Joe the Plumber was the star of the final presidential debate on Wednesday night. But who is he?
Last weekend, while Barack Obama was canvassing for support in the small town of Holland, Ohio, the Democratic nominee ran into a tall, bald man, since dubbed Joe the plumber. He asked Obama if he believed in the American Dream — he said he was about to buy a company that makes more than $250,000 a year and was concerned that the Democratic nominee would tax him more because of it.
Obama explained his tax plan in depth, saying it’s better to lower taxes for Americans who make less money, so that they could afford to buy from his business. John McCain attacked Obama for this exchange, saying the Illinois senator is trying to “spread the wealth around.”
“We're going to take Joe's money, give it to Senator Obama, and let him spread the wealth around. I want Joe the plumber to spread the wealth around,” McCain said. He added, “Why would you want to increase anybody's taxes right now? Why would you want to do that to anyone, anyone in America, when we have such a tough time?”
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Is 'Joe the Plumber' a plumber?
"Joe," whose name is Samuel J. Wurzelbacher, was cited repeatedly in Wednesday night's final presidential debate by McCain for questioning Barack Obama's tax policy.
Wurzelbacher instantly became a media celebrity, fielding calls during the debate and facing reporters outside his home near Toledo on Thursday morning for an impromptu nationally televised news conference.
The burly, bald man acknowledged he doesn't have a plumber's license, but said he didn't need one because he works for someone else at a company that does residential work.
But Wurzelbacher still would need to be a licensed apprentice or journeyman to work in Toledo, and he's not, said David Golis, manager and residential building official for the Toledo Division of Building Inspection.
State and local records show Wurzelbacher has no license, although his employer does. Golis said there are no records of inspectors citing Wurzelbacher for unlicensed work in Toledo.
Wurzelbacher instantly became a media celebrity, fielding calls during the debate and facing reporters outside his home near Toledo on Thursday morning for an impromptu nationally televised news conference.
The burly, bald man acknowledged he doesn't have a plumber's license, but said he didn't need one because he works for someone else at a company that does residential work.
But Wurzelbacher still would need to be a licensed apprentice or journeyman to work in Toledo, and he's not, said David Golis, manager and residential building official for the Toledo Division of Building Inspection.
State and local records show Wurzelbacher has no license, although his employer does. Golis said there are no records of inspectors citing Wurzelbacher for unlicensed work in Toledo.
Monday, October 6, 2008
S P 500 Index
Standard Poors 500 Index
Herer is a list of S P 500 Index from different sources:
From Bloomberg
Bloomberg
From CNN Money
CNN Money
S P 500 Index Historical Prices from yahoo
Historical Prices from Yahoo
From Google
Google
From BusinessWeek
Business Week
Herer is a list of S P 500 Index from different sources:
From Bloomberg
Bloomberg
From CNN Money
CNN Money
S P 500 Index Historical Prices from yahoo
Historical Prices from Yahoo
From Google
From BusinessWeek
Business Week
What Is the S&P 500
What is the S&P 500
The Standard and Poors 500 (S&P 500) is an index made up of five hundred different stocks. Each is selected for liquidity, size, and industry. The index is weighted for market capitalization. The S&P 500 is the benchmark of the overall market, and frequently used as the standard of comparison in terms of investment performance.
An index of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry grouping, among other factors. The S&P 500 is designed to be a leading indicator of U.S. equities and is meant to reflect the risk/return characteristics of the large cap universe.
Companies included in the index are selected by the S&P Index Committee, a team of analysts and economists at Standard & Poor's. The S&P 500 is a market value weighted index - each stock's weight in the index is proportionate to its market value.
Here is the S&P Index for Today
S&P Index
The Standard and Poors 500 (S&P 500) is an index made up of five hundred different stocks. Each is selected for liquidity, size, and industry. The index is weighted for market capitalization. The S&P 500 is the benchmark of the overall market, and frequently used as the standard of comparison in terms of investment performance.
An index of 500 stocks chosen for market size, liquidity and industry grouping, among other factors. The S&P 500 is designed to be a leading indicator of U.S. equities and is meant to reflect the risk/return characteristics of the large cap universe.
Companies included in the index are selected by the S&P Index Committee, a team of analysts and economists at Standard & Poor's. The S&P 500 is a market value weighted index - each stock's weight in the index is proportionate to its market value.
Here is the S&P Index for Today
S&P Index
What Stocks Comprise the Dow Jones
The Following Stock Comprise the Dow Jones
These companies make up the Dow
These make up the list of Dow 30 Companies
3m Co
Alcoa Inc
American Express Company
AT&T Inc.
Bank of America Corporation
Boeing Co.
Caterpillar Inc.
Chevron Corp
Citigroup, Inc.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
Exxon Mobil Corp
General Electric Company
General Motors Corporation
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Intel Corporation
International Business Machines
Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan & Chase & Co
Kraft Foods Inc.
McDonald's Corporation
Merck & Co., Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Pfizer Inc
The Coca-Cola Company
The Home Depot, Inc.
The Procter & Gamble Company
United Technologies Corporation
Verizon Communications
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Walt Disney Company (The) (Holding Company)
These companies make up the Dow
These make up the list of Dow 30 Companies
3m Co
Alcoa Inc
American Express Company
AT&T Inc.
Bank of America Corporation
Boeing Co.
Caterpillar Inc.
Chevron Corp
Citigroup, Inc.
E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
Exxon Mobil Corp
General Electric Company
General Motors Corporation
Hewlett-Packard Co.
Intel Corporation
International Business Machines
Johnson & Johnson
JP Morgan & Chase & Co
Kraft Foods Inc.
McDonald's Corporation
Merck & Co., Inc.
Microsoft Corporation
Pfizer Inc
The Coca-Cola Company
The Home Depot, Inc.
The Procter & Gamble Company
United Technologies Corporation
Verizon Communications
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.
Walt Disney Company (The) (Holding Company)
Dow Jones Industrial 30 Companies
Here is a list of Dow Jones Industrial 30 Companies:
Alcoa - AA
American Express - AXP
AT&T - T
Boeing - BA
Caterpillar - CAT
Coca-Cola - KO
Citigroup - C
Disney - DIS
DuPont - DD
Eastman Kodak - EK
Exxon Mobil - XOM
General Electric - GE
General Motors - GM
Hewlett-Packard - HWP
Home Depot - HD
Honeywell - HON
IBM - IBM
Intel - INTC
International Paper - IP
Johnson & Johnson - JNJ
McDonald's - MCD
Merck - MRK
Microsoft - MSFT
3M - MMM
JP Morgan - JPM
Philip Morris - MO
Proctor & Gamble - PG
SBC Communications - SBC
United Tech - UTX
Wal-Mart - WMT
Alcoa - AA
American Express - AXP
AT&T - T
Boeing - BA
Caterpillar - CAT
Coca-Cola - KO
Citigroup - C
Disney - DIS
DuPont - DD
Eastman Kodak - EK
Exxon Mobil - XOM
General Electric - GE
General Motors - GM
Hewlett-Packard - HWP
Home Depot - HD
Honeywell - HON
IBM - IBM
Intel - INTC
International Paper - IP
Johnson & Johnson - JNJ
McDonald's - MCD
Merck - MRK
Microsoft - MSFT
3M - MMM
JP Morgan - JPM
Philip Morris - MO
Proctor & Gamble - PG
SBC Communications - SBC
United Tech - UTX
Wal-Mart - WMT
Dow Jones Index
Here is a list of Dow Jones Index from different Sources:
From Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes
From CNN Money
CNN Money
From Dow Jones
Dow Jones
From Bloomberg
Bloomberg
From Dow Jones Indexes
Dow Jones Indexes
From CNN Money
CNN Money
From Dow Jones
Dow Jones
From Bloomberg
Bloomberg
Dow Jones Chart
Here is a list of different sources for Dow Jones Chart
Dow Jones Live Chart:
Live Chart
Dow Jones Industrial Average from BigCharts
BigCharts
Dow Jones Industrial Average from MSN Money
MSN Money
Dow Jones Industrial Average from Yahoo
Yahoo
Dow Jones Live Chart:
Live Chart
Dow Jones Industrial Average from BigCharts
BigCharts
Dow Jones Industrial Average from MSN Money
MSN Money
Dow Jones Industrial Average from Yahoo
Yahoo
Sunday, October 5, 2008
Why You Should Fear the Future
Remember when everyone was quoting Baron Rothschild, saying, "Buy when blood is in the streets"? Well, this is it. We're in the Wall Street equivalent of Kill Bill meets Jurassic Park. It looks like it's all over but the spurting.
Warren Buffett knows how to play this game. He's buying, and he says that in five or 10 years, "we'll look back on this period and we'll see that you could have made some extraordinary buys."
But when the market drops 9% in a day, it's hard to react logically, like Buffett -- and not, say, curl up into a quivering, sniffling ball. Here are five ways to help you achieve your goal.
1. Be afraid -- be very afraid
Instead of looking at how much you can make by buying a stock, examine all the ways that you can lose. Bruce Berkowitz, who manages the Fairholme Fund, swears by this strategy. He tries to think of every possible scenario that can kill a company -- and if he can't find any, then he'll buy.
Read On...
Warren Buffett knows how to play this game. He's buying, and he says that in five or 10 years, "we'll look back on this period and we'll see that you could have made some extraordinary buys."
But when the market drops 9% in a day, it's hard to react logically, like Buffett -- and not, say, curl up into a quivering, sniffling ball. Here are five ways to help you achieve your goal.
1. Be afraid -- be very afraid
Instead of looking at how much you can make by buying a stock, examine all the ways that you can lose. Bruce Berkowitz, who manages the Fairholme Fund, swears by this strategy. He tries to think of every possible scenario that can kill a company -- and if he can't find any, then he'll buy.
Read On...
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Historic Bailout Passes As Economy Slips Further
WASHINGTON -- President George W. Bush signed into law an unprecedented $700 billion plan to rescue the U.S. financial system, one of the largest-ever government interventions in the nation's economy -- and almost certainly not the last.
The Treasury Department is expected to move quickly to start buying distressed assets from struggling financial institutions, although any impact might not be felt for some weeks. Many details -- such as who will administer the program and how -- are still to be worked out.
That lingering uncertainty cast a pall over stock and bond markets. Credit markets remained stressed as lenders continued to worry about getting repaid. The three-month Libor rate, a measure of the rate that banks charge to lend to one another, rose to 4.33% Friday from 4.21% the day before.
Read On...
The Treasury Department is expected to move quickly to start buying distressed assets from struggling financial institutions, although any impact might not be felt for some weeks. Many details -- such as who will administer the program and how -- are still to be worked out.
That lingering uncertainty cast a pall over stock and bond markets. Credit markets remained stressed as lenders continued to worry about getting repaid. The three-month Libor rate, a measure of the rate that banks charge to lend to one another, rose to 4.33% Friday from 4.21% the day before.
Read On...
Thursday, October 2, 2008
US Economy Graphs
Economy Graphs for United States (US Economic Data)
US Economy Summary
Unemployment Rate in the United States
Total non-farm employment in the United States
Hourly Earnings of Production Workers in the United States
Producer Price Index - Finished Goods
Producer Price Index - Finished Goods Less Food and Energy
Import Price Index 12 Months Change - All Imports
US Consumer Price Index 12 Months Percent Change - All Items
US Consumer Price Index 12 Months Percent Change - Less Food and Energy
Import Price Index 12 Months Change - All Imports Excluding Petroleum
US Consumer Credit Outstanding Seasonally Adjusted
US Debt Service Ratio Seasonally Adjusted
Moody's Seasoned AAA Corporate Bonds
Conventional Mortgage Interest Rates (U.S.)
US Civilian Employment Cost Index Wages and Salaries
US Construction Expenditures
US Durable Goods New Orders
US International Trade in Goods and Services
US Large Retailers' After Tax Profits (Percent)
How Healthy Is the United States Economy
You wondering if the US Economy is Healthy and if it is improving.
It might not appear so, but yes there are signs that the US Economy is Healthy and it is improving and that US Economy has a good Future.
Friday, August 1, 2008;
The economy grew at a respectable pace this spring, despite the financial crisis, soaring fuel prices and moribund housing market. But as the impact of government stimulus payments fades and a boom in exports levels off, the economy is likely to face deepening challenges in the months ahead, economists said.
Consumers spent their economic stimulus checks and exporters shipped more goods abroad in the second quarter, according to a report from the Commerce Department yesterday, leading to a 1.9 percent annual growth rate in gross domestic product. That is not far below the nation's long-term growth potential.
Read On....
It might not appear so, but yes there are signs that the US Economy is Healthy and it is improving and that US Economy has a good Future.
Friday, August 1, 2008;
The economy grew at a respectable pace this spring, despite the financial crisis, soaring fuel prices and moribund housing market. But as the impact of government stimulus payments fades and a boom in exports levels off, the economy is likely to face deepening challenges in the months ahead, economists said.
Consumers spent their economic stimulus checks and exporters shipped more goods abroad in the second quarter, according to a report from the Commerce Department yesterday, leading to a 1.9 percent annual growth rate in gross domestic product. That is not far below the nation's long-term growth potential.
Read On....
Statistics on the U.S. Economy
Here is Your Statistics on the US Economy
Based on this data you can have your own Analysis of the US Economy.
Hope you find it useful.
United States - Quarterly Data Data Series Back
Data 2nd Qtr
2007 3rd Qtr
2007 4th Qtr
2007 1st Qtr
2008 2nd Qtr
2008
Employment Cost Index (1)
0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7
Productivity (2)
4.1 5.8 0.8 2.6 4.3
Based on this data you can have your own Analysis of the US Economy.
Hope you find it useful.
United States - Quarterly Data Data Series Back
Data 2nd Qtr
2007 3rd Qtr
2007 4th Qtr
2007 1st Qtr
2008 2nd Qtr
2008
Employment Cost Index (1)
0.9 0.8 0.8 0.7 0.7
Productivity (2)
4.1 5.8 0.8 2.6 4.3
How Is the Economy in the United States
I am sure in the context of the current events you have asked questions like
How Is the American Economy Doing Today? and wanted to know on the Current Condition of the United States Economy.
Here is the data on US Economy Summary and How is US Economy Today
Hope you find it useful.
Economy at a Glance
United States
United States - Monthly Data Data Series Back
Data Mar
2008 Apr
2008 May
2008 June
2008 July
2008 Aug
2008
Unemployment Rate (1)
5.1 5.0 5.5 5.5 5.7 6.1
Change in Payroll Employment (2)
-88 -67 -47 -100 (P) -60 (P) -84
Average Hourly Earnings (3)
17.87 17.89 17.95 18.00 (P) 18.07 (P) 18.14
Consumer Price Index (4)
0.3 0.2 0.6 1.1 0.8 -0.1
Producer Price Index (5)
0.9 0.3 (P) 1.4 (P) 1.8 (P) 1.2 (P) -0.9
U.S. Import Price Index (6)
3.1 2.8 2.8 (R) 3.1 (R) 0.2 (R) -3.7
How Is the American Economy Doing Today? and wanted to know on the Current Condition of the United States Economy.
Here is the data on US Economy Summary and How is US Economy Today
Hope you find it useful.
Economy at a Glance
United States
United States - Monthly Data Data Series Back
Data Mar
2008 Apr
2008 May
2008 June
2008 July
2008 Aug
2008
Unemployment Rate (1)
5.1 5.0 5.5 5.5 5.7 6.1
Change in Payroll Employment (2)
-88 -67 -47 -100 (P) -60 (P) -84
Average Hourly Earnings (3)
17.87 17.89 17.95 18.00 (P) 18.07 (P) 18.14
Consumer Price Index (4)
0.3 0.2 0.6 1.1 0.8 -0.1
Producer Price Index (5)
0.9 0.3 (P) 1.4 (P) 1.8 (P) 1.2 (P) -0.9
U.S. Import Price Index (6)
3.1 2.8 2.8 (R) 3.1 (R) 0.2 (R) -3.7
Current US Economy Status
You wondering about the Current State of US Economy?
And asked yourself, How is the American Economy Doing Today?
For a comprehensive overview of the Current Status of US Economy have a look at the following details from BEA.
BEA produces some of the most closely watched economic statistics that influence decisions of government officials, business people, and individuals. These statistics provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of the U.S. economy. The data on this page are drawn from featured BEA economic accounts.
National Economic Accounts:
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Current Numbers:
2nd quarter 2008: +2.8 percent
1st quarter 2008: +0.9 percent
And asked yourself, How is the American Economy Doing Today?
For a comprehensive overview of the Current Status of US Economy have a look at the following details from BEA.
BEA produces some of the most closely watched economic statistics that influence decisions of government officials, business people, and individuals. These statistics provide a comprehensive, up-to-date picture of the U.S. economy. The data on this page are drawn from featured BEA economic accounts.
National Economic Accounts:
Gross Domestic Product (GDP)
Current Numbers:
2nd quarter 2008: +2.8 percent
1st quarter 2008: +0.9 percent
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
