Novice investors and traders remember how quickly the Covid Crash reversed when the Fed came in with their “nuclear option.” The S&P 500 and especially the tech sector came back promptly and forcefully in a V-shaped recovery. Meanwhile, the travel and hospitality sectors stayed down, creating a K-shaped recovery for…

The automotive world is steadily shifting towards electric vehicles. Analysts write about whether Tesla or one of the other major automakers will lead the way to profits. What gets missed in these discussions are the rapid technological advances that make cars more efficient and companies more profitable. A recent article…

Drought in Kansas Worsens World Wheat Shortfall — We have written about how the war in Ukraine is affecting commodity prices. Oil and natural gas are up as foreign customers quit buying from Russia and look elsewhere. Some strategic minerals will be in short supply as Russia is shut off from world markets. The most worrisome issue from…

This has not been a good year for the stock market and the Nasdaq in particular. We predicted that Biden’s sophomore year would be dismal mostly based on how he, Trump, Congress, and the Federal Reserve pumped too much money into the economy and virtually guaranteed a surge of inflation…

The “1929” Crash Lasted Almost 3 Years — On May 5, 2022 the Nasdaq fell nearly 5% and the S&P 500 and Dow were not far behind. As we have noted, it is highly likely that the market will fall much farther before it hits bottom. The Covid Crash lasted five and a half weeks before the Fed…

Not All Causes of Inflation Can Be Fixed By the Fed — Inflation in the USA is at its highest in four decades. The Federal Reserve is set to raise interest rates. The pundits are puzzled about whether the Fed will raise rates by 0.25%, 0.50%, or 0.75%. A better question might be this. Will Fed tools work today to stem inflation…

In the aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash the American Congress passed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff to protect American industry from foreign competition, mostly from Europe. The results of that protectionist measure were not what the authors of the bill wished. US exports fell by 67% as affected nations retaliated…

The President of Indonesia personally invited Vladimir Putin (and Volodymyr Zelensky) to the G20 economic summit in November in Bali, Indonesia. With Russia having become such a pariah due to its war in Ukraine many wonder just why Indonesia did this. The answer lies in what “emerging markets” which used…

One Year Wheat Futures — When we looked at how the war in Ukraine would affect commodity prices, we discussed how the war would affect planting, harvesting, and exporting corn, wheat, and sunflower seed oil from Ukraine. But there is more to this as Putin uses food and fertilizer as weapons. Not only has the…