When a call option (which allows you to buy a stock at a fixed price for a fixed period) on, say, GameStop is purchased, another party must sell it. Rather than selling a naked call, the counter party (most often…
President Biden’s proposal to raise the minimum wage to $15/hour will have quite unequal effects. In high-cost states like DC, MA, CT, WA, NY, and MD where $15/hour is roughly 65% of the median wage, the impacts will be much…
Eurozone GDP fell 0.7% in 20Q4. While less severe than the contraction in spring 2020, this means eurozone GDP is 5.1% smaller than a year ago, compared to US GDP which is down just 2.5% compared to 19Q4. Worse, while…
Comparing total state employment in 12/19 to 12/20, the best performers are Utah and Alaska, each with a gain of 1%. Idaho and Kansas follow with no change. Arkansas, Indiana, Montana, South Dakota, Tennessee, and Wyoming have each seen employment…
The Friday File: Airplanes are not only expensive to buy, each B-2 costs $2 billion, they are also expensive to operate. The same B-2 costs $63 million/year to operate, the B-52 Stratofortress costs $25 million/year, and the B-1B Lancer, $24…
While this may be nothing but a stupid bubble, created by new technology such as Reddit/chat boards and Robinhood and the unintended consequences of low interest rates and massive liquidity due to overreliance on monetary policy, it could be the…
Existing-home sales jumped in December to a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR) of 6.76 million, the highest level since 2006. Usually, sales weaken in December but due to Covid-19 seasonality has disappeared. Had December’s sales of 540,000 occurred in July,…
The Fed, the ECB, and the BoJ have collectively increased balance sheets by $8 trillion since Sars-Cov-2’s debut. Last recession, it took the same central banks eight years to accumulate that much. With such large reserves, higher rates due to…
In December, housing starts were at a seasonally adjusted annualized rate of 1.67 million, their best since 9/06 and up 5.2% Y-o-Y. Single-family activity was up 28% Y-o-Y, multifamily starts fell 39%, both percentages being strongly Covid-19 influenced. Total starts…
The Friday File: This past Wednesday, not only did President and Dr. Jill Biden move into the White House, but so did Major, a three-year old rescue German Shepard, and Champ, a 13-year old German Shepard, the First Canines. There…