Retail sales January 2024:
Consumer spending fell sharply in January, presenting a potential early danger sign for the economy, the Commerce Department reported Thursday. Advance retail sales declined 0.8% for the month following a downwardly revised 0.4% gain in December, according to the Census Bureau. A decrease had been expected: Economists surveyed by Dow Jones were looking for a […]
The Ukraine war offers energy arbitrage opportunities
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Europe had weathered one winter since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But although gas prices had returned to Earth, they were sure to rise in the colder months to come. Thus if commodity merchants […]
In defence of a financial instrument that fails to do its job
Although buying inflation-protected bonds to protect against inflation does not seem unreasonable, it would have been a spectacularly unprofitable move during the latest bout of inflation. One hundred dollars put into inflation-protected Treasuries in December 2021, when investors first saw American core inflation reach 5%, would have been worth just $88 a year later. Even […]
Investing in commodities has become nightmarishly difficult
Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android. Your browser does not support the <audio> element. Only a few years ago, analysts and investors were aflutter with talk of a new “supercycle” in commodities. Some believed the world was about to repeat a surge in raw-material prices that began in the […]
The Never-Ending Cold War | Armstrong Economics
QUESTION: Do you believe Putin has no interest in starting World War III? Was he telling the truth when he said, “It is absolutely out of the question? You just don’t have to be an analyst. It goes against common sense to get involved in some kind of a global war, and a global war […]
Is working from home about to spark a financial crisis?
In midtown manhattan reminders of commercial property’s difficulties are everywhere. On the west side, near Carnegie Hall, stands 1740 Broadway, a 26-storey building that Blackstone, an investment firm, bought for $605m in 2014—only to default on its mortgage in 2022. Soaring above Grand Central station is the iconic Helmsley building. Its mortgage was recently sent […]
Political Noncognitivism – Econlib
Co-blogger David Henderson recently posted about how political partisanship makes people more disposed to ignore or deny basic facts in a way that sports partisanship does not. I agree completely with what he says. In fact, I would say what he describes shows how many – perhaps most – people talk about politics in a […]
