NFIB Drifts Up, As Goes Advertising, Brisqi’ing the Day

There is – as usual – much to talk about. But with our “action over loose talk” mindset here, we’re becoming almost ruthless in cutting through “news filler” and “emo-clicks.” Because – in the end – it better be a spend, or it’s out, my friend.

Breaking: Numbers

Just out:

“WASHINGTON, D.C. (Dec. 9, 2025) – The NFIB Small Business Optimism Index rose 0.8 points in November to 99.0 and remained above its 52-year average of 98. Of the 10 Optimism Index components, six increased, three decreased, and one was unchanged. An increase in those expecting real sales to be higher contributed most to the rise in the Optimism Index. The Uncertainty Index rose 3 points from October to 91. An increase in owners reporting uncertainty about capital expenditure plans over the next three to six months was the primary driver of the rise in the Uncertainty Index. “

Not likely to change the market overall, but worth mentioning.

Advertising Defines the Future – What’s Actionable

Fact: Online ad costs are dropping sharply this quarter as major brands pull back spending and Google CPC rates weaken across multiple categories. Advertising isn’t going away. But there’s a metamorphosis underway.

For one, AI is empowering new approaches in advertising: Predictions 2026: Smaller Players Emerge Through Cracks In Media’s Triopoly.  On top of this, rosy forecasts – like Advertising & Promotions – Global Ad Spend Outlook for 2024-2026 – signal 7 percent growth.  But hold up there, partner. Outlooks usually don’t back out real inflation.

So what: Falling ad prices – and adding AI into the mix for better spending analysis in near-real time – usually signal that companies expect softer consumer demand ahead. When advertisers get cautious, it often precedes broader economic slowing.  Now, toss in how advertising access is a political/economic tool: Elon Musk’s X Blocks EU Ads Account After €120m Fine.  And Musk has friends: Sen. Mike Lee: Free Speech Under Attack On Musk’s X by EU’s ‘Arrogant Bureaucratic Regime.

While we don’t talk much about ads, there’s a lot in play.  Clicking through Ad Age headlines the biggest “Brand Fails” of 2025.  There’s a lot of them. And even AI comes in for review in 5 brand fails with AI in 2025 and lessons for marketers – Ad Age,

Action: If your income depends on advertising, commissions, or marketing budgets, tighten operations now. Reduce fixed expenses, diversify revenue streams, and preserve cash. Households should delay large discretionary purchases. The high-level view?

  • AI adoption in ad agencies is well underway.  There have been failures, but AI is likely to be more widely used in the “looking over the shoulder in account review” manner.
  • Mass media terrain is changing.  We see it in falling revenue across our web-based inventory as advertisers run to “the latest new thing.” In 1998, UrbanSurvival was edgy. Today?  We’re legacy.
  • AI will change sales.  Better prospect targeting, prioritization, and product-fit analysis.  Humans may gag and revoke at the digital choke collar being applied. But in America, the bottom line always wins.  (Though not always a good thing…)

Share this with anyone you know in sales, media, or small business — this is an early warning, not a headline yet. These events are still in the “human, steerable” bin. For now… Mention to them that legacy media – like us – sometimes still gets it right.

Poker or Joker Day for Fed

America stopped being a true Constitutional Republic in about 1913, or so. That’s when the Federal Reserve – created by an abdication by Congress – seized financial control.  The Constitution requires Congress, not a banking industry, rule the Nation’s Money. All done legally – but that didn’t make it right.

The Federal Reserve shifted monetary sovereignty away from direct democratic control in a way critics still argue violates the spirit (not the letter) of the Constitution.

President during this Great Heist was Woodrow Wilson. He was a Progressive: favored stronger federal power, banking reform, income taxes, and market regulation. By today’s scale, he’d fall somewhere between center-left technocrat and nationalist reformer.

This tradition – gambling on our future – continues today.

The Roots of “Narrative Government”

The Federal Reserve operates a “time machine”.  On one timeline America is still sold the notions of Global Leadership, Dollar Hegemony, and usual “Truth, Justice, and the American Way.”

But on the other timeline, Bankster and Financial Engineers are still running the “Watering down money” machinery.  Academics – having a harder time with honest accounting – argued Inflation is prices going up.  But the reality never spoken is that money’s purchasing power is going down.  Fish rot from their wallets.

Result? Structural Inflation.

Our Dollar purchasing power is falling faster than competitors – like China’s. We have to pay less interest  on the money we make up or the compounding debt will finish us off.

The internal American narrative is sold this way:

Growth Claimed, Less Inflation Admitted,  is Narrative Growth.

To real people here’s the fact:

Average Affordable Widgets divided by Money Paid for Hours Worked equals Quality of Life.

The best the Fed can do is play to the consensus.  There’s a 90 percent chance of a rate drop reflected at the FedWatch – CME Group tool.

You, me, and the rest of America?  Collateral damage inflicted by interests who sold us out to China and Asia. Long forgotten, except in the “Rust Belt” where America still suffers.

Newsometer Readings

Before e start, BP meds check – we’re going to jump around a bit here…

A foreign policy showdown is in the works: Congress limits Pentagon force reductions in Europe and South Korea.  Would someone please tell the Congress that we don’t have unlimited money unless THEY are planning to raise taxes?

Mr. Understated, restrained, and thoughtful is back at it: Trump threatens Mexico with 5% tariff over water dispute.

Do Headlines report Truth or reveal deeply held media Bias?  Here’s today’s quiz: Alina Habba Will Stop Pretending to Be a Federal Prosecutor—for Now – Mother Jones.

2026 Myth-Building is now well underway. With a few questions… Gavin Newsom is the First Governor to Make Homelessness a Way of Life – California Globe

Tech warfare continues as bets are being placed: Microsoft vs. Amazon: Which Cloud Computing Stock Will Outperform in 2026?

Catholics and Controversy: Pope Leo Endorses Muslim Colonization in the West.

And when the laws don’t suit the lawless? Bar Owner Gets DEATH THREATS After Offering FREE BEER For Helping ICE Deport Illegals.

Around the Ranch: Brisqi‘ing the Day

Tomorrow’s Peoplenomics column is a monster.  Runs 40 pages with the data appendix.  This is only the first of two parts.  This is the “action list” of hedging 2026 and there are 14 listed, though it may expand as work continues on it today.

Next week the companion “Annual Self-Improvement” confessional will be along.  One passing mention – getting more done in less time – is worth sharing generally.  I’ve been a real fan of an offline Kanban tool called Brisqi.

Every morning at 4:30 AM the ritual is fire up my personal Kanban tool and plan out the day.  Here’s where the balance of today is going:

Unlike a traditional “to do” list, a Kanban let’s you slide stuff around (between columns and project tabs.

I’ve probably killed a tree, or two, buying yellow pads over the past half century.  But electronic selsf-managment uis one frontier I am still mastering.

I mention this once or twice a year – ahead of the New Year’s resolution window – so you can capture all those high-minded ideas.  Everyone makes plans and resolutions. But one of the key things from minimalist son G2 if distilling things doen to the 3 things that matter most today.

I tend to arrange the day not on raw priority, but in actual working order.  So, for example, the Walmart home delivery order won’t be placed real early because the fresh breads land typically in the before 11 AM window. I hate day-old bread.

There are other workable tools.  Learning to use the “Outline View” in MS Word is a good one.  LibreOffice has a similar tool but it’s hidden away under Navigator.  I don’t care for it as much.

Online tools may be slicker than Brisqi, but I like to run everything locally-hosted.  That way, should the “worst happen” I will have less recovery work. I like things that keep working. Free to try and no, I don’t get anything from mentioning it. It’s just I offered some product ideas years ago and it’s a very useful tool.

I know some people like more ornate tools for personal planning.  But while I’ve used MS Project for commercial construction projects (managing T.I. build-out is not something to keep in your head…) it’s way too heavy for everyday work.  And MS To-Do is not as graceful as Briqi’s surface.

When I’m not around a computer, there’s still tiny notebook in the shirt pocket.  But – unlike most folks – I use the weatherproof version you can get on Amazon for a few bucks more.   See 6 Pack Waterproof Notebook Pocket Notepad 3×5 All-Weather Small Pocket Notebook Waterproof Police Spiral Notepad Little Memo Notepads for Outdoor Travel Office School.

On sale for under $8 for a six-pack, it’s good enough for cops and first responder field notes,. So, good enough for me. Used with a pencil, it’s not a “pretty” as yellow pads and a good wide rollerball pen. But it’s definitely more suited to survival and prepping use. Which I hope we never get to…

Also a great stocking stuffer?  The OHTO Fude roller pens with a 1.5 mm bold tip.  And for what is one of the darked writing pencils in the world, try Mitsubishi Uni Hi-Uni 10B which is not a cheap pencil, but for after it all blows up?  Well, check them out here.  Or, consider this one.  Remember a 6B pencil will smear a bit, so when picking the right “survival pencils” balance out long writing between sharpending and less smearing (6H is harder) versus the 6B which is softer and bolder.

We assume you have “survival sharpeners” laid in already?

Write when you get rich, or with a new writing instrument,

George@Ure.net

33 thoughts on “NFIB Drifts Up, As Goes Advertising, Brisqi’ing the Day”

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  2. George,

    I offer prayers for Stu’s heart surgery tomorrow for Mrs. d’Lynn’s full recovery, and for anyone else needing prayers. God bless you all. Thank you very much.

  3. “Wake up, you need to make money” – TwentyOnePilots

    Stressed Out- so I went short the Russel this AM – Puts

    Loading up on Palladium & Platinum now..

    Psst, heard there is a whale future trade Feb exp at $80.00 strike Silver. Currently trading around $58/oz a 37 % move up from here.
    Not confirmed – still just a rumor.

    BTC is the best in class currently. No threat quantum immediately, developers are always developing/upgrading/ BTC – its software after all AND it IS a public Utility. Or bitcoin treasury company or better yet Twenty One Capital stock – just started trading..

    “My names blurryface, and I care what you think..”https://youtu.be/SZAGE7ScynQ?
    Suggest you Luddites get a piece while youse still can..thru Fidelity/BlackRock etf’s or best would be direct purchase and maintain Custody & Freedom.

      • you know i was thinking about James discovery that is all just a show with the floating Jukebox at the foreigner concert for an encore.

        like Trumps “narco tertorrist” same script use as W’s “Weapons of Mass Destruction.” all about the oil. and Obama and Libia. Libia who has the largest underground water aquifers on the planet. its all the same show.

        meet the new boss, same as old boss. the more Mr T. does. The heavier that gold chain around his neck gets. eye of the tiger Mr President. seems fitting to post that on a survival site since that song was written by Survivor.

        no different than a floating juke box at foreigner concert encore.

        when i running backstage security, (its not really as glamorus as most people think, you are mostly standing arounf a bunch of stage scafolding and the fun stuff is watching the show.) you always got the play list prior to the show. so you could ensure the stars and VIPs could all exit without incidence prior to the discovery of the Mob. you realize they are all just fragil people living in a fantasy world of their own making. many of them slaves to it.

        i was talking to a few female superstars like Dua Lipa. (hands down probably the hottest woman i have ever met.) she changes outfits 8 times in a show. they bring her down, strip her down naked, put different shoes and outfit on her, pluck her eye lashes off, put on new ones, do her hair different and then shove her back on the stage for 2 more songs, then repeat. the whole provess takes about 90 seconds. she does this night after night for 300 shows in a row. she sleeps on a bus inbetween. never allowed to have a bad day, always has to smile and bring that energy everytime she gets on the stage.

        when i saw all that you know what i thought? fuck that shit. hahahaha. that is not the life for me.

        but i will take the playlist prior to the show. yes sir. i liked that part of the job.

        we should be entering the 5th stansa of War Pigs soon. we moved through the first 4 with precision.

        “Generals gathered in their masses
        Just like witches at black masses
        Evil minds that plot destruction
        Sorcerer of death’s construction

        In the fields, the bodies burning
        As the war machine keeps turning
        Death and hatred to mankind
        Poisoning their brainwashed minds
        Oh, Lord, yeah

        Politicians hide themselves away
        They only started the war
        Why should they go out to fight?
        They leave that role to the poor, yeah

        Time will tell on their power minds
        Making war just for fun
        Treating people just like pawns in chess
        Wait ’til their judgement day comes, yeah”

        well you should all know the rest of the song.

        for the record, id like to predict good times for the working man. i know, i know, its different than the usual doom slut predictions.

        i do see alot of Good in the future for the working men and women. lots of Good stuff.

        perhaps after the whole shit house goes up in flames. :)

        i went to safeway to get milk yesterday and lady next to me yesterday won $50,000 on a $5.00 scratch ticket. very cool! good for her. A Very Nice Christmas Bonus. :)

        like i said many times on here,

        ~ I Win with God Within.

    • “Oh George Must be ranting about the Fed again.”

      Easy call. Is there a day when he DOESN’T do that?

  5. I won’t be issuing a sell gold signal for now as the Phillies just resigned Kyle Schwarber,meaning that the team will remain near the top.The last time that I issued a sell signal was in October 2011 with gold at $1900.The buy signal happened in Mar.2019 with gold at $1300.Both signals were given following major developments with the team.This can be verified on this site.
    Phorget your charts.
    Phollow the Phillies.

  6. BTC is higher today over last Tuesday – opposite world.. Is it possible CERN jumped our track (again) and perhaps why the 3I/ATLAS probe was sent out our way? Stay tuned.

    ” Trump threatens Mexico with 5% tariff ”

    Why not?

  7. Stu. Our prayers continue to be with you and your skilled surgeons for tomorrow. Please drop a note back to us as soon as you are able after your surgery.

    • I certmainly will, and again many thanks for everyone’s prayers and best wishes.

      Remember gold and silver are the barometer to the big show.

      I had a crazy dream about a comet last night.

      Stay frosty everyone!

  8. China knows how to handle the Influence –

    “China executed former banker Bai Tianhui for accepting £116 million in bribes while managing China Huarong International Holdings. His execution in Tianjin follows his acceptance of 1.1 billion yuan in bribes from 2014 to 2018.

    Prosecutors stated that Bai’s crimes severely harmed state interests and had a significant social impact. His death sentence was upheld after an appeal was rejected in February. “

  10. Andy
    Got that one for sure. Wasn’t exactly a dime, just a 220 acre island, midnight, gale force, rain… went from warm bed, naked with naked woman to jumping in the icy sea with nothing. Comfortably ‘retired’ at 32, to broke ass naked on a sharp rock. Really gave me a moment of pause to reconsider everything, especially the the Dude had other plans for me considering the alternative…
    Breathing be good.
    Stiks

  11. “President during this Great Heist was Woodrow Wilson. He was a Progressive: favored stronger federal power, banking reform, income taxes, and market regulation. By today’s scale, he’d fall somewhere between center-left technocrat and nationalist reformer.”

    Considering the hundreds of journalists he incarcerated, the fact he eliminated Blacks from the Federal workforce (and made it illegal to hire them for Federal jobs), destroyed our banking system and established the first in a long line of individual taxes, dug Margaret Sanger out of prison and foist her on Blacks, Irish, Italians, and other “undesirables,” I’d place ol’ Woody somewhere between Stalin and Hitler on the despot scale…

      • Actually I think they got those ideas about 70 years earlier, when what was left of the Whigs got together with a bunch of Northern abolitionists. The political Dems have always considered opposition an affront. They’re not really any more deranged or psychotic WRT Trump than they were, Lincoln or Grant. The existence of high speed networks and unsocial media simply multiplies the velocity of the idiocy — that and the Dems were less corrupt in Tammany days than they are, now (not that the Repubs are any more virtuous, but they didn’t exist in the 1830’s…)

      • Convince the audience of Trump’s greatness.

        Perhaps do a weekly Top 10 identifying how Trump MAGA.

    • I agree Ray.

      You left out his lying to the US public in the election of 1916 proclaiming the US would NOT get involved in the European War so as to get re-elected all the while planning on immediately doing just that once the votes were in.

      Woodrow Wilson for 100 years PLUS has been treated with Kid Gloves by the Liberal “I am smarter than you” University set … seems to be their typical mode of operating … Hypocrites ALL!

    • Hmm..I got thinking about this and the could someone tell congress..no they are in the noodle nomics idea..let me explain my theory on what they are up to and how if they falter at playing the money game of the seventies or the money game of 1913..its all the same principle. and how brics and what they have done could tumble the fiat currencies money game..

      The “money game” we see in fiat currency systems is less a static pyramid than a perpetually moving noodle. In my noodle comics, the noodle never rests — it slithers upward, downward, sideways — always requiring new hands to keep it in motion. That motion itself is the illusion of value.

      Originating with the Federal Reserve in 1913, the system seeded billions at the base, then invited participants to dance up the chain. Each new investor props up the one above, while the top harvests the flow. But like the noodle, the structure is not solid — it is kinetic belief as long as the flow of currencies is in motion the noodle moves,put to many numbers and the noodle dissolves.. take to many away and it rips.. The minute confidence falters, the noodle drops, and the pyramid collapses.What’s happening now is the numbers due to greed of the top 1% has shifted the amount of numbers they have to release..like flowing water..they have to do it deli ally or we end up Zimbabwe.. take to much away and we are Greece..

      Politicians, however, use this perpetual motion as their rationale. They argue that as long as the noodle keeps moving — through stimulus, spending, or debt issuance — the game continues and prosperity appears sustained. Their policies are framed not as stewardship but as choreography: keeping the noodle dancing so the illusion of stability remains.

      BRICS today is not cutting the noodle but tugging it in a new direction, offering parallel flows of trust outside the dollar. What matters is not the mechanics of currency but the psychology of motion: as long as the noodle keeps moving, the game continues. When it stops, the illusion dissolves.

      In this sense, fiat finance is less about capital than choreography — a collective noodle dance of trust, motion, political justification, and collapse.

  12. Hmm..would someone please tell congress… what would I say as a response to this..hmmm

    The persistent reliance on deficit financing to underwrite military action without corresponding taxation represents a profound structural gamble in the architecture of modern fiat currency. Historically, societies that funded war through direct taxation imposed immediate accountability on both rulers and citizens; the cost was felt in bread and labor, and thus constrained the scope of conflict. In contrast, the contemporary model of “pumping out numbers” through central banks and reserve systems abstracts the cost into the realm of confidence — a fragile social contract that can collapse as suddenly as a roll of dice. If victory secures resources, the gamble pays off; if not, the deficit metastasizes, devaluing currency and eroding trust in the monetary order itself. The question politicians must confront is whether democratic legitimacy can endure when the fiscal burden of war is hidden from the public, and whether fiat systems, untethered from tangible accountability, are sustainable in the long arc of history.
    When a government funds war with taxes, the citizens taste the results in the cost in their bread and butter. When they fund war with numbers, the people taste nothing until the bread itself vanishes..

    • Foreigners finance virtually our entire govt deficit, including ALL of our military expenditures.

      Someday when foreigners STOP buying our government’s bonds will the US taxpayer really be willing to pay what it costs for us to maintain our massive Empire Supporting military? (or pay for all the social benefits the US Government bestows on it’s citizens?)

      • Hmm..thinking about this…I believe that what you’ve highlighted is essentially the “foreign subsidy” embedded in U.S. fiscal accounting. Our deficits are financed not only by domestic taxpayers but by global bondholders who accept dollars as the reserve currency. From an accounting perspective, this masks the true cost of both military projection and social programs. If foreign demand for Treasuries weakens, the U.S. faces a reckoning: either taxpayers absorb the full expense, or the government must radically reprioritize spending. In that sense, the sustainability of our “empire” is less about military strength than about whether the balance sheet can withstand a shift in who underwrites it.

        Now consider the actions of BRICS nations directly challenge the assumption that foreign investors will indefinitely underwrite U.S. deficits. By promoting trade in local currencies, exploring gold?linked settlement systems, and gradually reducing reliance on the dollar, BRICS is signaling a shift in global demand for U.S. Treasuries. For accountants, this represents a potential revaluation of the balance sheet: if fewer foreign buyers absorb our debt, the cost of financing military expenditures and social programs shifts back onto domestic taxpayers. In effect, BRICS is testing whether the U.S. fiscal model can survive without the external subsidy that has long masked its true expense.

  13. All I know I been locked out of the site all week . Just randomly opened it in another way and presto . So hi to all before I get flicked again . Anyway adversity builds character and I’ve seen a lot of that . So god bless all and the few in hospital stuff . So off I go maybe into cyber vacuum . Cheers

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