America SNAPS, Ego Traps, and We’ve Got the Blue Jay Blues

TL;DR:    America is about to SNAP — budgets, benefits, tempers, and reality all fraying at once while markets throw a last-call party. Prep quietly, laugh loudly, and don’t mistake the confetti for stability. Introit:* Call this “Mark Frederickson Day” [* Introit refers to the opening hymn, psalm, or antiphon sung or recited at the … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: When the “Right thing” Doesn’t Work Out

TL;DR: Chasing better air for Elaine and me has become a key holding action. So instead of decks, welds, and big shop heroics, we’re trying on the Downsizing ethos for size. Spoiler: putting “less stuff, more life” into practice doesn’t always go as smoothly as the brochure — here’s the ringside account. (What time did … Read More

Manufactured “Normal”

Joke around the newsroom used to be? “Series will always go 7-game – too much ad revenue for any other outcome…” Sometimes, though, newsroom cynicism can be replaced by the facts. Since 1970, looking at the list of World Series results: Series that went to 7 games: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1979, 1985, 1986, 1987, … Read More

Bankers Not Witches, Latest Bash of Trump, Cultural Expropriation

TL;DR:  Markets wobble into Halloween as demographics, politics, and policy churn in the background — witches aren’t the scariest thing this weekend, central bankers and bureaucrats are. Beneath the plastic masks and candy lies an ancient reminder: we’re crossing a seasonal and social threshold, and you’d better keep your wits — and your portfolio — … Read More

Trump Goes Nuclear, Strafing a Ceasefire, Farming Plans

TL;DR:  For your reading arc today: Nuclear Macro-danger, fragile elites, market jitters, ceasefire myth-making, reclaiming agency via soil & muscle, a personal readiness snapshot plus a winter prep tip punchline. Trump Goes Nuclear My consigliere who lives a little too close to many targeting package selections has been very clear: He will be available for tax … Read More

Free Money! Fed Lowers – Again!!!

We told you we didn’t need to lower rates – because there has been no decrease of inflationary pressure.  We sure haven’t see any – have you??? But this isn’t about Main Street – it’s about Wall Street and more free money for the rich! “In support of its goals and in light of the shift … Read More

Using AI to Cut Fin-Modeling Code

No, not the spandex and eye makeup kind of modeling – the <? php kind, silly.  The kind we cobble up code with to make complex financial calculations to make us fabulously wealthy.  Or, more realistically, to spend our devaluing dollars on until becoming a farmer or scavenger isn’t just optional. But hey!  How ’bout … Read More

Fake War Follies? Blue Hills Blow – and The Chrono-Fence

TL;DR:  Which war will pop first?  We update the betting line.  In the Caribbean, Jamaica’s Blue Hills are in trouble as Melissa (5) slams in.  At the ranch? A return to “traditional timekeeping.” War Pops We keep a list, check it twice, but we have an idea who’s naughty – not nice. South America is being … Read More

Energy War, Russian Demons, and Upgrading to Cross-Platform Life

TL:DR:  Trump’s Venezuela policy as a 21st-century reboot of the Monroe Doctrine—less about democracy and more about oil. Using sanctions, posturing, and financial choke points, Washington aims to keep the world’s largest crude reserves out of Chinese, Russian, and Iranian hands, turning old gunboat diplomacy into modern energy control. At the ranch? We retool for … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: A 20-Year Project – Done!

Back in 2003, when we bought this old place in the woods and moved up here, Elaine and I tired of the previous owners having a lock on every door that was keyed differently.  Although it was a simple double-wide and an open carport big enough for a diesel pusher RV, there were still three … Read More

How AI Replaces the Web

There’s a “Post Web Order” coming into view.  So, this weekend a progress check on three fronts of keen interest for subscribers. First is system readiness in order to be able to “keep up with class” as we are publicly building a MoneyMachine in Python to test machine-assisted trade planning.  The second installment will be … Read More

Newsoween, a Side of Blow, and a One Hour Budget

TL;DR:  We’re “bubbling a cauldron of scary, silly, and frankly stupid as the week draws to a close. Another drug boat hit, but blow of a different type in the Caribbean. Meanwhile a word about time-budgeting in our life management notes… Newsoween: Scared Yet? GovDown drags out, the Fear Party rants about destruction of the White … Read More