naked capitalism Fri 2010-09-17 09:55 EDT

Having Hollowed Out IT in the US, Indian Outsourcers Complain Re Difficulty of Finding US Staff

Lordie, if this isn't disingenuous, I don't know what is. From the Financial Times: US universities are producing too few engineers to meet industry demand, Indian outsourcing companies say, leaving such businesses little choice but to hire foreign skilled workers to fill jobs in America...[copious valuable commentary: US software industry; technology careers]

find; hollow; Indian Outsourcers Complain Re Difficulty; naked capitalism; staff.

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis Fri 2010-07-16 18:59 EDT

Expect Second-Half Housing and Durable Goods Crash

Michael Shedlock

Those who think manufacturing is going to lead the way to a sustainable recovery need to think again. Data suggest durable goods sales are about to collapse...if consumers are not going to be buying appliances (or cars according recent surveys), and if commercial real estate is going to remain in the dumps, technology spending is likely unsustainable, and states will be laying off workers to balance budgets, pray tell where is the second half growth or jobs coming from? Here's a hint: Don't expect miracles from further stimulus either. The current Congress is not much in the mood and the next Congress is likely to be downright hostile to significantly more deficit spending. All things considered, earnings estimates and the stock market are both priced well beyond perfection, as are forward GDP estimates.

Durable Goods Crash; expectations; Housing; Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis.

Thu 2009-11-19 10:14 EST

Business & Technology | Part two | WaMu: Hometown bank turned predatory | Seattle Times Newspaper

David Heath

What few people knew was that bank executives crafted a radical new business strategy in 2003 that was intended to boost profits. The new WaMu used huge sales commissions and misleading marketing to hawk risky and overpriced loans to borrowers. In short, WaMu became one of the nation's biggest predatory lenders. The strategy eventually failed, not only bringing down Washington Mutual but deceiving borrowers, costing thousands their homes. In particular, the bank promoted as its "signature loan" a complex product known as the option ARM. This adjustable-rate mortgage, much like a credit card, gave borrowers the choice of making low minimum payments. But that option didn't cover the interest and only dug them deeper into debt.

business; Hometown bank turned predatory; part; Seattle Times Newspaper; Technology; WaMu.

Thu 2009-11-19 10:12 EST

Business & Technology | Part one | Reckless strategies doomed WaMu | Seattle Times Newspaper

Drew DeSilver

In its headlong pursuit of growth, WaMu systematically dismantled or weakened the internal controls meant to prevent the bank from taking on too much risk -- the very standards and practices that had helped it grow in the first place. WaMu's riskiest loans raked in money from high fees, but because the bank skimped on making sure borrowers could repay them, they eventually failed at disastrously high rates. As loans went bad, they sucked massive amounts of cash that WaMu needed to stay in business. WaMu's subprime home loans failed at the highest rates in nation. Foreclosure rates for subprime loans made from 2005 to 2007 -- the peak of the boom -- were calamitous. In the 10 hardest-hit cities, more than a third of WaMu subprime loans went into foreclosure.

business; part; Reckless Strategies Doomed WaMu; Seattle Times Newspaper; Technology.

zero hedge Sun 2009-10-11 16:45 EDT

Interview With A Mad Hedge Fund Trader

...Mad Hedge: Stay away from natural gas. The volatility will kill you. If you are a masochist, then buy it only when it's cheap, on big dips, in the $3/MBTU range. In the last three years, thanks to the new ``fracting'' technology used in oil shales, we have discovered a 100 year supply of natural gas sitting under the US, and the producers have not been able to cut back fast enough. So now we have a supply glut, and we are almost out of storage. This is what took us down from $13 to $2.40 in 18 months. The lack of hurricanes has not helped demand either. Producers have been cutting back like crazy, trying to balance supply and demand, with a breakeven point of $2. They need a cold winter to help bring things back into balance. If the industry gets organized, then gas can become the 20 year bridge we need, until energy alternatives kick in. That makes me a big supporter of the ``Pickens Plan.''

interview; Mad Hedge Fund Trader; Zero Hedge.

The Realignment Project Tue 2009-09-22 12:31 EDT

Making the Public (Transit) Beautiful

One of the rhetorical strategies of the economic right's cultural politics is to associate the free market with individual pleasure, aesthetic beauty, and technological progress, while associating the public sector with the oppression of the crowd, the spartan ugliness of ``civil service issue,'' and general associations with low-quality, outmoded, cheap machinery...the car, a luxury commodity associated with wealth and prestige, is an extension of your (now much cooler) person, it's fast and futuristic, and it's well-designed and new...By contrast, the dominant media image of mass transit plays up its worst qualities as a social nightmare: it's crowded, claustrophobic, there's no privacy and people and bumping into you, it's noisy and smells terrible, maybe it's dangerous, you're getting delayed again, this is what you take to get where you have to go, not where you want to go. And part of the cultural work of the left in championing the cause of the public must be to counter-act this kind of imagery. Because the public can and should be beautiful.

beauty; makes; public; Realignment Project; transition.

The Realignment Project Tue 2009-09-22 09:00 EDT

Public Virtues -- Part 3 (Institutional Continuity)

The Realignment Project

...all companies have to focus on the short-term. But the same is not true for the public sector....public institutions are not bound by the business cycle...government can act as the ultimate venture capitalist, making investments that might not pay off for decades to come, and it's a role that only the public sector can play...American governments at all levels have enjoyed huge success as extreme long-term venture capitalists in infrastructure and technology.

Institutional continues; Part 3; public virtues; Realignment Project.

naked capitalism Sun 2009-09-13 15:59 EDT

Another Lehman Mess: No One Can Run the Software

Lehman's global derivatives book included contracts with a notional face value of $39,000bn and deals with 8,000 different counterparties when it went bust. The derivatives business was actually split into multiple strands, backed up by between 20 and 30 different systems. Once it went bankrupt, the staff who supported these systems "evaporated"...The more time goes by, the less insight remains in terms of the people who staffed those systems...Many previously hidden costs of running a derivatives business, including technology support of multiple disjointed systems, can no longer be discounted.

Lehman Mess; naked capitalism; running; software.

Steve Keen's Debtwatch Sun 2009-08-30 20:48 EDT

Debtwatch No. 38: The GFC--Pothole or Mountain?

Cassander

``The Marxian view is that capitalistic economies are inherently unstable and that excessive accumulation of capital will lead to increasingly severe economic crises. Growth theory, which has proved to be empirically successful, says this is not true.'' wrote Economics Nobel Prize winner Edward C. Prescott. Prescott also claimed ``the Great Depression was a conscious choice by American workers to enjoy more leisure, in response to unspecified changes in the labour market'' Apparently debt played no role. The capitalistic economy is stable, and absent some change in technology or the rules of the economic game, the [...]

38; Debtwatch; GFC; Mountain; Potholes; Steve Keen's Debtwatch.

Tue 2008-06-17 00:00 EDT

The Institutional Risk Analyst: The Vigorish of OTC: Interview with Martin Mayer

The Vigorish of OTC: Interview with Martin Mayer; former DTCC CEO Jill Considine; Jerry Corrigan; Keating Five; "a lot of what is called innovative is simply a way to find new technology to do what has been forbidden with the old technology"; "Banks globally have been miserable failures when it comes to combining investment and commercial banking"

Institutional Risk Analyst; interview; Martin Mayer; OTC; Vigorish.

Fri 2008-01-04 00:00 EST

naked capitalism: "Business growth is not an end in itself"

"people could enjoy the fruits of technological progress with a mixture of increased leisure and a more congenial and relaxed working life"

business growth; ending; naked capitalism.