Glad this week is winding down

I've had a helluva week. Put in close to 70 hours working, on top of studying for the GMAT.

I took that today, scored 43 quant, 44 verbal, 710 overall. Should be good enough to get into any school I want.

Gun laws and crime

A new study has come out that says states with less restrictive gun laws tend to have more gun related deaths and more guns that are used in crime in general, in that state or out.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/04/AR2008120403333.html

 

I'm not going to deny that this is probably true.  If you can't buy a gun easily, you are less likely to use it. 

 

The study is interest, no matter what you views but I think we should all keep in mind that guns are also used frequently in self defense.

The UAW's big, fat, pickle

The UAW is getting ready to make concessions so that Ford, GM, and Chrysler survive.  These changes include:

• Eliminating the JOBS bank, which pays workers to not work.  This will immediately get rid of 3,600 people who are getting money to sit on their asses.
• Delaying payment into a fund that will take care of healthcare costs for retirees.
• They have already given lower level benefits and pay to entry level workers.

Overall, these changes will spur the end of unionized auto labor in the United States.  With these cuts in benefits, newly hired UAW workers will be making effectively the same amount of money as non-union workers in places like Alabama and Texas who work for Toyota and Hyundai.  What incentive is there to keep a union, when this is the case?  Also, the employees of the Asian automakers are eligible for bonuses, something the UAW workers are not.

The union is caught in a catch-22.  Make no concessions, the carmakers go under, the union is gone.  Make concessions, reduce the need for the union, the union is gone.  

Murdoch's Embarrassment

Rupert Murdoch, owner of all things Fox, is apparently embarrassed by Fox News, especially Mr. O'Reilly.  In a new biography, in which the author was given a good deal of access to the media mogul, such things are coming to light.  He even would like to sell Fox News, but the Republican Party doesn't have enough money left over.  :-) 

But will there be any filibusters?

Senator Chambliss has won re-election in Georgia, one of the few Republicans to win nationwide.  The Democrats will not have 60 senators this session, meaning they will not have enough to override a filibuster.  But will the GOP even try it?  

What are they going to filibuster, universal healthcare?  That would be the death of them if anything else.  64% of Americans favor it, 12% more than Obama's vote total.

So that filibuster is off the table.  What else is there?  Thoughts?

Automakers bring different strategies, needs

Today was quite interesting and telling when it comes to the current states of GM, Ford, and Chrysler.  

First the bad news.  The bailout goes way above the initial $25B, it could easily top $40B.

Chrysler: Want something around $7-8B.  No real plans other than that.  There are some vague mentions of electric vehicles, but Chrysler's bottom line is that its bottom line is quite bad.  It will only have $2.5B at the end of the year.  They feel if they do not receive the loan by Jan 1, they may go under.  Their CEO, Robert Nardelli, supposedly already makes $1* a year.

GM: Want up to $18B, but at least $12B, with $4B by the end of the year.  GM wants to kill Saab, Saturn, and possibly Pontiac, though Pontiac may be refocused as a "performance brand", whatever that means.  Cheap, fast cars?  I agree with dumping all three.  Saab is kind of interesting, but nobody buys them.  Saturn was interesting until a few years ago when GM closed the TN plant and turned Saturn into copies of other vehicles.  GM's plan also calls for dealer reductions, $1* a year pay to Rick Wagoner, and UAW renegotiations.  And how exactly can they renegotiate with the UAW when they have all that cash?

Ford: Ford is asking for access to a $9B loan that they hope not to use.  They predict a return to profitability in 2011, although a long recession or a bankruptcy by GM or Chrysler would hurt them and could turn that $9B maybe into a $14B bailout.  At least they seem to be willing to go it on their own.  They plan to convert many of their truck/SUV factories to make small cars.  They plan on cutting their dealer network, and also raising their fuel economies by up to 36% in a few years.  If they take the assistance, their CEO Alan Mulally will take a $1* salary.

*Plus stock options

Using technology to bridge religious divides

An Israeli company is now selling a copy of the Koran that will fit on mobile phones. Yes, the owner of the company is Jewish. If that wasn't enough irony for you, try this: the ultra orthodox Jews aren't allowed to use the internet at all, so they aren't able to access the Torah on this type of service. Oh well, they still get to wear those cool black hats.

The Christian Bible is available as well.

The Muslim-Israelis seem to be happy with the service, even when they know who is selling it, so I'd say this is definitely a step in the right direction.

Now all we got to do is get everybody to eat bacon and get along.

Amazon's demand pricing

Amazon has an interest pricing scheme. I have seen glimpses of it here and there, since certain products tend to get cheaper at certain times of the year. But today I have a concrete example.

Take this item, for instance. A nice decorative bowl, that I am purchasing for a family member. I added it to my cart yesterday, noting that there were 2 left. The price was about $17.50, give or take a few cents. I added a few things to my cart last night and left it there. This evening, I opened up the cart to make final changes and purchase everything in bulk (to get free shipping). Amazon notified me that the price had fallen to $15.64 (possibly because I had kept it there for a while?). I ended up buying it, leaving 1 left in stock. Amazon promptly raised the price on the 1 remaining bowl to $32.58 where it remains now.

The likely reason for this, is that Amazon wants to make sure there is sufficient demand in order to justify purchasing more of these, which may be a somewhat obsure item.

Ford to go small

Ford, the healthiest of the Small 3, plans to go small and import fuel efficient cars it sells in Europe. Maybe the Ka, which is kind of cool. Or something else. They also plan big cuts to their CEO's pay who, by the way, is driving from Detroit to DC tomorrow.

*Disclosure: Today I bought 200 shares of Ford to make some money off the bailout.

Family Values and Gay Adoption

Over at Reason is a very good article on why family values should really mean that: valuing family and doing what's right for children.  Not what your fairy-tale religion says is good or bad.

Now or never for Small 3

This week the leaders of the small three will go to DC and beg for money to save their industries.  The UAW is considering further negotiations, which will make them quite useless.  If they cut anymore benefits, the small three workers' salaries will be comparable to Toyota or Honda.  

"Black" Friday no more

This past Friday is traditionally known as "black" Friday, in which retailers who have been operating at a loss (in the red) for the year have big sales and manage to get into profitable (or black) territory.  

Likely not the story this year, per current reports.  It seems that shoppers did go out but that they did not purchase very much outside of the super deals that are likely loss leaders.  

I went shopping on Friday.  I went to Macy's but did not see anything worth buying at the time, and I bought a firewire cable at Best Buy to use one-time and then return.  I went back to Macy's on Saturday and bought a bed comforter for $75, but the normal price was $200.  All in all, I did not buy much.

Maybe "cyber Monday" will be better.  That's tomorrow, when all the workers return and buy things online.  I plan on doing most of my Christmas shopping on Amazon this year, but I still wouldn't touch that stock.

Speaking of stocks, with this news, that there was no good surprise in holiday sales, I expect the market to drop on Monday.  May be a good time to pickup a few stocks.  That's been my plan for the past week.