The Angry Bear

(Dan here…from Wednesday, Nov.3) About last night I was going to write about motor vehicle sales (not good), but FRED is down for maintenance. I might put something up later whenever the site comes back online.  In the meantime, because a few people have asked me offline what I make of last nights results (at least in Virginia), so herewith is my take. Virginia turned out about exactly how I expected. The RWers are as pi**ed as...

Coronavirus dashboard for November 2: the winter wave has begun The Delta decline is probably over. Nationwide US cases are up 4000/day from one week ago. The Northeast and South census regions still show a decline, but West and Midwest regions show increases:  One week ago only 3 States were in the “increasing” category. Now the increasing trend States include: NJ, AL, CA, NV, AZ, CO, NM, ND, SD, MI, MN, IA, and NE. There are also slight...

Coronavirus dashboard for November 2: the winter wave has begun The Delta decline is probably over. Nationwide US cases are up 4000/day from one week ago. The Northeast and South census regions still show a decline, but West and Midwest regions show increases:  One week ago only 3 States were in the “increasing” category. Now the increasing trend States include: NJ, AL, CA, NV, AZ, CO, NM, ND, SD, MI, MN, IA, and NE. There are also slight...

There is no shortage of explanations for Democratic losses in yesterday’s elections.  Here is my quick partial list with a few comments.  Additions welcome. Basic structural explanations: Democratic losses are a standard mid-term loss for the President’s party.  [No doubt.  Without checking, I suspect the losses were larger than normal.] Democratic losses reflect standard retrospective voting – the pandemic recovery is going poorly, the...

There is no shortage of explanations for Democratic losses in yesterday’s elections.  Here is my quick partial list with a few comments.  Additions welcome. Basic structural explanations: Democratic losses are a standard mid-term loss for the President’s party.  [No doubt.  Without checking, I suspect the losses were larger than normal.] Democratic losses reflect standard retrospective voting – the pandemic recovery is going poorly, the...

A followup to an article I had read and previous findings. Not the first time, a drug or drug combination has been disapproved. This usually comes from a lack of supporting evidence coming from clinical trials. Instead there are various studies conducted which show varying degrees of results which may have questionable data. In the beginning of the COVID pandemic, everyone was hyping Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as the cure for COVID. As it turned...

A followup to an article I had read and previous findings. Not the first time, a drug or drug combination has been disapproved. This usually comes from a lack of supporting evidence coming from clinical trials. Instead there are various studies conducted which show varying degrees of results which may have questionable data. In the beginning of the COVID pandemic, everyone was hyping Hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) as the cure for COVID. As it turned...

(Dan here…originally published 12:11 a.m. Nov. 3. We now know Youngkin won the Virginia governer’s race) GOP Does Well As Dow Jones Average Crosses Major Milestone Of 36,000.  I am posting before the election results of Nov. 2, 2021, are fully in, but it looks that the GOP candidates will win in Virginia, where Biden beat Trump by 10 points a year ago for the statewide races, with GOP making gains in the House of Delegates that may switch its...

Commenter and Blogger RJS at Marketwatch 666; “September Durable Goods: New Orders Down 0.4%, Shipments Up 0.4%, Inventories Up 0.9%“ September Advanced Report Durable Goods Manufacturer Shipments, Inventories, and Orders, US Census The Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for September (pdf) from the Census Bureau reported that the value of the widely watched new orders for manufactured durable...

September personal income and spending: positive, but consumers’ “cushion” of pandemic assistance savings is now exhausted Real personal income and spending held up well throughout the pandemic, due to a vigorous government response. This morning these were reported for the first month after the expiration of the last such assistance. In nominal terms, personal income declined -1.0%, but spending rose 0.6%, and the previous month was revised...