- Fantasy Football sacks real work production. Office workers combing the league waiver wire for running backs or back-up quarterbacks are part of a growing number of fantasy football owners costing employers as much as $1.1 billion a week in lost productivity, according to a study released on Wednesday. 37 million people spend 50 minutes of work time per week! This study was done by Challenger, Gray & Christmas. However, Challenger encourages employers to embrace fantasy sports in order to foster a sense of camaraderie in the workplace. "The potential damage to morale and loyalty resulting from a fantasy football ban could be far worse than the loss of productivity caused by 10 minutes of online team management," said Challenger. He must be a playah.
- CPI core prices eased back in July. This follows yesterday's tame PPI number. Core consumer inflation eased back in July, rising just 0.2% after four months of 0.3% gains, and reducing the likelihood that the Federal Reserve Board will raise interest rates at next month's policy meeting. OK, so at what point does Wall Street start collectively scratching their chins and asking, "Uh, Erin. So what happens if this is more than a slowdown?"
- Workin' 9 to 5, what a way to make a livin'... Sex workers march for rights. "Sex work is work. Sex workers are workers," said Philal Sri Kumzaw from Thailand, standing amid pillows and sex toys in the Lounge.
- Lets see what Yahoo Finance's wordsmiths had to say about today's market: Stocks extended their winning streak to three days after a second consecutive read on inflation provided exactly what the market was hoping for -- further evidence that the economy is on track for the much-desired soft landing. Falling bond yields and lower oil prices also helped the blue chip averages close at their best levels in three months while the Nasdaq's 4.4% surge this week alone marked its best three-day advance since August 2004. Since August 2004? Holy smokes! Long time ago, when the Republicans were busy riggin' the Ohio Diebold machines. (LOL). You know, this is how rallies go. Big few days up (or down), then sideways for awhile. If one misses the splurge, then a lot of the gains are lost.
- Lebanon orders army south. Into Dixie? Oh, South Lebanon. Got it. Any chance of this thing working out? Eh, lets hope. The war has raged for 60 years or even back to Biblical times. Maybe George Bush is the guy who will get all the credit for peace between Israel and her neighbors. That'd be funny.
- HP is up afterhours. Hewlett-Packard Co. beat Wall Street's expectations Wednesday, when the computer maker reported that fiscal third-quarter profit surged on strong printer and laptop sales. The company's shares gained nearly 6 percent in after-hours trading. Life after Carly is agreeing with HP. Now, are they just reeping the rewards of her efforts? Hmm.
- Tough day at the office for The Street's Staff Report Robert Holmes writing about ETF winners and losers. Everything was a winner except for utilities! Not to be out done over there, Kristina Shevory writes about oil being at 7-week lows. Remember my oil trade in May-June? Closed that one a bit too early, eh? I'm not the best short-term timer on the planet. I readily admit that.
- Hey, I made it a full day here at the Fun Factory. Flu be gone! Hoo-hah!
