FOXNEWS overtakes all of cable last week in BOTH prime and total day, ranking number one for week, according to NIELSEN. USA fell to #2… Developing…

Fox News Channel’s coverage of the bombing at the Boston Marathon last week propelled the network to the top of the cable rankings for the first time in nearly a decade. In both total day and primetime for the April 15 to April 21, the News Corp-owned news network pulled ahead of usually top ranked USA.

http://www.deadline.com/2013/04/fox-news-tops-all-cable-for-1st-time-since-2005/

FLASH: FOXNEWS overtakes all of cable last week in BOTH prime and total day, ranking number one for week, according to NIELSEN.

CNN’s King says mistakes last week were ‘embarrassing’

http://www.wtop.com/1326/3296052/CNNs-King-says-mistakes-last-week-were-embarrassing

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FOXNEWS overtakes all of cable last week in BOTH prime and total day, ranking number one for week, according to NIELSEN. USA fell to #2… Developing…

Are you really buying products "Made in the USA?"

A new survey shows 80 percent of shoppers would pay more for American-made goods, but be careful. What you think is a home-grown product might not be. Consumer Reports recently looked into the questionable origins of some of the products labelled “Made in the USA.” Shopping expert Tod Marks is a senior project editor with Consumer Reports.

What reasons do 80 percent of the country give for wanting to buy American-made goods?

“Their primary reason for wanting to buy American-made goods — even more so than creating jobs or keeping the economy chugging along — because there’s a very strong perception that American companies treat their workers better and that there’s more of a social conscience, giving back to the community, less likely to employ questionable practices such as child labor,” says Marks.

But are people willing to put their money where their mouths are? Will they really pay more for American-made products?

“Absolutely,” says Marks. “Sixty percent of all the respondents [in the survey] indicate that they buy American-made clothes and appliances, even if they cost 10 percent more than the imported version.”

Marks says the problem is that, in many instances, there just aren’t that many American-made goods being made in certain categories.  Often, the option to buy American isn’t there when it comes to things like clothes and personal electronics.

“When you see a product that’s labeled ‘Made in the USA,’ you can be assured that that product is either all or virtually all made here. It’s the gold standard of all label claims. There’s no ambiguity. That’s what they call an unqualified claim. There are what they call qualified claims that kind of suggest what Apple does. They are very big into this. For example, their new iPod mini says designed by Apple in California, but assembled in China. That’s kind of sending a mixed message. So there is a lot of ambiguity,” says Marks.

Marks says people should be careful when they see labels that use American flags or an eagle in flight and other patriotic symbols because they are used willy-nilly on products made far from U.S. shores. He also warns about labels that use phrases like “true American quality” and “American heritage” — which may not really mean anything.

“The Federal Trade Commission, what they say is they look at everything on a case-by-case basis to see what the overall message is. Symbols and words aren’t enough to constitute a violation as long as somewhere in a conspicuous manner is the actual story. For example, you can use a flag as long as you see somewhere in a prominent place the item says, say, ‘made in Vietnam,’” says Marks. “But a lot of people don’t go beyond the symbols or the words, so they jump to conclusions.”

Bottom line, if consumers are serious about buying American-made goods, they should look for the words: “Made in the USA.”

Latest Stories on Marketplace.org

Are you really buying products "Made in the USA?"

Hollande Announces 20 "Confidence Shock" Measures to Support Home Building

Sticking with his economically insane campaign promise to construct 500,000 new homes in 2013, Hollande Announces 20 Measures to Support Home Building.

Advocating a “confidence shock” to revive the building “against the Emergency Economic, social and environmental” the head of state has shown its desire to remove “all obstacles to construction”, while there was about 340,000 starts of new homes in 2012, below the target of 500,000.

Housing Starts Insanity

I commented on this once before but it’s worth a repeat now that Hollande is hell-bent on forcing his will on the market.

Reader Tim Wallace helps put the insanity into perspective. Wallace writes …

Hello Mish

I was astounded to see that France wants 500,000 units of housing starts. According to the World Bank in 2011 France had a population of 65.5 million people. This compares to the USA population of 311.6 million from the same source. Therefore France is approximately 21% the size of the USA. For the USA to have an equivalent number of housing starts to population (the people who would get the units) we would need to have 2,380,952 starts!

We know how that would end.

Indeed, we do know how this would end.

The US is currently running about 890,000 housing starts annually, on a seasonally adjusted basis. And Hollande wants an equivalent 2,380,952 starts “for the public good“.

US housing is distressed. However, France is in the midst of a bubble now burst, and it is beyond stupid to keep building anywhere in the face of falling demand.

“Confidence Shock Coming Right Up”

Before the election, people assured me Hollande could not possibly be foolish enough to actually follow through on his campaign promises. To them I say, never underestimate what a socialist fool (or any other kind of politician) might attempt to do.

Should Hollande actually succeed at getting developers to build 500,000 new homes even though developer Nexity predicts 280,000-300,000, I can guarantee you there will be a “confidence shock” because home prices will crash through the floor.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis

Hollande Announces 20 "Confidence Shock" Measures to Support Home Building

Incredible Letter from CEO of Titan to France Minister of Industrial Renewal, Blasting French Unions and USA: "How Stupid Do You Think We Are?"

I like it when people speak their minds. I like it even more when they are correct and they blast government officials at the highest levels. And I especially like it when the person blasting government is a prominent person.

Thus I am pleased to report an incredible letter from the CEO of Titan to Arnaud Montebourg, Minister of Industrial Renewal of France, criticizing not only French unions but unions in the USA.

Via Google translate from Les Echos, please consider Incredible Email From the CEO of Titan to Montebourg.

“Les Echos” received a copy of the letter which the President of the American Titan told the Minister of Industrial Renewal why he threw in the towel on purchasing the Goodyear plant Amiens Nord, in a very direct style.

“How Stupid Do You Think We Are?”

Here are some excerpts I transcribed from an image of the letter posted on Les Echos.

Dear Mr. Montebourg:

Goodyear tried for over four years to save part of the Amiens jobs that are some of the highest paid, but the French unions and French government did nothing but talk.

I have visited the factory a couple of times. The French workforce gets paid high wages but works only three hours. They get one hour for breaks and lunch, talk for three, and work for three. I told this to the French union workers to their faces. They told me that’s the French way!

The Chinese are shipping tires into France – really all over Europe – and yet you do nothing. In five years, Michelin won’t be able to produce tire in France. France will lose its industrial business because government is more government.

Sir, your letter states you want Titan to start a discussion. How stupid do you think we are? Titan is the one with money and talent to produce tires. What does the crazy union have? It has the French government. The French farmer wants cheap tire. He does not care if the tires are from China or India and governments are subsidizing them. Your government doesn’t care either. “We’re French!”

The US government is not much better than the French. Titan had to pay millions to Washington lawyers to sue the Chinese tire companies because of their subsidizing. Titan won. The government collects the duties. We don’t get the duties, the government does.

Titan is going to buy a Chinese tire company or an Indian one, pay less than one Euro per hour and ship all the tires France needs. You can keep the so-called workers. Titan has no interest in the Amien North factory.

Best regards,
Maurice M. Taylor, Jr.
Chairman and CEO

Morry “the Griz” Taylor

A quick internet search led me to Maurice Taylor

Taylor was nicknamed “The Grizz” by Wall Street analysts for his tough negotiating style. Taylor has transformed Titan from a small wheel manufacturing business to a global producer of off-highway wheel and tire systems. Taylor has been in the wheel manufacturing business for over 30 years, and has worked with Titan in various sales, engineering and management positions. He attended Michigan Tech. Taylor served as president and CEO of the company from 1990 to 2005, when he became chairman and CEO.

In 1996, Taylor ran as a Republican candidate for President of the United States, campaigning to bring sound fiscal management and business know-how to Washington.

Further Reading

For further reading, please consider economically insane proposal by French president Francois Hollande “Make Layoffs So Expensive For Companies That It’s Not Worth It”

Given that any clear-thinking person should quickly realize that if companies cannot fire workers they will be extremely reluctant to hire them in the first place, it should be no surprise to discover French Unemployment Highest in 14 Years (And It’s Going to Get Much Worse).

In France, Government spending amounts to 55% of total domestic output. For discussion, please see Hollande’s Honeymoon is Over; 54% of Voters Unhappy; Unions Promise “War” in September.

Please note that the French Labour Minister says France Totally Bankrupt

Finally, please consider Illusions of Stabilization.

I Expect things in France to get worse at an accelerated pace.

Mike “Mish” Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Mike “Mish” Shedlock is a registered investment advisor representative for SitkaPacific Capital Management. Sitka Pacific is an asset management firm whose goal is strong performance and low volatility, regardless of market direction. Visit http://www.sitkapacific.com/account_management.html to learn more about wealth management and capital preservation strategies of Sitka Pacific.

Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis

Incredible Letter from CEO of Titan to France Minister of Industrial Renewal, Blasting French Unions and USA: "How Stupid Do You Think We Are?"