Sure, buying hard assets sounds like a good idea.  But how did our 2001 buy work out?  The answer – and a discussion of tax consequences this morning. In addition, we update the virus outlook and a few choice words about this being a “traders market” in the ChartPack section.  Oh, and some economic reports … Read More

We should begin the discussion this morning with a word (OK, several, then…) about  inter-market arbitrage.  Europe is “in the shitter” and Dow futures  +77 after blowing-off a record high Monday. Fancy-talk.  But the long and short of it is that in today’s massively inter-wired world, you can’t look at markets  singularly.  They all  interact. … Read More

Oh, besides California closing indoor theaters, restaurants and bars?  Worse than expected in the Fed’s Industrial Production and Capacity Utilization report just out. See the business equipment line?  We hate mentioning this to our chi-touting readers, but where’s the growth in -27%? As says the presser: “Total industrial production increased 1.4 percent in May, as many … Read More

The Globe is just passing 13- million cases. Right now, today.  And the worldwide death toll is in excess of 570-thousand. This gives you – the American news scavenger – an opportunity to do some serious “sorting of bullshit from fact”. UrbanSurvival is (and continues to be) one of the few sites not focused on … Read More

There’s a very subtle shift going on in America right now:  We’re slowly seeing the underpinnings of society under attack on the one hand (monetization of racism, Marxist-Digital Insurrection).  But on the other, we’re seeing the hollowing-out of the modest residual purchasing power remaining in the “American Dollar.” In fact, if you Wiki “Federal Reserve … Read More

10-Mowing Tips for would-be groundskeepers is our topic this morning. No, we didn’t really need 30-acres.  We could have gotten by with two acres per person, just fine. But I had this wild dream years back when I was running a vocational school:  I wanted to open a “heavy equipment school” so that the masses of … Read More

Suppose, for a moment, that your “future self” could write a letter to your “present-day self” and offer pointers navigating what’s to come. While it would make an interesting book – there’s so much to cover – it also makes a pretty interesting column. Although such a letter could be “personal” there are many aspects … Read More

The Future is sometimes terribly easy to see.  But, when you look at it square-on, it can be really ugly.  As a result, faced with a declining set of prospects of achieve “health, wealth, and happiness” people turn their faces.  Averting their gaze is what America is doing a  lot of right now. Tomorrow, an … Read More

Pick a disaster…plenty to choose from…no crowding, social distance, please! And so begins another Thursday. Besides the Fed data on “jacking up the money supply” – after the close today – there is the small matter of the implosion of the  once middle-class in ‘Merica, as revealed in the Wednesday consumer debt report. In it, … Read More

Toss the fish oil?  Sleep on the ground?  Throw your water in the blender first?  Yes, the Mad Scientist and his beautiful assistant have been at it again.  Reading and pondering where Ponce de Leon hid the Fountain. Which we will get into as soon as we find Eldorado, or its early desktop analog – … Read More

Little real economic news to begin the morning.  Oh, sure:  Italian retail sales and Denmark’s industrial product matter…if you’re Italian or Danish.  It won’t be until an hour before tomorrow’s close that we’ll see the U.S. Consumer Credit (né Debt) will be revealed.  With it, comes reassurance that we’re still spending way more (as a … Read More

Massive relief rally early.  But after that…who knows? As we begin the week, there isn’t much ahead until the Fed’s “Consumer Debt” report.  Wednesday.  Which they call consumer “credit” because they are  creditors.  We’re the simple-sap debtors… To us, it’s a reasonable time to reload for the fall and what could be another round of … Read More

My bad.  I missed Ham Radio Field Day. It was last weekend.  As happens the last weekend in June each year, amateur radio operators (include from our club in town) and my buddy  The Major‘s club is up in the Seattle area; he and some buds headed for the hills and remotest of places.  From … Read More