U.S. Postal Service and Fannie Mae Losses Billions

UPDATE 1-US Postal Service loses $3.5 bln in third quarter | Reuters


The U.S. Postal Service reported a quarterly net loss of $3.5 billion on Thursday and said it will likely have a cash shortfall going into 2011.

The agency, which delivers nearly half the world's mail, has reported net losses in 14 of the last 16 fiscal quarters.

Revenue in the third quarter that ended June 30 fell $294 million to $16 billion from a year ago, while expenses were $789 million higher at $19.5 billion, due largely to higher workers' compensation costs and retiree health benefits.

"Given current trends, we will not be able to pay all 2011 obligations," said Joseph Corbett, the agency's chief financial officer.

Mail Carriers waiting to deliver the mail.

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Fannie Mae Seeks $1.5 Billion From U.S. Treasury After 12th Straight Loss

Fannie Mae, the mortgage-finance company operating under federal conservatorship, is seeking $1.5 billion in aid from the U.S. Treasury Department after a 12th straight quarterly loss.


Fannie Mae had a loss of $1.2 billion in the second quarter, compared with a loss of $14.8 billion in the same period a year earlier, it said today in a filing to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Washington-based company posted more than $147 billion in losses in the preceding 11 quarters, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.


The Treasury Department seized Fannie Mae and McLean, Virginia-based Freddie Mac, the biggest sources of U.S. mortgage funding, in September of 2008 and has spent $145 billion already to keep them solvent. In April, the Treasury and Department of Housing and Urban Development asked for public comment on how to fix the funding system after the companies’ losses on subprime mortgages pushed them to the brink of collapse.
The government-sponsored enterprises own or guarantee more than half the $11 trillion U.S. residential debt market. Freddie hasn’t yet disclosed second-quarter results.



Change you can believe in.


President Barack Obama has repeatedly claimed that his budget would cut the deficit by half by the end of his term. But as Heritage analyst Brian Riedl has pointed out, given
that Obama has already helped quadruple the deficit with his stimulus
package, pledging to halve it by 2013 is hardly ambitious. The Washington Post has a great graphic which helps put President Obama’s budget deficits in context of President Bush’s.





Remember According to President Obama, President Bush got us in this situation. President had noting to do with it.

Bernanke, debt limit, budget deficit, dollar


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President Obama Grew Deficit by $181 billion in July.
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Democrats say, Bush likely to pay.

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Gulf oil spill disappearing by fast-breeding bacterial microbes

Gulf oil spill: Where has the oil gone? - CSMonitor.com

Since BP capped the renegade Macondo well at the center of the Gulf oil disaster 12 days ago, the oil slick has shrunk to about 10,000 square miles from 80,000 square miles in just a matter of weeks.

The reduction has amazed scientists who are tracking the spill and raised many questions about where all the oil has gone. An 800-vessel skimming fleet that weeks ago pulled in 25,000 barrels of oil a day could barely find 50 barrels a day late last week. That means much of the up to 3 million barrels suspected to be remaining in the Gulf has largely gone off the radar.

It's clear the Gulf is doing what Louisiana State University biologist Ed Overton calls "Mother Nature's work" in breaking down the patchy oil. Oil-eating bacterial microbes are working at a fast pace. But scientists are still unsure of the longer term environmental impact. Many fishermen are convinced that much of the oil is suspended in the water column or has drifted to the bottom, where it's impacting oyster beds, crab herds, and spawning fish schools.

As oil now becomes harder to find, BP is considering whether to shift the Vessels of Opportunity program, a BP initiative that's employed hundreds of out-of-work fishing crews, from oil collection to oil detection missions in order to keep them working.

Nuke the oil spill: Could nuclear bomb be answer for huge leaks as at US Gulf coast?

In the next act of the drama of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, two of the most important heroes don't look like heroes. They are just thin green stalks, sticking out of grass too wet to stand on. They are cordgrass and wiregrass, common species that wave in the winds in south Louisiana's coastal marshes. Except, in some places, they aren't waving anymore: Where oil has sloshed into the marshes, their stalks are matted and gooey and on their way to death.

Thankfully, this is not wimpy grass.

Scientists say many oiled plants will simply shed dead stalks and put up new ones. If those are killed by another slug of oil, it will put up others.
It's already happening. One recent day, Alexander Kolker of the Louisiana Universities Marine Consortium went out onto the state's Barataria Bay to look at heavily oiled patches of grass. In among the black, he said, there were little spots of green.
New shoots, already pushing up through the oil. Mother nature at work.



Now they can not find the oil slick.

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Five Nations Urge Oil Producers to Boost Output.

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Family income falls 3.2% during Obama's first 15 months.

Income falls 3.2% during Obama's term - Washington Times

Real personal income for Americans - excluding government payouts such as Social Security - has fallen by 3.2 percent since President Obama took office in January 2009, according to the Commerce Department's Bureau of Economic Analysis.

For comparison, real personal income during the first 15 months in office for President George W. Bush, who inherited a milder recession from his predecessor, dropped 0.4 percent. Income excluding government payouts increased 12.7 percent during Mr. Bush's eight years in office.

"This is hardly surprising," said Douglas Holtz-Eakin, an economist and former director of the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office. "Under President Obama, only federal spending is going up; jobs, business startups, and incomes are all down. It is proof that the government can't spend its way to prosperity."

Construction slowdown

Two of the most populous states in the country reported dramatic declines: Per capita income in California dropped 3.5 percent to $42,325; in New York, the drop was 3.8 percent to $46,957.

"The evidence from New York and California reinforces a basic lesson: Where government gets too large, prosperity suffers. Let's hope that the Congress learns this lesson before it is too late for the country as a whole."

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama often derided Mr. Bush for what he said were dramatically falling incomes for workers.

"American families, since George Bush has been in office, have seen average family incomes go down $2,000," Mr. Obama said in a September 2008 speech on the economy in Green Bay, Wis.

And now with all the Federal spending under President Obama, family income is still falling. And all President Obama wants to do is spend, spend, spend your money. Your children's and grand children's money.

1/24/09: I will be transparent and you can hold my administration accountable.

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No job growthg until after President Obama's four years
Polls show public wary of deficit and Obama's economic intervention
Republicans rejecting Barack Obama's stimulus planTechnorati Tags: economy, income

Obama presures Congress for jobs bill as Stimulus program fails.

Latest Stimulus Report Fuels Jobs Pressure - WSJ.com

Recipients of economic-stimulus money said they had used the funds to pay 599,108 workers in the last quarter of 2009, fewer than the number of jobs they had reported to have created or saved in the first seven months after the plan was enacted.

The recipients' reports, published on the official government Web site recovery.gov late Saturday night, are likely to fuel further controversy over the impact of the $787 billion package, as Democrats seek to craft new jobs-creation proposals to address the country's continued, high jobless rate.

Many opinion polls suggest that most voters do not believe the current stimulus program, which was passed last February, is working.

Stimulus recipients previously reported that they had directly "created or saved" 640,329 jobs by September 30, 2009, but their filings were widely criticized after it emerged that some people had reported saving jobs when they had actually spent the money on pay raises or paying employees who were not in danger of being laid off.

Change you can believe in.

The White House Council of Economic Advisers has estimated that the plan has kept between 1.5 million and two million jobs in the economy through the end of 2009. In his State of the Union address to Congress last week, President Barack Obama said that "because of the steps we took, there are about two million Americans working right now who would otherwise be unemployed." A White House spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

On Feb. 11, 2009, Congress gave final approval to a $787 billion stimulus package requested by President Obama that was meant to bolster an economy that had been contracting rapidly in the wake of the credit crisis of the previous fall.

The bill had been bitterly resisted by Republicans — none voted for the measure in the House and only three did in the Senate — and several Republican governors, including Sarah Palin of Alaska and Mark Sanford of South Carolina, sought unsuccessfully to refuse some of the money sent their way. Conservative protestors regularly cited the bill's price tag as a sign that the Obama administration was running up unaffordable debt and was devoted to big government.

The economy grew at an annual rate of 5.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009. But well over half of that growth came from large adjustments to business inventories that are unlikely to be repeated on a similar scale in the months to come. As such, they are evidence that the sick economy is recovering, not that it is healthy.

Another chunk of growth was due to government stimulus spending, which will wane in 2010. Much of the recent upsurge in business purchases of equipment and software was likely due to a rush to take advantage of an investment tax break before it expired in December.

Unfortunately, with the economy already some 10 million jobs short, there is no job growth on the horizon robust enough to set that upward spiral in motion. And because the economy is already in such a deep hole, a second leg down would mean ever worsening hardship.

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Bank of America trying to get Government Obama off it's back.

Taxpayer will pay for Freddie Mac $5 Billion loss third quarter.

Federal Government will loose Billions from General Motors and Chrysler.

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Stimulus Report Accurate?

US economy rebounds growth dismal and poor.

Roubini Calls U.S. Growth ‘Dismal and Poor,’ Predicts Slowing - Bloomberg.com

New York University Professor Nouriel Roubini, who anticipated the financial crisis, called the fourth quarter surge in U.S. economic growth “very dismal and poor” because it relied on temporary factors.
Roubini said more than half of the 5.7 percent expansion reported yesterday by the government was related to a replenishing of inventories and that consumption depended on monetary and fiscal stimulus. As these forces ebb, growth will slow to just 1.5 percent in the second half of 2010, he said.
“The headline number will look large and big, but actually when you dissect it, it’s very dismal and poor,” Roubini told Bloomberg Television in an interview at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland. “I think we are in trouble.”

Saving every nickel and dime.

Payrolls fell by 85,000 last month after a 4,000 gain in November that was the first increase in almost two years. The U.S. has lost 7.2 million jobs since the start of the recession in December 2007, the most of any slowdown in the post-World War II era. The jobless rate held at 10 percent in December.

“Both consumers and businesses are beginning to increase spending. To get validation, we need to see a return in hiring, which we think we are going to get over the next few months.”

Obama this week said job creation will be the “number one focus in 2010.” Speaking during his first State of the Union address, Obama called on Congress to deliver a new jobs bill to his desk.

President Barack Obama has embraced a contradiction. He wants both a freeze of a lot of discretionary spending and a new “jobs” bill — which is made up entirely of new discretionary spending.

Before the House of Representatives’ recess last year, it passed, by a narrow 217-212 vote, a $155 billion stimulus bill to fund more “shovel-ready” projects and jobs for state and local government bureaucracies. Its passage raised a serious question that still must be answered. The $700-plus billion stimulus package that was passed in February has proved a failure in just about every way a piece of legislation can fail. Why continue on with a second stimulus or a new jobs bill?

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U.S. Retail sales looking good in April.

U.S. Recession over? Unemployment claims drop.

Job lost for first time since 2003.

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The U.S. Economy is Unsustainable

U.S. Retail Sales Looking Good In April.

U.S. Retail Sales Mixed In April





Monthly sales report better than expected.

According to a preliminary tally from Thomson Financial, 19 retailers beat estimates, while 9 missed. The tally is based on same-store sales, or business at stores open as least a year, they are considered a key indicator of a retailer's health.

Wal-Mart, which is rolling out more discounts, reported a 3.2 percent gain in same-store sales. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a 2.1 percent gain. Including fuel, same store sales climbed 3.8 percent.

The world's largest retailer said business was helped by strong sales in grocery and health items as well as entertainment products like flat-panel TV's, video games and game consoles. The company said apparel sales continued to recover, despite cold weather, but home furnishings sales were weak.

Rival Target Corp. posted a 3.1 percent gain in same-store, below the 4.5 percent estimate, as consumers shopped for necessities such as food and skipped higher-priced items such as jewelry.

Costco reported an 8 percent increase in same-store sales, surpassing the 6.1 percent estimate.

Among department stores Penney reported a 1.7 percent decline in same-store sales, though that was better than the 4.6 percent decline analysts expected. The top-performing merchandising areas in April were apparel and family footwear, while fine jewelry and home categories continued to experience weaker sales.

For a country that's in a recession our retail sale are pretty good. 19 retailers beat estimates 9 missed.That means that 68% of the retailers did better than expected. They did better than the analysts expected. That means the professional analysts were wrong 68 percent of the time in the month of April.

Now I would like you to read this article because even though the facts are positive the writers opinions are negative. When a writer has a agenda they will cover the good positive news with negative comments. So when you read an article look for the facts and throw away the trash.

2



Technorati Tags: Recession Economy Retail Sales

U.S. Recession Over? Unemployment Claims Drop.

Initial U.S. unemployment claims drop - UPI.com

First time claims for U.S. unemployment insurance declined during the week ending May 3, the U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday. The department said the 365,000 initial claims on the week was a decrease of 18,000 from the previous week's 383,000 initial claims.The four-week average increased by 2,500 to 364,000, the report said. The U.S. unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5 percent.

Looks like it is hard for the news media to report good economic news. They report that U.S. unemployment insurance declined during the week ending May 3rd. But thats not big news because the four week average increased and the unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5 percent.

Question, do you know who the unemployed are and which percentage are bread winners? The news media will push the idea that the 5 percent are head of house and must rely on their unemployment check to survive and can't find a job.

If I told you that almost half of the unemployed are teenagers would you believe me? It's true. Most of the unemployed are 17,18 and 19 years old and I would guess they still live with their parents. The news media and the mainstream economist wants to push the recession because they have an agenda. But the facts show we are still growing.
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U.S. stock market, good time for bargains

For the average investor, the U.S. stock market is looking downright scary. One day it's plummeting. The next day it's soaring. But for an aggressive investor such as Josh Wilburn of Odenton, Md., there is nothing to fear. "I like it," Wilburn said. " you get some very rare opportunities when this happens. I don't know how low things will go, but there will be bargains." When it comes to investing, what one person might consider a lost, another might consider a potential gain. As the renowned investor and philanthropist Shelby Davis once said: "You make most of your money in a bear market. You just don't realize it at the time. And though it might seem counterintuitive, said Robert Moon, a senior adviser in the Smith Barney Citigroup Family Office, buy the clunkers. "Time and again, it has been proven that the way to accumulate wealth in the market is to buy assets when they are in distress." By Nancy Trajos, The Washington Post.

Many times the news media quotes the falling of the stock market as evidence that the economy is heading toward a recession. But according to Shelby Davis this is the time where you find bargains and make money. This is called a bear market and last an average of 14 months. If you bought stock at the market peak, and then it falls in a bear market, it would have taken you an average of 3.6 years to recover your money. Don"t let the market scare you. When it goes down, look for bargains. This is where you will make most of your money. If you bought at the peak and you see your investment going down. become a cowboy and hold on for the ride looking for bargains. And most of all, don't let any politician scare you that the economy is heading to a recession by looking at the stock market. All he or she wants is for you to put them in office promising that they can make the market go up. Why can't they make the market or economy go up now? Why can't they share what they know now? Why do we have to make a person President before they can solve a problem?


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Global Economic Slowdown Predicted by G7 Countries.

Finance leaders from the world's wealthiest nations warned Saturday that global economic woes could get worse from the slump in the U.S. housing market, but offered few specific remedies. In a statement issued after meeting in Tokyo, the finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 7 industrialized nations offered a more pessimistic view of the global economy than they did four months ago, after their last meeting. But they also said the fundamental elements of the global economy remained strong and the United States would probably avoid recession. Members urged China to absorb more imports by raising the value of its currency, which would make foreign goods cheaper for Chinese consumers. They also called on oil producing nations to help cut energy prices by raising output. Some warned that higher fuel and food costs could cause global inflation. By Martin Fackler, 2008, The New York Times.

Now when President Bush, on January 16th of this year, asked OPEC to increase oil production in order to help our economy, Hillary Clinton called Bush's efforts "pathetic". Now I wonder if Hillary is going to call the leaders of Japan, Germany, France, Britain, Italy and Canada "pathetic" since they asked the oil producing nations, OPEC, to raise output. Now the finance ministers and central bank chiefs of the Group of 7 said that the United States will probably avoid a recession. But we have many economists suggesting it might be too late that we are in a recession and it is too late to turn it around. In fact many economists said the economy almost came to a halt in the last three months. President Bush said this is just a little slow down, who do we believe? I don't think I'm going to believe the media. The G7 also said that if we don't increase the production of oil and lower the cost of food that this could cause global inflation. Global recession or inflation which will it be? Lets just drill for more oil and use corn for food not to run our cars.


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Job Lost for First Time Since 2003

A crucial pillar of the country's economic well being has cracked. U.S. employment cut jobs last month for the first time in more than four years, a shower of pink slips that was the starkest signal yet the economy is grinding to a halt if it hasn't already toppled into recession. Conditions are deteriorating, according to the latest employment snapshot by the Labor Department, which showed nervous employers slicing payrolls by 17,000. The country hadn't seen such a nationwide job loss since 2003, when employers were still struggling to recover from the last recession. the 17,000 drop was in total payrolls, both government and private employers, in January, the first monthly decline since August 2003. The government sliced 18,000 positions, while private employers added just 1,000, the fewest in nearly a year. By Jeannine Aversa, AP Economics Writer.

Loosing 17,000 jobs in one month and the economy is coming to a halt? This is the first decline in 52 months and it's only 17,000, when we have a working population of multiple millions. When you read this article you get the idea that private employers are cutting jobs when it was the government that cut 18,000 jobs. Private employers added just 1,000 jobs in January, the fewest in nearly a year, so this has happen before. Some say the economy nearly stalled in the final three months of last year, stall means stop. And some economists believe it may actually be shrinking now. Some people love negative news and want to see the worst behind everything especially when they have agenda. The last words of the article, Bush said, "We're just in a rough patch, and I'm confident we can get through this rough patch." I believe this is the truth and we will get through this slow down and we don't need a Democrat, like Jimmy Carter, to make it worst.


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President Bush wants a quick agreement on the stimulus package

President Bush appealed on Saturday for swift congressional action on an economic rescue initiative and an electronic surveillance law that soon expires. The White House and House leaders of both parties reached agreement on a simply drawn stimulus program, which would provide tax rebate checks to 117 million families and give businesses $50 billion in incentives to invest in new plants and equipment(to help create jobs). In his weekly radio address, Bush asked Congress to approve the agreement as soon as possible. Some (Democrats) in the Senate, which will take up the measure after it goes to the House floor next week, have signaled that they want to broaden the bill. Democrats there want such things as an unemployment benefits extension, an increase in home heating subsidies or higher food stamp benefits.(they also want to include retirees) Bush suggested they could derail the whole effort, and he warned against it. By Jennifer Loven, Associated Press Writer.

This is suppose to be an economic stimulus package not an economic continuing package. The whole idea of giving people money so they will go out and spend it on something extra, to stimulate the economy, not to help people continue what they are doing now. The Democrats want to give extra benefits to the unemployed,heating subsidies, higher food stamp benefits and retirees. These people might need the money but they will just keep their spending at an even pace and not stimulate the economy. If you want to just give the money so someone can just spend it, give it to the homeless. I am sure they will spend it. It will not help the economy, but the money will be spent. The Democrats need to know, that we are giving out money just to help the economy, so that when the economy grows, all citizens will benefit. Just give the money back to those who paid it. This is not a welfare program.


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President Bush calls for increase in crude oil production.

With oil prices hovering around $90 a barrel, President Bush on Tuesday urged oil-rich countries to raise their output, but Saudi Arabia's oil minister said the world's largest producer would do so only "when the market justifies it." Bush told reporters in Riyadh, "I would hope, as OPEC considers different production levels, that they understand that if ... one of their biggest consumers (the United States) economy suffers, it will mean less purchases, less oil and gas sold." By Michael Abramowitz, The Washington Post.

Wait! Do you mean if OPEC will drill for more oil, the price for a gallon of gas will go down and this will help our economy from a recession? Then wouldn't it make sense for the U.S to drill for more oil off our shores? It would help our economy and create jobs. Oh yes thats right the Democrats urged for ban on oil drilling off much of U.S. coast. WE can't drill off the coast of California. WE can't drill off the Coast of Florida. WE can't drill in some parts of Alaska. WE can't drill off the coast of New England. So where can we drill? We must rely on the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries for our life blood. I would buy a horse but they wouldn't let me have one in my subdivision.

What experts bracing for U.S. financial freefall?

As leaders in Washington turn their attention to efforts to avert a looming downturn, many economists (how many?) suggest that it might already be too late to change the course of the economy during the first six months of the year, if not longer. With a wave of negative signs gathering forces, economists, policy-makers and investors are debating just how much the economy could be damaged in 2008. Huge and complex, the U.S. economy has in recent years been aided by a global web of finance so elaborate that no one seems capable of fully comprehending it (no one but these economists). That makes it all but impossible to predict how much the economy can be expected to fall before it stabilizes (but we know it is going to fall). The answer could be a defining factor in the outcome of the presidential election. Not long ago, the campaign centered on the war in Iraq. By Peter S. Goodman and Floyd Norris, 2008, The New York Times.

Since the Iraq war is going well and no longer an issue for the presidential race, the Democrats and the liberal news media are trying to make the economy the key issue. In 2006 they believe the Iraq war was the issue that helped the Democrats win the House and Senate. This was the issue that would help them win the White House in 2008, not anymore. Now they are putting all of their eggs on the economy. Economist David Rosenburg said "The question is not whether we will have a recession, but how deep and prolonged it will be." He also said on Dec,6, 2006 that he expected the U.S. economic growth to slow to 1.7% in 2007. He was wrong. It was 3.20% the same as 2006. The liberals know that the party of the incumbent president lost the election when their has been a recession. So their plans: talk down the economy for political gain, like they think Bush and Cheney did at the end of Bill Clinton presidency. Do you think the liberals will go for a tax cut to help the economy?