Retail relies on the holiday season for the bulk of its revenue. In fact, a quarter of all retail spending in the US occurs in the last two months of the year. Numerous retailers have already downgraded their forecasts for the holiday season, and therefore, overall revenue estimates will go down. I reported that early […]

The National Retail Federation estimated that 172 million Americans spent $10.6 billion on Halloween this year, or $100 per person. Around $1.2 billion went into costumes for children, not to be outdone by adults spending $1.7 billion on their own costumes. Around $710 million was spent on pet costumes as well. Around 67% of consumers […]

ASIA: Singapore’s economy grew at a slower pace of 4.4 percent, but exceeded expectations, in the third quarter of 2022, according to advance estimates released by the Ministry of Trade and Industry (MTI) last Friday. On a quarter-on-quarter seasonally adjusted basis, Singapore’s gross domestic product (GDP) expanded by 1.5 percent after contracting 0.2 percent in […]

  COMMENT:  Hello Mr. Armstrong, as to the below “Blog/ Corruption” …. and then there is Canada – the next door neighbor … who could have avoided a North American oil crisis … but it’s Pipeline was shut down by Biden to spite Trump …. but no mention of this any-wheres … (not here either […]

ASIA:   India’s central bank, the Reserve Bank of India, seeking to arrest the rupee’s slide, is asking local banks to not build additional positions in the non-deliverable forward market, a move that could lead to offshore volatility spilling into local markets, bankers and traders said. The build-up of positions in this segment of the […]

ASIA: Japan’s inflation-adjusted gross domestic product shrank 0.3% in August from July as exports to China and Europe fell, as local demand remains sluggish, the Japan Center for Economic Research said in a report released on Tuesday. It is the first month-on-month contraction since May for the world’s third-largest economy, owing largely to external factors, […]

ASIA:   China’s central bank extended its bilateral currency swaps with European Central Bank, worth 350 billion yuan or 45 billion euros, according to a statement published on the Chinese central bank’s website on Monday. The swaps extension will help deepen bilateral cooperation and safeguard financial market stabilization, the Chinese central bank said. The International […]

COMMENT From Europe: There is another side to the pipeline explosions also. There is growing dissatisfaction among average Europeans over electricity prices and gas prices. Normal people that don’t have any connections with either Russia or Ukraine and do not care if Donbas and Crimea belong to Russia or any other nation. Europeans just want […]

This is a reminder of why I warn against listening to the talking heads. Unlike advanced AI software, these mouthpieces speak from a biased perspective. On March 11, 2008, Jim Cramer told his audience on CNBC’s “Mad Money” that “Bear Stearns was fine!” At the time, the stock was going for $62 before crashing down […]

COMMENT: Thank you for your monthly subscription, interviews, and blog. I have a monthly subscription to Socrates. I did do investments and made more than enough to pay my yearly dues, albeit with some stomach ache. Weekly might have been better than monthly, but my investment amounts are not at the institutional level. Socrates doesn’t […]