RJS, MarketWatch 666 ~~~~~~~ Summary: Retail Sales Fell 0.3% in May After March and April Sales Were Revised Lower Seasonally adjusted retail sales fell 0.3% in May after retail sales for April were revised 0.4% lower. The Advance Retail Sales Report for May (pdf) from the Census Bureau estimated our seasonally adjusted retail and food services […]
Existing home sales: the freight train of price appreciation rolls on Although existing home sales are less economically important than new home sales, what has been happening with their prices, given the experience of the housing bubble and bust 15 years ago, is of added importance. The simple summary is that sales have declined substantially, […]
Jean-Paul loved Simone as he could never love anyone else; gave her his heart and, with some great effort, won hers. Simone, she wasn’t one to be particular. Both he and she were Existentialists. Albert, an Absurdist, and Jean-Paul were friends. Simone fell for Albert on first sight. Absurd or not; big minds attract. Absurd […]
Coronavirus dashboard for June 19: documenting the transition from pandemic to endemic ~~~~~~~ The COVID-19 pandemic is ever so gradually transforming into an endemic illness, the major risks of which still mainly fall on seniors. Here is the long-term view of cases (dotted line) and deaths (solid line) in the US: While cases are similar […]
RJS: Focus on Fracking ~~~~~~~ Summary: Global oil surplus at 560,000 barrels per day in May as OPEC output fell to 1.049 million bpd below quota ~~~~~~~ OPEC’s Report on Global Oil for May Tuesday of this week saw the release of OPEC’s June Oil Market Report, which includes details on OPEC & global oil data […]
“Teacher With $303K Student Debt Says Biden’s $10K Relief Plan Not Enough” (businessinsider.com) Finally, I am seeing various publications (Business Insider, etc.) writing about accrued interest on student loans. Interest on the principal and also the interest. This particular article also touches upon Deferred Student Loans and the resulting paying the interest first before touching […]
Tariffs and Inflation Kevin Quinn, Econospeak Jason Furman and Janet Yellen have both suggested that cutting Trump’s tariffs would be anti-inflationary. But most economists agree that the incidence of the tariffs is for the most part on US consumers, not foreign suppliers (pace the treasonous and ignorant former president, who crowed about all the revenues we […]
Dale Coberly: The 2022 Social Security Report came out on June 2. There were no surprises. Things are still predicted to turn out pretty much as they have been predicted to turn out since the 1990’s or earlier. The Report projects the Trust Fund will run out of money in 2035. After that, benefits will […]
I am disappointed in the reporting on these Hearings and the Hearings themselves. This is the second time people are applauding statements from the January 6th Committee Hearing. In this Hearing we experienced former 4th COA Judge Luttig slowly, carefully, and legally make a statement on conversations he had concerning Pence and what trump was […]