Tag Archives: Hot Topics

Initial claims: were the recent lows just unresolved seasonality after all?  – by New Deal democrat Initial jobless claims rose 5,000 to a 7 week high of 217,000 this week. The 4 week moving average rose 2,000 to 210,000 from its 9 month low of 208,000 last week. With the usual one week delay, continuing claims continued their recent sharp ascent, up 35,000 to 1.818 million. Aside from 2 weeks in April, this is the highest level of continuing...

I see where the latest gambit by House Republicans is to tie Ukraine aid to immigration “reform.” Setting aside the fact that aid to Ukraine is, like most foreign aid, a subsidy for US business, the linkage to immigration is a red herring. All the current approaches are failing, are doomed, and are a waste of taxpayer money, something the GOP pretends to care about.I’ve long held that the solution to most undocumented immigration is to reduce...

The new month of data begins: residential construction positive, job openings negative, and manufacturing mixed  – by New Deal democrat As usual, the monthly data started out with reports on the two most important production sectors of the economy, namely manufacturing (for October) and construction (for September). Additionally, the JOLTS jobs survey for September was released. I am going to do more detailed reports on both JOLTS and...

Emergency Physician and Pennsylvania state representative Arvind Venkat, MD has a detail story to tell about the impact of healthcare upon patients who can not afford the insurance, or are under insured, and opt to deny healthcare. And most can not afford the payments resulting from Medical Debt. This is a good plan and the Pennsylvania House of Representatives on a “bipartisan vote” supported it. Medical Debt Is Killing Our Patients | MedPage...

House resale price indexes confirm upturn in prices for existing homes, but do not negate combined price declines  – by New Deal democrat We got more price information about the very important housing market this morning. Through September, the median price of home resales as measured by Case Shiller increased 0.9% monthly. For the FHFA Index they rose 0.6%. Both measures are up about 46% since just before the pandemic hit (note: FRED hasn’t...

The October 30 issue of The New Yorker has a piece on Xi’s China called “China’s Age of Malaise.” While the mainstream media continues to promote the idea that China has become a wellspring of creativity and economic competition, the reality is that China is retreating into the rigid, sclerotic political dogmatism that characterized the Mao era and that brought down the Soviet Union. The money grafs:“Early this year, the Party launched a campaign to...

I rewrote portions of this article and added information from my own experiences in Automotive when new technology is introduced. My experience is not as great when compared to the introduction of EVs. However, it does come close enough to understand what is going on with the industry. Anyways, onwards. As taken from: GM Says EV Demand Is Shrinking. Data Shows a Complex Market, autoweek.com, Emmet White Generally speaking about the market . . ....

This commentary by Steve Early is about politics and war. The wars the US politically gets involved in, sends its young off to fight, and then leaves them pretty much stranded. It ain’t all John Wayne and scenes from the Alamo. Steve Early and I have been exchanging emails back and forth on VA healthcare. From what he tells me, he has picked up on our posting on healthcare. Just when you think no one is reading your work, a comment like this pops...

Weekly Indicators for October 23 – 27 at Seeking Alpha  – by New Deal democrat My Weekly Indicators post is up at Seeking Alpha. With half of reports in, Q3 profits for corporations have made a new all-time high. Meanwhile the stock market has made repeated new 3 month lows. The former is a long leading indicator, the latter a short leading indicator, so we shall see which one proves more accurate. And in case you haven’t noticed at the...

Vaccination is one of the great triumphs of humanity over infectious disease. Smallpox was such a plague that George Washington mandated inoculation for all Continental soldiers in 1777. Prior to the polio vaccine, most Americans knew a friend or relative who contracted polio; today, it’s virtually unheard of, just like mumps and whooping cough. The COVID vaccines, particularly the mRNA vaccines of Moderna and Pfizer, are a triumph of genetic...