Miss Teen USA Contestant Has a Mind Melt

Now this has to be a really embarassing mind melt on national television.

Question: "Recent polls have shown a fifth of Americans can't locate
the U.S. on a world map. Why do you think this is?"

Lauren Caitlin Upton: "I personally believe... that U.S. Americans are
unable to do so... because... "Uh... some people out there in our nation don't
have maps...

"And... uh... I believe that our education, like such as in South
Africa and... uh... the Iraq, everywhere, like, such as..."And I believe that they should...
"Our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S... uh..."Or,
should help South Africa and should help the Iraq and the Asian countries... "So we will be able to build up our future... for our [children]."

Miss Teen USA host Mario Lopez: "Thank you very much, South
Carolina."

I'm sure the education here in the U.S. should help the U.S. especially for the U.S. Americans. I wonder why she kept going to the South Africa well over and over though? Maybe she read (or was told) something about South Africa having either junk schools or schools as good as the U.S. Now this is a classic freeze-up that will probably be talked about for years. It is cringe inducing and shows why people have such fear of public speaking as well.

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Bill Gross May Wan't Bush to Save Bill Gross

Hmm this is an interesting take on why PIMCO bond guru Bill Gross wants the government to come to the rescue of the mortgage markets.

I see the top bond guru in the world returned a three year average of
3.83% in his "Total Return" Fund. One could have parked money in a money market fund, CDs, a bank, or short term treasuries and done better than that. Digging deeper I see the top five holdings of the Total Return Fund are as
follows.
1) Fannie Mae (FNM)
2) Fannie Mae
3) Fannie Mae
4) Fannie Mae
5) Fannie Mae

So it would certainly be nice for Bill Gross if "W" was the "Decider" and opened up his wallet.

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J. Michels Uranium Index 8/24/07

+$1,640.00 +3.93%

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AT&T Looks Stupid On IPhone Bills

Now this is a boneheaded move by AT&T.

When Justine Ezarik, a video blogger in Pittsburgh, saw that a box from AT&T
had been delivered to her doorstep a couple of weeks ago, she thought that
perhaps she had been sent a complimentary accessory for her new iPhone. Instead, she found a 300-page, double-sided, excruciatingly well itemized bill.

This bill is itemized Kilobyte by Kilobyte. So this resulted in massive piles of paper that AT&T will have to eat the cost of shipping for. AT&T had to pay $7.10 just to get this bill to her.

Wasn't there someone in corporate that said "should we send out a 300 page bill in a box for $7.10 to this customer?" Wasn't there some VP that said lets send out summaries and keep the itemized bills online and we'll save a few bucks? A 300 page bill seems like something that would be red flagged for special handling in their automated billing system. There had to be someone at AT&T that called the shipping company and placed 300 pages worth of paper put into a box and sent it out. It was a failure of controls, fallbacks, and thought by upper management. It really speaks ill of AT&T since the rampup of the IPhone was a pretty long process and wasn't just a rush job on short time.

This kind of screwup also makes AT&T look even worse since this is a failure in handling perhaps one of their most lucrative exclusive contracts. It also makes Apple look like crap because they love to push how green their company is. Yeah, they are so green that tons of extra trees were cut down just so they can show page after page of 2KB for $0.00. I guess this is case in point of the danger of providing exclusive contracts.

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Iraqi National Intelligence Estimate Interesting

This article mostly focused on how the al-Maliki government is about to fail or is nearly failing. I think this part buried at the bottom is the most important part:

� Iraq's neighbors will continue to focus on improving their leverage
in Iraq, expecting the U.S. and its allies to leave. "Assistance to armed
groups, especially from Iran, exacerbates the violence inside Iraq," the report
said. Since January, there is mounting evidence of Iran's support for Shiite
militants, including highly lethal explosive devices.

� Syria has cracked down on al-Qaida networks inside its borders
because they threaten Damascus' security. However, Syria is increasing the range of groups it supports in Iraq to bolster its influence there. And it still
allows roughly 50 to 80 foreign fighters a month to travel into neighboring
Iraq.

� Saudi Arabia and other Sunni states have not supported the
al-Maliki government, but they haven't provided arms or other support to Sunni
fighters, choosing instead to stay on the sidelines.

So Iraq will be the next Arab land grab and influence rush when the Americans pull out? Iran has the most to gain by supporting Shiites and hopefully being able to create a client state out of Southern Iraq. A failed Iraqi state and Iranian influence might lead to a Saudi Arabia/Iran war sometime in the future depending on who holds what. You know which side the US is going to be on. I can see the Saudis beefing up their military in the next few years.

Also that part about Syria keeping Al-Quida out so that the terrorists can't destabilize their government may be in interesting gambit to play in the future. Maybe some behind the scenes reaching out by Europe could get Syria to back away from Iran and come into the anti-terror fold. The sooner we break up the pro-terror powers the better we can frame the War on Terror as Al-Quida against the Arab Leaders and not Al-Quida against the West.

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Is Having an Online Wife Adultery?

Some people are considering it anyway.

Confusing? It should be. Turns out that Ric and Sue's marriage is on
the rocks. She contends that he spends more time online in Second Life, a
virtual universe currently home to 30 million players, with his online wife. Sue
spends her days in front of the television, while Ric is in the other room
running a virtual night club and consorting with his online wife, sometimes for
as long as 14 hours at a time on weekends.

I wonder if having an online wife will actually be grounds for divorce in this case. I think that spending 14 hours on weekends on a game would be a better grounds in my opinion. This "gaming widow" effect will get worse the larger and more mainstream things like World of Warcraft and other MMOPRGs become.

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J. Michels Uranium Index 8/23/07

+$342.00 +0.83%

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GameStop's Outstanding Numbers

It looks like my love for Gamestop has translated into some big gains.

Shares of GameStop gained $4.74, or 10.9%, to $48.16, after the company
announced second-quarter earnings that grew 581.3%, to $21.8 million, or 14
cents per share, from $3.2 million, or 2 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts
polled by Thomson Financial expected earnings per share of 9 cents for the
period ending August 4.

The stock was up from $38.98 when I started to take a look at it to $47.45 today. A nice 20% paper gain in 5 days. The stock still seems pretty well poised for more gains in the next few quarters due to that lineup of cool new games I talked about. The stock is priced to perfection at a 44 PE though This tidbit could be a key to further margin expansion as well:

Used video game sales continued to be incredibly lucrative for GameStop.
Like other game retailers, GameStop allows customers to trade in old games at a
steep discount for new games. GameStop then marks up the trade-ins and sells
them at a handsome margin.

GameStop earned $173.2 million on used game sales at a gross profit percent of 48.5%. That towered over the gross profit percentage earned by new game hardware and software sales, which were 7.3% and 20.3%, respectively.

I think GameStop should try to expand its Used Game reach by starting an online market to buy and sell used games. They could start an Ebay store or even do something with their website where you will be able to buy used and sell used games online. The buyer will then pay a shipping cost or pick it up at one of their stores for free. The seller, on the other hand, would drop off the game at a nearby GameStop (where they might buy some additional product) then their account will be credited.

Of course they won't offer any first run games for sale for a certain period of time to prevent the used market from eroding their current game market. I think this move would expand their reach and allow them to corner the market in used games. This segment really doesn't have any credible competitors that could challenge GameStop once they got rolling. I don't see Best Buy stocking rows of used games and buying games from the gamer in need of cash.

I have to say that any business where you can charge like $10-$15 for a used game and turn around and sell that same game for $25-$30 is great for gamers and GameStop alike. The gamer gets games at a discount and an outlet in which to get rid of games that they have already passed. While GameStop gets to pocket the spread. It is a win-win

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Bill Gross Tells Bush to Save Housing Market

It seems that only Bush can save people from losing their homes in foreclosure according to Gross. What is the the reason that he has to get this little dig in on Bush though?

"Write some checks, bail 'em out, prevent a destructive housing
deflation that (Fed Chairman) Ben Bernanke is unable to do. After all 'W',
you're 'the Decider,' aren't you?" Gross wrote.

Part of me doesn't want to see millions of foreclosures but sometimes people need to wake up and understand what they were signing up for when it comes to Adjustable Rate mortgages.
Adjustable rates mean they might adjust in the future. People should have realized that interest rates will eventually go up.

Plus some of these home owners bought more house then they can afford to reach that Bling-bling Cribs lifestyle then it makes things even worse. This is why there needs to be a mandatory financial literacy classes given in high school. The government shouldn't always have to backstop people who have made bad decisions.

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Rangers Punish Orioles 30-3!

Now this is one hell of a box score. I mean there were 7 home runs and 29 hits given up in this game! This is the new American League record for most lopsided game beating the former record of Boston of the Boston Red Sox beating the St. Louis Browns 29-4 on June 8, 1950 according to this. This a site shows another game as the National League record holder.

The Chicago Colts score in every inning to demolish Louisville 36-7
while setting the NL record for runs scored. Chicago amasses 32 hits good for 51
bases with Barry McCormick hitting 4 singles� a triple� and a HR in an ML
record-tying 8 at bats. Tying another league record set by an earlier Chicago
club� 6 players score 4 runs each with McCormick and Jimmy Ryan each scoring 5 runs. Winning pitcher Nixey Callahan is 5-for-7� the first of three times he'll collect 5 hits in a game (May 18� 1902; May 8� 1903, a record for a pitcher. Chick
Fraser starts for Louisville� but gives way in the 3rd to Jim Jones, who makes his major league debut with his team down 14-0. Only 9 runs are earned as Louisville kicks in with 9 errors. Jones will make one other pitching appearance, in 1901, but will play as an outfielder that year and next.

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J. Michels Uranium Index 8/22/07

+$2,089.00 +5.32%

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Pigeons May Have Been Factor in Bridge Collapse

I know these flying rats would eventually cause grief for mankind.

Pigeon droppings contain ammonia and acids, said chemist Neal
Langerman, an officer with the health and safety division of the American
Chemical Society. If the dung isn't washed away, it dries out and turns into a
concentrated salt. When water gets in and combines with the salt and ammonia, it creates small electrochemical reactions that rust the steel underneath.

"Every time you get a little bit of moisture there, you wind up
having a little bit of electrochemistry occurring and you wind up with
corrosion," said Langerman. "Over a long term, it might in fact cause structural
weaknesses."

They needed to put those little spikes on the bridge so that these little vermin don't land on the bridge and rust the supports with their crap. It would be a sad deal to die because of pigeon poop.

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Opposition to Morning After Pill a Joke

This is the kind of stuff that makes it tough to be associated with the Right sometimes.

A coalition of conservative groups, including the Family Research Council and Concerned Women for America, has filed a lawsuit in federal court in Washington seeking to reverse the FDA ruling. The groups contend that the FDA acted unwisely under political pressure and lacked authority to approve the same drug for both over-the-counter and prescription-only distribution based on the user's age.

"Barr may be making a healthy profit, but women are paying the price," said Wendy Wright, president of Concerned Women for America, who believes Plan B is less effective that its backers assert.
So since the thing is less than 100% effective the FDA should ban it? These groups want to stop someone from taking a pill that may prevent them from having an abortion in the future. So in a way this pill will "save the unborn" as these groups advocate.

I guess their view is that since pregnency begins at the moment of conception then any type of birth control is bad. I know this is the Catholic view but a pill that will prevent someone from having to have an abortion should be viewed as a good thing. That is why I have a hard time with the religious right since they always seem so against things that may actually help mankind like Stem Cells and in this case the morning after pill.

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Bush Tries to Calm Markets

At least that is what he seems to be doing.

"The fundamentals of the U.S. economy are strong," Bush said. "The
fundamental question, 'Is there enough liquidity in our system?' And the answer
is `Yes, there is,'" the president declared.

So the fundamental question is that the fundamentals are strong? What if the new view on decreased liquidity is shifting the fundamentals? I mean there have been 87,962 job cuts so far this year caused by this mortgage mess. The days of people using their home as piggy banks to buy stupid stuff are over as well. Now people are having a hard time getting a mortgage even if they have decent credit. If tightening credit moves to the credit card market things will be even worse I think.

In any case it seems that the Dems want to make the mortgage mess the governments mess as well.

On Capitol Hill, some Democrats would like to see mortgage giants
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac -- which are recovering from accounting scandals --
play a larger role in the mortgage market. Some would like to see the two
mortgage companies buy "jumbo" mortgages of more than $417,000.
Separately,
others, like Dodd, would like to see investment caps relaxed on the companies'
investments. The administration, however, opposes that idea.

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J. Michels Uranium Index 8/21/07

-196.00 -0.50%

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Americans Hardly Read

This is a pretty bad stat for the publishing industry.

One in four adults say they read no books at all in the past year,
according to an Associated Press-Ipsos poll released Tuesday. Of those who did
read, women and seniors were most avid, and religious works and popular fiction
were the top choices.

You have to add this to how busy people are nowadays. If you don't have time to take a vacation then you probably don't have a lot of time to sit down and read. I also think that when people take work home with them via Blackberry, GoToMyPC etc. their reading suffers as well.

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Capital One to Shutter Mortgage Unit

It looks like it is a bad time to be a mortgage broker.

Capital One said it will shut down GreenPoint Mortgage and eliminate
most of the jobs by the end of year. The McLean, Va.-based company will close 31
GreenPoint locations in 19 states and "cease residential mortgage origination"
effective immediately but said it will honor commitments to customers with
locked rates who have loans already in the pipeline.

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J. Michels Uranium Index 8/20/07

+$525.00 +1.35%

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University of West Virgina Top Party School

I guess that is some distinction if you are going to college for parties and not for academics.

Senior Katie O'Hara, 22, said WVU is No. 1 because "no matter what kind
of party you want it's here � bars, fraternities, house parties. ... If you want
to take shots all night, there's a bar; no matter what you want to do, it's
there."

They missed describing the the part where Katie double-fisted some Jager shots and collapsed in a stupor under the bar stool.

Still, O'Hara said her friends "know how to manage their time. They
know when to party and when not to," which wouldn't explain the school's No.
1 ranking in the category of Their Students (Almost) Never
Study.

It is kind of sad when their students aren't partying they aren't studying either. I guess when West Virgina students aren't partying they are simply recovering from or getting ready for the next party. I think Budweiser or Diageo PLC needs to subsidise some of this schools tuition in order to give something back to the school that uses their products so well.

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J. Michels Uranium Index 8/17/07

+1,305.00 +3.47%

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FED is the White Knight?

It sure seems that way since the market went strait up after that.

The Fed cut the discount rate by a half percentage-point to 5.75
percent but left the federal funds rate -- its main economic policy lever --
unchanged at 5.25 percent.

However, it said it stood ready to act to keep the U.S. economy on
an even keel, giving an immediate boost to beleaguered stock markets.

Right now they have tried everything in the arsenal except for dropping the fed funds rate. I think if they did that outside of their normal FED meeting it might panic the market. It would be an admission that they were to break the glass and hit the "Big Red Button." I wonder what this is doing to the liquidity of that Asset Backed Paper market?

In any case it seems the FED is now the backstop if anything goes wrong in the markets. If the Hedge Funds are leveraging 6x to get maximum returns and their black box goes haywire then the FED will be there to ride in on that white horse. I think they saw what would go down if the Hedge Funds had to really sell assets to cover redemptions. I still think they may not have averted the "Big One" depending on how this mortgage thing works its way through the markets. I still think cash is the way to go until we get more

confirmation.

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FTC Appeals Whole Foods Ruling

Is it just me or does someone in the FTC has a personal vendetta against Whole Foods or something?

Mitch Katz, a spokesman for the FTC, says the agency is now asking a
Washington, D.C., district court for a temporary injunction on the deal, pending
its appeal. Whole Foods and Wild Oats have agreed to hold off on any proceedings
to close the deal Monday at noon.

They should close the deal over the weekend in an emergency meeting or they might have to fight the FTC all the way to the Supreme Court. It is almost as if the FTC thinks when this deal closes Whole Foods will own all the organic fruit orchards in the US. Maybe the Whole Foods CEO kicked the FTC Chairman's dog or something.

The FTC should know full well that almost every supermarket has an Organic section nowadays. Whole Foods needs the merger to protect their market share from the Safeways and the Krogers of the world. I guess they should have called their merger deal "Project Fluffy Bunny" instead of "Project Goldmine."

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Watching GameStop

Gamestop (GME) has just launched their Monday Night Madness event to kick off Madden 2008. The stock however has been trading pretty flat in a range of about $38-$39 in the past few days. Part of the reason for the sluggish performance is the push back of GTA4 to 2008 which will make for lower revenues in the Christmas season.

I think this will be small potatoes because the game hasn't been delayed indefinitely or anything like that. When it comes out it will be a shoe-in for the top game of the first quarter of 2008. I would expect that quite a few gift cards will be hoarded to plunk down on this game.

In the meantime there will be a pile of category killers coming out for the different platforms. First of all we have Madden 2008 which will be a huge seller if the past games are any indication. The last game sold 6 million copies and now the installed base for the PS3, Xbox360, and the Wii are much bigger then last year.

Then we have Bioshock on August 21st. I have read quite a bit about this game and from what I see it is going to be big. It has lots of customisable game play and tries to stretch the limits of the Xbox 360. Also the visuals are stunning and it looks like the kind of game that you may have bought your Xbox360 to play. Then we have Halo 3 coming out on September 25th so the Xbox360 will have lots of great games in the near future. Halo 3 will be huge and it will sell millions of copies no matter what.

Then we have Assassin's Creed coming out September 1 for the PS3. If this game lives up to the hype it will be one of the reasons why people will buy a PS3. From what I have seen the graphics are outstanding and it used the PS3 graphics and processor as much as possible. It may be the kind of game that actually makes people buy a PS3.

Another top seller will be Guitar Hero 3: Legends of Rock which comes out on October 29th. The Guitar Hero series has been a huge success and this new one will probably do as well or better then the other versions have for Activision. Also EA will bring out Rock Band in November hot on the heels of GH3. If Rock Hero is a big seller for EA (it sure looks that way,) they will have a get a nice margin bump from selling the guitar, mike, and drum add-on peripherals. These babies will raise the average selling price of each copy of the game and bring in a pretty good windfall for EA in the 4th Quarter.

In any case, each one of these games will be great for GameStop since gaming is one of the more recession proof entertainments out there. It seems that GameStop has doubled in that past few months since people are looking at the stock as a way to play the console switchover without having to bid on the higher risk gaming stocks. If they can keep same store sales up and people keep buying games like crazy GameStop will look cheap at $38 a share.

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