Today the government reported GDP Was up 4% in Q2. My that is quite a growth spurt given 18000 layoff at Microsoft, Intel shuttering their new fab while it is still half built, Wal-Mart CEO fired publicly for poor company performance, Corning stock diving yesterday based on collapsing net income. The list goes on. Anyone who believes that the economy is actually getting better for Mark and Patsy average citizen is living in la la land.
And now we will get to see what the market really thinks. This 4% growth number should be a big tail wind to markets. That is, if the market believes it is anything more than hot government air. And so now we will just have to wait and see how long the adrenaline rush of fake government numbers lasts. Not very long I am guessing.
You see, you really can't fool all of the people all of the time and for each rosy sounding headline I am seeing several that warn things are not so good. By now trust in government has got to be near zero for most thinking people. I mean, after the NSA and IRS scandals who can believe anything that government says anymore? Also, look at how government is now attacking the suddenly "evil" corporations. In today's evidence of this fact, McDonald's corporation, which was trying to indicate that it had no connection to franchise employees (they don't work for us, they work for the franchise), got punched with a federal ruling that "oh yes they do". The implications are clear: employee legal action can now go after the distributor business which is where all of the real profits funnel into.
While the IRS went commando after political dissenters, the NSA followed the rules approved by Congress. But the NSA is not alone. The BEA has laid openly that it's figuring the GDP figures, much like the BLS (emphasis on BS). The only surprising fact is why now are the rules that govern the NSA remotely an issue after over a decade of their democratic approval? How about the blatant voodoo by the BEA and the BLS, which still get a pass? Times are a'changing with the general mood: "I'm as mad as hell and I'm not going to take this anymore!"
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