{"id":89063,"date":"2025-09-13T01:00:29","date_gmt":"2025-09-13T08:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/?p=89063"},"modified":"2025-09-17T08:11:01","modified_gmt":"2025-09-17T15:11:01","slug":"black-coffee-13-sep-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lenpenzo.com\/blog\/id89063-black-coffee-13-sep-2025.html","title":{"rendered":"Black Coffee: Searching for Answers"},"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

Truth waits to be found. It searches for no one.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u2013 Suzy Kassem<\/strong><\/p>\n

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

Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Did you see this? A new study has found that exactly half of all Americans surveyed don\u2019t think it\u2019s realistic for the average American to expect to retire comfortably, while a significant share believe they may never retire<\/a>, with 43% admitting they see themselves working until they die \u2013 or at least not long before they die…<\/p>\n

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h\/t: @Alifarhat79<\/p><\/div>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> In other news, the Big Beautiful Bill recently passed by Congress raised the state and local tax deduction (SALT) from $10,000 to $40,000<\/a> for taxpayers next year. SALT includes state and local income taxes, as well as property taxes. This is expected to provide relief to homeowners who have been suffering from higher property taxes due to the almost relentless increase in housing prices since the pandemic.<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> On Wall Street, US stocks closed out a winning week as the Dow gained nearly 1% for the five trading sessions through Friday \u2013 its first win in three weeks \u2013 while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq had their best showings<\/a> since early August with the former up 1.6% and the latter up 2%. Then there’s the mining sector \u2013 it has been quietly outperforming all of the major stock market indices this year…<\/p>\n

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Debit:<\/strong><\/span> Despite the rising stock market, the US economy is showing signs of teetering \u2013 especially when you dig into the data weeds. For example, macro analyst Daniel Oliver pointed out this week that “Google offers a tool that enables observing employee strife first hand: Google Trends reveal ‘a largely unfiltered sample of actual search requests made to Google.’ The samples below paint a bleak picture<\/a>.\u201d Indeed, they do. Here are six search terms on Google that prove the economy is definitely not<\/strong><\/em> getting better for many people:<\/p>\n

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Source: Myrmikan Research<\/p><\/div>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Alas, the stability of global financial architecture rests on the long-term bonds of the US, Japan, and the eurozone. But now, long-term government bonds, once considered safe and yielding positive real returns, have lost considerable trust<\/a>. As a result, anyone not legally obligated to hold these securities is dumping them for more-trusted safe havens such as precious metals. It\u2019s a tried-and-true pattern that repeats itself throughout history whenever times get tough. Oh, and speaking of a lack of trust…<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Meanwhile, Rabobank senior strategist Benjamin Picton observed this week that, “while front end yields sink on hopes of easier money from central banks, the story at the long end is a more complicated<\/a>. Fixing bloated fiscal positions without clobbering the economy and simultaneously finding ways to finance spending priorities has become a policy paradox. Is it simply \u2018too late\u2019 to fix? Or can out-of-the-box economic thinking still find a solution?\u201d Or perhaps AI can rush in and save the day? Hey… those are both good questions. Then again, so is this\u2026<\/p>\n

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Credit:<\/strong><\/span> Don\u2019t think that macro analyst David Jensen hasn\u2019t noticed what has been going on with global debt markets. He notes that, “The largest debt bubble in history is now rapidly drawing to a close, but don\u2019t believe that when it happens it was one big unhappy accident or unforeseeable. The economic sleight of hand<\/a> to get to this point was carefully and intentionally crafted – and we have the receipts.\u201d All of it, of course, perpetrated by the tricksters running the world\u2019s central banks\u2026 and this guy:<\/p>\n