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The economy continues to pleasantly surprise, to wit, 24Q1 GDP growth is being revised up, and thus rate cuts keep getting delayed. What’s going on? Several things. The rise in home prices and equities is slightly boosting consumer spending. Second,…

In a move hailed as genius, the Disney Corporation is beginning to plan and break ground for a new theme park called Econoworld. It aims to combine the magic of Disney with the unbridled excitement of macroeconomics and piggyback on…

The Friday File: This past Wednesday, former senator Joseph Lieberman died; he was 82. His political career began in the Connecticut state house in 1970. In 1988, won election to the US Senate, becoming the first Orthodox Jew in the…

The FTC is challenging Kroger’s acquisition of Albertson’s. The FTC claims Walmart/Target aren’t supermarkets, that Sprouts/Whole Foods are premium stores, that Dollar stores are limited, and that Aldi/Lidl are “limited assortment stores.” FTC thus claims this merger of the top…

While the economy may be super and an economic soft landing may be right around the corner, U.S. households are increasingly tapping into their IRA/401(k) retirement accounts. In 2018 and 2019 that percentage was about 2%. In 2020, despite Covid,…

3/21/24 marked the 625th consecutive day of the inversion of the 2-10 yield curve. This means the yield on the 2-year Treasury has consistently exceeded the yield on the 10-year Treasury since early July 2022, breaking the record of 624…

The Friday File: Between 2000-2023, the average number of UFO sightings per 100,000 persons in the US was 34.3. Lincoln County, NV, where fabled Area 51 is located, is tops at 820.9. Next is Arthur County, NE at 618.6, then…

While retailers closed 5,000 net stores in 2019, 6,000 net stores during pandemic-plagued 2020, and several hundred in 2021, since then the improvement has been amazing. In 2022, 1,500 net stores opened, in 2023 almost 500 opened, and YTD, 750…

Despite many households locking in low mortgage rates, household interest expenses are skyrocketing. In 00Q4, the peak of the dotcom boom, interest expenses/GDP hit an all-time high of 2.2%. In 07Q2, shortly before the onset of the Housing Bust, interest…

The cost to a mortgage lender to complete a residential loan in 23Q4 was $12,485, the second highest level in the history of the series, and up from $11,441 in 23Q3. Unfortunately, revenue per loan barely rose. As a result,…