{"id":63060,"date":"2020-09-19T02:15:05","date_gmt":"2020-09-19T09:15:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=63060"},"modified":"2021-08-01T17:55:34","modified_gmt":"2021-08-02T00:55:34","slug":"black-coffee-19-sep-2020","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id63060-black-coffee-19-sep-2020.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Revenge of the Fed"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"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

Despite the continuing economic slowdown, I hope all of you have a thoroughly enjoyable weekend.<\/p>\n

Okay, let’s get right to it …<\/p>\n

Mischief springs from the power moneyed-interests derive from a paper currency which they are able to control …<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Andrew Jackson<\/strong><\/p>\n

So this is how liberty dies … with thunderous applause.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

— Senator Padme Amidala in Revenge of the Sith<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A food bank in Richmond, Virginia, has been doling out more than one million meals<\/a> per month as the metro area continues to battle the self-inflicted economic carnage imposed in the name of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. The food bank says conditions are so bad that they’re now feeding three times more people than last year. I guess nobody told them that the stock market is still hovering near all-time highs.<\/p>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Speaking of the stock market, asset manager Michael Pento is warning that there’s “a huge divergence” between the stock market and the real economy. With valuation in all equities now at 180% of GDP<\/a>, Pento says, “Rod Serling couldn’t have imagined how crazy they’ve become.” Compare that to March 2000, when valuations were 140% of GDP; not coincidentally, the drunken NASDAQ plunged 85% shortly thereafter — kinda like this:<\/p>\n