Not the least was the announcement by Google’s YouTube that it is adding full high-definition 1080p streaming. This is higher quality than cable companies provide. So what does it mean? It means, among other things, that the networks are now in full panic mode. Already, the trickle of cable television cancellations has begun as users hook computers and media players to HD screens. Up to now, however, the trend has been limited largely to the more technically sophisticated. That’s changing.

True HD streaming and downloading have been available for some time on sites less well known than YouTube. My kids, for example, watch their favorite programs online at sites like Hulu.com, even though they could watch them on our rarely used television. When a feature comes to an important well-known site like YouTube, however, it has become mainstream…

You, as an investor, need to be aware of what’s going on. And frankly, most of my friends my age simply aren’t. Moreover, you shouldn’t be so naïve as to think that it is only hackers who are putting these alternative distribution channels in place. If you think Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin don’t know that they’re helping consumers circumvent the old distribution channels, I’d like to talk to you about some swampland in Florida…

Companies and institutions once thought to be permanent parts of the financial landscape are disintegrating. Others are arising. The entertainment and news industries are reeling from the impact of ‘the network’ while the entire functioning of marketing and advertising is mutating as the Net displaces obsolete communications industries.

Bet on More Convergence originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, published by Agora Financial provides over 400,000 global readers economic news, market analysis, and contrarian investment ideas. Recently Agora Financial released a video titled "What Causes Gas Price to Increase?".

CNBC Interviews Roubini and Taleb originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, published by Agora Financial provides over 400,000 global readers economic news, market analysis, and contrarian investment ideas. Recently Agora Financial released a video titled "What Causes Gas Price to Increase?".

“We can’t keep on just borrowing from China,” President Obama declared at a town hall meeting in New Mexico yesterday. “We have to pay interest on that debt, and that means we are mortgaging our children’s future with more and more debt.”

Bravo, Mr. President.

Obama continued on the matter, calling our current deficit spending “unsustainable” and suggesting that sooner or later the routine buyers of U.S. debt will “get tired” of tossing their reserves in our money hole.

So what will result from this fiscal catharsis? Budget reform? A national effort to pay off our debts? The end of borrowing, bailouts and trade deficits — the beginning of a sustainable existence?

“What is driving us into debt is health care, so we have to drive down costs.”

Bummer… all just a pitch for health care reform. Well, it’s a start, sort of.

And as Mr. Obama preached fiscal conservatism, his administration wrote the U.S. insurance industry a $22 billion check. Allstate, Prudential, Ameriprise, Hartford Financial, Lincoln National and Principal Financial will now all have access to TARP funding, the Treasury announced today.

In exchange for the bailout, the government will get a boatload of warrants and preferred shares, further complicating Uncle Sam’s quasi-ownership of the financial sector.

Obama on Unsustainable Debt originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, published by Agora Financial provides over 400,000 global readers economic news, market analysis, and contrarian investment ideas. Recently Agora Financial released a video titled "What Causes Gas Price to Increase?".

Is Anyone Minding the Store at the Federal Reserve? originally appeared in the Daily Reckoning. The Daily Reckoning, published by Agora Financial provides over 400,000 global readers economic news, market analysis, and contrarian investment ideas. Recently Agora Financial released a video titled "What Causes Gas Price to Increase?".