Screwball

Spending cash/credit has been embedded in our culture due to advertising and cheap/easy credit. I remember people bouncing checks. They would come in to pay for the check - and the $30 dollar fee along with it - and not bat an eye. It was worth the extra 30 to have fun for one night knowing the check was going to bounce. Nuts! It's all about consumption - the more the better. We are a shopping mall with a flag.

You don't need a financial advisor to keep a budget. Maybe I'm too old, but you don't buy "splurge" items when you don't have the money to pay for them. I saw this with my kids, and I hear it from other parents. This is the "I want it now" mentality we see in TV commercials. The younger people just don't seem to be very good with money/credit. Or maybe numbers in general, as I see in my classes. Many of these younger people can't make change, balance a checkbook, and some struggle with basic math. Their parents and educational system has failed them IMO. And of course easy and cheap (not so much anymore) credit is also a culprit. This is not a good picture going forward for many I suspect.

This part kind of stuck out to me; Some have zero emergency savings, but know more about managing their finances than an advisor, and look to social media for advice. Maybe that isn't such a good idea?

Noted and I stand corrected.

That survey had absolutely nothing to do with politics. I honestly don't know how you guys get that stuff from it. I thought is was some good insight into the current human thought and culture, but I guess it all has to be tribal these days.

I don't know where to put this, but I found it really interesting. I don't think it really fits with investing, so I didn't want to put it there. This is a survey published by Prudential Insurance. ****Warning; the link goes to their webpage, which only shows part of the survey - then you have to download the rest. **** It's 5 pages of mostly graphs and opens in another tab for me using FF. Generational Gap Grows: Work & Money Outlook Divided (Fact Sheet)

I skimmed the one from Goldman. I'm familiar with the Jan lady who is their lead (sell side - get to that shortly). They covered their ass by saying so many things are dependent on how other things go down. I think that is accurate. The market doesn't like uncertainty, and there is so many volatile things going on. *** But what's the "buy side" up to? Wall Street’s Big Banks Score $1 Trillion of Profit in a Decade - Bloomberg Decade? 2012-2013 ish, after we bailed their criminal asses out in 2009. They've been off to filthy rich lollipop land ever since. I liked this part at the end; Bold mine. That's the Chinese Wall, one way they use to cheat, and always have. Blue Horseshoe loves Anacott Steel.

Retail Investors Took a Beating in 2022. Will It Continue in 2023? - Bloomberg A visual to go along with the data in posts above. Broken down by the 11 Sectors. I can't fit all the industries, but you can see a similar chart here at Finviz This is based on the following;

These Are the Stocks That Kept Investors Up at Night in 2022 - Bloomberg Among others, but OUCH!

I'll give the "why" a shot based on my experience. In the countless "corporate obedience training classes" I had to endure, I found the material excellent and presented in a way to change the "culture." In another class, 8 years prior, I was a part of a Six Sigma two year development project who's final thesis determined there was a "culture" problem. WTF? Which really proved - management was inept. They were the culture. But that was not allowed to be the answer. That's all a bunch of corporate bullshit peddled by corporate worms - because that's what they get paid to do, and it never changes shit. It is all decided by bean counters and the next quarterly earnings report. As Carlin said - they don't give a fuck about us.

At the end of they the people who win are the swine bankers.

Speaking of dispensaries; thank you Michigan. Giggle.

Getting back to investing... Treasury Direct still works. You can make 130 or so bucks a month on 40 grand, which is better than cash. 4 week T-bills.

It's the fun time of the year when the prognosticators give their predictions for the next year. Fun stuff, you can find all angles to fit your outlook. So here's mine: 2023 is going to be a giant shit show. Happy New Year!

I hate using Tweets as data, but that built on my thesis. There are parts of our jobs data (certain industries) that are robust, and hiring, while others are not. First, you must sift through the reports (only the "headline" numbers are reported, but not necessarily a good indicator in the bigger picture, so you have to dig). The data tells tales. I don't want to get into a giant pissing match (not thinking you do either) but the automation angle is real. I've sat in the meetings figuring out how to eliminate jobs. Everything in large corporate America is all about the bottom line. Period. I think you work for a large company, so you probably already know that.

That makes sense. Yea, the young people don't use cash.

Well, it really doesn't matter anyway - nothing changes. I remember back in 1980 working for a large crane manufacturer. We sold stuff to the military. I remember $11 o-rings that I could buy at the local hardware store (we did) for less than a dime. So it's been a scam for at least 50 years.

Excellent - thank you. Makes sense on the volume thing, so I learned something new as well. 80-85% on cards. I would actually expect that to be higher. Which is why I think my buddy is nuts, but he's still open.

While I'm here; Exclusive: The Pentagon’s Massive Accounting Fraud Exposed - How US military spending keeps rising even as the Pentagon flunks its audit. FTA: Color me not at all shocked.

We have the best government money can buy. And our taxes even pay the useless pukes.

I have been told that, depending on the card (Mastercard vs. Capital One for example) they charge different fees. Is that true (since I don't work in the retail space)? Also, I have heard that Capital One charges the highest fees, is that true? A local gas station has a sign telling the minimum amount you could put on a card. I think it is 5 bucks. People were using cards to buy a .75 cent coffee. I imagine they were losing money on the transaction, but I don't know what the fees are. I don't blame them. I have been in places that have a "cash" price and a "credit" price. I think that would be a good idea. I have a buddy who owns a restaurant, and he won't accept any cards. I think that is a really stupid idea. Seems like you are really limiting your potential clientele. But, it's his place so he can do what he wants.

Congress Is Trying To Pass a Bill That Will End Credit Card Rewards Programs - Yahoo Finance

How Did Covid Impact the Minimum Wage Someone Would Accept for a Job? Payrolls vs Employment Since March 2022 Nonfarm Payrolls: +2,692,000 Employment Level: +12,000 Full Time Employment: -398,000 Employment fell by 138,000 in November. Full time employment is down 398,000 since March and down by 480,000 since May! For the latest jobs report, please see Another Strong Jobs Report? Phooey, and I Can Prove It Please note The Philadelphia Fed Just Revised Jobs Lower by 1.2 Million for Q2

I don't disagree, but why? People at our retailers are only a sign of what's going on in the bigger picture. I've watched the same exact thing in my industry for a long time as well. We can't find qualified people to do many of the jobs that need to be done. Which might be why there is so many jobs available - doesn't matter what they are - a barista or an engineer. It's easier to do it myself than babysit some fraud who can't do anything but play on their phone - and have no clue what to do anyway. So I chose not to hire anyone and work another 3 hours a day - because bottom line. That's how it works. If i don't, I don't have a job. It must be done, by someone. Add in our technology, and the obvious thing to do is replace labor. The easiest and quickest way to cure the bottom line - because we must beat the next earnings report for Wall Street. We are nothing but commodities, and if you don't believe that, you are a clueless tool.