Economy: Boycotting Florida? The Stupidest Idea Of The Year

(Drivebycuriosity) - When I am surfing the Internet I usual find a lot of stupid ideas. Last week I detected something which seems to me  the stupidest idea of the year. 

It comes from a Rev. Jesse Jackson (westernjournalism). This man babbles that he is considering launching an economic boycott on the entire state of Florida as a response to the Zimmerman case (thehill.com). If he would find follower this could translate into a demand drop for Florida products & services like orange juice, beach resorts, hotels, restaurants and entertainment parks.

Being an economist I am against all boycotts. I consider all kinds of boycotts as irresponsible at least.

1. The Zimmerman verdict was not issued by the state of Florida, neither by its citizens. It was a decision by a court which is independent by the Constitution! Why punish the people of Florida?

2. A boycott which translate into less buyers for Florida products and less visitors there would punish people in agriculture and the service sector, including taxi drivers, harvest hands, waiters, maids, chefs and many more. Those people, who are often employed in low income groups, would earn less and could even lose their jobs.

3. The economic damage done in Florida would certainly hurt the economy of the rest of the U.S. because all states and their economies are connected like parts of a human body.

Lifestyle: A Trip To Sandy Hook, New Jersey, USA

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - New York City offers a lot of pleasures. Part of them are the ubiquitous islands and beaches close to the metropolis. Many of them can be reached easily with public transportation.

Last monday my wife and I took the ferry from Manhattan to Sandy Hook, New Jersey. The boat is operated by SeaStreak, a private ferry company (seastreak), which offers this service from Memorial Day weekend through Labor Day weekend. The very fast and modern vessel departed at the East 34th Street Ferry Landing on the East River in Manhattan. There is another service that starts at Pier 11 at Wall Street. The trip is pricey (a round trip for 2 persons costs 90 dollar) but is worth the expense.

The scenic boat ride to the island lasted around one hour. The trip went along the fascinating skyline Manhattan´s and passed underneath landmarks like the Brooklyn Bridge and by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The boat  also passed Governor´s Island (a small piece of land close to the southern tip of Manhattan) and Staten Island, one of the 5 boroughs of New York City.

According to Wikipedia the barrier spit Sandy Hook is approximately 6 miles (10 km) in length and varying between 0.10 and 1 miles (0.16–1.6 km) wide (wikipedia). The place also can be reached by road from New Jersey (Route 36). At the ferry landing there is a free shuttle bus to take visitors to the island`s 3 public Atlantic beaches: North Beach, Gunnison Beach, and South Beach, which are all on the east side of the island.

Unfortunately, no one is allowed to walk along the full length waterfront. Between the public beaches are restricted areas which are reserved for breeding birds.

One of the beaches, Gunnison Beach, is clothing optional. But while similar places in Spain or in Germany have almost a cross section of the population this beach is highly frequented by elderly male who don´t show much interest in swimming. Hence Gunnison Beach is certainly a matter of taste. But there are the 2 other beaches and therefore enough alternatives.

I was impressed by the clean water. There are not many of the usual algae to see. The surf (if the word could be used here) is very mild. But you need insect spray - the mosquitos are plentiful and aggressive. And there are many (small) jelly fish in the sand, but I didn´t get bothered while swimming.

Generally I enjoyed the trip and hope to go back to this place sometimes.

Movies: The Look Of Love

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - Paul Raymond had a convincing business model: "Men like to look at beautiful girls and they like it especially when the beauties get undressed". In the second half of the last century the British entrepreneur build an empire on his motto, centered around strip clubs and soft-porn magazines. The movie "The Look of Love" describes the sparkling career of the un-official "King of Soho" who became the richest man England`s of his time (imdb).

The biopic shows a man of taste and wealth and focuses on Raymond´s relationship with women: Wive, girlfriends & daughter. Director Michael Winterbottom and scriptwriter Matt Greenhalgh delivered an entertaining study about an egotistical person who pursues his libertarian and hedonistic weltanschauung with little empathy for the need of others.

British actor Steve Coogan gave Raymond a face which was likable instead of his weaknesses and his boundless lust for live. Imogen Poots, Anna Friel and the gorgeous Tamsin Egerton fascinated as his persons of interest.

Winterbottom is one of the directors who aren´t scared by female nudity. There can bee seen lot´s of amazing naked women which is appropriate for this issue. The sex is tasteful photographed and not as explicit as in Winterbottom´s  "9 Songs". Cinematographer Hubert Taczanowski  and editor Mags Arnold fabricated an amusing kaleidoscope of  "Swinging London" and the British capital´s further cultural advance.

"The Look Of Love" is a little treasure and high recommended for adults who want something cinematic beyond the usual summer blockbusters.

Stock Market: Summer 2013 - Consumers In The Drivers Seat

(Drivebycuriosity) - Last week the U.S. stock market climbed on a new all-time high. If we believe the media the ongoing rally is just a response to Federal Reserve chairman Bernanke´s promise, that interest rates will stay extremely low for the coming months. But there are more drivers. Besides the supportive monetary policy, there are two more strong tailwinds: Rising company profits (the earning report season for Q2 has started) and the steady growth of the consumer spending.

Last Thursday many U.S. retailers reported their sales numbers from June. Same-store sales at shops open at least a year — a measure that strips out the volatility of openings and closings — rose 4.1% last month from the same period a year earlier (latimes). This was biggest increase since January and better than economists had expected.

This news was widely ignored by the media but the numbers show that the consumer spending, the engine of the economy, is still is fueling the upswing. U.S. consumers are staying optimistic. They ignore the doom & gloom in the media, encouraged by the healing job market, the comeback of the home prices and the rally on the stock market. The rising consumer spending will feed the continuation of the economic upswing and fuel further rising company profits and the extension of the stock market rally - generating a virtuous circle.

Stock Market: Why The S&P Could Reach 4,000 In This Decade

(Drivebycuriosity) - Today the S&P 500, the gauge for the U.S. stock market, climbed on a new all-time high. So what? I reckon that all-time highs are the new normal, at least for some years.

The Federal Reserve Bank promised that interest rates will stay on an extremely low level, company profits are rising (fueled by efficiency gains) and the consumer spending, the engine of the economy, is steadily climbing.

And paradoxically there is another tailwind - the still negative sentiment of the market. The majority, including the gross of hedge funds, is still too pessimistic and underinvested. Many professional investors (fund managers et.al.) are sitting on high cash reserves. I believe that those bears will get again punished by solid economy numbers that lead to stock market gains. Many professional will feel a growing performance pressure.

Hence I expect that the rally has legs and will drive the S&P 500 beyond the mark 2,000 by the end of the next year. I also believe that the advances in Internet, mobile computing, 3-d-printing, robotics, nano- & biotechnology and other fields (= technological progress) are reducing costs, raising efficiency and creating new markets. And the catching-up process in China, India and a lot of other countries will translate into high growth in large parts of the global economy that creates continuously rising revenues & profits for global companies like Starbucks, IBM, Caterpillar and other members of the S&P 500. Both trends will keep the bull market alive for many years.

The named beneficial factors could induce yearly stock market gains of 15% on average. Thanks to the compound interest effect the S&P 500 could double again between 2014 and 2019 and could reach the mark 4,000 already in this decade.

Economy: Going Out Is Good For The Economy

(Drivebycuriosity) - Last weeks´s U.S. employment report (plus 195.000 jobs in June, plus 202.000 in the private sector, minus 7.000 in the public) got a lot of attention. I want to focus on some statistical data that I found in a Wall Street Journal article (wsj.com): The paper commented that consumers are driving the recovery. "The star job creator in June was the leisure and hospitality sector—especially food and drink establishments—which provided over a third of all the new jobs in the private sector" (wsj.com). 

I like going out and I enjoy the food, the service and the company of different people. These numbers confirm that doing so is beneficial for the whole economy. Going out creates new jobs and income and keeps the economy running. This way a part of my going out expenditures are coming back, because a better economy improves my own situation. The numbers show that many people do so which creates a virtuous circle.

The data also confirm that many people (the consumers) ignore the still gloomy sentiment in the media and continue going out. So they confute the notorious drivel about the upcoming next recession.

Movies: The Lone Ranger

 

(Drivebycuriosity) - The history of the U.S. can be told in many different ways. The movie "The Lone Ranger" offers a very special view how the "West" was tapped (imdb). It is a surrealistic Western movie and describes a kind of an alternative history. Maybe it is a Western movie set in a parallel universe that is close to ours but not really. There are some events possible there which aren´t here. And some things are different and weird, like rabbits, horses and crows.

But "Lone Ranger" also deals with some of the dark parts of U.S. history in our universe. According to the script the construction of the railway connection between North America`s East and West was controlled  by crooks and murderers who were supported by corrupt army officers. The movie also deals with the fact that the native Americans, pathetically called Indians (like the citizen of India thousand of miles away), got cheated, murdered and deprived of their land, their rights and their existence. There is also a reminiscence of the Chinese workers, who really built the railroad connection that ignited the glorious rise of the U.S. economy. 

But all this got packed into a lot of furious action scenes with funny and hilarious events. The film is soaked with slapstick and shined with ludicrous ideas that reminded me of the early MGM cartoons like Tom & Jerry.

The most enjoyable part of the movie is the gorgeous cinematography. Director Gore Verbinski, cinematographer Bojan Bazelli and the digital engineers of "Industrial Light & Magic" (founded by George Lucas)  created fascinated tableaus of the "Wild West".  The awesome dessert landscapes  
 of New Mexico and Utah played an important role, including locations like the "Arches National Park" and the "Canyonlands National Park". You also could fall in love with those gorgeous trains that played a crucial role. The movie is an homage to John Ford's great Western movies, the so-called "Spaghetti Westerns" by Sergio Leone & Clint Eastwood, from "Little Big Man" (Dustin Hoffman) to Buster Keaton`s "The General," and even to classics like  "The Bridge on the River Kwai".

I was fascinated by the character of Tonto, a native American from the nation of Comanches with spiritual ambitions (shaman). According to IMDb the role was played by Jonny Depp. I have to believe that, but the actor was  unrecognizable thanks to the heavy make-up. His appearance -  with a crow constantly on his head (I am nor sure if it was dead or alive) - was priceless. This character was borrowed from the movie "Dead Man" by Jim Jarmusch, where a character named William Blake (also called "dead man", played by Jonny Depp) is accompanied by a spiritual American native, named "Nobody".  "Lone Ranger`s" Tonto divulged this "Nobody´s" philosophies about the world and the relationship between the "White Men" and the "Indians" giving the audience a lot to think about.

Armie Hammer was a passable "Lone Ranger", a lawyer who is a bit lost in the "Wild West", and displayed his comical talents. William Fichtner as a creepy villain  and Tom Wilkinson as a scrupulous railroad pioneer were also remarkable. The females (Helena Bonham Carter, Ruth Wilson) stood in the shade of the male heroes & villains as usual in Western movies.

"Lone Ranger" served 149 minutes of fun. I agree with Mark Hughes of Forbes magazine who commented, " it's about a hundred times better than you think it is. It’s a wonderful movie." (forbes). Well said!