Postal
Service paid $287K for trucks it can’t find - (www.cnbc.com) The
sum of $287,000 may seem like a tiny drop in the bucket when it comes to
Washington's astronomical spending totals. But at a time when the United
States Postal Service has
been bleeding literally billions of dollars, spending even that amount on a
fleet of vehicles it now cannot locate, and never actually could, is worth a
bit of a pause. A report in Government Executive this morning notes that while USPS spends
about $39 million a year to rent 10,000 trailers—the cargo bodies of its
trucks—it also leased 35 trailers in fiscal years 2011 and 2012 to a
distribution center in New Jersey. "There was one problem with these
particular trailers, however: The Postal Service had no idea where they were, according to the agency's
inspector general,
or if it ever even received them from the leasing company," explained
Government Executive. It continued: The Postal Service identified the problem
during a 2011 initiative to reduce its trailer fleet by 35 percent. While
conducting a leased trailer inventory, the New Jersey plant realized it had a
problem. "Unfortunately," the IG wrote, "they could not account
for the 35 leased trailers. They were initially determined to be missing and
after an extensive search for these trailers, they were subsequently classified
as lost."
[Reuters]
Special Report: The billion-dollar fall of the house of Espirito Santo - (www.reuters.com) U.S. stocks were poised for the biggest monthly
gain since February amid improving economic data and speculation central banks
will continue to spur growth. Benchmark indexes were little changed today. The
Standard & Poor’s 500 Index has added 3.6 percent in this month, poised for
its best August performance since 2000. The benchmark gauge rose less than 0.2
percent to 2,000.26 as of 1:37 p.m. in New York today. Volume was 38 percent below the
30-day average at this time of day. Economic reports showed consumer
confidence
unexpectedly rose in August, while consumer
spending
dropped in July for the first time in six months. Euro-area inflation slowed
this month to the weakest rate since 2009, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to add stimulus. American equity markets
will be closed on Sept. 1 for the Labor Day holiday. In Ukraine, insurgents
made more gains as Russia dismissed NATO allegations of its involvement.
Yellen
Assets Grow With Fed Colleagues as Financial Markets Rise - (www.bloomberg.com) Federal
Reserve officials benefited from gains in asset prices that have boosted the
wealth of millions of other Americans, financial disclosure reports show. Fed
Chair Janet Yellen’s
assets were valued at $5.3 million to $14.1 million last year compared with a
range of $4.8 million to $13.2 million in 2012, according to financial
disclosure documents released today. The assets are listed in ranges, so
determining a precise valuation isn’t possible from the documents. The Fed is
winding down the most aggressive U.S. monetary stimulus in
history, which has benefited stock and bond markets over the past several
years. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rose about 30 percent in 2013 and is
up 8 percent so far this year. The $42.8 trillion global bond market lost 0.3 percent last year, according to
the Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Broad Market Index.
LA mayor plans one of the
highest minimum wage rates - (www.cnbc.com) Los Angeles may soon be implementing one of the
highest minimum wages in the country, at least if the city's mayor has his way.
The Los Angeles Times reports that Mayor Eric Garcetti is expected to
announce on Labor Day a three-year plan to implement a $13.25 minimum hourly
wage. That dollar figure would receive annual inflation-based increases, the paper reported, citing
businesses and local government officials briefed on the proposal. The plan has
faced a "cool reception" from many major business groups worried
about costs, according to the Times. Some union leaders, meanwhile, are
reportedly unhappy because the plan does not start at a previously stated labor
goal of $15 per hour. A spokesman for the mayor would not confirm the plan, the L.A.
Times reported, but acknowledged that Garcetti had met with leaders across the
city to "discuss ways to help L.A. families and our economy thrive."
JPMorgan
Sees ‘Lehman Moment’ for Russia If Ukraine Deteriorates - (www.bloomberg.com) Russia’s
equity markets may face a “Lehman moment” if the Ukraine conflict deteriorates
further, according to Alexander Kantarovich, head of research for JPMorgan Chase & Co. in Moscow. “With the significant
deterioration in the Ukrainian situation, markets may treat this as a
Lehman-style shock,” Kantarovich wrote in an e-mailed report today. “Revisiting
the post-Lehman lows would imply downside of 50 percent from an index
perspective.” Russia’s ruble-denominated Micex Index has
fallen 6.6 percent this year. The stock gauge posted the worst monthly drop in
July since 2012 as the U.S. and the European Union escalated sanctions
targeting Russia’s $2 trillion economy after the downing of a passenger jet on
July 17 over Ukrainian territory controlled by pro-Russian insurgents.
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