The rebuilding of America is underway. Both political parties want an infrastructure spending bill, yet gridlock is likely to prevent the desired $1.5 Trillion Bill ($150 Billion/year) as it requires either massive new deficit spending or higher taxes. A 25 cent Gasoline tax hike to generate $37.5 Billion/year, toll roads…
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states clearly that 95 Million people in the US are not in the labor force! Those who are quite alarmed by this shocking number include: Chief Economist Dan North, CNBC financial reporter Rick Santelli and Peter Boockvar, Chief analyst of the Lindsey Group. Echoing…
The larger service economy recovered years ago and remains strong, while the manufacturing world has only confirmed exceptional expansion rates over the the past year. The latest ISM Manufacturing Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) test of 61 is impressive and usually occurs in the early to middle innings of a new economic…
After almost 2 years of poor earnings performance going into the 2016 elections, the S&P 500 Index earnings per share (EPS) has grown strongly in each of the last 5 reporting periods ending March 1st 2018. The current reports indicate that nearly 75% of companies beat both earnings and sales…
Automation and Artifical Intelligence (AI) are spurring an economic and cultural shift toward self employment as demand for traditional jobs are eliminated. Independent contractors and freelance workers (gig jobs) have risen beyond 53 Million workers or 34% of our labor force. Roughly 50% of Millennial workers are already a part of…
Stocks fell sharply on inflation concerns in early February, but the speed of the 10% correction and impressive 2,000 point bounce back have left investor psychology and their risk exposure unphased. Bull markets love to climb a wall of worry and Bears slide down a hole of hope. Typically investors…
The Amazon Death Star is the Atlas of this meteoric 9 year old stock market rally. Stock markets have fallen over 10% in about a week, bewildering investors, while Amazon shrugs. Without serious interruptions, Amazon and other tech titans have increasingly dominated their markets. In spite of large competitors such as…
Currencies appreciate and depreciate for many reasons and either extreme isn’t necessarily good or bad. Traditional economic theory holds that a cheaper domestic currency relative to other trading partners reduces imports and boosts exports as our widgets become cheaper from the perspective of other countries and inflation pressures rise as…
Understandably the commodity oriented Brazilian economy has a close connection between its currency and the crops it grows. Sugar, Coffee, Cocoa and to a lesser extent Soybeans and Orange Juice all have some correlation with the Brazilian economy and its currency – the “Real”. When commodities in general peaked in…
Oil is shooting higher in recent weeks due to inventory draws and threats to Iranian production. In 2016 Trump campaigned against the historic Iranian Nuclear Agreement, but extended approval today, vowing to end the Deal in May unless Europe agrees to tougher terms for Iranian compliance. With Iran producing almost…
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