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10-OCTOBER 13-2023

QuestionableGood morning.  Several companies have announced price hikes in recent days.  Burrito chain Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG), for instance, announced that it’s increasing prices, in tandem with an announcement that they’re looking to keep labor prices low by investing in automation.
The Walt Disney Company (DIS) raised prices at its parks, effective immediately.  Finally, Costco (COST) warned that it was only a matter of when, not if, it would raise its membership fees again.  These kinds of price increases are normal, but with inflation still running a bit hot, the push higher now will likely contribute to inflation, like interest rates, staying higher for longer.
Investors should invest with companies capable of raising prices and still making a profit, and traders should look to take advantage of the higher volatility that comes from higher inflation.

Now here’s the rest of the news:

1970s-style Inflation Is Coming, Warns Deutsche Bank
There are signs that investors should be concerned inflation makes a comeback and takes a path similar to the 1970s, and that means the Federal Reserve can’t afford to declare victory just yet, according to Deutsche Bank… [Read Here]

October 13, 2022

to go digitalGood morning.
While the official inflation numbers suggest that prices are rising at nearly 9 percent year-over-year, many goods have risen much higher.  That suggests that inflation could be higher than officially measured by the government.
One sign will be seen with corporate earnings.  PepsiCo (PEP)’s earnings data from yesterday suggests that their average product price rose by 17 percent year-over-year.  That’s likely a better measure of inflation.  After all, while governments can print money, they can’t print food, even junk food.
Traders should continue to expect inflation to last higher and longer, and that continued volatility is likely in the months ahead until a stronger sign of declining inflation emerges.

Now here’s the rest of the news:

Renters Surpass Homeowners At The Highest Level In Half A Century
Renting is now at the highest level in half a century, with 43.7 million households currently living in rentals.  And as many as 101 zip codes switched to renter majority in the past decade.  Of the new renter majority zip codes, 43240 in Columbus, OH saw… [Read Here]

Corporate Executives Warn: “Things Are Getting Much Worse”
Are the months ahead going to be very painful for our economy?  This is something that I have been arguing for a long time, and apparently the vast majority of corporate CEOs now agree with me.  Of course economic conditions are not exactly… [Read Here]

October 13, 2021

Writing-Grammar 2021Good morning.
Earnings season is kicking off in earnest this week.  Typically, companies are able to beat expectations most of the time as Wall Street analysts adjust their expectations ahead of the results.  This time around, with companies coming off one-year numbers that look good from the lockdown era, combined with rising labor and energy costs, it’s possible that earnings may have peaked for the time being.
If that’s the case, it comes down to guidance and expectations as to where the market goes from here into the end of the year.  With a labor market that’s still somewhat sluggish, and signs that inflation isn’t going down anytime soon, traders might want to take extra care to read into what some of the major companies have to say about how they view the world this earnings season and adjust their trading strategy accordingly.

Now here’s the rest of the news:

Americans Are Paying the Most for Gas in Seven Years –Pippa Stevens, CNBC
The national average price per gallon of gas is the highest since at least October 2014.  In some places, consumers are paying much more… [Read Here]

October 13, 2020

Legal FeesGood morning.
The stock market has gotten bullish going into earnings season.  With many big banks, airlines, and other large firms reporting this week — not to mention a number of developments in tech stocks — there’s a good chance for a rally in stocks to all-time highs once again.
Sure, the economic backdrop remains dour.  Unemployment seems to be stubbornly high and unlikely to move substantially lower anytime soon.  And election uncertainty could weigh.  But as long as America’s major corporations are faring well, the market will continue with its upward move.  As the saying goes:

“Small hinges swing large doors.”

Now here’s the rest of the news:

Two weeks ago ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) lost its position as the largest U.S. energy company to Florida-based utility NextEra Energy (NYSE: NEE).  NextEra, has been moving to cleaner electricity … becoming the largest producer of wind and solar power in the world.
But ExxonMobil’s bad news didn’t end there.  At times over the past decade, ExxonMobil was worth as much as $225 billion more than Chevron (NYSE: CVX).  For years the biggest of the U.S.-based “Big Oil” companies, ExxonMobil’s size advantage disappeared on October 8, 2020, when Chevron’s value closed the day higher than ExxonMobil’s.

“Whichever offends you … defines you!”

October 13, 2019

Smile, Laugh And Be Healthy

Mackay’s Moral: Cover your mouth when you cough.  Never cover it when you smile.

At least six people have taken credit for this poem, but it’s worth sharing in any event.

Big smileSmiling is infectious; you catch it like the flu.
When someone smiled at me today, I started smiling, too.
I passed around the corner, and someone saw my grin,
When he smiled, I realized, I’d passed it on to him.
I thought about that smile, then I realized its worth.
A single smile, just like mine, could travel round the earth.
So if you feel a smile begin, don’t leave it undetected —
Let’s start an epidemic quick and get the world infected!

A friend passed along a Coca-Cola ad done by a Belgian advertising agency with the tagline, “Happiness starts with a smile.”  The commercial takes place on a cramped subway as people are boarding the train after a long day at work.  Everyone is silent and keeping to themselves.  It is not a joyous occasion.

Suddenly the camera focuses on a hired actor who randomly starts smiling while looking at his iPad, then begins laughing more and more.  Everyone on the subway takes notice and starts smiling and laughing.

Smiling is a bonding agent.  It builds bridges to other people around us.  It keeps us from remaining aloof and separate from one another.  It just goes to show you that smiling and laughing are contagious.

I read in “Self” magazine that 94 percent of Americans polled said they noticed a person’s smile during a first encounter.  People were less likely to notice others’ bodies or eyes.

There are so many benefits in smiling and laughing.  A genuine smile and laugh increases the production of serotonin, the happy hormone, and dopamine — feel-good endorphins that slow cortisol production and diminish feelings of stress, anxiety and depression.

Small child laughing on a bench in a park

Years ago I saved an article from “USA TODAY” explaining that we learn in childhood how to get along with people, “people skills” such as listening, remembering names and smiling.  It’s amazing how people’s moods and words are misjudged because they look too serious.  A smile shows that you like yourself, you like your current place in the world and you’re happy with the people you’re interacting with.

You should commit to making others smile every day of the week.  The first Friday of October was designated World Smile Day for just that purpose.  It was created by commercial artist Harvey Ball, creator of the ubiquitous “smiley face,” who believed that all of us should devote one day each year to smiles and kind acts.

Smiling and laughing provide a workout.  One smile uses more than 16 muscles.  During a bout of laughter the body increases its oxygen intake, which is just as good as taking a few cleansing breathes.  That’s why smiling and laughing are my favorite exercises.

Researchers in Germany instructed a group of people to laugh on demand to measure their core muscles.  The data showed that laughing enhanced core muscles as much as — and sometimes more than — when those subjects did back lifts or crunches.

Older lady smiles at life!Want another reason to laugh?  Results from a California study published by AARP showed the positive impact laughter has on short-term memory.  Participants were separated into two groups.  The first group watched a 20-minute comedy video, while the second group sat in silence.  Both groups were given memory recall tests before and after the 20-minute period.  The group that watched the comedy video scored much higher.

Even if you don’t have anything to laugh about, you should force yourself to laugh.  This is the finding of a study done at the University of Illinois that shows how smiling can influence your mood and outlook.  Researchers divided people into three groups to observe their reactions to a humorous cartoon.  The first group was asked to hold a pen in their hands.  The second group was asked to put the pen between their lips, forcing a frown on their face.  The third group held the pens between their teeth, forcing them to smile.  Guess which group found the cartoon to be much funnier — the third group.

The publication “Bits & Pieces” surmises from the AARP article that “If you smile, you’ll find something to laugh about.  If you laugh, you’ll exercise your core, take in more oxygen and feel happy….”

Laugh and be well.  😉

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Come From Aways, Do You?

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