Osama bin Laden’s Death Changes Little, But Maybe…

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on May 2, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments While psychologically important, Osama bin Laden’s death in an Islamabad, Pakistan suburb early Sunday morning changes little.  But perhaps there is a window of opportunity now for the United States to re-prioritize.  Our efforts to negate the importance of al Qaeda were important, but, in my opinion, are beyond overwrought. Frankly, the intelligence organizations of Presidents George W....
read more

In Defense of Research In Motion

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 29, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Research in Motion (ticker: RIMM) announced that it expects second quarter earnings per share to by between $1.30 and $1.37, rather than between the range $1.47 of $1.55 that it just promised a month ago.  Stock analysts hate this kind of revision and many who follow RIMM have drastically cut their ratings on the maker of BlackBerry phones in the last day. For me this is an illustration of just...
read more

U.S. GDP Growth Slows

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 28, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments U.S. Commerce Department calculations estimate that first quarter U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) growth slowed to 1.8%.  By comparison, fourth quarter GDP growth was 3.1%. Analysis: Clearly this is a disappointing result.  However, let’s review some of what happened in the first quarter and then compare that to burgeoning consumer confidence. 2011’s first three months was rocked...
read more

Japanese Production Devastated by Tsunami

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 28, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Japanese government statistics show that March factory production fell a whopping 15.3% from February’s number.  Furthermore, the tsunami led to an 8.5% drop in household spending. Analysis: Each of the above numbers set records for statistical drops in Japan and both clearly indicate an economy devastated by the March 11 tsunami. On the bright side, the Japanese government is still...
read more

Apple is Back Pedaling

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 27, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Over the last week I have been tracking and blogging about Apple’s breach of privacy decency, as well as Google’s privacy violations, too.  This morning Apple announced that it is going to be providing a software “fix” so that location data is not stored on your Apple wireless device even after you have disable the locating functions. What I love is the...
read more

Consumer Confidence Up Is Important

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 26, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments Consumer confidence rose to a level of 65.4 in April according to its tracker, The Conference Board.  Meanwhile economists had expected a level of 65.0.  March’s consumer confidence was revised upward slightly from 63.4 to 63.8. Analysis: I have said it so many times on the blog that it is almost redundant, but consumers drive the U.S. economy and its growth in gross domestic product...
read more

the U.S. Doesn’t Control Gas Prices

Posted by Jason Apollo Voss on Apr 25, 2011 in Blog | 0 comments This morning CNN is running a story that apes something that I have been saying for years: more oil drilling in the United States will not change fuel prices.  Why?  Because the U.S. doesn’t control gas prices, OPEC does. Additional oil drilling in the United States might create more jobs, reduce reliance on foreign oil production and help to lower the trade deficit.  However, it is...
read more