Both US Raw Steel Production and Drill Rigs Running UP Both US raw steel production and drill rigs running UP from previous week. In the week ending February 17, 2024, US raw steel production was 1,721,000 net tons at an ACUR of 77.5 percent, up 0.6 percent from the previous week ending February 10, 2024 [...]
Taxation: with Draconian Obfuscation The #1 and Eternal Rule of Taxation: No matter how much you give politicians to spend, they will always spend more. Need no more proof than 1. the US Debt Clock https://www.usdebtclock.org/ and 2. Figures from 2023: Tax revenue $8.1 Trillion, government spending $10.1 Trillion. 3. Deficit grew 1/2 Trillion in the 1st 3 months of the fiscal year (government budget runs from Oct.1 to Sept. [...]
Keep Your Powder Dry I am amazed. Joe Biden has been exonerated from unlawfully taking classified documents from the White House while vice president and will not be charged for breaking the law. The special counsel says they can’t charge him because he is an old man with a failing memory. Yet, he is running [...]
Chicago Business Barometer Surged in November The Chicago Business Barometer surged +11.8 points in November. This represents the first expansionary reading since August 2022, the highest level since May 2022, and the biggest monthly rise since September 2020. Production, New Orders, Inventories, Supplier Deliveries all increased to levels above 50. Inventories entered expansion for the [...]
Business Activity Dropped Sharply in New York State Business activity dropped sharply in New York State according to The Federal Reserve Bank of New York Empire State Manufacturing Survey results. The headline general business conditions index fell twenty-nine points to -43.7, its lowest reading since May 2020. New orders and shipments also posted sharp declines. [...]
Economic Resilience Appears Improved Economic resilience appears improved boosting small business optimism at the end of 2023. The NFIB small business optimism index rose 1.3 points in December, tying with July for the highest reading of the year. Wells Fargo Consumer Price Index Rose in December The Consumer Price Index (CPI) for all urban consumers [...]
US Drill Rigs Running Increased from Previous Week US drill rigs running increased from the previous week in the US. There were 622 running, up two rigs from the previous week, down 157 rigs from one year ago. Meanwhile, Canadian drillers shut 60 rigs to a total of 86 running, up two rigs from one [...]
LEI Declined Twenty Months Straight The Leading Economic Index (LEI) declined twenty months straight, a run that historically would indicate recession is imminent. Wells Fargo The problem with this, is that we have not had a business quarter of negative growth in GDP. Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey Reports Factory Activity Stabilized in December The Federal [...]
LEI Declined Twenty Straight Months The LEI declined for twenty straight months, a run that historically would indicate recession is imminent. Wells Fargo The problem with this, is that we have not had a business quarter of negative growth in GDP. Texas Manufacturing Outlook Survey Reports Factory Activity Stabilized in December The Federal Reserve Bank [...]
IN HOC ANNO DOMINI When Saul of Tarsus set out on his journey to Damascus the whole of the known world lay in bondage. There was one state, and it was Rome. There was one master for it all, and he was Tiberius Caesar. Everywhere there was civil order, for the arm of the Roman [...]
