We are finally past the election so we can put that worry behind us... and pick up a new one. As the economy continues to open we’ve seen reports of a spike in Coronavirus cases. Reports have come in about countries in Europe, like France and Germany, starting to lockdown again. The uncertainty has shifted to how we are going to keep reopening the economy. However, if you look PAST those headlines of “Europe Shutting Down” you will see that schools are still open, you can still get a haircut, it’s not the kind of lockdowns we faced in March, it’s more like lockdown lite! Listen to the episode for the full story and loads of other great info!

• The news in plain sight [0:33]

Stock dividends are going up. Income's going up. It’s like every company is saying, “Hey, our picture looks good for next year. We're comfortable paying out some of our profits now.” They weren't comfortable with that just a couple of months ago. We think that's a vote for the future! If you're comfortable paying out your profits, that says your future looks pretty good. 

A stat we came across recently shows 1.5 million businesses formed in the last quarter. That’s 80% quarter over quarter. That means that as we're coming out of this recession, businesses are getting started. People are looking for opportunities and they're doing it on a huge scale and that has to bode well for the economy next year, and just looking forward to it in general.

Trying to pick individual stocks is like trying to pick the winner in a beauty contest. Your definition of beauty doesn't determine who the winner is. You may think that one candidate is better looking or more talented than another candidate but only the judges’ opinions matter. If you're going to pick the winner of a beauty contest you have to figure out what the judge's view of beauty is. Figuring out what the judges think is the same thing as picking stock in the market. It's not about picking good companies, it's about figuring out what the judges— the people that are buying stocks— want and what THEY consider good companies. And you know what, unless you can read people's minds, you might as well just go to the racetrack. Check out this awesome episode to hear more!

US online holiday shopping is expected to grow 33% this year up $189 billion! Amazon plans to hire 100,000 temporary workers for the holidays. That’s a good reminder job growth follows economic growth. Amazon tripled their profits last quarter and based on their conference call, they expect the fourth quarter to be even bigger. It just goes to show, you can never discount the American consumer. The sun rises in the East—mom and American spend. Listen to the segment for more interesting facts!

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