NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. companies are growing more concerned about the prospects of a recession in the year ahead for the first time since the end of the financial crisis.
So far this year, the number of companies whose executives have mentioned recession concerns to analysts and investors is up 33 percent from the same period a year ago; the first such increase since 2009. Some 92 companies have discussed a U.S. recession in their earnings calls, according to Thomson Reuters data.
That gloomy talk highlights worries that growth in the world’s largest economy may be coming to a halt. Gross domestic product grew 0.7 percent in the final quarter of 2015, down from 2 percent in the third quarter, while double the number of companies are cutting or flat-lining their capital spending in the year ahead, according to Reuters data. The benchmark S&P 500, a leading indicator of economic strength, had its worst January since 2009 as oil tumbled below $30 a barrel and remained near 12-year lows.
While nearly all companies that have discussed recession say that U.S. consumers continue to look healthy, many are growing concerned that the steep declines in energy prices and job cuts in the industry are going to bleed into the larger economy. Overall, economists expect the U.S. economy to grow 2.4 percent in 2016, according to a Dec. 30 Reuters poll.
Richard Fairbank, chief executive of Capital One Financial Co., for example, said he sees a recession as increasingly likely if financial market turmoil spreads into the real economy.
Hillary Clinton at her caucus night rally in Des Moines. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
By John Whitesides
DES MOINES, Iowa (Reuters) – Hillary Clinton’s struggle in Iowa to fend off underdog Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist, reignited questions about her ability to close the deal with Democratic voters and turned up the pressure on her high-profile White House campaign.
The Democratic presidential front-runner, whose campaign ran off the rails in Iowa in 2008 against Barack Obama, was dealt another setback on Monday in the Midwestern state that begins the 2016 race for the presidency.
The former secretary of state, Clinton, 68, was pushed to a virtual tie with Sanders, a 74-year-old U.S. senator from Vermont.
Next up is New Hampshire, which holds its primary on Feb. 9. Sanders has been leading in opinion polls there and has an advantage because it neighbors his home state. A Clinton loss would start to set off alarm bells with her supporters.
“She has had every possible structural and organizational advantage and Sanders fought her to a draw,” said Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics at the University of Southern California.
“This is almost a moment by moment rerun of 2008,” Schnur said. “The difference is her competition is not as tough this time.”
Clinton insisted at her post-caucus rally that she was the candidate who could unify her party and prevail against a Republican challenger in the Nov. 8 election but the sense of disappointment was palpable.
Her subdued, six-minute speech contrasted with the ebullient tone of Sanders’ 16-minute speech.
FEBRUARY 2, 2016, 11:09 AM LAST UPDATED: TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 2, 2016, 11:12 AM
BY DARREN COOPER
STAFF WRITER |
THE RECORD
The enterprise of North Jersey high school sports seemingly gets sicker by the day.
At this point, it’s almost a given that some coach, school, parent or athlete is cheating or acting inappropriately nearly every day.
There is no justification. There is no explanation. There is no excuse.
And it needs to stop.
Why do coaches use athletes who aren’t physically healthy? Why do coaches feel the need to berate kids publicly and privately? How in the world does a parent get into a physical confrontation with a coach during a football practice, as in what happened in October at St. Joseph? How does a coach allow eighth-graders to practice with a high school wrestling team, like the incident last month at Don Bosco?
The list of incidents goes on and on — just since the fall.
Why do schools allow kids to be athletic free agents and jump ship while sometimes using phony change of addresses as the pretense to transfer? What makes a parent reach out to an athlete, already in high school, and tell him he should play sports somewhere else so he can get noticed and attract that college scholarship?
Who would write “White girls are soft” on a dry-erase board before a girls basketball game, as, according to one coach, happened last weekend at the Bergen County tournament? Who would think “Blackensack,” the hashtag posted last week to the private Instagram account of Paramus wrestler Nick Ciambrone along with a photo of a Caucasian wrestler in a white Paramus singlet wrestling an African-American wrestler in a dark singlet, is clever or funny?
The thing that’s funny? The people who are cheating or acting inappropriately: You’re the loser. Really. You’re just the last one to know.
Your victories count, but they’re hollow. Your championships are glorious, but they’re tainted
While it was hard to call a winner between Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders last night, it’s easy to say who was luckier.
The race between the Democrat presidential hopefuls was so tight in the Iowa caucus Monday that in at least six precincts, the decision on awarding a county delegate came down to a coin toss. And Clinton won all six, media reports said.
The situation came about in precincts where Sanders and Clinton were running neck-and-neck, but there were an odd number of delegates, so they couldn’t be evenly split between the two. That was the case in precincts in Ames, Newton, West Branch, Davenport and two in Des Moines, the Des Moines Register reported.
Univision reporter Fernando Peinado caught one of the Des Moines coin tosses on video:
Saturday, February 13th; 10am to 12:30pm, The Stable, 259 North Maple Avenue, Ridgewood
Backtard Beekeepping – Presented by the Northeast New Jersey Beekeepers Association, this introductory program is for those interested in keeping honey been and wanting to learn the very basics of this hand-on hobby. INcluded with be discussion on equipment and supplies, the care and handling of bees, clothing, colony health, costs involved and where to go for resources, support and learn more…
Sponsored by Ridgewood Environmental Advisory Committee – REAC
Ridgewood NJ, Here’s a good story about two of our alumni. Dave Madden, RHS 1999 and Laura Fleming, RHS 1977. Congratulations!
“The National History Bee and Bowl was established by 1999 alumnus David Madden. Ridgewood High School held the very first tournament in May, 2010, and the contests have grown by leaps and bounds under David’s direction. The New Jersey State Championship was held at RHS on Saturday, January 16, 2016. There are now dozens of tournaments held every year spanning more than twenty countries on four continents, with the national championships held in Arlington, Virginia in April. Last year’s RHS History Bowl team finished 9th in the country. Pictured here with David is Laura Medici Fleming (RHS 1977), RHS history teacher and adviser to the History Bowl teams.”
Spring is coming early this year, according to the nation’s most famous groundhogs.
Staten Island Chuck didn’t see his shadow Tuesday morning, meaning winter will end early — a prediction matching that of Punxsutawney Phil.
Chuck only emerged from his enclosure at the Staten Island Zoo when a handler took him out to greet some city officials, excluding Mayor Bill de Blasio, who skipped the ceremony this year to campaign in Iowa.
“The Staten Island Zoo was so determined that it won’t become a crime scene today that they invited the DA,” joked the borough’s deputy president, Edward Burke.
By Susan K. Livio | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on January 30, 2016 at 3:45 PM, updated January 31, 2016 at 2:22 AM
TRENTON — Angry Cuban exiles in New Jersey are demanding state Assembly Speaker Vincent Prieto condemn a trip 10 state lawmakers quietly made to Cuba this week, an action they say legitimizes that government’s oppressive regime.
Woodcliff Lake Mayor Carlos Rendo said Friday that American tourism “props up a murderous regime with every penny they spend in Cuba.”
“I would like to see every Cuban American legislator come out strongly and condemn this trip,” said Rendo, who was born in the communist country.
Menendez, Sires at odds with Obama on Cuba
Normally two of Obama’s most loyal supporters, Sen. Robert Menendez and Albio Sires are among his most strident critics on this issue
Prieto (D-Hudson), who fled the island with his mother when he was 10 years old, told NJ Advance Media he was reluctant to criticize his colleagues for making the trip on their own time. But he wanted to be clear they did not go representing the state.
“I did not sanction the trip,” Prieto said. “They never went as a delegation representing the Assembly of New Jersey.”
Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Mercer), said he and the nine other legislators had good reason to make the four-day trip that ended Friday.
“After Obama said he wanted to ease the (diplomatic) restrictions, we wanted to see for ourselves what Cuba is all about,” Gusciora told NJ Advance Media Saturday. “We wanted to see how we can make things better in both of our countries.”
Gusciora said it isn’t fair for anyone to implicate Prieto. Everyone paid their own way and made arrangements directly with the tour company run by the Cuban government, he stressed. The trip cost $2,000, he said.
“It’s disappointing some people in the Cuban-American community want to stifle our rights of free speech and free association,” he said.
Besides Gusciora, the lawmakers on the trip included Assemblymen Gordon Johnson (D-Bergen), Tim Eustace (D-Bergen), Paul Moriarity (D-Gloucester), John Burzichelli (D-Gloucester), Assemblywomen Holly Schepisi (R-Bergen), Cleopatra Tucker (D-Essex), and Sheila Oliver (D-Essex), and state Sens. Shirley Turner (D-Mercer) and Nia Gill (D-Essex).
The Senate Majority Office “did not pay for the trip, nor did it make arrangements,” spokesman Luke Margolis said.
Prieto said that in December, Johnson asked whether the Assembly Majority Office would pay for the trip. The speaker said he refused. He said on Friday that he learned that the lawmakers had actually made the trip from Rendo and other Cuban leaders who saw a story about it in a government-owned news website, Diario de Cuba on Thursday.
Like other Cuban-American leaders who have been critical of the Obama administration’s decision to re-establish diplomatic relations with Cuba, Prieto said he explained to Johnson he did not want to do anything that could be perceived as supportive of the Castro government, which unilaterally seized property and jobs and jailed dissidents in 1959.
“For me it’s an emotional thing because I lived it,” Prieto said.
“In a a three-day trip, you will not be able to understand the struggles of the people,” he added.
Cuba’s decision to continue harboring fugitive Joanne Chesimard is another reason he could not sanction the visit, Prieto said. Chesimard broke out of prison in 1979 after she was convicted in the shooting death of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973.
While he isn’t pleased by the trip, Prieto said he was stopping short of condemning it.
“As I said I would not authorize them going as a delegation but I cannot say anything about them going as U.S. citizens. That is one of the freedoms we have here that is not available to the Cubans in Cuba.”
During the trip, the New Jersey lawmakers repeatedly pushed Cuban officials to turn over Chesimard and other American fugitives, Gusciora said. “They seemed to ignore it,” he said.
Law’s expiration may renew battle over benefits
February 2,2016
PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. (AP) — A state law requiring public employees to pay a percentage of their health benefit premiums expired last year, setting the stage for a battle over benefits between school boards and teachers unions.
At issue is whether school boards will be able to maintain those payments during contract negotiations or whether the unions will have the clout to roll them back, The Press of Atlantic City reported ().
At stake are millions of dollars that ultimately would be passed on to local taxpayers. Statewide, school districts budgeted almost $4 billion for all employee benefits for the 2015-16 school year.
That represents almost 18 percent of all state aid and local taxes spent on education.
Steve Baker, director of communications for the New Jersey Education Association, wrote in an email that they expect many local unions will make the payment an important part of their negotiations.
“Different locals will pursue different strategies, but I think you should expect to see that issue raised in nearly all negotiations once the sunset is reached,” Baker said.
The New Jersey School Boards Association is advising members to expect that request. In a November memo, NJSBA manager of labor relations Patrick Duncan noted that in the last year prior to the law, only 13 percent of contracts analyzed by the NJSBA required any employee contribution.
JANUARY 29, 2016 LAST UPDATED: FRIDAY, JANUARY 29, 2016, 12:31 AM
THE RIDGEWOOD NEWS
Adding to parking woes at RHS
to the editor:
Adding further to the letter from Adriana Blauvelt regarding the limited parking at RHS (“Trouble finding parking at RHS,” Jan. 22, page A6) ,we also “attended” the 8th grade parent orientation. We had the same problem that Adriana had finding a space, and we succumbed to parking illegally near the football field after circling for at least 20 minutes and missing part of the presentation. (Brookfield was also totally full of cars.)
To our surprise, though, the orientation was not particularly well attended. The source of the parking issue was the overlapping events of a basketball game, a New Player’s production and adult education in addition to the parent orientation.
On the one hand, we can feel gratified that our high school is being so well utilized as a resource for both the students and the community. On the other hand, there must be a way to better schedule the events so as not to create the “perfect storm.”
The school principal said there are so many activities ongoing that it is impossible to find a night that is available. If that is truly the case, we as a community need to be addressing not only the parking issues for the downtown shopping area, but also the needs of our schools.
This document produced by BCIA Professionals contrasts BCIA County Guaranteed Financing with Village of Ridgewood Stand Alone Financing for debt associated with the Parking Deck Project. Please note that the estimated differential between the two scenarios has changed since last week, due to changes in BCIA issuance costs amended by the BCIA on Friday, January 29, 2016. Now, there is an estimated differential of $22,248 which averages less than $900 per year. Click Here for the document.
DESMAN HUDSON STREET DECK DRAWINGS – 1/29/2016
These drawings represent the site plan, floor plan & building sections for the revised design of the Deck at Hudson Street. This Deck design was first considered in October 2015. There will be 325 parking spots. The height to the roof is approx. 43′ and 46′ 8″ to the parapet. Click Here for Drawings
America’s students as a whole lag behind many other industrialized nations on international tests. Government expenditures on K-12 education have more than doubled over the last 40 years (adjusted for inflation), and yet U.S. students’ academic performance at the end of high school is flat.
Millions of people around the world are emerging from poverty thanks to rising economic freedom. But by sharp contrast, America’s economic freedom has been on a declining path over the past decade.
America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.
According to the 2016 Index of Economic Freedom, an annual publication by The Heritage Foundation, America’s economic freedom has tumbled. With losses of economic freedom in eight of the past nine years, the U.S. has tied its worst score ever, wiping out a decade of progress.
The U.S. has fallen from the 6th freest economy in the world, when President Barack Obama took office, to 11th place in 2016. America’s declining score in the index is closely related to rapidly rising government spending, subsidies, and bailouts.
Since early 2009:
Government spending has exploded, amounting to $29,867 per household in 2015.
The national debt has risen to $125,000 for every tax-filing household in America—a total over $18 trillion.
The government takeover of health care is raising prices and disrupting markets.
Bailouts and new government regulations have increased uncertainty, stifling investment and job creation.
This is not something to take lightly. Economic freedom is the foundation of U.S. economic strength, and economic strength is the foundation of America’s high living standards, military power, and status as a world leader. The perils of losing economic freedom are not fictional.
It is painfully clear that our economy has been performing far below its potential, with individuals, families, and entrepreneurs being squeezed by the proliferation of big-government bureaucracy and regulations.
As documented by the index, and by other scholars, America’s economic freedom has been declining at an alarming pace.
Indeed, as The Wall Street Journal recently summed it up succinctly, Obama is “a champion when it comes to limiting economic freedom, and American workers have the slow growth in jobs and wages to prove it.”
Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced.
Not surprisingly, our economic dynamism and innovative capacity have been measurably reduced. Self-inflicted wounds include:
The U.S. has the highest corporate tax rate in the developed world. This has driven new jobs to other, more competitive nations and has meant fewer jobs and lower wages for Americans. The overall annual cost of meeting regulatory requirements has increased by over $80 billion since 2009, with more than 180 new regulations in place. In terms of ease of starting a new business, analyzed by a recently published World Bank report, the U.S. is ranked shockingly low at 49th, trailing countries such as Canada, Georgia, Ireland, Lithuania, and Malaysia.
No wonder the labor force participation rate has remained at near record lowsafter more than five years of steady decline.
Worse, vibrant entrepreneurial growth has been stymied by greater policy uncertainty and mounting debt. And a disturbing trend toward cronyism has gravely eroded the rule of law and distorted our free-market system.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Kevin Brady, R-Texas, keynote speaker of the official release of the 2016 Index, recently stated:
It’s been almost seven years since the Obama “recovery” began, and our economy is barely out of neutral. Why does America have to settle for this?
Restoring economic freedom is prerequisite to revitalizing and brightening America’s future. 2016 is the year to reaffirm the principles of limited government, free enterprise, and rule of law so that we can reconstitute an America where freedom, opportunity, and prosperity flourish.
NYACK, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) — Students suspected of being drunk may soon have to take a breath test in one Rockland County community.
The Nyack Board of Education has been discussing the proposal for months, and it’s on the agenda for Tuesday night’s board meeting.
Under the policy, any student who appears intoxicated would be administered two breath tests within 10 minutes, WCBS 880’s Sean Adams reported. It would apply to students in school and at school-sponsored events, including dances, CBS2 reported.
Want proof that the liberal social-democratic society works?
Look to Denmark, the country that routinely leads the world in happiness surveys. It’s also notable for having the highest taxes on Earth, plus a comfy social safety net: Child care is mostly free, as is public school and even private school, and you can stay on unemployment benefits for a long time. Everyone is on an equal footing, both income-wise and socially: Go to a party and you wouldn’t be surprised to see a TV star talking to a roofer.
The combination of massive taxes and benefits for the unsuccessful means top and bottom get shaved off: Pretty much everyone is proudly middle class. Danes belong to more civic associations and clubs than anyone else; they love performing in large groups. At Christmas they do wacky things like hold hands and run around the house together, singing festive songs. They’re a real-life Whoville.
In the American liberal compass, the needle is always pointing to places like Denmark. Everything they most fervently hope for here has already happened there.
So: Why does no one seem particularly interested in visiting Denmark? (“Honey, on our European trip, I want to see Tuscany, Paris, Berlin and . . . Jutland!”) Visitors say Danes are joyless to be around. Denmark suffers from high rates of alcoholism. In its use of antidepressants it ranks fourth in the world. (Its fellow Nordics the Icelanders are in front by a wide margin.) Some 5 percent of Danish men have had sex with an animal. Denmark’s productivity is in decline, its workers put in only 28 hours a week, and everybody you meet seems to have a government job. Oh, and as The Telegraph put it, it’s “the cancer capital of the world.”
So how happy can these drunk, depressed, lazy, tumor-ridden, pig-bonking bureaucrats really be?
