As cars and trucks become generally more available, following the problems associated with Covid and the supply chain, ownership costs are accelerating.  Four of the five primary costs associated with owning and operating personal vehicles, purchase price, repairs, insurance, and financing, are all rising, in some instances, by a lot.  Only fuel costs have been moderating. … Continued

Week of July 31, 2023 Gold spiked up last week to within 5% of its all time high reached in April. The one-month US Treasury Bill yield also spiked up to a 20 year high at 5.4%. Typically, rising rates on short term treasuries portends a drop in inflationary expectations which would lead to a … Continued

The advent, and increasing use, of social media, has led to greater access to information, while, at the same time, has increased the difficulty of differentiating between facts, beliefs and agendas. Successful investing requires an understanding of what is actually factual and what is not.  This is not easy in part because many, so-called facts, … Continued

Week of July 17, 2023 The Standard & Poor’s 500 stock index (SP500) continued to advance last week and, notably, the number of companies in the SP500 participating in the gains has broadened. This is not unusual in an unfolding bull market. As we noted recently, the gains in the SP500 initially were largely concentrated … Continued

Barn raising is a collective action of a community, in which a barn is built or rebuilt by members of the community.  In many respects this could be considered a precursor of property/casualty insurance, wherein the insureds pay a modest annual fee with the expectation that the combined contributions, cash or in kind, of the member … Continued

Week of July 10, 2023 Inflationary concerns rose to the forefront last week as ADP reported surprisingly strong employment growth trends. The implication is that wage pressures will remain firm. Commodity prices, on the other hand, are well off their peaks. The Fed appears to be poised to act to further to raise rates if … Continued

Market timing is the act of moving investment money in or out of a financial market, based on expectations for a change in valuations.  To the extent that investors can predict when the market will go up or down, they can, in theory, make trades that capitalize on these movements. Timing the market is often … Continued

Week of July 3, 2023 Common stock prices surged this past week. Two major areas of focus in our Sigma Signals analytics are geopolitics and US domestic policy. Russia dominated the former and the Supreme Court, the latter. Russia’s less prominent position on the map signifies the country’s diminished presence in hegemonic terms. China has … Continued

Week of June 26, 2023 We raised the topic last week of the false perception of Soviet Union strength in prior decades and successor Russia took the spotlight over the weekend with a mini coup attempt. This highlights the futility faced by dictators trying to inspire their citizenry to foment economic strength which begets military … Continued

The goal of providing high quality, together with large quantities, at low prices, has been described as the unattainable triangle.  In a free market, effective managements seek to balance these contradictory objectives at levels that meet the demands of their customer base, often by providing a choice of, good, better, or best, at appropriate price … Continued

Week of June 19, 2023 It was widely perceived in the 1940s, 50s and 60s that the Soviet Union had a vibrant economy. That was subsequently proven wrong. It is widely perceived that the current Chinese planned economic system is superior to capitalism but “green shoots” of economic recovery are fading. US economic growth of … Continued

Wikipedia defines a corporation as an organization, authorized by the state, to act as a single entity.  Corporations don’t pay taxes, we do. Corporations are, in effect conduits.  They collect taxes from others, primarily employees and customers and then remit the money to the government. Taxes collected from employees through payroll deductions include, income, social … Continued