The biggest news of the day in financial circles is the just-dropped CPI numbers. Since, with the Fed FOMC gaveling-in today, this will be the last official big data read on inflation. The modest improvement in the top line number was mainly due to the energy component dropping. The Saudi hikes will eat that in … Read More
We ain’t just “whistling Dixie” when we say “Hot Mess.” (Has the song Dixie been banned by the ‘righteous’ yet?) We got us a blue light special on Mess going, yes sir. Buy one and get a free “hot”. Of course, it’s summertime, so what were you expecting? Climate change? Mess #1 – I-95 In this … Read More
Money first. Then a ton of interesting projects that keep us busy. We’ll do a “photo-stroll” around the shop (as of Tuesday morning) so you can get more of a feel for what Making and Doing are like outside the confines of cubicles and 300 square-foot living spaces. And why retired is usual just tired. Hosed … Read More
Park the Bull Market Talk. We don’t mean to be critical of the me-too press, but… Yeah, this morning a few hard facts the cheerleader pom-pom media didn’t bother to emphasize while driving the market higher this week. This being the middle of summer sweats around here, we’re keeping our focus on the Charts and … Read More
History doesn’t precisely rhyme. But it gets pretty damn interesting when you take in the whole sweep of it. This morning, in the wake of Justice Department Charges Trump in Documents Case, along with the revelation that 12m Americans believe violence is justified to restore Trump to power, it’s time to look at “how we’re in … Read More
On the surface, today is starting off as another ho-hum. But, when we look beneath the surface, there are some Big Important Moving Parts creaking into place. Fed Consumer Spending+ We detest the Fed’s lack of “data candor.” A familiar example began when St. Greenspan decided to hide the broadest measure of Money Stocks – … Read More
We’ve been writing about Prepping almost from the beginnings of the Internet. Now, things are changing. Well in advance of the Y2K “non-event” we were prepping. I’d even gone so far as to position our “escape pod sailboat” at a safe harbor outside of the Seattle metro area. In the event something did go wrong, … Read More
We enjoy contrast. Without it, life is blurry, unclear. Meaningless. Yet today, we may be working toward the answer to the big “Where we came from” story. Two important pre-prints have landed. One Evidence for deliberate burial of the dead by Homo naledi | bioRxiv while the other is 241,000 to 335,000 Years Old Rock … Read More
Once again we will try for a shorter column. 1,000 words max is the new goal. Tighter and brighter, as they say. What Matters this Monday? The epidemic of raging idiocy in America continues. If you have time to sink into pointless debate on such trivia, have fun with that. On the other hand, if … Read More
With the return of George2 (KF7OCD) to family lands, the interest in having a “rock-em-sock-em winter on the low frequency ham radio bands is back in focus. There’s a whole PowerPoint on what needs to be done. But when it’s warm is a great time to launch antennas into trees. Or, climbing gear-equipped sons. It’s axiomatic … Read More
Yeah – we need to piss test Wall Street. And the NYC Media Moguls. A rally based on what, Friday, for crying out loud? America deserves full disclosure of who’s getting what money (perks and comps) for doing such a horrible spin on the economy and blowing the stock market skyward with smoke and hype. … Read More
Sometimes, you can’t win for trying. The Fed (and the Biden administration) are facing a real mess with the Jobs data. The reason? If Jobs are too good then the economy overheats. There are signs of that even now. We’ll begin with a summary of this week’s jobs data. JOLTS: The report out Wednesday showed on the … Read More
Two snips of Jobs Data ahead of the “Offishall” numbers tomorrow. ADP Job creation report? Still strong-ish but pay’s going up. ROSELAND, N.J. – June 1, 2023 – Private sector employment increased by 278,000 jobs in May and annual pay was up 6.5 percent year-over-year, according to the May ADP® National Employment Report. To us, … Read More