70 Words

The Friday File: While prices ending in $0.99, like $4.99 of $399.99, known as charm pricing, look good, they are on average 18% more expensive than when identical items have different prices. Stores do it because we think it signals…

In 2008, at the start of the Housing Bust, household spending on goods was 34% of income, but it quickly fell to 32% by early 2009, near the end of the recession. It then resumed rising and was 36% pre-Covid.…

Used car prices declined 0.3% in November M-o-M, are down 14.2% Y-o-Y, and are back at prices that prevailed over a year ago in 8/21. Compact cars enjoyed the smallest Y-o-Y decline at 10.5%, followed by vans and sports cars…

In 2021, there were a record-breaking 1,033 IPOs of which 59%, or 613, were SPACs, “blank-check” shell companies designed to take firms public without going through the traditional IPO process. YTD there have been just 173 IPOs, a decline of…

November net job growth was strong at 263,000. While it’s the weakest number this year, signaling a softening market, it’s still way too strong. To wit, M-o-M wage growth rose a very robust 0.6%, the highest rate since 10/21. Moreover,…

The Friday File: Since the first World Cup in 1930, eight nations have won. Brazil is the only nation to have competed in all 21 World Cups (no competitions were in 1942 and 1946) and has won five. The best…

Pre-Covid, the container shipping industry earned profits of $1 billion/quarter. With the arrival of Covid, however, profits soared. During 20Q4 they were $10 billion, in 21Q1 they hit $20 billion, by 21Q3 they were $48.1 billion, and in 22Q1, $58.7…

Due to rising prices, the maximum size of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac conforming loans is now $726,200, and in high-cost areas a mind-numbing $1,089,300. If the argument is that this boosts affordability, it’s dead wrong! Raising limits allows more…

There are six regional Federal Reserve Bank monthly surveys of economic conditions. They are put out by the Chicago, Dallas, Kansas City, New York, Philadelphia, and Richmond banks. At present all six are in contractionary territory. Since 1969, and before…

October retail sales sank by 0.5%, the first decline since May. This is the result of the weak real estate sector, sinking exports, and the weight of China’s bizarre zero-Covid policy. At present Covid cases are breaking records daily, and…