It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …
Welcome to another rousing edition of Black Coffee, your off-beat weekly round-up of what’s been going on in the world of money and personal finance.
I’m still recovering from a business trip I took this week. Long story short: It took 22 hours to complete my 2000 mile journey from Huntsville, Alabama to my home in Los Angeles with all of that time spent either in the air or waiting in airport terminals in Alabama, Texas and Arizona — including an overnight stay at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston (yes, that was me waiting at Gate 29 at 2:30 a.m. for a 5:45 a.m. flight to another connecting city).
You know, it’s amazing how empty and peaceful a major airport terminal can be after the clock strikes midnight.
Oh well, off we go …
Credits and Debits
Credit: I’m sure you’ve heard by now that Janet Yellen has been strongly hinting that the Fed is finally going to raise rates in December. That’s after seven long years of holding them at the zero-bound. I know — but just play along.
Debit: Then again, the chance that the Fed will raise rates is a lot less likely now after the latest data released this week showed significantly weaker than expected retail sales in October. Oops.
Debit: Meanwhile, poor sales figures for places like Nordstrom and Macy’s suddenly has analysts fretting that the economy may not be as healthy as they originally thought. Welcome to reality, folks.
Debit: The truth is, the last two times that reported retail sales figures were this poor, the US was in a recession. (Psst. Back then the US debt load was also $10 trillion lighter. Yes, I’m talking about the debt the US officially admits to.)
Debit: Needless to say, Nordstrom’s stock was punished for its recent poor performance — and they’re not alone.
Debit: Disappointing GoPro sales — you know, the “camera-on-a-stick” company — suggests it’s a flash in the pan; after falling more than 72% since last year, GoPro stock is below its IPO price. Say “cheese!”
Credit: Then there are those profitless companies with dubious business models that are probably surviving only because of the Fed’s zero-interest policy. I’m talking about companies like Twitter: its stock is currently less than its IPO price too. Again.
Debit: Did you see this? The largest Obamacare co-op in the nation, New York’s Health Republic Insurance, has failed. And if that wasn’t bad enough, the company misled state and federal officials about its finances. You know, just like state and federal officials misled voters about Obamacare. Forward!
Credit: Frankly, Obamacare only worked in the Utopian minds of its ivory-tower advocates. Here in the real world, Obamacare is such an unsustainable disaster that 11 of the 24 Obamacare co-ops originally funded with federal dollars have closed their doors. So far.
Credit: Of course, socialism’s apologists love to use Sweden as “proof” of the nanny-state’s success. However, Sweden’s negative interest rates, swelling debt and rising workplace absenteeism — made possible through generous government sick pay “incentives” — proves the exact opposite.
Credit: The truth is, the socialist experiment going on in Sweden — or here in the US — is no different than the failed “workers’ paradise” in Venezuela. The latter is just further down the road to failure, where a large order of McDonald’s french fries is now $126. No, really.
Credit: By the way, I know what you’re thinking: Unfortunately, Venezuelans still have to pay $79 for even a small order of Mickey D’s fries. But, hey … at least their healthcare is “free.”
By the Numbers
While 11/11 is Veterans Day in the USA, it’s Singles Day in China — get it? — a celebration for the “lonely” that offers a chance for unattached shoppers to buy presents for themselves. Here are some statistics from this year’s event:
1993 Year that Singles Day originated. (Nanjing University)
94,000,000 Number of shoppers who purchased Singles Day presents for themselves on their mobile phone.
72 Percentage of all Singles Day sales generated from mobile phones.
$9,800,000,000 Singles Day revenue just from mobile phones.
$14,300,000,000 Total value of all Singles Day merchandise sold by Alibaba, which is China’s version of Amazon.
8 Minutes it took Alibaba to sell the first $1 billion in merchandise on this year’s Singles Day.
The Question of the Week
[poll id=”88″]
Last Week’s Poll Result
Do you think you could be doing something better with your life right now?
- Yes (68%)
- No (22%)
- I’m not sure. (10%)
Almost 700 people chimed in for this week’s question and slightly more than 2 in 3 say that when it comes to the status quo and how it applies to their life, there is definitely room for improvement. On the other hand, 22% say their life is as good as it can be. Good for them!
Other Useless News
Here are the top — and bottom — five states in terms of the average number of pages viewed per visit here at Len Penzo dot Com over the past 30 days:
1. South Dakota (2.10 pages/visit)
2. North Dakota (2.07)
3. Arizona (1.93)
4. New Hampshire (1.89)
5. Alabama (1.74)
46. Oklahoma (1.38)
47. Rhoda Island (1.35)
48. Montana (1.33)
49. District of Columbia (1.31)
50. Delaware (1.26)
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Letters, I Get Letters
Every week I feature the most interesting question or comment — assuming I get one, that is. And folks who are lucky enough to have the only question in the mailbag get their letter highlighted here whether it’s interesting or not! You can reach out to me at: Len@LenPenzo.com
After reading my article explaining why whirlpool tubs are for suckers, Addey Hammel passed along her thoughts on the matter:
Your advice is bad.
That’s what the Honeybee tells me too — over and over and over again.
I’m Len Penzo and I approved this message.
Photo Credits: brendan-c
Len,
I read the article Krugman wrote and from what I can tell he is just another insane Keynesian. Things continue to worsen for the economy even though our propaganda media says otherwise. I feel that 2016 just may have some big surprises in store for not just our economy, but the worlds economy. I understand the Renminbi is going to be added as a reserve currency. What’s the difference between it and all the other fiat reserve currencies you may ask? Nothing at first, but I have a feeling all that Gold China has isn’t just being accumulated for a hobby! My thoughts are as all fiat currencies are crumbling the Chinese will back the Renminbi with Gold and become the next great superpower. After all it’s how America came to be the superpower it was, however when foolish Keynesian progressives take over you see what can quickly happen.
Jared
Jared, like you, I believe China will emerge as the world’s next great power once the current monetary system is finally — and mercifully — upended. At least for awhile.
History proves that all of the world’s great powers — from Egypt to Rome to Spain to England to the US — became great by producing more than they consumed; this allowed them to accumulate real wealth, which led to rapid growth and an impressive increase in living standards.
Likewise, those same powers’ declines coincided with over-expansion coupled with a domestic transition from being producing nations to societies that consumed more than they produced. In essence, each major power fell from greatness and crumbled because they became apathetic, stopped producing and lived off wealth their forefathers generated in the past until it was all gone; in essence, they ate all their seed corn.
This is where the US is now; it has been voraciously consuming more than it produces for 40 years. It’s really no wonder that living standards are now falling in the US. As a result, a majority of Americans are turning away from freedom, individualism, and personal responsibility; instead, they’re looking to government socialism to help them fill the gaps. Of course, that is only making things worse.
The good news is, when the new paradigm is in place, all of those manufacturing jobs that went offshore will return, and the US will have the opportunity to become great once again.
The only catch is this: to get there, we first have to settle up and endure a very painful — and sudden — day of reckoning.
Len,
The only thing that bothers me is that all our Gold vaults are pretty much empty! I’m pretty positive that 8,000 tons the Fed says we have is no longer there. It will be very painful to restart with no real money, thank god at least I will have some in my possession.
Jared
The joke is: The tanks at Fort Knox aren’t there to protect the national gold — instead, they’re there to keep Americans from finding out that the gold is gone (or at least mostly gone).
Len, I was planning to buy a GoPro but I thought it was like a waste of money because I already have a good phone and video camera and I’d probably use it so rarely. So good to know that the price is now less.
Len,
Just as the Islamist were causing evil and chaos in Paris the other night a very important world event took place. The IMF approved the addition of the Renimbi to the list of reserve currencies. Both these incidents will change our world in many ways I believe.
Jared
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-11-15/imf-greenlights-addition-chinese-yuan-sdr-basket-wall-street-responds