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More stores across the U.S. that offer deeply-discounted products are seeing their sales decline after years of growth amid America’s “Great Recession” — and one analyst said on Monday it’s another sign of even deeper downturn. SNIP “I think what’s going on in those stores is that we are in a depression for 80 percent of Americans,” SNIP “In other words, the economy is continuing to be worse, the Obama depression continues to explode,” he added.

In response to the Great Recession, the US government has gone on a spending spree in the hope of using Keynesian stimulus to restart the economy. However, according to a new analysis by Dr. Polina Vlasenko at the American Institute for Economic Research, that approach may make us even more vulnerable to future recessions. The amount of economic damage done to Western economies by the downturn directly relates to the aggregate debt in each economy as a percentage of GDP, she argues — and Japan and the Eurozone paid a steep price for their public and private debt. From the...

Goldman Sachs has a notoriously difficult interview process. According to Glassdoor.com, interviewers are subjected to a number of tests including, a Phone Interview, a Group/Panel Interview, a Presentation, an IQ/Intelligence Test, a Skills Test, a Personality Test, a Drug Test and a Background Check. Think you can handle it? See how well you answer this one, posed to an applicant in the first-year analyst program, the lowest level at Goldman Sachs. "If you were shrunk to the size of a pencil and put in a blender, how would you get out?"

In their latest Business Review, Harvard, that fashion-obsessed place a quick private plane ride north of us, had an analyst assess the monetary value Michelle Obama has on fashion labels she wears publicly. Apparently when Michelle wears something, that company's stock spikes upward. If it's not the label seeing a gain, stores that carry the labels, like Saks, stand to benefit. From November 2008 to December 2009, David Yermack counted that Michelle made 189 public appearances, and wore items by or sold at 29 publicly traded companies, including J.Crew, the Gap, Dillard's, and DSW.

Bullish Sentiment Plummets To Levels Not Seen Since March '09 Vince Veneziani Feb. 11, 2010, 12:44 PM If you've been feeling bearish lately, you're not alone: bullish sentiment is falling both hard and fast. According to Bespoke Investment Group, newsletter writers haven't been this bearish in ages. Bespoke: Although the S&P 500 is down less than 7.5% from its January high, bulls are heading for the hills. According to Investors Intelligence, bullish sentiment among newsletter writers is currently at 34.1%, which is the lowest level since March 2009. At the same time, bearish sentiment (26.1%) is the highest since November,...

Barclays' Tim Bond: Equity Investors Are Dancing On The Edge Of A Volcano The Pragmatic Capitalist Feb. 10, 2010, 6:00 AM Tim Bond of Barclays has been remarkably accurate in predicting the strength and length of the global equity rally. Despite the many signs of weakness over the last 9 months Bond has remained very optimistic (read his bullish note from 2009 here). He claimed that analyst estimates and high levels of bearishness would lay the foundation for a continuing equity rally. “Never has a bull market climbed a steeper wall of worry. Despite a proliferation of positive economic indicators,...

Meredith Whitney Just Pulled Out The Hatchet On Goldman Sachs Joe Weisenthal Jan. 5, 2010, 12:38 PM Traders are buzzing over a fresh call from Meredith Whitney on Goldman Sachs (GS). Though the stock is in the black, the company fell about a buck right off the news. Specifically, she lowered her Q4 EPS estimate to $5.5 from $6.00 vs consensus of $5.41. And she lowered 2010 to $19.20 from $19.65 vs consensus of $18.25. So interestingly, she's still above consensus but obviously, she still has the power to move markets.

MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla., Aug. 14, 2009 – People join the military for many reasons, some for college assistance, some to stay out of trouble and some to fulfill a patriotic need to serve their country. Army Staff Sgt. Megan E. Brunty, an intelligence analyst with U.S. Central Command, is honored with a certificate of promotion at a ceremony on MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., Aug. 3, 2009. Brunty also was awarded the command’s Noncommissioned Officer of the Year award earlier in the year. U.S Army photo by Sgt. Rick Nelson   (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. For...

Larry Franklin, the former Pentagon analyst convicted of revealing classified information, says he worked undercover as an FBI double agent to gather information on the pro-Israel lobby in the United States before the bureau turned on him and pressured him to plead guilty to spying for Israel.

SACRAMENTO — California may need to borrow more than $20 billion in short-term loans to cover all its bills next year if revenues continue to drop and voters reject proposed budget-balancing measures, the Legislature's budget analyst said Thursday. The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office released a worse-case scenario cash flow report showing the state will have to take on record borrowing if voters reject the May special election ballot measures. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's finance officials had estimated the state would have to borrow $13 billion for California to get through the 2009-10 fiscal year. But since then, the analyst's report said...

Economic Analyst Work Schedule: Full Time Salary: $48,682 - $95,026* Location: Washington, DC metropolitan area The CIA's Directorate of Intelligence (DI) seeks economists to assess foreign economic policies and foreign financial issues - licit as well as illicit - that affect US security interests. They work closely with political, leadership and military analysts throughout the Intelligence Community in producing current and longer-term intelligence products. There is a particular need for country/regional economists with strong backgrounds in China, the Middle East and South Asia, and for specialists in international banking systems, financial markets, financial transactions, financial instruments, and energy. Economic analysts...

Citi, Bank of America drop on nationalization concern By Alistair Barr, MarketWatch SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Bank of America Corp. shares hit a record low and Citigroup Corp. stock slumped to an 18-year low Friday, as the two financial giants faced investors' concerns they may soon be nationalized. Citi shares dropped 21% to $1.99, their lowest level since early 1991. Bank of America fell 17% to $3.27, and earlier touched a record low of $3.19, according to FactSet Research data. A Citigroup spokesman highlighted the bank's high Tier 1 capital ratio, a measure of financial strength, and said it continues...

The most patriotic group of individuals found in this country today has just been assaulted by the New York Times and Representative Ike Skelton (D-MO). I refer to the recent article in the New York Times concerning Military Analysts attempting to convey what is going on around the world from a military point of view. These men have spent their lives being schooled and living these issues. They are an invaluable source of information to the American public. Modern day issues are so complex that it is impossible to define them in a two minute TV segment, and these analysts...

TUNE IN EVERY THURSDAY AT 1PM FOR STAND UP AMERICA! with General Paul Vallely Starting July 20th!

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed $131.1 billion state budget won praise Monday from the nonpartisan legislative analyst, even as she warned that a deal the governor reached with teachers could increase debt in future years. The analysis came as Democratic lawmakers voiced concerns about some aspects of the spending plan for the fiscal year that begins July 1. Among other issues, they questioned the amount of money set aside for public transit and whether $400 million Schwarzenegger proposed for bird flu preparations might better be spent on welfare increases. Still, Democrats said a tax windfall estimated at $7.5 billion has led...

A Swedish doctor who has previously been cautioned in Sweden for using a controversial 'anal massage' technique to cure various kinds of pain has been fired from his job in Norway - for the second time. A council in the Nord-Tröndelag area dismissed the doctor after only two weeks, when they realised that he was the same man who hit the headlines last year when another local authority fired him. The man, who also runs a private clinic in Gothenburg, described his dismissal as part of a witch-hunt against him, and said that his technique is successful. Several years ago,...

SACRAMENTO - California lawmakers should scale back a planned increase in education funding, raise the gas tax and let college fees rise, state Legislative Analyst Liz Hill said Thursday in her annual critique of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed budget. The nonpartisan analyst recommended cutting $2.3 billion from Schwarzenegger's proposed $125 billion spending plan for fiscal 2006-07, including slashing $1 billion from education. Her recommendations, she said, would help reduce the state's long-term structural budget deficit and eliminate some of the "autopilot" spending measures that tie state officials' hands in designing budgets. "If you think of California as a patient fighting...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. - A former Pentagon analyst who gave classified information to an Israeli diplomat and two members of a pro- Israel lobbying group was sentenced Friday to more than 12 years in prison. Lawrence A. Franklin, 59, had worked with top Pentagon officials, including former undersecretary of defense for policy Douglas Feith, and has expertise on Iraq and Iran. He pleaded guilty in October to three felony counts in exchange for three other counts being dropped. In sentencing Franklin, U.S. District Judge T.S. Ellis III said the facts of the case led him to believe that Franklin was motivated...

SACRAMENTO – Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's proposed $125.6 billion state budget moves in the "wrong direction" by using a temporary surge in tax revenue to expand programs rather than pay down debt, Legislative Analyst Liz Hill said yesterday. The nonpartisan analyst said the governor's budget would widen a deficit the state has been struggling with for six years, producing a budget gap of $5 billion to $6 billion next year. "Our concern is that we are expanding spending at a time when we have a significant state budget problem," Hill said. "We would urge using more of the unanticipated revenues to...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Thursday named veteran fiscal officer Mike Genest as the state's director of the Department of Finance, the second high-profile appointment the governor has made in as many days. Genest, 58, replaces Tom Campbell, who has returned to his post as dean of the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley. Campbell had been on leave for several weeks before the Nov. 8 special election, traveling the state to promote Proposition 76. The spending cap initiative was one of four Schwarzenegger proposals rejected by voters. A Republican, Genest was a member...

The older I get, the more I realize what an emotional and powerful experience it is to have served my country. And how incredibly strong the bond becomes between other men and women who have served.

Wasn't Brewster-Jennings the front CIA company, if so she should be prosecuted for outing a CIA agent.

Frontpage Interview’s guest today is Ryan Mauro, the 19-year-old author of Death to America: The Unreported Battle of Iraq and the youngest hired geopolitical analyst in the country. He is an analyst for Tactical Defense Concepts and Northeast Intelligence Network and is the owner of WorldThreats.com. He will be speaking at the 2006 Intelligence Summit on his work in open-source intelligence. FP: Ryan Mauro, welcome to Frontpage Interview. Mauro: Thank you for having me. FP: You are quite a young fellow. It is quite exceptional for a 19-year-old to be an expert in geopolitical affairs. What got you involved in...

ALEXANDRIA, Va. — A Pentagon analyst charged with providing classified information to an Israeli official and members of a pro-Israeli lobbying group will plead guilty, according to the U.S. District Court clerk's office. Lawrence A. Franklin' 58, of Kearneysville, W.Va., was indicted in June on charges of leaking classified materials — including information about potential attacks on U.S. forces in Iraq — to two members of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (search) and an Israeli official. Edward Adams, a spokesman for U.S. District Court Clerk in Alexandria, said a hearing to accept Franklin's guilty plea has been scheduled for...

Stock analyst's threats result in prison Associated Press ST. LOUIS - A Wyoming man was sentenced to a year and nine months in prison Tuesday after admitting he threatened to publish negative stock reports about the Hardee's fast-food chain's parent company if he wasn't hired as a consultant.

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to use some $4 billion in unanticipated tax money to pay off debt and reduce borrowing won approval Monday from the state's nonpartisan legislative analyst. Schwarzenegger released a $115.7 billion budget proposal last week that put more money into highways and some education programs but avoided spending increases on most other services. Educators criticized the governor's plan for not doing more for schools, but Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill warned lawmakers that any additional spending would add to a shortfall in the 2006-2007 budget. That shortfall is now expected to be at least $5...

Former Pentagon DOD analyst Larry Franks has surrendered to the FBI on classified document charges. Follow link for story.

Ryan Mauro of WorldThreats.com was asked to present his own State of the Union address for his high school American Government class. Here it is: Congressmen and fellow citizens: The state of our union is strong, confident and determined. Despite everything the "Blame America First" crowd said, freedom is expanding around the world and the War on Terrorism continues. Our successes in the past year are likely to change the world. For over a decade, the United States ignored growing threats, and preferred to believe that groups like Al-Qaeda acted alone. With every attack it becomes clearer and clearer that...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill suggested new ways Thursday to solve the state's budget problems, including suspending the after-school initiative championed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger before the actor turned politician. Though the program hasn't begun, Hill said it could soon add $424 million to the state's bills while California remains in a budget crisis. Schwarzenegger, who headed the Inner-City Foundation to provide after-school programs for children, successfully qualified and passed Proposition 49 on the 2002 ballot. Days after Hill suggested revenues are up $2.2 billion due to an improving economy, she labeled the governor's measure - which gives...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - An improved economy could leave the state with a budget surplus of nearly $3 billion in mid-2006, but California would still face deficits of at least $3 billion to $4 billion in the following years, the legislative analyst said Tuesday. Analyst Elizabeth Hill warned that the annual deficits would climb to nearly $10 billion if the Democrat-controlled Legislature and Republican Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger don't agree on ongoing ways to eliminate at least $5 billion in red ink. That could happen through spending cuts, tax increases or a combination of the two, said Brad Williams, director of budget...

SACRAMENTO (AP) - Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's plan to provide prescription drug discounts to the uninsured "provides a reasonable starting point," the Legislative Analyst's Office said Thursday, but the report suggests stiffening his voluntary approach with drug manufacturers. Lawmakers should add an automatic trigger replacing Schwarzenegger's voluntary rebate proposal with mandatory incentives if drug makers fail to keep promises to cut prices significantly, the analyst said. That alternative would likely bring consumers larger discounts on more drugs, but result in a lengthy court challenge, the analyst said. A Schwarzenegger spokeswoman praised the report for recognizing that the administration is offering "the...

WASHINGTON (AP) - The head of the advisory National Intelligence Council says he is not optimistic the United States and its allies can change Iran's intention of building a nuclear capacity. "I am somewhat more optimistic - somewhat, I emphasize - that we can, through diplomacy and a combination of pressure and inducements, keep them on track," council Chairman Robert Hutchings said in an interview Monday, his last day on the job. Senior U.S. officials suspect that Iran is continuing work on a covert program to enrich uranium for nuclear weapons. Iran maintains its nuclear program is for peaceful, energy-generation...

January 15, 2005 -- A hotshot Wall Street bond analyst was fired from his $4 million-a-year job for putting this fake photo of himself as a woman being swept off her feet on teh cover of a business report. Andrew Susser, 39, of Banc of America, was rated the past three years as the No. 1 analyst covering casinos and hotels — and the prank may also cost him his annual bonus, which could be an additional $5 million, insiders say. Bonuses are due in four weeks, said one company source, but won't be paid for people who are fired....

SACRAMENTO (AP) - The nonpartisan Legislative Analyst warned Wednesday that while Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's $111.7 billion budget plan solves next year's problem, the state still faces big deficits in the future because spending remains out of balance with tax income. But Analyst Elizabeth Hill also advised against Schwarzenegger's proposed long term solution to the problem - a constitutional amendment that would trigger accross-the-board cuts when revenues fail to meet spending obligations. Hill said the measure, which Schwarzenegger wants to put before voters in a special election this year, would put even more spending "on cruise control" while undermining the Legislature's...

NEW YORK - The top analyst at the CIA is resigning next year, joining more than a dozen agency officials who have stepped down since Porter Goss became the Director of Central Intelligence, NBC News has learned....

The purpose of FreeRepublic.com's multiple message boards is to limit the topics for each board to particular topics. Posting the same message on all the boards defeats the purpose of multiple-boards for special topics. It is very annoying to see the same message on every bulletin board. PLEASE! DO THE READERS A FAVOR. STOP CROSS-POSTING YOUR MESSAGES!

SACRAMENTO — The plan to overhaul California's bureaucracy ordered up by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vastly exaggerates the amount of potential savings and would do little to reduce the state's ongoing budget shortfall, the state nonpartisan legislative analyst's office reported Friday. The office, which lawmakers of both parties look to for independent advice on budget matters, says that even if all the recommendations in the governor's California Performance Review were adopted, the savings would be less than half the projected $32 billion over five years. It would be closer to $10 billion to $15 billion, the report says. And much of...

SACRAMENTO - Although he has criticized past budgets that did little to cut the state's spending imbalance, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's own proposal for next year relies too much on loans, accounting gimmicks and one-time solutions, according to a nonpartisan analysis released Monday. By withdrawing a number of big spending cuts he proposed in January, the governor has missed an opportunity to attack the state's spending problem and instead would once again push the tough choices into the future, said Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill. "The bottom line is that we've lost a number of ongoing solutions from the January plan, plus...

<p>Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s budget proposal is a realistic first step toward solvency, but leaves a $6 billion hole in the following fiscal year and relies on several billion dollars of shaky assumptions, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill said Tuesday.</p> <p>Hill said that the Legislature should consider tax increases to help bridge the remaining gap -- a move that the Republican governor has said he will not make.</p>

<p>Gov. Gray Davis has offered a "precariously balanced" revised spending plan that will strap lawmakers with formidable budget holes in future years, Legislative Analyst Elizabeth Hill said Monday.</p> <p>The $100 billion plan, built around borrowing, fails to bring California's spending into line with its revenues, according to the initial review by the Legislature's nonpartisan budget adviser.</p>

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Legislature's budget analyst says Gov. Gray Davis' plan to raise $8.3 billion in income, sales and tobacco taxes wouldn't adequately fund his proposal to shift billions of dollars in state programs to local governments. Analyst Elizabeth Hill says the taxes sought by the governor would grow at a somewhat lower rate than the programs local governments would administer. Davis is proposing to shift several state programs, including mental health and substance abuse, child care, long-term care and court security programs, to local governments to save more than $8 billion. Davis wants to raise the sales tax...

<p>Meeting Gov. Gray Davis' goal of cutting the state's payroll by $470 million without cuts to state employee salaries or benefits would cost 7,000 state workers their jobs, legislative analysts told lawmakers Tuesday.</p> <p>If job cuts were applied evenly across the state, more than 2,400 of the job cuts would occur in the five-county Sacramento-area region. Thirty-five percent of all state employees work in Sacramento, Placer, El Dorado, Yolo and Solano counties.</p>