National

In a Nutshell: Consumer Price Index – A Big Surprise

June statistics provided another huge jump in (CPI) inflation numbers!  While June may also have been another month where excluding this and that might make inflation look transitory, the Fed’s patience will likely be tested.  Headline CPI rose 0.9% in… more

In a Nutshell: Just Too Much Cash?

A prolonged drop in U.S. Treasury yields is catching bond and fixed income traders as well as most investors by surprise. The 10-year U.S. Treasury yield dropped below 1.3% on July 7th and fell further overnight to 1.25% (despite real… more

In a Nutshell: Strong Jobs Report Despite Trouble Finding Workers

On July 2nd The Street received the jobs data for the month of June, and those numbers did not disappoint. The Labor Department announced that job growth accelerated in June (to 850,000); however, the unemployment rate was unchanged as uncounted… more

In a Nutshell: A Very Tight & Expensive Housing Environment

Housing statistics confirm that houses available to purchase are extremely limited, so the volume of sales continues declining.  While rapidly rising prices of lumber and other components may have impacted the reduced number of housing starts, there appears to be… more

In a Nutshell: What’s Up With Our Dollar?

Why has little attention been given to the rather sudden 3% exchange pullback for the dollar (versus the utilized basket of currencies)?  During the past 12 months the cumulative dollar value drop has been over 10%!  Currency exchange rates are… more

In a Nutshell: Higher Interest Rates on The Way!

Inflation exploded higher during April.  Base effects added to the year-on-year figures had only a little to do with the unexpected inflation jump from March to April of this year.  Instead, blame a combination of government stimulus, reflation, bottlenecks and… more

In a Nutshell: Rapidly Rising Prices Increase Many Concerns

Rising prices are intensifying inflation realities throughout the economy.  A growing number of companies are warning that supply shortages and increasing demand will result in higher prices.  In fact, tight inventories have already generated price surges for raw materials, ranging… more

In a Nutshell: It’s Costly to Listen to Negative “News”

This past week the financial media highlighted one guru after another calling for a market correction to the tune of anywhere from 5% to 20%!  They cited “peak earnings” comparisons, rising inflation data, and the inevitability of the Fed having… more

April job growth dips lower

Hiring was a huge letdown in April, with nonfarm payrolls increasing by a much less than expected 266,000 and the unemployment rate rose to 6.1% amid an escalating shortage of available workers. Dow Jones estimates had been for 1 million… more

Coping with COVID: Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine gets FDA approval for teens aged 12 to 15

The Pfizer vaccine has been authorized for children ages 12 and up, the Food and Drug Administration announced Monday. "We know this is a big step for our country. Vaccinating a younger population brings us closer to returning to a sense of… more