{"id":82843,"date":"2024-04-13T01:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-04-13T08:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=82843"},"modified":"2024-04-14T20:53:45","modified_gmt":"2024-04-15T03:53:45","slug":"black-coffee-13-apr-2024","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id82843-black-coffee-13-apr-2024.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: “Trust Us”"},"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 hope everybody had an enjoyable week. Without further ado, let’s get right to this week’s commentary …<\/p>\n

Investors are sometimes too busy looking for profits to notice where the truth ends and the deception begins. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Andrew Ross Sorkin<\/strong><\/p>\n

Governments lie; bankers lie; even auditors sometimes lie. Gold tells the truth. <\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 William Rees Mogg<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? Long-standing discount chain 99 Cents Only – whose stores are spread throughout California, Texas, Arizona and Nevada – is going out of business<\/a>. No, really. Among other things, the company blames rising costs and excessive merchandise losses from shoplifting. As a result it’s now in the process of liquidating remaining inventory and selling off all the fixtures, furnishings and equipment at their 371 stores. I guess the good news is American living standards are higher than ever, so nobody should miss these discount stores anyway. Or so we’re told.<\/p>\n

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(h\/t: @LibertyNeverSlp)<\/p><\/div>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> On a somewhat related note, credit card has surged<\/a> to a record $1.34 trillion, which means that the trend line from the pre-pandemic era has now been surpassed, while the savings rate is at an all time low. Hmm. If only there was a plausible explanation that explain why. Oh, wait …<\/p>\n

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(h\/t: @Hedgeye)<\/p><\/div>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, the American consumer isn’t the only one in a tough spot. Most major US cities are dependent on commercial real estate (CRE) property taxes. For example, New York City\u2019s CRE accounts for 10% of its overall revenue; in Boston it’s a staggering 22%. The trouble is, CRE prices are plunging, as vacant office buildings equate to plummeting revenue<\/a>. In turn, this is forcing cities to scrounge for funding elsewhere in order to maintain bloated municipal budgets – either by increasing resident taxes or reducing spending. With that in mind, let\u2019s check in to see how most city leaders are handling this incredible challenge:<\/p>\n