Apple Teases iPhone 5 Event: 6 New iOS, Mac Products Expected To Release [RUMORS]

June Jobs Report Shockingly Bad, 5 Reasons Why

The June jobs report was horrible.  The US economy only added 18,000 jobs, the lowest in 9 months, and the unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent.

The US economy needs to create at least 100,000 jobs each month to keep up with the expansion of the labor market (children growing up and immigrants coming in).   If jobs creation continues to drag on at this low rate, the unemployment rate will continue to creep up.

Two years since the official (NBER-declared) end of the recession, the pace of US economic recovery is frustratingly slow and disappointed.  The jobs market, in particular, has been weak.

In fact, many economists have deemed the current recovery the 'jobless recovery.'

Below are 5 reasons for the poor performance of the jobs market.

1. US Economic Weakness

When it comes down to it, employers aren't hiring because the US economic recovery is weak.  Why is the economic recovery weak?  The last decade, and arguably the last 30 years, has been a giant bubble of asset inflation that enabled America to spend way more than it can afford.

Now, country is simply paying the price.  Despite what politicians say, there aren't a lot of magic tricks that can make it better.

2. Emerging Market Dominance

Whatever global economic recovery there is, it's mostly happening in emerging market countries like China because they were the savers before the global financial crisis.  Now, they're doing the spending.

Much of what they're spending on is infrastructure building and food.  That's why companies like Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT) are doing so well.  Unfortunately for the US jobs market, those demands only spark booms in commodities and capital equipment.   So while the executives and shareholders of companies like Caterpillar are raking it in, the companies themselves aren't doing much hiring.  

3. Emerging Market Slowdown

High flying emerging market countries, especially China, have really clamped down on government stimulus and tightened monetary policy, which arguably was responsible for their high rates of growth in the first place. 

They're trying to cool things down, which is smart because it cuts down on wasteful and inefficient activities.  For the US jobs market (particularly in the manufacturing sector), though, that's more bad news because it's taking away whatever boosts emerging market economies provided to the US jobs market in 2010. 

4. Employment Frictions

There are two major obstacles that prevent Americans from freely accepting jobs.

One is the poor real estate market, which prevents some of them from selling their houses at financially viable prices and relocating for new jobs.

Another is labor skill mismatch for people who are laid off from bubble industries like construction, real estate, and finance.  For construction, especially, these jobs aren't coming back for a while (or are gone forever) and many former senior construction workers are having trouble learning new skills.   

5.  Regulatory Uncertainty

The US government spends money it doesn't have; at some point, that has to a stop.

Will the government raise taxes? If so, on who?  Will it cut benefits?  If so, will businesses be made to pay for them?  What about health care and how much that'll cost employers?

The lack of certainty makes employers hesitant to invest in semi-fixed assets like employees.

EUR/GBP - Euro British Pound, American Session - 30/06/09

tags: Forex, eurgbp
author: Arnaud Jeulin
Mataf.net offers technical analysis, forex news and currency converter.

Why Winklevoss Twins Dropped Facebook Suit: A 'million dollar' Answer

The Winklevoss Twins, who sued Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for allegedly copying their idea for Facebook, have dropped their lawsuit and will accept their $65 million settlement.

The Winklevosses said that after careful consideration, they had decided not to seek Supreme Court review, according to a court filing.

They would accept the earlier agreed settlement, which includes $20 million in cash and $45 million in Facebook stock. However, the Olympic rowing twins didn't give a reason for their withdrawal.

But one of the key reasons would have been the surging valuation of Facebook, the most popular social networking site. Since their 2008 settlement deal, Facebook has grown exponentially.

According to the latest statistics, Facebook has more than 500 million active users and over 250 million are currently accessing Facebook through their mobile devices. People spend over 700 billion minutes per month on Facebook.

Moreover, there are more than 200 mobile operators in 60 countries working to deploy and promote Facebook mobile products.

So, the worth of shares held by Winklevosses would have also grown along with Facebook. The shares, which were then valued at around $45 million, would now be at least worth $150 million. This is possible as Facebook itself is valued at over $100 billion today.

Winklevoss twins - Cameron Winklevoss and Tyler Winklevoss - along with Divya Narendra, had claimed that their Harvard classmate Zuckerberg stole their idea for Facebook.

Facebook countersued them and their competing social networking site, ConnectU, in California, alleging that the Winklevosses and ConnectU hacked into Facebook to steal user data, and tried to steal users by spamming them.

In 2008, Winklevoss twins accepted a cash-and-stock deal worth $65 million. But later, the twins objected on the grounds that they'd been misled about the value of the shares they received.

At that time, Facebook notified the Winklevosses that an internal valuation prepared to comply with Section 409A of the tax code put the value of its common stock at $8.88 per share. The Winklevosses argued that Facebook misled them into believing its shares were worth four times as much, court filings show.

In April, the U.S. federal appeals court turned down a request by the Winklevoss twins to release them from their settlement.

The lengthy legal spat between Zuckerberg and his three Harvard classmates was immortalized in the 2010 movie The Social Network.

However, Zuckerberg cannot relax. Paul Ceglia, an American businessman, is after Zuckerberg, claiming 84 percent ownership of Facebook and seeking monetary damages.

Ceglia says he had a contract with Zuckerberg in April 2003 that gave him a 50 percent share of Facebook for his $1,000 investment, plus an additional 1 percent stake for every day Facebook was not online past Jan. 1, 2004.

Recently, Ceglia has passed a lie detector test that was focused on the authenticity of the 2003 contract with Zuckerberg.