100-Year Toaster: Ch. 18 (Honest Money and Value)

The paradox of growth versus environmental balance (finally) wraps up today.  We out the final chapter of our next Peoplenomics ebook.  These are included with your Peoplenomics.com subscription.  However, some of the ebooks such as Power in the Second Depression are available on Amazon ($5.99). This final chapter has taken more than a year to … Read More

Housing: Screaming Prices

Up, Up, and Aghast! “S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller Index Reports Annual Home Price Gain Of 19.7% In May YEAR-OVER-YEAR The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, covering all nine U.S. census divisions, reported a 19.7% annual gain in May, down from 20.6% in the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in … Read More

Ahead of Housing

Drop by around 8:15 AM Central for the Case-Shiller Housing report update. The balance of this week is full of “surprise risk” for markets.  Housing today, a Fed rate hike tomorrow afternoon, and a GDP report for Q2 Thursday that could indicate the nation is already in Recession. The Calendar Matters The one data point … Read More

CFNAI, C/S-H, Fed, Etc.

Ah – misplaced the old decoder ring because of National Tequila Day, Sunday, right? Let me help:  Our Agendizer for the week (which looks like a Brisqi Kanban board (which we will also cover this morning) uses these abbreviations as placeholders in my dynamite columns.  Or, ones like this… CFNAI Chicago Fed National Activity Indicator. This … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: $100 Shop/Mancave Computer Build

It has been too damn hot to spend much time on the Chineseum model boat project.  So, instead, I got serious about “building a Shop Computer.” Now, any damn fool can go out and pay Big Money for a screaming-fast high performance multi-terabyte 32 GB Win11 machine which is where I do the bulk of … Read More

Confessions of a Market Agnostic

Yes.  It’s true.  I play both long (going up) positions and short (going down) plays. Remarkably, I make money either way things run. It’s kinda like being a banker:  If things go well, they make money on interest.  If things go badly, they repossess assets and sell them off – oftentimes billing for any shortfalls, … Read More

Could Kamala “XXV” Into Joe’s Job?

Am I on a different planet?  Have aliens dumped me in a parallel Universe where everyone is stupid?  Or is this what 50-years of working life leads to…a suspicion that everything is not as it seems, and government is out to screw us all? The way I figure it, the stock markets should be down … Read More

Second Depression Rhymes: China Bank Runs

We have told you many times: “In Depressions, the seat of world financial power moves West.” This has certainly been the case as our Second Depression has begun to unravel.  But even here, we must remember that “The Depression” wasn’t referred to as “depression” until a 1934 economics book popularized the term. There are several … Read More

The Return of “Sweat Equity”

How would you like a brand-new home at less than half price? Not only is this possible, but there are people who do this all the time.  So this morning, we push around some numbers and show you how you can build your own and make a sweet pile of equity in the process. There … Read More

Fresh – Scary – Housing Data / Pari-Mutuel Future

DJ Ure spinning our way into Week-from-Fed insanity as made-up money’s implosion continues.  Our Morning After Monday mood-setting is “A House is Not a Home – first released in 1964 by Dione Warwick.  Later rekindled by Luther Vandross.  His version lacked some of the “Mahalia” energy channeled in Warwick’s set, and lacking some of “Ella’s” … Read More

The Next War in Sight

While the war in Ukraine continues to drag on – bringing a massive drain on Europe – which has hurt the Euro and made the Dollar appear stronger than reality dictates – we are faced this morning with the arrival in weeks of a terrible set of financial circumstances that will become another “feeder war” … Read More

ShopTalk Sunday: Wood Sailboat Model Build (1)

Ever get tempted to buy one of those inexpensive Chinese model sailing ships on eBay?  Great value – way cool. The one on the right there is a good value if you want an introductory project to real model-making skills. $11.33 each plus $3.36 for a SpeedPAK from China.  The seller is m.cloud-2 out of Shanghai.  … Read More

Keyword Roulette

Wherein we replace the programmatic news decided by the Powers and minion Editors.  And instead, we use a “What keywords really matter in my Life?” approach. We’ll give you the idea and you can dial it in to whatever your circumstances are. It’s a reaction to wife Elaine’s sometimes habitual listening to the “all news” … Read More