{"id":81156,"date":"2023-12-02T01:15:19","date_gmt":"2023-12-02T09:15:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=81156"},"modified":"2023-12-04T14:37:26","modified_gmt":"2023-12-04T22:37:26","slug":"black-coffee-2-dec-2023","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id81156-black-coffee-2-dec-2023.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Coins of the Realm"},"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

I’ve got another busy weekend ahead of me, so let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

All fiat currencies always eventually return to their intrinsic value: zero.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Voltaire<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A diver near the coast of Sardinia, Italy, found an extensive cache of ancient bronze coins<\/a> dating from the early fourth century. Even though the coins weren’t gold or silver, the discovery – which includes at least 30,000 coins based on their collective weight – will probably be worth millions of dollars anyway. Surprised? You shouldn’t be. Those bronze coins actually have intrinsic value – unlike the green confetti pretending to be money that everyone keeps in their wallets today.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Over on this side of the pond, the Social Security Administration recently released the national wage statistics<\/a> for 2022 and the figures aren’t pretty; the median wage earner brought home just $40,847 last year. That breaks down to roughly $3400 per month – before<\/strong><\/em> taxes.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Hey … here’s some good news: Gas prices are down significantly<\/a> from their summer highs. On the other hand, they’re still 21% above average for this time of year. But you probably already knew that.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, there is inflation – and then there is shrinkflation. And shrinkflation is still running rampant<\/a>. In fact, it’s so pervasive now that it is beginning to affect state license plates. No, really.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Not surprisingly, as inflation continues to cause many food package sizes in an effort to hide rising prices, and costs keep increasing for packages that don’t<\/em><\/strong> shrink, more Americans than ever turned to local food banks<\/a> this Thanksgiving to get essentials for their holiday feast. Apparently, those folks are unaware that the economy is as “strong” as it has ever been. Okay … at least it is for those who equate a strong economy with sharply reduced purchasing power and the resultant lower standard of living.<\/p>\n

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(Graphic: Bloomberg<\/em>)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Despite higher prices across the board, online shoppers spent $63 billion<\/a> during the first three weeks of November – that’s up 5% from last year. Growth in mobile shopping is healthy too; it’s expected to reach $113 billion dollars during the November to December period – that’s up nearly 14% year-over-year. Then again, with year-over-year inflation running at least<\/strong><\/em> 5% then those higher sales figures are merely an economic mirage. And speaking of economic mirages …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> The increase in consumer spending is welcome news – although not for the so-called big box retailers<\/a>. That’s because stores such as Best Buy, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Target all saw same-store sales decline compared to last year, whereas value-oriented retailers Walmart and TJ Maxx saw low-single-digit gains. As for Lexus, it’s annual Christmas promotion continues to chug along for better – or worse …<\/p>\n