Up at 3 AM because that Big Stock Brokerage merger in 2023 resulted in a change to our Schedule D which means (in an abundance of caution) filing an amended 1040 to get the new Schedule D into the IRS system for TY2024. God, to I know how to kick off and have a fun … Read More
Well, the Simon and Garfunkel song doesn’t apply today. You do remember their classic hit Bridge over Troubled Waters, right? Well, in Maryland today we have the slip side of that: Trouble over Bridged Waters – where a containership smashed an important bridge. Cargo ship hits Baltimore’s Key Bridge, bringing it down. At least 7 … Read More
Yeah, there’s a lot to cover this morning, but it was looking (earlier) like that “wild-eyed” short position I loaded up on Friday at the close would pay off with a couple of loaded cheeseburgers in the Lunch Money Day Trading Account (LMDTA). No, I don’t always win, but I also don’t always lose. This … Read More
Sure – market futures prices tell us there will be a higher average price of shares – at least for a while – when this bloated pig of a market finally wakes up. However, a “digital canary in the coal mine” is trying to die. Just a day and a half ago, BTC was $73,615. But, … Read More
Fed-in-the-Box next week. But it’s OK – they can’t do anything now. They are in a box to where anything they touch can set off the stampede. So, as a mood-setter ahead of Retail Sales data, an old flying definition (of a crash): It’s when you run out of Airspeed, Altitude, and Ideas at the … Read More
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
BJL – The Big Job Lie first today. (This is nearly a Peoplenomics® length piece, so we can focus on just the charts on the subscriber side tomorrow…bring extra bean.) The well-controlled, agency-influenced corporate media’s take on the jobs report just out is based on what in the press release from Labor? Total nonfarm payroll employment … Read More
From this morning’s ECB meeting: 7 March 2024 The Governing Council today decided to keep the three key ECB interest rates unchanged. Since the last Governing Council meeting in January, inflation has declined further. In the latest ECB staff projections, inflation has been revised down, in particular for 2024 which mainly reflects a lower contribution … Read More
With Income Taxes filed, and part-way through updating our tree farm management plan, it’s comic relief to read the headlines and try to sense what could possibly be next. Very much like going to the circus (Ringling Brothers) as a kid. Except seems to have a lot more than three rings, peanut allergies, and that … Read More
It would take a supercomputer to model the contortions in financial markets today. Because while the early Futures were pointing to a Rocket Thursday moonshot, a more sober, inflation-adjusted view of Reality brings something else into focus. If I may? Hold the Phone: Cellular outages hit thousands in U.S., AT&T users most affected (cnbc.com) Statistically, … Read More
Now that I’m officially old – and the whole country took a day to mark the occasion – we can get on to the important business of doing??? Nothing. Yeah. This is one of those weeks when about the only thing to report on will be the “hatchet jobs” when political whozzits and whatzits will … Read More
In the back of my addled and aging brain, the notion that this is a Joe Harnell Market is being repeated. Over and over again. Fly Me to the Moon Bossa Nova. There’s no logic to what’s going on, unless you’ve studied previous financial stampedes. In which case, it fits a pattern. Bitcoin at $52,353.40 earlier, has … Read More
“OK, I’m capitulating on Bitcoin.” It was my consigliere calling on Wednesday to throw in the towel. This wizened old tax attorney had started the conversation by asking “Is this Uncle? Check Ure email. I send you and [redacted colleague] an explanation. I’m calling “Uncle.” Wholly without his consent, here’s what the email said: “OK … Read More