Blog Archives

Post-Election Chart Frenzy

post election

First of all, kudos to the tremendous participation among Americans in the electoral process. This election galvanized Americans into participating in the democratic process. Love or hate Trump; there is no question that he is a catalyst for stirring emotions and action.

Preliminary Data Suggests Highest U.S. Election Turnout Since 1900

It was fascinating to see how markets reacted as information was released related to the election.

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A Brutal Dichotomy: Time For Another Meaningful Stimulus?

Brutal Dichotomy: Tightening Fed Stimulus

Fiscal stimulus has now started to contract while the Fed’s monetary support for the economy has tightened quite significantly over the last three months. See what the following charts show:

U.S. Fiscal Thrust Policy Expansionary Policy Contractionary Stimulus

Fed Balance Sheet Impulse 10-2020 Stimulus

The following is from The Washington Post and shows how significant the support for the unemployed has been and how it will drop materially if no stimulus package is passed.

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Don't Flip Out, Flip a Coin Instead

flip a coin

I know this may shock some people, but I have to admit that it’s not always obvious what I should write about each week and there are even some weeks where the motivation to do so is less than what it should be. I’m human,

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A Leap Over Normality - Our New Abnormal

COVID-19 Abnormal

Last week was a crazy week preparing for rent collections this week as well as going through in great detail the safety precautions we are taking to do our best to keep our employees and residents safe. That is why this blog is shorter than normal.

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Zero Sum Thinking - Winner Take All

It’s pretty clear that Donald Trump views virtually everything from the prism of winning and losing. And every issue is looked at with a very short term horizon. There does not appear to be any satisfaction derived by developing a long-term strategy, methodically implementing it, and seeing the seeds planted blossom into a beautiful garden that is sustainable and beneficial to all.

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The Fed's New Inaction Function

Federal Reserve inaction

Fed Approves Shift on Inflation Goal

Federal Reserve Chairman Jay Powell officially altered the Fed’s reaction function during his virtual speech given for the annual Jackson Hole conference. More accurately he articulated its inaction function. Rather than being trigger happy to tighten monetary policy and raise interest rates as inflation reaches 2%,

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Who Would Have Thunk it?

COVID 19 in Texas

Texas becomes the first state to reimpose restrictions after lifting stay-at-home order April 30

I can’t say I’m surprised that states that had itchy trigger fingers to reopen (e.g. Texas, Arizona, Florida) are seeing a surge in new COVID-19 cases and a higher positivity rate among those tested. The following graph from the Wall Street Journal shows how the number of new cases is hitting a new peak after having come down.

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Interest Rates: Lower for How Much Longer?

variable interest rates

“We’re not thinking about raising rates — 

we’re not even thinking about thinking about raising rates,” 

Jerome Powell during 6/10/20 press conference

With interest rates at record lows, this is a time when many people are strongly considering locking in long-term,

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So Much for That? Is The Floating Rate Still a Winning Bet?

So much for that-Bond Market Carnage

This is what I wrote in my blog of May 7, 2018:

So up until this point having bet on floating rate has been a winning bet. The question now is whether it will be going forward. Before answering that,

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The Positives of Being Negative

LIBOR Variable Interest Rates F

Ok, let’s get this out of the way first since this blog has a subliminal purpose of being a diary for major economic and financial milestones so this is one I can’t ignore.

April Unemployment Rate Rose to a Record 14.7 2020

Now to the subject at hand.

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