{"id":88914,"date":"2025-08-30T01:00:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-30T08:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=88914"},"modified":"2025-09-03T08:45:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-03T15:45:21","slug":"black-coffee-30-aug-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id88914-black-coffee-30-aug-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Midnight Oil"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"hurricane-flags\"<\/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 busy week is crossed off the list. So without further ado, let’s get right to the commentary …<\/p>\n

A formula for success: rise early, work hard, strike oil.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 JP Getty\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

The good Lord put oil and gas there for us to find and use, and we’d better do it.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Red Adair<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A single barrel of oil contains the energy equivalent of all the physical labor that a man can do in 10 years<\/a>. As macro analyst David Jensen points out, this improved the standard of living around the world because \u201chydrocarbon-fueled engines allowed work that previously required gangs of men and horses to be accomplished by a machine run by a single operator in a much shorter time.” When it comes to energy efficiency, only nuclear fission (and fusion) can compete. Despite this fact, there are those who are pushing to eliminate all fossil fuels.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> By the way, Jensen also notes that Germany is one nation that’s been working feverishly to sharply reduce its reliance \u2013 if not outright abolish \u2013 fossil fuels. As a result, almost half (47%) of Germany\u2019s electrical grid is now powered by wind and solar generated electricity. Compare that to the US, where just 14% of all electrical power is generated by by the wind and sun. Now for the punchline: Electricity prices in Germany for industrial customers are 300% of those for industrial customers in the US while diesel fuel prices in Germany are 200% US prices. Not surprisingly, the “green” energy push has led to national deindustrialization<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Over on this side of the pond, the S&P 500 and Dow closed August with gains of 1.4% and 2%, respectively, marking four straight month of gains<\/a> for those indexes. The Nasdaq also capped August with a 1.6% gain in its fifth straight winning month. Just remember, it doesn’t matter if the stock market is in a bull or bear market, or whether stocks are rising or falling on any given day. There are always<\/strong><\/em> going to be winners… and, um, losers.<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> One thing is certain: Wall Street couldn’t care less about the United States’ structurally-intractable debt problem. After all, they’re more concerned with corporate revenue and consumer purchasing power. With that in mind, macro analyst Tavi Costa opined this week that, “Sometimes I stop and think how absurd it is to claim inflation is decelerating while the government runs a 7% fiscal deficit<\/a>.\u201d Indeed. Then again …<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Of course, with the Fed signaling rate cuts are coming next month, Americans may want to brace for higher prices<\/a> in almost everything pretty soon. For more details, we refer you to an expert in the field \u2026<\/p>\n