Washington D.C. Goes Full Orwellian
An audacious communications campaign from Democrats in Washington is currently underway that is attempting to convince the public that: There is no recession Inflation has been vanquished Even if inflation is still alive, targeted new Federal legislation will kill it As strange as these claims sound to anyone with even the most casual grasp of […]
The Fed Girds for Battle
It’s the Fed’s “hold my beer” moment. After more than a year in which Federal Reserve leadership appeared clueless, pollyannish, and indecisive, the Fed is conducting a full-throated messaging campaign to show that it is as serious as cancer about the inflation surge that is scaring the bejesus out of consumers, investors, and economists. Their […]
March Madness in the Bond Market
There was a little March Madness on Wall Street. In fact, the month turned into an old-fashioned blood bath. But you wouldn’t have found any carnage in the stock market. In fact, the Dow Jones gained a decent 2.3% on the month. But beneath that glittery stock market stage (that attracts the most investor attention) there was some […]
The Year of Living Dangerously
2021 is now in the rear-view mirror and I believe that future financial historians may regard it as the year of peak speculation. While the history of American markets is littered with periods of irrational exuberance, none of those episodes can really match the current market for outright delusion and the blatant disregard for basic […]
Transitory Permanence
The inflation that we were emphatically told would be transitory and unmoored continues to persist and entrench. As the troubles gather momentum Washington is doing its best to ignore the problem or actively make it worse. The latest batch of data shows that the Consumer Price Index rose 5.4% in September, the 5th consecutive month […]
American Prestige Left Stranded in Afghanistan
In the 50 years since Richard Nixon officially severed the dollar’s link to gold, many have claimed that the greenback’s strength rests primarily on America’s unchallenged power and prestige around the world. As the situation in Afghanistan moves from embarrassment to tragedy, we are witnessing the rapid evaporation of the remnants of American prestige. These […]
Biden’s Housing Gambit
The “transitory” inflation swamping the country has stubbornly persisted into July. This week it was announced that producer prices posted a second straight 1% month-over-month increase, which brought the full year number to a record 7.8%. It was also reported that 12-month US export prices rose 17.2%, and nearly 22% if the rate of the […]
How Transitory is Transitory?
What exactly is “transitory?” You and your wife may disagree on its meaning when your old friend asks if he can stay with you while he “Sorts things out.” The term is virtually worthless without some guiding context, as in “Honey, he’ll be out of here by Monday. Tuesday the latest.” Last week, Federal Reserve […]
Inflation Crashes The Party
It’s dawning on many investors that our post-Covid financial problems may not be as easily solved as Washington claims. The latest clue that trouble is brewing has come from the sudden and dramatic arrival of inflation. On May 12, it was revealed that the Consumer Price Index (CPI) had risen 4.2% year-over-year, the fastest pace since […]
You Wanna Buy a Bridge?
Recently, a piece of collage art entitled “Everydays: The First 5000 Days,” by an artist known as Beeple, sold at a Christie’s auction for $69 million. The Wall Street Journal noted that the price was higher than any that has ever been paid for works of Frida Kahlo, Paul Gaugin, or Salvador Dali. But, before the auction, […]
