Recent comments

  • Well, I'm now monitoring all of my network traffic and there is no zombie DDoS attack or anything like that here so ...
    if anyone hears of Verizon blocking access to U.S. government sites and so on, let me know in email.

    That's just incredible.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • ah

    This is much more complex. I have Charter, which I finally got through to corporate escalation and the domain is alter.net, which I traced out and is owned by Verizon Business Global. They are running a filter blocking my IP address. Now why is a very good question and why any geolocation IP address, which is originated from the US they would block is beyond me. This is any *.gov US data site.

    I noticed it starting a couple of days ago.

    Why would any IP address be filtered from accessing public domain government statistics, data sites?

    I am not a hacker and as far as I know all of my systems are clean. It's possible that my IP address (Which is owned by Charter) was spoofed by some Chinese or Russian hacker at which point Charter better give me a new one, but these are officially dynamically allocated IP addresses.

    At least I have Charter tracing it out, which was a 2 hour adventure in phone calls and we'll see.

    I'll bet the address was spoofed, but now I'm checking out to make sure I'm not a PC zombie in some DDoS attack next.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • this is Verizon. A friend of mine works for their mobile phone division, customer service. He gets calls all the time about how their internet seems to "not work" on certain sites.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • I'm doing some investigation and it's true, Verizon is filtering me going to all US .gov sites. I just traced it out. Why the hell they would block an individual going to all U.S. .gov when I am a U.S. citizen is truly bizarre. Is this China?

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • For release at 9:15 a.m. (EST)
    November 17, 2008

    Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization

    Industrial production increased 1.3 percent in October after a downwardly revised decline of 3.7 percent
    in September. The revision to September output resulted, in part, from a larger estimate of the impact of
    Hurricanes Gustav and Ike on the chemical industry. Manufacturing production, which dropped 3.7 percent in
    September, rose 0.6 percent in October. The output of mines advanced 6.1 percent, as most crude oil and
    natural gas operations in the Gulf of Mexico were brought back online after the hurricanes. The output of
    utilities rose 0.4 percent.

    Industrial production in September and October was substantially affected by the hurricanes and a strike
    in the commercial aircraft industry. Excluding these special factors, total industrial production is
    estimated to have fallen around 2/3 percent in both September and October. The hurricane-related
    disruptions, which are now estimated to have been larger than previously reported, lowered the change in
    total industrial production in September about 2-1/2 percentage points, and the return to operation in
    October of most of the affected facilities boosted the change in output about 2 percentage points. The
    strike in the commercial aircraft industry reduced industrial production 1/2 percentage point in September
    and an additional 0.1 percentage point in October.

    At 107.3 percent of its 2002 average, total industrial production in October was 4.1 percent below its
    level of a year earlier. The capacity utilization rate for total industry rose to 76.4 percent in October,
    a level 4.6 percentage points below its average level from 1972 to 2007.

    Market Groups
    -------------

    The production of consumer goods increased 1.3 percent in October. The output of durable goods moved down
    2.1 percent, while the output of nondurable goods rose 2.2 percent. Among consumer durable goods, the
    index for automotive products dropped 3.6 percent. The production of appliances, furniture, and carpeting
    fell 1.1 percent, and the output of home electronics edged down 0.2 percent. The output of miscellaneous
    goods declined 0.7 percent. Among consumer nondurable goods, the production of consumer energy products
    jumped 6.9 percent, as the output of gasoline and distillate fuels recovered after the hurricanes.
    Non-energy consumer nondurable goods increased 0.3 percent. The indexes for foods and tobacco and for
    paper products moved higher, while the indexes for chemical products and for clothing decreased.

    The output of business equipment fell 2.2 percent in October. The production of transit equipment, after
    plunging more than 30 percent in September, fell an additional 10 percent in October because of the effects
    of the strike in the commercial aircraft industry, which concluded around the end of the month. The index
    for industrial and other equipment moved down 1.7 percent, partly because of declines in construction
    machinery and in office furniture. The index for information processing equipment edged down 0.2 percent
    after a decline of 0.9 percent in September.

    The output of defense and space equipment increased 1.0 percent in October after having fallen 2.0 percent
    in September; military shipbuilding had been curtailed in September by the hurricanes in the Gulf region.
    On net, output in October was little changed from its level 12 months earlier.

    Among nonindustrial supplies, the production of construction supplies decreased 1.1 percent in October,
    partly because of drops in construction steel and in architectural and structural metals. The index for
    business supplies rose 0.7 percent but was more than 4 percent below its year-earlier level.

    The output of materials gained 2.3 percent in October. The ongoing recovery after the hurricanes in
    natural gas and crude oil extraction contributed to an increase of 5.2 percent in the production of energy
    materials. The production of durable materials dropped 1.7 percent, with declines in all its major
    components. The production of nondurable materials rose 4.6 percent after a drop of 8.8 percent in
    September. In October, the index for textile materials fell 1.0 percent, the index for paper materials
    declined 0.7 percent, and the index for chemical materials increased 10.6 percent. The gain in chemical
    materials followed a drop of 15.8 percent in September. Large decreases in organic chemicals and plastic
    resins contributed significantly to the September plunge. Although the drop for organic chemicals was
    mostly hurricane related, only a portion of the drop for resins was attributable to the storms.

    Industry Groups
    ---------------

    Manufacturing output rose 0.6 percent in October after a decline of 3.7 percent in September. Excluding
    the effects of the hurricanes and the aircraft strike, factory production is estimated to have declined
    about 1 percent in both months. The factory operating rate stood at 73.8 percent in October and was about
    6 percentage points below its 1972-2007 average. The production of durable goods industries decreased 1.8
    percent in October, with declines widespread among its components. In addition to a particularly large
    drop in primary metals, which was due to lower production of iron and steel, decreases also occurred in
    most other durable goods industries. Only the index for electrical equipment, appliances, and components
    moved up. The production of nondurable goods rose 3.1 percent after a decline of 4.5 percent in September.
    The results for its major components were mixed in October. The output of petroleum and coal products
    jumped 9.9 percent, as refinery output recovered from the post-hurricane levels. Gains were also recorded
    in food, beverage, and tobacco products and in chemicals. However, the indexes for textile and product
    mills, apparel and leather, paper, printing, and plastics and rubber products all declined.

    The index for other manufacturing (that is, industries formerly considered manufacturing but not
    classified as manufacturing under the North American Industry Classification System, or NAICS), which
    consists of publishing and logging declined 0.4 percent in October, its tenth consecutive monthly decrease.

    Capacity utilization rates at industries grouped by stage of process were as follows: At the crude stage,
    utilization recovered 5.5 percentage points in October, to 85.6 percent, a rate 1.0 percentage point below
    its 1972-2007 average; for the primary and semifinished stages, utilization moved back up 0.6 percentage
    point, to 76.5 percent, a rate 5.7 percentage points below its long-run average; and for the finished
    stage, utilization declined 0.6 percentage point, to 72.7 percent, a rate 5.0 percentage points below its
    long-run average.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
  • I don't know what is going on here, but I am, for some reason, having page load errors on .gov sites!

    Now this is making me paranoid, but in the interim, can you upload the federal reserve report as an attachment so I can see it?

    I don't care what they say, that big of a drop over hurricanes just intuitively does not make sense, those were not major hurricanes.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • The official Federal Reserve report is here

    The capacity utilization number did go up, but September's number was revised, so possibly the "unrevized" number was actually the same. You'd have to go back and check last month's official report to find out for sure.

    BTW, the Fed's report also discusses the issue of the impact of the hurricanes that Rob Oak questioned.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
  • Reply to: Senator Sanders Trying to Stop the Bail out, Introduces Legislation   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • Econoday is where I usually get my info for Manufacturing Monday.  The link also takes you to my Capacity Utilization numbers.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • I can't believe I didn't see that link not to mention you said "Bloomberg"!

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • That's where I got the numbers.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
  • I think the consensus is that if we give these companies any capital, that it's going to come with some major strings (many of which have been brought up here on EP).

    Reply to: Manufacturing Monday: Week of 11.17.08   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • Bad news for big 3. Last reports are they do not have the votes, although we have no idea of the terms. They cannot just make it another giveaway and I wouldn't blame conservatives to blocking this if they try that again.

    Shame this amount of money is a piss in the bucket in comparison to the bail out giveaway.

    Reply to: Manufacturing Monday: Week of 11.17.08   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • I got different numbers for my cap util numbers. Where are you getting yours? I could be wrong on my figures and need to know to make corrections.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • I already went through this but your screen shot is unreadable. Images displayed need to be 525 width.

    Then, somehow you are posting over and over just an unreadable image. I just deleted 3 and I'm not sure how you're managing to post images over and over, probably a bug somewhere, but stop whatever you're doing.

    If you take screen shots from your computer they will be too large, plus unreadable from a blog. You must use the various image tools I listed previously.

    Reply to: Money Aggregates, PPI, GDP   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • I really question this, really. The hurricanes during last season simply do not compare to 2006 when we didn't have even close to these numbers.

    They also did not hit major industrial areas. Where is this coming from, the shutting down of the offshore oil rigs for 3 weeks or so?

    I have a very hard time believing it would cause such a drop.

    Reply to: Industrial production, capacity utilization rebound   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • Rob, Thanks for the post, I enjoyed the video.

    I'm shocked that almost 50% of the TARP funds have already been deployed. Not only that, we no NOTHING of the specific details of the spending of the funds. We DO need an accounting system of tracking funds being used. This is the only way we will able of administering whether or not the bailout was successful. Obama indicates that we should be thankful that things are not worse. However we must also recall that the population in the 30's was approximately 125Million. And also 7million people DIED from faminine. I would hope that things do not get that bad.

    "I don’t know the exact route to the ‘end game’ nor am I able to predict the ups, downs, and disruptions along the way. Having said that, I intuitively think the standard of living enjoyed by upper and middle economic class Americans and Canadians is likely to decline over time – perhaps more abruptly than one would like to imagine..."

    Quote Source

    Reply to: Obama Interview on Economy   16 years 1 week ago
  • ;) I try to put a host of tools on here to help. You can always email me for more help. While I can't format everybody's stuff all of the time, I do add a lot of tools and info. It's in the user guide to the right and in the admin forum (click discussion and scroll down to admin)

    Yeah, formatting links is probably #1 and #2 is formatting images. Got those two down you're rockin'.

    Tables are the worse nightmare, even when you know what you're doing. It's like some sort of tag accounting hell hole to format a table.

    I think some are using Microsoft live writer which I mention in the forum how to use that.

    Any other technical requests if I can set it up, I'll be happy to do it.

    I do have a spell checker in the rich text editor and Firefox 3.x automatically has a spell checker, IE 7 has a spell checker add on.

    For those with grammar and spelling disability, which is myself included, these are a God send.

    Reply to: Toyota hits rocky road.   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • They're asking for another four years -- in a just world, they'd get 10 to 20 ~~ Dennis Kucinich

    Reply to: Toyota hits rocky road.   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:
  • Those are incredible numbers and if the United States would confront these profit sucking health care and insurance industry as well as the inefficiencies we might get even close to other nation's health care costs.

    The talking heads always talk about the expense and ignore the fact that the United States health care makes this country much less competitive for companies to operate in.
    Either they let their workers take the prayer plan, which can also cost in terms of sick employees or they pay out the ass to subsidize the private health care and insurance industry.

    While I still believe GM, Ford, Chrysler are stuck on stupid in management, on the health care benefits score they are telling the truth. So what does that say, any corporations who provides decent benefits will end up subsidizing another industry to the point of ruin as that company matures and their workers retire?

    (you formmatted your links! Yea!)

    Reply to: Toyota hits rocky road.   16 years 1 week ago
    EPer:

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