FA Notes Friday October 21, 2011
“Europe’s efforts to deliver a comprehensive plan to resolve the euro-zone debt crisis were in danger of unraveling Thursday as disagreement between Germany and France over virtually every point forced the 27-nation bloc to concede a much-anticipated summit of European Union leaders on Sunday won’t produce an agreement.” WSJ
“Federal Reserve officials are considering a new program of buying mortgage-backed securities to boost the ailing economy, though they appear unlikely to move swiftly in this direction..A new Fed mortgage-bond-buying program isn’t a certainty. If inflation doesn’t recede as many officials expect, or if the economy picks up with surprising vigor on its own, such a program might not win broad support inside the Fed.” WSJ
China – “private bosses are known for being savvy and resilient, many have turned from manufacturing – where labor and material costs are rising dramatically – to the much more lucrative business of speculating in the real estate market” Link
Tom DeMark uncertain about near-term SP500 direction. Link
Jim Chanos Presentation – Beware: The Global Value Trap. Link
David Pogue loves Dropbox. Link
60 Minutes: Steve Jobs biographer Link
STX on Thailand floods – “How bad is this situation for the computer industry? Extremely bad. Luczo, for one says this is a “much more significant” supply chain interruption for the technology business than anything that happened after the recent tsunami in Japan.” Link
Steve Jobs Bio excerpts:
His pre-Apple job as a technician at Atari paid $5 per hour. He saw a classified ad in the San Jose Mercury News, went to visit the company and informed them he wouldn’t leave unless they hired him.
Apple’s first president, Mike Scott, was hired mainly to manage Jobs, then 22. One of his first projects: getting Jobs to bathe more often. It didn’t really work.
Apple sued, and Jobs told Isaacson in an expletive-laced rant that Google’s actions amounted to "grand theft."
"I will spend my last dying breath if I need to, and I will spend every penny of Apple’s $40 billion in the bank, to right this wrong," Jobs said. "I’m going to destroy Android, because it’s a stolen product. I’m willing to go thermonuclear war on this." Link