While Bitcoin may or may not become mainstream, the blockchain technology that undergirds it, a “distributed ledger” which is a database maintained not by a single actor but by many participants simultaneously, slowly will. Financial trades could be settled instantly…
As Japan and Europe sink further into negative interest rate territory, the impacts here are undeniable. In an effort to earn positive returns, European and Japanese investors sell their currencies to purchase ours pushing up our dollar, hurting exports, weakening…
The Friday File: Contrary to popular belief, the United Kingdom ranks just 4th in global per capita tea consumption at 3.7 lbs/person/year. Uzbekistan is 3rd at 4.6 lbs/person/year, Ireland is 2nd at 4.7 lbs/person/year while the Turks consume the most…
Q3 consumer delinquencies rose from a record low of 1.36% in Q2 to 1.41%. These levels are substantially below the 15-year average of 2.25%, a level last seen roughly four years ago. Mobile home loans have the highest delinquency rate…
While the sagging stock market is the result of many factors, corporate profits haven’t helped. In Q4, depending on how measured, corporate profits declined between 3.6% and 15%, and in 2015 they ranged from up 3.3% to down 5.1%. Using…
During Q1/16, the top performing asset was lean hogs, up a staggering 35.2%, followed by gold at 16.5%, utility stocks at 15.7%, and the Brazilian stock market, which rose 15.5%. The worst performer, rough rice, down 18.1%, followed by natural…
Friday’s jobs report showed a solid gain of 215,000 jobs. That said, the unemployment rate ticked up from 4.9% to 5% because the labor force grew by an even larger 396,000 persons! As a result, the labor force participation rate…
The Friday file: To raise revenue and end partisan bickering, a bill changing the name of the Liberty Bell to the Taco Liberty Bell and the Lincoln Memorial to the Ford Lincoln Mercury Memorial has surprisingly passed both houses of…
Between 1950 and 2000, half of electricity generated came from coal, now it’s just 32%, and the percentage coming from hydro has steadily fallen from 30% in 1950 to 6%. Conversely, natural gas, which was just 10% during the 1980s,…
While inventory of homes is low, commonly used measures such as months of inventory or number of units for sale, severely underestimate the shortage. The number of units for sale divided by the number of households has been flat at…