Reality Check September 2024

Posted on September 6, 2024 by MN Gordon

Summer break is over.  School is back in session.  Football rules the weekend.

With the turn of the month, and the approaching autumn season, comes a reality check.  A time to pause and take stock of where things stand.  A time to make decisions.

With respect to the economy and financial markets, there appears to be a long, cold winter ahead.  Stocks are near their all-time highs.  Valuations are at historic extremes.  While cracks are appearing in the economy’s foundation.

For example, U.S. manufacturing contracted in August for the fifth consecutive month and the 21st time in the last 22 months.  These were the findings offered by the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) on Tuesday as part of its monthly Manufacturing PMI report.

Specifically, the manufacturing PMI for August came in at 47.2.  A PMI reading below 50 indicates contraction in the manufacturing sector, which accounts for 10.3 percent of the economy.  Machinery, textile mills, chemical products, transportation equipment, electrical equipment, and appliances and components were among the 12 industries reporting contraction. Continue reading →

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Harris Wants Your Retirement Account

Posted on August 30, 2024 by MN Gordon

Oh my little cupcake,
Where are your sprinkles?

– Fuddy Duddy, by Fishwife

Land of the Free Stuff

Vice President Kamala Harris supports the nearly $5 trillion in tax increases included in President Biden’s 2025 budget proposal.  The proposal is close to 200 pages and includes an extensive list of tax hikes.

Notable increases include a 28 percent federal corporate tax rate and 44.6 percent top capital gains and dividend tax rate.  Currently, the U.S. federal corporate tax rate is 21 percent, while the top capital gains and dividend tax rate is 20 percent.

These tax increases, when combined with state taxes, would give the United States the highest total tax rate on corporate income in the developed world.  That’s a remarkable distinction for a country that has long proclaimed to be the land of the free.

These days, after a century of public education, many Americans confuse freedom with free stuff.  They believe that freedom means getting free stuff from the government.  And they vote accordingly.

Greedy corporations are a favored target of liberal politicians.  Sticking it to big business is a proven tactic for getting votes. Continue reading →

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Votes for Handouts

Posted on August 23, 2024 by MN Gordon

Vice President Kamala Harris wants to help you.  But you must vote for her first.  She needs to be elected President in November before she rolls up her sleeves and gets her hands dirty for the American people – including you.

The cost of consumer goods and services went through the roof on her watch.  In fact, consumer prices are up over 20 percent since January 2021.  Food, rent, and electricity are up even more.

Yet her four years as President Joe Biden’s sidekick don’t count.  Bidenomics is on the big guy.  Not Harris.  And now, Harris has a plan.  A multifaceted plan.  That’s why she needs your vote.

When she’s elected president of the USA she promises to save you money.  She says she will give you $25,000 to buy your first house.  She also plans to give you $6,000 every time you give birth.

Harris also wants to stick it to purveyors of foodstuff.  She says she will save you money on your weekly grocery bill. Continue reading →

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Hard Landing Ahead

Posted on August 16, 2024 by MN Gordon

When Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker invented the high five on October 2, 1977, it was a moment of pure spontaneity.

Baker had hit a ding dong off Houston Astros pitcher J.R. Richard.  Burke stuck his hand up.  Baker hit it.  Journalist Jon Mooallem recounts the story:

“Burke, waiting on deck, thrust his hand enthusiastically over his head to greet his friend at the plate.  Baker, not knowing what to do, smacked it.  ‘His hand was up in the air, and he was arching way back.  So, I reached up and hit his hand.  It seemed like the thing to do.’

“Burke then stepped up and launched his first major league home run.  And as he returned to the dugout, Baker high-fived him.  From there, the story goes, the high five went ricocheting around the world.”

The high five, however, wasn’t the only thing ricocheting around the world in the autumn of 1977.  Consumer price inflation was also running hot.  Guns and butter spending over the prior decade had taken a match to the paper dollar. Continue reading →

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