As we outline (eventually getting to the point in Coping this morning), ultrasociality seems to be the new ruling paradigm. Thanks to one of our brilliant readers, who used the phrase “like Microsoft software – there’s a million ways to do something,” Ultrasociality may be a great key for understanding the world in a new way. (Suggested reading: Ultrasociety: How 10,000 … Read More
I love it Bitcoin was all the way up to $15,361 when I looked. And, since I sold my short position in the market, I’ve been more than pleased to watch Bitcoin because it’s a sort of “coincident indicator” of the National Delusion we’re all presently living under. Seriously? A year ago Bitcoin was what? … Read More
World’s a crazy place these days. Young people, who should be having the time of their lives, forming families, making professional investments in themselves, and achieving high states of personal excellence have mainly, as a group, downgraded themselves to phone-zombies. Shame, that. (Ref URL “Smartphone Addiction Creates Imbalance in Brain .”) To make “grown-up” finance accessible … Read More
I have been writing for nearly a year, now, about how “Obama embeds” have been throwing roadblocks up to the Trump administration at every turn. That includes liberally interpreted legal decisions on things like selective immigration policies, embeds in agencies who haven’t been replaced (or worked-around) and all those leaks. Billions and billions of leaks … Read More
We need to go over three charts this morning because somewhere in them, there’s a message, but damned if I can figure out what it is just yet. The three charts are the M2-Velocity of Money. This one says, in so many words, how often money is “turned over” during the year. The second chart … Read More
While we await the Big Data Point of the week (the CPI figure tomorrow) it is interesting to see that bonds have retreated on the yield site – and again, it tells us that the Fed-in-a-Box model is still useful. Were you to click over here and inspect the 1-year view of the 10-year treasury … Read More
Hate to admit it, but I am a compulsive manager. Which is to say when there is something to be done, the first thing I do is sit back with a big cup of coffee and think about how to accomplish the task in the most methodical & efficient way possible. This applies to Christmas, as … Read More
I felt much better after writing up the worthless media reports that pass for news in today’s Coping section. Now we can get down to cases… I’m looking for the market to go down a ways from here. It would be extremely graceful if we could have a decline this week that carries into next … Read More
It may sound odd for what is nominally an economics website to mention Monday morning news in terms of three novels. However, these are odd times, and anything goes. Novel #1 involves the present Trump trip. As yourself the following question: What you really know: If Robert Mueller were to convince a grand jury that president … Read More
In the event you’re wondering why the whole market was being painted (again) Thursday, the answer is simple: There was a new fed boss (Jerome “Jay” Powell) being named. It’s typical for markets to put on a good showing when the Street wants suck-points down the road. The alert reader will note that we hinted at … Read More
Terrible as the killer rampage in Las Vegas was Sunday night, there is often a tendency when a “big event” has just shocked the nation to ignore a lot of other stories going on in background. It’s like a “flash-in-the-pan” that arrests the national attention. So instead of a list of videos, eyewitness accounts, and … Read More
Recent news events, including the shooting deaths of more than 50 people at a machinegun attack in Las Vegas last night, begins to fit something of a pattern. Was it a radical? Initially, we’re told no. Was it home-grown terrorism or someone with a drug or alcohol issue? Again, in time we will learn. At … Read More
In a shocking revelation that has just appeared in the media in the past 24-hours, we now know the Obama administration wire-tapped Paul Manafort who would become a key Trump campaign official. But it’s really much worse that it sounds – which for our tastes is crooked enough, already. Let’s run through some timeline, shall … Read More