October 20, 2020 Could anyone had predicted one year ago that a major topic in Presidential debates and campaigns would revolve around mask-wearing? It has been that crazy of a year. We actually started the year with some semblance of normalcy, at least for a Presidential election year. But in late winter the entire world […]
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October 13, 2020 Previously, we mentioned that there will be no more monthly jobs reports before the Presidential Election. In addition, the Federal Reserve Board’s Open Market Committee will not be meeting in November. Coincidentally, they meet again the day after the election. Thus, this period is sometimes known as the quiet period before the […]
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October 6, 2020 No, the Labor Department is not giving up on reporting monthly statistics. But the report released on Friday was the last reading on the job market that we will see before the election. It is said that the voters vote with their pocketbooks each year. Of course, this year the economic numbers […]
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September 22, 2020 No, we are not talking about shortness of breath and swelling. We are talking about how the markets might react to the news that a vaccine (or a few) are available. We have already seen how medical announcements have set off positive reactions. Now that we are further along in the process […]
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August 18, 2020 Just recently, statistics have been released showing the lowest foreclosure rate in history for the first half of this year, according to ATTOM Data Solutions. How can that be true during a deep recession? These low foreclosure rates are actually a function of two different factors. For one, the rate of foreclosures […]
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August 4, 2020 It is the general consensus that the bottom of the economy was the second quarter of this year. The contraction was expected to be severe as the economy virtually shut down during several weeks of this period. How severe? Just giving a perspective, the largest annual decline in economic growth (GDP) during […]
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July 28, 2020 We have just finished one of — if not the weakest — quarter in history. The corona virus is still raging. Millions have lost their jobs. Yet the stock market continues to rise, recovering from its lows hit early this year. Thus, the question is — why? There are many possible explanations […]
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July 7, 2020 In a very strange year, the jobs report takes on more importance because we are in uncharted territory with regard to the economy. We moved from a slow-growth economy in the fourth quarter to a negative 5.0% in the first quarter of this year and what looks to be sharply worse when […]
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June 30, 2020 Most economies have reopened to some degree. And several states have seen a surge in infections at the same time. From this, we can conclude one thing — the virus is not taking the summer off as some had speculated might happen. On the other hand, can we say that the reopenings […]
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June 23, 2020 Last month’s jobs report was certainly a surprise and another example of predictions gone awry. The economy was supposed to lose millions of jobs and instead gained millions of jobs. That is quite a swing, especially considering the fact that we usually are dealing with employment swings in the thousands, instead of […]
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