Finance Geek

If you missed this one when it first came out, now is a good time to take a look at The Onion’s satirical take on the true nature of Facebook:

CIA’s ‘Facebook’ Program Dramatically Cut Agency’s Costs

As with all great satire, this bit is equally hilarious and disturbing, particularly in light of things like the Echelon …

More…

From September 15 to October 15, America celebrates Hispanic Heritage Month, signed into law by President Reagan in 1988. How have Latinos fared in America over the past three years, since they helped to send Barack Obama to the White House?Like many Americans, not well. President Obama won 67 percent of the Hispanic vote in 2008. Only President Clinton in 1996 won a higher percentage, 72 percent. Many reasons may explain those votes. When Mr. Obama was elected, some Americans believed he was serious about his campaign promises of immigration reform, an important issue for many voters. Those…

More…

Microsoft and Samsung have banded together against Google and its mobile operating system Android. The Redmond based computing giant and the Korean device manufacturer announced an agreement on Wednesday to cross-license one another?s portfolios of patents, with Samsung paying Microsoft a portion of the royalties on Android based devices and agreeing to continue expanding their development of Windows phones.

More…

[nggallery id=280 template=carousel]

See Also:Playing With Fire: Amazon Launches $200 Tablet, Slashes Kindle PricesAmazon Tablet to Launch ?By October?Rumor: Amazon Gunning for a Tablet Release This FallFrom HP to Amazon, the Tablet Dilemma: Go Big or Go HomeBeating Expectations: A Short History of Amazon?s Future TabletAmazon?s Future Is So Much Bigger Than a TabletReport: The Kindle …

More…

After two days of stellar gains, the stock market was in “rest” mode Wednesday afternoon as traders tried to make sense of the latest developments out of Europe. On Monday and Tuesday, hope rose for new solutions to address Europe’s sovereign debt crisis, generally, and the threat of a Greek default, specifically. “Germany is prepared [...]

More…

Yesterday morning I did an interview for Bloomberg TV.  I’ve shared my thoughts on CNBC before, but this was my first time on TV with make up, and that somehow makes it more proper, don’t you think?

The piece is very short but they referenced The Equity Kicker twice.  Without doubt they were interested to have me in the studio because of this blog, and more importantly because you all read it and comment.  Without an audience and participation I would be less interesting.  That’s why I used the pronoun ‘we’ in title to this post.

More…

Gloom and doom is everywhere these days. Home prices remain flat, and the bottom is nowhere in site. Congress can’t get its act together. Europe is on fire. The stock market swings 100 points (or more), positive or negative, by the day. Numerous states are in fiscal distress. To top that all off, millions of [...]

More…

The execution of Marisol Macias Castaneda — known online as “The Laredo Girl” — is the latest in a series of attacks against Mexicans who go online to discuss drug violence. It’s an epidemic which a new report describes as “so horrific as to approach a civil war.”

More…

Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! Following last week’s dismal showing, stocks were heading higher early Wednesday, seeking a third-straight gain. In such a highly volatile, uncertain market, many investors are feeling whipsawed by the dramatic swings. “Where do you get a grip on what reality is?,” asks Yale Professor Robert Shiller. The answer, [...]

More…

The U.S. Census Bureau recently released data indicating 15.1% of Americans were living below the poverty line in 2010 - the third consecutive annual increase and up from 12.5% in 2007, before the financial panic and recession. Also making recent headlines was President Obama’s latest jobs plan, to be funded primarily by $1.5 trillion in increased taxes, aimed mostly at the “wealthy.”
Together, the stories have served to resurrect concerns about the “wealth gap” - the idea the rich have gotten richer while the poor have grown poorer, and the middle class has either…

More…

Last month Google was fined $500 million for allowing foreign pharmacies that sell to Americans to advertise on Google adWords. Google’s agreement with the Department of Justice (DOJ) focused on controlled substances, like opiate painkillers, but as a result Google must now block all foreign prescription-drug advertisements. This ban includes foreign sites selling safe drugs to patients with valid prescriptions.
Failing to distinguish between licensed online pharmacies (Canadian or otherwise), which require a valid prescription and sell safe medications, and rogue online pharmacies,…

More…

As is well known now, and similarly well commented on, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke announced last week his latest attempt through central bank machinations to “revive” the U.S. economy. Bernanke’s hubristic and absurd presumption that he possesses the ability to boost economic growth from Washington will only make things worse. Stock markets seem to agree.
Captive to the false notion that a revised housing sector, along with the wilting corpses that are U.S. banks will lead our rebirth, Chairman Ben is set once again to quadruple down on the various mistakes and…

More…

Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! With President Obama’s poll numbers falling and the economy stagnating, it seems like 2012 is a golden opportunity for the Republicans to retake the White House. They still may do it but, right now, there’s “a lot of dissatisfaction” within the party over the GOP candidates in the [...]

More…

With his approval ratings slump in the polls, his lock on the base slipping and his economic policies having little effect, President Obama appears to be trying a new strategy on the campaign trail. Since unveiling his jobs plan in front of Congress earlier this month and in barnstorming stops and fundraisers over the last [...]

More…

Follow The Daily Ticker on Facebook here! As the world anxiously watches Europe’s crisis, another legislative body is struggling to get its act together: U.S. Congress. Late Monday, the Senate approved a short-term funding bill that will stop a shutdown of the federal government. House Republicans have vowed not to block the action, in which, [...]

More…