It’s the level, though – that’s what matters: the S&P Housing numbers say full steam inflation. 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 5.4% annual gain in June, down from 5.9% the previous month. The 10-City Composite annual increase came in at 7.4%, down from 7.8% the previous … Read More

Macroeconomics first. When “times are good” people run out and buy houses.  Smart thing to do because the government – unable to live within a budget – overspends all the time.  And, as we discussed in the Monday column, ten bucks’ worth of “stuff” in 1913 is over $800 today. People buy homes generally knowing … Read More

We have it all this morning – just like it matters. Let’s begin with the government’s Durable Goods report which is stated this way: “New Orders New orders for manufactured durable goods in July, up five of the last six months, increased $26.1 billion or 9.9 percent to $289.6 billion, the U.S. Census Bureau announced … Read More

There is the scent of Fall in the air. And with it, my interest in doing yard work is on the rise.  Besides, Mercury goes out of retrograde this week. If you don’t follow retrograde, this episode is running August 5–28: In Virgo and Leo. My life goes to crap about 3-4 weeks ahead of … Read More

We begin today decoding Jerome Powell’s remarks Friday. Then I’ll tell you what we think will happen when the Fed decision is announced in three weeks. Then we go through the charts and they hold an interesting picture of potential Future; one where you might want to consider redeployment of assets to life-basics planning like … Read More

Which Worry List? My, that one’s a bitch to figure because it’s so, um, you know, age dependent. In the very short-term, if you are young (and politically involved) you could cite the coronation by the demon scraps last night of their anointed one: Harris vows ‘new way forward’ for America as she…  Yeah, no more … Read More

Before we dig in, a couple of “housekeeping notes.” First is that the long-awaited adjustments to the (excessively hyped) job creation claims were dialed back a bit this week. And any armchair economist can see, the official number of people employed in July was only 57,000 more than in the same period a year ago … Read More

Might come as a shock what goes on in my office before you read a morning report.  But there’s a lot of very good science to it and it seems to pay off in a very low stress level. Good BP numbers, sound sleep (conducive to lucid dreams) and a youthful appearance and energy level … Read More

The Scotch Bet is on: As measured by our Aggregate Index – cobbled up in the wake of the 2000 Internet Bubble bursting – we have to hit above 48,605.37. If it does, then I will have to pay my consigliere (for on-premises consumption) the Thanksgiving Scotch this year. HOWEVER, if we fail to close … Read More

Lawyers – especially tax attorneys, and super-especially ones with a CPA, do not enter into wagers about the market lightly.  Yet, we found ourselves oddly at issue with just such a consigliere over the weekend. “I expect the market will go up to the Labor Day weekend. And because the “turn date” isn’t till the first, or … Read More

OK, maybe I’m a bit of an adventurer (offshore sailing, transcons in single engine, marrying an ex-Bunny, going to 930 detox, day-trading, writing…and high speed Morse guy…). But there is one thing about me you may not appreciate. I’ve been pondering Free Energy for 20-years now and actually have both a theory and a possible way … Read More

Since we can’t talk on cell phones and text, surely there must be something we can do that’s useful. Other than run over people who bother us and swearing at the top of our lungs… Quite by accident this week, I invented a new way to hone my personal trading skills while driving.  You see, … Read More

Dog Days of Summer are here – and there’s even a spritz of rain in the local forecast for next week.  Not the weekend to be vacationing in Bermuda, though.  Need a hint? Since the whole frigging world is still expanding heat islands, here comes from government Brainiacs Nonstop heat: NOAA predicts 2024 may be … Read More