A recent report from the Labor Department shows that Americans are more productive than they have been in three years. Eric Morath reports for The Wall Street Journal: U.S. worker productivity accelerated this spring at the best pace in more than three years, a possible sign stronger business investment is giving workers the tools they need to boost output. The productivity of nonfarm workers, measured as the output of goods and services for each hour on the job, increased at an annualized and seasonally adjusted rate of 2.9% in the second quarter from the first, the Labor Department said … [Read more...]
Escape NYC, Go to Margaritaville
One thing I’ll never forget about our trip to NYC this year was the credit card bill a few weeks later. NYC ain’t cheap. Don’t get me wrong, it was an awesome trip, but I’m hardly surprised by this article on plummeting luxury apartment sales. "When the luxury market slowdown began in 2016, brokers blamed it on political uncertainty.” reports the WSJ. "More recently they said buyers were hesitating because of federal tax changes that may increase the cost of home ownership and reduce the deductibility of New York’s relatively high tax burdens." Yes I'm disappointed to see that Jimmy … [Read more...]
Can Killer Cobalt be Replaced in Electric Cars?
Cobalt is at the center of modern day lithium-ion battery technology. Batteries without cobalt are unstable, but the majority of cobalt is mined in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The DRC is a country with an unstable government and internal strife. Child labor is said to be used to mine for cobalt. These are not traits that end-users of battery technology want attached to their purchase. In the Financial Times, Henry Sanderson explains the work of Michael Zimmerman to replace cobalt, and just how important it is to do so. He writes: In a laboratory on an industrial park an hour’s drive … [Read more...]
The Rise of Gen-Z
Within a year, people born in 2001 will enter adulthood and what is known as "Gen-Z" will arrive. Gen Z is larger than the preceding Millennial generation, and all of Gen Z has grown up with the internet as a ubiquitous influence in their lives. In Bloomberg, Lee Miller and Wei Lu report on the changes in store: People born in 2001 will turn 18 next year, meaning many will enter university, be eligible to vote and, depending on their citizenship, smoke or drink alcohol without breaking the law. Gen Zers have never known a non-digital world and have grown up amid events such as the "war on … [Read more...]
Has the Time Come for Defensive Stocks to Drive the Market?
"Valuation concerns have already crept into the market, some investors said, as defensive stocks that tend to post lower growth than companies like Amazon and Facebook have outperformed," reports the WSJ. "The top five performing S&P 500 sectors the past three months are all defensive, Bank of America Merrill Lynch said in a recent note, including consumer staples, utilities and health care." Defensive stocks tend to be the ones paying dividends, and dividends are the backbone supporting our Retirement Compounders®. Originally posted on Yoursurvivalguy.com. … [Read more...]
Who Said Kids Don’t Work?
Those who say that kids today don't want to work are simply wrong. It's been proven now that if there are jobs to be had, youths are more than willing to be employed. The strong job market has pushed youth unemployment down to 50 year lows. Andrew Duehren reports in The Wall Street Journal: The unemployment rate among young Americans fell to its lowest level in more than 50 years this summer, though the share of young people looking for work remained well below its peak in 1989. Of Americans between 16 and 24 years old actively looking for work this summer, 9.2% were unemployed in July, … [Read more...]
What Waylon Jennings can Teach You About Investing
Waylon Jennings can teach you a lot about being a successful investor. The most important part of Jennings’ success was his go-it-alone, do-it-yourself strategy. Jennings didn’t attempt to sound like anyone else. He charted a musical course that was unique to him. He avoided the herd by making his own decisions. That’s how I want you to invest. In 1995, I wrote of Waylon and his success: “Well, I Nearly Got Caught at a Burger King.” “And a couple of times on a plane./I thought I was safe from detection with all of the weight I had gained./But walking around in a jumpsuit—that didn’t work … [Read more...]
Retailers Rebound on Strong Consumer Spending
American consumers are confident. Low unemployment is putting money in their pockets, and they are spending strongly. Retailers are feeling the strength, with sales climbing. The Wall Street Journal reports: Buoyed by rising wages and employment as well as tax cuts, Americans are spending more on products as diverse as jeans, handbags and wall paint. That has translated to rising sales at not just Walmart and Nordstrom, but also Home Depot Inc. HD 0.72% and Coach ownerTapestry Inc. TPR -1.33% “Customers tell us that they feel better about the current health of the U.S. economy as well as … [Read more...]
Cities of the Future
With as many as 3 million people moving to cities each week, experts are focusing on what the city of the future will be. Harriet Agnew reports at the FT: By 2050, it is estimated that 70 per cent of the world’s populations will be in cities. Three million people migrate to cities every week and of the top 10 largest cities in 1950 — a list that included London, Paris and New York — only one of them, Tokyo, is among the top 10 largest cities today. The others have been pushed out by fast-growing cities in Asia and Africa such as Shanghai, Lagos, and Delhi. Already some of the ecological … [Read more...]
Prophetic Statements to be Studied: Investors be Warned
“If ye are prepared ye shall not fear,” is from the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and is quoted in Prophetic Statements on Food Storage for Latter-day Saints, by Neil H. Leash. In the forward to Leash’s book, Duane S. Crowther, author of Inspired Prophetic Warnings, advises to avoid fear and anxiety by making sound preparations, and to approach the subject with an “urgent calm” rather than anxiety and alarm. Leash and Crowther aren’t simply talking about food storage. They’re talking about preserving your well-being beyond food, including money … [Read more...]
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