Markets Topping? CBO-Blues, U-I Filers

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On our Peoplenomics.com subscription site, we have been tracking for some weeks now the potential for the markets to roll over in this area for one very simple reason.  All the Elliott Wave requirements (for a major high) were met at the close Wednesday in our Aggregate markets index.  

What’s more, if you guessed that some whacked-out crazy on the web loaded up on some day trading short positions, well, that’d be a good guess, too.

A Word About Elliott 

First, go read the Wikipedia entry. If you are not willing to spend a few minutes to at least grok the basics, then some of what follows (like the charts) won’t make sense.  So, get along now…Elliott wave principle – Wikipedia.

The simple view is that not only do markets tend to rise in waves of three steps or five.  They also nest.  That is, within a large five waves, there will normally be found a supporting three or five wave sequence. And within that another nested move….

Which is why today we’ll share a chart based on my grad schoolwork years, where I became fascinated with predicting markets based on Aggregation theories.  One which will get you started is the simple idea that there is ever only just so much money in the world.

It’s a slippery substance, this money stuff.  Some people have turned international money flows into good Science.  People like Marty Armstrong, for example.

Me? Nope.  Too much work.  Freeze-frame markets at their closes, especially the U.S. Friday close because the world normalizes a bit going into weekends, and you can make some interesting generalizations.  Our proxy for U.S. financial conditions is an Aggregate Index of many well-known specific market indices.

Which, over a long period of time will give you an index that agrees with nothing.  Sure, there will be times when the Blue Chips like the Dow will be favored, or Techs will be shunned.  That’s something you can think of as the domestic version of international money flows. Following?

Big set-up, but here’s the real McGoslin: We met our “topping conditions” and filled a final “trading box” on yesterday’s close.

Being above average smarts, you’ll notice this only goes back to the fall of 2022.  Look for the big arrow in this chart and now you’ll get a sense of where all this has nested.

If you squint, you can even make out the small five-wave move that just reached an obvious breakpoint at the close yesterday.

There Are Caveats!

  • Markets do not usually spin on a dime.  There is a “time angle” to all this stuff.  If this were an extended double top, which is only higher than the 2021 top by an amount that’s less than monetary inflation, then that would be fine.
  • We are aware there are purists who say “inflation doesn’t matter” but when you start Aggregating data, it really seems to.
  • Where next?
    • A modest decline would not surprise us (hence personally going short a bit in my lunch money gambling account).
    • We face several support levels lower from here.
    • But in general, if they all break, then the G.A. Stewart work on Nostradamus outlooks will be the most useful guidebook ever written.
    • If the support holds?  After a decline, we could get a summer rally.  Collapse going into the election.  There’s a provision for this kind of thing if an X-wave is occurring. My consigliere likes it, based on some Chris Carolan spiral calendar work, plus wanna make a little wager right now on “Election Trust” issues,  All likely going to be tough on markets.
    • On the other hand, consider a good-sized decline from here (the Macro Wave 3 down’s first major break, then a summer rally to Labor Day-ish.  And then the Big Kahuna’s Wave 3 down. Tears, gnashing and wailing and even rumors of AmRev2 by then, which the left will wail about CivWar2 which will be wrong…Because it’s AmRev2 over border abandonment, not the CivWar, but you notice how that’s already been salted/inculcated into your brain, already?  Gotta watch the propagandists when new claims surface!
    • OR we could simply all sail higher from here and Biden win on the basis of the economy being highly manipulated.
    • (Nothing on this site is financial advice – it’s a discussion of economics and trading and purely First Amendment stuff.)

All this doesn’t mean we (or anyone) has a lock on the Future.  But it’s like the would-be “system gamblers” in Atlantic City who can do pretty well for a while, because sometimes just paying close attention will make you a better player.

Come to think of it, if our work is wrong, we won’t be the only ones: Have a read of The Plunge Begins? – The Burning Platform. Different logic but all with that same distinctive eau d merde. or in just the right wind, qui pue.

CBO Does Futuring

The Congression Budget Office came out with its annual lookahead this week and I spent part of last night reading it.

The key parts to ponder include these:

  • Economic growth slows in 2024 as unemployment increases, partly as a result of tight monetary policy. Real (inflation-adjusted) GDP growth accelerates in 2025 after the Federal Reserve responds to weaker economic conditions in 2024 by lowering interest rates.
  • Interest rates rose in 2023 as the federal funds rate increased to its highest level since 2001. In CBO’s projections, that rate begins to decline in the second quarter of calendar year 2024.
  • Interest rates on 10-year Treasury notes rise in 2024 and then fall through 2026.
  • Inflation (as measured by the price index for personal consumption expenditures) slowed markedly in 2023.
  • In CBO’s projections, it slows further in 2024—to a rate roughly in line with the Federal Reserve’s long-run goal of 2 percent—and then ticks up in 2025, before declining slightly.

Were the CBO calls really good, they would have caused more impact than they did.  Because, for example, there’s an unreasonable (to our way of thinking) lack of “exceptional events.”  You can find, for example, major projected decreases in Defense spending.  Not on any planet we can think of.

Still, useful to know – and that’s certainly one path “future-normal” could go.

Unemployment Filings

Laughable land of press releases.  Rather than bore you with still more wordiness, here are the snips to focus on. Fewer new filers, may feed into a longer wait for the Fed to kick loose on lower rates, though:

As for what it felt like in a few states:

So it rolls…

Scrollers and Crawlers

Teutonic subtleties: Germany’s Scholz calls on EU, US to send ‘very clear signal’ to Putin  – Euractiv.  We are pretty sure Putin has figured out what’s really going on in Ukraine.

In fact, Putin’s talked to Tucker Carlson: Transcript of Tucker Carlson’s interview with President Putin. Key part to us was: “PUTIN: We’re convinced he (Biden) is not running the country. Let’s say we have good sources that confirm that but it’s plain for anyone to see for themselves.”

But in case you haven’t looked lately: Joe Biden confuses Angela Merkel with dead chancellor in latest gaffe. Which part of fake surprised do you want?

Not that elections will matter: New Hampshire, Feds Announce First AI-Related Criminal Election Fraud Case.

Disasters Courting:  Lot’s of these coming up:  US Supreme Court to hear landmark case seeking to bar Trump from election over Capitol riot | Euronews.  War on climate skeptics, too: Michael Mann, prominent climate scientist, gets his day in court.  And if that’s not enough, Texas Border Wire Fence Legal Dispute Delayed: Latest Update – Washington Examiner.

ATR: Mirth & Wiring

Mirth part first:  So, Elaine comes over to my office, knocks on the door (she’s a stickler for polite – truly an AMAZING woman). Comes in and tells me:

“I just thought you should know…it’s Here now. Change.”

“What do you mean?”

“I just saw the garbage truck do our pickup.  It was a woman doing the loading! “

Elaine’s a firm believer in traditional values.  I’m more the Equal Opportunist. But she makes interesting points about a world where men don’t take better care of their women (or one-another) but that goes into a deep rabbit hole of a discussion…

With Elaine looking me in the eye, I went for the only way out of a longer discussion.

“Did she look, um, you know., trashy?”

That worked.  There was a hint of smile, and a shake of the head  as Elaine rolled her eyes. The conversation moved on…I didn’t have to go into my Mike Rowe discussion…

Wiring: I have been disappointed that the very first rack of solar panels is not putting out much power.  About 19 Amps at 28 volts, which is only 532 watts. From what was once a 1,500 array.

Found from used 285-watt panels on the Santan Solar website.  While used, they are still guaranteed to put out 242 watts, so I ordered 10 of them.  Which with residential delivery came to $706 buck.

Since everything else is in place, and I have one rewelding item on that array rack to do anyway, I’m figuring the payback period on this will be less than 3-years.

My birthday present to myself.  More solar panels!  And with a 3-year payback, I am planning to live long enough to see them give a real payback on the investment.

Ever notice how people spend more time on news and worry than considering alternatives and taking action?

Write when you get rich,

George@Ure.net

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George Ure
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/George-Ure/e/B0098M3VY8%3Fref=dbs_a_mng_rwt_scns_share UrbanSurvival Bio: https://urbansurvival.com/about-george-ure/
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42 thoughts on “Markets Topping? CBO-Blues, U-I Filers”

  2. George, the sky is falling now.

    https://archive.is/XQ21r

    Although weve been calling for it for the better part of a decade or two, maybe longer. The advantage of being early is that those paying attention and acting on the information could position thier portfolio to a sizeable allocation of precious metals and select crypto using only lunch money and Buffet’s argument of time diversity.

    Got Blockchain? Not advice, do your own homework.

    • Just remember to Cast your vote for …Joe washing….. I mean Tomas jeffer bid..Joe Linc.. I mean joe quinc.. oh hell you know who it is.. that one guy with cackling kammy.. you know the star of Mr. Mumbles goes to washington…You know that one guy that doesn’t know who he is where he is or what he is doing but means well LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL thought those top secret papers strewn all over was his kids comic book collection that one LOL LOL LOL LOL just when you thought the humor had died in Mainstream Media News.. you hear that report on jefferso.. oh you know his cognitive declines that has gone beyond the twilight zone on the evening news.. …MSM must have lost favor with the old geezer.. and here I thought I was an old geezer LOL LOL LOL I have to admit it was a funny broadcast LOL LOL LOL

  5. For what it’s worth I have noticed that a number of psychics astrologers and social prognosticators have turned very upbeat these last few months. From reading them it sounds like this is the beginning of the 1000 year golden age. An example from this week is none other than “Andy.” He sees a 25 year period of good times starting this year, like now.

    According to R. N. Elliott and R. Prechter one the symptoms of a topping process in social mood is the last of the negative prognosticators throwing in the towel.

    Party on.

  7. Based on dozens of measures that include valuations, internals, overextension syndromes, and numerous technical, fundamental, and cyclical gauges we’ve developed over time, we estimate that current market conditions now “cluster” among the worst 0.1% instances in history – more similar to major market peaks and dissimilar to major market lows than 99.9% of all post-war periods.

    I call this the “Cluster of Woe” because the handful of similarly extreme instances (most notably in 1972, 1987, 1998, 2000, 2018, 2020, and 2022) were typically followed by abrupt market losses of 10%-30% over the next 6-10 weeks (average -12.5%), with losses at the smaller end of that range often seeing deeper follow-through later. Still, I treat these outcomes as “regularities” rather than “forecasts,” and my impression is that investors don’t accept those regularities anyway. – John Hussman

    https://www.hussmanfunds.com/comment/mc240204/

  8. George

    I don’t know if you have a place for dreams, but something is going on in my dream world.
    Was driving through southern UK, on the narrow roadways through villages in an old beige VW Beetle but it had electric windows. Easy to lower and see the wonder of the old.
    Woke up and then went back in and was in a place that looked like Leicester, dirty brick warehouses, by the water, and was floating along on a barge or some flat boat. Here comes the good part. There were BLACK HORSES on the docks, almost falling over the edge to get on the barge and more of them coming out of the buildings onto wooden landings, struggling to avoid falling off the edge. We couldn’t help them in that struggle.
    Then i went to the Canary Islands to speed sail, but that was just fun.
    Black horses… all black horses. The rich are getting richer and we will eat bugs. Triple the price of basic food and keep the wine and oil for the special people. Not a good look for me. Left me laying in the dark this morning wondering.
    And then it was clear and sunny after a night of heavy rain and wind. Ultimately we are blessed if we can awaken.
    Stiks

  9. The numbers for January are out., and China has seen the biggest drop in prices in over 14 years. Looks as though deflation has taken hold in the second largest economy in the world. How this will play out on their export prices on the world stage has yet to be determined. And my question is: Is deflation a global contagion ? Once one of the top five, or ten economies in the world drops into a deflationary cycle., do the other top tier countries follow suit ? Couldn’t find any research on that. In fact I couldn’t find any solid research on what the effects a deflationary economy from one major player has on the global economy – or its trading partners. I have a few guess., but no data / proof on anything.

    • A real BIG tidbit from the TC/Putin interview is that China is #1 World economic powerhouse, and took over USA several years ago, but our lying global western media does not tell the truth.

      EVERYONE should watch this interview, he basically explains how the power brokers prevent peace AND have been purposefully actively unstoppably doing everything they can to destroy America, the dollar, and everything Western Civilization and yet HE calls them elites!!!

      The interview is chock full of The Truth.

      • (“A real BIG tidbit from the TC/Putin interview is that China is #1 World economic powerhouse, and took over USA several years ago, but our lying global western media does not tell the truth.”)

        Exactly what I think to.. When our industry sold out for their GOD of Numbers.. it was over.. our industrial superiority is long gone..
        Think about it.. we spend close to a trillion.. with this Ukraine war that we are spending hundreds of billions to promote they spend a quarter of what we do.. but think about that.. who is putting more into their military..them or us..
        the wages of a daily laborer or factory worker is under twenty dollars a year.. here you can’t afford to rent an apartment unless you make that much an hour.. I got a whole pallet of empty drink containers for half of what one case costs.. most of it was shipping..
        OF the crap you will put in your shopping cart ninety nine percent of the goods are made at a company owned or controlled by CCP Now here is something to.. those companies that the CCP control offer better and more thorough benefit packages to the people that work for them.. Way better than a company that sold out for coin and the business model those companies have a more loyal work force……Now I do not believe the Xi is the one telling Biden what to do I am sure that they demanded some stuff from the money they paid the kid and brother you get what you pay for…. I believe the man behind the curtain lives in Europe or someplace else that is controlling what the USA does.. but kid and brother sold out to the CCP or better yet they leveraged money to promote contact and influence to the high up politicians.. They are in control of the greater NATO countries as well.. without them and their industry the world struggles.. they fail we fail..

    • fwiw when I did my research on economic collapses years ago (excess credit destruction) 2/3 to 4/5 of the time the excess credit destruction was “accomplished” by deflation/bankruptcy and the other times it was “accomplished” by hyper-inflating away the excess credit.

      Remember … all debt (borrower) has a corresponding saver, so when you destroy the excess debt you are also destroying the savings of the saver. TWO SIDES OF THE SAME COIN … you can NOT have one without the other. Just like a quarter has two sides to it … so does debt, for debt the other side is “savings”.

      The “Savers” savings can NOT BE SAVED if the excess debt is to be destroyed (“excess debt” occurs when the interest rate amounts that need to be paid on the debt EXCEED the cash flow of the person, entity, or country to pay such INTEREST – paying down the actual loan is NOT a consideration in these events since the underlying load was not intended to EVER be paid off … it is the Interest that needs to be paid that is the critical dynamic).

      When more debt has to be taken on just to pay the interest on the existing debt you know the entity (person /business /country) is in deep doo doo and just awaiting an external event shock that causes their “House of Cards” to begin their collapse.

  10. Ok.. I know how you can make fast…. MONEY… LOTS OF MONEY….As we all drive down the roadways you will see an old skunk or coon that has been hit by a car.. well I don’t know about there but here.. if you scrape that up toss it in the car.. they will give you twenty bucks a pop at the rendering company LOL LOL LOL just think.. I believe its double or more for the larger animals.. just not sure how much.. instant cash flow LOL LOL LOL LOL…
    Plus The Administration will give you money to house them to LOL LOL LOL LOL maybe even free medical and dental for them.. so no STD’s to be spread around LOL LOL LOL and if your lonely.. heck not anymore LOL LOL

    https://www.fema.gov/grants/shelter-services-program

    They are asking people to take in refugees to.. think about that.. if the government is buying children or paying for them that they have lost or misslaced.. you could take in five or ten women.. and then market their female skills.. LOL LOL LOL LOL instant money maker you could be as rich as the brand.. five thousand at two hundred dollars a pop.. or a thousand per woman.. dam you are a millionaire LOL LOL LOL LOL. who said that them crossing into the country illegally was not a money maker waiting to happen the Administration I am is on top of it all LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL
    all the while we have been looking at this situation as an invasion.. instead its a business model … LOL LOL LOL LOL

    • LooB,

      There’s already neighborhoods in San Fransisco taken over by Pimps & Hoes.

      ‘Pimps control our neighborhood!’ San Diego residents and business owners fume over ‘rampant’ prostitution that’s disrupting church services

      https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13062555/san-diego-pimps-prostitutes-governor-gavin-newsom.html

      STIs are on the rise and I think the answer will be the new Apple Vision Pro. Back there we discussed virtual reality.

      Speaking of, VR the first link shows how a guy uses the AVP in his house. If you’re a clicker, instead of looking at basketball scores/games and YT screens imagine ‘other’ naked couples in the room.

      Say the wife gets sick of looking at her man sprawled across the couch. She throws on the glasses and now she’s looking at a new buck and participating in a Roman style freak show or vice/verse.

      The second link is an overview of the AVP. The guy is dry but it’s a decent overview. Pro tip: set the video speed to 1.25 or faster.

      The Evolution Of Technology Is Wild: Man Demonstrates The Use Of The Apple Vision Pro Inside His Home!

      https://worldstar.com/videos/wshhjWrJx0qNtsr2VcNU/the-evolution-of-technology-is-wild-man-demonstrates-the-use-of-the-apple-vision-pro-inside-his-home

      Apple Vision Pro Review: Tomorrow’s Ideas… Today’s Tech!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86Gy035z_KA&t=376s

      • Yup LOL LOL LOL LOL LOL… and we took their only source of protection away from them via those two terrorist organizations that are supported by the brand. But think about that.. even at a hundred bucks a sloppy toppy.. what was it the perv kid said about his step mom shes an entitled C>>> and Shes a Ghetto Head LOL LOL at a hundred bucks a pop you could put a tent up on the street.. Why should the brand and the cartels make all the money LOL this is a win win the perfect business model. the US and our administration pays you for the space to house them.. the US govt pays for their medical and dental cares gives them a cash card probably refilled by the govt every month …. and you get the cash they can make along the street.. LOL LOL LOL… just make sure they know.. do the sloppy toppy faster Time is Money here LOL LOL LOL this is a money making venture supported and promoted by the Brand… What is that old saying Ass Cash or Gas no one rides the bus for free LOL LOL LOL LOL

      • Now.. the vision pro.. Years ago I was at a tech show.. and they had something like that..you put it on.. and by god you were standing on the edge of the grand canyon.. look up.. you could see the bird flying around look down.. you could see the leaves rustling on the tree in the breeze.. it was real.. like crawling into the world of amazement.. if someone had come up and given you a little nudge you would have sworn you were falling into the grand canyon..
        back in the early seventies.. I seen in RD a cube.. in it was a hologram of the earth in real time taken and beamed back to the earth from a series of a satalites.. I was amazed at it.. we totally have the power and technology to do this.. I have seen them with my own eyes.. and was amazed.. what got me was the day I walked around that cube I could watch storms in the pacific and atlantic ocean in real time.. it was amazing..

  11. OH.. taking in Refugee women not road killed animals LOL LOL LOL…
    Its all in the perspective.. one takes a look at it.. LOL LOL LOL

    • ‘The Great Reset Is Dead, Long Live The Great Reset’

      G.A. STEWART: These people are going to take it all down. They do not care. They have burned down the world and flipped everyone the finger saying it’s not their fault. Either that’s gaslighting or Yuval Noah Harari is as senile as Joe Biden.

      However, what Yuval Noah Harari, Klaus Schwab, and other global elitists simply do not understand is that they will be hood ornaments in a real-life Mad Max movie. Their Tweets will echo in infamy. They have no talents and contribute nothing but intellectual drivel, and the muscle that protects them are people who are far more ruthless and who will understand their uselessness. That is just the way history has rolled.

      https://theageofdesolation.com/nostradamus/2024/02/09/the-gaslighting-of-a-nation/

  13. According to data from the U.S. Customs and Border Protection – San Diego Border Patrol Sector, agents apprehended 8,659 illegal immigrants from 73 different countries over a one-week span between Jan. 31 and Feb. 6.
    – 73 countries ! Holy crap., !!
    In fiscal year 2021, there were only 450 Chinese migrants apprehended, in 2023 24,314 Chinese nationals were apprehended.
    Customs and Border Protection said that migrant encounters hit a staggering 300,000 incidents in just Dec. 2023 alone, a level thought unimaginable just a couple of years ago.
    Between Dec. 1 and 31, more than 302,000 migrants were documented attempting to cross the U.S. southern border. The highest account ever recorded for a single month.
    And these numbers are for just the San Diego border area.

  14. As a total moron when it comes to finance and stock trading all I want to know is when to sell?
    I’ve been sitting on 5300 shares of Home Depot stock for 25 years. I was a plant buyer for HD for 13 years and as an employee we got a great discount on stock purchases. When I think about the taxes I get sick to my stomach. Would like to time the sale right before the gov totally collapses cause well I hate paying taxes, no. I mean I really hate paying taxes. Any heads up on timing would be greatly appreciated.

    • You are sitting on close to $2 million in HD stock – it would be rather silly for anyone to give you advice on when to sell. They are at a couple year high at the moment., and several firms predict a good Spring and Summer for the two – Lowes and Home Depot., but that’s a wait and see. Some financials are saying hold., some are saying buy.
      You could pay someone for the advice, but they are not going to know any more than you – if you do a few days research.
      I would make a list of my priorities.., my wants & needs.., factoring in your age and what you want to do – or need to do right now and in the future., and just where is that future going. That may give you a good solid clue as what to do.
      .
      At that level – yep., you are going to pay taxes.

    • depending on your age, portfolio and investment time frame you may want to at least diversify. if the HD stock is the only asset in your portfolio you definitely should diversify. it’s still not good to have all of your eggs in one basket. i suggest speaking with a tax and investment person. there are ways to minimize your tax exposure.

  15. that was easier than I expected..lol lol.. to get empty beer cans to seal beer in ..the cost is about 200 a case in the usa i got them for 12..since everyone gets them from the same place..I usually order them from china.. so I went to order a case for my own home use..the company seen that shipping costs were the same whether it was 1 case the shipping cost was the same as a pallet..since they were still going to make a profit and I’m a good customer they just sent a pallet omg i cant even tell you how much that arriva.. they showed up today.. I expected a long lecture.. and I did get the needs and wants lecture but nothing like I was expecting a long lecture from the woman you dont argue with.
    it wasn’t nearly as bad as I expected.. I won’t have to buy any for a couple years lol lol

    • makes me curious..what is the cost to manufacture them.. I know their cost of living is completely different to ours..we make in an hour at a base wage what they do in a year.. similar to the 4 dollar dishwasher retail there is a third of a yearly wage only the wealthiest own them.. or the mp3 players I paid a penny a piece for..or the two liter bottle plugs that you can get 50 thousand of them for a hundred dollars they are over a buck a piece here.. makes me curious what actual manufacturing cost is for it..

      • I worked in China from 1980 until 2005. Went at least four times a year and spent 7-10 days in factory settings, eating with the staff, not the workers, but near the same. When first in, the wage was about 80$ a month for semi-skilled labor (mostly young women, sewing trade) and the managers got up to 1000 a month. Every one, including them, lived in 20×20 rooms. Workers eight to a room, and managers, two. Bath and shitter down the hall. We had a million square feet, five stories, with about 2500 people. Walls around with broken glass tops were to keep out people who would steal a tool or whatever. Outside wage was around 10-15$ a month so there were always forty or fifty outside wanting to work.
        Once someone dumped a load of garbage on the big boss head as he walked out of the gate. He had every worker from the zone where it could have happened brought to the courtyard. No one would confess or rat out the perp so he fired them all, and had the jobs filled in an hour. This was around 1990. Baoan county, still special economic zone. It was a trashy village with our factory dead n the middle. Now it’s a big city with chrome and glass.
        The next ten years took me to worse places deep inside and I could write a book about all the crazy shit i saw. But i also saw them build an eight lane freeway 80km in about a year, with overpasses and garden spots. No EPA to slow things up there. And Shenzen was the same. Fishing village to metropolis in about eight years.
        Every Congressperson should have to take the MTR and ride to the border, make their way through the gate into Shenzhen, then find their way to some meeting 100km inside. Might change some ideas about how the world really works.
        The main thing I learned there from doing biz and working directly with the factory people daily is there is order, but no law. And definitely a scary lack of personal freedom at almost any level except the bosses. Our big boss was a local ‘governor’, had the top Red Card, a cede’s with a driver, but lived in a shithole unless he was home in Hong Kong where he owned a 600 seat vegetarian restaurant. There is lots going on there that no American can imagine. And even though I made friends there who were always good to me on a personal level, if I never go back, ever, it will be fine with me.
        We don’t want to be like them. Please, God.
        Stiks

        • I actually thought it was more like turkey where the semi skilled labor gets about twelve dollars a year.. I know on the show sixty days.. ( lasted a whopping six shows LOL only one did it without cheating)
          they had people in india that sewed.. after the sixty days they made two dollars and fifty cents between the four of them..
          I keep thinking I want to ask but don’t because that is something really personal..
          My salesman lives at home with his mom dad his siblings their spouses and the whole family..

        • What a wonderful opportunity to have experienced… did you see the water gardens.. the girls at the restaurant had her dad do a go pro tour of the forbidden city for me I have heard some of the stories of the poverty there.. they came to the USA to make money to send home to their parents and family.. a great deal of devotion between family members that we do not see here you marry a chinese woman you married the whole family… Her father did the walking tour of the forbidden city.. I got to enjoy the whole tour from the restaurant table amazing and totally beautiful….Saddly she went back home a couple of years ago she was going to see if her dad wanted to do a little walk of the great wall..My Acupuncturist is from Taiwan his parents live in Taiwan.. but his grandparents and brother lives in Beijing.. no worries if he travels home to see grandpa and grandma..
          I don’t have a clue on how the poor country people live.. I like the vast majority of the people only see what we are shown..
          Its like a nurse I worked with that came from Africa.. we got into a discussion about what we see on television and what it was really like.. and the story gets pretty dark and dirty away from what we see..
          Similarly is Cuba.. we see the beauty of cuba that they show everyone.. but the real life cuba is way different..Its the same in the big cities here.. we hear how we have great healthcare system.. and we do if your rich.. if your not you will rot and die.. I am helping someone with cancer right now that is fighting the system trying to get the cares he deserves.. ( not doing that good either at it.. )
          I have often wondered what real village life is like.. I get snippits from the sales people.. I know one electronics factory did exactly what a cabinet shop I worked for did.. employees could buy the goods at cost.. that worked until the boss found that they were selling full kitchens at rummage sales LOL LOL and some of the workers were making as much money as he was doing it LOL LOL LOL LOL
          I bought a whole kichen from my mother for seventy dollars.. I had to build it for her.. on sundays.. but she ended up with a top notch kitchen for mothers day one year.. they no longer do that.. they use to purchase appliances to.. but when they found out the employees were buying them.. they shut it down.. LOL LOL LOL thats how I got my seven hundred dollar microwave making three bucks an hour LOL LOL LOL (My ex is still using that microwave to… over forty years old LOL )anyway the employees were getting appliances they made and selling them.. i bought everyone an MP3 player that at the time was selling for over a hundred bucks here for a penny a piece.. the boss and I still use ours LOL the kids all have I phones now..

        • The sad part.. is I have had more than my share of bad times..my portfolio is less than most of the readers here spend for coffee and doughnuts.. that’s actually what I budget for food per person.. one cup of Starbucks and one danish per day.. we decided to open our hearts and our two spare bedrooms to those that wouldn’t have a place.. take one..he called a dumpster home.. the trash collector would save him aluminum cans to sell for food.then he ended up in a walker and wheelchair..the trash men searched for the dumpster with his buggy outside it.. they would bang on it and yell can man are you in there..
          he thought when he moved in here that he was moving into the most luxurious mansion on the planet..
          then you take my engineer.. he was at the top of his game. had a mansion in new Orleans a vacation condo. the main dog for a very large oil company. he designed and overseen deep water oil drilling platforms.. had more pieces of paper in frames …
          then the double whammy of fickle fate. an explosion on a deep water drilling platform and a hurricane that took out his mansion. an insurance company that paid out a penny per thousand..then he was called in to give testimony
          the oil company threw him under the bus. he went from luxury to destitution in what appeared over night..his family no longer seen his value and he became bitter..homeless couldn’t get a job cleaning dog kennels.. had a heart attack and we became friends..his viewpoint of living in our spare room..was not one he liked it was a slap in the face for him. degraded and felt valueless..
          one gent now he was homeless dug scrap out of the trash to eat.. what makes it hard is..he still feels that he needs to hide food in his drawers..
          my last guy he had a beautiful farm..raised thoroughbred race horses..had an antique business to a rental home..his wife got cancer. she was a nurse.. they fired her took his farm home rental and all his business to pay for her end of life cares.. nicest guy you could ever meet..
          the various lifestyles are here the same as they are in other countries. take the hood..living in the hood if a young woman can’t afford good clothes she’s often referred to as a THOT ( thirsty hoe over there) and has no value..so in the poorer neighborhoods you will see run down trashy apartments and them driving hundred thousand dollar cars fancy clothes just to break the stigma of their living Conditions.
          that is also why I believe that single women are targeted for used luxury cars. can’t sell the used show me cars to show me people..
          that gives me a better impression and respect for kammy..she beat the image of a hood Thot with no value to vice president of the usa that is amazing and impressive..its to bad she’s stuck with the group she’s stuck with..I’m pretty sure she’s been around worse though..
          my life and living conditions would probably be seen as a step down. I had to build my own home in order to have one.. been tossed under the bus and kicked down..
          now I don’t Petty myself on the contrary.. each time I hit the skids.. I seen it as a learning experience..I can make all the guilty pleasures that give one a quality of life..pounding grain into a crude gruel did have me buying a few more grain grinders than I need.. like my friend that stores part of his meals in his bottom drawer..I get it..its our lives experiences that creates our character’s.. if things had been any different I wouldn’t be who I am today..

  16. S&P500 still couldn’t do it. Right in the last two minutes it spiked-up but still closed below 5,000. Closed at 4,997.91

  17. re: CBO Blues
    feat: all that jazz

    George,

    Happy solar Chinese New Year! Kudos for the humorous segue you entered into today about your solar panels. I got a charge out of it.

    Now then. What’s with this singing the blues about that non-partisan newly released 102 page Congressional Budget Office (CBO) report forecasting US economic projections from 2024 to 2034? Every msm which-way that I look has huge-font headlines with good news! Apparently the US gdp will be realizing a $7 trillion gain because of immigration! CBO estimates an over age 16 years old population growth of 7.4 million of which 5.9 million will be by immigration “lawfully through the use of parole authority and people who enter illegally” (p.56).

    Immediately after that happy news, page 58 offers more happiness. Despite a growing labour force size and labour force participation rate, the percentage of consumer spending allocated to consumer goods will continue to decline (as it has since 2002!). The CBO suggests increasing taxes will be one cause. There doesn’t seem to be a mention of how the necessities-of-life prices might be steering the forecast. I sure hope the 1.2% white populations in retirement nirvanas like Belize step up to the plate and sop up all this extra US gdp output that is forecast. Otherwise there will be an awful lot of widget containers sitting around export docks collecting dust?!

    Finally, the CBO reveals an important ingredient in its forecasting toolbox compared to the Fed at page 76. The CBO contends that Fed projections rely upon an individual Fed officer’s “most likely outcome” interpretation per “their assessment of appropriate monetary policy”. The report instructs us that “CBO develops its projections so they fall in the middle range of likely outcomes under current law”.

    Are you happy? Hell, yes! It’s the law!

    Let’s keep the happy momentum rolling with a segue to our rider of the sonic waves. Yes, DJ George has entered the studio. Today let’s jazz it up with a 1988 hit from Bobby McFerrin recorded at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley which toppled Guns’nRoses from the top of the charts.

    Are you ready to enter Paradise City? Hit it, George!

    “Don’t Worry, Be Happy”

  18. Hawaii… as deep blue as the surrounding ocean.
    “Hawaii’s Supreme Court on Wednesday ruled that the state doesn’t have to adhere to a constitutional right to carry firearms in public, deviating from a 2022 US Supreme Court decision affirming such a right.”
    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/hawaii-ignores-us-supreme-court-strikes-down-right-carry-firearms-public

    “we read those words differently than the current United States Supreme Court. We hold that in Hawaii there is no state constitutional right to carry a firearm in public.”

    […because we’re special…] Not a state, maybe??

  19. @ Eleanor, Thanks for tweaking my curiosity about vanilla orchids. I’ve been consuming a lot of youtube videos. Shelley Burich-Vaoala in Samoa has been particularly helpful.
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7Y8YMZL9UY
    I decided to give it a go because I live in a perfect orchid growing environment. They grow wild here. In fact, I’m already an accidental ‘grower’. I have a tree fern (‘Hapu’ in Hawaiian) in my yard. The fibrous trunks collect all kinds of things, including wild catalaya orchid seeds blowing in the wind. The tree fern trunk is sprouted full of purple orchids with no external help at all. So I figured “How hard can it be?” My vanilla Pompona cuttings arrived from Florida today and are temporarily hanging on the fence, getting acclimated, while I prepare the pots and posts. It just got real! As far as I know, no one else in Hawaii has Pompona and I want to propagate them. I wonder if I will live long enough to get an actual bean crop out of them.

    • That would be nice… I actually have to order a few bean pods.. I just can’t do it quite yet..don’t want to infuriate the boss over vanilla beans..its to soon since I got the pallet of beer cans lol lol.. and seriously I still have a gallon of vanilla extract made..I’m thinking once being Joe starts the ww3 getting hot I may not be able to get any for a while..

  20. I can see a need for a documentary called “The Sixth Sense in the Whitehouse” about Biden talking to dead people:

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/i-see-dead-people-biden-blunders-again-deceased-world-leader

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/no-charges-biden-willfully-retained-classified-documents-special-counsel-says-biden

    https://www.zerohedge.com/political/my-memory-fine-biden-fumes-confusing-egypts-sisi-president-mexico

    All those world leaders look alike, I suppose.

    His cabinet will never vote him incompetent; as long as he is in office they get a free ride with no oversight.

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