RLflutie7

And this from a CEO who received heavy criticism when he was hired because Wall Street didn't like the hire. Shows what Wall Street knows. He came from the airline industry (Boeing) Mulally brought a vision that was completely at odds with Ford's culture. Ford's idea was that each vehicle should be stand alone with no overlap from other Ford models. Mulally said he wanted customers to be able to sit in a Ford with their eyes closed and know they were sitting in a Ford. In press stories he used the metal rod that holds the hood of the car open as an example. At one point Ford used about seven different styles of this part in all it's models. He said they'd probably make just one or two and save money and time. Simple little things like this add up over time and make it easier for designers and workers.

Very good post Tom. It's perception that drives the market and it drives me crazy.

No and No. I can't understand why the Cardinals are dragging their feet. Leinart has proven nothing. They're going to screw around and lose Warner.

If the Broncos were to trade Cutler, I think I'd find a new team to root for. I don't like what's going on there. They get rid of a 2-time Superbowl winner as coach and then talk about getting rid of one of the best young QBs in the league.

Friday is the last day for the Rocky Mountain News. They were losing tons of money and they have had a drop of around 70% in ad revenue. Also the San Francisco Chronicle is on the brink of folding, probably within two weeks. These ad revenue declines are going to force sports to crash also. I'm sure ESPN has also suffered ad revenue declines and I'm starting to think sports coverage will crash also. Live events are going to fall by the wayside.

This is way off base. It's the rich and their short sighted policies that caused the problem. An addiction to cheap labor is what got us to this place. People on programs and gov't money are there because companies do not want to compensate a fair wage. Plus, most communities "gave away the store" to get companies to locate in their backyard. The credit card binge was a reaction to a slow down in consumer spending in the 90s. It was credit card companies that flooded the market with credit cards.

You always had those few people predicting it would fall to like 5,000. But I think the sheer numbers of people making those dire predictions are pretty staggering.

You are correct sir! CNBC is a hype machine, just like ESPN, of the business world. And that hype goes both ways good and bad. They've been pumping the stock market so long and contributed so much to the stock market boom it's crazy. I think the internet stock boom and crash of the 90s and the housing boom of late was created in part by CNBC. These CEOs became celebrities in their own little world.

I went to those games for nine years and it is way too hot for the fans, the players gut it out, but the fans are wimps. ASU games are at night, which is a little cooler, but it's still hot. Back in the 70s the ASU games sold out. But there's a lot more roads (blacktop) in the city now, so it soaks up the sun and holds the heat. I think I read that an ASU professor said the average temp has gone up 10 degrees in 20 years, something like that. Too much blacktop. PS. Thank God Kurt Warner is coming back to play.

Just because someone can't talk outloud very well doesn't make them stupid. Emmitt Smith is bad on TV because he stammers and studders each sentence. I know what he means when he starts to present a thought, but he gets ahead of himself. An example: If Emmitt was trying to say that a guy is too slow he would often say "the guy is too sl . . . he's not fast enough." Just say he's too slow before you say he's not fast enough. If he would just slow down and stop replacing one action word with another action word in mid sentence, he'd be ok.

This whole mess was started by big business. Not government. On CNBC, people on Wall Street keep coming on TV and they are blaming government. Now, tried of hearing it, the reporters are saying it was big business that created this mess, not government. If anything the government is bailing out business. A stimulus is like a tax refund or tax cut. I don't see much difference. Cutting taxes is an economic stimulus. Republican leaders have always given the rich economic stimulus by cuttting their taxes. The government is spending money by giving money back to the people because they already collected the money and now they are giving it back. If people are so up in arms about being "taxed to death" they should like gov't checks in the mail, like the checks Bush gave us, and companies can now say they never paid taxes on revenue because all the money gov't has given in the bailouts. In a sense they have never paid a dime in taxes. No gov't money no business.

And you can blame liberals for this one and you'd be right.

I think this is a good move. Culpepper can throw the ball. I've never seen a guy, other than Michael Vick, whose stock has dropped as fast as Culpepper and I think it's his behavior and his knee injury. He tried to come back to quick and that was a huge mistake. He tore three ligaments in his knee and he tried to rush back plus the boat thing. Culpepper won't be able to be a "ball hog" like he was in Minnesota. One year he had over 500 pass attempts and over 100 rushing attempts.

Yep.

Right. And I would never work for someone, who I know is doing the wrong thing. Find other employment. And I do only rail against the CEOs because they are the ones who told the pack of lies. They lie to their employees. The lower level employess are the ones that are just doing what they are told. I was watching a show called "American Greed" on CNBC and they did a show about Health South and their accounting scandals. The CEO told employess to cook the books and then they were required to sign papers saying the numbers were right, as a part of a new law (I forget which one). So, they go through five CFOs. Because once the first one quit, the others that followed also left the company. That's the way to do it, if the guy running the thing if full of it.

You are not understanding my point. My point is the salary of the top people insulates them from reality. A bank executive can get careless with money and make stupid loans that have no chance of getting that "certain rate of return". Those loans default. But the top guy doesn't really care because he's too busy rolling around in all the money he "steals" from the bank that he works for. In a sense, they are hoarding money because they still get their pay and bonsues while wiping out shareholder value and making the bank insolvent. And if you look at the Lehman Brothers CEO, he's the only one left with money, because he made $450 million in salary in the 10 years before it went under. Not that he should apologize for it. But the compensation levels create the reality that is Lehman Brothers.

You hit the nail on the head. I can't figure it out either. Decisions made (low wages) and bad loans (to lose money) I can't figure it either. But that's what happened. I'm perplexed. Why would I (if I'm rich) lend that kind of money to someone who is broke? I need to you explain it to me!

No it's not dumb. I see your point, however, I don't agree with it. From what I understand, friggin companies won't even pay moving expenses any longer. So I doubt very seriously that IBM will really hire Americans in the jobs they say they're going to. And I think it's foolish to take jobs in places like Prague, but that's my own view point, given all that's considered when taking a job. I will say I would rather work for 25k a year and not travel, rather than work a career or job for 100K a year and be on the road for something like 200 days a year. I think that's just nuts. There's no quality of life. Some others would think I'm nuts. But I hate travel.

It was a plan. Not a written plan, but it was a plan. The only problem is the plan failed. Because the people who wanted a two-class society (rich and poor) didn't realize that the plan would blow up in their face also.

I would never leave this country to get a job. Actually, I might go to Canada but that's about it. Because you don't know how what's going to happen to that country from a government perspective. Look what happened to Cuba. Remember when the mafia had gambling casinos there and Castro came in. They lost everything. Not that it was very legit, but you know what I'm talking about? The same thing can happen, especially in a country like India or China. So let IBM and all those stupid companies move. I hope they lose their sh--.

Interesting. Sounds like you made the best of it.

I don't doubt your story. However, I don't think this is a very similiar situation. If it is, then I'm wrong. But I truely would not take them up on their offer under any circumstances. It's a family thing . . . like you related.

Yes it is. Most big name manufactures are located in Elkhart, Indiana. And yes, most van conversions are done in Elkhart, Indiana. I probably know 100 people who work in the RV/trailer manufacturing business or at least they used to work in the RV/trailer manufacturing business. From high school and family, etc, etc. My uncles and aunt worked in RV manufacturing. And my aunts and uncles still have their teeth (poor humor). My uncle used to love to work in trailer factories because he liked physical labor and he got paid by piece rate. He'd go to work, get done by lunch time and go home. Four hours of work and 8 hours pay. But you have to work fast and extremely hard to be able to do that. He loved it. The mayor of Elkhart says they have 20% unemployment.

I live in the county next to the city of Elkhart, Indiana and Elkhart County. I worked in Elkhart, Indiana for a lumber company that supplied lumber for the RV Industry back in 1986. Two things, I'd like to say. 1. Elkhart Indiana is a Republican strong hold. 2. Elkhart Indiana is the biggest redneck trailer-trash community I've ever seen in my life. I've never seen so many people so proud to work for nothing. Visit Elkhartsucks.com to get a true picture of Elkhart, Indiana. Why is it a trailer-trash community? Because all the people working in bleeping trailer factories. Poor attempt at humor. PS: It must have been all those unions that bankrupted the RV manufactures. Oh, I forgot, they don't have unions. Actually, some RV manufactures were paying around $18.00 an hour.

You, my friend, are a true blue nutcase. You need help! IBM is making an offer that they have no intention of following through with. They will not hire or transfer ANY American and move them overseas. The cost would be prohibitive. This is just a PR stunt by IBM so they can get good media coverage. They're moving the jobs to save money, not spend money. Plus, they know no American is going to move over there and work for slave wages with the false-hope of being promoted.