About That 60-Seat Senate Majority ...

Norm Coleman concedes in Minnesota race, giving the newly incumbent party what would be in any other time an overwhelming advantage in the Senate. Even given the united antagonism of the opposition, 60 seats is a big deal. From Talking Points Memo.

In a press conference just now, former Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has conceded defeat to the Democratic comedian Franken in the 2008 Senate race -- nearly eight months after Election Day, and six months after the seat went vacant when Coleman's single term had expired. Coleman said that further litigation would damage the state, and congratulated Sen.-elect Franken on his victory. He said his future plans in politics "are a subject for another day."

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Now as Then ... Or Then

Very apt comparisons between our current economic situation and those of post-bubble Japan in the 1990s and post-Crash America in the 1930s.

Why the Economy Will Remain Weak

--thanks to Barry Ritholtz at The Big Picture

Do This Don't Do That

Cash Best as Record Correlation Hints Herd Collapse

Nothing but a headline all day. I can't find the story.

Michael Jackson Dead at 50

The arc of mega stars - in music is a generational one. Truly mega-stars often emerge in one era, become mainstream in the next and fade in the third.

1950s:
Elvis: Emerges as biggest post-war pop star. Love Me Tender and Heartbreak Hotel.

1960s
Elvis: Becomes mainstream. Elvis the Movie Star Era.
Beatles: Rise as transgressive, anti-Elvis, anti-American pop force

1970s
Elvis: Relevance vanishes. Figure of fun (Vegas lounge act). Dies in 1977.
Beatles: Become mainstream as McCartney goes pop and Lennon embraces mass left wing political causes
Michael Jackson: Rises out of Jackson 5 as new apolitical, American pop idol (another singer/dancer in Elvis mode)

1980s
Beatles: Relevance fades as Lennon is murdered in 1980. "Beatlemania" Broadway show with Marshall Crenshaw as Lennon speaks for itself (ends run in 1979).
Michael Jackson: Emerges as mainstream "King of Pop." Breaks records.
U2: Once again, a transgressive band from the United Kingdom emerges in the shadow of another American heartthrob.

Full disclosure: Back in the 1980s, I thought it was going to be Sting and the Police. But it turned out to be Bono and U2. Oh well, at least I didn't put my money on REM ...

1990s
Michael Jackson: Worldwide popularity endures, but scandals fix "contemporary" image among many.
U2: Considered the World's Rock Band; engages in geopolitical branding and message-making.

My guess is that the 2010s will bring controversy to U2 as well, if not breakup. I' thinking that the most likely scenario is a massive "Dixie Chicks" moment where Bono takes a very vocal stand on some especially contentious issue. Imagine a 1970s where it is Lennon that reigns the radio waves rather than McCartney.

Edwards and Magee Style

With regard to my post on the June correction being anticipated by the divergence between the Dow transports which failed to make a significant higher high in early June and the Dow industrials that did ...

Dow Theory Does It Again

... the next interesting moment will come when either or both Averages test their May lows. While a non-confirmation (i.e., industrials setting a new low while the transports make a higher low) is not an affirmative signal - as Edwards and Magee remind us, it would be one good signal that the mid-summer correction has run its course and a potentially explosive "C" wave type of surge higher into the fall in the making.

GOP 2012 Hopefuls Spontaneously Combust

The latest victim of old adage about smoke and fire is Southern Carolina governor, Mark Sanford

Southern Carolina Gov. Mark Sanford admits to extramarital affair.

This is just another taste of what will build to a massive public revulsion for the Republican Party over the next few years. Conservatism will, of course, live on. But its ability to wield an electorally successful, national political party will be lost for at least a generation.

Bear Markets and Bad Guys

Police blotter edition.

Cali Budget Cuts Could Cause 'Public Safety Emergency'

The $20 million cut was approved by the state's budget committee last week and now goes to the entire legislature for approval. If it is passed, the lab would have to charge law enforcement agencies for tests it has always provided for free, even though many of those agencies are facing budget cuts of their own. Last year, the state lab tested evidence in about 50,000 cases, including more than 1,400 containing DNA.

Dow Theory Does It Again

Transports fail to confirm Industrials' new monthly high.

Demographics 1, GOP 0

I'm sticking with my view that by 2014, the Republican Party as we know it will be on the verge of extinction.

All NonWhite Converging on Hypernegative View of GOP

The truly interesting convergence won't be when Latino catches up with African-American, but when white catches up with nonwhite, which will be increasingly likely should we get another major leg down - below the March 2008 lows - over the next 18 months.