Daily Update: It's Wednesday, Let's Hijack a Football Sized Ship Edition

You know how we said (most recently yesterday) that we like to watch what smart (already wealthy) money is doing because it gives insight?  That knowing what a Bill Gates or Warren Buffett is buying tells you a lot about the world we live in?  Well, we don't grant such status to just any old wealthy or well connected chap that rolls across the border of our consciousness. Not every billionaire is leading you to wisdom. When we think of Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego, who holds a huge chunk of the now in bankruptcy retail chain Circuit City, we certainly have some doubts. CNN/Money tells us he built this stake before AND after the chain filed.

Says the billionaire:

"...Circuit City is a great brand and an important name in the U.S. retail industry."

Were kinda thinking that sentiment is so three years ago or more, and his purchases are not exactly the best buy available.

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While the billionaire is feeling inappropriately optimistic, the homebuilders are feeling feelings quite reflective of reality:

The National Association of Home Builders/Wells Fargo housing market index, started in January 1985, tumbled five points to nine in November. The index stood at 14 in October after slipping three points from September.


Index readings higher than 50 indicate positive sentiment about the market. But the index has drifted below 50 since May 2006 and below 20 since April. 

And in one of those "duh" sentences, NAHB Chairman Sandy Dunn says, "Today's report shows that we are in a crisis situation." Yep, that report, and probably the near collapse of the world's economic order.

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England deflated, just a little bit.  So good news on the cut interest rates front.

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I don't mean to judge the military skills of countries like the United States, Russia, China, France or England, or underestimate the really bigness of the bodies of water off the coast of East Africa.  But is there something odd about a bunch of Somali based pirates in speed boats being able to take over ships the size of supertankers; ships filled with tanks and oil and other costly stuff?  And what of these crews, unarmed and so willing to get jacked as part of some elebatorate ransom scheme.

The company did not say specifically that it had begun negotiations with the hijackers. The supertanker, about the same length as an American Nimitz class aircraft carrier, is the largest ship known to have been seized by pirates, and it was fully loaded with two million barrels of oil.

"Our first and foremost priority is ensuring the safety of the crew," Salah Ka'aki, the president and chief executive of Vela, said in the statement. The crew members are citizens of Britain, Poland, Croatia, the Philippines and Saudi Arabia.

(International Herald Tribune)

The fact that $25 to $30 million has been paid to the pirates is shocking, and obviously working as an incentive to continue the status quo.  Shouldn't there be an opportunity here for military and security contractors to play a role? Or maybe change maritime laws to fit with the times. Instead of crew safety as priority number one, perhaps kill pirates should move up the priority scale.

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And finally, Chris Kelly at Huffington Post reminds us that Chrysler is owned by a hedge fund/private equity firm, and not millions of shareholders.  If they had the hubris to think they could run a car company that the quite capable Germans were unable to tame, shouldn't they have the stones to make it work on their own? Kelly suggests that they sell off a few other assets to cover for their failing adventure in mini-van land. Amen to that.