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And Yet

And Yet Labor Economy Government Bonds

Last week was pretty important in confirming the trend change in interest rates and solidifying a slowdown in economic activity. Evidence of the economy slowing is reflected in more U.S. firms cutting their earnings guidance versus raising them.

Number of US firms with corporate guidance announcements in 2022

As the above chart shows,

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No Need to Ever Fear Default, Only Inflation

Inflation-Default

There is so much concern about the level of our federal government debt and how will we ever repay it. That is one thing to never have to lose sleep over. The United States uses a currency (the dollar) that only it can produce, has no obligation to back its currency with anything other than its commitment to accept it to pay taxes that are owed,

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Cheap Trillion Dollar Insurance

stimulus Cheap Trillion Dollar Insurance

I’ve been pleasantly surprised so far with regard to how well our rent collections have held up since the onset of COVID and the corresponding economic carnage. On average, we’ve been collecting across our portfolio about 98% of what we have billed.

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Stocks Drop and Jobs Contract

Stocks Drop and Jobs Contract

One can see from the following charts from Sentimentrader.com that the last 100 trading days have been one of the worst periods in terms of stock returns in modern history. 

Stock History 12-31-1946 12-31-2001

And while the jury is still out as to whether we will have a recession over the next year,

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From Housing to Labor and Back Again

From Housing to Labor and Back Again

I think this chart is what keeps Jay Powell up at night. If he were convinced beyond a reasonable doubt that we were still in the same low inflation regime that had been present for decades prior to Covid,

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Riding a False Premise: The Hard Rain Scenario

Never did that before

I saw ten thousand talkers whose tongues were all broken

I saw guns and sharp swords in the hands of young children

And it’s a hard, and it’s a hard,

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Only Time Will Tell: Hedging Ahead in the Expectations of a Shifting Fed

Only Time Will Tell_ Hedging Ahead in the Expectations of a Shifting Fed

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I’ll pivot back to Jay Powell and the Fed from Pete Townshend and The Who. Two of my favorite subjects 🙂

The minutes of the Fed meetings that took place November 1-2 were released last week.

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The Power of Concentration What You Need to Know

Power of Concentration Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett’s 2014 Letter to Investors – The Power of Concentration

Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway’s stock price exceeded $200,000 per share for the first time in August 2014. The company was the world’s fifth most highly valued corporation in 2014 and dropped in 2022 to 6th place. The stock was propelled higher by record earnings (August 1,

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Seeking Shelter from Shelter

CPI 7.7% - shelter housing B

Last Thursday was an incredible day for virtually all markets. That is when the CPI report was released, and inflation came in a bit lighter than expected which in turn lit a fire under the bond and stock markets. The NASDAQ was up by more than 7%,

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Purchasing Power and Paris

Paris Gary and Heather October 2022

Although the hawkish Fed has made it more challenging for many businesses in the United States, it has also resulted in some beneficiaries. One is just plain old savers who, during Covid, essentially earned 0% on their idle savings. With the Fed aggressively raising short-term rates,

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