EXCERPTS:
"Pilgrim's Pride Corp. swung to a quarterly loss and set plans to shut a Texas chicken-processing plant, highlighting the problems facing U.S. food producers as they wrestle with high grain costs and a tough pricing environment.
The second-largest U.S. poultry producer by revenue lost $128 million in the second quarter and will shutter a plant in Dallas with 1,000 staff in an effort to curb the glut of chicken that has depressed prices.
"Our industry's business model is not sustainable at these [price] levels," said Pilgrim's Pride Chief Executive Bill Lovette on a conference call. The company will have 29 bird-processing plants after Dallas closes, and eight of those facilities are already idle.
The chicken industry has suffered compared with pork and beef producers, which have been lifted by strong exports, though the entire meat-producing sector has been stung by soaring feed costs. Chicken producers have had the toughest time passing on price increases to retailers and consumers.
Pilgrim's, which has 42,000 employees, was the largest casualty of a similar spike in animal-feed prices in 2008 that combined with wrong-way bets on derivatives contracts that left the company nursing a $1 billion full-year loss and pushed it into bankruptcy protection alongside a host of smaller producers
Saturday, July 30, 2011
New York City's Best Summer Job -Tanning Concierge at James Hotel - WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"By 11 a.m. on a recent sweltering Sunday, Harrison Anastasio had already collected the cellphone numbers of five bikini-clad women on the rooftop pool at the James New York Hotel.
"Don't forget to text me," one of the women whispered to the tousle-haired 17-year-old, flashing him a coy smile. Mr. Anastasio colored slightly beneath his Wayfarer sunglasses. But he wouldn't forget. Although it sounds like the setup for a 1980s sex comedy, it's actually his job.
Mr. Anastasio, a rising senior at Edward R. Murrow High School, is one of two attendants at the James's rooftop deck, where he's paid $15 an hour to supervise the four-foot-deep pool, serve water to guests and ready lounge chairs for optimal sun or shade. A certified lifeguard, he's also the pool's tanning concierge—a job the hotel created this summer in partnership with a sunscreen maker.
As concierge, Mr. Anastasio must ensure that pool patrons remember to turn over at designated intervals to evenly brown their front and back sides.
He politely introduces himself to guests when they arrive on the pool deck 18 stories above SoHo. They decide whether they'd prefer the teenager to gently tap them on the shoulder or send a text when it's time to turn over.
"Most people like to be texted. It's less invasive," Mr. Anastasio said. The text comes every 20 to 30 minutes and simply says, "Turn Over."
"By 11 a.m. on a recent sweltering Sunday, Harrison Anastasio had already collected the cellphone numbers of five bikini-clad women on the rooftop pool at the James New York Hotel.
"Don't forget to text me," one of the women whispered to the tousle-haired 17-year-old, flashing him a coy smile. Mr. Anastasio colored slightly beneath his Wayfarer sunglasses. But he wouldn't forget. Although it sounds like the setup for a 1980s sex comedy, it's actually his job.
Mr. Anastasio, a rising senior at Edward R. Murrow High School, is one of two attendants at the James's rooftop deck, where he's paid $15 an hour to supervise the four-foot-deep pool, serve water to guests and ready lounge chairs for optimal sun or shade. A certified lifeguard, he's also the pool's tanning concierge—a job the hotel created this summer in partnership with a sunscreen maker.
As concierge, Mr. Anastasio must ensure that pool patrons remember to turn over at designated intervals to evenly brown their front and back sides.
He politely introduces himself to guests when they arrive on the pool deck 18 stories above SoHo. They decide whether they'd prefer the teenager to gently tap them on the shoulder or send a text when it's time to turn over.
"Most people like to be texted. It's less invasive," Mr. Anastasio said. The text comes every 20 to 30 minutes and simply says, "Turn Over."
Freshly Sworn In, Peru President Raises Wages - WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"LIMA, Peru—Peru's new president, Ollanta Humala, took the oath of office Thursday, pledging to guarantee the "social inclusion" of the poor and immediately making good on campaign promises to raise the minimum wage and pensions.
The leftist president announced a two-stage 25% increase in the monthly minimum wage to 750 soles, or about $275, and unveiled pension increases for those older than 65.
While he repeated a campaign pledge that social benefits would be funded in part by higher taxes on mining companies, he didn't spell out what form these tax increases would take. The issue is expected to be the subject of intense negotiations between miners and the government.
"LIMA, Peru—Peru's new president, Ollanta Humala, took the oath of office Thursday, pledging to guarantee the "social inclusion" of the poor and immediately making good on campaign promises to raise the minimum wage and pensions.
The leftist president announced a two-stage 25% increase in the monthly minimum wage to 750 soles, or about $275, and unveiled pension increases for those older than 65.
While he repeated a campaign pledge that social benefits would be funded in part by higher taxes on mining companies, he didn't spell out what form these tax increases would take. The issue is expected to be the subject of intense negotiations between miners and the government.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Obama: 'I need a dance partner' on immigration reform - CNN.com
EXCERPT:
""The idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you, not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That's not how our democracy functions. That's not how our Constitution is written," Obama said at the National Council of La Raza's annual conference.
"Let's be honest, I need a dance partner here, and the floor is empty," he added, referring to the need for bipartisan congressional support to pass an immigration reform measure.
""The idea of doing things on my own is very tempting. I promise you, not just on immigration reform. But that's not how our system works. That's not how our democracy functions. That's not how our Constitution is written," Obama said at the National Council of La Raza's annual conference.
"Let's be honest, I need a dance partner here, and the floor is empty," he added, referring to the need for bipartisan congressional support to pass an immigration reform measure.
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Money Supply Jumps, but Economists Don’t See Inflation Threat - Real Time Economics - WSJ
EXCERPT:
"A surge in money supply measures reflect a mix of technical banking factors and investor unease, and isn’t a harbinger of an inflation surge, economists say.
While it wasn’t widely remarked upon when it was released last week, some in markets were taken aback by unexpectedly large increases in some of the broadest measures of money stock, as reported by the Federal Reserve.
Stone & McCarthy Research Associates flagged the second largest increase in the so-called M2 money stock measure — it captures cash and other highly liquid assets — on record for the July 4 week. Wrightson ICAP flagged an “explosion” taking place in M2, while Capital Economics said an internally created measure of money supply is growing at the fastest rate in two years.
What gives? Is the kindling of an inflation surge finally being lit? Or is something else afoot? Economists suggest the latter is most likely the case.
"A surge in money supply measures reflect a mix of technical banking factors and investor unease, and isn’t a harbinger of an inflation surge, economists say.
While it wasn’t widely remarked upon when it was released last week, some in markets were taken aback by unexpectedly large increases in some of the broadest measures of money stock, as reported by the Federal Reserve.
Stone & McCarthy Research Associates flagged the second largest increase in the so-called M2 money stock measure — it captures cash and other highly liquid assets — on record for the July 4 week. Wrightson ICAP flagged an “explosion” taking place in M2, while Capital Economics said an internally created measure of money supply is growing at the fastest rate in two years.
What gives? Is the kindling of an inflation surge finally being lit? Or is something else afoot? Economists suggest the latter is most likely the case.
Jobs in Wireless Industry Evaporate - WSJ.com
EXCERPTS:
"The U.S. wireless industry is booming as more consumers and businesses snap up smartphones, tablet computers and billions of wireless applications. But for the industry's workers, the story is less rosy.
In May, on the heels of a record year for industry revenue, employment at U.S. wireless carriers hit a 12-year low of 166,600, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released earlier this month. That's about 20,000 fewer jobs than when the recession ended in June 2009 and 2,000 fewer than a year ago.
The U.S. wireless industry is booming, but for the industry's workers, the story is less rosy.
While the industry's revenue has grown 28% since 2006, when wireless employment peaked at 207,000 workers, its mostly nonunion work force has shrunk about 20%.
The disconnect between employment and industry growth reflects the broader head winds lashing the U.S. job market, as consolidation, outsourcing and productivity gains from new technology and business methods combine to undermine job growth.
***
Those advances do show up, however, in skyrocketing productivity statistics. In 2009, the latest data available, the output per hour of wireless-carrier workers jumped 24.3%, more than in nearly any other service industry, according to a Labor Department report in May. Since 2002, output per hour in the industry has nearly tripled.
***
To be sure, the wireless boom is creating jobs in other industries and occupations, such as software development, publishing and media. Search giant Google Inc. has said it is generating $1 billion a year in mobile-related revenue and will hire more than 6,000 people this year, including many to work on mobile products. Start-ups such as Twitter Inc., Foursquare Labs Inc. and Flipboard Inc., meanwhile, continue to grow at a rapid clip.
"The U.S. wireless industry is booming as more consumers and businesses snap up smartphones, tablet computers and billions of wireless applications. But for the industry's workers, the story is less rosy.
In May, on the heels of a record year for industry revenue, employment at U.S. wireless carriers hit a 12-year low of 166,600, according to U.S. Labor Department figures released earlier this month. That's about 20,000 fewer jobs than when the recession ended in June 2009 and 2,000 fewer than a year ago.
The U.S. wireless industry is booming, but for the industry's workers, the story is less rosy.
While the industry's revenue has grown 28% since 2006, when wireless employment peaked at 207,000 workers, its mostly nonunion work force has shrunk about 20%.
The disconnect between employment and industry growth reflects the broader head winds lashing the U.S. job market, as consolidation, outsourcing and productivity gains from new technology and business methods combine to undermine job growth.
***
Those advances do show up, however, in skyrocketing productivity statistics. In 2009, the latest data available, the output per hour of wireless-carrier workers jumped 24.3%, more than in nearly any other service industry, according to a Labor Department report in May. Since 2002, output per hour in the industry has nearly tripled.
***
To be sure, the wireless boom is creating jobs in other industries and occupations, such as software development, publishing and media. Search giant Google Inc. has said it is generating $1 billion a year in mobile-related revenue and will hire more than 6,000 people this year, including many to work on mobile products. Start-ups such as Twitter Inc., Foursquare Labs Inc. and Flipboard Inc., meanwhile, continue to grow at a rapid clip.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Police in Ga. shut down girls' lemonade stand
EXCERPTS:
"Jul 15, 11:17 AM EDT
MIDWAY, Ga. (AP) -- Police in Georgia have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls trying to save up for a trip to a water park, saying they didn't have a business license or the required permits.
Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police also didn't know how the lemonade was made, who made it or what was in it.
The girls had been operating for one day when Morningstar and another officer cruised by.
The girls needed a business license, peddler's permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year.
One girl, 14-year-old Casity Dixon, says the three had to listen to police and shut down.
The girls are now doing chores and yard work to make money.
"Jul 15, 11:17 AM EDT
MIDWAY, Ga. (AP) -- Police in Georgia have shut down a lemonade stand run by three girls trying to save up for a trip to a water park, saying they didn't have a business license or the required permits.
Midway Police Chief Kelly Morningstar says police also didn't know how the lemonade was made, who made it or what was in it.
The girls had been operating for one day when Morningstar and another officer cruised by.
The girls needed a business license, peddler's permit and food permit to operate, even on residential property. The permits cost $50 a day or $180 per year.
One girl, 14-year-old Casity Dixon, says the three had to listen to police and shut down.
The girls are now doing chores and yard work to make money.
Thursday, July 14, 2011
With no debt deal, Obama would face tough choices Aug. 3 about what bills to pay - The Washington Post
By Zachary A. Goldfarb,
EXCERPTS:
What happens if President Obama and Congress don’t strike a debt deal?
On Aug. 3, the nation would find out, with Obama forced to make a set of extraordinarily difficult choices about what to pay or not pay. By then, the government’s savings account would be nearly empty and the president would be relying on daily tax revenue to pay the nation’s bills.
There wouldn’t be enough — in fact, there would be a $134 billion shortfall in August alone.
As Obama decided what to pay, he would choose among Social Security checks, salaries for members of the military and veterans, unemployment benefits, student loans, and many other government programs, according to administration officials and an independent analysis by a former senior Treasury Department official in the George H.W. Bush administration.
To protect the nation’s creditworthiness, Obama would have to balance those priorities with the imperative of making payments to investors in U.S. government bonds — ranging from domestic pension funds to the Chinese government.
“You can move the chess pieces around all you want,” said Jay Powell, a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center and an author of the analysis. “You’re going to lose.”
For months, the president has been pressing Congress to raise the federal limit on borrowing, now at $14.3 trillion. Members of both parties have balked, saying they first want a plan to tame the growth of the debt.
On Wednesday, with negotiations over raising the debt ceiling hung up, Moody’s said it might downgrade the U.S. government’s top-of-the-line credit rating, which helps keep U.S. bonds the global gold standard, “given the rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis, leading to a default.”
***
Some skeptics in Congress and conservative economists say that Obama has overstated the risk of not raising the debt ceiling and that tax revenue could pay for up to 60 percent of government operations.
“You do not have to default and you don’t have to shut down the government if you choose not to,” said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland. If Congress raises the debt ceiling without a long-term plan for reducing the federal deficit, he added, “they’ll never solve the problem, and we’ll end up like Greece.”
Obama’s advisers have said that prioritizing some payments over others is impractical and would be chaotic. Money comes in and flows out at an inconsistent rate.
“You would have to make heinous choices about which bills you would pay,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.
***
According to the center’s analysis, the government would have to cut 44 percent of spending immediately. Through August, the government could afford Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense contracts, unemployment insurance and payments to bondholders.
But then it would have to eliminate all other federal spending, including pay for veterans, members of the armed services and civil servants, as well as funding for Pell grants, special-education programs, the federal courts, law enforcement, national nuclear programs and housing assistance.
After the debt ceiling was breached, there would be no delay in the tough decisions.
On Aug. 3, the Treasury is set to receive about $12 billion in tax revenue — mainly from people paying their taxes late — and is slated to spend $32 billion, including sending out more than 25 million Social Security and disability checks at a cost of $23 billion, according to Powell’s analysis.
Obama could decide to pay half of the Social Security checks and ignore other bills coming due that day, which include $500 million in federal salaries and $1.4 billion in payments to defense contractors.
Or he could decide not to make any Social Security payments and instead hoard tax revenues to pay investors in U.S. bonds. A failure to pay those investors would severely destabilize the financial system, analysts say.
***
More worrisome for government officials is the $100 billion in Treasury bonds that come due on Aug. 4 and must be paid off. Ordinarily, Treasury would pay off those bonds and issue new bonds.
But if the debt ceiling isn’t increased, Treasury could run into trouble “rolling over” this debt. Ratings agencies are threatening to downgrade U.S. bonds if the debt ceiling isn’t raised. If the bonds are downgraded, many investors — such as retirement funds — can’t buy them.
As a result, there could be far fewer buyers of Treasury bonds and the U.S. government would have to pay much higher interest rates.
Government officials and analysts say a spike in rates would dramatically increase the cost of funding the government and lead to far higher interest rates on mortgages, credit cards and other types of debt.
EXCERPTS:
What happens if President Obama and Congress don’t strike a debt deal?
On Aug. 3, the nation would find out, with Obama forced to make a set of extraordinarily difficult choices about what to pay or not pay. By then, the government’s savings account would be nearly empty and the president would be relying on daily tax revenue to pay the nation’s bills.
There wouldn’t be enough — in fact, there would be a $134 billion shortfall in August alone.
As Obama decided what to pay, he would choose among Social Security checks, salaries for members of the military and veterans, unemployment benefits, student loans, and many other government programs, according to administration officials and an independent analysis by a former senior Treasury Department official in the George H.W. Bush administration.
To protect the nation’s creditworthiness, Obama would have to balance those priorities with the imperative of making payments to investors in U.S. government bonds — ranging from domestic pension funds to the Chinese government.
“You can move the chess pieces around all you want,” said Jay Powell, a visiting scholar at the Bipartisan Policy Center and an author of the analysis. “You’re going to lose.”
For months, the president has been pressing Congress to raise the federal limit on borrowing, now at $14.3 trillion. Members of both parties have balked, saying they first want a plan to tame the growth of the debt.
On Wednesday, with negotiations over raising the debt ceiling hung up, Moody’s said it might downgrade the U.S. government’s top-of-the-line credit rating, which helps keep U.S. bonds the global gold standard, “given the rising possibility that the statutory debt limit will not be raised on a timely basis, leading to a default.”
***
Some skeptics in Congress and conservative economists say that Obama has overstated the risk of not raising the debt ceiling and that tax revenue could pay for up to 60 percent of government operations.
“You do not have to default and you don’t have to shut down the government if you choose not to,” said Peter Morici, an economist at the University of Maryland. If Congress raises the debt ceiling without a long-term plan for reducing the federal deficit, he added, “they’ll never solve the problem, and we’ll end up like Greece.”
Obama’s advisers have said that prioritizing some payments over others is impractical and would be chaotic. Money comes in and flows out at an inconsistent rate.
“You would have to make heinous choices about which bills you would pay,” White House press secretary Jay Carney said Wednesday.
***
According to the center’s analysis, the government would have to cut 44 percent of spending immediately. Through August, the government could afford Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, defense contracts, unemployment insurance and payments to bondholders.
But then it would have to eliminate all other federal spending, including pay for veterans, members of the armed services and civil servants, as well as funding for Pell grants, special-education programs, the federal courts, law enforcement, national nuclear programs and housing assistance.
After the debt ceiling was breached, there would be no delay in the tough decisions.
On Aug. 3, the Treasury is set to receive about $12 billion in tax revenue — mainly from people paying their taxes late — and is slated to spend $32 billion, including sending out more than 25 million Social Security and disability checks at a cost of $23 billion, according to Powell’s analysis.
Obama could decide to pay half of the Social Security checks and ignore other bills coming due that day, which include $500 million in federal salaries and $1.4 billion in payments to defense contractors.
Or he could decide not to make any Social Security payments and instead hoard tax revenues to pay investors in U.S. bonds. A failure to pay those investors would severely destabilize the financial system, analysts say.
***
More worrisome for government officials is the $100 billion in Treasury bonds that come due on Aug. 4 and must be paid off. Ordinarily, Treasury would pay off those bonds and issue new bonds.
But if the debt ceiling isn’t increased, Treasury could run into trouble “rolling over” this debt. Ratings agencies are threatening to downgrade U.S. bonds if the debt ceiling isn’t raised. If the bonds are downgraded, many investors — such as retirement funds — can’t buy them.
As a result, there could be far fewer buyers of Treasury bonds and the U.S. government would have to pay much higher interest rates.
Government officials and analysts say a spike in rates would dramatically increase the cost of funding the government and lead to far higher interest rates on mortgages, credit cards and other types of debt.
Hundreds scramble for Dallas County rental vouchers | wfaa.com Dallas - Fort Worth
EXCERPTS:
"DALLAS — Hundreds of people lined up Thursday morning to apply for Dallas County Section 8 housing vouchers.
The office at the Jesse Owens Memorial Complex wasn't supposed to open until 8 a.m., but some applicants started lining up at 10 o'clock Wednesday night.
Police kept people off school district property until the gates opened at 6 a.m. That resulted in a long string of cars lined up on the streets.
Doors were opened early.
Hundreds of people rushed the line, causing moments of unruliness. But authorities eventually gained control.
Seven people were treated by paramedics. None were taken to the hospital.
The federally-subsidized vouchers pay a portion of the rent, based on household income.
This is the first time in five years that the Dallas County waiting list for vouchers has been open.
Applicants who do get on the list could face a wait of up to two years before receiving assistance.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Restaurant Bans Young Kids - ABC News
EXCERPTS:
"Starting July 16, McDain's, a Pittsburgh-area restaurant, will ban children under the age of 6 from its dining area. Restaurant owner Mike Vuick said the policy came in response to complaints he'd received from older customers about kids causing a ruckus. In an email to his clientele, Vuick wrote, "We feel that McDain's is a not a place for young children … and many, many times they have disturbed other customers."
"A few weeks ago, Malaysia Airlines announced that it would ban infants from flying in the first-class cabin because other passengers had complained about squalling babies. And last February it was rumored that Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had been pressured to consider child-free zones and even child-free planes to appease business travelers who, according to a travel survey, listed unruly children as their No. 1 travel-related complaint.
"Are these bans even legal? Apparently yes. Federal law forbids discrimination on racial or religious grounds, but there is no blanket protection for children. For business owners like Vuick that means they can set the rules.
"Starting July 16, McDain's, a Pittsburgh-area restaurant, will ban children under the age of 6 from its dining area. Restaurant owner Mike Vuick said the policy came in response to complaints he'd received from older customers about kids causing a ruckus. In an email to his clientele, Vuick wrote, "We feel that McDain's is a not a place for young children … and many, many times they have disturbed other customers."
"A few weeks ago, Malaysia Airlines announced that it would ban infants from flying in the first-class cabin because other passengers had complained about squalling babies. And last February it was rumored that Virgin Atlantic and British Airways had been pressured to consider child-free zones and even child-free planes to appease business travelers who, according to a travel survey, listed unruly children as their No. 1 travel-related complaint.
"Are these bans even legal? Apparently yes. Federal law forbids discrimination on racial or religious grounds, but there is no blanket protection for children. For business owners like Vuick that means they can set the rules.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
Obama’s Economists: ‘Stimulus’ Has Cost $278,000 per Job | The Weekly Standard
EXCERPTS:
"The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus”... the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.
"The report was written by the White House’s Council of Economic Advisors, a group of three economists who were all handpicked by Obama, and it chronicles the alleged success of the “stimulus” in adding or saving jobs. The council reports that, using “mainstream estimates of economic multipliers for the effects of fiscal stimulus”... the “stimulus” has added or saved just under 2.4 million jobs — whether private or public — at a cost (to date) of $666 billion. That’s a cost to taxpayers of $278,000 per job.
Friday, July 1, 2011
Price Gouging Laws Hurt Storm Victims: Newsroom: The Independent Institute
EXCERPT:
"How many people see natural disasters like the tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, and say, “we should be working to impede the recovery and make life harder for storm victims”? Probably no one. How many people see prices rise after natural disasters like the tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, and say, “we should prosecute ‘price gougers’!”? Probably a lot. And yet prosecuting price gougers makes life harder for storm victims."
"How many people see natural disasters like the tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, and say, “we should be working to impede the recovery and make life harder for storm victims”? Probably no one. How many people see prices rise after natural disasters like the tornadoes in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Joplin, Missouri, and say, “we should prosecute ‘price gougers’!”? Probably a lot. And yet prosecuting price gougers makes life harder for storm victims."
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