Weekday NEWS to Comfort the Disturbed and Disturb the Comfortable.
Thurs 08.28.2008
Simple Economics Will Drive Gold Higher Gold prices are likely to scale new peaks as market fundamentals tighten because producers need at least a 20 percent rise in bullion prices just to make new investment viable, a leading fund manager said on Wednesday. "Gold mining is a very complicated and expensive business and you really need to see the gold price a lot higher before you see any increase in gold production," Ian Henderson, who manages around $5 billion at JP Morgan's Global Natural Resources fund.
Gold Rises For Third Day As Weaker Dollar Spurs Buying Gold futures rose Thursday for a third session as a weaker U.S. dollar spurred demand for gold as an investment alternative and as tensions over Russia triggered buying of gold as a haven.
Multi-Year Cycle for Commodities Financial distress has slashed the value of many natural resource stocks, but a lot of the underlying assets remain solid and the outlook for commodities is positive, a fund manager said on Wednesday. Ian Henderson, who manages around $5 billion at JPMorgan's Global Natural Resources Fund, said he favours long-term commodity investments but investors have to be selective.
North American Currencies Surge Ahead The Canadian and U.S. dollars navigated a flurry of economic news and data but held on to strong gains against overseas currencies. The economic news also failed to inspire market participants in Treasury and equity markets as both ended the day virtually flat.
Inflation Waning on Oil Decline Inflation concerns are waning with oil prices receding, says Minneapolis Fed chief Gary Stern. "From my perception, some of the concerns about inflation and inflation expectations seem to have diminished," Stern told CNBC. Just a month ago, Stern was concerned that inflation risks were rising. Now, the mix of lower oil prices and tight credit could allow the Federal Reserve to hold off raising interest rates to stave off inflation
MBIA May Rise After Agreeing to Reinsure $184 Billion of Debt MBIA Inc. may rise after the company agreed to reinsure $184 billion in municipal bonds for Financial Guaranty Insurance Co., demonstrating its ability to win new business after losing its top AAA rating. MBIA, the largest bond insurer, jumped 12 percent to $13.40 in after-hours trading yesterday after the Armonk, New York- based company said it will receive premiums of about $741 million as part of the contract.
MBIA to Aid Troubled Bond Insurer MBIA agreed to take control of nearly $200 billion of municipal bonds currently backed by a rival bond insurer, in a move that could help its competitor avoid bankruptcy. The agreement between the two companies calls for the municipal bond issuers to pay their premiums in advance, transferring $741 million to MBIA. In exchange, MBIA will pay FGIC a commission worth nearly $200 million. The New York insurance superintendent, Eric R. Dinallo, put the deal together as part of a wider plan to help the $2.4 trillion bond insurance industry regain its financial health. Insurers like FGIC have been hurt this year by losses and downgrades linked to the broader credit crisis.
Treasurys edge higher amid Fannie, Freddie worries Treasury bonds rebounded Wednesday to finish slightly higher amid uncertainty over whether troubled mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac would need a government bailout. Investors grew concerned about the potential for further financial losses and the need for federal help for the government-sponsored companies when trading in Fannie's stock was halted because of pending news. The company disclosed several executive changes, which analysts said did not affect bond trading. But there were still concerns in the market before and after the announcement that a failure of the companies could have a wide effect on the economy and financial markets; Fannie and Freddie hold or back roughly half of U.S. mortgage debt.
Fannie Shuffles Its Top Leaders Insiders to Replace Departing Officials Struggling mortgage giant Fannie Mae shook up its senior management yesterday, announcing the departure of its chief financial officer and two other top executives. Daniel H. Mudd will continue to serve as chief executive and the departing company officers will be replaced by other Fannie Mae insiders. The company, battered by the meltdown in the mortgage market, said it was putting in place a team that will help it endure mounting losses that have put the firm's survival at stake.
Fannie's Fatalities A management shake-up won't solve Fannie Mae's ills. We knew this time would come eventually. Time for the bodies to start piling up.Fannie Mae announced a management restructuring that it says will help it work through its capital problems but in reality will likely solve none of them.The troubled mortgage lender will replace its chief financial officer, its chief business officer, and its chief risk officer. Chief executive Daniel Mudd will remain at the helm. Shares of Fannie Mae, which have rallied during the past three trading sessions, fell after the announcement was made.
Lehman Down But Not Out The investment bank explores options as steep losses and write-downs hang overhead. Lehman Brothers is looking for options as a projected $4.0 billion in write-downs hangs overhead. The company's already stark alternatives could disappear once it announces yet another round of quarterly losses. New reports surfaced on Wednesday that the company is trying to sell its asset management unit, which includes its prized Neuberger Berman branch. Chief Executive Richard Fuld, who is reportedly trying to hold on to his position, sent out letters to private-equity firms earlier in the month in hopes of garnering interest in the unit. On Wednesday, three firms are reportedly still in the running: Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Hellman & Friedman and Bain Capital.
SEC proposes international accounting plan Federal regulators on Wednesday proposed a plan to allow public companies to begin using international accounting standards for reporting financial results in two years, and may require them to do so starting in 2014. The push by the Securities and Exchange Commission toward acceptance of a single, global accounting standard has raised objections from some investor advocates and key lawmakers. Supporters of the change say it makes sense in an era of increasingly globalized financial markets and would help lure foreign companies to U.S. markets.
Worthless money, worthless economy "The worst part is that this is also true: worthless money, worthless economy. I wish I could find a laugh in there, but I can't. Plenty to weep about, though! And plenty of time to repent at leisure, too!" There comes that "Kodak moment" (elsewhere referred to as that "Wile E Coyote moment" when he has run off the cliff and is surprised to see himself momentarily suspended in mid-air) when burgeoning governments and the dysfunctional economies that grow up around them have grown and evolved into their final, grotesque, bloated maximum by constantly expanding their spending via debt and taxes to the maximum, and then one day they suddenly cannot do that silly crap anymore.
Small Banks, Tight Credit Reliance on Souring Development Loans Is Leading To a Cash Crunch, Limiting Funds for Other Businesses Late loan payments and defaults by commercial and residential developers have soared to the highest levels since the early 1990s, threatening the health of some small banks, regulators said yesterday. The delinquency rate on construction and development loans hit 8.1 percent at the end of June, the highest rate for any category of bank loans, according to new data from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The rate has more than tripled from 2.4 percent at the end of June last year.
Fed hints it will raise benchmark interest rate The rate would be raised in an effort to slow inflation, but Fed policy makers have not agreed to a timetable for the move, documents show. Federal Reserve policy makers expect to eventually raise their benchmark interest rate in an effort to slow inflation, but they have not agreed to a timetable for the move, according to minutes of the Fed's last meeting in early August. "Members generally anticipated that the next policy move would likely be a tightening" of interest rates, according to the minutes, which were released on Tuesday. But "the timing and extent of any change in policy stance would depend on evolving economic and financial developments and the implications for the outlook for economic growth and inflation."
Spreading the Slowdown "Wall Street, central bankers, economists, politicians - and most investors too - are betting on a soft landing," said a friend from New York. "A slowdown in world growth has taken the pressure off commodity prices. Slower growth will help keep inflation down, generally. And as long as inflation is no problem, the Fed doesn't have to raise rates - which will keep the slowdown from hitting too hard."
Should Biden Share Blame for Foreclosure Crisis? Many Americans Lost Homes Due to a Bill Championed by Biden Experts say hundreds of thousands of Americans may have lost their homes due to a bill championed by Sen. Joseph Biden, D-Del., Barack Obama's vice-presidential running mate. At least two studies have concluded that the United States' foreclosure crisis was exacerbated by a 2005 law that overhauled the nation's bankruptcy law. That conclusion is echoed by other experts, although the banking and credit industry disputes it. Congressional Republicans drove the effort to pass the Bankruptcy Abuse Prevention and Consumer Protection Act (BAPCPA) of 2005. But Biden who has enjoyed hundreds of thousands of dollars in campaign donations from credit industry executives endorsed the measure early on and worked to gather Democratic support for it
A Wake-Up Call on Home Equity Loans An increase in consumer complaints over the cancellation or reduction of home equity lines of credit has prompted one federal banking regulator to remind financial institutions about the laws governing this type of loan. The Office of Thrift Supervision, which supervises savings associations and their holding companies, has warned institutions that if they curtail or terminate a home equity line of credit, the action must comply with federal laws and rules designed to protect customers, including regulations covered in the Truth in Lending Act, the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, the Fair Housing Act and the OTS nondiscrimination rule.
U.S. moves toward international accounting rules The SEC moved to require all American companies to use international accounting standards by 2016. The commission voted unanimously to propose for comment a "road map" for conversion, with eventual adoption depending in part on revised provisions for financing the group that writes the international standards. The adoption of international accounting standards by the United States would move the world toward one set of standards, which should make it easier for investors to compare companies operating in differing regions, and make it easier for firms to raise capital in whatever market seems most attractive.
New Orleans Girds for Another Storm NEW ORLEANS — An unsettling sense of the past repeating itself pervaded this city on Wednesday as Tropical Storm Gustav crept this way through the Caribbean, two days before Hurricane Katrina’s third anniversary. Residents bought emergency supplies, evacuation plans were dusted off, a municipal help hot line was flooded with calls, and the mayor rushed home from the Democratic National Convention, even as officials warned that it was too early to predict where the storm would hit. Louisiana’s governor, Bobby Jindal, declared a pre-emptive state of emergency, mobilizing 3,000 National Guard members.
Gustav kills 23; New Orleans makes evacuation plan Gustav stalled offshore Wednesday and poured more misery onto Haiti after landslides and flooding killed 23 people. Oil workers began leaving their rigs and New Orleans drew up evacuation plans as forecasters warned the storm could plow into the U.S. Gulf coast as a major hurricane. Gustav killed 15 people on Haiti's deforested southern peninsula, where it dumped 12 inches or more of rain. A landslide buried eight people, including a mother and six of her children, in the neighboring Dominican Republic. Gustav weakened to a tropical storm over Haiti, but was expected to become a hurricane again as early as Thursday over the warm Caribbean waters between Cuba and Jamaica. Its expected track pointed directly at the Cayman Islands, an offshore banking center where residents boarded up homes and stocked up on emergency supplies. By Labor Day, Gustav could make landfall anywhere from south Texas to the Florida panhandle, and hurricane experts said everyone in between should be concerned.
Worker Confidence Sinks To '01 Recession Level $$ American workers' confidence in the job market is as low as it was during the 2001 recession, according to a new survey. When asked whether this is a bad time to find a quality job, 65% said it was, matching the level of the 2001 recession, according to the survey by Rutgers University's John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development, released Thursday. With unemployment at 5.7%, the highest level since 2004, and with weekly unemployment claims hitting a six-year high earlier this month, workers are worried about everything from their weekly hours to their total pay.
U.S. Bankruptcy Filings Near 1 Million Mark, Up 29% on the Year The number of U.S. residents and businesses that filed for bankruptcy rose 28.9% to 976,831 for the year ended June 30, 2008, according to U.S. court data released Wednesday. The Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts reported that non-business filings comprised 96.5% of that total, or 934,009. More than 33,800 businesses filed for bankruptcy during that 12-month period, an increase of 41.6% from the year prior. Filings made in the third quarter - the three-month period ended June 30, 2008 - totalled 276,510, the highest quarterly filings since the Judiciary's first fiscal year quarter in 2006.
Retailers' Rude Awakening The back-to-school shopping season is not yielding the kind of revenue they expected. While consumers continue to cling onto their wallets, retailers are forced to pull out all the stops, which include lowering inventory and slashing prices. On Wednesday, a range of retailers reported disappointing results, a sign that consumers are still pinched going into the fall shopping season and beyond.
Best Farm Economy Since 1970s Comes With Expense Risk U.S. agricultural income is the highest in three decades after corn and soybeans rose to records. The risk for farmers is that costs are rising even faster, increasing concern of a profit squeeze. A U.S. Department of Agriculture report tomorrow may show costs are accelerating as revenue growth slows, similar to a pattern that led to a 1980s farm crisis that was the worst since the Great Depression, said Gary Schnitkey, a University of Illinois farm economist. Corn, wheat and soybean prices are all at least 18 percent below their peaks. Fertilizer costs doubled from a year ago, while fuel increased 62 percent, USDA data show. Expenses probably will surpass the $279.2 billion that the USDA estimated in February, eroding net income the government pegged at a record $92.3 billion for 2008, farmers and economists said.
The Growing Income Gap Washington Post columnist Steven Pearlstein was online to discuss how the presidential campaign is addressing growing income inequality and the stagnation of middle class income.
How Safe Is Your Company's Money in the Bank? After eight bank failures through Aug. 1 this year, business owners are wondering if they can bank on their money being safe. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation offers coverage up to $100,000 for deposits per bank, but many business owners have bigger accounts. "Security for the business owner is the No. 1 priority," says Peter Miralles, president of Atlanta Wealth Consultants. "They don't want to be doing payroll and find out the bank just shut their doors, and they're only insured for $100,000 -- that may lead them into bankruptcy. Businesses have to be very careful." According to the FDIC, when it seized IndyMac Bank in July, there was almost $1 billion in uninsured deposits.
Tight Credit Puts Squeeze On Big Three Auto Dealers $$ The credit crunch squeezing U.S. auto makers is spreading to some of their dealers. GMAC stopped financing for a large Chevrolet dealer. The credit crunch squeezing Detroit's Big Three auto makers is now spreading to some of their dealers, adding financial pressure to a group already strained by this year's big drop in auto sales.
Retirement Wake-Up Call "Perhaps this loss in housing equity is why an AARP survey that found increasing numbers of people who are eligible for retirement are, instead, continuing to work, and some of them are even going back to work after retiring." I figure that the proverbial poop will hit the proverbial fan when people finally realize that they have been played for chumps, as it is obviously mathematically impossible for everyone, or even the majority of people, to take more purchasing power out of the stock market than they put in. So investing in the stock market, especially over the long-term, is, for almost everybody investing in it, a loser. The only question is, "How bad will it get?", which is a question born of despair and yet tinged with hope, like when my wife rushed home from our disastrous honeymoon complaining about what a disgusting pig I am and is reported to have also wailed, "How bad will it get?"
U.S. Initial Jobless Claims Fall Back Further to 425k Initial claims for unemployment benefits in the United States came in line with expectations, dropping further to 425k in the week ending Aug. 23, the Department of Labor reported on Thursday. Continuing claims rose to 3.423 million for the week ending Aug. 16. Forecasts were for initial claims to fall to 425k this week, following last week's upwardly revised reading of 435k. This week's figure is now below the four-week moving average for initial claims, which is now 440k, down from 446k last week. Continuing claims were expected to come in at 3.390 million for the week ending Aug. 16, following the previous week's downwardly revised figure of 3.359 million.
Sears Stumbles on Slowing Economy $$ Sears reported a 62% drop in fiscal second-quarter net income on weakness at the retailer's U.S. stores. Interim Chief Executive W. Bruce Johnson said the results "reflect the continued effects of a slowing economy," prompting the company to project weak fiscal-year sales and cut its fiscal-year view for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization to one Johnson said is "comparable to, but no longer exceeds, last year's Ebitda." Still, he said a $500 million cut to domestic inventory levels should lead to higher Ebitda, lower markdowns and help margins the rest of the year.
Chrysler Explores Sale of Dodge Viper Unit Chrysler is exploring strategic options for its Dodge Viper sports car business as the struggling company tries to raise cash to ride out a deepening industry downturn. "We have been approached by third parties who are interested in exploring future possibilities for Viper," the chief executive, Robert L. Nardelli, said Wednesday in a memorandum to employees.
For Tata in India: Industry vs. Farms Is he a hero for bringing affordable cars to the masses or a villain for stealing land for his factories? Ratan Tata's fortunes are changing India's Ratan Tata had always expected his $2,500 car, the Nano, to draw crowds (BusinessWeek.com, 1/10/08). But the nearly 40,000 protesters who recently shut down the highway leading to his factory in the state of West Bengal weren't exactly the fans he was hoping for. It seems like only yesterday that Tata was being hailed as a hero (BusinessWeek.com, 2/14/08) in his quest to build an affordable car for the masses. But in Singur, a two-hour drive north from Kolkata, he's now being pilloried as a greedy industrialist who conspired with state authorities to rob local farmers of 400 acres. Leading the charge is Mamata Banerjee, a firebrand politician from an opposition party. "Tata Babu, you may be rich, but no matter how many times you say Nano, we say no-no," said Banarjee on Aug. 26, addressing a swelling crowd of farmers outside the factory gates.
Toyota Taps on the Brakes For carmakers, it's now a small world after all. It's not just Detroit. For years, Toyota Motor has been gaining at the expense of the Big Three automakers, but the economic downturn in the United States and Europe is now taking its toll. Toyota has announced that it is cutting its 2009 sales forecast by nearly 7 percent, to 9.7 million vehicles. On the road to overtaking General Motors as the world's biggest auto manufacturer, Toyota had earlier this year forecast a nearly 6 percent gain in sales, to 10.4 million. More important, today's announcement confirms that the global automotive industry is making a significant transition toward smaller, more fuel-efficient cars. G.M. and Ford have announced similar shifts, but coming from the industry leader, it is clear it not just a knee-jerk reaction to $4 gasoline.
FAA Rushes to Fix Aging System That Caused Delays $$ The FAA said it is overhauling an error-prone computer system that caused hundreds of delayed flights Tuesday. The Federal Aviation Administration said it is overhauling an error-prone computer system that caused hundreds of delayed flights Tuesday. The system is part of the aging infrastructure that guides air traffic, which the FAA has been trying to update to reduce chronic delays. The National Airspace Data Interchange Network, or Nadin, shut down Tuesday afternoon as technicians at a Georgia facility that houses the system were updating it with new flight-plan data. The failure caused over 600 delays, mostly in Atlanta, Chicago and the Northeast, and forced airlines and some of the FAA's controllers to scramble to ensure safe operations.
Virus Found On Computer In Space Station Citing security policies, NASA would not disclose details about how the virus got on a laptop on the International Space Station. NASA confirmed on Wednesday that a computer virus was identified on a laptop computer aboard the International Space Station, which carries about 50 computers. The virus was stopped with virus protection software and posed no threat to ISS systems or operations, said NASA spokesperson Kelly Humphries.
Israel walks tightrope as US and Russia dispatch ships to Georgia As the US and Russia sent military vessels to dock at different Georgian ports on Wednesday, Israel continued to tread carefully, issuing no statement regarding Russia's recognition of the breakaway Georgian provinces and - in an apparent show of balance - is planning to send humanitarian aid not only to Georgia, but to North Ossetia as well. Anatoly Yurkov, the charge d'affaires at Russia's embassy in Tel Aviv, told The Jerusalem Post in an interview that Moscow appreciated the balanced position Israel had taken throughout the crisis, as well as its "low profile."
Russia's Super-Rich Are Leaving for London Russia's mega-wealthy industrialists are leaving Moscow for London. Among them are famous Russians Viktor Vekselberg, Mikhail Fridman, and Leonid Blavatnik, who collectively control a fortune worth more than $40 billion, according to the most recent Forbes magazine list of billionaires. According to The Telegraph, "Russia is the last source of new money" for London. Vekselberg, Fridman, and Blavatnik are the three oligarchs behind AAR, a consortium that owns 50 percent of TNK-BP, an oil joint venture with the British corporate giant BP. Between 1998 to 2004, more than $100 billion flowed from Russia, according to Forbes magazine. A significant percentage of that is now being spent in the boutiques and estate agents of London, thought to be home to more than 300,000 Russians.
Georgia War Shows 'Weak' Russia Russia's conflict with Georgia is the sign of a "weak" Russian nation, not a newly assertive one, and Moscow now has put its place in the world order at risk, the top U.S. diplomat for relations with the country said in an interview yesterday. "There is a Russia narrative that 'we were weak in the '90s, but now we are back and we are not going to take it anymore.' But being angry and seeking revanchist victory is not the sign of a strong nation. It is the sign of a weak one," said Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs.
Russia Gains at Our Expense David Malpass, the former chief economist of Bear Stearns, says that the dollar, not high oil prices, is the real problem with the U.S. economy. Malpass blames former Federal Reserve Board Chairman Alan Greenspan for starting the current easy money policy in Washington that Malpass says is responsible for the problems that companies and consumers are facing today. "Banks lost a lot of money, but that hasn't stopped the global community. And I don't think it will," says Malpass, now senior economist at Encima Global. "The dollar is strengthening, that's good news. But, 1 percent interest rates didn't make sense. We built a bubble," said Malpass, referring to unusually low interest rates under Greenspan.
A New "Cold War" Looms Russian President Dimitri Medvedev has floated a not-so-subtle warning of Russia and the West descending into a new “Cold War,” the blame for which he places, in traditional Russian fashion, squarely on America… As a follow up, Vladimir Putin has since hinted at the possibility of a direct conflict between Russian and American naval forces in the Black Sea. If these events of the past few weeks are a reliable indication, the world may indeed see a replay of the harrowing years of Soviet aggression.
China, Iraq reach $3 bln oil service deal China and Iraq have signed a $3 billion deal revising an earlier agreement for China's biggest oil company to help develop the Ahdab oil field, an official at the Iraq's Oil Ministry said Thursday. The deal, restoring a project canceled after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, was signed late Wednesday by Chinese officials and Iraqi Oil Minister Hussain al-Shahristani. "The initial agreement has been signed, and we are waiting to see the approval of both governments," said Sarhad Fatah, a spokesman at the Iraqi Embassy in Beijing
China's Unease With Russian Actions Strains Ties $$ Move to Recognize Georgian Regions Sparks 'Concern' China voiced unease about Russia's recognition of two Georgian separatist regions, weakening a pillar of Putin's policy of forging close ties with Beijing as a counterbalance to Washington. Russia's efforts to redraw the map of the Caucasus received a frosty reception from China, a further sign of how Moscow's conflict with Georgia is scrambling diplomatic alignments in place since the end of the Cold War.
China Manufacturing Set to Roar Past U.S. The manufacturing dominance that the United States has held for the past century may be coming to an end. According to Global Insights, last year the U.S. was still easily in the top spot, accounting for a fifth of the total. China, meanwhile ranked second with 13.2 percent. Now the company's estimates show that next year China will account for 17 percent of manufacturing output, and the U.S. will make up 16 percent. Data from Global Insight show the U.S. will have to return the No. 1 position to China, which, according to economic historians, ranked first in manufacturing for nearly 1,800 years up to about 1840, when Britain became the world's biggest manufacturer after its Industrial Revolution.
China faces a new world order of trade China may have overwhelmed the United States - not to mention the rest of the world - in its quest for Olympic gold, but when it comes to trade, China may be losing its advantage. A spate of factors including a weak dollar, sluggish U.S. demand and high commodity prices have started to rebalance the trade accounts of China and the United States. Experts agree that this is not necessarily a bad thing. The question is whether China can pull off its rebalancing act without a hard economic landing.
U.S., Japanese & European Officials Planned to Defend Greenback According to a report from Nikkei News on Thursday, Japanese, U.S. and European Officials collaborated on a rescue plan for the U.S. dollar in mid-March, in the midst of the collapse of Bear Stearns.
Europe's Subprime Headache Almost the entire region of Western Europe, Scandinavia and the Baltics is on the cusp of fully fledged recession, raising fresh fears about the health of Europe's banking system. Germany's IFO confidence index of future business crashed in July to levels last seen in the post-unification bust of the early 1990s. Over the past three months the index has suffered the steepest decline since the 1973 oil shock. "Everything is coming to a head at the same time," said Julian Callow, Europe economist at Barclays Capital.
----------------- Elections -------------------
Obama speech stage resembles ancient Greek temple Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's big speech on Thursday night will be delivered from an elaborate columned stage resembling a miniature Greek temple. The stage, similar to structures used for rock concerts, has been set up at the 50-yard-line, the midpoint of Invesco Field, the stadium where the Denver Broncos' National Football League team plays. Some 80,000 supporters will see Obama appear from between plywood columns painted off-white, reminiscent of Washington's Capitol building or even the White House, to accept the party's nomination for president. He will stride out to a raised platform to a podium that can be raised from beneath the floor.
The Democrat Party Shows That It Is Not a Party of Fairness Whether you like, love, or loathe the politics of Barack Obama, you have to give the man his due! He destroyed the “Arrogant Bill And Hillary Rodham-Clinton’s Political Machine”… Keep in mind that it was Hillary Rodham-Clinton who was so full of herself, that she didn’t plan beyond Super Tuesday. This is a mistake that has probably caused her to lose sleep this week. Instead of preparing to get set to square off against John McCain this Fall, Rodham-Clinton has been reduced to, “Warming Up The Crowd For Obama” Ms. Clinton was so cocksure of herself when this thing started, she was probably writing her acceptance speech a couple of years ago!
At 5,280 Feet, the Party Atmosphere Is Thin EVEN if the modern presidential convention has become a largely symbolic affair, the constant flow of nightly parties and celebrations has always been reason enough to keep the stodgy tradition going. But this year at the Democratic National Convention, there is a new complaint being whispered by disgruntled guests: partying in Denver is a downer."Normally at conventions, you’d have people regaling you with what happened the night before," said Emil Hill, a Washington communications executive who has been party-hopping steadily all week. "This time, not a single person has given me a story. I guess when you lose two elections in a row, people learn from that."
Joe Biden's speech at the Democratic convention Prepared remarks from Sen. Joe Biden, Barack Obama's runningmate, for his address at the Democratic National Convention on Thursday in Denver.
Senator Barack Obama Becomes the Official Democratic Presidential Nominee In a dramatic gesture in Denver tonight Senator Hilary Clinton announced her state of New York was voting for Obama as the democratic presidential nominee. The declaration was theatrical in that it effectively concluded the necessary state by state vote announcements. Shortly after, to a crowd of cheering and tearing onlookers, congresswoman Nancy Pelosi officially announced Obama as the nominee.
Barack Obama's "CHANGE" Barack Obama is the most talked about, most media worshipped political celebrity of all time. He has received praise from Keith Olberman, German crowds , and a host of media outlets like ABC, CBS, NBC, and CNN. He has been called many names both good and bad… Names like “the messiah” has often been associated with Obama by conservatives because he is worshipped by some on the left as if he were God and apparently performed miracles during speeches - remember those who fainted and were raised by a bottle of Obama’s water. Names like the anti-Christ has also been given to him by some conservatives because of his obvious ability to speak well and be able to draw crowds with an almost uncanny charisma.
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