Five Signs of Economics Sanity (At Last!!!)

With the quickly approaching Long Last Weekend of vacationing almost here, I’ll drop back into our “B-mode” today and tomorrow.  Short, punch, broadcast writing, since time is tight.  Especially if you’re heading out…

The main point his morning – despite the temporary insanity being spread virally around Internet, there are still signs that all home is not lost.  Our first assortment of data points:

  1. Gas Prices are Up – but not at record levels.   Triple A shows $2.838 as the national average this morning.  But, the old record highs are up at $4.114 – so it could be worse and has been in past years.  What’s more, oil is holding – for now – under $70 on the futures.  At these prices, something approaching stability is possible:  Prices are high enough that drillers can make money and low enough so life is somewhat affordable.    To put it into consumption terms and driving tactics:  The gas price increase over last year is about 18%.  If you had wisely listened to our advice (“Buy the highest mileage ride you can stand…”) moving from a 26 MPG midsize ride to something getting 31-MPG would have kept your gas spending level on a cost-per-mile basis.
  2. Stock Futures are Down:  Normally, the market rallies going into holidays (about 65% of the time).  Despite this being a record-setting rally, weakness right after Labor Day is not unusual.  The decline Tuesday following last year’s Labor Day was about 234 down points, Friday close to the Tuesday-after.
  3. Social Media’s Becoming a Tune-out: Great article in the British “Guardian” worth a read:  “Logged off: meet the teens who refuse to use social media.
  4. Phone Etiquette’s Gaining Traction: CBS Television – New York – report “ Restaurants Increasingly Banning Diners From Using Their Cell Phone.”  Hallelujah!  I hold to the notion that if someone talks on the phone when I’m out for a meal, I’m not picking up the tab.  (I don’t get out much.)
  5. Capital Punishment’s Return:  While we support due process, we notice that the “do-overs” affording by American legal process may be part of a global trend of going too far down “rehab road.”  “Brazil presidential hopeful: let police kill criminals.”  Extreme?  Oh, hell yeah.  But, when repeat offenders are on the rise, it’s the kind of thinking that might clean up countries on the verge of social chaos.  Toss in prosecutorial screw-ups like “3 Suspects From New Mexico Compound Go Free After Prosecutors Miss Procedural Deadline” and there’s more to be said on topic…

The rest of the news doesn’t have such emerging-sanity driving it.  In fact, the opposite….

Three Time Loser?

Not only do we read how “Mueller wants to review emails between Manafort, former lawyer” over on Politico, but we get the sense  that not only isn’t justice fair and even (with the Hillary skate) but now is could be called  “Mueller’s Revenge? Special Counsel Won’t Rule Out Going After Manafort in Third Trial.”

Near as we can figure it, Mueller’s crew is not only proving Justice really is Blind, but it is also getting senile (*having or showing the weaknesses or diseases of old age, especially a loss of mental faculties.)  Manfort’s been convicted…so why keep throwing the books at him?  Unless, prosecutors really are unethical, mean, and running and agenda, of course.

Speaking of which, did you happen to catch representative Jim Jordan on Fox News Wednesday talking about the Bruce Ohr testimony on the hill?

One of our biggest concerns is that the Mueller team will release a report within days of the November elections, and it will be used to influence the outcome…

For a contrasting view of Bruce Ohr, see the NY Times piece “Trump Target in Russia Probe Questioned by Republicans.”  Two-thirds of the way in, Ohr’s wife’s working for Fusion GPS is mentioned….

Daily Dose of Data

Just out from the Bureau of Economic Analysis – personal income and consumer spending…

“Personal income increased $54.8 billion (0.3 percent) in July according to estimates released today by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Disposable personal income (DPI) increased $52.5 billion (0.3 percent) and personal consumption expenditures (PCE) increased $49.3 billion (0.4 percent).

Real DPI increased 0.2 percent in July and Real PCE increased 0.2 percent. The PCE price index increased 0.1 percent. Excluding food and energy, the PCE price index increased 0.2 percent.

This kind of news might  buoy the market but…oh wait!  Markets are irrational…how soon we forget.

Dow futures down 56 after the data release as Stock market’s advance grinds to a halt on China concerns.

Headlines that Matter

AP Explains: The looming, final battle for Syria’s rebels.

EU deeply disagrees with U.S. on trade despite detente.  Yeah, su7re, whatever.  But start paying for NATO.

Utility Spending for Mobile Workforce Management Solutions Is Expected to Grow to $518.2 Million by 2027.

And here’s a story easily condensedCampbell Soup to sell units, leaves open option of complete sale.”

And in politics of the “new left” ‘Can You Stop Lying?’ Cynthia Nixon and Gov. Andrew Cuomo Square Off in Heated Debate”  No, maybe he can’t.  Anyone who says “America wasn’t ever great” should be barred from holding any office.

And Those That Don’t

PETA wants to build large gravestone in memory of dead lobsters in Maine.  Want to put up a drawn butter memorial…

Moron the ‘morrow, then….

27 thoughts on “Five Signs of Economics Sanity (At Last!!!)”

  1. Do you suppose what got this whole Trump hate thing going was the MSN not getting the political advertising money from the Trump campaign. Must have started at the very top as know for sure that reporters and commentators will do or say what ever is necessary to keep groceries on the table.

  2. George, the prosecution would be remiss not to retry Manafort after a hung jury of 11-1 in favor of conviction.

    As a non-majority party, I can see your side’s concern about the Mueller team releasing a report too near the election: Comey (a Republican) publicly announcing reopening the investigation of Hillary with 11 days to go probably swung 2-3 points in favor of Trump. Then the Russians probably swung him another 2-3 points. Voter suppression another 2-3 points. (Gerrymandering another 2-3 points.) Pretty soon these things add up. Best, Mike.

  3. “moving from a 26 MPG midsize ride to something getting 31-MPG would have kept your gas spending level on a cost-per-mile basis.”

    I started to worry about the wife’s plug in..since we got it ice only out one gallon in. So I’m letting it run on petrol right now so the gas doesn’t get old..
    Why throw the book at him..by nagging at him they are hoping to dig something up on the President since the puppeteers are set in having him out of office and if they can’t then at least make the road a rocky one. They can’t go after him health wise since he’s wealthy enough to do the same thing right back. And then there’s the stigma of going after one of your own..

    • Old laws of marketing: People don’t remember much of anything until they have heard it at least 4 and with higher noise today, mo9re like 10 times.
      So, even though there is no collusion (Russia being one-sided naughty never changed) the whole Obama shadow govt /digital coup plan is to keep calling it the “Russia Investigation” even though there is nose.

      It blurs the minds of the stupid effing sheep.

      Pioneered by the “Un-Cola” creators who totally got it. Which may be why Mueller must get 7-UP?

      • George…The laws of marketing and repeating something a zillion times is what Trump built his campaign and his defense on. He recently said in one long non-hyphenated sentence…the term “NO Collusion” 8 times…

        But, in my experience repeating words also can be used as a stall tactic. It allows you to keep speaking when you don’t have anything new to say, or don’t know what you are talking about.

        Another tactic is that Trump has one-word emotional ways of wrapping things up, such as ending Tweets with the word “sad.” They’re emotional wrap-ups, they’re not substantive by any stretch of the imagination. It tells you how he feels about it, it doesn’t tell you what he thinks about it…because he is kind of non-committal that way.

        Here some quotes from the beginning of his campaign…in the first one…he says mess…Four times!

        ““To be honest, I inherited a mess,” he said. “It’s a mess. At home and abroad, a mess.” He then explained how jobs and companies are leaving the U.S. and the instability of foreign countries before adding, again, for emphasis, “I inherited a mess.”

        When asked about why he took so long to respond to Charlottesville…He responded…the purpose was to point out that he made a STATEMENT…but we don’t really know what that statement was or if he made a bunch of statements, but doesn’t want to commit to just one of them, until he get’s feedback from his base which the best statement was…

        “I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long. I didn’t wait long. I wanted to make sure, unlike most politicians, that what I said was correct. Not make a quick statement. The statement I made on Saturday, the first statement, was a fine statement. But you don’t make statements that direct unless you know the fact. It takes a little while to get the facts. You still don’t know the facts. And it’s a very, very important process to me. And it’s a very important statement. So I don’t want to go quickly and just make a statement for the sake of making a political statement. I want to know the facts —
        “If you go back to my … in fact, I brought it. I brought it.”

        He like to use the word winning and while he gives no explanation of how we are going to win…he sure likes to use the word a LOT.

        “You are going to be so proud of your country. Because we’re gonna turn it around, and we’re gonna start winning again! We’re gonna win so much! We’re going to win at every level. We’re going to win economically. We’re going to win with the economy. We’re gonna win with military. We’re gonna win with healthcare and for our veterans. We’re gonna with every single facet.

        We’re gonna win so much, you may even get tired of winning. And you’ll say, “Please, please. It’s too much winning. We can’t take it anymore. Mr. President, it’s too much.” And I’ll say, “No, it isn’t!”

        We have to keep winning We have to win more! We’re gonna win more. We’re gonna win so much. I love you, Albany! Get out and vote. You will be so happy.”

      • There is none? I guess trying to collude doesn’t count. Neither does lying about trying or lying about the lying or lying about the lying about the lying. Yeah. Hey let’s talk about Hillary’s unclassified email system! (Never mind about Trump disclosing the details of a highly classified Israeli operation to the Russians in the Oval Office). Hey, Ohr must be tainted, his wife worked for Fusion! (Never mind about Kushner’s need for a billion dollar refinance and the Trump Org opening properties in other countries, pulling in millions… nothing to see here).

        The crap with you right-wingnut partisans just goes on and on doesn’t it.

      • Obama shadow government. Ha ha ha. Laughable on its face. It’s like a golden unicorn.

        No, it’s not possible trump and gang are bad people. It’s that the earlier progressive president is now pulling the strings of government from afar.

        Now that is madness!

  4. PETA can send all the live lobsters to me. I will make sure they are treated with the utmost respect…before I devour them.

    About cell phones in restaurants. I was in Philz coffee on Monday decompressing while at the same time, re-energizizng with their high octane coffee. I like to people watch there as well. On one side of me, was a group of four men and women engineers pitching their ideas…on the other a couple of middle age women gossiping about the new floozy on their street.(No joke…they said those words). Also, A couple of young men talking about their rafting trip and a guy with AirPods in talking on the phone.

    Out of the blue, the women turned to the man on his phone and said…”would you mind taking that phone call outside?” Now I am not in any stretch of the imagination what you would call shy…the man on the phone was in the middle of what looked to be a serious conversation and I stepped in. I said, “why is it that you two can talk amongst yourselves, the group in the corner can talk business and the rest of the people here can talk and he can’t?”…”I’d were to measure the volume of decibels that the two of you were taking up versus him, your conversation would be more instructive. There are two of your voices and only one of his.”

    They replied..”.it’s annoying. It looks like is talking to himself “ .

    I replied…”but it is obvious he is not. He is quietly having a two way converstaion on his phone and the added bonus is that we can only here one side of that conversation and therefore, he is far less annoying than the rest of the people in this coffee shop.”

    I had partial success with that conversation…The lady that asked him to take his conversation outside, was stubborn and didn’t like my rationale…Her friend however said.” Actually, that makes sense. He is not really bothering anyone.”

    The same goes for diners and restaurants. If there is more than one person at a table, they are more than likely having a conversation… A restaurant is NOT a library. People are allowed to talk. So what if it’s a guy or woman on the phone? Tables of two, four and six can make all the noise they want. If a person wants to talk on the phone…let them…if they quietly want to browse the Internet, answer email and texts…let them.

    My wife and I are both in the same business…she is on the Title side…If we are out, and we get a text, email or call…we take it…(I wish I had a dollar for every time she told me..’You’d Better get that’) .It’s the on demand nature of our industry…we get it. It’s money in our pocket every time we use our phone. We embrace it. If someone else has a problem with that…then they Also need to adhere to their own rule and sit quietly at their table in misery and not utter a damn word. Too many hang-ups (pun intended) with people today.

    • Here are three new voicemail scripts for you Mark – since you’re a busy man. I had to use ’em to make my golden time get down to a 12-hour limit.
      1. Hi this is ____. I don’t take calls before 8 AM. Since it’s before 8 AM, leave a message and you’ll hear from me when I get to that part of my day.

      2. Hi this is____ My doctor advised me to actually decompress when eating food. Since I take lunch from 123:15 to 1 PM, please leave me a mesaage and I will call you right back.

      3. Hi this is_____. It’s now after 8 PM. I limit myself to an 80-hour workweek, seven days a week.
      But I just have to sleep some time and that’s when you’ve reached out. So you know what to do when you hear this…. (tone).

      My workweek here at Urban and Peoplenomics is down to just 55-hours a week and sometimes if go so quicly I almost feel guilty.
      —-

      In return for this personal coaching advice…ship me half the lobster. I’ll reciprocate with some grain finished prime filets is you don’t tell anyone…that is, if the lobsters are from THEM and still rfrozen, and have had a toxicvology scan…

      • If I adhered to those scripts George, my business would be a third of what it is now. My hours have to be flexible. Most of my phone calls are before 8:00am and After 9:00pm. My showings for homes are always after 6pm or weekends…People work…I get it. Especially todays techies…who by the way are the same way…which is why I sided with that guy on the phone in the coffee shop. He was in a business call.

        … and ECS…How do you know he was a liberal techie…not all of them are liberal…believe me…Smart? YES…Liberal…Conservative…Who cares?

        But, how dare that woman judge that his phone conversation was not as important than hers. It was his business…not hers…I laud that guy for making great use of his Time in a coffee shop.

        But you see…none of this before or after hours stuff is a new concept…We all 100% depend on other businesses like groceries, department stores, Book stores, Spas’s, gyms, Cleaners, barbers, gas stations, even banks and doctors now to conform to OUR schedule. None of us can usually take off work to do these chores. All of the aforementioned stores HAVE TO be open and be there for us on OUR time…My industry falls into that category.

        Besides…If it’s not me that answers that phone, it will be someone else. And George…you know the price of the homes here and the commission that accompanies it. You would take that phone call as well. It’s my USP. I answer my phone…and I because others in my industry have those types of scripts…is exactly why my business has grown exponentially over the past 5 years.

      • LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL… my favorite one .. but my wife and kids will not let me use it.. was.. HELLO… HEELLO… can you speak up.. I can barely hear you.. … god honey listen to this.. its like they are whispering.. Helllooo… can you talk louder..
        LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
        then well if you cant talk louder then why don’t you leave me a message LOL
        I was filling up the car at the gas station and the daughter called me on the cell.. she said where are you.. I was screaming into the phone because I thought the phone was going bad.. LOL LOL LOL no one will let me put that message on the phone now
        the other one is to repeat over and over about ten times.. your call is important to us please be patient and we will be right with you.. then at the tone leave me a message..
        the other one with telemarketers.. I love to get them talking.. then change the subject get them visiting about different things.. or the new moon consulting service speal.. get them to agree to pay for my advice LOL LOL.. I actually look forward to live person telemarketers the robo calls.. hang up

        Years ago I delivered pizza’s part time.. I took the wealthy neighborhoods..( bad mistake funny but bad mistake.. the reason they are wealthy is by not paying LOL every trick in the book to get a free pizza and no tips.there is a reason why they had to bribe the drivers to deliver them today they just add the tip on to the pizza cost.) anyway one thing that was noticed.. the door bells were never hooked up.. if you knocked then they would answer but the door bells weren’t hooked up.. years later I was taking care of one of them and I asked the answer I got was. anyone that knows us knows that to get our attention they need to knock…

    • Mark: As usual, our liberal millionaire techs, had a hissy fit while being interrupted sipping tea. How could someone have the nerve to throw off their concentration when they are in the middle of an important discussion. Of course, I am sure they believe that anything they have to say is so much more important than anything anyone else has to say.

      Maybe they should try having tea with the homeless one day & see how that goes.

  5. George,

    I am extremely upset at the thought that you are inspired by the thought of extra-judicial homicides.

    Dictators and incompetent loser leaders rely on such ‘solutions’ to solve what is ‘in effect’ their own failings.

    Easily identified groups of people whether criminal or not, are often targeted as visible, prone to killing . . .

    This not a matter to be toyed with!

  6. Amazing how all of you continue to act like there is actually a functioning justice system and rule of law in the USA. It disappeared years ago, and only became evident when the alt media stared reporting on it. This federal stuff is only eyewash to continue to fool the sheeple that it exists.

    Chew on this. Corrupt people cannot prosecute other corrupt people and restore justice to a nation.

    Write when you find an honest man in this morass.

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