folks: Remember 2000-2002? The economy suffered a 30-month recession and a brutal bear market. The Dow Jones Industrial Average peaked at 11,722, then crashed, losing over 4,000 points dropping below 7,500, down more than 43%, with massive losses of more than $8 trillion in market cap. 

But it gets worse: Shilling’s bluntly warning: “If we aren’t already in a recession, we’re getting very close.” Yes, he’s more reserved than Nobel economist Paul Krugman, whose latest book goes beyond hinting that the America economy is repeating the 2000-2002 recession, His title says it all: “End This Depression Now!”

READ MORE:  http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-real-crash-is-dead-ahead-as-2008-is-forgotten-2012-07-31?pagenumber=1

 

Nine Great American Companies That Will Never Recover

Many American companies have been lauded for their rapid rise to greatness, a process that sometimes takes less than a decade. These firms become leaders in their industries, are renowned for innovation, phenomenal growth, and, in the case of public corporations, their soaring share prices. Google Inc. (NASDAQ: GOOG) usually makes the list, as does Apple Inc. (NASDAQ: AAPL). At the other end of the scale are well-known firms that are so crippled they go bankrupt or disappear entirely. Recently, these have included AMR, the parent of American Airlines, Borders, and Eastman Kodak.

Somewhere in the middle — between the companies that do phenomenally well and those that fail — are ones that were once leaders in their industries but have fallen hopelessly behind. They may remain in business for years or even decades after their best days. Their executives struggle to find better strategies, and often their boards seek new management. But, in the case of companies that fall permanently into trouble and well behind the leaders in their industries, the chance of a turnaround has passed. Competitors have taken too much market share, and often have stronger balance sheets. Or, their products and services are no longer in demand because of changes in the overall economy or the sectors in which they operate.

READ MORE:  http://247wallst.com/2012/08/01/nine-great-american-companies-which-will-never-recover/?utm_source=247WallStDailyNewsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_content=AUG012012A&utm_campaign=DailyNewsletter

Rationing Begins: States Limiting Drug Prescriptions for Medicaid Patients

(CNSNews.com) – Sixteen states have set a limit on the number of prescription drugs they will cover for Medicaid patients, according to Kaiser Health News.

Seven of those states, according to Kaiser Health News, have enacted or tightened those limits in just the last two years.

Medicaid is a federal program that is carried out in partnership with state governments. It forms an important element of President Barack Obama's health-care plan because under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act--AKA Obamcare--a larger number of people will be covered by Medicaid, as the income cap is raised for the program.

READ MORE:  http://cnsnews.com/news/article/rationing-begins-states-limiting-drug-prescriptions-medicaid-patients

Eurozone unemployment hits record high, while Mario Monti sees 'light at the end of tunnel'

Unemployment across the recession-hit eurozone hit 11.2pc in June. 

EU data agency Eurostat said the seasonally-adjusted rate was the same as an upwardly-revised May toll but noted another 123,000 people lost their jobs going into the European summer, bringing the total to nearly 18m, more than 2m up on a year earlier.

Marking a 14th successive monthly rise, analysts noted a cumulative rise of 2.248m people since that series began in April last year, with London-based Howard Archer of IHS Global Insight warning that the unemployment rate "now looks odds-on" to cross 11.5pc by the end of the year, with "a very real danger" of reaching 12pc next year.

In Germany, the Federal Labour Agency said raw or unadjusted unemployment also rose sharply in July, with the total number of people out of work up by 66,800 on June at 2.88m.

READ MORE:  http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financialcrisis/9440579/Eurozone-unemployment-hits-record-high-while-Mario-Monti-sees-light-at-the-end-of-tunnel.html

 

Examiner Local Editorial: Fauquier County steps over the line

Farmers in Fauquier County are planning to bring their pitchforks to an Aug. 2 hearing before the Board of Zoning Appeals to protest the arbitrary treatment of one of their own. On April 30, Zoning Administrator Kimberley Johnson sent Martha Boneta an official cease-and-desist notice for selling farm products and hosting a birthday party for her best friend's 10-year-old daughter on her 70-acre Paris, Va., farm without a special administrative permit.

Johnson threatened to fine Boneta $5,000 per violation if she did not stop the alleged unlawful activities within 30 days. In doing so, Boneta's fellow farmers say, Johnson stepped far beyond her authority. They're supporting her appeal before the BZA because they rightly fear that left unchecked, this infringement on one farmer's freedom to make a living will spread to other agricultural enterprises like a dangerous pest.

READ MORE:  http://washingtonexaminer.com/examiner-local-editorial-fauquier-county-steps-over-the-line/article/2503450