Monday, stocks were up Friday and futures are higher this morning.
Remember the main stream media telling you how bad the economy is, well maybe not. Two stories one in the Blade (attached) and one on Fox News Friday sent me on a mission. What I found surprised me, new business applications are at historic highs. Here is a link to the data, https://www.census.gov/econ/bfs/data.html
An update on the question, did China use the corona virus as an economic weapon?
And another surprise, credit scores are rising during the recession.

Friday, stocks were a non event yesterday but there was ample news on the jobs front. First time claims rose but continuing claims fell and because of California's inability to report accurately we don't know if the numbers are correct. California's claims make up 25% of the nation's claims.
An article in the Blade quotes Challenger, Gray and Christmas as reporting that there are 301,000 job openings for holiday staffing. That's more than 2019 before the pandemic.
The Presidential election has the potential to have a big impact of your investments but according to John Hathaway one thing you can expect no matter which candidate is elected. Quote, "Whatever the electoral outcome, the path towards monetary debasement is bipartisan."

Thursday, DOW stocks were down again yesterday but that isn't even above the fold news.
Which is the bigger story, the Biden email release by the New York Post or Twitter and Facebook refusing to allow links or posting of the story?
The basis of the story is political but the investment implications are enormous. My personal opinion is that Twitter and Facebook have guaranteed their regulation and most likely breakup. Watch for the Federal Election Commission (FEC) to charge them with interfering in an election. This could be 2020's version of the Watergate break-in.
A question that keeps coming up is the long term viability of the US dollar. Investors should know and understand the difference between worthless and worth less. Currency crisis often accompanies political crisis.

Good news Wednesday, DOW was down slightly but the good news came from a TMACOG presentation I watched yesterday. Sometimes you can make your own luck if you take advantage of opportunities. The attached article is about the new Gordy Howe International bridge being built in Detroit. The opportunities for the Toledo area are substantial.

The DOW was up and it was a slow steady gain all day but volume was off a little.
Because of the holiday news was light with most of the attention focused on the Amy Coney Barrett Senate confirmation hearings.
Today starts Amazon Prime Day sale with Walmart, Target and others joining the fun.
The attached article reads like fake news. If it is not it may be the only sane comments I've ever read from Schiff. What is not fake is this quote from the Orange County Register: "In raw terms of people moving (from California), the top spot for Californians is Texas, which got 86,164 Californians in 2018. Next came Arizona (68,516), Washington (55,467), Nevada (50,707), and Oregon (43,058). All told, California had the most exits among the state and that wave grew by 4% in a year."
In the 1950's and 60's the migration was from the south to the north in search of jobs. Now another migration is underway for different reasons.

Monday, stocks were up Friday closing out a good week. All is quiet this morning in the futures market. Stock markets are open today but government offices, post offices and banks are closed.
The attached article is an example of what can go wrong when an investor chooses the lowest cost option. Paying commissions or fees can be a bargain compared losing your entire account balance. In lower tech days I said the worst call you will ever make is a call to your advisor and getting the recording "this is no longer a working number". In today's high tech world the equivalent is "you account has been hacked".
A quote from the article, " Because the wildly popular app has no emergency phone number, some said they tried in vain to intervene, only to watch helplessly as their money vanished."

Friday, stocks were up yesterday but most markets were surprisingly quiet.
New jobless claims declined and continuing claims were the lowest since March.
I spoke with Brian McMahon (local developer) about a new building going up at their "Land Air Industrial Park"
( https://www.danberrynational.com/land-air-business-park ) near the airport. He also brought up an idea I haven't heard that has great local potential. As people become comfortable buying groceries online that process will require specialized distribution facilities.
The below quote and chart show what inflation has done to the purchasing power of the dollar since 2000. Scary.
“The US dollar has lost 44.2% of its purchasing power just since the year 2000.
That means that the dollars you saved 20 years ago have lost almost half of their purchasing power. …. You’ve done nothing wrong, but there’s a serious leak in your financial boat.”

Thursday, stocks were up big yesterday excited about more free money from another stimulus plan.
Regal Theaters is closing over 500 theaters today.
People paying down credit card debt. Where is the money coming from?
The sale of small airplanes is heating up, an area of the aviation industry that has been dormant for some time. Private air transportation is making a comeback.
No Fred today, just Steve and me.

Good news Wednesday, it was good news for stocks until Trump tweeted at 2:30. Then not so much.
Job opening declined but not as much as expected and retail sales were up.
The trade deficit rose and spending on imports reached pre-pandemic levels. See the attached article. My question is this, "did China snooker us with a virus to tank our economy"? Sometimes you have to step back and look at the global picture.

Tuesday, stocks had a really good day yesterday with the DOW up over 400 points.
The ISM services index shows that the services sector of the economy is expanding again.
The pain from the economic damage as a result of the pandemic is not evenly distributed. It never is. In a transition there are always winners and losers.
Should politics influence your choice for a financial planner or investment advisor?