Forget “Big Brother.” Orwell didn’t come close. They know who you are, where you are, what you look like, what you’re thinking, what you want, and what you’ll pay for.  In one of the many latest twists, Facebook, Netflix, and Google track your viewing habits to deliver more targeted ads to your brain. They’re in the selling business, and they’re...

A few weeks ago, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration notified Tesla informing them of plans to study suspected defects in its electric cars manufactured between 2012 and 2019. The company has been challenged by the negative publicity of three of its lithium-ion battery cars spontaneously bursting into flames last August. This news comes on top of a petition sent...

As we’ve been reporting, Americans are fattening up, ditching their morning bowl of cereal for junk food… or what the “marketers” label “high-protein items” that they gobble down at fast food joints.  Kellogg, the giant manufacturer of such familiar cereals as Frosted Flakes, Special K, and Rice Krispies, reported that cereal sales in North America dropped 4.8 percent in the...

A retired British naval engineer claims to have solved a decades-old battery problem with an invention that quadruples the range of today’s best electric vehicles. Aluminum-air batteries have been on the drawing board for decades: a piece of aluminum is immersed in an electrolyte and generates current simply by having one end exposed to air. But the aluminum has to...

There’s a silver lining for Baby Boomers who can’t afford to retire: giving up work seems to aggravate cognitive decline. A recent study in China confirmed similar findings in other countries. Almost a decade ago, China introduced a pension system for elders in its rural areas where multi-generational family care had collapsed as young adults moved to cities for work....

The human microbiome – the ecosystem of bacteria that lives in your gut – has been shown to affect everything from asthma to depression to anxiety disorders.  Knowing those bugs’ state of health is becoming key to diagnosing and treating a range of illnesses. Currently, physicians do that by analyzing a poop sample. But that only reveals the condition of...

Heavy Meddle As we go to press, gold is in the $1,490 per ounce range, despite the strong dollar.  Historically, the higher the dollar, the lower the price of gold.   Gold is dollar-based.  As the dollar strengthens, other currencies weaken against it.  With gold trading at this current level, despite a strong dollar, it is uncommon… it’s a signal...

As we have long noted, a key indicator to note is the health of the world’s auto industry, which makes up 5.7 percent of global economic output and 8 percent of world trade. In China, the world’s largest auto market, vehicle production and sales declined 6.2 percent and 5.2 respectively in September.  Passenger vehicle sales in India have declined for...

The U.S. spent almost $1 trillion more than it took in during 2019, a deficit not seen in seven years. The Fed will hold a meeting this week to decide if they are injecting enough cheap money into the economy to buttress it up against the sinking economy. Analysts expect another cut in interest rates, while liquidity operations continue. On...

Oil continues its upward climb for the fourth straight session, despite the drop in U.S. inventory. Crude stocks fell last week by about 1.7 million barrels. As we go to press, Brent crude is at $61.9 per barrel.  It was reported last week that due to a dirty deal by Bill “Slick Willie” Clinton, which enriched oil companies with an...