{"id":87965,"date":"2025-06-14T01:00:57","date_gmt":"2025-06-14T08:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=87965"},"modified":"2025-06-17T07:03:52","modified_gmt":"2025-06-17T14:03:52","slug":"black-coffee-14-june-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id87965-black-coffee-14-june-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Against All Odds"},"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

Courage is willingness to take the risk once you know the odds.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

– Daniel Kahneman<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A new consumer study has found that the average American spends nearly $1900 a year on subscriptions. Now for the punchline: The average American has so many subscriptions that they can\u2019t keep up<\/a> with them. So much so that they underestimated their monthly subscription spending by nearly $52 per month. (For those who averaged less than a C in math, that\u2019s almost $624 per year.) Ouch. The good news is they can get some of that back with a little savvy shopping elsewhere …<\/p>\n

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h\/t: Reddit (u\/Not_a_Cardboard_Box)<\/p><\/div>\n

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news \u2026 a new study of more than 1500 adult American adults aged 18 to 40 who still live with their parents discovered that more than half (52%) actually receive a monthly allowance<\/a> from parents. In fact, 31% of those adults admit to receiving a monthly allowance of more than $200. Even more astounding is that another similar study found that more than half of all adult kids are receiving a monthly allowance of $1500<\/strong><\/em>. Yikes. Fingers crossed that our<\/em><\/strong> adult kids don’t know about this. That being said, we suspect it’s probably too late…<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> We wonder how many of those parents who are still doling out an allowance to their adult kids are aware that, since February of this year, Americans born in the US have gained approximately 1.25 million jobs<\/a>, while foreign-born workers have seen a net loss of nearly 200,000 jobs. This reverses a trend since 2021 of foreign-born workers gaining more jobs than US-born citizens. And on a related note …<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, on Wall Street, stocks closed the end of the week on a down note<\/a> after hostilities in the Middle East broke out; Friday’s losses were big enough to wipe out the major indices’ gains accrued through Thursday. For the week, the S&P 500 finished 0.4% lower, the Nasdaq shed 0.6%, and the Dow was down 1.3%. As for those of you looking for the perfect portfolio mix, well… Vanguard has turned the popular 60\/40 stock-to-bonds ratio on its head:<\/p>\n

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h\/t: demystifyingmarkets.com<\/p><\/div>\n

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Now over to Washington DC, where macro analyst Jessie Columbo points out that, “Since late 2023, the US M2 money supply has resumed its upward trajectory<\/a>, expanding by $1.2 trillion. This renewed surge is one of the key drivers behind gold\u2019s powerful bull market during that time. It also underscores a broader truth: the long-term direction of the money supply is relentlessly upward, with pullbacks being both rare and short-lived.\u201d Yes; that’s extremely alarming. On the other hand, they’ve got to pay for all that government spending some<\/strong><\/em> how.<\/p>\n

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h\/t: Jesse Columbo<\/p><\/div>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, there\u2019s are costs for conjuring all of those “free” US dollars (USD) out of thin air. One of the biggest is the interest payments. And it’s only going to get worse from here as the federal debt is now firmly entrenched in the business portion of a very frightening exponential curve<\/a>. The only saving grace is that the US government debt is “backed” by more than 8000 tons of gold to ensure global creditors’ continued faith in the currency \u2013 so it\u2019s good for it. Or so they say …<\/p>\n

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

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Unfortunately, macro analyst Doug Casey points out that “the deficits are going to rise from $2 trillion to $3 trillion. And when the economy takes a downward turn, the government\u2019s tax revenues will fall as its obligations rise.” Even worse, Mr. Casey says expects the US will have annual deficits approaching $6 trillion<\/a> by the end of this decade. If he’s right, he says “bonds are in a world of trouble.\u201d Frankly, we find it to be a complete mystery as to how the system has continued to function with even $1 trillion deficits – although maybe not as mysterious as this<\/strong><\/em>:<\/p>\n