MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 18, 2023 ©
September 15, 2023
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The United Auto Workers officially went on strike against the “Big Three” Detroit automakers early Friday, potentially imperiling an already-fragile U.S. economy. An extended work stoppage risks causing billions in damage to the economy…. Still, the strikes are limited in scope so far as the UAW seeks to preserve its $825 million strike fund, which would support a walkout for about 11 weeks by the 146,000 union members. – Megan Henney, “UAW strike Could Slam the US Economy,” www.foxbusiness.com, September 15, 2023.
“It’s the one constant in life. If you build something worth having, someone’s going to try to take it.” – Kevin Costner as John Dutton, in “Yellowstone,” Series 3, Paramount Pictures.
MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 11, 2023 ©
September 08, 2023
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Revisions to economic data are widespread and normal. But occasionally the revisions are so big that they upend our shared understanding of what’s going on. The problem isn’t new, but it’s getting worse. Timely data is typically based on surveys, and even companies can’t be bothered to fill in surveys any more. Early reporting of figures that are later revised away can send investors in entirely the wrong direction. It can embed an understanding of the economy that takes a long time to be corrected. At worst it can lead to the misallocation of capital and influence government policy or interest rates. – James Mackintosh, “Economic Data Lead Markets and Governments Astray,” Wall Street Journal, September 8, 2023.
North Korea-linked hackers have stolen hundreds of millions of crypto to fund the regime’s nuclear weapons programs, research shows. “In recent years, there has been a marked rise in the size and scale of cyber-attacks against cryptocurrency-related businesses by North Korea,” said TRM Labs in a June discussion with North Korea experts. – Sheila Chiang, “North Korean Hackers Have Allegedly Stolen Hundreds of Millions in Crypto to Fund Nuclear Programs,” www.cnbc.com, September 6, 2023.
MMA FREE WEEKLY COLUMN FOR THE WEEK BEGINNING SEPTEMBER 4, 2023 ©
September 01, 2023
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NOTE: U.S. markets are closed this Monday, September 4, in observance of the Labor Day holiday.
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Hiring cooled this summer and unemployment rose in August, signs the labor market is moderating in the face of high interest rates. U.S. employers added 187,000 jobs last month, while payrolls in June and July were revised down a combined 110,000. The monthly gain in August was well less than the average pace over the prior year, and far below the roughly 400,000 average monthly gain in 2022. The unemployment rate was 3.8% last month, up from 3.5% in July. Gwynn Guilford, ”Job Gains Eased in Summer Months, Unemployment Increased in August,” Wall Street Journal, September 1, 2023.
Imagine the planets as ships at sea. Imagine their movement through the heavens, as seen from earth (geocentric), as waves on the sea. There are eight planets in our solar system, as seen from Earth (not counting the Earth). At various times, each planet will appear to be going backwards through the heavens, which is known as its retrograde cycle. Six of the planets go retrograde at least once during the year. Venus and Mars will do so once every 19 or 26 months, respectively, while Mercury will go retrograde every 88 days or 3-4 times/year. It is not uncommon to see 1-3 planets retrograde at one time. Four is not too unusual. Five or more is considered a lot. Between August 28 through September 3, six planets will be retrograde. On September 3, Venus will turn direct, dropping it back to five. However, the next day, September 4, Jupiter will turn retrograde, making it six planets retrograde once again until September 15, when Mercury turns direct.