Lots of Signs out there
I think circularly. Unfortunately I sometimes talk that way too so if you don’t know me well I am not always easy to follow.
There are a lot of signs out there that I am seeing. What it means is that change is happening, subtly but soon change creeps up to be the norm.
Let’s start with the art world. Older collectors collect very differently than their younger counterparts regardless if they have the same capital. Consumer products, even Vodka, are giving back a percentage of their proceeds to non-profit organizations. Major organizations both private and non-profit that put on annual events to raise capital are having a harder time selling their tables at those super high prices. High-end residential real estate is waning and there is an abundance of it. Companies are over-valued in the private sector until the public market creates reality and prices plummet. The economy is being built on paper. And of course there is huge amounts of debt. The realization is beginning to take place that start-up companies should not all be valued at the same price.
There are more subtle observations that I see and talk about in conversation. Yes, the art of the conversation but what will happen I am not sure. It points to the post I wrote this week about the cultural non-profit organizations that there is a shift as the millennials get older, Generation Z grows up and they begin to make their impact on how our lives and the importance they put behind equality and compassion of their fellow person.
Change is subtly happening and the impact will be in our face before we know it.
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you are a wise woman
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I did. What looks good might not be
.”The economy is being built on paper.”I doubt there is a combination of words in the English language that could be more wrong than that sentence.In fact, the US economy is the most robust and well grounded it has been in a century. I have been an observer and participant for half a century. Other than the legislated death of community banking this is the best it’s ever been.What is happening is that the fundamentals are being exerted in a way that the market is anointing winners and losers with indelible ink.If you are in California (or Illinois), run by a inept administration with enormous tax burdens while being focused on political initiatives that have no positive benefit on its citizens, you will have a different outcome than a state like Texas, with its no income tax, low regulation, every two year legislature, balanced budget, and positive business climate.It doesn’t hurt that the Permian Basin has been recognized as the largest reserve of crude on the planet.In every instance, the results are driven by the market and the environment. Amazon was made to feel unwelcomed in LIC by local politicians who cheered its decision to pull the plug. That is not a national trend, that is local stupidity and incompetence.OTOH, Austin By God Texas welcomed Apple, Samsung, Amazon, the US Army’s warfare of the future command, and a myriad of others with open arms — while maintaining its weird brand of liberal shtick.It was interesting to see the recent SXSW and hear all the politicians who beat feet to this unique conclave. There was a wonderful exchange of ideas — some goofy beyond belief, but some very thought provoking.The influx of Americans to Texas (and Florida, another no income tax state) from California and other states is all the proof one needs to prove that people are not stupid.The Michigan Consumer Confidence Index — all time high plus the NY Fed’s Empire State and the Phila Fed’s reports are sterling.The basic data on the economy — GDP growth, wage growth, unemployment, the Labor Force Participation Rate, the FT/PT job mix, the inflation rate — is broad, deep, and convincing.No, the economy is not being built on paper. Not by a long shot. This economy is stronger than an acre of garlic.JLMwww.themusingsofthebigredca…