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Check this: Boulder County District Judge Andrew Hartman blocked Boulder from enforcing bans on assault-style weapons and large-capacity magazines on March 12. Less than two weeks back, they stopped bans on things like AR-15s and whammo, a lunatic shooter shows up and kills 10 people. Out of the clear blue, because you know, if it was still banned, he wouldn’t have killed those folks, right? Give me a break.
Last March, in 2020 “they” decided that in a year, they would end the “SLR” program. What’s that you ask? Policy manipulation that gave banks more latitude on what they could hold, reserve requirements, etc.
Two issues back, I wrote an article called the “Charging World” as we continue to see the push away from hydrocarbons and into an all electric world. I said that I personally would love to see it, because it makes so much sense. But I ALSO said that it is unrealistic to believe we’re going to pull this off.
The $1.9 trillion stimulus bill helps low and middle-income families but way too little. It’s only for two years.
What people don’t seem to understand is that all the incredible things that we have, were made by and because of capitalism, and the freedom to invent things. If the market demanded it, people would make it. AAPL didn’t make cell phones to show off their engineering prowess, they made phones because people with money wanted to buy them. It’s terribly easy to understand. Unless of course you’re a 20 year old college kid, wearing 150 dollar sneaks, sporting a 200 dollar leather jacket, wearing 70 dollar jeans, talking on a 1000 dollar phone, going to a 70grand a year school, while eating 5 meals a day. Then you’re oppressed and/or suppressed. Offended by everything, and obviously the world is unkind to you. Somehow. Oh, and it all needs to be fixed. Because of, well, some reason.
Most of you probably know what this past week was like in market land. Enormous swings up and down. The NASDAQ losing 2K points from its high just 14 sessions ago. Entire indexes giving up all their 2021 gains.
Shortly after the open on Friday, things went south again. The NASDAQ peeled off another 350 points, the DOW plunged red by another 200+ the S&P was blood red by 40. It was another slaughter day. Until….
Over the past few days, I have been looking hard at the miners and shaking my head at the beatings they’ve endured recently. Some truly wonderful mining and streaming operations, have had their stocks cut to the bone. It’s crazy. I think we could very well be looking at at least a nice bounce in the mining area.
“This alone gives gold and other commodities a generally inverse relationship with the USD.”
But nominal rates don’t necessarily sync with inflation. As Tiggre explains, a nominal 1% interest rate is actually negative if inflation is greater than 1%. “This is why gold and nominal rates can rise together during times of higher inflation.”
So, from up here in the cheap seats, it seems to me that Amazon and other major companies have the scale and scope to work out insanely cheap rates with UPS, so they can offer “free shipping,” while the “retail” guy gets to make up for all the money they’re losing on Amazon.
Here’s the thing, though: the federally funded weekly payments ($600 last year, $300 this) — like state UI benefits — are taxable by the IRS at a minimum.
Most states tax UI benefits as well. Of the 40 states that tax income, only five — California, New Jersey, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Virginia — fully exempt UI benefits.
This is the first time in my 25+ years of writing that I ever endorsed looking into pennies and OTC’s. But things change and right now the landscape is still rich in this sphere. Don’t go overboard, don’t get pie in the sky ideas. Just look around the area, and if you find something interesting take a small shot. This atmosphere won’t last forever, so it’s now or never.
Well that one resonated with a ton of people, and I want to take the liberty to post up some of the more interesting responses. I think you’ll find them interesting. Then I’ll post up some links that were sent to me that make for good reading.
When I was growing up, let’s say in the 60’s and 70’s, almost every day we’d hear about things that were no good for us to eat. On TV the commercials were pushing “fake butter” because real butter will gunk up your arteries, but this processed “scientific” stuff was better for you.
It wasn’t even a couple days and Unknown was calling again. I answered it again, saying that I don’t have and never have had a line of credit via paypal. But he was persistent. He said that in 2018 I opened this line of credit, he had the correct email address, and said that I even made several payments, before stopping payments in late 2019.
As Congress nears debate on another round of stimulus/relief aid for American households, businesses, state and local governments, schools, Covid vaccination delivery, and more, I thought it would be instructive to see how the direct aid sent as part of Stimulus 1.0 was spent.
A new report from the IRS shows that the first round of economic impact payments (or stimulus checks) primarily benefited households earning less than $100,000.
This is good news.