June CPI: Outstanding Numbers — Markets Surge, Then Slump -- Americans Have Never Had It So Good -- July 11, 2024

Locator: 48103ECON.

Not all agree.

Some suggest a July cut is on the table. But won’t happen.

Brookings Institute analyst very bullish. Says labor market very strong.

Number helps JPow.

Me? Much ado about nothing. Americans have never had it so good.

• exhibit A: TSA screenings.
• exhibit B: gasoline demand.
• exhibit C: the Goldilocks investment environment.
• exhibit D: price of admissions to sports events: up 15%

All that counts: NYT headline this morning. Link here. It looks pretty transitory to me in the big scheme of things, and nowhere near the record highs seen in 1980.

NYT Live Updates: 

Inflation Cooled Further in June The Consumer Price Index rose 3 percent in June on an annual basis, a sharper slowdown in inflation than economists had expected.

I was hoping for market pullback today to make six specific equity purchases:

• WMT, SCHD, XOM, MSFT, CMI, SCHG, 
• list could expand
• mix unlikely to change
• Could add DVN, CHRD
• none into my accounts; all into grandchildren accounts
• will now wait to mid-morning to decide whether to make those purchases today or wait; long horizon makes no difference but psychologically it does (make a difference)

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Annual Business Environment By State

Top states for business: link here.

• Texas, 3.
• California: doesn’t make top five.
• North Dakota: 34
• Montana: 46.

From the linked article:

This is the Old Dominion’s sixth time at the top of CNBC’s rankings, and its third win in five years — a record unmatched by any other state since the study began in 2007. In a rare feat this year, Virginia finishes in the top half or better in each of the study’s 10 categories.

“We reestablished expectations of excellence with intensive tutoring, adopting the science of reading, launching lab schools and renewing the focus on career and technical education,” said Gov. Glenn Youngkin in his State of the Commonwealth address in January. 

Youngkin, a Republican, famously rode the education issue to an election victory in 2021. But Virginia’s education successes are more nuanced — and bipartisan — than that might suggest.  

After Democrats took control of the Virginia General Assembly last November, they pushed back on what they said were cuts in education funding in Youngkin’s budget. Ultimately, the two sides reached a compromise that includes $2.5 billion in new funding for K-12 schools, and 3% pay raises for teachers and state workers.

All 50: link here.

More narrative here.

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Disclaimer Briefly Reminder

• I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, 
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple. 
• See disclaimer. This is not an investment site. 
• Disclaimer: this is not an investment site. Do not make any investment, financial, job, career, travel, or relationship decisions based on what you read here or think you may have read here. All my posts are done quickly: there will be content and typographical errors. If anything on any of my posts is important to you, go to the source. If/when I find typographical / content errors, I will correct them.
• Reminder: I am inappropriately exuberant about the US economy and the US market, 
• I am also inappropriately exuberant about all things Apple.