The viral “price of happiness” number prices a survey answer, not the thing you feel, and it’s quoted per person. The “price of happiness” chart came around again recently, and the number attached to it was as confident as ever. One widely shared version, built from a Remitly analysis, ranked 50 countries. The measure: how […]
A viral stat claims credit card delinquencies just hit their worst level since 2008. However, the New York Fed’s own data shows the opposite, and the real consumer credit stress is hiding exactly where the headlines aren’t looking. A number has been making the rounds all year, and it’s misleading. The claim: roughly 13% of […]
“What the K-shaped economy gets right, what it exaggerates, and what believing the worst version is costing a generation.” The bottom half of American households owns about 2.5% of the nation’s wealth. That number is real, and it ought to bother you. However, that number is also higher than it was in 2019 and 2015, […]
Wall Street’s latest doom thesis says the Fed is trapped and a US debt trap is nearly here, but it never names a date, and the data says the trap door isn’t opening. Every few months, a new essay declares that the US debt trap has finally sprung. The latest one making the rounds from […]
While the AI bears focus on concentration and circular financing, the last tech overbuild was financed with debt, and this one is being paid for in cash. Before I discuss why I disagree with the “AI bears,” I want to state that I respect their opinions, have evaluated their concerns, and have simply derived a […]
Democratic Socialism promises affordability and fairness. The bill, from Caracas to Copenhagen, is something else entirely. On January 1st, a self-described democratic socialist was sworn in as mayor of the largest city in America. Weeks before that, socialist candidates swept a wave of primaries, sending the largest bloc of socialist legislators in New York history […]
A 5% long bond isn’t the crisis, it’s the receipt, and the fifteen years when money was free did far more damage to growth than normal interest rates ever will. This past week, two charts crossed my desk, arguing the same thing from opposite ends. The Kobeissi Letter flagged that U.S. borrowing rates just hit […]
Japan didn’t just spark a currency crisis; it reminded everyone that the Fed has quietly backstopped the dollar for 60 years. The Yen intervention is not new, and while the “end of fiat, buy gold” crowd is right about the destination, they are wrong about the departure time. Every time somebody touches the plumbing of […]
The market continued to trade in a back-and-forth pattern this week as it consolidated recent gains. Negative news headlines from the ongoing Iran-Israel conflict continue to push and pull traders daily. Notably, the market held support at the 20-DMA, keeping the bullish trend intact. However, the market did break below the "rising wedge" pattern, increasing the potential for a further consolidation to work off the current overbought conditions.