Polygraph Instructor Teaches Criminals How to Cheat Polygraph
The government is charging a 69-year-old man for running a business teaching individuals how to successfully cheat federally administered lie detector tests. Accused of mail fraud and obstruction of justice, Doug Williams is hitting back, however, believing it is his life's mission to teach people how to trick the machines.
A Tale of Two Economies -- It Was the Better of Times, It Was the Worst of Times
by Paul Kasriel, The Econtrarian
As quantitative easing comes to an end (apparently) by the Fed and is taken up by the European Central Bank (ECB), let's compare the behavior of nominal domestic demand in each central bank's economy and venture a reason for any differences.
Read more >>
Market Commentary: FMOC Minutes Lack Inspiration, Major Averages Remain In Red
Closing Market Commentary For 11-19-2014
Afternoon trading was, again, more or less sideways and within a narrow zone except for the FMOC minutes release. The averages went up fractionally, then down and finally back up to where they were prior to the report. All in all, the minutes were somewhat of a washout relative to market expectations
By 4 pm the averages were all in the red with the DOW flat, the small caps off -0.4% and the $RUT down nearly -1.0%. Volume was near anemic and no last minute push either way, obviously investors are concerned about future market direction.
What We Read Today 19 November 2014
Econintersect: Every day our editors collect the most interesting things they find from around the internet and present a summary "reading list" which will include very brief summaries (and sometimes longer ones) of why each item has gotten our attention. Suggestions from readers for "reading list" items are gratefully reviewed, although sometimes space limits the number included.
- Comet team detects organic molecules, basis of life on Earth (Victoria Bryan, Reuters) In the limited data received from the comet 67P lander Philae before its batteries ran down were measurements indicating the presence of organic (carbon containing) molecules), essential precursors for the creation of life as we know it on earth. It is not clear yet if the data will be able to determine how complex the carbon material is, whether it could contain proteins, for example.
Market Commentary: Averages Off Session Lows And Trending Sideways
Midday Market Commentary For 11-19-2014
Markets have recovered fractionally from the morning lows, but still remain in the red. The noontime trend is up, but is now not expected to rise into the green anytime this session as volume is falling to sometimes anemic levels.
By noon the averages had recovered half of the morning losses and appeared to have started a sideways trading movement. Investors are obviously sitting on their collective hands.
Recent News From Xinyuan Real Estate Not Good, BUT-
by Elliott Morss, Morss Global Finance
Introduction
Xinyuan (NYSE:XIN) announced its third quarter results last week and they were not good. Following the announcement, some continue to support the company while others do not. To get a balanced and current view of the company, I read with care the earnings call transcript of its third quarter results as well as its latest SEC filing. Below, I present the bad news, some perspective, and the good news.
Market Commentary: Markets Open Down, $VIX Trending Up
Opening Market Commentary For 11-19-2014
Premarkets were down -0.1% for most of the morning and immediately dropped another 0.1% at the opening. The averages started trading up giving hope to a recovery from the opening fractionally loss, but the trend became a down one.
By 10 am the averages were slowly trending down on low volume and the $VIX is trending up.
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Residential Building Sector Again Mixed in October 2014, But Long Term Growth Still Trending Down
Written by Steven Hansen
Residential building permits were a mixed bag. Although the amount of permits was higher than completions this month - the amount of permits continues to trend down.
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The Long-Term Unemployed and the Wages of New Hires
by Rob Dent, Samuel Kapon, Fatih Karahan, Benjamin W. Pugsley, and Aysegul Sahin - Liberty Street Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of New York
[Final post in a three part series] This is the third in a series of blog posts on the topic of measuring labor market slack. In this post, we assess the relationships between short- and long-term unemployment and wages by comparing the differences in states' experiences over the business cycle. While all states felt the impact of the Great Recession, some fared better than others. Consequently, it is possible to use differences in the composition and shifts of short- and long-term unemployment to determine whether short-term unemployment exerts a greater influence on wage determination. The results suggest that there is little difference in how long-term and short-term unemployment affect wages, and as a consequence, the long-term unemployed shouldn't be dismissed when evaluating labor market slack.
Why Lower Oil Prices Won't Kill the Renewable Energy Boom
Money Morning Article of the Week
by Kent Moor, Money Morning
Whenever oil prices drop, everyone always wonders how it will affect wind and solar power.
It follows from the traditional assumption that renewables like these are only competitive when oil and natural gas prices are high.
After all, the early stages of wind and solar power came with a hefty front-loaded price tag, requiring massive government subsidies to both producers and end users to get off the ground.
Read more >>
Civilizations
Written by Frank Li
In a previous post, I presented a framework called 'WMDs, Germs, and Economies' (WMDs, Germs, and Economies: Part I). This post will delve a little deeper in the middle layer, focusing on civilizations.
First of all, what is a civilization?
The Most Expensive Divorces in History
from Felix Richter, Statista.com
by Niall McCarthy
Breaking up tends to be difficult, even more so if you're super wealthy.
Traders Cafe Charged With Being Depository to Steal Day Traders Funds
from the Securities and Exchange Commission
The Securities and Exchange Commission today charged an unregistered broker living outside Tampa, Fla., with stealing investor funds as part of a fraudulent day trading scheme.
Young Workers Say Finding a Job is Still Heavily Based on Personal Connections
from the Federal Reserve
The Federal Reserve Board on Tuesday published a new report, based on its 2013 Survey of Young Workers, that provides insight into numerous labor market topics, including the educational attainment, work experience, and expectations of adults aged 18 to 30.
Infographic of the Day: Finding the Cheapest Air Fares
Before you book that flight, here's what you may need to know about the best times to fly, the worst airports to fly into and more.
Serbia, Pakistan Cut Rates as Commodity Prices Drop
Monetary Policy Week in Review 10-15 November 2014
by Peter Nielsen, Central Bank News
The central banks of Serbia and Pakistan cut their rates last week as the fall in global commodity prices from waning demand is leading to disinflation.
The drop in commodity prices picked up speed in October with the International Monetary Fund's (IMF) index down a sharp 6.42 percent, continuing the decline seen since June.
Investing.com Technical Summary 18 November 2014
Investing.com Technical Analysis (as of Tue, 18 November 2014 05:00pm EDT)
by Investing.com Staff, Investing.com
Below, technical overviews and analysis for key stock indices, commodities and
currency pairs, based on market activity at the close of the 18 November 2014 U.S. session. This information is a comprehensive summary derived from simple and exponential moving averages along with key technical indicators shown for specific time intervals.
Austerity Budgeting hasn't Worked for George Osborne, and It Won't Work for Ed Balls
by John Weeks, The Conversation
Those of us that follow the mainstream media encounter information but few genuine insights. Recently one jumped off the page at me in a Financial Times piece. In an otherwise undistinguished endorsement of budget cutting, the article tells us that: 'the next election is again set to be dominated by austerity', but that: 'this is not the impression anyone would receive from listening to recent political rhetoric'.
How Crowdsourcing Helped Bring Red Cross Problems to Light
Special Report from ProPublica
by Stephen Engelberg, ProPublica
Over the past decade, journalistic innovators and reformers have eagerly awaited a future in which the wisdom of the crowd would identify potential subjects for investigative reporting. That hope was bolstered by some undeniable achievements. Thousands of volunteer software developers created programs like Linux and Firefox, used by millions of people. Volunteer authors created a dynamic, online encyclopedia - Wikipedia - that dwarfs any previous compendium of human knowledge. The "crowd" curates Kickstarter, a new means of steering small-dollar philanthropy to artistic and commercial projects. A plethora of websites bring us movie, product and restaurant reviews written by an army of amateur critics.
Next-Gen Consoles Revive Video Game Hardware Sales
by Felix Richter, Statista.com
Almost exactly one year ago, on November 15, 2013, we entered the next generation of gaming as Sony released the PlayStation 4 in the United States.
