STOCKS RALLY on increased jobless claims!

Yep, because the Fed said they can fix this. Horsedovers!! They have NO CLUE!
Buried in an MSNBC article largely upbeat:
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The economy's recovery from the longest and deepest downturn since the 1930s has suffered a setback, leaving unemployment uncomfortably high. The economy grew at a sluggish 2.0 percent annual pace in the third quarter, a touch faster than the 1.7 percent rate in the second quarter, but way below potential.
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The fatcats on Wall Street can just "setback" and keep sucking in the money...

Blame It on BO? Nope.

New jobless claims stuck at 450,000 level. Unemployment "9.6%", but actual out of work is 22%. GOP-huggers are blaming HealthCare Reform for creating business "uncertainty". But the REAL culprits are:
1. CHINA for playing games with yuan valuation to cheat on international (oil) trade;
2. FAT CATS who are profiting from the "recovery" (read "10+ year continuing economic malaise") by manipulating corporate direction toward their own enrichment.
3. COWARDLY POLITICIANS who do everything they can to stay in power, regardless of whether the city / state /country benefits!
To deal with the first and second, we need a stronger Federal resolve; to handle the last, we
need to reform our Republic! Professional politicians are the bane of good government.
BTW I had a thought that it's good that group #2 is cannibalistic.

Oil vs Recession (Sept 2010)

Oil has mostly traded in the mid-$70s this summer as investors struggle to gauge how much global economic growth may slow in the second half and how much that will affect crude demand. Most analysts expect the U.S. economy won't slip back into recession.
"The bottomline is that there is no easy excuse for the slowdown in the recovery," the Schork Group said. "On the other hand, we are far from a double dip recession. Growth in key industries will boost the economy slowly, but sustainably."

Oh yeah???

AVG FALSE ALARM: WASTED TIME chasing a "virus"

Yesterday I and about 110 million other people started getting virus detections from AVG antivirus of Framer/HTML javascript exploit in BrowserCompAp(i). I assumed it was from some game my daughter downloaded. I spent two hours chasing a fix last night, and then an hour this morning. Finally found post on AVG Facebook page explaining they were "resolving" the issue with a new update....???!!!
THEY WERE MIS-DETECTING A MALFORM IN ZYNGA (& other ) TOOLBAR APIs!
Just like the McAfee blunder in February! Except no software damaged, just MILLIONS OF HOURS of wasted time by people all over the planet!

Consumer Confidence dropped? But *why*...

Could it be those 5000 folks finally read the news, that millions of jobs are gone for good? That double-digit unemployment could last three to five years?? That even a robust recovery could be short-lived??? Gee, I wonder why they're not confident in the economy...

RICH GET RICHER

From CNN Money Feb 23rd:
Bonuses paid to financial services workers in New York jumped 17% to $20.3 billion in 2009, the same year that Wall Street firms received billions in federal aid, according to a report published Tuesday.
The report, from New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, estimates that industry profits could exceed $55 billion for last year. That would be nearly >>>three times greater than the previous all-time record<<<, but comes after the industry lost a record $42.6 billion in 2008.
DiNapoli said the financial services industry is "vital" to New York's economy, but he acknowledged the massive bonuses are a "bitter pill" for most Americans.
"There's a lot of resentment against the industry over its role in the global economic meltdown," DiNapoli said in a statement. "Taxpayers bailed them out, and now they're back making money while many New York families are still struggling to make ends meet."

This is BS.

SPEAKING OF "THEM" look at this spit!

General Motors chairman and chief executive, Ed Whitacre, Jr. will receive a compensation package worth $9 million, the automaker said Friday.

Taxpayers pull the auto companies out of the shedder, and they pay the boss $9M.