Every so often my consigliere will call with a pertinent observation.  When the phone range Monday, boy, was I in for a treat… “Do you think the Fed likes socialists or Marxists?” “Uh…well…hadn’t been the #1 thing on my “thing to figure out” list, but sure… it’s an interesting question, no doubt.  Say, why do you … Read More

You may not be old enough to remember the MovieTone News.  It showed in theaters from the mid 1920s until into the 1960’s.  I remember seeing ’em at the old theater on the north end of Bean Hill in Seattle.  As kids, we’d go there Saturday afternoons to watch “the serials.” Today we suffer through ModernTone … Read More

Rambling around the ranch this morning.  Been far busier this weekend that I’d been planning on. S/W Update or Hack-Attack? Those who visit Urban frequently (our dynamite comments section makes that a useful pursuit) may have noticed a 2 1/2-hour hole in our up-time Saturday.  Turns out, a key directory on our web server had … Read More

America’s economy requires periodic setbacks or it implodes.  So we begin this morning with a discussion of how many Depression checkboxes has CV-19 ticked off, so far. Then a couple of interesting woo-woo items. But first, an assortment of headlines and the ChartPack.  Which – like Elon Musk – is in Fly Me to the … Read More

This morning features DDD – Decent Data Density and a chance for people to ponder whether typical pre-holiday optimism will show up.  At the same time, the flood waters may be receding a bit as we’ve had our own adventures with rain here at the ranch. Making Up Money Dept. Let’s start with they data because … Read More

Rolling out of bed at 3 AM – intent on tuning up a few website issues – I was all set to work my butt off.  Had a great article come to mind:   Soap Bubble Prosperity! Lo and behold:  No real “work” needed today.  Because there are so many moving targets, the choice of … Read More

Are you still bamboozled by people in Higher Education waxing endlessly on learning topologies and impact on pedagogy before students? With school just around the corner (and Up Ure Street) a light-hearted view on quickly mastering all things “Ejumacational.”Some inside secrets to growing a powerful mind, since most of us either have children or grandchildren … Read More

As we expected, the importance of housing continues to remain in the fore thanks to CV-19.  Toss in low interesting rates and you get a report like this morning’s S&P Case-Shiller update: S&P CORELOGIC CASE-SHILLER INDEX REPORTS 4.3% ANNUAL HOME PRICE GAIN IN JUNE YEAR-OVER-YEAR  The S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price NSA Index, … Read More

Which will be out in a few minutes, there’s not too much going on.  Just an important definitional change in markets.  Talking about… Crooking an Index? In a rather stunning development, the folks who write up the Dow Industrial index are about to make it very hard for rational long-term thinkers to make decisions.   … Read More

We begin the week with an interesting thought-problem rolling around the mind.  If someone asked you what would you like to make more of in life,  sense or  money, what would your answer be?  Pretty sure mine would be “Sense.”   The logic is simple enough:  If you have  logic and can  make sense of … Read More

Several items on the Sunday morning coffee list. You pour while I muse. IQ Versus MQ The couple up the “mountain” from us became parents a couple of months back – as we were reminded when a post card of their ‘work product’ arrived this week.  Cute kid. While Elaine and I talked about the … Read More

Just too much going on to ignore fresh developments in CryptoLand. Bye-bye to some long-sought down-time.  Developments at the Federal Reserve in research beg for analysis and commentary. So here we go. On the back burner, for now, is  our Big Project – which I hope to have ready for Labor Day Weekend.  It just … Read More

Besides some fresh econ data for traders to consider, the Threat Board has changed in several important ways in the last 24-hours.  But the  biggest and least-covered change has come from the Federal Reserve. Fed: Hiding the Sausage? The Feder Reserve has made what  seems like an innocuous change to financial reporting of its activities.  … Read More