Tag Archives: Hot Topics

RJS, MarketWatch 666 4th Quarter GDP Grew at a 6.9% Rate, Revised from a 7.0% Rate, as PCE Revised Lower The Third Estimate of our 4th Quarter GDP from the Bureau of Economic Analysis indicated that our real output of goods and services grew at a 6.9% rate in the quarter, revised from the 7.0% growth rate reported in the second estimate last month, as a steep downward revision to personal consumption expenditures more than offset a big upward...

RJS, Focus on Fracking US oil supplies are at a 14 – year low; commercial crude supply at a 42 month low, SPR at a 19½ year low; total oil + products supplies at a 95 month low The Latest US Oil Supply and Disposition Data from the EIA US oil data from the US Energy Information Administration for the week ending March 25th indicated that even after a big decrease in our oil exports, we had to take oil out of stored commercial crude supplies...

Similar to 1973, we are faced with an energy crisis or a coming one. Our usage/demand is outstripping supply. The nation is a bit more prepared this time. I am not seeing the long lines waiting to add a couple of gallons of gasoline to top off. We have done a lot since 1973 in the US while European countries are doing more. This rendition of 10 points of things we could do is taken from Treehugger, authored by Lloyd Alter, and entitled...

A bold step forward yesterday as taken by a Federal Judge striking down much of the new election law passed by the Florida legislature, after the 2020 election, and under the guise of nonexistent fraudulent voting activity in Florida. The main thrust of passing this bill was to make it harder for minorities and others who might vote for non-Republican candidates to vote. As Tallahassee, Florida Federal District Judge Tom Walker wrote in his 288-page...

In this post, I criticize current US weapons policy. I have been doing this for over 40 years. I have been saying the same things for those 40 years. This means I can check on the hostages I have given to fortune and mark my beliefs to market. My thoughts again 1) I think that the US should buy smart munitions to be fired from many cheap platforms (that is I take one side in a decades long debate). 2) I think there has been a pattern of...

I plan to write a series of posts on which and how many weapons the US should buy. I start with two important disclaimers. First, obviously, I have no expertise and probably don’t know what I am talking about. Second, I firmly believe that the US Federal Government intertemporal budget constraint is currently satisfied with slack, so spending can be increased without ever increasing taxes or cutting otehr spending. To argue that wasteful spending...

Maybe I am missing something along the way here. Or is there just so many times when you go and kick the football and Lucy or in this case Joe Manchin decides to move the football again. Joe Manchin ain’t no cartoon character and I am not Charlie Brown. Somebody has to be getting a bit angry by now. We are trying to appease a chameleon, a child, or just a plain liar. Manchin; “I’ve heard people say that before the July 4 break, you should have...

Or was it? How many philosophical ‘baby Hitlers’ does it take? That’s a tough one, because how could you know? By 1937, it was a no brainer. By 2002, it was a no brainer. By 2008, less than zero. Now, there is no doubt it has been discussed at the highest levels, here, in Europe, and between. Especially since February this year. Is war a sport with rules as to what is fair and what is not? Then, one man caused the deaths of 75-80 million human...

Or was it? How many philosophical ‘baby Hitlers’ does it take? That’s a tough one, because how could you know? By 1937, it was a no brainer. By 2002, it was a no brainer. By 2008, less than zero. Now, there is no doubt it has been discussed at the highest levels, here, in Europe, and between. Especially since February this year. Is war a sport with rules as to what is fair and what is not? Then, one man caused the deaths of 75-80 million human...

RJS, MarketWatch 666 “February” Durable Goods: New Orders Down 2.2%, Shipments Flat, Inventories Up 0.4% The “Advance Report on Durable Goods Manufacturers’ Shipments, Inventories and Orders for February” (pdf) from the Census Bureau reported that the value of the widely watched new orders for manufactured durable goods decreased by $6.0 billion or 2.2 percent to $271.5 billion in February, the first decrease in five months, after January’s...