THEY HAD TO BE SURE The government announced on 7/19/21 that the recession the United States entered into at the end of February 2020 lasted just 2 months, ending on 4/30/20. The recession, the 18th in the country in the last 100 years, was the shortest recession in the last century. The other 17 recessions in the last 100 years lasted on average 13.6 months. (Source: Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research. JUST TAKE UBER The price of used cars and … [Read more...]

NOT JUST KIDS 19% of American that have outstanding student loan debt from college are over age 50, i.e., 8.7 million borrowers out of 44.7 million total borrowers. (Source: Federal Reserve Bank of New York) AN AGING GROUP 2 out of every 5 physicians (40%) in the United States today will be at least age 65 within the next 10 years. (Source: The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections from 2019-2034) THAT WOULD BE NICE Social Security retirement benefits are projected to … [Read more...]

COSTCO The number of Costco memberships reached 105.5 million in 2020, exceeding the number of U.S. households that pay for cable TV. (Source: Bloomberg) SHIPPING More than 400 ships traveling between Asia and the West Coast were late by more than two weeks during the first five months of this year. Compare that to 388 vessels in total that were late between 2012 and 2020. (Source: Yahoo!News) TAXING AND SPENDING The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) forecasted on 7/1/2021 that during … [Read more...]

CANCER The diagnoses of some forms of cancer fell by more than 50% in 2020 when compared to 2019, not because cancer is on the decline but because 94% of Americans postponed their annual screenings and many cancer clinics suspended the collection of biopsies. (Source: Propublica) HOSPITALS Between 3/1/0 and 6/30/20, American hospitals lost $51 billion per month of revenue due to cancelled and foregone medical services. The Mayo Clinic furloughed or cut the hours of 29,500 of its 70,000 … [Read more...]

SHIPPING The cost of sending a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Rotterdam is now $10,500, up from $8,900 in January, $5,800 in December, and $2,800 in November. (Source: NumlockNews) BITCOIN An estimated $140 billion worth of Bitcoin holdings can’t be accessed because owners have forgotten their passwords or digital keys. (Source: Markets Insider) NFL An estimated 16% of NFL players go bankrupt within 12 years of retirement. (Source: MarketWatch) CHARITABLE GIVING In 2020, … [Read more...]

HALF 51% of the $64.2 trillion forecasted by the Biden White House that the US government will spend over the next 10 fiscal years, i.e., fiscal year 2022 through and including fiscal year 2031, are outlays for Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. (Source: Budget of the U.S. Government released 5/28/21) FEWER CHOICES There were 1.16 million existing homes for sale nationwide as of 4/30/21. The 1.03 million “for sales” as of 2/28/21 was the lowest level ever reported for a statistic that … [Read more...]

LIVING LONG US life expectancy at birth was 60.8 years in 1921. US life expectancy at birth was 77.8 years in 201. Thus, life expectancy has increased by a year every 6 years over the last century. (Source: CDC) LOVING LABOR Employers created 559,000 new job in May, dropping the unemployment rate to 5.8%, it average rate since modern data collection began in 1948. From 1980-1999 the average was 6.5%, from 2000-2019 it was 59%. Prior to Sars-Cov-2 it was 3.5%, and the jobs deficit remains … [Read more...]

INVESTING AT A RECORD HIGH The S&P 500 has set 180 all-time record closing highs in the last 5 years, i.e., since 6/07/16, an average of 3 record closes per month. (Source: BTN Research) REALLY LOW As of 6/04/21, the yield on the 10-year Treasury note has been below 2% for 462 consecutive trading days, i.e., since 8/01/19, the longest stretch below 2% in US history. (Source: Treasury Department) IN TEN YEARS The 10-year budget forecast released by the Biden White House on Friday … [Read more...]

BABIES China had 12 million births in 2020, more than 3 times the 3.6 million births that took place in the United States last year. (Source: National Vital Statistics System) BUSINESS DONE ON A CELLPHONE The US banking industry, employing 2 million workers today, is forecasted to eliminate 10% of that total (200,000) during the upcoming decade. The reductions will take place in local bank branches and regional call centers. (Source: Mike Mayo, Wells Fargo Bank Analyst) SPENDING … [Read more...]

ROAD TRIP The average price of a gallon of gasoline reached $3.04 Friday (5/14/21), up 79 cents a gallon YTD. The last time gasoline closed a calendar year above $3 a gallon was 2013. (Source: AAA) PETS After the beginning of the pandemic, about 12.6 million U.S. households got a new pet. The largest national provider of veterinarian’s services, Banfield Pet Hospital, saw half-million more visits in 2020 than in 2019. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, veterinary positions are … [Read more...]