Grumpy Editor

WILL STOCK MARKET MOMENTUM CONTINUE INTO 2020?

Although stocks on Friday took a breather, off 233.92 to 28,634.88 stemming from a U.S. air strike in Iraq, just-ended 2019 marked one of the best years of the past decade, notes Grumpy Editor.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average reached 28,538.44 on the final trading day of 2019, then added 330.36. points on Thursday.

 

A year ago, forecasts were glum over concern about threats from the U.S.-China trade fight, a slowdown in growth, and worries that the Federal Reserve’s interest rate increases would result in an economic slowdown, leading to a downturn.

 

Some investors continue to see uncertainties, pointing to no U.S.-China trade deal yet and the presidential election in November.

 

But others see cooler trade tensions and low interest rates helping to sustain stock gains.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

FOX NEWS LEADS CHANNEL VIEWERS.  Fox News averages 2.5 million viewers per night in 2019, the most in its 23-year history, making the network the most-watched channel on basic cable. Nielsen Media Research reports Fox News beat ESPN with 1.78 million viewers and third-place MSNBC, which draws an average of 1.75 million viewers in prime time. Fox tops its cable competitors for a fourth straight year, adds Nielsen.  CNN finishes 22nd , with an average of 972,000 viewers per night.

AMERICANS OPTIMISTIC ABOUT 2020.  Rasmussen Reports finds Americans are more optimistic about the year ahead than they have been in a long time, adding with a presidential election coming in November, it’s interesting to note that Republicans are a lot more enthusiastic about 2020 than Democrats.  The latest Rasmussen telephone and online survey finds 72 percent of American adults think 2020 will be at a minimum a good year. That’s up dramatically from 54 percent a year ago and includes 22 percent who say it will be an excellent year and 20 percent who predict it will be one of the best years ever.

161 YEAR OLD NEWSPAPER LEAVES PRINT.  One of California’s longest-running newspapers ends its print edition after 161 years with a final Sunday paper.  Fate of the Martinez (Calif.) News-Gazette and its staff remain in limbo as the newspaper’s editor Rick Jones says he’s not sure if they will continue to publish online. He says he is waiting to hear from Gibson Publishing, which owns the paper, on what happens with the staff. 

341 JOURNALISTS KILLED IN DECADE.  Over the past decade, at least 341 journalists are killed around the world, according to data collected by the Committee to Protect Journalists.  Suicide bombs, shooting by gangs, caught in crossfire and targeted on live TV are the means.

LARGE SPONGE LEFT IN AFTER OPERATION.  A Louisville, Ky. jury awards $10.5 million to a woman whose leg was amputated after University of Louisville Hospital personnel left an 18-by-18-inch sponge inside her during bypass heart surgery in 2011.

AKC RECOGNIZES TWO NEW DOG BREEDS.  American Kennel Club adds two dog breeds to its list of 195 that are recognized:  barbet, a French water dog, and dogo Argentino, a big-game hunter.

STOCK MARKET GOES ON ROLLER COASTER RIDE HEADING INTO 2019

Seems no one in Washington, which thrives on investigations, has raised an eyebrow on the stock market’s big up-and-down gyrations in the past three months, noted Grumpy Editor.

 

Heading into the new year, many investors said they reined in their optimism as investment experts warned 2019 will be another volatile year.

 

The Dow on Friday closed at 23,433.16. up a whopping 747 points from Thursday when the Dow plunged 660 points.

 

Reason for the Thursday drop was attributed to technology companies suffering their worst loss in seven years and health of the global economy.

 

The plunge, peppered with warnings of recession on the horizon, threatened to shake up confidence and spending plans of U.S.  businesses and consumers.

 

Then the next day’s rebound came with hopes for progress in the U.S.-China dispute, a strong report on the jobs market (with 312,000 positions added last month) and encouraging comments on interest rate policy from the head of the U.S. central bank.

 

“We expect a bear market rally to develop over the coming weeks, and we expect a new bull market to develop over the coming months to quarters,” said Ari Wald, a technical analyst at Oppenheimer & Co.

 

Meanwhile, the latest Rasmussen Reports national survey finds 54 percent of adults think 2019 will be at least a good year. That includes 15 percent who expect it to be one of the best years ever, 18 percent who feel it will be an excellent year and 21 percent who say it will be a good year. Only 19 percent expect 2019 to be a poor year.

 

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

MOST MANUFACTURING JOBS ADDED SINCE 1997.   Bureau of Labor Statistics said the economy added 284,000 manufacturing jobs last year, the largest increase since 1997 which saw a 304,000 gain in that category.

 

U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL SENT TO AFRICA.  The U.S. has deployed military personnel to Central Africa to protect U.S. assets from possible “violent demonstrations” in Congo.

 

QANTAS AIRLINES NAMED SAFEST IN 2018.  Qantas was nominated as the world’s safest airline for 2019 by AirlineRatings.com, a product rating website. Others in the top 20: Air New Zealand, Alaska Airlines, All Nippon Airways, American Airlines, Austrian Airlines, British Airways, Cathay Pacific Airways, Emirates, EVA Air, Finnair, Hawaiian Airlines, KLM, Lufthansa, Qatar, Scandinavian Airline System, Singapore Airlines, Swiss, United Airlines and the Virgin group of airlines (Atlantic and Australia).

 

INMATES EAT WELL IN FRONT OF DISGRUNTLED NON-PAID STAFFERS.  The partial government shutdown created “a delicious irony at federal prisons — inmates dining on lavish holiday meals in front of disgruntled staffers forced to work without pay,” pointed out NBC News.  The news network added that "inmates at FCI Pekin in Illinois enjoyed a fancy meal of steak and shrimp on Jan. 1. Cornish hen and Boston Creme pie were on the menu at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. And the prisoners at a federal institution in Minnesota munched on heaping plates of chicken wings."

NEW JERSEY BIDS FAREWELL, VERMONT WELCOMES. A United Van Lines study found more people moved out of New Jersey than any other state in 2018 while more people moved to Vermont.   The moving company found 66.8 percent of moves in New Jersey were outbound while more people moved to Vermont than any other state, with a rate of 72.6 percent for inbound migration.

 

BIG TUNA SELLS FOR BIG BUCKS IN JAPAN.  A 612-pound bluefin tuna sold for a record $3 million at auction at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market.

TESLA STOCK JUMP SURPRISES FINANCIAL WRITERS

After weeks rolling out negative news about Tesla, Inc., many in media were undoubtedly shook up when the electric car maker gained almost $49 a share last Thursday following its Wednesday earnings report that showed it utilized less cash than expected, noted Grumpy Editor. 

It marked Tesla’s biggest one-day post-earnings rally in more than five years.

Tesla stock on Thursday jumped 16 percent to $349.54 a share, notching the biggest one-day gain since 2013 and wiping out all of short sellers’ profits for the year.  The stock closed the week at $348.17.

This led a long-time Tesla shareholder to comment:  “The rise in Tesla stock just puts it back where it was a few weeks ago.  It fell a lot based on false and misleading information, so now it is back on a normal path.”

Tesla's shares were up more than 1,900 percent from its initial public offering at $17 a share.

Short sellers borrow shares, then sell them, hoping to buy the shares back at a lower price and pocket the difference. 

Some recent output, sometimes confusing, from financial writers:

“Electric car maker Tesla Inc. burned through $739.5 million in cash last quarter…”

“The net loss more than doubled from the same quarter a year ago.”

“Tesla reported its largest quarterly loss in its history on Wednesday and burned through $430 million in cash over three months.”

“Tesla CEO Elon Musk reported a record $718 million loss yesterday,  but the company’s stock rose after Musk managed to act normal during his earnings call.”

“Wednesday's earnings report also comes as Musk has faced scrutiny for recent erratic behavior.” 

Meanwhile, Tesla said it maintained its targeted production of 5,000 Model 3s in a week multiple times in July. The Model 3 is Tesla's first car that's aimed at mass-market buyers. The company said it wants to produce 10,000 Model 3s a week and expects to produce between 50,000 and 55,000 Model 3s this quarter.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

A WESTERN WITH SALTY WORDS ON TV.   Seems Yellowstone starring Kevin Costner on the Paramount Network has resorted to using the F-word and other unneeded offensive (to many) expressions.  Too bad script writers work these in for family viewing.

CONSUMER DISTRUST IN BANKING.  Consumer distrust buffeted the banking industry's reputation over the past year, bringing an end to a run of positive change in public perception in the years after the financial crisis, according to the annual American Banker/Reputation Institute Survey of Bank Reputations.

MAN WALKS OFF WITH SHARK.  A man grabbed and walked off with a 16-inch female shark at the San Antonio Aquarium but police were led to the home of the snatcher who maintained an extensive collection of marine life and the shark was returned to its tank at the aquarium.

NEWSROOM COUNT DROPS.  U.S. newsroom employment dropped 23 percent from 2008 to 2017, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Employment Statistics data.

MORE HISPANICS BACK TRUMP.  The Washington Times noted a Harvard/Harris poll showing a 10-point spike in Hispanic support for President Donald Trump "hasn’t received much attention from the mainstream media."  It added, it comes "in the midst of the nationwide controversy over children and families at the U.S.-Mexico border" and "suggests that Hispanics may not be the entrenched liberal voting constituency that Democrats so often imagine."

IHOP SEES BURGER BOOST.  Remember the recent widely covered “name change” of pancake restaurant IHOP to a temporary IHOB when the B stood for burgers?   In the first three weeks after the announcement hit, IHOP revealed it sold four times more burgers and that burger sales have “remained stable” in the following weeks.

GIs FACE TOUGHER TESTS.  U.S. soldiers will be required to take tougher fitness tests by October, 2020.  A 50-minute test will involve a strength deadlift, a medicine ball power throw, a set of pushups, a 250-meter "sprint/drag/carry" event, leg tucks, and a two-mile run.

AUTOMOTIVE ISSUES TOP COMPLAINTS.  For the sixth consecutive year, consumers complained about automotive issues more than anything else in 2017, reported the Consumer Federation of America which analyzed nearly one million complaints.

CHASE SIMPLIFIES ATM ACTION.  Chase Bank said almost all of its 16,000 ATMs around the U.S. now allow people to withdraw cash using their mobile wallets by simply tapping their handsets on the machines, rather than physical debit cards.

GENERAL ELECTRIC DEPARTS DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL AVERAGE

Struggling General Electric, started in the 19th century by Thomas Edison, tomorrow will be booted from the 30 large, publicly-owned companies that compose the Dow Jones Industrial Average, notes Grumpy Editor.

GE is an original member of the DJIA that debuted in 1896.

National retail drug store chain Walgreens will replace GE which has seen its shares tumble nearly 55 percent over the past 52 weeks amid downturns in its power generation and oil services businesses plus competition and unraveling of finance operations.

Since founding of the blue-chip index, "the U.S. economy has changed: consumer, finance, health care and technology companies are more prominent today and the relative importance of industrial companies is less," observes David Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones.

The DJIA change will make the index a better measure of the economy and the stock market, adds Blitzer.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE...

 

SURVEY FINDS TV REPORTING TOPS IN COVERING TRUMP ACTIONS.  A Rasmussen Reports survey finds 49 percent of likely U.S. voters "very closely" follow news reports about President Donald Trump's actions and policies from TV programs.  A distant second is the internet, at 25 percent, followed by radio, garnering 11 percent.   Only seven percent turn to newspapers very closely for information, while three percent look to social media, notes Rasmussen.

 

RUSSIAN SUBMARINES A GROWING THREAT.  Russia is deploying more submarines to the Mediterranean, the Black Sea and North Atlantic than at any time since the Cold War as part of a growing power game driving the U.S. to revive a decommissioned fleet and NATO to strengthen its naval defenses, informs a U.S. Navy commander.

 

LAST STRAW IN SEATTLE.  Starting July 1, Seattle restaurants must stop offering plastic straws and utensils as the first large city to ban such products.  The city passed a ban on single-use disposable food-service items in 2008, but utensils and straws were exempted until the market matured to provide affordable and effective alternatives.

STARBUCKS TO AX POORLY PERFORMING OUTLETS.  Starbucks is going to close 150 poorly performing company-operated locations next year, about three times as many as it usually shutters. Those affected are mostly in urban areas where there are many Starbucks stores.

BOARDROOMS SEE RISE IN FEMALE DIRECTORS.  Through May this year, 248 or 31 percent of new members of board of directors at the country's 3,000 largest publicly-held firms are women, highest percentage in at least a decade. 

 

CANADA GOES TO POT.  Canada's Senate passes legislation that will make it the first country with a major economy to legalize marijuana for recreational use.  When fully approved, the new law is expected to ignite a multibillion dollar industry as Canada joins Uruguay in allowing citizens to use marijuana without fear of arrest.

 

MAJOR LEAGE BASEBALL AIMS FOR LONDON GAMES.  Major League Baseball plans a two-game series between the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox in London's Olympic Stadium next summer after years of rumors about playing there.

 

STUDY SUGGESTS SEAFOOD TRIGGERS SEX.  Reuters Health reports a study suggests couples who eat a lot of seafood may have sex more often and get pregnant more quickly than those who shun shellfish and sardines.  Researchers followed 500 couples in Michigan and Texas for one year, asking them to log seafood consumption and sexual activity in daily journals. Result:  Couples had 39 percent higher odds of having sex on days when both partners dined on seafood.

 

CALIFORNIA VOTERS TO DECIDE ON FREE-ROAMING HENS.  California voters decide in November whether egg-laying hens must roam freely.  The cage-free hen requirement would take effect in 2021.  Along with calves and pigs, backers say extreme animal confinement is cruel and can increase the risk of foodborne illnesses.

 

RAT CHEWS THROUGH BILLS IN ATM.  A rat slipped through a small hole for cables in the back of an ATM near Gauhati, India and chewed through the equivalent of almost $20,000 in bills.  Technicians who fixed the broken State Bank of India cash machine find the dead rat inside and Indian currency notes worth nearly 1.3 million rupees in shreds.

 

CVS ADDS DELIVERY.  CVS Health is launching delivery of prescription drugs and other medications in a move to retain customers following a decline in sales of general merchandise and shopper visits at its drugstores, reveals Fortune.

WILL STOCK MARKET SEE ANOTHER ROLLER COASTER WEEK?

Investors are awaiting another roller coaster week with stocks that rise and fall with the day’s news, notes Grumpy Editor.

Look at the see-saw action with the Dow Jones industrials last week after Memorial Day on May 28:  Tuesday, down 391.64 points at 24361.45; Wednesday, up 306.33 points; Thursday, down 251.94 points; Friday, up 219.37 points, closing at 24635.21 --- slightly higher than Tuesday’s close.

As Kate Warne, of financial services firm Edward Jones puts it:  “Stocks swung every day but ended last week little changed --- a good reminder to avoid overreacting to daily moves. Bond prices were also volatile, rising when stocks fell and falling as stocks rose. Better-than-expected U.S. job growth countered rising worries about trade wars and new European political uncertainties.”

“Political concerns will likely jump into and out of the headlines, driving volatility going forward,” adds Warne.  “But last week also supported our view that the broader bull market has gas left in the tank, fueled by positive fundamentals of further economic growth.”

Friday’s report from the Labor Department shows a robust gain with 230,000 jobs added in May, higher than the expected 190,000.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate drops to 3.8 percent in May --- its lowest level since April 2000 --- from 3.9 percent a month prior.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

CONSUMER CONFIDENCE JUMPS.  The Conference Board says U.S. consumer confidence, buoyed by a positive view of the job market, rose to 128.0 last month --- a 17-year high --- from 125.6 in April.

CALIFORNIA BANS EMPLOYEES' TRAVEL TO NINE STATES.  California bans funding for state employees to travel to states with laws it perceives to be discriminatory.  Oklahoma, Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee and Texas are places where Golden State public employees can't go unless they are investigating a crime or tax dispute, complying with a grant or are required to go through a court order, reports Newsmax.com.

SEARS TO CLOSE MORE STORES.  Sears plans to shutter 72 more stores this year, including 48 Sears stores and 15 Kmarts. All will be closed by early September.  By the end of this year Sears will have fewer than 1,000 stores.

IRS TO UPDATE ITS COMPUTERS.  In efforts to implement tax law changes, the Internal Revenue Service plans to spend $291 million updating its 140 computer systems.

PACIFIC COMMAND NAME CHANGES.  The Pentagon is changing the name of the military’s Pacific Command headquarters to U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in an effort to improve the U.S.-India alliance.

ANOTHER TYPE OF TV RERUN.  CBS This Morning on a quiet Saturday (June 1) devoted air time to go back 65 years for a look at Queen Elizabeth II’s coronation in 1963.

CUTS IN DRUG PRICES PREDICTED.  Major pharmaceutical companies will announce “voluntary, massive” cuts in drug prices in two weeks, predicts President Donald Trump without providing details.

QUICK TURNAROUND BY CONSUMER REPORTS.  Tesla Inc.’s Model 3 electric sedan won a recommendation from Consumer Reports after an over-the-air software update improved braking by almost 20 feet. A week earlier, CR declined to recommend the Model 3 after  testing showed it took longer to stop than a Ford F-150 pickup. 

COKE TESTS BOOZE IN JAPAN.  Coca-Cola Co. launches its first alcoholic product in its 132-year history, a lemon-flavored fizzy drink that will be available with three percent, five percent and seven percent alcohol, but only to consumers on the Japanese island of Kyushu.  Fortune magazine says “Japan is something of a testbed for Coke; it experiments with 100 new products a year there.”

PLASTIC PRODUCTS BAN PROPOSED.  The European Commission proposes the world's biggest ban on single-use plastic products, from straws to cutlery, in order "to save the environment and people from excessive plastic pollution."

 

VOLATILE STOCK MARKET ACTION CONFOUNDS VETERAN JACK BOGLE, TOO

The stock market has many investors uneasy as daily gyrations continue with the Dow Jones industrial average closing last week at 23,932.76, down a hefty 572.46 points on Friday, the day after dropping as much as 767.02 points, even puzzling Vanguard Funds founder Jack Bogle, notes Grumpy Editor.

Equities hit Friday’s session lows in the final two hours of trading after Fed Chief Jerome Powell indicated the central bank would continue hiking rates this year. The market also ran into volatility stemming from a U.S.-China trade dispute.

Bogle, 88, says the renewed regime of volatility in stocks is uncanny, adding on CNBC that “I have never seen a market this volatile to this extent in my career” --- and that’s 66 years.

(Pssst!  Or maybe the Chinese are involved with the stock market’s gyrations.  Or could it be Russian collusion?)

Continuing its zig-zag routine, two hours before the close today the DJ industrial average was up about 400 points. Then, at the close, it settled back to plus 47 points.

Also on CNBC, J.J. Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, described market trading as “truly a reaction to China,” pointing out, “we've seen with this administration a trend of a big statement, followed by everyone getting riled up, and then a pragmatic solution is found."

He added, "Cooler heads may prevail moving forward.”

After China announced fresh tariffs on 106 U.S. products, President Donald Trump threatened more levies, asking the U.S.Trade Representative to consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs against China.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

 

 

 

EXPENSIVE DOG TRAVEL FROM JAPAN.  Coast Guard Lt. Cmdr. Jennifer McKay, owner of a 221-pound English mastiff (see photo), may have to pay $31,000 to fly her dog back to the U.S. from Japan after United Airlines’ recent decision to suspend its pet travel program. The dog travels in a carrier that weighs an additional 100 pounds. McKay paid $3,200 to fly the canine to Japan two years ago using United’s air cargo service, she tells Stars and Stripes.  “I am a single-parent servicemember just trying to get home to the U.S. with my dog and my son,” says McKay, who is heading for a June assignment in Washington, D.C.  Other options exist for shipping pets from Japan, but with large animals, in can be expensive and inconvenient.  

NATIONAL GUARD TO BORDER NOT NEW.  While media are excited by President Donald Trump’s action, sending National Guard troops to the border is nothing new.  Over the past dozen years, presidents have twice sent Guardsmen to the border to bolster security and assist in surveillance and other support.

WOMEN HAVE EYES ON U.S. HOUSE.   The number of women running for the U.S. House of Representatives sets a record as 309 from the two major parties file candidacy papers.  More are expected.

AIR FLEET GETTING WORN OUT?  Four U.S. military aircraft crashes last week kills seven service members, causing some in Washington to claim the fleet may not be getting the funding it needs. Six noncombat aviation crashes so far this year kills 11 service members, while 37 are killed in crashes last year, nearly double the number killed in 2016.

DATA SCIENTIST FASTEST GROWING JOB.  Fortune’s Alan Murray cites LinkedIn for pointing out the fastest growing job in America is data scientist.  “The profession has grown 6.5 times since 2012 – which is when the Harvard Business Review first branded it “the sexiest job of the 21st century,” he mentions. “It also happens to be one of the best paying jobs, with a median salary of $113,000.”

OOPS!  NEWSPAPER PUBLISHES WRONG BASEBALL FIELD PHOTO.  The Denver Post published an article with a guide to Coors Field, home of the Colorado Rockies, in anticipation of the baseball team's home opener last Friday with Philadelphia.  However, instead of using an image of the Rockies’ stadium, the paper erroneously published a photo of the Phillies’ Citizens Bank Park.

MARCH TURNAWAYS AT BORDER RISES.  CNSNews.com reports 50,308 people are either apprehended or deemed inadmissible at the Southwest border last month, highest monthly total since Donald Trump took office.  The March total is a 37 percent increase from the 36,695 in February, and 203 percent up from March 2017's 16,588.

WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY TAKES PRESIDENT’S PLACE.  President Donald Trump is skipping the White House Correspondents Association annual dinner April 28.  White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders fills in.

HOW TO PREVENT PRESS ATTENDANCE.  The Nevada Republican Men’s Club keeps reporters away from a lunch spotlighting U.S. Sen. Dean Heller because, as the group’s president says:  Reporters take up too much room in the restaurant and get in the way of food servers.

HUH? DESPITE GOOD ECONOMIC NEWS, DOW SINKS

What’s going on with the stock market? asks Grumpy Editor.

The Dow Jones industrial average, S&P 500 index and Nasdaq composite see more than a week of heavy selling in whipsaw action, breaking key support lines and leaving them 10 percent off their highs. 

All investment eyes are on today’s markets.

The dive in stocks comes despite positive developments that don’t happen too often:

• The job market is strong with nearly nine years into an expansion that followed the “great recession.”
• Consumer confidence is solid and manufacturing is growing. 

• Businesses are hiring.

• Wages are rising.

•  Existing home sales last year reach the highest level in 11 years.

•  Americans are optimistic about the economy

•  Household debt is under control.

So, what’s worrying Wall Street?

Words most heard are inflation and the Federal Reserve’s indicated raising of short-term rates three times this year.

Grumpy Editor reminds that current inflation is tame compared to Jimmy Carter Administration’s days when the president enacted an austerity program by executive order, saying inflation had reached a "crisis stage."  Both inflation and short-term interest rates reached a whopping 18 percent in February and March, 1980.

As for this year, Kiplinger’s sees inflation at 2.5 percent, a bit higher than last year’s 2.1 percent, reflecting both higher gasoline prices and higher prices in general.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

SPORTS CAR SOARS INTO SPACE.  From the same pad where NASA launched rockets that carried astronauts to the moon, Elon Musk’s SpaceX’s Falcon heavy rocket soars into space --- along with a cherry red sports car from Musk’s Tesla operation.  Behind the wheel is a space suit-clad mannequin, named Starman.  

PENTAGON MISSES MILLIONS.  The Pentagon's Defense Logistics Agency failed to properly document more than $800 million worth of construction projects, Ernst & Young finds in an audit, reports Politico.

LA. TIMES BACK TO LOCAL OWNERSHIP. Billionaire doctor Patrick Soon-Shiong buys the Los Angeles Times and the San Diego Union-Tribune for $500 million from Chicago-based Tronc, Inc. He says returning the newspaper to local ownership will give the Times a chance to preserve its mission and independence.

GETTING DOWN TO THE BARE FACTS.  Absolut Vodka makers make a TV commercial in which employees have nothing to hide.  In fact, they are completely naked at the factory in Sweden.  See it all at digg.com/video/absolut-nothing-to-hide

LOW FLYING HOT AIR BALLOONS.  Two hot-air balloons are grounded after getting very close to rooftops of homes in Yucaipa, Calif.  The sheriff's department says several homeowners called 911, worried there was about to be a crash in their neighborhood.  As it turns out, the pilots had everything under control.

Related articles

SpaceX Starman Driving in Space - Elon Musk states "It looks so fake!" - Examining The Reality We've Been Sold

Post-election stock market rally leaves some red faces

A number of stock market watchers warned about a major drop in the stock market if Donald Trump wins the election, reminds Grumpy Editor.

So what happened?

The Dow Jones industrial average jumps 1424 points in the month since elections on Nov. 8.

The Dow starts today at 19756.85, with only about 243 points more to reach the 20000 level.

Investors placing their funds into companies that will benefit from stronger economic growth and fiscal stimulus fed the month-long rally.

Traders see this week’s meeting of the Federal Reserve, last of the year, to end with an interest rate increase, something that is expected to be received well by financial stocks.

Talk that Trump plans to lower income tax rates, giving consumers more disposable income, coupled with a hike in fiscal spending could continue to give the stock market a boost.

Lower corporate tax rates will lead to higher earnings, lifting stock prices.

 

IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE NEWS OUTLETS MISSED THESE…

Although anything related to global warming gets heavy coverage these days, unusual cold late last week saw 80 percent of the nation experiencing below-freezing temperatures. Thermometers dropped 20 to 30 degrees below average in the region from Montana to deep in the heart of southern Texas. Also on the “warming” front, CBS News claims “a warming planet could make coffee harder to find.”

With 2017 just around the corner, which are the best cities to welcome the New Year? WalletHub analysts put Orlando in top spot, followed by San Francisco, Atlanta, Denver and Buffalo (Buffalo? Yep). Worst city: North Las Vegas --- and it’s only four miles from The Strip in Las Vegas (ranked No.10 among the top locations)…Tucker Carlson, now with an hour program on Fox News, left his editor-in-chief position at The Daily Caller but will maintain his ownership stake in the publication…Time magazine names president-elect Donald Trump its Person of the Year…Along with footage of orange flames of fires, TV news directors love to report earthquakes --- even though in last week’s 6.5-magnitude shaker, nothing happened. The rocker occurs 97 miles out in the ocean west of Ferndale in Northern California. No reports of damage or injuries. End of story (and forgotten the next day).

What’s going on? After reading that nearly 240,000 tons of blueberries a year are produced in the U.S., with 10 states (Michigan, Oregon, Washington, Georgia, New Jersey, California, North Carolina, Florida, Mississippi and Indiana) accounting for more than 98 percent of the U.S. crop, Grumpy Editor buys two containers of blueberries. Half way through munching them, tiny print (requiring a magnifying glass to read the label) reveals the tiny berries come from --- Lima, Peru.

 

Name of Rebel Yell, the University of Nevada, Las Vegas student newspaper since 1955, next semester will appear as the mouthful The Scarlet & Gray Free Press.

What triggered the change?

Complaints that the 61-year-old masthead reflected a Confederate Army battle cry.

As China rebounds from lows, Wall Street smiles again

 

With most U.S. stocks rebounding and the Dow Jones Industrial Average opening today again near the 18000 level, Grumpy Editor noted that a key factor behind the action is that the bull market has made a comeback in China.  It was only a few weeks ago when just mention of China’s slow growth shook up Wall Street, sending the U.S. stock market south followed by much volatility during the late summer days.

But wait --- hold the phone!  In the first four hours of trading today, U.S. stocks dropped 213 points after a report on weak Chinese trade data and another report warning of a global slowdown.

Trading last week pushed the Dow back into plus territory for 2015, with the blue chip index adding 46.90 points to 17910.33 on Friday.

On Aug. 21, for example, the Dow industrials dropped 530.94 points to 16459.75.  Investors saw a plunge of more than 1,000 points in a week.

But now, after a volatile summer, the Shanghai Composite Index has jumped more than 20 percent since the Aug. 26 summer selloff bottom.

However, some U.S. investors continued to be uneasy.

Concerned that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates next month, shaky investors over the past few days sold income-yielding stocks such as real estate investment trusts (REITs) --- all because of a possible tiny increase of 0.25 percent in the current Fed funds rate that is effectively zero, an all-time low, compared to a hefty 20 percent in 1979-1980.

 

IN CASE YOU MISSED THESE…

         First, a trio of climate change/global warming items ---

PRESIDENT CONTINUES TO FOCUS ON CLIMATE CHANGE.  Climate change was a factor when President Barack Obama on Friday nixed the XL Pipeline saying:  “America is now a global leader when it comes to taking serious action to fight climate change.  And frankly, approving this project would have undercut that global leadership."  The project, connecting Alberta’s oil to Gulf Coast refineries, would create thousands of U.S. jobs and boost energy security.

ANTARCTICA ICE INCREASES.  After more than a decade of research indicating that Antarctica is losing ice, contributing to rising global sea levels, NASA scientists now concluded the continent --- about the size of the U.S. and Mexico combined --- is gaining more ice than it has lost.  That finding inspired London’s Daily Express on Friday to proclaim in a headline:  MELTDOWN MYTH: Antarctic ice growing is just the first EVIDENCE global warming is NOT REAL.

CBS SPOTLIGHTS CLIMATE CHANGE.  Taking the opposite view of London’s Daily Express, CBS News came up with a Thursday report declaring government scientists said “14 of last year's extreme weather events were made worse by climate change caused by pollution,” citing examples that include the 2014 California wildfires, and "cyclones in Hawaii.” (Cyclones, by the way, are labeled hurricanes in the U.S.)  The report also mentioned “California continues to feel the effects of climate change.”

MISSED RUSSIA-CHINA WARNINGS OVER PAST DECADE?  On Saturday --- despite years of anxiety in Washington --- Defense Secretary Ash Carter accused Russia of endangering world order and expressed concern about China's expanding influence and growing military might.

WHY TV SHOWS ARE GETTING SHORTER.  Cable networks collectively averaged a time-grabbing 15 minutes, 49 seconds of commercials per hour last year.

OOPS!  CHECK THOSE ITALIAN PRODUCTS.  Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker got her countries mixed up in a Jeb Bush piece with a line mentioning “he tossed a slice of Prosciutto to the fragment of the GOP base that still hates all things French.”  (Strictly Italian, thinly-sliced dry-cured ham served uncooked is called prosciutto --- without a capital P.)

CALIFORNIANS NOW TOLD TO SKIP CRABS.  The California Department of Public Health advised consumers to skip eating Dungeness and rock crabs because of high levels of a toxin (domoic acid).  This set off heavy grumbling in the Golden State’s seafood restaurants and markets.

READY TO FLY IN AN AIRCRAFT --- MADE IN CHINA?  China’s first large passenger jet, designed to rival Boeing and Airbus Group, rolled off an assembly line last week.  However, with tests and certification, the twin-engine model was expected to take three years before deliveries to carriers.

 

VINTAGE STUDY APPEARS.  Somehow an aged (28 years old) study making the rounds in media last week noted consuming 1.4 ounces daily of xylitol, a sugar substitute, will trigger diarrhea for many.

It’s Monday. Will stocks end lower, after up session?

 

Strange that no official financial eyebrows are being raised (publicly, at least) with the lengthy “yo-yo” stock market, generally up one day, down the next, observed Grumpy Editor, as the Dow Jones Industrial Average has been bouncing like a ping-pong ball above and below 18000 points since February.

Soft economic data was blamed for Thursday’s D J drop of 195.01 points to 17840.52.

But on Friday, without any earth-shaking news, the market recouped most of the previous day’s drop, gaining 183.54 points to again cross the 18000 line to 18024.06.

"The last four months have been quite a roller coaster,” Richard Yoken, founder of the Portfolio Strategy Group, White Plains, N.Y., informed The Wall Street Journal, adding when clients ask about a 150-point fall in the market, he tells them “not to worry since the Dow would probably be back up 150 points the next day.”

 

Update on last Monday's 'sinking' Santa Catalina

Mention here last Monday about a Los Angeles Times story, based on word from a Stanford graduate student researcher that Santa Catalina island, a tourist destination off the Southern California Coast, is sinking --- an average of one millimeter every five years --- turns out to be nothing new.

Grumpy Editor uncovered an earlier warning about Santa Catalina island “sinking” in a story that appeared in Popular Science News --- more than a century ago.

Under the headline, “Catalina Island Slowly Sinking,” in the November, 1902 issue, J. Mayne Baltimore wrote that University of California professor William E. Ritter “made a most scientific discovery in regard to Santa Catalina island.”

Baltimore added, “In his opinion, and also in the opinion of other scientists of the university, that island is slowly sinking into the Pacific Ocean. The rate is not rapid, but it is considered certain that unless some great geological change takes place, Santa Catalina island will eventually disappear from the face of the sea.”

(NOTE:  Mount Orizaba remains Santa Catalina’s highest point, holding at a steady 2,097 feet above sea level.)

 

FYI, IN CASE YOUR FAVORITE EDITORS MISSED THESE…

No global warming effect.  Abundance of snow has extended New England’s snow resorts season into May…While some in Washington are deeply focused on climate change/global warming among other distractions, China is building a stronger navy.  Bloomberg Businessweek revealed the Chinese navy is shifting from small, short-range submarines used in Cold War days, now has at least 70 subs and “over the next decade it’s looking to add as many as 20 boats capable of traveling long distances submerged in deep water for days at a stretch”…Sports writers missed an angle with last Wednesday’s empty house (first of its kind in the major leagues) in tense Baltimore for the Orioles-White Sox game.  All the action was wrapped up in a swift two hours and three minutes, well below the usual three hours-plus.  Incidentally, while attendance was in the books at zero, a Getty Images photo showed two people sitting in the sixth row behind home plate…More PR work ahead for Bank of America.  A J.D. Power survey ranked the nation’s second biggest lender worst among its peers in retail customer satisfaction in states where it has the most branches…A Harvard University Institute of Politics poll of more than 3,000 18-to-29 year olds found only 2 percent said they trusted the media to do the right thing "all of the time”…Allied with this was a survey reported in AdvertisingAge that only 4 percent of Americans think the marketing industry behaves with integrity while nearly half of consumers surveyed say they don't trust any news source…The New York Times Co. posted a $14 million net loss for the first quarter.  A key factor was a drop in print advertising…Latest guideline issued to Wall Street Journal copy editors: Avoid using “Hillary” alone in a headline.  It added that Clinton is fine for most headlines with a reminder that she is Mrs. Clinton, by her preference, not Ms. Clinton…"State of the News Media,” Pew Research Center's Journalism Project, found cable news prime-time viewership in 2014 dropped by 8 percent and newspaper circulation fell by 3 percent.

 

This just in:

A top-of-the-page headline in a major daily in the West:  Imported furniture can be found in local shops.