SAR #14101

The stock market is where hope defeats reality... for a while.

Salted Away: The Labor Department reported that initial claims for unemployment dropped by 32,000 last week, the biggest drop in in claims since January 2006 and the lowest number of initial claims, 300,000, since May of 2007.

Trailer Parks Tramps: Having run out of foreclosed houses to buy cheaply and rent out at outrageous prices, the smart money is now looking to gobble up used double-wide trailers mobile homes and rent them out to the unemployed at outrageous rates. Actually, it's not the double-wides they want, but the concrete pads on which they sit. With the US middle class slides into poverty and many communities banning new trailer parks, enterprising investors think they can get rich renting out concrete. Be the first on your block to be a slum lord.

Bird In The Hand: Like their American counterparts, European CEO's are choosing to pay higher dividends out of the 2 trillion euros they have on hand because they do not see attractive investment opportunities. 
 
Rush To The Bottom: Family Dollar is closing 370 of its 8,100 stores – it seems there isn't enough poverty to go around.

No Fuel, No Fire: Foreclosure activity has reached its lowest level since 2Q 2007.

Equal Justice? A child molester in Texas was sentenced to 240 years in prison, in Illinois a former deputy police chief got 5 years in prison for raping a prisoner, and the Du Pont heir who got probation for raping his 3 year old daughter has failed to complete his court-ordered treatment.

Finer Print: Before you get all hot and bothered about the top ten Medicare billers raking in tens of millions, check out what the numbers really represent. Sure there is some fraud in the system, but its manifestly not found in all ten of the accused.

Cliff Notes Version: 'Rich people rule!' and 'Long-Term Unemployment Is Elevated Across All Education, Age, Occupation, Industry, Gender, And Racial And Ethnic Groups', thus the 'Number of Home Owners is Lower than 2006!'

Punchline: Proving that it has a sense of humor, the IMF says that “the North American oil glut” will "keep oil prices low." Okay, but only if $100 a barrel is low and you redefine 'glut.'

Reaping and Sowing: Dating back to the collapse of the Soviet Union, there has been a continuing effort by the US and its NATO allies to pry Eastern European countries away from Russia in an attempt to encircle and isolate it. Turns out to have been a bit like teasing a junk yard dog.

Magic Blank: Researchers in England have determined that £424 million Great Britain spent on Tamiflu during the great swine flu pandemic was all for nought – because Tamiflu does not halt the spread of influenza even though Swiss pharmaceutical giant Roche made less than honest claims about its effectiveness.

Our Gang: Thanks to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau – that socialist project the GOP desperately tried to stop – Bank of America is refunding $727 million to its customers after being found guilty of deceptive credit practices – a fancy way of saying fraud.

Fear of Whatever: The TSA prevented a wheelchair bound mute stroke victim from boarding a flight at LAX, forcing her to take an 8 hour bus trip instead of flying because she didn't have a current driver's license and could not say her own name. Her family was reduced to tears by the 'rude and insensitive” TSA agents. In their defense, a TSA spokesperson said the incident “probably could have been handled differently by the family."

The Parting Shot: