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On October 30, Sheila Bair heading the FDIC, the main advocate for reducing foreclosures by reducing the mortgage payments is in discussions with Treasury officials for a plan whose details are still being worked out. A key part of it is for the government to assume half of the losses on home loans that are incurred if mortgage companies agree to lower monthly payments for at least 5 years. The cost to the government is about $50 billion that would come from the $700 billion bailout fund. Right now loan companies are reluctant to reduce monthly payments because homeowners might defaul again or the owners of mortgage securities might file law suits. The funds would go to shoulder half of any future losses on default. For example if under a loan modification program 40% redefault and losses on loans are 55%, and $500 billion in loans are modified under the program, the total losses government would bear are $55 billion. This scenario is possible in a deep and prolonged housing and economic slump. This would be a gradual program if mortgage companies or companies with home loans or servicers of loans have to decide if they want to take advantage of this program, and time is critical as the foreclosures are accelerating and thisputs downward pressure on prices....

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Lt. Gen John Kelly loses his son Robert in Afghanistan and talks about the immense burdens facing military families. Robert is out on patrol duty in a mine filled area of Afghanistan's Sangin district. Only 1% of the population serves in the military. And Kelly says his is only one of 5500 American families that have lost a child in this war. There is a sense among military families that the war and these military families have been forgotten. One Marine Corps general wrote to Kelly that service to and sacrifice for the country has become a legacy affair for a small number of military families. Before the midterm Congressional elections only 2% of the people rated Afghanistan as a top issue and hardly any candidates mentioned this issue. Tom Brokaw, a well known anchor of NBC News, wrote in a major daily that the war and the sacrifices have been forgotten in the election and hardly discussed. Adm. Mike Mullen went so far as to say that he worries that we could wake up one day and that the American people will no longer know us and we won't know them....

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Manjoo of the NYT describes Apple's new product HomePod which is similar to the Amazon Echo, a smart speaker that has inside it a Amazon virtual assistant. The price tag of $349 is twice that of the Echo.

Manjoo says the surround sound is better and can be customized to the room you are in, though from a distance Echo works better. Apple is now building its capabilities in the cloud services and artificial intelligence field to do better than Amazon in the home assistant product segment. This will help Apple make its personal assistant Siri handle requests better, in many languages. This is a part of the transformation at Apple as it shifts from focus on hardware to focus on "deep learning," and " machine learning.," fields that are now considered transformative.

 

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How the energy business sale of gas turbines to provide electricity in the middle east is boosting GE's energy business worldwide, increasing sales to over $20 billion in 2007, at the last peak in 2002 sales reached $22.5 billion for GE's energy business. Couple of things to note. GE's revenue is growing at about 20% a year in the middle east. Its sales in the middle east now exceed China's with $8 billion in Middle East for 2007 vs. 6 billion in China. By 2010 sales from China India Brazil and Middle East will total $50 billion compared to 30 billion today. thst is an increase of 67% over 3 years. Power is a big chunk of this in addition there are aircraft engines and health care equipment. See the other article on middle east growth July 19, 2007 WSJ. About half of the population of 300 million in the middle east is under 20 years of age. Also note the last runup in GE's stock price was from its surging energy business in the 1990's.

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Ryan Gellert, CEO of Patagonia, hopes to demonstrate a different way of doing business that supports action to protect the planet from climate change, increases upward mobility in the US, and supports US democracy by distancing itself from socially disrupting social media. In Weekend Confidential WSJ talks to the CEO of Patagonia outdoor clothing retailer.

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The situation in Argentina in April 2021. Economic growth of 7% is expected with higher prices for soyabean exports. The financial crisis with extravagant borrowing by the Macri government led to negotiations for help from the IMF. The IMF under its new head, Georgina Kristalina Georgieva, is working with governments around the world to lessen the burden of loan payments.

This report shows that the pandemic has hit working families in Buenos Aires suburbs very hard. The Peronist administration of Mr. Alberto Fernandez is making efforts to help working class families during the pandemic.

Argentina is too dependent on agricultural exports. Diversification of the economy would add stability and protect Argentina with less fluctuation in financial reserves.

 

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The large stimulus effort in Canada is about $382 Canadian dollars or $300 billion U.S. dollars for help to families, workers and businesses. It is about one fifth of Canada's total economic output. This has helped Canadian banks RBC and TD avoid major loan losses. 

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A carefully managed event for the return of 2000 fans to London's newest and largest soccer stadium of Tottenham Hotspur. A Tottenham fan describes the crowds and enthusiasm for new coach Jose Mourinho of Portugal as Tottenham moves to the top of the English League. The soccer stadiums played arole in the outbreak of the pandemic in Italy in March, just as the Austrian ski resorts have led to a surge in central Europe. This event is a test of whether it is safe to have fans in stadiums with the necessary precautions and strict procedures.

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Bipin Rawat says the best approach to security for India is one of dissuasive deterrance. For the Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean region a multilateral presence with the U.S. Australia, and Japan is seen as the most effective way to maintain open seas.