One story that drew attention last week was the sharp divergence between US aluminum prices and prices elsewhere in the world. The US premium passed $1 per pound for the first time ever, reflecting the higher costs US aluminum users now face relative to their foreign counterparts.   Some commentators characterized the development as a sign that tariffs are working, pointing to announcements that the US may see its first new aluminum smelting plant since 1980.  In fact, what is playing […]

Since I worked in Mexico for about 26 weeks, I learned quite a bit about what was going on in automotive manufacturing. Some things to understand. The pay is less in Mexico. However, there are benefits for Labor which are covered by government programs.1 “Employee Benefits in Mexico: All You Need To Know.” It is […]

Trump quietly chickened out on his effort to extort $200 million from Harvard University. “Harvard has been the top target in Trump’s sweeping campaign to exert more control over higher education. Hard-liners in his administration had wanted Harvard to write a check to the U.S. Treasury as part of a deal to address claims that […]

Mark Twain famously observed: ”A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is still putting on its shoes.” Today is the 16th anniversary of the retraction of Andrew Wakefield’s fraudulent report claiming a link between vaccination and autism. Sadly, RFK Jr and his fellow anti-vaxxers got the lie but not the truth. […]

 – by New Deal democrat Although it ended almost three months ago, there are still many economic series that have not caught up, including construction spending, which would normally have been reported this morning for December. As of now, it is only updated through October, and November and December are not expected to be reported for […]

Just a portion of a much larger KFF article on the affordability of healthcare. This portion of the report looks at severity of needed healthcare and what percentages of the population can afford it. The report splits its findings based upon age, severity, access to insurance, affordability, etc. Age is a large factor with those […]

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Milan? at the Olympics? Their presence at the Olympics in Milan is a distraction from the event. Italy’s civilian population is angrily protesting their presence. I can not imagine how the Immigration and Customs employees could get past detection. It is not going to take much (a faux pas) […]

I grew up in Oak Ridge Tennessee in the ‘60s. At the time, it was a town with one of the highest concentrations of scientists and engineers in the nation. Both of my parents were college grads. So, I took it for granted that most Americans graduated from college. I didn’t know until I was […]

Apart from their utility in criminal finances, Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies (other than stablecoin) are manifestations of The Greater Fool Theory of Investing. So how is the Bitcoin investment performing for ya? “The world’s largest cryptocurrency slipped below $76,000 in thin weekend trading, dropping about 40% from its 2025 peak and revisiting levels last seen […]

In the past I would list articles for Sunday reads which I thought might be interesting for Angry Bear readers. I believe these might be such. Just supplying a sentence or two for each article to pique your interest. Angry Bear gets no monetary reward for doing this. We just try to interest our readers. […]