Executive Summary In 1971 President Nixon took the U.S. off of the gold standard. Since then, the U.S., like most countries, has operated with an “unbacked” or “fiat” currency. Then, the U.S. deficits began to explode (see first graph). In a perfect world, surplus years would be [...]
Executive Summary Consumers drive our economy, and the Consumer Sentiment Index is a measure of how consumers are feeling. The April 2025 reading of 50.8 is the second lowest level on record (see first graph). As shown, that is lower than during the Technology Bubble burst and [...]
Executive Summary With last week’s drastic market decline, many have heard financial pundits proclaim the stock market is “oversold.” Briefly, oversold is the term used by technical analysts to describe a sell-off too far and too fast, based on various technical indicators, and thus likely to bounce. [...]
Executive Summary Estimates of growth for the first quarter of 2025 range from 0.3% to -2.8%. Consumer spending drives about 70% of economic growth, and consumers are covered in debt. The first graph shows that nominal total household debt has reached a high of $18 trillion, which [...]
Executive Summary The S&P 500 recently entered “correction” territory after falling 10% by March 13 of this year. Both the rise and the fall of the S&P 500 were led by the Mag 7 stocks. The first graph below illustrates the Mag 7 stocks leading the recent [...]
Executive Summary The Empire State Manufacturing Survey shows a 25.5 point drop in General Business Conditions (first graph), much lower than expected and in recessionary territory. Additionally, the Census Bureau released February’s Advanced Retail Sales Report which was .2% month-over-month, below expectations of .6%. And on top [...]
Executive Summary The Wall Street Journal article entitled “Biden’s Mortgage ‘Relief’ Fuels Higher Housing Prices” sheds some light on how housing prices have remained high in a rising interest rate environment. According to the article, the FHA instituted a program (as COVID relief) where missed payments are [...]
Executive Summary The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) is the official declarer of recessions. Oftentimes a recession is not declared until a year after it begins, due to subsequent data revisions. The first graph below shows real GDP growth, including estimates for 2025 and 2026. Of [...]
Executive Summary Existing home sales, which exclude new homes, fell about 5% in January 2025 (see inset box of first graph for 12-months). In addition to sales declining, the median price of existing home sales fell for the third month in a row in January, coming in [...]
Executive Summary In case you missed it, President Trump established the Department of Government Efficiency or DOGE. Politics aside, something must be done about government spending. Currently our U.S. National debt is over $36.5 trillion dollars, while the annual budget deficit last year was $1.8 trillion. Studies [...]