A number of things to take note of

Alvaro de Molina, GMAC Financial Service head, out

Only 19 months as head of the troubled financial services unit, not a good sign, and he was kicked out by the board no less. I wonder how much this action speaks about the current condition of the company. Michael Carpenter is taking over who, ironically, was a director at the now in bankruptcy CIT Group.

And speaking of CIT – Goldman Sachs goes after the business

One major worry about the CIT bankruptcy was the ability for small business to obtain credit.  While contracting is still taking place, it looks like Goldman Sachs is going after CIT business while the company is in bankruptcy. The story doesn’t explicitly state it, but when you are targeting 10,000 small business customers for credit – and the company that would service such a market is in ruin – not hard to put the pieces together.

Oh, yea, and on the topic of taxes

Yesterday I posted a graphic from mint.com regarding taxes in the US. As I did not go into more detail, I want to point out one thing – 5% of the population pays 60% of the income taxes.

President Obama warns of double dip recession

Just a few short months ago President Obama was standing in front of congress, touting his policies, and taking credit for the “economic recovery”.  Today he is warning that his very same policies could fuel a double dip recession. A number of people have been saying this for months – myself included: Chances for the recession to pick up next year are near 100% once government spending stops.

People needs to come to terms with high jobless numbers, lower paying jobs, and a lower standard of living.  How is that for change?

The Dollar

The USDX is quickly heading back toward 75 today, and gold has hit another high.  The signs as to why this is happening are just all over, people just need to look. Despite the administration saying they have a strong dollar policy there is little evidence to support those claims.

Finally, the post office records huge loss – again

The post office recorded a $3.8 Billion dollar loss and, once again, is thinking of cutting Saturday service. How the USPS is around still amazes me.  Most mail I get is junk, nothing of any value.  FedEx and UPS have put them to shame and can provide better, quicker, services… All the USPS manages to do is drive up cost, cut employees and watch satisfaction ratings drop…

Note to President Obama – as others have pointed out, using the USPS as to a ’successful’ government run program is a poor move, especially when trying to pitch health care.

Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and the like were throwing around their GDP estimates yesterday afternoon.  While the market consensus was 3.2%, the numbers were really all over the board.  At one point, Goldman actually revised their estimate down to 2.7%; however, it looks like everyone was off:

The U.S. economy grew at a 3.5 percent pace in the third quarter, the best showing in two years, fueled by government-supported spending on cars and homes. It’s the strongest signal yet that the economy has entered a new, though fragile, phase of recovery and that the worst recession since the 1930s has ended.

I feel the most important part of the story is burried toward the end:

A top concern is whether the recovery can continue after government supports are gone. Many economists predict economic activity won’t grow as much in the months ahead as the bracing impact of Obama’s $787 billion package of increased government spending and tax cuts fades.

This makes me ask how much of the GDP number was propped up because of Cash for Clunkers and the 1st time home buyers tax credit.