LyrArc Article Gist
Apple offers a new way to buy iPhones directly from Apple with financing in September 2015. This will change the way iPhones are sold, giving more control over the sale of iPhones to Apple. It will enable Apple to stabilize core sales for iPhones by encouraging upgrades every year. The monthly payments are $32.41 for 2 years for the cheapest iPhone. Apple is taking aim at the average upgrade time which is increasing- it went up to 26.3 months in 2015 from 18.2 months in 2010, according to a telecom consultant. With the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales surged for Apple in the first 3 quarters of 2015 by 50% from the prior year period. It will be harder for Apple to generate this kind of sales increase as the new iPhones introduced in September 2015- the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus have better cameras and "3-D Touch," only incrementally different. A 16 gigabyte iPhone 6s would cost $778, about the same as the $649 price and Apple Care coverage of $129. The way iPhones were sold through wireless carriers kept the price hidden with higher wireless service charges- 2 years of a Verizon wireless 3 gigabye data plan ended up costing users twice the amount of the $649 price of the iPhone. Now the competition among wireless carriers will shift to pricing cuts and changing their pricing strategies. The result of the changes is likely to be increasing shifts from one carrier to another as Apple allows direct buyers to choose the carrier they want....

LyrArc Article Gist
Some key takeaways from the Biden State of the Union- Biden has a vision for the future and the way forward for the US to a new frontier and new progress, where his predecessor really has none or has shown none. On China under his predecessor the US was shown as being behind and the US did little to sending of advanced US technologies to China. Today the US is growing and has the strongest economy of the G-7 and China is falling behind, flow of advanced technologies to China is stopped. On investing in the US. It is there plain for everyone to see. If the US has fair taxes the US can rebuild its infrastructure, modernize, invest in education and the working people of the country, and yet cut the deficit by large amounts. The thousand billionaires in the US pay only 8.2% in taxes. At 25% tax what a firefighter or policeman or teacher pays this would cut the deficit by $500 billion over 10 years. The oil companies and other corporations are similarly only paying less than what ordinary Americans are paying. This at fair tax rate of a minimum of 21% instead of 15% would further cut the deficit by hundreds of billions of dollars after investing in the infrastructure and modernization of the economy that his predecessor has no plans for and instead given a tax cut to the corporations which studies show was really not paid for. Negotiating drug prices for Medicare with drug companies would save the country hundreds of billions of dollars. This could be reinvested in cutting child poverty, in free preschool education, in raising teachers wages. Sitting next to Jill Biden the First Lady was the prime minister of Sweden. What it told the US was that countries like Sweden and Finland in NATO had strengthened the alliance and it was for mere political reasons that Ukraine aid was prevented by his predecessor from being passed in the House after passage in the Senate by 70-30 with bipartisan support that also exists in the House. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The lack of demand for Italian bank Unicredit's rights offering. The European Banking Authority is requiring European banks to increase their core Tier 1 capital ratios to 9%, to improve the cushion against a financial crisis. Unicredit will have to raise its reserves by $10 billion. Unicredit's shares have fallen sharply in January, with a decline of over 40%. Spain's Santander which has operations in Latin America was able to raise the $19 billion it needed for the higher capital reserves. Santander converted $6.8 billion euros in bonds into shares, retained profits and sold a stake in its Brazilian operations. The risk is that Unicredit and other European banks might cut lending to meet the new capital standards, leading to credit tightening and reducing economic growth further, says Carl Weinberg, chief economist of High Frequency Economics.

LyrArc Article Gist
Key aspects of the new tax plan of the Trump administration are a 35% top tax rate for individuals, instead of the current 39.6% top rate, and lower brackets at 10% and 25%. Standard deductions are to be doubled, other deductions except for mortgage interest and charitable giving, are to be eliminated. The deduction for state and local taxes will be eliminated, with this hurting residents of high local tax states such as New Jersey, New York, and California. Gary Cohn, head of the National Economic Council and Treasury Secretary, Steven Mnuchin,  have helped formulate the plan. Cohn sees a big opportunity here for a huge tax cut and simplifying the tax system. The corporate tax rate would drop from 35% to 15%, and future foreign profits would owe little or no taxes. Corporate tax rates are lower in the UK, Germany and Japan- closer to 20%, and France has a similar 35% corporate tax rate. The hope of the Trump administration is that this will generate 3% GDP growth rate and spur creation of jobs. Still to be decided at what level tax brackets for individuals will be set, and what level earlier foreign profits will be taxed, and the child care break. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
Italy raised 18 billion euros in a record auction on Oct. 18, 2012, meeting its needs for the rest of the year. Italy's yield dropped to 4.64% on Oct 18. Spain raised 4.6 billion euros at 5.32%. Italy sold most of the BTP Italia bonds to Italian citizens with a 4 year bond linked to Italian inflation and designed for Italian retail investors with a new eBay type internet platform, including a loyalty premium of extra 40 basis points. Italian retail investors have 8 trillion euros in net private wealth and household wealth in Italy is more than 4 times the sovereign debt, according to the Bank of Italy. This is a big difference compared to Spain, because the interest on the bonds remains in Italy for consumption and investment. Spanish households are highly indebted after the housing bubble.

LyrArc Article Gist
Does the government need to take on GM's pension fund obligations? Based on the hopeful signs that the GM fund has been managed conservatively with mostly interest earning bond investments and stocks only 26% of the portfolio, and yearly interest exceeding the $7 billion owed to retirees each year, it appears that the GM pension fund for retirees is adequately funded for now. Says Charles Millard , Director of the Pension Guaranty Corporation, " we would maintain that GM can afford to keep its plan intact." The strategy changed after the 2000 tech bubble crash and the shortfalls in 2002. That year GM sold $14 billion of bonds and put in the proceeds of the sale of the Hughes Electronics subsidiary for a total contribution of $18 billion eliminating any shortfalls, and then proceeded to overhaul its investment portfolio replacing stocks with bonds. This is now one of the few bright spots in the GM picture offering a glimmer of hope for resolving the crisis. But were additional burdens to be placed on the obligations through large numbers of early retirements as restructuring goes on for a number of years then this may lead to large shortfalls. Which is why the country and GM and other automakers need to create other new jobs in infrastructure and energy with large infusions of government investment supporting the private sector, like the closed Maytag plant employees in Newton, Iowa who shifted to making wind energy generation wind blades at a new plant that the city attracted. See the link. It also points to the need for rapid action from government and a new management at GM that can bring a new vision and the energy to execute it, to transform the auto business that Detroit plans to hold onto....

LyrArc Article Gist
Mary Barra, 51, head of global product development, is the new CEO of GM following Dan Akerson. Akerson will retire. She is a electrical engineer who started as a co-op student at GM in 1980. Her experience includes engineering positions, managing a assembly plant, and heading the human resources department in 2009. The president's position goes to CFO Dan Ammann, 41. Former Cummins CEO and chairman, Mr. Solso, will take up the chairman's position at GM. Mark Reuss will assume Mary Barra's position. This completes the transition planned by Akerson as the government sells its remaining shares in GM following the bailout. Akerson says he felt as if he was seeing a daughter graduate from college. It is a significant moment for the U.S. auto industry as a younger leadership looks to the future.

LyrArc Article Gist
China's vice premier, Li Keqiang, wil visit Spain Jan 4-6, 2011. In an editorial page article for El Pais, Li wrote that China will continue to purchase Spain's public debt in the future. China is a large buyer of Spain's sovereign debt, owning about 10% of the total foreign holdings. Spain's central government will need to raise 170 billion euros in 2011, and its regional governments an additional 30 billion euros. Natixis expects 824 billion of eurozone government bonds to be auctioned in 2011. For China the eurozone is its largest market and it is concerned abou the impact of a eurozone crisis on imports from China. A declining euro would make Chinese exports less competitive and costlier in European markets. And China is wary of the impact on its export industries at a time when its economy is trying to make a soft landing, and strains are showing with an asset bubble in real estate, too much bank lending and high inflation.

LyrArc Article Gist
Britain has suffered a deep recession with negative 10% growth and is not expected to regain pre-pandemic levels till 2022, says the International Monetary Fund.

LyrArc Article Gist
The new GM-UAW four year contract will provide $5000 signing bonuses to workers in place of cost of living wage increases. GM makes a committment to reopen the Spring Hill, Tennessee manufacturing plant which was idled. Entry level workers earning $14 an hour will receive increases of $2 to $3 per hour. The contract also provides for the hiring back of laid off workers as market conditions improve and for bringing back manufacturing and jobs to the U.S. In that sense it is a forward looking agreement for UAW, GM, and the U.S.

LyrArc Article Gist
A presidential decree made in Feb. 2011 requires foreign companies to cut stakes in mining companies to less than 50%. Previously upto 80% ownership was allowed in mining companies by foreign companies. The regulations show that foreign investors with 100% of ownership of mines are required to reduce their stakes by 20% within 6 years, 30% by 7th year, 37% by 8th year, 44% by 9th year, 51% by 10th year, selling to domestic investors. The idea is to maintain a share in domestic ownership of assets. Mining contributes 12% of Indonesia's GDP.

LyrArc Article Gist
Since mid-2014 the dollar has strengthened by 19% against the euro and 17% against the Japanese yen. This is putting new pressure on American manufacturers to come up with efficiency improvements to cut costs and move into markets with better pricing power. This will increase in importance in 2015-2016 as the euro moves towards parity with the U.S. dollar increasing the competitiveness of German and other European manufacturers. The Japanese yen at 116 to the dollar in Jan 2015 gives Japanese manufacturers an edge in pricing competitiveness.

LyrArc Article Gist
Wagoner says GM can get 37mpg on average by 2012 for its cars in response to Congressional demand for higher fuel efficiency and energy conservation. Congress is looking for European mandated levels of 50mpg by 2015, which were initially opposed by European automakers also. It becomes the condition for loans. The awfully bad unemployment numbers for November of 533,000 layoffs led to some compromise from Speaker Pelosi, so that $15 billion could come as a bridge loan to the Detroit automakers from the $25 billion allocated for the specific purpose of fuel efficiency technologies. The only way this compromise could be reached is by a complete shift by the auto executives on the issue of fuel efficiency, which is a sore point with Congress especially the way automakers in Detroit have dragged their feet on this issue over 2 decades, contributing to the jump in oil prices in 2007 and early 2008.

LyrArc Article Gist
Shraddha Pandey, Indian civil servant offers these thoughts to young women and men joining the Indian Administrative Service, IAS, now that women form 34% of the candidates who have passed the UPSC exams. The top four candidates are also women. This includes thoughts on showing one's soft and intelligent side which is the real source of strength in life, maternity leave acceptance similar to how an educational or other activity requires a short absence,  participation in chores by all genders at home that make it easier for women, and shared child care that create a healthy home.

LyrArc Article Gist
Fuller cites the WSJ about the 40% of the 1.4 million jobs created in the first half of 2014 being in the lower wage retail, food service and temporary help sectors. The 6.1% unemployment rate does not count the people who are too discouraged to look for work, these people dropping out of the statistic just as much as the people who have found work. The U-6 which includes those who work part time because they cannot find full time work and people discouraged and stopped looking for work is at 12.6% in March 2014, giving a more accurate reading of the unemployment situation in the U.S. for 2014.

LyrArc Article Gist
China has emerged as the largest buyer of Iranian oil, in the face of sanctions by the Trump administration to cut Iranian oil exports. China has replaced French company Total for the Pars oil field. It is investing heavily in Iranian oil industry. Iran has offered a 12% discount for China's oil supply needs. China has promised to invest $280 billion in the Iranian oil industry and is seeking to pull Iran into its Belt and Road Initiative. India also seeks to continue its oil trading relationship with Iran, in the face of U.S. sanctions.

LyrArc Article Gist
The Supreme Court chastises the governor's role yet leaves the decision on qualification or disqualification of 16 MLA's who crossed over to the Opposition in Maharashtra to the Speaker of the legislative assembly of Maharashtra state in India. The speaker Mr. Rahul Navrekar is expected not to disqualify the 16 MLA's. With the support of these and other MLA's Mr. Shinde had formed a new government in Maharashtra in a 2 party coalition with pm Modi's BJP party in the state.

LyrArc Article Gist
The React-1 study from the Imperial College of London acts as an early warning system for the UK on coronavirus. The latest study has raised alarm about spread of the virus that is not related to testing and is across all age groups leading to the new rule of six by prime minister Johnson. This bans gatherings of more than six as Christmas approaches. During the  period in July to August the virus was taking 17 days to double now this is at 7 days.  The React-1 study for Aug 22 to Sept 2 shows 13 per ten thousand being infected and compares to 4 per ten thousand July 24 to Aug 11. It is a robust study with swabs sent in for tests from 300,000 volunteers in Britiain. Prof. Eliott the director of the study at Imperial College, London, says that "there is an epidemic in the community and there is no room for complacency." The R rate is measured at 1.7 in this study which is taken seriously by the government as an early warning of what could happen. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The auto parts industry is seeing a huge transformation as American Axle, Visteon and other companies look to Europe, Asia and other countries for growth and shift to a lower cost manufacturing base overseas. Costs are in many cases about 5 times in the USA than in other countries in Asia. And health care costs are a major part of the costs the auto parts makers face in the USA. To get an idea of how fundamental a change is going on American Axle which in 1995 did not have a plant overseas now expects 75% of its $1.3 billion in product orders to be met by plants overseas. And it is planning to build plants in India and Thailand. Visteon which used to be part of Ford Motor and made parts like heating and cooling systems mainly for Ford, will by 2010 according to Visteon's CEO, have sales to Hyundai and Kia of 28% of sales, making the Korean company its largest buyer. Ford's North American operations will only account for 6% of sales from 15% today. That is a dramatic change and involves closing plants in the US. For Visteon this means $635 million in cost reduction mainly through plant closings in 2008-2010....

LyrArc Article Gist
Ireland's prime minister Enda Kenny says following the Brexit vote that is seen as a disaster for Northern Ireland-"My first interest is Ireland's interests, the protection of the common travel area, the peace process, the open border." Other issues facing Ireland are economic- British people will find Ireland's exports costlier by 10 percent, and make Ireland costlier for British tourists who make up 41% of all Ireland's tourists. Ireland's effort to build an all island health system is also at risk. As Ireland tackles this economic problem it is also moving to attract new business to relocate in Dublin. Among ordinary people the fears are more basic- no one wants to go back to the old days and the sectarian strife and conflicts. For most people the open borders mean a great deal- an achievement that took a long, long time, and no one can see this being reversed overnight, which is why Northern Ireland voted 58% to remain in the EU. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The increase in natural gas supplies from shale in the U.S. is dampening the interest of energy companies in the development of nuclear reactors. It is also changing the whole trajectory for energy sources in the U.S. The Energy Information Administration's forecasts for new additions of power generation capacity 2010-2035 show that natural gas will be the dominant source with 58.1%, nuclear is only 4%. Wind is 13% and other renewables including solar is 16%, giving renewables about 29%. Coal and fossil fuels are at 8% and hydropower 1.6%. This is a major development in the energy industry, for the U.S. efforts to reduce dependence on imported energy supplies.

LyrArc Article Gist
The WSJ provides a fact check of Trump statements on crime, debt, and taxes. Trump says he is looking at a new plan for taxes not the $10 trillion in tax cuts over 10 years reducing tax collection by 22%, but something about a third of the size. No details are available on the plan. WSJ disputes Trump's statement that the U.S. is "one of the highest taxed nations in the world." WSJ points out that the U.S. in 2014 for federal, state and local government taxes collected 26% of gross domestic product in taxes, compared to average of 34% for about 30 countries, according to OECD. Debt to GDP ratio is about 75% that is high, but because of low interest rates the budget deficit is less than 3% of GDP, which is close to the long run average. For this reason economists say the government should invest in infrastructure and R&D that supports long run economic growth. On crime the record is mixed with increase in Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York City, but decreases in Washington D.C. and Baltimore. Police shootings were 67 in 2016 compared to 62 in July 2015, and the high being 280 officers in 1974 when Nixon was President. Crime was an issue in the 1968 Republican National Convention during the Vietnam era protests, police shootings and terror incidents attracted attention in July 2016, yet the situation today is very different from the war protests of the Vietnam era. On terrorism fact checks by the NYT and in Lyrarc shows Clinton at State Department and Panetta at Defense Department taking hawkish stands only to hit a barrier from President Obama for taking action needed in Syria, Iraq and Libya. Panetta's new book calls for robust action where needed. A Clinton administration would take action with allies in the Middle East. Even Hollande and Obama who pulled the U.S. and France out of following up in the French-British Sarkozy-Cameron led intervention in Libya, have changed policy, with Obama calling it his biggest mistake. France under Hollande with the U.S. is now actively engaged in the Middle East, having changed policy. It is highly unlikely that a Trump led policy which alienates most allies in the Middle East- Iran, Iraq and Saudis- is likely to work better than a determined Clinton-Panetta led effort which has support of the local countries on the ground actually currently on both sides because of complexities of Middle Eastern politics.  On trade a new administration will still have to work with China, India, the European Union, and other countries, as global trade supply chains are not likely to evolve overnight. Lessons will have been learned by Clinton about the need to bring back jobs and ensure the strength of U.S. manufacturing. Economic and jobs growth will require prudence in strengthening U.S. manufacturing coupled with global cooperation, which a Trump administration that alienates trading partners without the possibility of making any serious immediate gains in jobs, is highly unlikely to do better.      ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The National Assessment of Education Progress, NAEP, which is a report card of educational levels in the U.S. secondary school system shows 36% of fourth graders in the U.S. are proficient in reading for 2017. For eighth graders this drops to 34% in 2017. This shows that a little over a third of fourth and eight graders are achieving proficiency in reading, a glaring sign of failure leaving about two thirds of young people behind. With declining level of reading proficiency and proliferation of social media, the bottom 25% are faring much worse than even this dismal result.

Between 2015 and 2017 there was no improvement in NAEP scores.

LyrArc Article Gist
It seems like good common sense -surely studies come later that masks can cut coronavirus cases by 40%- as Texas is learning the hard way. As coronavirus cases jump in Texas the governor makes wearing face coverings or masks mandatory in the state. Texas recorded over 8000 cases in a single day on July 3, 2020. "wearing a face covering will help us to keep Texas open for business." As a grim warning to Texans he said "we are now at a point where the virus is spreading so fast there is little margin for error." As the virus cases surged Mr. Abbott, the governor of Texas, ordered all bars shut and cut restaurant capacity by 75% last week and reversed step taken to open the economy. Another lesson learned the hard way when it seems like common sense- consider that on June 20 as reported in the WSJ a staggering 500,000 people went to bars in Los Angeles county the day after bars reopened. It is this type of activity that makes Dr. Fauci, say cases could reach 100,000 a day in the U.S. Infection rates are now increasing in 40 of 50 states with the southern states, western states doing badly.  A lot of it was plain common sense. A German study shows a 40% reduction of coronavirus cases when masks or face coverings are worn. For those arguing for the reopening so that economic hurt is mitigated there is even more reason to wear masks as it makes it possible to get back to work by following strict social distancing and mask guidelines. Everything in life is about adapting and making small changes for the larger good. Younger people have badly failed to show fellow feeling with lack of following social distancing guidelines on beaches and gatherings leading to the numbers now showing that people 18-34 are now equally at risk. ...

LyrArc Article Gist
The healthcare reform bill has lost the support of the SEIU (the Service Employees International Union) , and the AFL-CIO union. Its also lost the support od Howard Dean and of his Democracy for America. Voters aged 18-34 and Hispanics are much less enthusuastic for he party. And only 23% of blue collar workers in December 2009 express positive feelings about the Democratic party in a Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll, a 30 point drop from February 2009. And the same poll showed that there just isn't the same level of interest in voters who back Democrats or Obama.