{"id":47966,"date":"2018-03-24T04:15:58","date_gmt":"2018-03-24T11:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=47966"},"modified":"2024-11-30T13:26:46","modified_gmt":"2024-11-30T21:26:46","slug":"black-coffee-24-march-2018","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id47966-black-coffee-24-march-2018.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: The Idiot Lights Are Flashing Red"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"black<\/a>It’s time to sit back, relax and enjoy a little joe …<\/em><\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

Another glorious week comes to an end. Off we go …<\/p>\n

“The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Herbert Spencer<\/strong><\/p>\n

“We stand today at a crossroads: One path leads to despair and utter hopelessness. The other leads to total extinction. Let us hope we have the wisdom to make the right choice.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Woody Allen<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credits and Debits<\/strong><\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Don’t look now, but the yuan-crude contract debuts this Monday<\/a>. This is the biggest credible threat to the US dollar since the 2008 Great Financial Crisis (GFC), as it threatens the status of the petrodollar<\/a>, which is the mechanism that keeps the US dollar as the global reserve currency — and hyperinflation at bay in America.<\/p>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news … If you believe the Fed and the Bureau of Labor, the US job market is at — or beyond — full employment. Then again, it’s hard to take that seriously when you realize that a Toyota plant in Plano, Texas, recently received 100,000 job applications<\/a> in response to a call for 1000 posted positions. No, really.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Let’s be honest. If the labor market was really and truly as tight<\/a> as we’re being told it is, then there’s no way Toyota would have received an average of 100 applicants for every position they posted — which is why you’ll be forgiven for wondering if the Bureau of Labor’s unemployment reports are actually being compiled by Baghdad Bob. Ahem:<\/p>\n