Looking Backwards …
LB #1
The rally from the end of last year was back this week, or at least at the end of this week. The S&P 500 powered to a new record and it was driven by the magnificent 7 less Tesla, more on them in a minute. The people are continuing to pile into stocks. Fed governors Christopher Waller and Raphael Bostic were out this week and saying the Fed might not raise rates as soon or as much as the market wants, and the market…just didn’t care. The cops might show up, but until then let’s party. The data coming out this week was not in any way helpful for making the Fed cut rates as retail spending was up, jobless claims down and the Michigan consumer sentiment survey was downright giddy. Ben Levisohn writes for Barron’s, “By Friday, however, the index had gained 1.2% for the week and closed at a record high. Not even a spike in the 10-year yield to 4.145%, its highest level in more than a month, was able to coax investors out of the market.
None of this makes sense if the factors driving the market now are the same as they were at the end of last year. The fact that it’s holding up as well as it is demonstrates that something is starting to shift, at least underneath the surface: The market is starting to price in more economic growth and fewer cuts.” I don’t think they are factoring in fewer cuts, I think they just don’t care. The market is up so we keep buying. KISS-keep it simple stupid.
LB#2
Michael Saltsman and Rebekah Paxton wrote an insightful opinion piece for the Wall street Journal last week in which they discuss how the restaurant scene and dining out in Washington DC had changed from pre-covid to post covid. It was stunning. They state misguided public policy for the rising crime and increased tipped wage legislation for causing restauranteurs to flee. Homicides are up 35% in 2023 and car theft is up 82%.
Another big blow was when the Washington sports teams decided to relocate to Virginia. The NBA’s Wizards and the NHL’s Capitals are moving to Alexandria, Va. Why? Crime was a big factor. From their article, “The area has been plagued in recent years by robberies and shootings. Things got so bad that Ted Leonsis, owner of both teams, was forced to hire off-duty police to keep visitors to the arena safe.” Follow the democratic leadership and follow the problems. It is really that simple. The hollowing out of our cities continues unabated.
LB#3-
Teslas have been shown on social media that would not outrun a Porsche in a quarter mile these week as many Teslas couldn’t out run a kid on a skateboard. That’s right, Charlie Bradley writes for the Express.com. “Tesla owners in Chicago were left in dire straits as they were unable to charge their cars because of freezing weather temperatures.
Fox Chicago reported that charging stations have become “car graveyards” as temperatures drop into negative double digits. It comes as drivers also discovered the Tesla Cybertruck has less than 80% of its advertised range in cold weather.”
People that are considering buying a Tesla truck do not fear, most of you are going to drive it from your warm garage to your place of work, yoga studio, or Whole Foods anyway. They all will accommodate your green ambitions.
Bradley continues, “Tesla owner Chalis Mizelle also told Fox Chicago: “This is crazy. It’s a disaster. Seriously.”
She added that she had to abandon her car and hitch a ride with a friend because her car wouldn’t charge.
Ms Mizelle added: “We got a bunch of dead robots out here.”
Abandon her car and hitch a ride with a friend, it sounds like the future of the American automobile is going to be a bus pass. It doesn’t matter how quickly it accelerates when it don’t go.
Looking Forwards…
LF#1
The Red Sea crisis is escalating as the Houthis are continuing their strikes against freighters and tankers in the Middle East. Now China has warned the US against escalating strikes against the Houthis. Jay Solomon writes for Semafor.com “China is warning the U.S. against escalating its attacks on Yemen’s Houthi rebels, as the conflict in the Red Sea increasingly threatens both Beijing’s economic and diplomatic interests. On a broader level, the growing military exchanges between the U.S. and Houthis threaten China’s Mideast diplomatic interests. Last spring, Beijing stunned Washington by brokering a normalization of relations between Saudi Arabia and Iran, the Houthis’ primary military backer.” When did they get to tell us what to do, when it wasn’t near China? This feels like a wings spreading moment for China. We have talked about how concerned they are with access to the Red Sea for their new energy commitments and their trade routes to Europe. Is this interfering with those interests? Could they get drug into this? This is something we will look forward to watching closely.
LF#2
We have talked a bit about the declining academics of the youth and how much Americans love to tune into their screens, but now we are starting to get some experts with very good data coming out of learning about this epidemic. Marina Zhang has an excellent article for Epoch Times and begins by telling the story of Billy, “Billy was a bright 10-year-old boy with two Ivy-League-educated parents. He was book smart—got straight A’s in school—but lacked street smarts. He was also a poor sport. Billy would frequently lie and cheat when playing board games or participating in team activities and have full-blown meltdowns when he lost. His friends, who had been with him since kindergarten, began losing patience. His parents recognized that something had to be done.
So Billy’s parents brought him to Dr. Victoria Dunckley, a pediatric psychiatrist specializing in screen use.
After a four-week “screen fast” prescribed by Dr. Dunckley, which eliminated all TVs, phones, and video games, Billy’s problems miraculously cleared up. His parents were so pleased that they decided to maintain the fast.” Now that is anecdotal and interesting, but she continues with incredible data in here article. Studies are beginning to link screen usage time and depression and screen usage time with ADHD amongst teens.
It wasn’t just amongst teens that screen time usage is creating a problem. Adults are falling prey to the dopamine addiction of constantly checking their phone for messages, notifications, attention. “Few studies investigated internet addiction in children during the pandemic, but a large study done in adults in 2021 showed that adults who were considered at risk of internet addiction were 2.3 times more likely to have depression and 1.9 times more likely to have anxiety than the general population. Furthermore, people with definite or severe addiction were 13 times more likely to have both depression and anxiety.” This is your weekly safety message from the C Thomas Printer Cooperative, reading a book helps your health. Taking a walk helps your health. Put the phone away and introduce yourself to your own mind.
LF#3
We have been following the decline in the fortunes of the clean energy movement. By decline, I mean the massive hemorrhage of money that is happening. It started with a trickle but now there seems to be a rush to get out of the space, literally. David Uberti writes for the Wall Street Journal, “U.S. power companies raced to get in on the offshore wind boom a few years ago. Now some are rushing to get out. Already, utilities have unloaded pieces of a planned New Jersey wind farm and a yet-to-be-built seabed off Massachusetts. Now, “for sale” signs sit on stakes in four developments aimed at electrifying hundreds of thousands of homes in New York, Connecticut, Rhode Island and Virginia.
The pullback is adding to the turmoil in a new industry at the center of the U.S.’s renewable-energy ambitions. Developers behind projects totaling 8.5 gigawatts of electricity—more than a quarter of President Biden’s 2030 goal—canceled or are expected to cancel state-approved power contracts to propose deals with new terms, according to Intelatus Global Partners. Two projects have been nixed outright.” That is a quarter of Biden’s 2030 goal is cancelling? My god, what a disaster. We are 6 years away.
One interesting exception has been Dominion Energy which has an interesting model which lets it recover the costs from ratepayers. Who cares what it costs when you just pass on the costs? I feel sorry for the state of Virginia where Dominion is building their project. How expensive is it going to be to get electricity there? Everything has a cost, including malinvestment folks. That is why people are rushing to get out, and soon they will be rushing to get out of Virginia, just like they were DC. If only we could detect a pattern.
The Dow Jones finished trading at ….37,863
The 10 year Treasury bond is at …4.13
The price of Brent Crude is …78.56
The price of gold is …2,031
The price of silver is …22.75. Thank you for listening today and you can find all of our articles and more on our website cthomasprinter.