Michael Shedlock's Contributions

Consumers in Gear: Retail Sales Jump Far More Than Expected

By Michael Shedlock – Retail sales rose 0.8% in November topping consensus estimate of a 0.3% rise. There's some talk of economic "overheating". The Advance Retail Trade Report from the Census Department shows retail and...

Idiotic Comment of the Day: "Bitcoin Ought to Be Outlawed" - Stiglitz

By Michael Shedlock – Economist Joseph Stiglitz sees no socially useful purpose to Bitcoin and concludes it should be banned. The former chief economist of the World Bank, Joseph Stiglitz Wants Bitcoin Banned.

Retail Apocalypse? Deflationary Collapse?

By Michael Shedlock – Through the third quarter, 6,752 locations were scheduled to shutter in the US according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. That's more than double the 2016 total and is close to surpassing...

Tax Code Overhaul Details: Homebuilders, Tesla, and Those With Lots of Kids Come Out Worse

By Michael Shedlock – GOP leaders finally unveiled key details in their tax overhaul plan. There are some winners and losers as always the case. Two losers are the homebuilders and Tesla. Part of the mortgage...

Illinois Eyes 30 Cent Gas Tax Hike, Chicago Eyes Property Tax Hike

By Michael Shedlock – The Illinois legislature is in recess right now. Other than disbanding the body, that's the best place for them. When they return, they are going after your pocketbook in the form a gas tax hike.

California Allows Fully Autonomous (No Driver Present) Vehicle Tests

By Mish Shedlock – The California Department of Motor Vehicles is changing its rules to allow companies to test autonomous vehicles without a driver behind the wheel — and to let the public use autonomous vehicles. The DMV released a revised version...

Advertisers’ Dilemma: Figuring Out How to Target Millennials, Now the Largest Demographic

Millennials are now the largest age group but retailers and advertisers, in general, haven’t quite figured out how to reach them. Millennials are not as interested in drills, machine shop workbenches, gardening, and any number...

Auto Sales Jump Following Hurricanes

By Michael Shedlock – Auto sales are running substantially above estimates according to Econoday. Apparently, economists did not see the restocking needed for many hundreds of thousands of autos ruined by hurricanes Harvey and Irma.

Bitcoin vs Dollars: Which One is a Fraud? Which One is a Ponzi Scheme?

By Michael Shedlock – Jamie Dimon, JP Morgan CEO, made quite a headline splash last week when he proclaimed “Bitcoin ‘is a Fraud“. Is Bitcoin a fraud? Or are dollars, euros, yen, and yuan a collective set of frauds?

Study Shows Student Debt Delays Home Buying By Seven Years

By Michael Shedlock – The Student Loan Debt and Housing Report 2017 by the National Association of Realtors and the nonprofit group American Student Assistance show the obvious: Student debt delays household formation, home...

Irma “Heart-Wrenching” Hell: 95% of Barbuda and St Martin Flattened, Two More Hurricanes Coming Up

By Michael Shedlock – The news on Hurricane Irma is grim and worsening. The record-breaking Hurricane is described as “apocalyptic”. Irma is one of three hurricanes in the Atlantic basin, the first time since 2010 that three active hurricanes...

Made in the USA (by Robots): China to Open Sewbot Factory in Arkansas, Producing Shirts for 33 Cents

By Michael Shedlock – A Chinese T-shirt company is setting up shop in Arkansas, lured by US sewbots and lower production costs. It will cost about 33 cents to produce a shirt. Please consider China Snaps Up America’s Cheap Robot Labor.

Ben Bernanke to Give Keynote Speech at Cryptocurrency Conference

By Michael Shedlock – Ben Bernanke will join Sir Tim Berners-Lee as keynote speakers at the “Swell” cryptocurrency conference October 16-18 in Toronto. I don’t have an opinion on where Bitcoin is headed in any particular timeframe.

Deep Subprime Auto Loan Delinquencies Reach 2007 Levels: The Next Big Short?

Subprime auto delinquencies have staked up so much that we are back at 2007 milestone levels. There’s a section of the auto-loan market — known in industry parlance as deep subprime — where delinquency rates have ticked up to...

Money Laundering Scandal at Australia’s Largest Bank Triggers Another Call for Ban of Cash

By Michael Shedlock – Ian Narev, the CEO of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), the nation’s largest bank is set to step down amid money laundering charges. Money laundering is big business in Australia because regulations do not...

Is Gundlach Really Bearish? (Here’s a Hint: No)

By Michael Shedlock – The headline of the day is Billionaire bond guru Jeffery Gundlach Predicts he will make 400% on his bet against the stock market. Gundlach bought S&P PUTs betting the stock market will drop. Does that make him bearish?

War on Cash Proposals in Australia: Microchip Expiring $100 Bills, Forcing People to Keep Receipts

By Michael Shedlock – Australia’s Black Economy Taskforce has come up with a list of 35 “consumer-focused” proposals to crack down on cash. The taskforce blames consumers for holding cash and for not getting receipts. Michael Andrew, the head...

Meet “Aida”, the Perfect Banker (and a Robot): End of Branch Banks Coming

By Michael Shedlock – Sweden’s biggest banks are on a mission to get rid of branch banks and all the branch bank employees too. That’s where “Aida” comes in. She’s available 24/7 and supposedly can handle all but your most...

Pure Fake News (PFN) from Investopedia “IMF Urges Banks to Invest In Cryptocurrencies”

By Michael Shedlock – An article from Investopedia recently caught my attention: “IMF Urges Banks to Invest In Cryptocurrencies” The opening sentence of the article states: “A June 2017 staff discussion note from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)...

Amazon Unveils Patented “Behive” Drone Delivery System for Cities

By Michael Shedlock – Amazon fulfillment centers, typically single-story warehouses located in suburbs, do not meet its goal of low-cost deliveries to city dwellers. Amazon’s patented solution is multi-story, drone-delivery behive center warehouses smack...

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