The Angry Bear

Listen to Chris Christi babbling to David Muir about the 2000 election and Al Gore losing to Bush. In the same breath, Chris is saying similar about Clinton’s loss to the soon-to-be insurrectionist trump in 2016. Trying, trying to draw a comparison to Democrats losing to Repubs in 2000 and 2016 and their showing just as much anger. Claiming their questioning was just as serious as what occurred after trump lost. The YouTube Clip is set to play...

RJS, MarketWatch 666 ~~~~~~~ Summary: Producer Prices Rose 0.8% in May; Record Annual Increase of 16.6% for Final Demand Goods The seasonally adjusted Producer Price Index (PPI) for final demand rose 0.8% in May, as average prices for finished wholesale goods rose by 1.4% while final demand for services was 0.4% higher. The increase followed a revised 0.4% increase in April, when average prices for finished wholesale goods rose by 1.3% while...

Housing unaffordability closes in on bubble peaks; expect substantial price declines and increased foreclosures in the likely oncoming recession – by New Deal democrat I last looked at the issue of housing affordability at the beginning of April. As we all know, mortgage rates have continued to skyrocket in the past several months. At present they are just under 6.10%: This has changed the calculus on housing affordability considerably. So...

This is an interesting result I ran across in MSN as taken from Reuters. Both Kip Sullivan and I have written about Medicare Advantage plans over coding patients, resulting in overcharges to CMS Medicare. “Why is CMS Overpaying United Healthcare Medicare Advantage Plans?” – Angry Bear, “Medicare Advantage and Medicare Issues” – Angry Bear, “Kip Sullivan and Ralph Nader Talk Tradition Medicare vs Medicare Advantage” – Angry Bear, etc. Advantage Plans...

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 sales totaled $672.9 billion for the month, which was a decrease of 0.3 percent (±0.5%)...

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, while price appreciation keeps rolling on. Sales of existing homes were down 3.4% for the...

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 or not; he demurred. Unrequited or not; seems Simone’s hots for Albert ruined one of philosophy’s great friendships. Lo, the...

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 to the peaks of 2020, but far below those of 2021, deaths are lower than at any point except for June...