Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 10.5.18 (plus history of the world in one shot)

Below please find the usual weekly summation with both the unemployment rate and jobless claims falling while factory orders rose. And thanks to Florence, non-farms employment increased by nearly 50,000 fewer jobs than expected.  The bonus this week is a fascinating graphic showing in one eye-shot the entire history of the world in a single geologic spiral time line.  And for those of you who want a good chuckle, check out Item 7 on the Sunday Reading List to see a brief history of the cost of computers from about 1970 on.  I have to disagree with some of the numbers though.  I purchased a Commodore in 1982 but it cost $2300, not $595.  I also purchased a Toshiba Satellite laptop in 2013 but for $600, not the $330 quoted here.  Hope everyone had a great weekend. 


Succinct Summation of Week’s Events 10.5.18

October 5, 2018 4:00pm by Barry Ritholtz

Succinct Summations for the week ending October 5th, 2018

Positives:

1. Unemployment rate decreased to an astonishing 3.7% in September (from 3.9%)
2. Jobless claims fell 8k w/o/w, from prior revised 215k to 207k.
3. Factory orders rose 2.3% m/o/m, higher than previous 0.8% decline.
4. PMI manufacturing index rose 0.9 in September, from 54.7 to 55.6.
5.ISM non-manufacturing index came in at 61.6 for September, beating expectations. ISM manufacturing index came in at 59.8 meeting expectations.
6. Nobody started a war or anything stupid like that.

Negatives:

1. Blame Florence: Total nonfarm payroll employment increased by 134k m/o/m, missing expected 180k.
2. Same store sales were up 5.7% w/o/w, down 0.1% from last week’s 5.8% gain.
3. Trade deficit increased to 53.2B in August, greater than 50.0B reported in July.
4. Construction spending rose 0.1% m/o/m, missing an expected gain of 0.4%.
5. PMI services index fell 1.3 points in September, from 54.8 to 53.5.
6. Country remains deeply divided by partisan strife, with POTUS pouring fuel on the fire.  

Sun 10-7-18 BigPic: Geologic Time Spiral, Investor Edition - The Big Picture

Geologic Time Spiral, Investor Edition

October 5, 2018 9:00am by Barry Ritholtz

I just adore this graphic . . . puts things into some context regarding how poorly we all understand time, and how lost we are in the here and now.  

If you can grasp how short a time period humans have been here on earth, a tiny blip on this billion-year chronological period, essentially the last half inch on this spiral, you can better understand how poorly we as species understand time.

Consider the ramifications this has for 20 and 30 years olds saving for their retirements 50 years in the future. It is almost unfathomable.  

More on this next week . . .

Sun 10-7-18 BigPic: 10 Sunday Reads - The Big Picture