Contrarian Time Out – Ex-Im Data

Stock Futures were pointing to a weak open, earlier. Buoyed when better than expected import prices data hit.  But this doesn’t mean the downside won’t open over the weekend.   In fact, this weekend could be early. As a result, we’re going to “sit this one out.” An old investing axiom is “The Crowd is usually … Read More

CPI Says Hike Alive — Nuclear Weekend?

We will jump cut right into the Cost-of-Living report just out.  Because this will temper how the Federal Reserve Open Market Committee looks at a potential rate hike at month-end.   (ready?) “The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) rose 0.4 percent in September on a seasonally adjusted basis, after increasing 0.6 percent in … Read More

Feels Like a Depression, Eh?

A reader brought the question to us (“Why does it feel like a Depression?“) driven by seeing how many under 50s still live with their parents, for example. It’s a dandy question – which takes us on a 4-thousand word jaunt from Al Capone’s soup kitchen in Chicago to the parallels between hoboes and illegal … Read More

Will Wars Drive Markets? NFIB Dims

The stock market has a certain eau d’ fraud going on, presently.  There is no rational reason for anyone to put money into markets when there is this amount of global uncertainty about the future. Yet, at the early pre-open check (about 6 AM Eastern) we were surprised to see futures attempting a run up to … Read More

Evaluating WW3 – OM and Their M/Cs

Remarkably, Amazon still has these in stock: GQ GMC-500Plus Geiger Counter Nuclear Radiation Detector Monitor Dosimeter, White.  Which we “Last purchased Sep 16, 2023.” It’s just under $140 (click the coupon!) and it recharges off your everyday USB-C connector and wart. If you don’t understand why this is so amazing, that the Zon would have stock of … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Drone Logging Adventure

I have mentioned a few times this week that I have a new Potensic Atom SE drone and that, having the FAA UAV ticket (easy transition from ASEL pilot) I really wanted to “keep a hand in.” Boy, did I ever! This adventure begins with the first attempted flight of the drone.  Damn thing would … Read More

A “Double Ten” Short?

A national holiday Monday was part of the reason we entered a short position ahead of the weekend.  In Wednesday’s report, we fretted about the odds of a large upside bolt as G20 nations are desperate to avoid the appearance of vulnerability of the global economic system to normal economic fluctuations. Not that such things … Read More

Bond for Trouble, Jobs, Drone Dummy Part 1

Yes, we are going to have a “hard landing.”  Of course, Ure is not the only one saying this (I’ve been saying it for almost 2-years now!). Others, like the “smartest guy in the room” are saying it too.  Witness The Odds of Avoiding a Downturn Have Dropped, Mohamed E-Erian Says.  If you don’t follow … Read More

Job Cuts, Falling Markets, Drones, and Darkness

[Publishing in sections due to power issues due to storms in East Texas ongoing.  Which are kind of fun.  See the Around the Ranch action.) Quite the stew!  Not much point in playing the market, just yet.  There is some risk – as we explained in the Peoplenomics report Wednesday – of an upside surprise. But … Read More

Bounces and Dependencies

We continue to evolve a “soft science” of waveform similarities. But getting this part of the present market decline has been enjoyable so far. One of my great joys in Life is being able to pay lots of income tax.  Not because Elaine can’t spend better than Congress. But because it means we are making … Read More

The $144 Lunch

As we expected, the Labor JOLTS report came in hotter than expected and that just about puts a nail in the Fed having to raise rates at the end of the month. To quote from the report: “The number of job openings increased to 9.6 million on the last business day of August, the U.S. … Read More

Cold War II – The Sequel – Three Crisis Monte

Report from Iron Mountain (on the accessibility and desirability of peace) laid out the problem brilliantly. Essentially: What is the incentive of nominally free people to give away between 25 and 50% of their labors to government?  You need big sticks if you’re in the “governing business.” The Big Sticks are: War (actual) War (threatened) … Read More

Fortuneteller Soup, Jobs Week

Welcome to the Monday morning edition of The Future Game. There are multiple “angles” to seeing the Future.  One way is “Numerics” – which we do a lot of around here.  Stock prices, bonds, cryptos, projections, money supplies and all that represent the “craps game in the alley out back.” A kind of floating estimate … Read More