The Big Picture

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• Anti-Semitic Tweeter
• FDIC Bank Failures
• The Bubble in Bubbles (Reflexive Version)
• Housing Overhang Persists
• “60 Minutes” Presents: Honoring Our Soldiers
• Reads from Twitter
• Vallejo Water Bonds & Memorial Day
• Understanding Dog Behavior: A New Science
• Cory Doctorow on Copyright and Piracy

Anti-Semitic Tweeter Posted: 30 May 2011 05:36 PM PDT > Why do you people follow this creep? > SARAHW69 Sarah Afton dating rules,dating games,Yahoo People Search,Yahoo Personals,Dating Advice Follow The_Keith2011 Keith Faulkner Military Officer, like science fiction, love the gym, live for the weekends. Follow MarkRMatthews Mark R Matthews I am a very Conservative (NOT Republican) Attorney/Professor. Follow greenleader77 Chris Gamble Follow AxelSoLive Axel So I am 43 years old. Quick on my feet. money maker. Amatuer musician. Follow RUSSATRON133 russ mccumber Follow FabienneKrauer Fabienne Krauer Follow clareascott Clare Scott Follow OthaCorbett Otha Corbett Nothing. Follow CHOWSTL Craig Lueschow Anti-truther anti-birther. Just an American patriot bitterly clinging to his guns and beer. Follow LghtningRodOfH8 Lightning Rod Objective: To amass so much hatred that I conquer the world! Follow shonnarosauramq Shonna Rosaura What’s the go with guys? They think its a compliment to say I have nice ‘melons’, but get really upset when I say they have cute ‘grapes’ Follow SigridAndreggCC Sigrid Andregg Follow J0S10Fostero Jus10 Foster Senior Graphic Design Student who LOVES God Follow IrvingTXNews Irving TX Follow alexdalenbergvq Alex Dalenberg Business reporter for the Arizona Daily Star in Tucson. Researcher for Blumsday.com (we do tech and small biz stories). Retweets and links are not endorsements. Follow AlexButler102 Alex Butler I’m a college student excited about my future and I’m not afraid of what’s ahead in life. Follow nbcxzer UAF This is a twitter! Follow Rowenarr86 Rowena French I am a funny person, I like to be honest. I really enjoy the summer, because I like the beach so much; also go to the movie. A good dinner in a restaurant, a Follow jeremy_piven hjlker Follow Trav86H Travis Halford guitar/music fanatic, college student, artist. tweet it at me Follow allworldkal allworldkal I love to laugh and have fun. Really into music,sports and my fiancée Tangie. I’m just a stand up guy and an all around righteous dude. Follow rossjam rossjam Just here to cause trouble. Follow ravensild Lindsay Addison Computer, Design, Marketing, Macintosh, Security, Music, Anime and Manga addict. Follow zippiskootch Zippiskootch I am the socialist that makes Glenn Beck piss himself. http://www.zippiskootch.blogspot.com/ Follow dallas_the_dog Dallas the Dog My previous owner may have named me Dallas, but I am a diehard 49er and Laker terrier through and through. Follow Charleskempfnyc Charles Kempf husband,father mediocre intellect, and T.H.C enthusiast Follow userfriendly_ murdoc kiddo did you know I’m utterly insane? Follow RaelianMovement Raelian Movement Where do we come from? What is the purpose of life? How can we live peacefully and happily? is there a better way? Follow TodaysHotDeals Valentine Hello everyone we are running a University Competetion. Can everyone please ask thier friends list to follow me. We tally at the end of the month. Follow albertmanoukian Albert Manoukian I LOVE BAD GIRLS Follow ANewFaceInHeck Brando i’m a chemist. i like tae kwon do. i drink lots of coffee and beer. Follow hotwillis Worth Conservative I back the Tea Party on most issues Follow unworldlife Un World Life We’ve gone From Homeless to $2.5 Million – Bringing New Stories, Reviews & Advice: For everyone Above the Mainstream / Rockin out, Kickin Ass, Make it PISE! Follow findinfoworld FindInfoWorld FindInfoWorld Networks is a Universal Solution-Oriented Resource that offers news and information about mostly all aspects of life. Follow KarlRove Karl Rove Former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W. Bush, Author of Courage and Consequence: My Life as a Conservative in the Fight

FDIC Bank Failures Posted: 30 May 2011 03:30 PM PDT Today may be a bank holiday, but that does not mean we won’t take a quick look at the weekend bank closing activities of Bair & Co., courtesy of The Chart Store: > ~~~ ~~~

The Bubble in Bubbles (Reflexive Version) Posted: 30 May 2011 11:30 AM PDT New York Magazine has this terrific bubble graphic, that is far prettier than it is informative. Abnormal returns call it a “bubble in calling things bubbles;”   That is a phrase I will take some credit for — I first used all the way back in April 2005 in BusinessWeek:  A Bubble in Bubbles? (never it saw it before then anywhere else). > click for ginormous graphic

Housing Overhang Persists Posted: 30 May 2011 08:30 AM PDT Alan Abelson channels Mark Hanson, to discuss the ongoing housing overhang. The bottom line remains that housing is likely to be a drag on the economy for the foreseeable future. Hanson suggests that any prospect for an imminent housing recovery are based on wishful thinking, and not the actual data. And, he adds that the banks and servicers have become the “largest landlords in the world.” Here’s Ableson: “[Hanson] lists the many woes that afflict the industry. High up among them is “effective negative equity,” which he defines as the inability to pay off a mortgage, plus paying a real-estate broker 6% and coughing up 10% to 20% of the purchase price as down payment on a new purchase. Mark reckons that a majority of mortgages fall into that unenviable category rather than the 28% commonly estimated.He also cites a humongous default, foreclosure and short-sale backlog overhanging the market. Since 2007, he relates, there have been only four million foreclosure completions and short-sale liquidations out of a probable 14 million to 18 million. That alone is enough to give you the willies. Toss in unfavorable demographics, mounting energy costs, a miserable excuse for a mortgage market and inexorably declining home prices…well, you get the point. Housing is one of those festering sores on the economy that will be with us for quite a spell. And so long as it is, or until jobs grow more abundant and consumer income muscles up, the likelihood of a decent and sustained rebound for the industry seems a good piece off. And, we’re afraid, the economy’s recovery is apt to maintain its desultory pace.” Nothing in that I can see warrants arguments from me . . . > Source: An Epidemic of Amnesia ALAN ABELSON Barron’s, MAY 28, 2011 http://online.barrons.com/article/SB50001424053111903548904576343240259807256.html

“60 Minutes” Presents: Honoring Our Soldiers Posted: 30 May 2011 07:00 AM PDT The first living soldier to win the Medal of Honor since Vietnam tells Lara Logan what he did to earn the nation’s highest combat honor; plus Logan takes viewers to the border area between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Read more 

Reads from Twitter Posted: 30 May 2011 05:48 AM PDT This morning, I offer you a different set of links — these were all found on my Twitter feed over the past 24 hours: • An IPO That Popped, Then Fizzled (WSJ) Interesting look back as TheStreet.com in the age of Linked In • Insider trading in the House…of Representatives (FT Alphaville) • Funds Revive Ag Bets as Drought Hurt Crops (Bloomberg) • Germany to scrap nuclear power by 2022 (FT.com) • Cheap houses, poor workers (Economist Buttonwood) • Consumer PC sales growth declines for first time ever: iPad the culprit? (eWallStreeter) • Giuliani surprise leader in Republican poll (Reuters) • The Startup Genome Project  (Steve Blank) • Blade Runner Polaroids (Sean Young) • A Scientist Goes to the Creation Museum So You Don’t Have To (Eveloce) What are you Tweeting?

Vallejo Water Bonds & Memorial Day Posted: 30 May 2011 05:30 AM PDT Vallejo Water Bonds & Memorial Day May 27, 2011 David R. Kotok Vallejo Wins Approval for Creditor Vote on Bankruptcy "Vallejo, California, the biggest U.S. city in bankruptcy, won court permission to send its exit plan to creditors for a vote after retired workers dropped their objections. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael S. McManus in Sacramento, California, approved a disclosure statement for the plan in an order. McManus will take creditors' votes into account when he decides whether to approve the plan at a hearing to be scheduled in the coming weeks. A hearing on the disclosure statement had been set for today. The retirees, represented by a court-sanctioned committee, were the last major objectors to the plan, which would cut labor costs and stretch out payments to other creditors."The committee was concerned if the bankruptcy dragged on, their actual pensions might be jeopardized,'' R. Dale Ginter, an attorney for the committee, said in a May 23 interview. During the bankruptcy, the city succeeded in cutting costs by firing employees, renegotiating union contracts and reducing what it pays to subsidize retiree health care. Vallejo, a onetime U.S. Navy town of about 120,000 on San Francisco Bay, sought protection from creditors in May 2008 under Chapter 9 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code, after the recession eroded tax revenue and unions rejected wage cuts. Chapter 9 allows municipalities to reorganize debt rather than liquidate. The plan doesn't alter securities tied to designated revenue sources, such as about $175 million in water revenue bonds, and other special tax obligations secured by special revenue of the city's restricted funds, according to the documents. The case is In re City of Vallejo, 08-26813, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Eastern District of California (Sacramento)." Source: Today's (5-27-11) Bloomberg Municipal Market Brief. First we wish readers a safe and enjoyable holiday as we celebrate one of the great American traditions this weekend. We honor those who sacrificed for our freedoms. The observation of an American flag in a cemetery will part of my weekend ritual. Another great American tradition is found in the millions of decisions that pass through and from our court system. We are a nation of law. We have a system that respects contracts. It carries with it the notion that obligations that are undertaken are to be fulfilled in economic terms if they are reasonable. Vallejo's municipal bankruptcy occurred because the politicians who ran the city ignored these fundamental values and obligated the city taxpayers to unreasonable burdens. Now the court is throwing these excessively costly burdens out. After $10 million of litigation, we are getting to some resolution. Meanwhile, please note the highlighted portion of this news report. It states that the payment stream for the essential-service revenue bond that funded the supply of water to the city is intact. We have written many times about the importance of essential-service revenue and of the legal construction that protects these bond holders. Here is a prime example. The city is in bankruptcy, yet the bond holder is getting paid. At Cumberland, we continue to find value in well-researched tax-free and taxable municipal bonds. It requires hard work, and it pays off. Have a good Memorial Day weekend. David R. Kotok, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer

Understanding Dog Behavior: A New Science Posted: 30 May 2011 05:21 AM PDT NPR: The New Science Of Understanding Dog Behavior Book: Dog Sense: How the New Science of Dog Behavior Can Make You A Better Friend to Your Pet

Cory Doctorow on Copyright and Piracy Posted: 30 May 2011 04:59 AM PDT Cory Doctorow on copyright and piracy: ‘Every pirate wants to be an admiral’ – video Blogger and activist Cory Doctorow argues that all new media – from sheet music to cable TV – is accused of piracy by the mainstream … until it becomes the mainstream (via Guardian)

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