Ah…as the week winds up, we notice that the futures were down significantly in the early going, and gold was down, too. Why is something of a mystery. The overnight figs from the Federal Reserve showed the annualized 3-month rate of M1 (cash) printing was going up 22.4% while M2 (a broader measure) was also going up at a 7.9% annualized rate.
In case you’re not clued in to the Big Picture, it goes something like this: If Romney wins, tax cuts will come along, gold will jump 30-40% and healthcare will get watered down.
If Obama wins, the Obamacare tax hikes will chill the economy thoroughly and we could have leg 2 down, but the good news (such as it is) will be that the federal deficit will not balloon as quickly.
All we can really say (with any confidence) is that when money-printing is going up north of 22% and prices haven’t taken off from Cape Canaveral yet, what’s going on at this very second is huge deflation which is why gold dropped, markets will drop this morning (*barring a thought-changer) and everything hangs on how the courts decide the election, if it’s that close and remember the astrological stuff is very much parallel to the 2000 election fiasco.
There, don’t you feel better already? Nothing to get stressed about. So let’s move on to the real economy…when you could get a sense of by talking to local longshoremen and train crews. But, since neither one of us has time, though the days of picking up news stories by hanging around Nifty’s Kayoia Bar were way cool back in my news-chasing days on the Seattle waterfront, we will just have to grab statistics and go from there.
Not as much fun (or nearly as interesting) as a couple of bottles of Olympia and a half pack of Camels, but times change and us with ‘em.
So starting with Seattle: Inbound cargo in September was down 13.9%. Worse, full outbound was down 36%/
TEU’s (twenty-foot equivalents) in Portland were up a tad, but they are still down 10.5% year to date.
“Surely, things aren’t that bad down the coast...” you’re thinking. And you’d be partly right.
Not quite, but Oakland inbound was down 6.9% in September and outbound was down 5.7%.
The bright spot was the Port of Los Angeles, up 3.38% but across the viaduct, Port of Long Beach numbers showed a tiny 0.7% increase inbound for the month.
All of which means what?
In a nutshell, it’s looking to me like the “recovery” has peaked. If we had a major downturn in the economy later on this winter or next spring, I wouldn’t be surprised. Come to think of it, you shouldn’t be either.
Who’d WANT to be President
Although it’s taken out of context to some extent, we have to wonder whether Barack Obama being quoted in the British Press with the headline: “‘If four Americans get killed, it’s not OPTIMAL’: Obama’s extraordinary response to Comedy Central question about shifting story after Benghazi attack…” if he’s losing his drive to land the job again.
A weak first debate, now everyone in the press gunning for a foot-in-mouth slip…and Romney seems to be coming up in the polls.
Grope-Wasting’s?
We have to wonder why any Americans are being slow-cooke3d and groped at airports when word’s coming out that the would-be terrorist involved in that plot against the Fed this week was granted a student visa through proper channels.
Hello? Anyone home? I know it’s asking too much for State to be on the same page but it would be refreshing.
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Oh, but I don’t think that’s going to happen with Sec State Hillary lecturing about “whining women”. Hello? Anyone minding the store? Following up on intel fumbles? FMTT.
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You know, in the corporate world, when someone says they’re going to be leaving sometime in the future…as soon as you get wind of it, you find the replacement and act on your timeline and what works best for the company.
I’d think the same kind of hardheaded management science approach would apply to cabinet level types…
Buying Off the Poor
One of the reasons I hate writing news around election time is that the wrong causes are often attributed to social ills. I’ll give you a for-instance: This morning there is an article in the (conservative) Washington Times that declares “Welfare spending jumps 32% during Obama’s presidency.”
That’s nominally true, but the thought is only half complete (which happens a lot around election time). The REAL DEAL is that the huge concentration of wealth in the hands of the few is continuing non-stop and as a result, government is having to shell out more dough to keep America from rising up and overthrowing the rich people/bankster/fraudster class, which I’m pretty sure would be lamp-posted by crowds armed with pitchforks is nothing else.
So…the REAL deal on welfare spending is that as the social conveyor belt is broken, it costs more to keep would-be revolutionaries from “taking it to the streets.”
Want to get to real good insights into how this larger game is played?
Two must-reads for you: The first is: Regulating the Poor: The Functions of Public Welfare
Hint: Elections don’t matter is you own the money, the property, and the conveyor belt.
Of course, we’ll all go out and vote in a couple of weeks anyway, just to say we tried…
Blood In the Streets
Wasn’t it one of the Rothchilds who said “Buy when the blood is running in the streets“? Or, was it John Rockefeller?
Gosh,; I started off with one point and now I have two:
The first is that “Another DOE-backed solar outfit is going BK which means? Time to load up on solar panels for your home. Buy ‘em hand over fist and get home renewable energy done now while it’s cheap! See? News is useful stuff!
The second point was about power-tripping. John D. Rockefeller is one of those guys who figured out that putting your initial into your name (and making sure everyone uses it) is a fine way of “elevating yourself” as a superior. Gives creds…except to people who are hip to it.
I suppose we could do a whole article on head-tripping with names and such (Doctor, Sir, Major, and so forth) but let’s get back to the headlines…
Dog Kisses?
Dirty disgusting and – turns out - dangerous pet owner peccadillo.
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Right up there with women’s purses being set on restroom floors and then being set on a dining or kitchen surface. Yuck…barf in the cornflakes Friday.
Can’t Rush Into Stuff
I noted this morning that FEMA has declared part of Florida a major disaster area. No, you didn’t miss something overnight: This dates back to the arrival of hurricane Isaac there back in August. It will help people with ongoing recovery issues…
Easy Consulting Gig
A reader who knows I do consulting sent in a dandy question:
“What about gold…what will it be next week and month.”
As a good consultant I told her the exact truth:
“Yellow.”
Old-timer’s Notes
World’s oldest dad is apparently 96.
Am I skeptical? Uh…you mean because the story doesn’t mention DNA evidence? What…ME skeptical?
More after this…
