Digital Renaissance & February Jobs Report
Cryptocurrency has given birth to a Renaissance* in digital art. This pixelated pop-tart rainbow cat’s original image and code (non-fungible token) sold for a whopping $590,000. A NFT or non-fungible token cannot be exchanged for another thing of equal value, it’s one of a kind. Which is how cryptocurrency is sold. Ultimately what your buying […]
Responding to Failure, Meek Jobs Report, Strong Appreciation
A story of how two brilliant investors responded to an economic crisis that left them nearly wiped out. Why was John Keynes able to recover? John was able to change his mind and see failure as a learning opportunity. Rates – increased very marginally this week as the price of Mortgage Backed Securities degraded slightly. […]
Biden Economics, Jobs Report, Home Sales
Now that the election is finally decided, what does that mean for the economy? Biden’s plans include ambitious government spending on energy & infrastructure. The longer form details from Moody analytics can be found here. Joe’s ability to impart policy change will be partially predicated on the undecided senate elections. The Biden jobs and infrastructure […]
Pandemic Impact, Job Update, Home Sales Soar
In a survey by the Federal Reserve, a surprising 77% of people said they were doing ‘OK’ financially at the end of July which is a 2% increase year over year. Some of this sentiment coincides with timing of unemployment benefits. The restaurant sector is experiencing major pain but Americans are consuming 40% more pizza […]
Location? Jobs, Rent, Appreciation
Housing Boom – suddenly the mantra location, location, location doesn’t seem as relevant when: many people are working remotely, most schools are going virtual, and everyone wants more space. Redfin site traffic is up 40% since the pandemic and pending sales are at historic highs. The traffic to listings that are in towns with populations […]
-$37 Barrels, Rates Improve, Freight Down
The price of oil has fallen dramatically since the pandemic – from $60 a barrel in January to negative $37 per barrel on Monday. Suddenly oil companies and speculators (investors who buy in large quantaties hoping to sell for a higher price) needed to store a massive amount of unsellable, hazardous product. In some cases […]
Disney Shanghai, Jobs Report, Forbearance Numbers
Social Distancing – in China is extremely deliberate. To enter the Disneyland park you need to: wear a mask, pass a temperature check, & pass an individual QR code check which provides data on your recent travel and spits out an algorithmic score of your infection risk based on movement. Rates – increased nominally this […]
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 […]
Flexible Work Spaces, Rates Improve, Lousy Jobs Report
WeWork – doubled in size and 2017 & again in 2018 and is the largest private sector Real Estate occupier in NY, DC, London, & soon to be SF. They are going public this year to keep up with the projected $4 billion in annual lease spending. This NPR article breaks down the numbers and […]