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

New Deal democrat Weekly Indicators May 27 – 31 2024

Weekly Indicators for May 27 – 31 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My “Weekly Indicators” post is up at Seeking Alpha. None of the high frequency indicators made any meaningful change this week. The short term outlook continues to be positive. As I wrote yesterday in my summation of the personal income and […]

Battery Storage Growth to Fill Supply Gaps for States

Oil Price author Irina Slav has an interesting story up about California using battery storage of GWs to fill in the supply gaps during Summer electricity needs due to heat. Brief and a short paragraph taken from the article Rapid Battery Storage Growth Will Help California Avoid Blackouts This Summer. California could avoid rolling blackouts […]

April personal income and spending: a flat report consistent with either a temporary pause or weakness ahead

 – by New Deal democrat Personal income and spending have become one of the two most important monthly reports I follow. This is in large part because the big question this year is whether the contractionary effects of Fed tightening have just been delayed until this year, or whether the fact that there have been […]

Slight increasing trend in initial jobless claims, but continuing claims continue slightly lower

 – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 3,000 last week to 219,000. More importantly, the 4 week moving average rose another 2,500 to 222,500, the highest level in 9 months. With the usual one week lag, continuing claims rose 4,000 to 1.791 million: On the one hand, it does appear that claims have been […]

The good news, bad news economy

 – by New Deal democrat We’ll get weekly unemployment claims tomorrow, and the very important personal income and spending report Friday, before we begin the slew of reports for the beginning of June next week. But since there’s a slow news day today, let’s take a bigger picture look at the state of the economy. […]

People Moving Farther Out from City Centers to Avoid Exposure to Pandemics

More People Moved Farther Away from City Centers Since Covid-19 by Lindsay Spell and Marc Perry CENSUS.Gov I guess people did not like the threat of catching Covid in crowded areas so they are going to the suburbs. Even if they are in less populous areas, they still will have to get the vaccines and […]

Repeat home sales indexes renew favorable YoY comparisons, suggest slow deceleration in shelter CPI to continue

 – by New Deal democrat The FHFA and Case Shiller repeat sales indexes are the last home sales and price data for the month. Two months ago I wrote that “for the next seven months the comparisons will be against an average 0.7% increase per month in 2023. Because house price indexes have shown a […]

The business of pot

When I was in high school and college in the 1970s, marijuana was (a) illegal and (b) plentiful. I may or may not have inhaled, but people I knew were certainly growing, drying, selling and buying dope at the time. From a public health standpoint, marijuana is more benign than alcohol and tobacco. I’m happy […]