Beyond the Kidnapping Replay – Jobs and Inflation Inbound

The future often reduces to a couple of numbers. This week, it’s the delayed Jobs report and Friday’s CPI. With soft ADP data and elevated Challenger job cuts in the backdrop, the official BLS print carries extra weight. Depending on how it lands, we could see the classic “buy the rumor, sell the news” dynamic … Read More

DDT: Data-Dense Tuesday, Barking Mad: Valentine’s and Aging

Since hitting the 77 mark this month, I have cut myself considerable slack.  Things like “pressure” to keep UrbanSurvival going, publish still more books, and doing more research.  I mean, eventually time runs out and what we leave with is all between-our ears, anyway. Still, mornings like this? Good to sit in the recliner over at the … Read More

Bad Bunny? No – Bad Game.

Now that my apparently (and perhaps deeply rooted) fears of a drunk driver taking out a pole and causing a behind-the-scenes power outage have passed, we can return to pondering the road ahead. My pillow survived the interruption in non-destructive testing — and cell-level cleaning — once again. So we’re back to the clear skies … Read More

A Time Story – Woo Passes Through – Sea-what’s

An Old Reporter’s Notebook Is a Fine Instrument All the PPP — print press peers — used to carry them. Corsaletti. Carson. Sperry. And even, rumor had it, Richard Buck. Buck, after all, built the original Cost of Nothing index, sounding one of the earliest alarms on what later became politely known as “customer charges.” … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: No SB? Backup and Cost Cutters

Or: Why Domains Matter When the Game Is On and the Store Is Closed (OK, there is a ShopTalk: Pay reader Egor the “over.”) We’re Not “Game” Super Bowl Sunday is a funny day. Half the country is focused on a ball game, the other half is pretending they don’t care, and somewhere around kickoff a … Read More

Frank’s Weekend: The Public Cost of Private Sports

It’s Super Bowl weekend — but instead of hype and halftime noise, today’s Peoplenomics report takes a hard look at something few people ever question: why taxpayers are still paying for private sports empires. In Frank’s Weekend: The High Cost of Private Sports, we trace the hidden financial machinery behind stadiums, bonds, and “public-private partnerships,” … Read More

Crapcoin and a Preview of the World’s Dirtiest Secret

My friend – who later would become a “whale” – and who (I heard) got out of crypto – and hasn’t looked back – told me years back to buy Bitcoin.  “Accept a couple of BTC for Peoplenomics…” I remember him saying.  That was when BTC was a dime and we were sharing temporal research … Read More

Job Cuts,. The Lindbergh Replay Lands, Digital Arrogance

Full agenda today so here’s the snapshot.   And Now Here’s Your Host: Wild George Pretend today I’m a “shock jock” – And you just tuned in to the Wild George Sez show. One of the few remaining English-language, non-thumping programs left on AM radio… He reads the headlines: “Challenger Job Cuts report is just out.  But … Read More

Publisher’s Letter: Where the Ads Went (and Why)

This memorandum reflects the experience and analysis of this publisher and does not allege wrongdoing by any party. That said, it does reflect a change in operations. And as a reader—hopefully a long-term one—we are taking the extraordinary step of being fully transparent with respect to your privacy and your attention. You May Notice the … Read More

Open in Case of (Iran) War

What Matters More Than the Noise Two signals today deserve serious attention — and neither has much to do with the shouting matches dominating cable news. First, the jobs picture. ADP’s January number came in at just 22,000 jobs created nationwide, a figure that borders on stall speed. Normally, we’d look to follow-on data to … Read More

Circle the 18th – Markets in Sort Mode – Apology to Wiccans

There is increasing activity in China and the Western (rabid) social media about war – in one form, or another – around February 17th.  This isn’t just on social – it’s also showing up in Google Search trend analysis. On the left, you’ll see mid December, a spike in mid January.  But we are most concerned … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: More Decking Around

I was planning to have my little deck project done a long time ago.  I was able, materials were on hand, but something else held me back:  weather. See, when you hit 77 you’ll find a little “voice alarm” that will go off in Ure head.  “Cut yourself some slack…you deserve to enjoy a build like … Read More