In the week ending 4 December, 184,000 new claims for state unemployment benefits were filed, the fewest since 1969, the U.S. labor department reported, well below economists’ estimates averaging 220,000 in a Bloomberg survey. The four-week moving average of new claims fell to 218,750, the lowest since March 2020. At the same time, hiring was...
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MARKET BUST COMING? CORPORATE CHIEFS CASHING OUT
Companies’ leaders are selling their stock at record rates, some for the first time, ahead of possible hikes in capital gains rates, other changes in tax structures, and the growing likelihood of a stock market correction, The Wall Street Journal reported. This year to date, 48 corporate leaders have each raked in at least $200...
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WILL JUNK BONDS TURN TO JUNK?
Investors began dumping high-yield or “junk” bonds in November when inflation continued strong and the U.S. Federal Reserve made clear its plan to raise interest rates next year (see “Junk Bond Slump,” 7 Dec 2021). The selloff accelerated when the Omicron virus variant appeared. During the last two weeks of November, investors took $6 billion...
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THIS WEEK IN SURVEILLANCE
NOT SO SECRET: FORMER NASA ENGINEER BRINGS HYPERSONIC MISSILE TO CHINA That Chinese hypersonic missile test that made news recently? Thank NASA, and a U.S. government which has shown very little will in countering massive Chinese espionage. The Chinese military is developing a 6,000-mph hypersonic nuclear missile engine based on an abandoned NASA design, The...
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BLOCKCHAIN BATTLES
MYANMAR GOVERNMENT IN EXILE OPTS FOR USDT. Myanmar’s National Unity Government (NUG), currently out of power as a result of a military coup, has announced it is advocating to use a crypto stablecoin to replace the country’s official Kyat currency. An official statement by the exiled leadership read: “To improve and accelerate the current trading...
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TRENDS IN CRYPTOS
IMF CALLS FOR “GLOBAL” CRYPTO REGULATION. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) used a recent blog post to call for a “global policy stance on cryptocurrencies that is comprehensive, coherent, and coordinated.” IMF officials Tobias Adrian, Dong He, and Aditya Narain cited the fast rise of the digital asset market, in arguing for global regulations. The...
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DOES TESLA MAKE DRIVING SAFER?
Back in the dim ages, before almost all automobiles were equipped with radios, the idea of a radio in a car raised concerns that drivers would be distracted. Nowadays, distracted driving is a serious issue, but not because of car radios. The U.S. National Safety Council reports that over 40,000 deaths and 276,000 injuries each...
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STARBUCKS STORE TO UNIONIZE, A TOP TREND FOR 2022?
A Starbucks store in Buffalo, N.Y., became the first to get union representation after a 19-8 vote by employees on Thursday, further cementing one of our Top Trends for 2022 forecast that Unionization is on the rise after major companies see massive profits during the COVID-19 outbreak. The Trends Journal has also pointed out that...
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CITIZENSHIP: WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? (ABSOLUTELY NOTHING!)
The Wall Street Journal reports, on 10 December, that the City Council of New York City has approved, by a vote of 33 to 14, a bill that would permit more than 800,000 non-citizens to vote in municipal elections. The new voters would be those who have lived within NYC’s five boroughs for at least...
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“MARRIED WITH CHILDREN” HOUSEHOLDS FALL TO RECORD LOW
Bloomberg News reports, on 3 December, that the number of U.S. households with nuclear families—married couples with children under 18—has fallen to 23.1 million, the lowest number since 1959, and 40 percent lower than the number in 1970. By contrast, the total number of U.S. households—presumably not necessarily headed by couples, married or not, and...