The world is different from when I was a kid. Yes, yes, everybody says that; it is trite but true. Anyway, my teen got on a private jet, flew out of our little airport to San Diego, where, from box seats, he watched the Giants and Padres play. He then got back on the jet, flew home, and told me about his adventure in the calmest of voices. Yes it was fun, but not at the top of the hit parade, or so it seemed to me. Then again, he is 15 and at that age, you just can’t lose your cool over a little jet trip to San Diego to watch a baseball game in the best seats in the house, with waiters asking you what would you like from the menu.
When I was a kid, I too watched the Padres play but from the bleacher seats. I stood in line to get a hot dog. Well, maybe the world is not so different. I mean folks were jet-setting around when I was a kid, but the world for my teen is different. His teen friend has access to a private jet. That is different.
- The California heat of the past 12 months is like nothing ever seen in records going back to 1895. The 12 months before that were similarly without precedent. And the 12 months before that? A freakishly hot year, too.
The above is something else that is different from when I was a kid. The world’s 8th largest economy is suffering from record drought and record heat. There will be economic ramifications to this beyond what has already happened – the state economy has lost tens of billions already.
- U.S. import prices fell in March as rising petroleum costs were offset by declining prices for other goods, a sign of muted inflation that supports the view the Federal Reserve will probably not raise interest rates in June.
La … la … la … la … I can’t hear you. Can we move on already?
- Sales of durable goods at U.S. distributors in January and February suffered the biggest two-month drop since the recession’s last gasp in early 2009, figures from the Commerce Department showed Thursday in Washington.
Tiresome, I say, just tiresome, but it is economic data, even if it is more of the same that supports what we already know – the winter months were harsh on the US economy. Well, so what? Go back to the winter of 2014, just last year, and we see the exact same thing – a hard winter hurt the economic numbers and then … 2014 turned to be quite a good year, economically speaking. So, let’s just wait a bit to see how lower gas prices and higher wages influence the US economy, shall we?
- The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 share index powered ahead to its highest level since 2000 on Friday as the euro hit its lowest level since March 19.
Now, that is more like it, especially since I have been saying for some time now to get your money into Europe. The latter part of the above is good news as well, as it supports the notion you should still get your money into Europe. A lower euro means cheaper European goods, and with all this new money flying around, the backed-up inventory of durable goods just might go away, as folks buy, well, more durable goods, aside from private jets.
Trade in the day; invest in your life …
