No particular topic this edition – pictures of me doing tree work and mowing the yard which ate up a block of six-hours Saturday wouldn’t matter much – and it won’t do your yard any better. It occurred to me, however, that a word about “doing” might be useful.  Part of an early-morning conversation with son … Read More

Usually, when markets get into a fugue they really pop once the logjam breaks.  We get the feeling, looking at calendars and news flows, like “June could be a biggie.” So we’ll just put on the Carnac the Magnificent headgear and size up next week for you… More for Subscribers ||| Master Index 2018 to Present … Read More

I think we can see an outline here which will make my consigliere smile. First We Gotta Do Trade Dope Because trade matters “bigly and hugely” in here. Advance International Trade in Goods The international trade deficit was $87.6 billion in April, down $74.6 billion from $162.3 billion in March. Exports of goods for April were … Read More

This is such and easy column to write!  But that’s how it is in news:  Too much, too fast, with content deserts in-between. We will start with GDP because it’s what drives one of our most important of all Economic Indicators: Velocity of Money at M2.  Which matters because? Money has a lot in common with Electricity.  … Read More

There is nothing like seeing home insurance premiums go up 30 percent while coverage’s are cut, to get us thinking about the whole “risk industry.”  With me grabbing for the green eyeshades and trying to find Diogenes in this industry (without much luck) what better time (one month from premium due date) than to see … Read More

How Durable? Durable Goodfs orders dropped 6.3 percent in April: New Orders New orders for manufactured durable goods in April, down following four consecutive monthly increases, decreased $19.9 billion or 6.3 percent to $296.3 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced today. This followed a 7.6 percent March increase. Excluding transportation, new orders increased 0.2 percent. … Read More

“Holiday Monday Worth Getting Out Of Bed For…”  (What, you mean you didn’t get there from the headline?) With major T-storms passing over, we are between satellite unlinks in the woods today; Starlink works well except the “CenturyLate” email drops, so to get email, we get onto one of two flavors of the Viasat backup bird. Sometimes … Read More

Well, here it is, a few minutes before 5 AM on a holiday Sunday, and before heading out to the shop, a visit to the 3806 (LSB) ham radio group was in order.  There was “John-boy” (“coffee good!”) and a new fellow I hadn’t talked to before discussing the finer points of fly killing. With … Read More

Nothing like woo-woo research to sharpen the mind on a long holiday weekend.  So this morning, thanks to a major contribution from my consigliere and one of my odd “woo-woo” dreams, we will kick over a few rocks in psychic realms. Of course no morning is complete without a pass through headlines.  And in today’s … Read More

You can tell it’s quiet when… W9IMS is on 14,245 MHz USB at the moment.  Special events station for the Indy Motor Speedway – they will be on againt after this weekend third weekend in July… All work and now play makes George as a…uh….was that a DL calling him?

Tariff Wars are back – in spades.  Trump recommends 50% tariff on European Union starting June 1 and along with that?  Trump tariff Apple iPhones not made in the U.S.. Obviously, the stock market didn’t like hearing it.  Dow futures were down more than -500 and the S&P was down more than 80.  Techs were down … Read More

A couple of Economic releases to deal with.  And yes, our market call pre-open Wednesday on the Peoplenomics side was pretty good (so far). But a short column and a toothache are the highlights here “two out” from a long weekend…. CFNAI Chicago Fed National Activity Indicator.  The Illinois version of economic tea leaves. The … Read More

If we want something to “Memorialize” this coming weekend, buddy do we have the shiznit for ya’ll.  America hasn’t just lost it to China in major industrial categories (shipbuilding comes to mind) but the “rest of world” is kicking our “short of vacation” butts. U.S. Baseline: The U.S. has no federal mandate for paid vacation … Read More