It’s a morning where not a ton of creative is required on my part. It’s just a pile of economic news releases and some of these are bound to matter. We can go through it bay agency.
Bureau of Economic Analysis has a new GDP annd Corporate Profits report out. Here are the sing-along lyrics:
“Real gross domestic product (GDP) increased at an annual rate of 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2019 (table 1), according to the “second” estimate released by the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In the fourth quarter, real GDP increased 2.2 percent.
The GDP estimate released today is based on more complete source data than were available for the “advance” estimate issued last month. In the advance estimate, the increase in real GDP in the first quarter was 3.2 percent. Today’s estimate reflects downward revisions to nonresidential fixed investment and private inventory investment and upward revisions to exports and personal consumption expenditures (PCE). Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, were revised up; the general picture of economic growth remains the same
This is better than I was expecting. Kept thinking the Boeing/MAX problem would impact…
“Real gross domestic income (GDI) increased 1.4 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 0.5 percent (revised) in the fourth quarter. The average of real GDP and real GDI, a supplemental measure of U.S. economic activity that equally weights GDP and GDI, increased 2.2 percent in the first quarter, compared with an increase of 1.3 percent in the fourth quarter (table 1).
The increase in real GDP in the first quarter reflected positive contributions from PCE, private inventory investment, exports, state and local government spending, and nonresidential fixed investment that were partly offset by a negative contribution from residential fixed investment. Imports, which are a subtraction in the calculation of GDP, decreased (table 2).
The acceleration in real GDP in the first quarter reflected an upturn in state and local government spending, accelerations in private inventory investment and in exports, and a smaller decrease in residential investment. These movements were partly offset by decelerations in PCE and nonresidential fixed investment, and a downturn in federal government spending. Imports turned down.
Current–dollar GDP increased 3.6 percent, or $183.7 billion, in the first quarter to a level of $21.05 trillion. In the fourth quarter, current-dollar GDP increased 4.1 percent, or $206.9 billion (table 1 and table 3).”
The Census Bureau has a ton of data on Retail and on Import Prices.
Advance International Trade in Goods
The international trade deficit was $72.1 billion in April, up $0.2 billion from $71.9 billion in March. Exports of goods for April were $134.6 billion, $5.9 billion less than March exports. Imports of goods for April were $206.7 billion, $5.6 billion less than March imports.
Advance Wholesale Inventories
Wholesale inventories for April, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $674.5 billion, up 0.7 percent (±0.2 percent) from March 2019, and were up 7.4 percent (±1.2 percent) from April 2018. The February 2019 to March 2019 percentage change was revised from the preliminary estimate of down 0.1 percent (±0.4 percent)* to virtually unchanged (±0.4 percent)*.
Advance Retail Inventories
Retail inventories for April, adjusted for seasonal variations but not for price changes, were estimated at an end-of-month level of $660.9 billion, up 0.5 percent (±0.2 percent) from March 2019, and were up 4.5 percent (±0.5 percent) from April 2018. The February 2019 to March 2019 percentage change was unrevised from the preliminary estimate of down 0.3 percent (±0.2 percent).
After the data, the Dow futures were up about 50, the S&P futures up almost 10.
Speaking of which, a Short Reality Check Rant, OK? (SRCR)
I have gotten a bit sick of the liberal (left-hand) “news” outfits that don’t understand economics and who persist in throwing rocks at stock buy-backs. The fact of the matter is that as an investor (and this includes people with 401K’s or other retirement ideas), remember that if a company is doing a stock buy-back, it drives up share prices – because there are fewer shares representing the same underlying asset (the Company).
Now, here’s the Big Lie shouted by the Crazy Lefties: Maybe they don’t have a side-hustle or casino gambling-substitute, or a retirement plan other than more confiscatory giveaways, but for those of us who do (gamble) and (invest) and (salt some equities away for retirement) OK, and (day-trade a bit) stock buy-backs drive up share prices.
If the Lefties are too freakin’ dumb that they can’t smell opportunity, and didn’t scoop up armloads of stocks when the buy-backs came along (not buying a piece of the action), you shouldn’t listen to them on anything else. Been meaning to get this off my chest for almost a year now.
Even with the draw-down in markets over the past couple of weeks, our Aggregate Index of the major US markets is up 10.6^ since the first of January this year.
What’s more? While our Aggregate was down for calendar 2018, it was up on a 2-year basis (Dec. 2016 to Dec. 2018) about 17 percent. Sometimes you win, other times, not so much.
Given the chance to invest, making investments cautiously and long-term has historically had a higher payoff than supporting a leech-class of political demagogues..
So the next time someone screams about the evils of stock buybacks, remember to mention it is helping their retirement accounts in 401’s and whatever else. If they keep bitching, take ’em aside and ask them if they really like “poor-mouthing” everything. A nickel side-bet says they haven’t saved (shit) and are just looking for someone to blame.
In America, where even human stupidity is monetized, we have a whole political party, built around blame and financial, racial, and sexual victimhood, and which wants to steal accumulated wealth of everyone who’s smarter or works harder than them and redistribute it to their merry band of highwaymen. Less their power-drive handling charge or “vig” along the way.
Efficient markets make for inefficient politics if the baseline population doesn’t understand it’s own power to vote with their wallets, save, and “to renounce the devil and all his works and all his double-talking politician with a hand in your pants…”
Instead of bitching about the “rich” a little more time spent on learning how to accumulate wealth seems to us far superior to wearing the victimhood crown of thorns. The Pay is much better.
(God, I feel better now, having gotten that off my chest…lol. People hate the rich because they don’t want to focus hard enough to become one. Gotta get you to read “Talent is Overrated: What Really Separates World-Class Performers from Everybody Else.”
Spoiler alert: Hard work.
On the Business of War
A note from Warhammer to dial into your thinking about what’s ahead for the world and the big fail in the fall…
. . . “everything is a business model!” From post WWII until today, our U.S. of A. defense industrial arms dealers are amazingly persistent and successful with their relentless foreign military sales (FMS) tactics.
The problem with former Warsaw Pact modernization to NATO standards, where nations owning Russian equipment want to acquire US goods, is the specter of technical compatibility. The Russians do things one way, the US does them another. NATO may even do things differently from the US and Russia. So logistics, maintenance and re-supply becomes a war planner’s nightmare.
War may be hell (nods to Audie Murphy), but war planning can be another, deeper and special level of hell.”
Meantime, Nostracodeus programmer-in-chief Grady has been chomping down his fingernails after catching Vlad Putin talking about intervention if the US gets wrapped into an Iran war… Yessir, another path to the “fields of glowing mushrooms” – if the Indo-Pak doesn’t “flash-over” first. Makes that region sound like an EEPROM doesn’t it?
What that refers to (for those who have never built embedded consumer devices) is an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory or EEPROM for short. UV resettable or EMP, your call…check the data sheets at DigiKey and Mouser…Oops! Not in the the PDF’s yet?
Hmm..guess we’ll have to scrap our lecture on the theoretical basis of Fowler–Nordheim tunneling hot-carrier injection through a thin silicon dioxide layer between the floating-gate and the wafer for another morning, too, then…
Headlines for Thinking People
NY Times business section offering well-founded advise to be caution in the times ahead in their What the Bond Market Is Trying to Tell Us: (Worry) piece.
Elsewhere in the paper, this sound like what I’ve been pointing out on the Peoplenomics side of things: The Bond Market Is Giving Ominous Warnings About the Global Economy. The Global economy has a picture-perfect five waves up since 2009 and a huge downer looms later this year in our work.
Adding to the China/rare earths trade war angle, there is now also A U.S.-Europe Trade War Looms.
And, in the “Light up your Life” department: Exclusive: US retail marijuana sales on pace to rise 35% in 2019 and near $30 billion by 2023. Russian counterpoint: Drinking Up in Russia, Survey Says. So pick your poison and pick your politics?
One more? John Cleese slams critics for ‘political correctness’ over controversial tweet.
Headlines for Sub-Geniuses
Instagram: ‘I don’t want people to be ashamed of their scars’. (I have severe scarring from 70-years of eczema on my ankles, legs, arms and hands, yet somehow I kept on grinding! I have scars but this kind of thing is absurd to me.) Thing is, censoring scar pic’s lead to just another mee-mee deal…jeez we’re stupid people; seriously.
Also in the social warfare trenches Pelosi slams Facebook for not taking down doctored video of her. Wait! So when late-night TV rakes Trump with malicious edits, that’s OK, but when Pelosi gets an edit job…OOOHHH…Anyone remember free speech?
More social distractions? OK then: Twitter users stunned to discover oddly similar, ‘amazing’ wrist freckles. Same alien abductions, maybe?
More proof of IQ trouble? A Man Who Urinated in a Memphis Cereal Factory Has Been Sentenced to 10 Months in Prison. Special P for breakfast?
Time is asking “Is Our Obsession with Health Data Making Us Crazy?” Naw, we were and remain so…
And our A #1 Stupidest headline of the day award goes to the BBC for “Young adults benefit from better pay.”
I mean, did they figure that shit out without help, or what?
Reader Survey Questions
Q1: Since I am writing another book (and serializing it as I go on the Peoplenomics.com subscriber side, I need to knock off a day on UrbanSurvival to free up the research time necessary.
Right now, I publish a Wednesday Urban piece and a Saturday one, as well. One is going to disappear. Question: Which one should disappear, the Saturday Urban or the Wednesday Urban?
Question #2
More finance, less finance; more politics or less, more prepping, or less…tell me which way to shovel the balance. We like to cover the waterfront being attention-deficit hyperactive cynical (ADHC) generalists.. Toss feed back via the comments section which I do read thoroughly….
Q3: Whatever. (No more swearing, be more boring, yada, yada..) (Proofreading errors are a function of time, so don’t waste your time bitching about that).
Time to quit writing. The effects of today’s shot of cynicism medication are wearing off. Time to pour another shot…(Maxwell House, nothing stronger!)
Moron the morrow…
Q1) ‘Nock’ off Wednesday, Q2) I have dropped out of the treading picture so less finance is OK, but still like the charts, Q3) Sometimes you get a bit long in your antennas or repair bits or a bit to deep for me. I can follow it, but don’t as I don’t want to go that deep. I can do that on my own.
Writing my “Ramblings” about Costa Rica living I gave up things like spelling, grammar and swearing. It is me so either stick with it because of the content or dump it because of “lack of interest, grammar basket case, spelling’ or what ever. Tips on prepping are always welcome. I can’t think of everything! Boating stories bring back good memories of being a Live-Aboard. Great time and great memories!
I read all the comments too. Lol sorry, been dealing with some stuff.
Might i make a few alternative suggestions.
#1. Have a Saturday edition written by Elaine. You picked her, she is your better half. Im s-ure she is Highly Intelligent, clever, cunning, whitty, charming and a total Power woman. Like you would settle for anything less anymore than i would. Lol
Why the hell not.
#2. Give a chance for someone else to shine. Just an idea. I could compose something for you once a week, thought provoking and in Urban Survival esq fashion. been reading ya over 12 years now. Trust me i have a ton of good old George Ure’s idioms floating in my noggin.
My all time favorite is still, “I may be crazy, but that doesnt mean im entirely inaccurate”. That and often times a week i find myself using my own “crack pot theory” and thinking of you. I will be doing something and think, Oh here goes Andy’s crack pot theory number 176. Lol
I have a masters degree in Urban Survival. Lol
#3. F*ck it, do what ya want. It is time to update Ure Banner again. Been a few years. Ususally happens every couple years.
#4. I think it is good to “reinvent ” yourself every so often. Repetitivity means no growth. Have to break the mold to grow and ya never stop growing until you cross the veil. Redesign, renovate, out with the old and in with the new. If ya dont you get left behind. And as “we” are “futurist” we are always one step ahead of the heard. We are the pace setters, we are the leaders and makers of the path. Everyone else is following our tracks.
Has it ever occured to you, how HUGE of a responcibility it is? I mean we chat about this and that and talk about current events in relation to the past. Running the Future, is a mighty task. Huge responcibility. Guiding the GREAT POTENTIAL into Being.
Ya know, i dont share alot of what i share with you here on Urban Survival cause it super freaks people out. They have trouble understanding it, get all cross eyed and wierd.
Like i opened up a little to this young lady Kali about some stuff and showed here where there is 3rd party time stamp of me predicting earthquake’s, the stock market correction, bitcoin correction, mass shootings, etc. Etc. Lots of earrhquakes to the day. Months and months in advance. She just had a hard time processing it and when finally go it and was like wow! Thats amazing. Then she looked at me weird for the last couple weeks.
Idk. Its mostly something i do, autonomously. Until George called me out and named me Andy. I was always some handle like 0, or TICICIT, KEYYBE, or Q or something, cause it freaks out most of the people in the rest of the world. Peers who know me as just an easy going, country boy who drives big rig ans always has my nose in some old book.
I been called everything, yoda, 5th element, bhuda, the anomaly, the nobody etc etc.
Point being, it is a Hugh responsiblity calling forth the future, seeing it and as you know aiding in its manifestation. By seeing it or “reading” the potential, not probability but potential (they mean different things) you are cultivating its development wether you think so or not. It occurred to me years ago. Seeing is believing and reading is graining understand.
“Every word read is rewritten by the mind that reads each word and letter. We all have our assemblage points” and by reading the future, we assemble it. Like it or not.
I could do something short one day a week. If allowed. I need to write a book. I just need to get in the habit of writting though. Id make a commitment for a free trial for 6 months. Submit it all to Mr Ure via Email. Keep it a bit more lower key and understandable by the common man. Up to you. This is Ure Baby. I definitely am just Honored to comment once and a while. You have taught me sooo much over the years. I also helped Grady with his program back in the day, Chris at the dream center, and a bunch of other peope. I know The Dog Poet Les Visable, Rence and a bunch of others, mostly as anonymous “0” or “Q” (long before Q drops) and by verious other anonymous “Handles”
If not me, Definitely E. Id love to hear her wisdom. :)
George I could do without the Wed Uber as I like having the diversity of thoughts that you publish daily. Not complaining but would enjoy 7 day a week for me personally.
A1: Saturday
A2: Finance – need all the help we can get..”in the gale of creative destruction” – J. Schumpter
A3: “Snark it up, when U don’t really need it
Snark up, until U can feel it”
You do know the Snark was
a) a Boeing Missile and
b) a class of small sailboat
So what’s in your “snark” Crash?
“If your Snark be a Snark, that is right:
Fetch it home by all means—you may serve it with greens,
And it’s handy for striking a light.
You may seek it with thimbles—and seek it with care;
You may hunt it with forks and hope;
You may threaten its life with a railway-share;
You may charm it with smiles and soap—”
Crash was not kool enough, nor had the foresight and knowledge to smoke Kool cigarettes,(smoked Newports in summertime/Marlboros in spring/winter/fall), enough Kool coupons could be redeemed for a Snark sailboat or $99 – as I was only 9 yrs old in 71′, $99 was Big Money then. Besides, was too busy dumpster diving up at local University for “skin mags” and other assorted trouble..
How’s your eyes holding up, Crash?
Q1. knock off Wed.
Q2. more prepping
Martin Armstrong recently wrote about stock buybacks .
https://www.armstrongeconomics.com/markets-by-sector/stock-indicies/sp-500/corporate-buy-backs/
either one.. although I would do away with Saturday.. since the majority of the people that have a life other than those working off banker exec. hours.. will spend it with the kids. youngsters will be going out dogging it on friday night etc…
Q1 either OK
Q2 same finance, less politics, more prep, more health, more warhammer
Q3 don’t give a hoot about swearing……..once in a while your acronyms can be a challenge
TCBIS (they can be I suppose…)
tcb? (they can be?)
I find all of your content interesting and your insight valuable so my input would be to make your schedule changes as you find necessary. I will point out that Urban is an important part of my limited time on line daily. After only a few minutes of the main stream BS it’s a good place to find a viepoint that reminds me there are others who question who think instead of blindly following.
Admittedly the prepper content does intrigue me but I would not want to miss your other thoughts and reporting but again your judgement is your best guide. “Old Man Labs” are my favorites. Much like my own “Hillbilly Manufacturing Company” aka the shop here at El Rancho de Choas.
A1. Saturday
A2. Go where the mind leads for max. creativity.
A3. I could care less about speling and find some nugget of mental stimulation in just about every thing. Variety is what? Thanks!
George
“What that refers to (for those who have never built embedded consumer devices) is an electrically erasable programmable read-only memory or EEPROM for short.”
A Blessing on the head of the person who invented Flash memory chips!!!
No more burning Eproms then checking the program operation, them making a mod, then erasing the Eprom, burn the new program, repeat until all works as planned.
Flash memory speeded up the product development cycle by orders of magnitude.
Recently from the Washington Post:
“PostEverything Perspective
UFOs exist and everyone needs to adjust to that fact ”
It’s been on TV and now The Post – it must be true.
Q1: keep Saturday for recap/upcoming perspectives
Q2: it’s all good, DO NOT forget the woo woo! I enjoy Ure take on a variety of subjects, and don’t want stifle your creative thought process
Q3: perhaps some interpretive dance videos to supplement your writing…
George,
Let’s spin this stock buy back issue around a bit…Did you ever think that The lefties aren’t crying about the fact that they missed out on the purchasing before the stock buy backs…believe me, they did and many got rich and richer. What they are mad at is that the poor rural righties that missed out and are more emboldened than ever that the leftist elite get richer, while they stay poorer. And it’s that anger that made them think that Trump was somehow going to save them from this morass. If that anger continues, then the Dems have a fight in 2020….unless they point out that Trump is really not on their side…which he isn’t.
On Muellers talk yesterday…I thinks it’s obvious that Mueller is crying for help. The crook is Trump. He has always been a crook his entire life. If it’s one thing I know it’s real estate development. In New York…it’s mafia like…and the thing is…he is just a third rate mafia type that can’t manage his money. Those bankruptcies got him in deep trouble with some mean, swarmy people…The Presidency shields him from all that…BUT LADIES AND GENTLEMEN…Read the Mueller report…I mean really READ it…
Mueller was all but begging the American people yesterday to read between the lines of his speech yesterday…Mueller’s the most law abiding citizen, in the most literal sense of the word that America could ever imagine. But, there is that Columbo style “There’s just one more thing” that he is trying to get Americans to wake up and see. When will America be “WOKE” ? Stay tuned…
MARK….I won’t.. for me it doesn’t make any difference at this point what the dam thing says.. wait for the pun.. I think it’s all trumped up information. They’ve been attacking DJT since the minute they realized that Hillary was not going to win.
And they had questionable ethics in the gathering of all this hyped up information that to me sounded more like what they’ve been trying to blame him for.
He’s been attacked from every angle.His family has stuck by him thank god.
I am sorry but then add insults to injury congress has made every excuse under the sun to not do a dam thing and work to discredit.. which in my way of thinking has threatened our national security by broadcasting to everyone that there’s serious disunity. Every single one of them should be voted out of office
Its time to put the whole she bang to rest in my honest opinion..
Rather than get lathered up everyone just walk away..
The way I remember it one evening there was a tv announcement saying he had better not complain when she won..the next day.. from every news station .he is a cheater.. there has been collusion..whine whine whine his momma wore combat boots. .. then questionable fisa requests and it gets uglier from there..
With the dossier..
Now after all this time money and energy .. just put it behind..walk away..
In a few months we will hear about the miracle men and women and abortion about the need for stronger security.. blah blah blah.. drag that old dead horse around the arena..
At least let the family rest this last year..three years of the wailing and gnashing of teeth because their candidate didn’t
Win is enough..
Looking, You are exactly the type of person Trump likes.
Here’s what Trumo wants you to hear: : “Stay away from the facts and let me tell you the lies that seem like facts and even when the truth comes out, I have said so many lies that seem like facts…people won’t know which end is up and I get away with murder”
MARK…..After three years and a month or so before DJT took office..I have heard non stop crap about him. Yet what I hear him say and his attempts to right fifty years of wrong.. are all things that I would want him to do..
His indebted to questionable people and industry..
You must be talking about the same group that has their fingers around the throats of every congressman and women.. do some serious checking .I will be willing to bet that Even drug cartels have money floating towards the fools on the hill to keep marijuana illegal..heck that’s a what several trillion dollar a year industry..where if it was legalized every one of the fifty thousand plus positive aspects of the plant could be used and studied..
Then again whose the fools..we keep voting in the same people that haven’t done a thing in decades.. that means we are the real fools
I am so tired of turning on the tv and listening to all that nonstop drivel..
Just put it aside already.. I couldn’t pass the microscope yes been put under.. if there had been something real serious there would have been some real evidence years ago.
As for DJT.. if he wanted to do it again I would vote for him..why.. I see what he’s trying to do and I approve..it may not be ethical at times but I totally get what he’s trying to accomplish.
They have attacked him his companies that still have a higher retention level of employees than 95 percent of all companies..they’ve attacked him and his wife and kids..
all the attacks reek of a bunch of rotten fish someplace.
@ Off the Mark
“Mueller’s the most law abiding citizen, in the most literal sense of the word that America could ever imagine”
and I thought YOU didn’t have a sense of humor after you read the M report did you ever read anything about the Uranium One deal……
Q1 = Keep Wednesday. ( Don’t burn out from overwork.)
Q2 = Balance good as is. I like furturism thinking. especially.
Q3 = Cuss all you want. (I was in the Army.)
73
Q. 1) Drop the Saturday urban.
Q. 2) I like the mix as it has been.
George,
Knock off Saturday…it’s summer…we are out playing..or as for me…showing more houses. In other words, weekends are busy.
Balance the finance and politics and show the synergy between the two. Political theater has an affect on markets and markets have an affect on Political theater. You could respond more to comments. There are some pretty smart cookies out there contibutint and a little light sparring never hurt anyone.
And finally…spelling errors schmeling errors. Who cares? We get your point.
Wealth wealth wealth greed greed greed which sums up today’s America,stock buy backs increased stock prices less money for R&D and they wonder why China is pulling so far ahead, but of course it makes the top 5% of any company or corporation happy as incomes keep racing for the moon and all on cheap money provided by the Fed.,meanwhile our debt also keeps racing for the moon and happy days are here again,well until we have to pay the piper that is, and then WE all get to suffer just as they did in 1929..!!!
If I miss an column, it’ probably saturday cause I’m working and busy, That’d be the best day to cut if you HAVE to., e.
Like the extra Saturday post so Wed. can be dropped.
Less Ham radio and more Prepping and real life facts.
Like War Hammer’s knowledge and your other peoples angles.
I do like your health tips and book recommendations.
Thanks
waiting for 4 pm ,happy hour in the back yard raised bed garden under the big 19 by 19 ft tarp with fresh breeze blowing and admiring the lettuce and garlic .
It’s amazing how everything grows better under a 4 mil tarp because the sun is just too hot.
George, IMHO, I’d prefer that the second column disappear from Wednesday if it must go at all. I understand your position and you must have time for your life and your wife.
Keeping another column on Saturday means that if I get busy(if?), then I have something left to read on Sunday. BTW, the prepping stuff is always interesting, along with the comments. I’m truly wondering what, other than cash(Dollars or RMB?) will maintain and/or increase in value if things get worse than in 2008? Will cash hold its value? Metals will likely drop, as will real estate and stocks. There’s just so much in supplies that you can have before you have to buy yet another warehouse, and many are perishable. Rentals are dicey with the crazy political environment and likely tenants with no money.
BTW, we have deposits of rare earth metals near Needles, Ca. They’ve been locked up by EPA regs due to thorium rich ore. They’re available for the mining if we can get the letter agencies out of the way, and if we built even one molten salt thorium reactor, we could use that byproduct, along with burning up at least a small amount of the massive mess of high level nuclear waste we’ve produced. It’s not a panacea, but it’s a worthy objective. It’s important to deal with this waste and our light water reactors before we lose civilization as we know it(we will).
Take off whichever day makes you more productive George. One day’s like another to me.
You do get much more technical on the prepping and electronics side than I’ll ever think to get into but, heck, who knows if I may need it some day. Back up the archives!
Not an “investment” follower, my father turned me away from that many! years ago when he lost his ass in the 50’s. I read the “freebie” writings because of the wide diversity of thoughts that emerge. Some I’m interested in, some I’m not.
And any are subject day to day changes of perspective. I read your site daily because I usually like what I see. You and I just think a lot alike. Enjoy life and do what you gotta do. Just leave a thought every day, even if it’s a short one.
When I see something I like, I remember it in the “foreground”. When I see something I don’t like, I remember it in the “background” just in case it becomes important later.
1.) Knock off Saturday.
2.) More Finance, less politics.
3.) More RF
I understand the need to cut back. I would say kill Wednesday.
As I’m not into radio (Nearest I got was fixing my Grandmother’s Atwater Kent short wave receiver in high school) I could loose the antenna/radio refurbishment coverage.
Keep Up the good work. I’ll still be a loyal reader for whatever, or whenever you publish.
You are a gentleman and scholar, A.G. And a fine writer, I’d add. (See his Amazon books)
The stock buy back is a form of asset cannibalism for companies who are no longer interested in growing. Companies who buy back stocks are not investing in expanding their market share, and are not investing in the domestic workforce through expanded employment. A stock buy back is a symptom of caretakers, or worse, looters in the board room.
Now for the survey:
1. I think the majority of your readers benefit more from the Saturday piece. Suspend the Wednesday report until you get through the crisis of the moment. Permanently axing the Wednesday report implies a 50% refund obligation to current stake holders.
2. Do less baiting of the partisan hate crowd. As a test of this, try going one week without posting an article or a link with a political partisan’s name embedded in it. Maybe switch to decaf the week before, just so you get used to dealing with the withdrawal symptoms. Rules of the test will permit short one sentence replies to leftist losers who can’t take a hint.
3. Interviews and guest posts are usually fun with your entourage. Zeus on sabbatical has been tough for the cat fanciers. A snark is an imaginary animal; when the name is applied to a defense industry product, it may also be a paper tiger as well. I have reconsidered my original skepticism of an RV for you; perhaps you should build a touring RV studio for extended visits to offspring, while continuing to maintain minute-by-minute operational control of your publishing empire on the road. Get the offspring to install a septic and electric hook-up in their backyard at their expense, since they will be the primary beneficiaries of the celebrity visits. If they are still renting, they will need to buy a house in support of your nationwide lifestyle. Price in a security camera for the doublewide in the economic analysis I know you will feel duty-bound to make. The local raiders typically are more scared of cameras than alarms.
LOL…great comments. Two points: Peoplenomics has ONLY been a once a week – I’
ve done 10-years of extra editions, lol
More importantly, though, PN will remain as is BUT it’s the Wed Urban Piece that is on the block (or Sat Urban piec e) we don’t shor4t-change the paying customers..
George, nice piece on economics again.
But you don’t seem to understand that the issue isn’t buybacks per se, but rather borrowing another $2 trillion on the national debt to subsidize buybacks. (Where 83% of the Rich then benefit.)
Rather, if, and that’s a big IF, but if as a matter of policy you are going to deficit stimulate your economy in good times, it’s far, far more efficient to put that money into the hands of people that spend it. That would be the Middle class and below. That would be borrowing for infrastructure and all those good middle class jobs.
You’re the one who’s always crying about watering down the US dollar. (And I’m the one always crying about running up the national debt.) Use a little common sense man. Best, Mike.
Now, we didn’t “borrow” and swell the debt. The problem is both parties are trying to give out more free lunches than the other guys..and that leads to deficit spending. Remember, the spending starts in the House and when you blame the budget deficit on DJT you show your disregard of the political payoff process.
Of course we did we robbed Peter to pay Paul under Reagan and his Star Wars scam,then he gave away the manufacturing sector,China here we come(damn that China anyway stealing everything we own) for we will be the financial center of the world he brayed.Then they started the bubble scam Dot Com. ,housing,wall street,etc as the Fed. became the sugar daddy of them all, meanwhile the debt kept adding up as trillions were lost in those scams, and then the grand-daddy of them all, the end less wars in the Mid-East which added trillions to the debt,trillions that no one will ever account for nor for that matter no one will ever know of just how many trillions simply dis-appeared down the rabbit hole.So lets not try to sugar coat it and put the blame exactly where it belongs, and that’s the corruption in big business the bankers,MIC and wall street.!!
Robert the “star wars” hype and all the stuff Regan did collapsed the soviet union. It was very effective strategy.
They are now a democracy.
No more bay of piggs, etc. The US bankrupted them.
Because of that we are the only world super power left.
Some may argue that, but we are the only nation with a 11 active aircraft carriers etc. If you combine the Number 2 China and number 3 Russia Navy’s you have 3 aircraft carriers. out navy is larget than both china and russia combined comically.
All this Putin this and China that is hype, cause the US and world population has to think that we stilk have an enemy and the other guys have a chance. We are a waring nation.
Trust me though, the admirals and military strategists for china and russia know, we carry a much much bigger stick. Its almoat comical how Massive we are in comparison.
They would never want a conventional war with the US
https://improb.com/best-military-navy-force/
Andy you need to dig a little deeper,the so called collapse of the USSR was an internal decision not one forced by Reagan or his so called Star Wars, for as the Russian scientist said “let them build it and we can defeat it for pennies on the dollar”
As for carriers in the modern world it like going to town in grand-dads ole Model T,one missile from miles away and it become a sinking coffin for some 9,000 people.Its simply a way to brainwash the people that some how some way those floating coffins make’s us the number one world power,it dosen’t and we aren’t for their are other powers that can sink us,Afghanistan and Iraq proved that, as we struggle to beat nothing more than a third world country,and we are still there gaining nothing,wasting money and wasting lives,as they spend away the future of the next two or three generations.!!
Robert – you are correct that the problem started with businesses supported by the bankers carting off American factories (and technology) to places like China, but once American industry was in the hands of the foreign leftists, the corruption evolved. I have heard apocryphal tales of companies trying to move back out of China only to be told “it’s our factory now”. The leftists possess the means of production, and have used the profits to buy the business “leaders” and the D & R partisan gangs off as their own.
n____,
The problem isn’t “It’s OUR factory now…”
It would hurt, but (using GM as an example) Chevrolet could walk away from the $2bln loss of their facility. What they can’t walk away from is the $500bln LOSS OF THEIR INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY.
I’d knock off Sat since it’s a “news void” (usually) and the markets are closed. Otherwise I enjoy your “how to” pieces and Ham radio pieces, although I’m more on the receiver-end..fascinated with all those old Hammarlund receivers from the 60’s and generally like guides to repairing radios. I like your lifestyle pieces as well.
1 End of week analysis always is when cooler heads win. Keep that and maybe change Wed to an update size.
2 Eliminate politics. There is no money in it unless you are at the trough. You can have an opinion on issues but the rest is useless contentious bs. Send this note on to WSJ and IBD. I miss Ed Yardeni from the days when his job title was chief economist. He used to really rip apart those govt reports with no mention of politics unless it will or did have an impact. otoh, it’s hard to split a focus on economics and prepping without taking a dip in the outhouse.
3 Do whatever you can and want to do and get more input from peers. Then you won’t have to listen to peanut gallery clowns like me.
George,
1. I think the Urban group that pays for your expertise and insight are the ones that need to vote on a day off. They might be telling you every other day than your paid seats.
2. I like your balance that you have been having. I think the interaction between politics and the economy if essential to continue to cover. Just doing economics misses the reasons and actions that the left or the right might make to effect all of us in a significant way.
3. I know I am a weird one but your futuring an the ability to call the things that you see may be coming and why has always been an interest of mine. You use to do more a number of years back, and you called the major decline in the market on a specific day. I was blown away!!!
Good luck with your decision.!!
Write the Urban article like the radio show Coast to Coast AM. Write the article like you are interviewing a guest & the Comment section will be for listeners calling into the show with a question or opinion. You will be like Art Bell or George Noory interviewing the guest & we will be the audience & commenters.
:)
Q1 – Eliminate the Wed. Urban writing. Subscriber Peoplenomics will still be there on Wed., correct? That way I will still have some Ure to read!
Q2 – Your choice. I’m not a big fan of all the trading data as I do not trade anymore, but I know that is Ure bread & butter. I just enjoy reading what Ure mind puts out.
Seems to me that….Stock Buy Backs are a FRAUD…as in…those that run the companies and the board of directors that are GIVEN x amount of STOCKS for their incentives which means NO SKIN IN THE GAME, are rewarded far greater than a mere investor…as HE or SHE must use their hard earned CASH to buy stocks…and the others that I mentioned were just GIVEN stocks that they have a 100% profit…and if one is to read the printouts of the buy and sell of the companies stocks one can SEE how many stocks each management type was given and then … …SELLS …and the $$$$ received….imo
Don’t worry about spelling mistakes as the English media is all over The White House press release reminding The Great Unwashed that President Trump is being feted at a State Dinner hosted by “Her Royal Majesty” (sp) next week. Clearly the Royal Family is taken by the current WH occupants as they don’t invite folk back who they don’t like. As June follows May, one imagines a hearty toast will be declared to the outgoing PM. Perhaps Ann Bolyn’s favorite chair can be let out from The Tower for a day.
It was such a shame that president c…and entourage…missed the memorable 50th D-Day Anniv. celebrations held in Europe.
Certainly President Trump is going to be a blessing for all catering to the thirsty throngs as he tours about in recognition of the 75th D-Day Anniversary events. Protesters in full song might well overshadow the usual footy march shenanigans. One is given to understand that even the much-celebrated President Trump blimps shall be re-filled with hot air and let loose over the skies of The Realm!
Oh, such an overflow of tradition just warms the heart. God Save The Queen!
My comments as a PN subscriber, a native Texian, and your elder by 7 years!!
Q1: Either Wed or Sat – macht nichts
Q2: Less Radio – not my interest
Q3: Spelling(typo) errors give flavor and make me stop speed reading and slow down for better comprehension. Re: ‘Language’ occasional absence of the asterisks not a problem for me. The typos also allow you to identify those who try to steal your work without reading it!!
Knock off Wednesday, if you want. I do enjoy all your columns and read them every day, however, it is more difficult to handle the comprehensive column on Wednesdays due to work obligations…..IT work never quits….The mix of subjects is quite good, and I enjoy that. Coming from a very conservative background, (think Amish), the prepping columns always make me reflect on what could happen….The ham radio columns make me want to get out the electronic gear, and be creative. Thanks for everything. 73s
1. Urban Mon-Fri, Peoplenomics Sat (after the markets close as you often point out.) If a Wed, Peoplenomics, then lose that Urban.
2. More Finance, reduce politics, Unless impacts Finance, keep the Tool Slut, Prepping, Futuring, and anything fortelling natural disasters. Keep Guest Commentators (Warhammer, Kansas, Far East Island report, Consigliere, the list of Friends of Peoplenomics.)
3. Cussing? What Cussing? (I was scrum captain of U of Alabama Rugby team after all. Have you heard some of the party songs?)
BTW have you ever Googled Alfred Brown and Big Al on the same line, to learn how the Rugby Team named the Alabama Mascot? I’m not guilty I was off teaching a Chemistry lab at the time.
” A U.S.-Europe Trade War Looms.”
Has been looming…
Lessee, how ’bout we give Boeing $20mln for every 7×7 they sell offshore, and give Ford $5000 for every Focus (Ka, etc.) sold in Europe…? THAT is what the Prussians and Cheeseeaters have been doing to us. Don’t get me wrong. I love VWs and Citroens, but the practice is “just wrong,” just as it was when Japan subsidized the “Japcar Invasion.” Didja know: Japan subsidized the Japanese automakers until Honda and Toyota became major players in the U.S. market (and again, when production hybrids hit the market)? Yeah, it was great when we could buy a first-gen Accord for $7100 and a first-gen Prius for $31.5k, but they cost, respectively, $7922 and $38244 to manufacture. The Japanese Government paid millions, to give us cheap cars, until they permanently, strategically altered the U.S. market. Now, I don’t see a flood of PooJoes slamming us in the near future (I happen to like Peugeot too, FWIW) but I expect both people and businesses to behave in a moral fashion, and purchasing, rather than earning a customer base, isn’t doing so…
John Cleese is THE Python of Monty! He’s been doing political commentary, disguised as comedic satire, for longer than most of us have been alive… Sorry if the latest generation of Labour-tards and commies got butt-hurt because he dared to do on Twitter, exactly what he’s done in cinema and television since the 1960s…
Q1) Don’t care. Do whichever benefits you most.
Q2) Might bump prepping just a tad. Both Econ and polytics are good on your part.
Q3) Be colorful, but not ribald. Succinctness sometimes demands it and we old farts appreciate direct statements.
Atleast the Jap’s gave us durable cars. Toyota’s and honda’s are notoriously 3-400k mile cars. There was recently a guy who rolled his honda 999,999 miles but the odometer quit right as it rolled over 1 million miles.
Datsun was first. Owned by Nidan but marketed as Datsun because those Zero Bombers in WWII were all made by Nisan.
Love your comments Ray. Truly Marvelous Brain. Always loom fot them.
History my brotha – corp history – back in the 60’s, German car makers were technological leaders in car manufacturing, so when the Japs called them up to explain how they made the car in less than 2 days time the Germans said…. “dat soon”? and that of course is how they originally got the name Datsun.
George;
Q1: Drop Wednesday, makes room for a sort of weekly perspectives, evaluations & reflections Saturday refined focus.
Q2: Keep it as is (‘steady as she goes’), your columns to me are always mind invigorating; specially if you are having fun yourself, your witty comments, try and keep it out of the box as possible. If anything add just a tad of more futurism. I do enjoy particularly your radio and Flying contents but the prepping no less either. The real news yes, and keep the financial analysis & graphs always the main focus and good.
Q3: Typos? Today I’m way more interested in your points; I know they don’t reflect on your mastery of the language at all, you write books for goodness sake.
I believe swearing in publications is generally not necessary as it might lessen its character; unless it is overwhelmingly compelling to score the epitome of a very strong case or point.
Thank you for all you do and my best wishes always.
Hi, George,
Whether to eliminate Wednesday’s column or Saturday’s column should depend upon several considerations. Would you get more rest from having both Saturday and Sunday off and not have to write a column for Saturday? Would two consecutive days respite allow for more time for other things to accomplish around your home and give more flow time for other projects of interest? Would eliminating a Wednesday column permit a deeper perspective from a Saturday column as you re-cap the previous week? I think that this decision could be motivated by what you determine as the better arrangement of your time and energy at this stage in your life. If something very important happens in the world, you could always make a special report on it. Thanks for all you do.
If you drop Wed. and keep Sat. that would be ok. More time to read over the weekend.
More prepping is helpful. More finance is helpful. Enjoy Peoplenomics on weekend, since markets are closed and more time to read. Keep up the great work.
Okay, this is partly in response to Andy’s reply of my earlier post. I thought it deserved its own thread, so I’m making it a new post.
From Andy: “At least the Jap’s gave us durable cars. Toyota’s and honda’s are notoriously 3-400k mile cars…”
The Japanese suck at invention, but they excel at creativity. They historically take technology from someplace else, then make it better. The Japcars from the 60s until about 1988 or ’89 were horrendous rust-buckets. They copied the German idea of hot-tank galvanizing (as did we, later) and once perfected, began to churn out vehicles which were as good as the engines they made. I don’t fault them for this — their vehicles stand on their own merit. I fault them for buying their way into the U.S. marketplace.
This is exactly what Airbus is doing, worldwide. Airbus is subsidized by the French and German governments, to enable them to take worldwide market share from Boeing which they haven’t earned, and don’t otherwise deserve.
American iron is heavily tariffed everywhere in Ure-up, to prevent us from selling RAMs and F150s (and Mercedes-killing Cadillac supercars) anywhere on the East side of the Pond. If we have actual “free trade” (remember GATT?) this crap is dishonest, and both politically wrong and morally repugnant.
Given actual free trade, much of China’s newfound manufacturing capacity would migrate to SE Asia and Indonesia, where labor is cheaper and people (and manufacturing concerns) are more free. WE wouldn’t have the 10,000 or so tariffs on individual Chinese goods, nor they the roughly 12,000 tariffs they have on our individual goods, which have been in place since the 1970s and ’80s.
THIS is the stuff Trump is trying to end, and if he doesn’t, China will become too economically strong for us, or anyone else, to break. China steals, on average, over $600bln in tech from just the U.S. every year, and damages our economy nearly that much more in lost revenue. We’re in a literal “win or die” economic war with the ChiComs, and 99.9% of the Country isn’t even aware — let alone would care if they were (‘cuz economics is boring and there’s a new meme on Facebook…)
But we’ll ALL care, if Trump fails, which is what annoys me about never-Trumpers and other political and diplomatic illiterates. DJT is not my favorite person on the planet, but he’s all we have, and to his credit, is the only one likely to have both the drive, and the LACK of backroom connections required to do the job — if he’s allowed.
Within a generation (11 years by the Chinese roadmap), China will literally own and/or control the United States. Are y’all ready for that, Comrades? I’m not…
Ray,
Trump is not all we have. Get a new GOP President in there.Trump is ruining America.
And on The Japanese and China stealing? Apple steals from Samsung, Budweiser re-engineered light beer that it stole from Miller. Reebok stole from Nike…Nike stole from Puma…Ralph Lauren stole from Izod, GM stole from Ford…Del Monte stole from Dole, Wal-Mart stole from K-Mart…there are thousands of example of American companies stealing from their own American competition as well as the Japanese, and European companies. It’s business. China knows that the American cabal, that has to try real hard to suck up to Trump without vomiting all over themselves first out of disgust, is in it for their own profit. America wants it cake and eat it too just like everyone else.
We’ll have a new President in 6 years. Until then, Trump’s the Man.
Yeah, nearly every company engages in corporate espionage. However, the Chinese GOVERNMENT method is different. To sell in China, a company has to either build a physical presence on Chinese soil, or pay exorbitant taxes and punitive “market entry fees.” Part of the agreement to permit building said physical presence, requires the company to freely license its patent catalog to the Chinese Government, through a dummy corporation owned by the Chinese military, and additionally, to make this dummy corp a “co-maker” for any future patents secured anywhere in the world, by the company’s Chinese subsidiary. This patent catalog is periodically sifted by the ChiComs for militarily-applicable tech, but is otherwise untouched, and held over the company’s head like a Sword of Damocles.
GM can choose to write off the $2+bln it cost to build the factory, and move their Cadillac facility back to the U.S., or to any place else, but if they do, they’ve already given the Chinese license to build and market “Cadillacs.” The $2bln hit would be painful, but GM could not survive the, perhaps as high as $400bln, loss of their catalog.
Donna Karan may filch an idea or two from Betsey Johnson, but she doesn’t have free reign to make and market Betsey Johnson apparel under the BJ label, therefore your straw man argument is without relevance…
Ray- If GM builds a factory in China, it will stay there or close, because the Chinese are not going to allow GM to take THEIR means of production out of THEIR country.
I know this.
Other folks, I fear, not so much…
Hi, George –
You must improve this messaging system of yours. You remember google groups. You could at old posts easily there. :)
Thanks!