Thoreau, Tainter, and… Elaine?

Wherein we look at “marginal rates of return on additional effort.”  Which, with containerships backing up off of Los Angeles is a rather vexing problem for industry. You see, there’s an assumption in marketing that….wait! We need to roll a few headlines and do the ChartPack.  Then I can huff-up on the white-board marker and … Read More

Turnaround Tuesday, FB Mystery and Trade Data

Welcome to what (in our whack-job) work should be a “turnaround Tuesday.”  In fact, we’ll be jumping for joy if our daily target level comes in.  Say, oh,  up 25 on the S&P by early afternoon?  Sooner is fine, of course. Like around 11:30 AM Central when Europe’s closing for the day, maybe. A ton to … Read More

Commies, Crooks, Crazies, and Collapse

Usability Note: If you see a strange symbol at the start of this morning’s post, I’ve installed a “voting system” to let you voice easy Likes or Dislikes of our reports.  If it gets too negative, we will abandon it (UrbanSurvival is a digital dictatorship).  But feedback is useful. Who’s at the Wheel? Commies first:  … Read More

ShopTalkSunday: Update on Projects, 9-Painting Secrets

Comes now the time of year when “Winter Readiness” is on the agenda.  Along with some of the best “working weather” of the year, most places. “What’s Working Weather?” This is an old home-building and firehouse term.  Because firefighters, many times, have real hands-on hobbies and side hustles.  Like building some of the best new construction … Read More

Some 1929 Notes

Sure, some social harmonies.  But show us the Money!  Which is what we will be focusing on today because when the market opens Monday, it will mark a possible turning point week for stocks – again. Just a few headlines today.  Because someone you know has been spending too much screen time making his lunch … Read More

Market Handicapper’s Paradise

(A 45 minute column…I write too much for free…) I’m taking a short half-bow.  Because last week (Friday) I gave you the data RIGHT HERE with my wild-ass guess where the market would be at the end of Wave 5 (or a larger 1) down. Here’s how close we got: Our Aggregate Index work was … Read More

Censors and Socialism – As Babel Falls

Markets are likely to rally today, which we will get to in a second. (Told you that last week if you were paying attention…) More important matters first.  Because something much more insidious is going on:  The Internet has spawned collapse.  You may not see it directly, but what was once a nice – evenly … Read More

Temporal Nomography

Yes.  A Simple Way to get a better bead on the future.  In some ways, it’s similar to the Delphi technique.  Which is typically used to address singular questions. In the case of temporal nomography, the objective is much wider.  Like getting a “sense of where America is” in a broad sense in order to … Read More

Peoplenomics Subscriber Note

Our minimum downside target (38,856 on the Aggregate Index) was reached in the last half-hour. At last check we were in the 38,802 range.  Although some further declines are likely, we exited our personal short position this morning. Let’s just say we made “lunch money.”  (Hell of a lunch, Yowza!) More on what COULD be … Read More

Housing Inflation Rocks 19.7%

Wow!  Just out from Case-Shiller/S&P: YEAR-OVER-YEAR The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 19.7% annual gain in July, up from 18.7% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 19.1%, up from 18.5% in the previous month. The 20-City Composite … Read More

Is Powell “Gone?”

Breaking Data Headlines Matter.   When the Drudge Report ran this headline today, it meant to us that the Biden Administration has run out of patience with “the bankers.” This, in turn, leads to some well-placed speculation:  The U.S. Federal Reserve seems likely to undergo a “house-cleaning” and in most big organizations, that often means “the boss” … Read More

Scapegoat of the Week: Let’s Pretend

Just the easy stuff today.  Because sometime between now and Wednesday, one of two things is likely to happen: Either  a) we will see markets turn down in a vicious Wave (v) of a likely larger I down  OR b) the bankster class will pull out all the stops and try to turn this pig … Read More

ShopTalkSunday: US Dept. of Hacks

(US – As in UrbanSurvival, of course.  Not the “jab-and slab” gang  So’s we’re clear.) Shop Inflation Although it’s speaking heresy to the ‘stupid woke’ that fact is many don’t have the brains God gave cats.  Yes, inflation IS real. An STS reader sent us photographic proof of how the “inflation game” is being played … Read More