TGIF Randomosity

• After 4 days in a row of market advances, stocks have come down 3 straight and were down 2.3% for the short week.  The reason du jour?  Jobless data.
• Now Iran announces they have two nuclear warheads.  (Watching CNBC).
• John Edwards: He’s a heartbreaker, not a lawbreaker.
• Why high oil prices are here to stay.  You know, declining dollar, summer driving season…  I’d add cutting back of drilling due to environmental scares plus the additional need for oil due to recovering world economies.
• So the jobless data… Only 54,000 jobs added and unemployment up to 9.1%.  While the White House and economists cautioned that the poor data was likely a monthly blip, it fueled allegations that Obama's economic policies are failing, 18 months ahead of the next presidential election.
• Vegetable scare hits Europe!  As scientists scramble to find the source of an E. coli outbreak linked to raw vegetables that has killed 18 in Europe and sickened nearly 2,000, consumers are swearing off lettuce, cucumbers and tomatoes just in case. 
• Nice comeback by Dallas last night.  Obviously, that was after I blogged about Miami being ahead.  LOL.  Well, it’s been Dallas’ story this post-season.  They’ve been able to come back and win.
• Haven’t heard too much about this in the news, but there are protests in Syria.  A Syrian city that was bombed into submission three decades ago after a crushed uprising became a new center for protest and violence Friday, as activists said troops opened fire on a crowd of thousands and killed at least 34. Still, people nationwide poured into the streets in unprecedented numbers, defying the crackdown and a government chokehold on the Internet.  It’s kind of a big deal, right?  The whole region is coming unglued.  Not that there was much sanity there to begin with, but unrest in that part of the world can also contribute those higher energy prices, right?