Is the Master of Disaster in the House? First thing out of the hopper today is the employment data from the Department of Labor.  Here’s what their news release lays out.  (Short version?  Sucks) Total nonfarm payroll employment fell by 701,000 in March, and the unemployment rate rose to 4.4 percent, the U.S. Bureau of … Read More

Million case Thursday?  We may get there this afternoon.  Cases were up a little more than 10% Wednesday, and if it happens today, we could squeak over a million before midnight. Against the grim, the only press releases we figured that would matter this morning were these: JOB CUTS SURGE TO 222,288 IN MARCH; COVID … Read More

As COVID-19 sloshes around, we suggest some serious movie-watching as a tonic.  Not that we’re not fans of high drama or spaghetti westerns…it’s period information we’re after.  Because out present-day period is going away.  Which year we “land in” will matter. “Duh movies” seems like an easy way to pick up a lot of historical … Read More

Before we get into the Housing Data, a word here about the timeframe of the data. We are at the end of March.  The data here is  January sales data. Pandemic impact on housing won’t be evident for some months, yet.  “Data released today for January 2020 show that home prices continue to increase at … Read More

Back to the “blocking and tackling” of being a prepper in the COVID world. But, a word first about how humans  generally fall into three categories of “time perception” because it really matters.  An understanding of how people hear and how people speak (and therefore think and act) reveals much useful information.  From the top: You’ve met … Read More

Reader Note:  We will be posting in section this morning due to heavy weather which will likely take down our satcoms as it rolls through. Why You Should Brace Simply:  In our work the data informs that things could be much, much worse than Dr. Fouci’s much repeated forecast of a COVID-19 death toll of … Read More

Sundays I like to that don’t make it into the column during our usual hectic working times around here.    An Historical Markets and Virus View Even if you don’t subscribe to Peoplenomics.com, we still love to share (and get feedback) on our curious views of history, markets, and the ability of humans to form … Read More

After the morning’s “bad news” we’re going for a “time out” and a “useful distraction” to keep from dwelling on the growing pile of problems. Covid cases in the US are now well-over 100,000 and there are whispers it could be worse than the Spanish Flu of 1918.  The markets are interesting, sure.  So is … Read More

Time to play another exciting round of  “COVID Peak Calling!!!” And who is our first contestant this morning?  Why it’s… “Coronavirus could kill 81,000 in U.S., subside in June -Washington University analysis.” We’re not buying it, but it’s not a bad estimate, by any stretch.  The problem is what happens in India, Africa, and South … Read More

Well, the good news.  We MAY get an “ADVANCED TAX REFUND” from the government…but let’s first credit the fellow in our Comment Section for finding this buried in the bowels of this Bill: I am no lawyer but pulled this from a copy of the bill. Starts on page 144 of 883. Very difficult to … Read More

Super-short column this morning because I have been trying to find the text of what the Senate passed last night.  What I found so far? NO CASH PAYMENTS:  At TAX CREDIT A YEAR FROM NEXT MONTH!!!   (Ever hear the term “absolute horse-shit???) Here’s the problem:  When I read through the “big-deal bill” passed by … Read More

There is lot more to this discussion than “money” in the digital/fiat sense. There are assets like “length of expected Life” and “How much to spend to get how smart?”  Those are metrics that always matter.  Money just moves up to the “top of the pile” because it is the most visible layer in human … Read More

We have a lot of “moving pieces” going on around here.  Market futures point to a big rally in stocks, the cases keep climbing and there’s big doings in the greenhouse today:  This is “planting day…” Disinfect Your Surfaces! Report out this morning (based on cruise ship follow-up) suggests CV19 can remain active on surfaces … Read More