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Let's Get Real

COVID19 Vaccine Stimulus Jobs Numbers

The jobs report released on Friday was disappointing. 

Job growth has seriously slowed - economists react to 'disappointing' November employment report December 4, 2020

Disappointing Job Growth

Perhaps the report shouldn’t have been such a surprise on the downside based on this chart.

Meager Bounce for Job Hunting Searches in November 2020 Oct 1, 2019 - Feb 1, 2021

It would appear that job seekers are less confident about their prospects as they have significantly reduced their searches.

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Covid Housing Fever

housing market fever

I subscribe to The Daily Shot which is an economics and finance-oriented site that aggregates a tremendous number of charts to give investors a great visual overview of key aspects of the economy, both domestic and global, as well as financial markets.

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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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