1-31-2025 Week In Review

Energy

Crude inventory up a bit, with distillates down, and gasoline up. SPR up a bit. Price at the pump has barely budged and should continue in a narrow band.

Politics

It is the same old, same old. It was funny, but is now getting boring. Example: When there is a school shooting, we know what is said immediately by both sides. A plane crash provides us with the same dynamics, but in opposite polarization. 

Unfortunately, there is a history regarding this issue, dating back to the Obama presidency, which is in the courts since 2014 and is still not resolved, as of 1-29-2025.

BRIGIDA v. UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

GDP

Annualized at 2.3%. Personal Consumption Expenditures were up dramatically.

While the 4th quarter jump in personal consumption expenditures is not entirely unheard of... I do wonder about the enormous jump in this past quarter and whether I am able to believe it... which I consider a bit shady. 

One possible explanation of this large jump is people buying ahead of potential tariffs. This is solely based on social media posts, which have people talking about buying stuff now, rather than later. Of course, these are social media posts, which are about as believable as... the GDP numbers.

Of course, if those posts are indicative, then the later buying will not take place and personal consumption expenditures will slow considerably in 1Q2025. Of course, politics will come into sharp view. Or rather sharper view.

PCE Report

Considering the target is 2.0%, The FED is okay with a number above that, as they left rates unchanged. Clearly there is concern for inflation, but there are some troubling signs... regarding the economy.

The Snow has almost melted.

Almost, as it has been 27 days and the temps are expected to be near 60 for a couple of days, and above freezing til the 9th.

End of the line

I am getting so bored with the current news cycle. I think it is time to simply blog, when there is something of interest.

Also, I have had adsense running and think it is time to remove adsense from this blog. I am the only person interested, so it makes more sense to cut adsense. My reasons for adsense were mostly to understand the audience, but since there isn't any... there you go. Besides, there never was any meaningful knowledge to gain, that was not already present under stats. 

Also, I always checked from my home screen and never really looked at the end product on line. I recently checked and clearly, I do not know how to properly place ads. It is rather embarrassing.

Adios!

1-24-2025 Week In Review

Current Rage...

I probably should stop watching UK's Sky News. I was watching it during the swearing in and their announcer said something that just hit me the very, very wrong way. For the record, it was not something derogatory about Trump, which is typical of this outfit, while ignoring anything negative about you know who. 

When did it start...

I am not a historical scholar and would not suggest that political rancor never existed. However, the "butthurt" of losing parties seems to have dialed up in my lifetime. Actually, I would suggest it started with the election of Clinton. 

There was a lot of rumors, etc. during his tenure. With the 2000 election, the opposite party seemed to have some butthurt. The election of Obama gave us the "tea party" and then there was the first term of Trump. Biden followed and now with Trump again. 

Both sides seem to have developed severe cases of "butthurt", imo. I don't see it ending any time soon, either.

Misinformation abounds in unlikely places.

"FBI" agent that took down Capone. That was in a crossword puzzle. Ness was a Prohibition Bureau agent, and the FBI was not in place until 1935, although it was preceded by the Bureau of Investigation. The Prohibition Bureau was originally in the Treasury and absorbed by the BOI (Justice) in early 1933. Late 1933, saw it returned to the Treasury and eventually became the ATF of today.

Make up your damn  minds...

The media kept saying all he does is lie, lie, and lie. Now they are complaining because he actually told the truth. Make up your damn minds... or at least stop losing your minds.

ENERGY

A lot of racket, but no serious movement, imho. Pump prices are set to slightly rise, for both gasoline and diesel. There was a lot of talk about a "draw", which did bring down the total about 3.9M barrels, but the total is still 24.2M barrels ahead of last year on this date.

Birthright citizenship...

Remember this... "so long as they are permitted by the United States to reside here."

United States v. Wong Kim Ark, 169 U.S. 649 (1898) Chinese persons, born out of the United States, remaining subjects of the Emperor of China, and not having become citizens of the United States, are entitled to the protection of, and owe allegiance to, the United States so long as they are permitted by the United States to reside here, and are " subject to the jurisdiction thereof" in the same sense as all other aliens residing in the United States.

If you can't understand that part, then you may be shocked with the final outcome of this. The recent judge's ruling is merely the first salvo, imo.

Weather

Finally, the temps are set to moderate, which means above freezing. Maybe it will last long enough for all this snow to melt. 

That's all for this round.

1-17-2025 Week In Review

Laugh of the week

Watching Sky News and a lady proclaimed that social media sites should be held to the same strict standards as newspaper publishers and television news sites. Clearly she meant the UK, but some of the craziest and insane misinformation has come to me via Sky News and UK newspapers. 

Admittedly, the UK media is not as off the rails as American Media.

Greenland, what if...

If Greenland were to be independent, would it still be part of NATO? If not, why would we think they would align with the USA. China and/or Russia would run the bids up, imo. A strategic part of the world could be up for grabs.

Don't just laugh off the "Greenland" rhetoric, imho.

Climate Change

Accepting that the climate is definitely changing, why is all the focus all on the halt of bad emissions? If we were to suddenly halt these bad emissions, things will not return to normal the next day. In fact it would take many decades, if not hundreds of years. 

During that period of time, the ice caps will continue to melt, the oceans will continue to rise and the storm patterns will persist. The state of Florida will likely be under water, much of New York City will be under water. So why aren't preparations being made NOW... for such events?

Which brings me to...

LA Fires

There has always been wild fires in California, yet climate change is now considered the root cause. Yet nothing is being done to prepare for what should be considered a certainty. 

Blaming "climate change" is much easier than doing something, imho. 

Cease Fire

I am typing this on Thursday, 1-16-2025. Call me skeptical, but this seems like a peace deal for Biden, that will fall apart immediately and the Democrats will attempt to blame it on Trump. It theoretically takes place on Sunday, the 19th, so I think shortly after noon on the 20th... things will fall apart. 

Economic reports this week

A lot of pink, which indicates rising numbers, but not above expectations, imo.

Also, the retail sales report clocked in with an inflation adjusted +1.0% over the preceding 12 months. The current inflation adjusted sales is the highest since January, 2023.

Energy

Pump prices will likely rise about a nickel over the next couple of weeks. Which matches the nickel rise over the past week. 

That's it, this is getting boring.

Are We, Or Aren't We...

... in a recession?

No one truly knows, although many have an opinion, and depending on political stripe... we either are or we aren't. And it is always because something is a clear sign. Never mind, those government stats containing revisions from previous months, it must be deemed as absolute. 

Then there are the BIG money folks, that have gotten rich off QE and want those glory days to return... meaning the FED to reverse policy. BIG money really needs there to be a recession for that to happen and will lobby long and hard, that we are already in a recession and are betting on the FED to ease off rate hikes, etc. 

GDP gets revised a couple of times and then is revised once a year thereafter. 

Yep... revised from a negative in June 2015, to a positive in one month after third release and by 2021, was downright stellar.

Citing GDP as some guarantee, one way or the other... is based on something likely to be revised. Besides, it might just be possible that the 3rd quarter of this year could be positive. Would that mean the recession is over?

Employment situation... the word revised is used 4 times in the latest report. This month...

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for May was revised up by 2,000, from

+384,000 to +386,000 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_08052022.htm

The previous month...

The change in total nonfarm payroll employment for April was revised down by 68,000, from +436,000 to +368,000, and the change for May was revised down by 6,000, from +390,000 to +384,000 https://www.bls.gov/news.release/archives/empsit_07082022.htm

Which is it? 

My goal is not to cast doubt on government reports, but putting my heart and soul into a specific set of data as gospel... is just plain foolish, in my opinion. 

Earlier I mentioned the possibility of a 3rd QTR GDP print being positive. I base that on the blowout of trade balance and how it impacted the 1st two Quarters.

The trade deficit started blowing out in 3rd Qtr. 2020 and then accelerated, with another major drop down in the 1st Qtr, and barely easing the 2nd Qtr. That would be the period when our business leaders went nuts with over ordering. That may ease back a bit going forward. 

In an alternate universe, where the trade imbalance did not drop so dramatically, the 1st Qtr. GDP would have been +2.3% and 2nd Qtr. at +1.6%

Of course on the potential negative side is the extreme jump in credit. I have no idea how much longer that can last, but with the Federal Reserve ready to push up rates further... something's got to give, in my opinion. BUT, that set of data might likely also be revised. 

There is an old adage of "When your neighbor is out of a job... it's a recession. When you're out of a job... it's a depression". Probably the most accurate of all metrics!

Now for MY opinion. We are not in a recession yet. We may soon be, but the severity is unknown, until we are actually in the middle of it. I would say that any looming recession in the U.S. will be exacerbated by the current economic morass of Europe. 

I am trying to get a grasp on why Germany's trade balance is narrowing, when the Euro is cheaper now than 1 year ago. Is it difficulty in obtaining necessary materials to manufacture items? Is it the high cost of Natural Gas that is offsetting any gains from the weak Euro? Is it a combination of both, or several other factors. 

I don't know, but do worry about the impacts on Europe as a whole, which would include the U.K. in this instance. The natural gas issue, will not go away anytime soon, in my opinion. The materials issues are likely not to go away anytime soon, as well. 

This appears to be a very challenging time for Western Civilization. 

We seem to have a situation where many folks are being duped by big money into believing we are already in a recession, which could cause a recession via lack of confidence. Be careful what you wish for. 

Of course, we also have folks in the U.S. eagerly anticipating and repeating statements of a C.O.L.A. being above 10.5% or more, without considering how much additional inflation is required to get us to that level. But then, the point might be to inflate expectations and then cry foul, when it doesn't happen. Be careful what you wish for.