Thursday Morning Ramblings

1. Washington Post: 7-point trouncing of the unions and Washington Post calls it a "close vote." Meanwhile Stockton, California, ready to declare bankruptcy; "City Hall also is in an ongoing struggle with police and city workers unions over pensions." "Also."  In fact, according to an earlier article, 70% of the city's budget goes to pensions. Don't even get me started. Oh, by the way, California's proposed bullet train to nowhere includes Stockton.

2. Speaking of trouncing, Drudge has the most recent cable rankings. FOX News has the top 6 spots, and by a wide margin. Most concerning is how far Maddow has moved up, now between the two cable comedy shows. But it appears folks looking for an alternative to Fox News are unsure which of the MSNBC shows to go to. Chris (Hardball) is losing to Rachel. Speaks volumes.

3. I probably missed it, but I did not see one article on D-Day, 1944, in any major mainstream media yesterday (I don't watch network television). I am not aware that the President mentioned the significance of June 6th yesterday. Interestingly, this came at a time when Europe is looking for moral support, if not financial support, from the US, as the EU implodes.

4. In the third quarter of the Spurs-Thunder game last night I said: even if the Spurs win "tonight," they aren't going to win game 7. [Update: they lost. Wow. Completely unexpected.]

5. Better than nothing: LAX offering limited wi-fi for free for 45 minutes. San Antonio airport still offers free wi-fi, no strings attached.

6. For investors, ATT hit a new high today -- I see -- I just checked out of curiosity. I don't hold any shares in ATT but my father gave our older daughter a small gift of ATT when she was born -- some thirty years ago. Held it all this time.  I subsequently bought some shares for our younger daughter so "it would all even out." This is an interesting statistic: there are more mobile subscriptions in the US than there people: some folks have multiple subscriptions, most likely a smart phone and an iPad.

7.  Here's a data point to think about: unemployment among the young in Greece -- 50%. It's actually slightly worse, and way up from 40% last year. The volatility in the stock market is related to some extent to the likelihood of a global recession, and that takes us quickly to China.

China works hard to cool off an over-heating economy, but its bigger challenge: keeping its young men employed. China has a one-child rule and Chinese prefer men. The Chinese population is skewed toward young men. Who all want iPhones. And iPhones require money, which, generally, requires a job.

The Chinese cannot afford to let their economy slow, and we saw that with today's Chinese "rate cut." I know nothing about economics when it comes to monetary policy vs fiscal policy but "rate cut" always seems to be a good thing. So, when you see the Chinese trying to slow their economy, and the drop in the stock market, remain calm, take a deep breath. [Disclaimer: this is not an investment site.] The Chinese effort to cool an overheating economy is always short term.

[Update: apparently the situation has changed recently in China. If anything, China is now short of workers. That's even a bigger story.]

8. Wow, I love the WSJ. Today, print edition, page D6, "When designers meddle with Hawaiian Shirts."

About seven years ago, about the time I retired, I told my family that the only thing I wanted on my birthday was a Hawaiian shirt. Not just that birthday; for every birthday until I never grow any older.  (Yes, there's a song on YouTube "The Dead Don't Grow Older" but I would never subject any reader to it.). So, now I have a closet full of wonderful Hawaiian shirts. As did Elvis Presley, and, as does tom Selleck and George Clooney, at least according to the WSJ. And, I look forward to my next birthday.