The Stimulus is Working, The Stimulus is Working!

The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 200 points today after the government reported that "third-quarter gross domestic product rose at a seasonally adjusted 3.5% annual rate." I suppose we have to dig deeper into what constitutes "seasonally adjusted" and "annual rate." When did all of the government reporting switch to "seasonally adjusted" data. Is it like daylight savings time for numbers? We spring them forward then adjust them back?

Anyway, it was enough for Wall Street to get excited about having watched the index close down over 100 points three times this week. All of the GDP excitement was not enough to lift it back over 10,000 points though, it currently stands at 9963. I am sure it will reach there tomorrow and then drop back next week continuing the mad triple digit flip-flopping that has characterized the market lately. Investors are back to over-reacting to every smidgen of "good" news and every smidgen of "bad" news. In my opinion, some of this news wasn't worth any movement at all.

The GDP figures adds more fuel to the "recession is over" fire despite the economic crisis still unfolding on the employment and housing fronts. This can only mean one thing, the stimulus package must be working because consumers have not returned to driving the economy at their usual rate unless they are handed $4,500 to buy a new car or $8,000 to buy a first house.

Goldman Sachs

Goldman Sachs' posting of a $2,000,000,000 profit during the second quarter, even after repaying the the $10,000,000,000 TARP loans to the Treasury definitely raises the ire of the common folk. Even I, as rational as I try to be, immediately threw up the moniker "Goldman Sucks" after parsing the news. No matter how you slice it, it just doesn't smell right.

Why is Goldman now considered the strongest bank in the United States? Could it be that the former Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, Jr was previously the Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs? Wasn't it Paulson who designed the $700,000,0o0,000 TARP plan and urgently shoved it down Bush's and Congress' throat - Bail out the financial industry or the United States economy would collapse? Didn't AIG funnel Goldman some $12,000,000,000+ out of the $167,000,000,000 in bailout funds it received? I guess Goldman paid back the Taxpayers with Taxpayer dollars while we wait for AIG to repay those funds, if ever. How is that for financial engineering? Also, in this whole conflict of interest financial conflagration Goldman became a bank allowing it to borrow billions from the Federal Reserve at 0%. Has it repaid these funds? How much did it value its toxic assets with the suspension of the mark-to-market accounting rule? I guess I'll just value my house at $1,000,000 because I say it is. Oh look I am rich.

Certainly there must be positive elements in all of this manuevering but it will be a stretch to get me to acknowledge or accept them.

School's In For Summer

Today, I finally started school. O Happy Day! This first 8 hours of class, yes, 8 hours, only 3 times a week though, gives one an immediate satisfaction of accomplishment. Career Development education is an excellent remedy for the unemployed blues. The opportunity to add a valuable, marketable boost to one's resume, especially in this extremely competitive job market, should bring out the inner sunshine of any dispirited soul. You can't beat it!

In fact, I learned today that there is a special program for those who were employed in any of the top financial services firms in New York. They get a whopping $11,000 each for career development training. So, if you are one of those lucky 50 or 100 thousand people laid off, there is money for you to learn. I am not one of those but I still got a deal so there is no excuse. Let them misspend some of that stimulus money on you!

Anyhow, due to my new summer schedule, this would be a fine time for me to learn the art of true blogging; brevity. I should stop now, right?