But what's good for Comcast (CMCSA ) and Verizon (VZ ), among other cable and phone companies, isn't necessarily good for the nation. Ranked No. 16 in the world in consumer broadband penetration -- down from No. 3 five years ago -- the U.S. has followed policies in direct contrast to higher-ranking countries, such as Japan, Korea, and Sweden. Instead of fostering stiff competition that leads to the low prices and innovation that lure consumers, the U.S. is allowing the huge cable and phone companies to shut out competitors that provide services -- Internet, phone, or TV -- delivered via those broadband networks.

10 Print "Dumb."
20 Goto 10

Good for Cable, Bad for America

It seems like yesterday. But it’s only been a little over five years since we were going through the same drill that is playing out today -- bemoaning the excesses of an asset bubble and hunkering down for the inevitable post-bubble shakeout. Five years ago, it was the equity bubble. Today, it’s the property bubble. These are not isolated events. As night follows day, one bubble has spawned the next. And we have the Federal Reserve to thank for this grand continuum and the cumulative toll it is taking on the US economy. Sadly, as America lurches from bubble to bubble, the endgame is looking all the more treacherous.

The debate has an eerie sense of deja vu. Today, there are those who dispute the very existence of a US property bubble. Similarly, five years ago, there were many who argued that US equities were not over-valued...

This is rubbish.

Morgan Stanley: Steve Roach on housing

] The companies' divergent fortunes -- symbolic of the two
] nations' broader auto industries -- have Japanese auto
] and government officials worried about a replay of the
] "Japan-bashing" trade friction of the 1980s, when Toyota
] and others were blamed for stealing car sales and U.S.
] jobs, prompting outraged auto workers to smash Japanese
] cars in protest.

What's worse? That this could potentially happen again? Or that in today's age, there are actually people who could get this upset about it happening at all?

Toyota fears U.S. backlash as GM struggles

] Not that Lenovo can't pinch pennies. Its labor costs are
] a rock-bottom $3 per desktop PC, among the lowest
] anywhere. That has helped drive its operating expenses to
] less than 9% of revenues, half the average for the
] computer hardware business

UN-BE-LEAVE-ABLE... $3 of labor costs per PC. Any other business (even TEXTILES!) would KILL for that kind of margin.

Lenovo and IBM: East Meets West, Big-Time

] In the face of all this, what emboldens the bulls?
] Sharply discounted share prices, of course, but also
] improving fundamentals, like corporate spending on
] technology. Forecasts for growth in corporate information
] technology spending this year range from 4 to 8 percent,
] and the bulls say these estimates may be too
] conservative.
]
] For one thing, the companies that buy technology are
] flush with cash. At the end of 1999, just before the tech
] stock meltdown, the median for balance-sheet cash and
] short-term investments at Standard & Poor's 500
] companies, excluding the financial services sector, was
] $220 million, according to data from Piper Jaffray. Since
] then, it has risen each year; by the end of 2004, it
] stood at $675 million. The share of capital spending
] going to information technology equipment and software,
] in decline for several years, has also been rising again,
] according to Lehman Brothers.
]
] Inventory levels at technology companies, meanwhile, have
] been dropping, and the ratio of inventory to sales is the
] lowest in more than a decade, according to Lehman
] Brothers data. Finally, tech companies may actually
] outperform forecasts. "Earnings revisions for the tech
] sector have been a bit stronger than for the overall
] market," said Chip Dickson, Lehman's chief United States
] strategist. If the bulls have picked up the scent of
] impending recovery, how should investors position
] themselves? Here, the bulls part ways. Some favor
] beaten-up large-capitalization stalwarts; others look to
] fast growers in flourishing niches like data security and
] wireless data services.

This should be interesting. Both forces are pretty strong. The macro economic effects seem to be much more powerful, but that might not make the market act with any rationality. For my part, I've been looking for exits out of some of my techs just because I think they're too pricey or not going anywhere (CSCO?).

Investing: Are Technology Stocks About to Lose the Blues?

] Medtronic said on Friday that it would pay $550 million
] to settle the lawsuit and another $800 million to acquire
] the patents. The deal will also give Medtronic rights to
] virtually all the spine-related inventions Dr. Michelson
] makes in the next 15 years.

nice.

Medtronic to Pay $1.35 Billion to Inventor

] Inefficiencies in the medical industry, along with
] advances in chip manufacturing and design, will likely
] provide chipmakers with one of their big opportunities
] for growth, Barrett said recently in a brief interview.

Gee Craig, glad you woke up.

Health care's the ticket, Craig Barrett says

] Federal regulators say the specialists engaged in two
] illegal trading schemes: using knowledge of a trade to
] deal in front of it, and "interpositioning," which occurs
] when a specialist intervenes in a trade rather than
] matching buy and sell orders.
]
] The 15 specialists indicted, all but two of whom have
] left their firms, were members of the New York Stock
] Exchange's five major specialist trading companies. They
] are accused of making illegal trading profits from
] interpositioning of $13.4 million and costing investors
] more than $19 million from trading for their firms'
] accounts ahead of customers.

This is how the little guy always gets screwed.

15 Specialists From Big Board Are Indicted

] The Federal Communications Commission announced Friday
] that states cannot require regional phone companies to
] sell high-speed Internet service as a stand-alone
] product.

DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT! DAMMIT!

How is it that the Republicans have gone from 'fiscal conservatism' to 'corporate philantrophy'? This is the largest corporate welfare present with a bow on top since Haliburton got to 'repair' Iraq.

FCC: Phone companies don't have to sell DSL as a stand-alone product - 03/27/05

] While defending its policies in court, the FCC will need
] to address several issues related to broadband. For
] instance, should new services like voice over Internet
] Protocol, or VoIP, be regulated? And how should owners of
] networks recover their costs in areas that are expensive
] to serve?

This is ridiculous. I can't believe that the FCC would even consider continuing to support the practice of the Universal Service Fund. Why is it the government's job to subsidize providers to offer service to 'expensive' customers? Why can't they just mandate that everyone needs universal access at standardized pricing and let the damn industry figure out how to provide it in a cost effective manner which preserves their margin? Just because ole Grandma Jones out in the country 'costs more' to service using POTS doesn't mean that a Bell should get reimbursed with your tax dollars and phone bill for their incompentence. Give Grandma Jones a friggin wireless connection! Pulling cable out to her house in the middle of nowhere is STUPID!

Is an 'open' Internet a doomed concept?