Cake or Death: Southern California in flames.... again

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September 18th, 2007

Fed Cuts Benchmark Rate Half Point, Seeking to Forestall Recession in U.S. - "The Federal Reserve lowered its benchmark interest rate by a half point to 4.75 percent, the first cut in four years, to protect the U.S. from sinking into a recession sparked by fallout from the housing-market collapse. 'Today's action is intended to help forestall some of the adverse effects on the broader economy that might otherwise arise from the disruptions in financial markets,' the Federal Open Market Committee said in a statement after meeting today in Washington. The central bank will 'act as needed to foster price stability and sustainable economic growth.' Stocks surged, two-year Treasury notes rose and the dollar fell to a record low against the euro. The larger-than-forecast reduction suggests Chairman Ben S. Bernanke is prepared to leave himself open to criticism that he's rescuing investors from bad decisions for the sake of saving the six-year expansion."
U.S. Producer Prices Drop More Than Forecast; Foreclosures on Homes Double - "The 1.4 percent decrease, the biggest since October, followed a 0.6 percent increase in July, the Labor Department said today in Washington. So-called core prices, which exclude fuel and food costs, rose 0.2 percent after a 0.1 percent gain the month before. Slower inflation gave policy makers room to cut their benchmark rate today in an effort to sustain the expansion in the face of a housing recession. A drop in fuel expenses pushed prices down in August and cooling economic growth will continue to restrain raw-material costs, economists said."

September 14th, 2007

U.S. Retail Sales, Output Rise Less Than Forecast, Adding to Rate-Cut Case - "The 0.3 percent increase in sales during August followed a revised 0.5 percent gain in July, the Commerce Department said today in Washington. Purchases excluding automobiles unexpectedly fell 0.4 percent. Production gained 0.2 percent, with factory output declining for the first time since February. While a report from the University of Michigan and Reuters Group Plc showed consumer confidence increased, their sentiment index remained near the lowest level in a year. Treasury notes rallied after the retail sales and production reports, before losing the gains."

September 13th, 2007

Greenspan Says He Didn't Foresee Credit Rout, Endorses Bernanke, CBS Says - "Current Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke 'is doing an excellent job,' Greenspan said in an interview on the 60 Minutes program, according to excerpts e-mailed by CBS today. The show is scheduled to air on Sept. 16, a day before the publication of Greenspan's book, 'The Age of Turbulence.' The remarks come amid criticism among some investors that Bernanke has failed to be as forceful as his predecessor in responding to financial turmoil. Greenspan in 1998 cut interest rates three times after a Russian debt default rippled through global markets. Bernanke's Fed has refrained from lowering its benchmark so far, relying on other tools to provide liquidity."
Commercial-Paper Market Decline in U.S. Slows as Concerns Over Credit Ease - "U.S. stocks rose and Treasuries fell after the Federal Reserve reported short-term debt dropped by $8.2 billion, compared with a decline of $31.3 billion a week earlier. That coincided with Countrywide Financial Corp. obtaining new financing and banks finding buyers for loans to fund Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.'s buyout of Alliance Boots. Issuers with the biggest chance of default had stopped trying to sell commercial paper, rekindling appetite for short- term debt, said Tony Crescenzi, chief bond market strategist at Miller Tabak & Co. in New York. 'Investors have already pushed out the weakest issuers,' Crescenzi said in an e-mail. 'The commercial paper that remains is a relatively more respected crop.'"

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Name: jwookie

Location: Temecula, California, United States

I'm just a normal guy who was trying for medical school and ended up in finance. I'm not quite sure how I got here, but there aren't alot of hippie tree-huggers in finance, so I might stick around for a while. Other than that I'm spending time with my wife and dog, working out at the gym, sports (baseball mostly, but I'll settle for basketball and football), reading, music, and more. In the end, my free time isn't very free, so I'll probably do most of my posting from work. Hopefully they think all that typing is me actually working.

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Thursday, September 29, 2005

Southern California in flames.... again

I wasn't blogging then, but I was almost as close to the devastating fires almost exactly two years ago. The Simi Valley fire back in 2003 came within 5 miles of the fetching Mrs. Wookie's and my apartment. We were driving up the 23 freeway and were turned back at a point as we watched the fire sparking flames on both sides of the freeway.

While we no longer live in the apartment, I still work only minutes from Simi Valley, Box Canyon, Topanga Canyon, Calabasas, and Agoura. In fact those areas form an erie crescent around the office. Needless to say, I've kept a close eye on the smoke for the past two days.

To start while I was coming back down the 210 freeway after the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim's preseason game last night (on a lighter note, damn I'm glad hockey is back), all of LA was back lit in bright red. It was quite a view where the 210 peaks between Pasadena and Glendale.

This morning once I got to work there were several pillars of smoke emanating from all around. In fact if you've seen any of the coverage of these fires, and you've seen water-dropping helicopters refilling for another run, that reservoir they're taking water from is a quarter mile from my desk. All day I was watching helicopters travel back and forth. And more importantly I was watching flames sparking up here and there all over the little valley that the reservoir backs into.

We watched many of the images on the television happening right in front of us. Hopefully my lame attempt at a graphic helps give you an idea where this is and where previous fire lines have been. The red arc around the Chatsworth reservoir is where I was (that's my office, the black dot at the "N" in Northridge. The fire actually continues further west from my line, north and east to Simi Valley, and then a jagged "L"shaped line from Simi back to the bottom of the fire line that I could see. Above it is the area burned 2 years ago. While not the same acreage yet, there are many more houses endangered by this fire.

God bless the fire fighters I saw scurrying around the ridges of the canyons as well as the pilots of the water-dropping aircraft. God speed and good aim.

Link to me! Posted by jwookie : 7:08 PM

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