Relevant and even prescient commentary on news, politics and the economy.

Q3 Update: Housing Delinquencies, Foreclosures and REO

– by Bill McBride Calculated Risk Newsletter REO: lender Real Estate Owned We will NOT see a surge in housing foreclosures that would significantly impact house prices (as happened following the housing bubble) for two key reasons: 1) mortgage lending has been solid, and 2) most homeowners have substantial equity in their homes. Last week, CoreLogic reported […]

United Health Group and the Healthcare System

Sorry, our system is f’d up and one of us was murdered as a result. We admit the United Health system does not work as well as it should. At United Health, we can sympathize with all of you hit with higher healthcare costs and bad results. We at United Healthcare are “willing to partner […]

Leaving Arizona Behind

I live in Arizona and I will not miss Sinema. “Senate Democrats were livid after Sens. Kyrsten Sinema (I-Arizona.) and Joe Manchin (I-W.Va.), two longtime members of their caucus, voted Wednesday (12/11/2024) to block President Biden’s  nominee, Lauren McFerran, to serve another five-year term on the National Labor Relations Board.” The impact of which will allow Trump to place an anti-labor member […]

New Deal democrats Weekly Indicators for December 9-13

Weekly Indicators for December 9 – 13  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. While the short-term forecast and nowcast have remained relatively constant, the “action” has been in the long leading indicators – some things good, some bad. The biggest thing that happened this week is that the […]

Student Loan Debt Forgiveness

Can President Biden cancel student loans? Why not? Newly elected President Trump has every intention to pardon the October 6th insurrectionists. Most of the loans depicted in the graphs have been recast into new loans having the interest rolled into them. It created a misconception of these being new loans instead of older loans. This […]

Elite Rich Americans Often Overlook a Factor That is Key to Their Success

Interesting article on wealth. Sometimes being lucky outperforms talent or intelligence. A recent article including some graphs I included. Sources for the graphs are provided allowing the reader to learn more about how wealth is obtained. Article by Vawn Himmelsbach was portrayed in Moneywise. ‘Moneyball’ and ‘Big Short’ Author Michael Lewis Says Elite Rich Americans […]

The Legacy of a Retiring Senator

Some history on Senator Joe Manchin III. He has never met a lump of coal he did not like. There is money in the almost black gold. Twenty years of supplying the Grant Town power plant in West Virgina with low-grade coal mixed with rock and clay known as “gob.” And stymieing any interest in […]

Good news on real aggregate payrolls, but an additional yellow flag on jobs

 – by New Deal democrat With the update on inflation earlier this week, let’s take a look a real average wages and real aggregate payrolls. Plus there is a significant update to my yellow flag caution on the employment situation. First, nominally nonsupervisory wages rose slightly under 0.3% in November, while consumer prices rose slightly […]