What Matters to Wall Street vs Main Street

Market Now

Inflation outranks politics-at least this week. We have a rule to not invest based on politics, so this week’s market behavior confirms that approach. It is no longer election night but election week. This is true in California, as counting continues. Markets seemed to be disappointed on Wednesday that early voting indicated that Republicans were not meeting expectations of a Wave election and in fact, did much more poorly than raised expectations. 

 Markets forget that the stock market has better returns under Democratic Presidents than Republicans-thank you Bill Clinton.  Inflation at an annual rate of 7.5% is good news? What matters to Wall Street is the trend. What matters to Main Street is the price at the gas pump and grocery store. Even with the highest inflation rate since the early ‘80’s it isn’t feeling good to main street. I guess it doesn’t feel bad enough for Americans to “throw the bum’s out” (politicians) because the midterm election left us with expectations for the usual mid-term disaster for the party in power. The economic data still provides an argument that the economy is doing better than it feels. Job numbers continue to be positive, although recent announcements of layoffs in the technology sector have not been measured yet. Consumers are still spending, pandemic news is better, the inflation trend is down, at least in this month's report, supply chain challenges are decreasing.  

On the other hand, if you are looking for chaos, look no further than Elon Musk with Twitter and Sam Bankman-Fried and FTX crypto exchange.  How about that 15 minutes of fame for Sam. Elon’s 15 minutes happen once a week.  Hard to feel sorry for Billionaires. For those of you who watch baseball, what are the umpires going to do with those FTX advertisements on their jerseys?  Not to mention the Miami Heat playing in the FTX arena. As Elon Musk recreates Sherman’s march to the sea by dismantling Twitter, maybe I will not have to ever figure out what “tweeting” is?  

Headline in the Washington Post:  Can a daily crossword puzzle slow cognitive decline?  Research suggests that people with mild cognitive impairment may be helped, but the findings are far from conclusive

Despite the inconclusive results of this study, if you enjoy doing the crossword puzzle then keep doing it.  For me, continuing to work keeps my mind active and optimizes my brain function.  It is important for each of us to find that sharpness and challenge regardless of our age. 

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