Author: Serkadis

It’s no secret that the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has outdated technology. But did you know it was so bad they can’t even figure out how to rotate a fax? Erik Sherman alerts us to a story he’s written about the USPTO rejecting a faxed submission, because it was “received upside down.” Seriously.

Your request to record a document in the United States Patent and Trademark Office was received via electronic fax on [date and time in 2010 omitted].

The faxed submission was received upside down. We are unable to continue processing these images.

Please resubmit your document.

My guess? Perhaps the “technology” to rotate a document was patented, and the USPTO didn’t want to pay the licensing fee.

Permalink | Comments | Email This Story

According to dozens of forum users at Notebookreview.com, owners of the new Sony VAIO F Series VPCF112FX/B, VPCF11JFX/B, VPCF11MFX/B and VPCF1190X CTO were experiencing an odd high pitched whine or buzzing sound (aka whining) while using the laptop. The issue caused several consumers to call Sony for support, but they were unable to provide a fix over the phone – this led to several of the laptops being returned, exchanged, and so forth. Things got even more confusing when the VAIO F was no longer available to purchase on SonyStyle around the world. Then the CTO model disappeared, leaving many to speculate that there was issues with the i7 processor, manufacturing issues, and every other conspiracy theory under the sun. We initially wrote a story about the whole situation, providing a temporary fix for those annoyed by the sound.

We spoke to Sony and they cleared up the confusion – a Sony representative has informed us that they “received reports from the market that some F series end users were experiencing a pitched noise under certain conditions. As a result, we decided to halt shipments momentarily while we conducted in-depth investigations. The matter has now been resolved, corrective measures have been applied to our manufacturing process and the F series is shipping again. For those end users who are experiencing this pitched noise level, a on-site solution will be deployed in the coming days.”

I’m personally very happy to hear this news that it wasn’t a larger issue, as I think this is one of the best laptops Sony has offered to date – the price and features (especially that i7 processor) is very hard to beat. We also noticed that the VAIO F is back on sale at SonyStyle USA.

Engadget has been digging through the iPhone OS SDK and, tucked away inside the MediaValidator.plist file, found what it believes are clues to future HD video capabilities in the next revision of the iPhone (codenamed N89). Engadget’s Chris Ziegler writes;

…the maximum video width is up from 768 pixels to 1280, and the maximum number of pixels per frame is up to 921,600, which just happens to work out to 1280 x 720. The device’s AVC profile has been bumped from 3.0 to 3.1, too, which adds in support for 720p.

Does this mean we can expect a (much) higher resolution screen in the next iPhone, possibly even OLED? (Mind you, it doesn’t matter one jot how brilliant OLED is – watching HD on a three and a half inch screen is still Teeny-Weeny-Eye-Strain-O-Vision, however you look at it.)

More sensibly, the baked-in HD capabilities might be intended for those times when connecting the iPhone to a big screen. (Which raises new questions about the method Apple might use to connect an iPhone an external HD monitor; Mini DisplayPort? HDMI? I’m pretty sure LightPeek is out of the question, but, heck, while we’re speculatin’…)

Alternatively, this might not be relevant to the iPhone at all but, instead, is relevant only to the iPad (which shares the same OS).

Foxconn’s New Friend

Meanwhile, the Taiwan-based DigiTimes yesterday reported that consumer electronics manufacturer Pegatron is set to produce the next revision of the iPhone, due later this year. Presumably veteran manufacturer Foxconn, who has produced each generation of the iPhone since 2007, are also continuing to produce Apple’s handsets.

What can I tell you about Pegatron, aside from the fact that its name is worthy of a Transformers character? (Megatron, Galvatron, Pegatron… yes?) Pegatron was founded by netbook giant ASUS two years ago. It is a consumer electronics manufacturer dabbling in all manner of devices, from LCD TVs to Microsoft’s upcoming Natal controller. According to DigiTimes, Pegatron has managed to score handset orders from “various telecom carriers.”

This is all absolutely essential background information when cooking-up new iPhone conjecture. Why would Apple secure a second handset manufacturer? Does Apple expect significantly greater demand for the next iPhone (more than Foxconn could satisfy?) Could Pegatron be the manufacturer of the first CDMA iPhone?

Could the addition of a second OEM point to Apple producing (or maintaining) multiple iPhone SKUs? There are six different iPad SKUs, why not have six different iPhone SKUs, too?

If Apple maintains the current iPhone lineup as well as adding a next-generation handset later this year, we would be left with a somewhat convoluted product line; there would be the iPhone 3G (black, 8GB) the iPhone 3GS (black/white, 16/32GB) and then, presumably, an iPhone 4G in Black, White, ‘iPad Silver’ and, of course, ‘Unicorn.’ And don’t forget the SKUs that will be introduced as a result of supporting different carrier frequencies. What was once a relatively simple (and fairly minimalist) lineup is made painfully complicated. It’s one step shy of producing a whole series of iPhone ‘Editions.’ Can you imagine it? ‘iPhone Home Premium’, ‘iPhone Professional’, ‘iPhone Ultimate’. (Who will buy ‘iPhone Starter Edition’?)

I kid of course, but there’s good reason to be wary. When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in the late 90’s he axed entire product lines in an effort to simplify the company’s offerings (and, no doubt, cut costs). Since then, the variation in individual products that was, for a brief time, refreshingly limited has diversified into quite an astonishing array; just three ‘species’ of laptop and three desktop families manage to produce, between them, bewildering variations in size, capability and price. (Apple calls the iMac the “Ultimate all-in-one” which is amusing when one considers the enormous variety in iMac SKUs.)

Apple understands the enormous value (and profits) in offering customers multiple variations of the same product. It’s how they present that variety that’s so clever. Apple somehow manages to keep their lineup simple, identifiable and easy. A quick glance at a Mac will tell you, broadly speaking, what kind of Mac it is. Can the same be said of a modern Dell computer?

The point is customers expect wide variation between computers, but when it comes to smartphones they want a certain degree of homogeny. Particularly among high-profile, expensive smartphones. If you’re spending a lot of money on a so-called smartphone, you don’t want to perceive it as being somehow less-smart than a similar product from a competitor – or worse, a similar product from the same manufacturer!

Apple changed the rules of the game; if you wanted the best smartphone in the world, you bought an iPhone. Could the rules change later this year to “If you want the best smartphone in the world, buy an iPhone, but… be really careful which one you buy, ‘cos some are better than others.”

Of course, we’ll know in a few short months. But in the meantime, there’s nothing to stop us debating the possibilities.

A controversial anti-abortion Super Bowl ad, starring University of Florida football star Tim Tebow and his mother, is getting a response from pro-choice proponents at Planned Parenthood.

Two former professional athletes are calling for the “respect of women’s choices” in response to the upcoming advertisement featuring the pro-life birth story of Tebow. Tim’s mom defied the odds by choosing to give birth to the athlete, although doctors told her carrying the baby to term would endanger her life. Tim, of course, grew up to become a Heisman Trophy winner.

The YouTube response, released by Planned Parenthood, features Olympic gold medalist Al Joyner and former NFL player Sean James.

Miller High Life, the beer brand that produced and ran the first-ever 1-second beer commercial is going to return to the big game once again.

Yet, instead of promoting High Life, the company has decided to give the time to four small businesses from around the country, including one Chicago small business.

Tim’s Baseball Card Shop of Chicago, IL, Loretta’s Authentic Pralines in New Orleans, LA., Bizarre Guitar & Drum in Phoenix, AZ, and Del’s Barber Shop in Escondido, CA, will share the 30-second time-period (valued at approximately $3 million) with the deliveryman that Miller introduced last year.

The spots will run during Super Bowl XLIV on Feb. 7, 2010.

According to High Life’s Brand Manager; “Miller High Life is all about common sense and nothing makes more sense than giving deserving small businesses the opportunity to be a part of the Big Game.”

Miller searched from coast-to-coast to find businesses that might potentially be a fit for their advertising strategy during the Super Bowl.

Although a myriad of companies stood out, the marketing team at Miller High Life was able to narrow the field to just four.

A 30-second teaser is scheduled to begin this week on CBS stations across the nation in an effort to build awareness and excitement for the combination spot that will feature the select businesses.

Miller High Life is also providing online video and information regarding the four companies on their Web site.

About Tim’s Baseball Card Shop, Chicago, Illinois

Tim Herron is a Chicago native who opened his baseball card shop 7 years ago in Lincoln Square on the 4500 block of Western Avenue.

Although the shop states “baseball,” Tim buys and sells football, basketball, baseball, and hockey cards as well as sports memorabilia.

There is a buyer on premise at all times, and the store is open 7 days a week.

In April of 2009 last year, the European Investment Bank gave Jaguar/Land Rover $453 million USD to increase funding for a range of fuel-efficient vehicles that will help cut the brands’ overall emissions by 25 percent by 2012. At that time it was reported that Jaguar is planning a range-extended version of the new XJ sedan.

According to AutoCar, an electric range-extended version of the Jaguar XJ has been created and should be on the way to markets sometime next year.

Power for the electric range-extended XJ will come from a 145 kW (194-hp) electric-motor that is fueled by a lithium-ion battery pack. The batteries is mated to a 1.2L 3-cylinder engine designed by Lotus. The drivetrain claims to offer 600 miles with a combined fuel-economy of 57 mpg.

Top speed will be limited to 112 mph.

2010 Jaguar XJ:

– By: Kap Shah

Source: AutoCar

The economy is going to have to stand on its own two feet this year, according to David Rosenberg.

The stimulus we experienced in 2009 is unlikely to be repeated in 2010 for a number of practical and political reasons. Scott Brown’s recent victory in the Senate was a message for government to go easy on the public purse, among other things (ie, health care). Based on official projections, the U.S. government debt-to-GDP ratio will soar above 100% within the next two years — levels in the past that only occurred in periods of war. The general public is hardly likely going to accept a further deterioration in the nation’s balance sheet, which means that the era of fiscal quick fixes to periodically stimulate GDP growth is behind us.

Moreover, it also looks as though Bernanke & Company are going to try and craftily withdraw from its unprecedented incursion into the mortgage market. If 2009 was the year of the policy reflation, then 2010 is likely to be the year renewed deflation. Below we highlight how investors should be braced for such an outcome — it is the opposite of what worked in the 2009 flashy bear market rally that so many pundits are mistaking for a new secular or even sustained cyclical uptrend. Extrapolating what happened from the March lows into the future could well be the most critical mistake an investor can make this year. We intend on not making a mistake that would risk the fundamental goal of capital preservation and growing wealth over time. What happened last year was a policy-driven deviation from the primary trend that is characteristic of a deleveraging cycle and a secular credit contraction, which is towards debt deflation.

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Rosenberg: Even With The Government Throwing Money At The Problem, Home Sales Collapse
• Rosenberg: Forget The "Flat" Pending Home Sales Number, Here’s The Real Disaster
• Goldman Studies 24 Housing Busts: Recoveries Always Weak, But Stocks Go Up Regardless

Earlier today Sega unveiled Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode I. Confirmed target platforms for the 2.5D game were only PS3, XBox 360, and Wii, but the game’s official website includes an unrevealed at a fourth one. According

Johnson & Johnson heiress Casey Johnson struggled to control her almost lifelong battle against diabetes for more than 20 years — and the disease ultimately killed her. Johnson died of “diabetic ketoacidosis” — described as “an absolute shortage of insulin” — the Los Angeles Coroner announced on Thursday.

The cause of death was “natural.”

The troubled socialite, who was allegedly engaged to marry wacked-out reality star Tila Tequila, was found dead in her Los Angeles home on Jan. 4. She was 30. Johnson left behind her 3-year-old adopted daughter Ava, who is currently being cared for by Johnson’s mother Sale Johnson.

Earlier today, the L.A. Coroner’s Office also announced the cause of death of actress Brittany Murphy. Murphy, 32, died of a combination of multiple drug intoxication, pneumonia, and iron deficiency anemia.

Freecreditreport.com is getting class action sued, baby. Their ubiquitous singing ads make it sound like you’ll go their website and get a free credit report, but they don’t tell you that’s only after you sign up for a $14.95 monthly credit monitoring service. “FreeCreditReport.com tells people they will get something for free, and you do, but you have to pay for something else, and there’s not sufficient notice,” said John Balestriere, lead attorney. I agree, so I made up my own parody Freecreditreport song:

Well I was shoppin’ for a credit report, which one’s me?
Equifax, Transuion, or one called free?
Too bad I didn’t know bout annual credit report.com
Cause I gave up my credit card without any qualms
F-R-E-E should spell free,
Credit report dot com baby.
Saw their ads on my T.V.
Didn’t know bout the hidden costs or monthly fee.
Now instead of checking my credit and getting my history top rate
My bank account is crying and I’m bent out of shape
F-R-E-E is never free,
less you hit annual credit report dot com baby.

Remember folks, the place to go to get your free once a year credit report from all three bureaus is annualcreditreport.com. Accept no imitations, and never give up your credit card information to get what is supposed to be a free credit report.

Experian Sued For Its Deceptive FreeCreditReport.com Ads [Huffington Post]

After a seemingly endless string of quarters with profit loss, job cuts, plant closings and the prescription of “restructuring,” Sony has finally posted its first quarterly profit in a year and slashed losses in its full-year projections. Sony was very candid in their Q3 FY2009 Earnings Announcement, as Sony Chief Financial Officer Nobuyuki Oneda stated, “We think we’ve bottomed out and we can do fairly well going forward.”

We have full coverage below, but please check out WSJ’s analysis, and the official Sony Q3 FY09 Earnings Announcement (slides).

Sony also stated it can expand its LCD TV sales by at least 33% to 20 million units in the next FY while maintaining profitability. It’s no secret that the electronics arm of Sony has faced five straight years of losing money in its TV segment, putting it in 4th place in the USA while Vizio, Samsung, LG and Toshiba steal precious market share.

Sony says it expects to see significant growth potential in the e-reader market. The company expects to sell more than one million units in the current fiscal year and sees that figure doubling or tripling in the next few years.

One of the biggest concerns for Sony is restoring profitability to its overall core electronics line and Playstation division, as both nearly account for two-thirds of Sony’s revenue. The WSJ reports that over the last year, “Sony has closed 20% of its plants, eliminated 20,000 jobs and overhauled its supply chain to reduce its costs by 330 billion yen ($3.63 billion).” Sony’s re-alignment of manufacturing sites (57 total as of December 2008) will face a 10% reduction, and the company is ahead of target with the number of sites to be at 46 by March, and 45 by May.

Sony revealed the plant closing in March will be the Sony Precision Engineering Center (makes lenses and other products) in Singapore, as well as the plan to transfer the Sony Manufacturing Systems Corporation’s Isehara Plant (which deals with measuring systems) in Japan to Mori Seiki Co., LTD. The plant closing in May will be the Sony Precision Engineering (makes components used in digital single lens reflex cameras) in Malaysia .

Here are the Q3 FY09 consolidated results:

Quite amazing to see the contrast in operating income compared to last quarter. Nearly every segment of this quarertly reports have dramatically improved.

..and the adjusted year to date FY09 consolidated results:

As we can see Sony’s sales are down for the year compared to last year, but operating income has risen sharply. So the revised forecast for FY09 should look like this now:

As you can see operating income losses and income before taxes have been cut in half. Operating income as a whole is up 27%, with capitial expenditures down nearly 12%. R&D costs are also down very slightly at 2%. Here is a segment by segment breakdown of what went right and what went wrong last quarter, starting with Consumer Products & Services.

As we can see, BRAVIA, optical pickups, stereo components and System LSI’s for the game business all saw a decrease in sales. However, as Sony’s range of LCD’s in that quarter were usually quite expensive, lower sales didn’t affect operating income in the TV division as operating income in that segment was stronger. Cyber-shot cameras also saw good return for Sony, which traditionally does very well during the Holidays.

Here’s the Networked Products & Services information:

VAIO PC sales rose considerably in nearly all regions. However, Playstation sales were down with less consumers purchasing PS2 systems and games. PSP hardware sales were also down – this doesn’t surprise me much as Sony has been facing increased competition from Nintendo, Apple, and other companies getting into handheld gaming. PSP Go sales have been slow – there needs to be a price-cut and some sort of innovative promotion soon. Despite the decrease in sales, profitability was relatively unchanged due to an improvement in the cost of PS3 hardware.

Sony expects to lower production costs of the PlayStation 3 by 15% in the fiscal year ending March 2011, resulting in a benefit of “tens of billions” of yen. Currently, Sony loses about six cents for every dollar of PS3 hardware sales. PS3 sales rose 44% in its fiscal third quarter. Sales got a bump after Sony dropped the price by 25% to $299 in September for its model with an 80-gigabyte hard drive.

B2B & Disc manufacturing did pretty well last quarter, despite a 0.5% decrease in sales. Disc manufacturing increased due to higher Blu-ray disc sales. B2B lagged slightly due to a decrease in sales of broadcast and professional use products brought on by the continuing difficulties in the business environment of developed countries.

Sony Pictures once again had another stellar quarter with a 16% increase in sales worldwide and a 25% increase in the USA. Blockbuster movies such as 2012 and Michael Jackson’s This Is It led the way to higher theatrical revenues. Home Entertainment sales were up due to Angels & Demons and Terminator Salvation sales, and TV revenues rose from the new Dr. Oz Show.

Sony Ericsson in comparison to all other segments didn’t do well at all – sales are down by nearly 40% to 14.6 million units! Sony states that this was due to a downturn in the global handset market, and a faster than anticipated shift to touch screen phones in the mid-priced sector of the market. We can only hope the fantastic XPERIA X10 and other devices planned for 2010 will usher a return to profitability and higher sales.

Here are Sony’s FY08 and FY09 unit sales of key consumer electronics and game products by quarter:

At least one member of The Twilight Saga’s Wolf Pack won’t be purchasing a ticket to see one of the year’s most anticipated comedies.

Alex Meraz, who plays Paul in the popular film franchise, lashed out at co-star and fellow werewolf Taylor Lautner in a vicious series of posts to his Twitter account on Wednesday night. Meraz was less than impressed with Lautner’s role in the upcoming ensemble rom-com Valentine’s Day.

“Sorry Taylor but the movie “valentines day” looks lame and desperate it cries out “look we have all the biggest starz in 1movie pleez watch!”” Alex Tweeted on Wednesday, referring to Taylor’s new romantic comedy.

And the ripping didn’t stop there.

“P.S. it has nothing to do with the talented actors in the movie I just don’t like the producer & Directors ‘get rich quick skeem’ nuff said,” he continued.

A few hours later, Alex returned — with an apology of sorts.

“Talk about biting the hand that feeds me..but I’m a wolf for crying out loud! I’ll be careful next time I spill twitter all over everyone,” he Tweeted later that night.

Valentine’s Day, which features Taylor, Taylor Swift , Ashton Kutcher, Julia Roberts, and an all-star lineup of a host of other stars opens in theaters next Friday, Feb. 12.

During a testimony before a House Appropriations subcommittee on transportation, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood told owners of Toyota vehicles to stop driving them and get them fixed if they are recalled.

“My advice is to stop driving it. Take it to a Toyota dealer because they believe they have a fix for it.”

Well, that didn’t seem to sit too well with Toyota and U.S. Transportation Department officials today attempted to clear LaHood’s statement. The department said that Toyota owners should bring recalled vehicles to dealerships immediately but should continue driving them if necessary.

LaHood wasn’t saying people should stop driving them altogether, said a Transportation official who asked not to be identified.

You can check out Toyota’s statement about LaHood’s comments after the jump.

Toyota Statement on Comments by Transportation Secretary LaHood on Feb. 3, 2010

We appreciate Secretary LaHood’s clarification of his remarks today about Toyota’s recall for sticking accelerator pedals. We want to make sure our customers understand that this situation is rare and generally does not occur suddenly. In the rare instances where it does occur, the vehicle can be controlled with firm and steady application of the brakes.

Our message to Toyota owners is this – if you experience any issues with your accelerator pedal, please contact your dealer without delay. If you are not experiencing any issues with your pedal, we are confident that your vehicle is safe to drive.

Nothing is more important to Toyota than the safety and reliability of the vehicles our customers drive. Our entire organization of 172,000 North American employees and dealership personnel is working around the clock to fix the accelerator pedals for our customers.

– By: Omar Rana

Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)

I blame deciding to slice my bangs up to my eyebrows on every high fashion magazine there is.  I saw all of those glamorous models with their thick, dark bangs and wanted some of my own.  Little did I know, there were a few side-effects that come with the sudden impulse to go Edward Scissor Hands on my hair.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my new ‘do –  I feel extra sheek and sassy, a little bohemian, and eyes seem to pop out more than Pamela Anderson’s boobies. But after prancing out of the hair salon, life happened and I was graced with the slightly annoying presence of my new bangs.

If you’re chewing on the idea of taking the fringe plunge, I give you a look into a world of bangs:

12:45 P.M. Now that the rest of my hair has been trimmed and styled, my hairstylist finally comes to the melodramatic point of cutting my bangs. I stop her for a moment, take a deep breath. Once I’m mentally ready, I give a slight nod and she comes at me with the scissors. I watch my life (full of good hair days) flash before my eyes as 4 inches of my former layers flutter away to their final resting place on top of my Ugg boot. I hold the arm rest tighter, trying not to make a scene. I make a mental note to Google image ‘celebs with bangs’ when I got home to make myself feel better about this hasty decision.

1:15 P.M. I play with my new hair a little bit in front of the mirror. I look left. I look right. I look at it from the back. “OK,” I think to myself. “It looks good.” I breathe a sigh of relief. After paying the girl at the front desk and hugging my stylist (“OMG thank you!”) I walk home. And look at my reflection in every reflective material: car windows, mirrors, spoons, phones, computer screens. I don’t look twelve, I don’t resemble Justin Bieber, and I have already forgotten to Google image ‘celebs with bangs.’ Things are looking up.

5:00 P.M. I am standing on the treadmill attempting to put my hair up for a much needed jaunt. I check my reflection in the TV:  I look like an adolescent boy with a bowl cut. It’s creepy, not at all cute, and unfair to all people attempting to have a workout free of silent giggles. I try a headband. Bad move; my bangs stick out the back like a Ricky Martin haircut. That would be fine if I was shaking my bon bon on stage for millions of adoring girls, but I’m not. Now I just look ridiculous.

7:00 P.M. My light workout (I lasted 10 minutes before I got frustrated and gave up) has sent my bangs into an uproar.  The pieces that are not sticking up everywhere are plastered to my forehead; I look like I just ran a marathon with Katie Holmes. It’s awful. “Am I going to have to shower ten times a day to make these puppies look presentable?” I have a mild meltdown in front of my mirror.

9:00 P.M. After much primping (and more priming), I am about ready to hit the town, and my bangs…look…good. Like, really good. Although they are hiding some very serious flat-iron burns on my forehead, I managed to put them together nicely. And they make my basic black top and jeans outfit look way more chic. “Yay bangs!”

10:00 P.M. While lurking around the bar awkwardly, I am stopped by many boys commenting on my bangs. Guys. It was quite the honor; I felt like I needed to give some kind of acceptance speech for being so awesome.  When was the last time men commented on anything besides my French Maid costume?  Yeah, they definitely went south once the dancing started (and by “south” I mean “wet, wavy and stuck to my face”), but I had a few emergency bobby pins on hand to fix the problem.

Despite the ups and downs (and one wasted trip to the treadmill), I say bangs are definitely a do. They won’t be easy, but they will definitely be worth it.

Besides, good or bad, you can always grow those suckers out.

Veteran third-party publisher Konami also posted their Q3 2009 financial report earlier, segregating the sales by region. And wouldn’t you know it, for two years running, the publisher has seen the more patronage from Europe than in

Nassim Nicholas Taleb, speaking at a conference in Moscow earlier today, said that shorting Treasuries is a “no brainer.”

Due to the policies of the Obama administration and Fed Chair Ben Bernanke, “every single human being” should bet U.S. Treasury bonds will decline.

“Every single human being should have that trade,” Taleb said.

You can watch the video from Bloomberg here. Over at Commodity Trade Alert, Patrick Kerr sums up the rest of his advice:

• Short the S&P vs Long Gold, in a 5 to 1 ratio. By gold Taleb means a basket of precious metals including gold.

• Hyperinflation bet that could very well not work but if it does “you will never fly in a public jet again.” He prefers to play this bet with way out of the money call options on both gold and silver.

Join the conversation about this story »

Today on the Times’ state politics blog, PolitiCal: Los Angeles television watchers are going to be seeing a lot of Meg Whitman over the next few days. Has San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom been abducted by one-eyed aliens from Pluto? U.S. Sen Barbara Boxer calls for new taxes. And the fallout continues from the instant Internet classic "demon sheep" ad released by GOP Senate hopeful Carly Fiorina.

Check out these stories, and the latest headlines from Sacramento and around the state on PolitCal.

— Anthony York

(This post originally appeared on the author’s blog.)

Monday’s very strong reading in the ISM manufacturing data has many market pundits beating their chests over the v-shaped recovery in the U.S. economy.  Many of these pundits (most of whom completely missed the collapse) remain delusional.  By almost any metric of the real economy this is anything but a v-shaped recovery.  Not only is the stock market still 28% below its all-time high (no v there), but the data from the real economy still shows that the majority of Americans confront a very tough environment.  The following four charts from the St. Louis Fed succinctly tell the story:

Industrial Production – No V here:

Real income – No V here:

Employment – No V here:

Real retail sales – No V here:

So, is this a v-shaped recovery?   Only if you’re a banker:

Source: DB, St. Louis Fed

Join the conversation about this story »

See Also:

• Why The Housing Bust Aftermath Means A V-Shaped Recovery Is Impossible This Year
• Retailers: No Way Is A V-Shaped Recovery Possible In 2010
• No V-Shaped Recovery Says NY Fed President Dudley

The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office has ruled the death of actress Brittany Murphy a combination of pneumonia and secondary factors of iron-deficiency anemia and multiple drug intoxication, the Coroner said in a statement Thursday.

The actress, who died after collapsing in her Los Angeles mansion December 21, is also listed as having had iron deficiency and anemia, at her time of death, but the “injury” occurred because of drug intake. Her pneumonia is listed as the primary cause of death.

The manner of death is listed as “accident.” A full autopsy report is expected to be released within two weeks.