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

claims: yet another week of glacial progress

Jobless claims: yet another week of glacial progress   Today marked yet another week of glacial progress in initial jobless claims, at levels worse than the worst weekly levels of the Great Recession. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, new jobless claims rose by 5,312 to 804,307. After seasonal adjustment (which is far less important than […]

Just Stirring the Pot – Updated

Regeneron Seeks Emergency Approval per trump’s miracle recovery and subsequent endorsement. Biotech company Regeneron moved Wednesday to apply for emergency approval for an experimental antibody treatment praised by President Trump. “Subsequent to our discussions with regulatory authorities, we have submitted a request to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) […]

To Do IV. Education

The COVID-19 pandemic is just what the Doctor ordered for American education. Well, it could be. First, we must, as is our wont, muddle for as long as possible. Plenty of time. What with students and teachers being quarantined one right after another, it’s going to be a long year. Time a plenty to fall […]

September jobs report: a drastic slowdown in improvement, but further demonstrating an economy that *wants* to get better

September jobs report: a drastic slowdown in improvement, but further demonstrating an economy that *wants* to get better HEADLINES: 661,000 million jobs gained. The gains since May total a little over half of the 22.1 million job losses in March and April. The alternate, and more volatile measure in the household report was 275,000 jobs […]

Weekly Indicators for September 28 – October 2 at Seeking Alpha

 by New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators for September 28 – October 2 at Seeking Alpha My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. Almost all of the indicators across all time frames are well off their worst levels. The question now is becoming whether or not they will stall out or reverse. As usual, clicking […]

Happy Every Economic Statistic in the World Day! 4. Manufacturing continued to expand strongly in September

Happy Every Economic Statistic in the World Day! 4. Manufacturing continued to expand strongly in September This morning’s final economic report is the ISM manufacturing index for September. This is a short leading indicator, and the new orders subindex specifically is one of the 10 components of the Index of Leading Indicators. A neutral reading […]

Happy Every Economic Statistic in the World Day! 3. Private residential construction spending improves smartly

Happy Every Economic Statistic in the World Day! 3. Private residential construction spending improves smartly   This morning’s third economic release is August construction spending. I track this because it is part of the important long leading housing sector. While it isn’t nearly as leading as housing permits or starts, it is the least volatile […]

Happy Every Economic Statistic in the World Day! 1. Jobless claims continue making glacial progress

Happy Every Economic Statistic in the World Day! 1. Jobless claims continue making glacial progress   1. Jobless claims Another week of glacial progress in initial jobless claims, at levels worse than the worst weekly levels of the Great Recession. On a non-seasonally adjusted basis, new jobless claims fell by -40,263 to 786,942. After seasonal […]

Just Saying

We the majority 60% are being tyrannized by the minority 40%. Other the democratically elected House of Representatives, we are being governed by a President and Senate that are not representative of us, that oppose our majority positions. We the majority are being particularly tyrannized by the current Senate Majority leader who is from the […]