Jets on Sale, Rates Improve, New Construction Strength
Sales of business jets were up 15 percent year over year at the end of Q3. The new tax laws made purchasing an airplane more affordable. If you use it for business purposes 50% of the time you can depreciate the plane 100% in year 1. Effectively you could purchase a $5M plane for $2.5M […]
Polymaths, Jobs, Home Sales, New Construction
Polymath – was first used in the early 17th century to mean a person with ‘many learnings’ – most researches argue that to be a true polymath you need some kind of formal acclaim in at least two apparently unrelated domains. Some people fear that the pursuit of too many interests can lead to the […]
PDX Grocer Sells, Loans Perform, Inflation Data
Local grocer New Seasons sold for an undisclosed amount to South Korean Company Emart (who purchased Good Food Holdings last year for $275M). In the last 20 years the chain has built 21 stores, 18 in the Portland Metro, and employes 3,800 workers. It also owned 5 California markets operating under the “New Leaf Community […]
Income Inequality, Jobs, Appreciation
Income Inequality – during the first 70 years of the 20th century the ‘top 1%’ share of income dropped below 10% of the total pie. Over the previous 50 years it has rocketed back up to 20%. Alarmingly, a similar trend is absent in Western Europe. Rather than focus on tax-code redistribution of wealth, Europe […]
Thanksgiving Price, Home Sales Strong, Rates Improve Marginally
Thanksgiving – NPR runs a story on the cost of Thanksgiving every year where they have volunteer shoppers from around the country survey and evaluate prices for the classic Thanksgiving meal for 10. The price came out to $48.91 which is up one single penny from last year. Turkey has come down 4% at $1.30 […]
Cranberry Diversification, Freight Decline, Loans Performing
Diversification: on Nov. 9th 1959 trace amounts of pesticide were found in cranberries 3 weeks before the big day and it caused nationwide panic. It prompted the release of this catchy tune and the White House served applesauce with their turkey (??). Later congress compensated growers $8.5M for loss of sales but it gutted the […]
Fed Considers Climate, Appreciation, Rates Climb
The Fed – looks to be considering how policies built around climate change will impact productivity and long-run economic growth and the implications for their ‘neutral level of real interest rate’ or target rate. Under the Community Reinvestment Act banks are obligated to meet needs of local communities, especially low-to moderate income communities that are […]
Jobs Report, Fed Rate Cut, Inflation Mild
Delayed maintenance can really bite you, and your clients. PG&E’s equipment has been blamed for starting a 100,000 acre fire that killed approximately 100 people and is now resorting to blacking out areas of its grid to avoid future incidents (they are estimated to be liable for $30B and it is speculated they will not […]
Repo Market? Rates increase Slightly, Strong Housing Reports
What is the ‘Repo’ market? – recently the Repo market has been in the news a lot as the Fed intervened in mid-September when funds dried up. Repo is short for repurchase. When banks are short on cash they borrow from other banks for a short period of time while they cash in US Treasury […]
Low Inventory, New Family Member, Rates Flat
Last Week – this time last Friday I was analyzing a different type of chart and missed my regular update. We are happy to announce the birth of our 3rd boy River! Speaking of birthrates Zillow recently published an article showing inventory has dropped 6.4% from this time last year which is good if you […]