Archive for October, 2008

Wasilla Palin-drome

Christopher Carfi wrote:

Wasilla’s all I saw

He called it a Palin-drome.

Tags:

Republicans Create Wealth

This Cato Institute article Taking Stock of the Parties analyzes the stock market to determine which political party is better for creating wealth, as reflected in stock prices.

Over the last quarter of a century when the Republicans controlled both houses of Congress, the stock market rose by an average of about 20 percent per year. When the Democrats controlled both houses of Congress, the stock market only rose at an average annual rate of 6.9 percent for the Dow Jones and a tepid 5.1 percent for the Standard and Poor 500.

When one party controlled one house and the other party controlled the other house of Congress, the growth in the stock market was significantly less than when the Republicans controlled both houses (15.6 percent for the Dow Jones and 12.7 percent for the S&P), but significantly more than when the Democrats controlled both houses.

There is a natural tendency for people to focus on the party of the president who is in power; but, in fact, the Congress is far more important to markets because it decides how to, and how much to, tax and spend.

In conclusion:

History shows if you want your stock portfolio to increase at a rate of 20 percent per year, make sure Republicans control Congress; but if you want your portfolio only to increase 6 percent per year, go with the Democrats.

The Last Honest Reporter

Would the Last Honest Reporter Please Turn On the Lights? by Orson Scott Card is a wonderful read. Orson Scott Card is the author of one of my favorite science fiction novels, Ender’s Game. Apparently, he’s also a Democrat and a columnist. By my read, he’s a darned good one too.

Thanks to chipluck on Ann Coulter Online Chat for pointing out this excellent article.

Tags: ,

Where to vote

When you can find some time between loin girding to vote, you can now find out where to vote using this maps module.

OPEC to cut oil supplies to keep prices high

Reuters reports OPEC may cut oil supplies in 2 rounds: Khelil. With the price of oil falling from $147.27 to under $70 per barrel, OPEC is now trying to stop the decline. The November sweet crude contract rose from $69.85 to $71.85 even in anticipation of OPEC meeting to cut production.


Updated Monday morning (10/20/2008): crude rose more than $2 to over $74 a barrel.

Updated Tuesday afternoon (10/21/2008): U.S. oil for November delivery tumbled $3.98 a barrel to $70.27 by 12:33 p.m. (1633 GMT) on weak demand, despite the OPEC supply cut.

Updated Friday morning (10/24/2008): U.S. light crude for December delivery traded down $4.80 at $63.04 a barrel. Earlier it touched $62.85, its lowest since May 2007.

Updated Monday morning (10/27/2008): Crude for December delivery dropped $1.99, or 3.1%, to $62.16 a barrel.

Updated Tuesday morning (10/28/2008): OPEC officials say ready to act again to boost oil. Prices recovered to $64 a barrel.

Tags: