Blue sky. 70 degrees. Tiny buds. But supremely energizing for my increasingly longer walks.
Energy is wonderful as it returns, to counter (deal with) the uncertainty.
There’s a even better counter: The three-month treasury is now over 5% — in fact 5.03%.
That’s an incredible rate. Whatever happens — another black swan event, hell or high water — we know we get 5.03% on our money — guaranteed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government.
That’s one thing. The other is what’s happening to crypto. “Currencies” like bitcoin and ethereum are gaining strongly. See below. They’re going up without me. I suspect they’re rising because of the uncertainty of the stockmarket. Here’s the S&P this year. Not one for the fainthearted (like me).
Where goes the economy? The “BIG thing we know is that it’s slowing down. The latest jobs report (for March) showed the weakest gain since December 2020 — but still a robust 236,000 job gains.
The guys who love charts are having a ball. They’re eyeing charts showing an upcoming recession:
Same chart drawn differently. Recessions are the grey bars. This one tells the “story” a bit better.
My biggest recent gainers have been GOOGL, LMT, PXD, AAPL, NVDA and META. I’m hanging on, not buying more.
Soon, my favorite real estate syndicators will find great bargains in what’s called “distress” properties — where their rising mortgage rate payments are eating up the cash flow and more.
For now, I do like 5.03%
Your precious email address
+ Never anyone our email address for a 15% discount you will never use.
+ We all know there are places we can never unsubscribe from. Political places are the worst.
+ I receive five to ten emails a day from Donald J. Trump. I once gave him $1 to get on his lists. They’re clearly the best written political money beggings ever. I do wish I could get off his list.
Health stuff, endless
Friends keep falling on the last step, going down.
Friends keep falling off the curb.
Friends keep being hit by motorized messenger bicycles.
Look both ways twice. Slow down. You don’t need to move so fast.
More tech stuff
+ An external wireless mouse makes a laptop fly. My favorite is the $24 wireless Logitech M510. The little thingee on the right is the dongle that slides into the USB on your laptop or USB hub.
This is for real. I checked it.
Am I glad I didn’t invest in Turkey
Instead of raising interest (as everyone else is doing) dictator Erdogan dropped them.
This is what happened to Turkey’s currency as a result. It plummeted, seriously hurting Turkey’s economy.
For the Economist piece, click here.
I was a cub reporter
I visited 35 countries with pen, paper and typewriter. But today? Turkey, Iran, Egypt, Lebanon, Myanmar (Burma), Afghanistan, and now Russia.
I see a younger Harry as the Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich jailed by Putin on B.S. charges, to be used as a pawn in a prisoner exchange. While he rots in a Russian prison.
The New Yorker has done an excellent piece, How Putin Criminalized Journalism in Russia. Click here.
I cry for Evan. I wish I could do something, except to warn my readers to keep well away from the countries I mention above. Don’t visit. Don’t even think about visiting.
Susan and I loved AIR, the movie
It’s the true story of how Nike signed up Michael Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time
I didn’t create this.
But it is funny.
I’m hooked on Federer videos
I did a couple of rafting trips with Michael
But never one like this. Enjoy. It’s short and funny.
Click here
Wonderful nonsense
Happy belated Easter
I’ve been reading too much on Russia and China. I have found my new subscription to Foreign Affairs magazine to be absolutely engrossing.
Don’t forget the 5.03% on treasuries. Even if rates go higher — there’s definitely another 0.25 rate hike coming on May 3 — you’ll get all your 5.03% and your principal back in three months.
What they call a “no brainer.”
See you soon. — Harry Newton
