The Big story of the Day is – at least in this pre-breakfast segment – the release of Consumer Prices, also commonly called “the inflation report.” The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.4 percent in February on a seasonally adjusted basis, after rising 0.3 percent in January, the U.S. Bureau of … Read More
What passes for “normal” today is in position to have its ass kicked inside the next three weeks. It takes a little bit of explaining – and reading G.A. Stewart’s outlook for the March 10-11 period (a Sunday/Monday) which he summarized in an article here. I know a lot of people who’ve done good work … Read More
Yeah, the market rallied in a hysterical way Wednesday when the Fed: Did nothing In an unchanging war-crazed world During a domestic political nightmare In an over-crowded, resource constrained world Amidst headlines about stocks hitting “records” Seriously, Bubba? In reverse order, let’s put some neurons to this, shall we? In reverse order – because the … Read More
A fair amount to cover going into the Fed announcement on rates tomorrow. For now, the money centers on “no change” but, of course, a “hot” CPI number could blow all that. Let’s unwrap that pickle first: The Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U) increased 0.1 percent in November on a seasonally adjusted basis, … Read More
There are two kinds of Home Handy-Bastard shoppers out at this time of year. The kind who are dirt-under-the-fingernails working bozo’s (like us). And the non-handy, but infinitely more refined who see dirty fingernails, curl up their noses, furrow the brows, and screech “Eeoow, YUCK! Don’t come near me until you… [inserts list of conditions].” … Read More
No question about it, the insanity of the stock market seems to be inexplicable. But, in one sense, it’s not. America has a savings problem. The problem simplifies to “Where do you park money? I look at the problems faced by our kids – well, now 50-ish, maybe “kids” isn’t the right word. But “Where to save money” has … Read More
Today in Brief: Black Friday, shortened trading day, no hostages yet and wars continue. Package Poker We have only experienced two messed up deliveries, so far. But the weekend hasn’t even started and the flood of new solar parts and hydroponics won’t hit high numbers until next Tuesday. …and have we ever! We admire the … Read More
Our Monday diatribe begins by noticing that the Market is not sure what to make of this “Momentary Peace Talk” going around. Because, when comes down to it, it’s like we told you some weeks back: “Ceasefires tend to happen when both sides run low on ammunition.” An example of this shapes up in Ukraine. … Read More
There is a problem common to all investing pursuits: Which side of the Inflation Monster to play. It’s important in the very short-term, like today. And in the longer-term, as well. But it’s the middle ground where the art and science of living kicks in. Take this morning, for example. From a low of 0.9330 … Read More
Money first. Then a ton of interesting projects that keep us busy. We’ll do a “photo-stroll” around the shop (as of Tuesday morning) so you can get more of a feel for what Making and Doing are like outside the confines of cubicles and 300 square-foot living spaces. And why retired is usual just tired. Hosed … Read More
Someone stole an hour of our lives overnight. Running the clock forward with Daylight time which is so scammy… We don’t have a “measure, cut, join, finish” project to revel in today. Because the weather was perfect Saturday to take on the greenhouse rework. See, over the winter it grew and grew and turned into … Read More
Famine is coming. Yeah, sure, Roe, Wade, demonstrations, hype. Have fun with that. The larger reality is there’s no caloric payoff to any of it and damn few people will have noticed the recent Newsweek story Gathering Storm of Famine Looms Over Many Nations. What Preppers Miss Most preppers I know have never done a … Read More
Our current ShopTalk project is coming along just great. It’s the 10 X 20-foot vegetable garden add-on to the side of the recording studio. This week, I got serious about the “finishing touches” and – if you worry about radioactive leftovers – here are some of the design parameters that have fallen into place. Although … Read More