We have work to do
October begins with uncertainty in the air. We have the election in 30 days and middle east conflicts are escalating as we speak. Again, investing based on politics and current events is even more hazardous and unreliable than investing on a regular basis. In addition, with the employment report issued on Friday, analysts and economists are more convinced that a soft landing is ahead. Markets expect two additional rate decreases before the end of the year even though the economy keeps chugging along. One of the sideshows of politics, however, is fake news. One such item was calling the Department of Labor’s employment report fake. When the reports are first issued, they are subject to revisions that invariably occur. There is no rhyme or reason to these revisions, but they are consistently revised as more information is gathered through the different reporting channels. More important than the actual numbers are the trends that are more important than any single monthly report. The goldilocks report on employment, inflation and economic growth continue to point to a soft landing. The regularly remarkable piece of this generally good news is that Americans don’t seem to be feeling it. Inflation is insidious and its impact is definitely still being felt. When inflation declines, prices do not go lower. It means that any current price increases are small. The current economy is not treating all Americans the same. The fear or reality of living paycheck to paycheck is very disheartening and leads to paycheck paralysis. Even though wages are increasing, the challenge of being more prosperous than our parents feels very illusive, especially with Gen X and Z. The current toxic political environment is calling into question many government and societal institutions that Americans have relied on since the end of WWII. Emphasizing fear and negativity become self-fulfilling predictions. Anger and resentment fester with the object of derision being the other. We need to be careful with our words because words matter. We hope that we can move forward past this negative energy and recognize our economy and democracy are the greatest in the world. We have much to be proud of and much work to do. Let’s get to it.
Our friends from Gradfin are hosting a
Webinar about the current state of student loans on
Oct 12th 12:00pm PST - you can register here to check it out!
In the News
Opinion | The Economy Is at a Hinge Moment - The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Bank of America accounts showing “Low Balance” and “$0” Account overview balances
System wide Verizon mobile customer and website/app outage
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