From 1994 until 1999 there was little difference in the rate of change of rent vs. housing prices. That changed in 2000 with the dot.com crash and accelerated when Greenspan started cutting rates..06/06/2021 7:15:43AM EST.
It is with a heavy heart that I write this tribute to the OldProf , Jeff Miller, who passed from this life on May 7, 2021.
I have know Jeff for a little more than 12 years. We started to trade communications about each other s blog articles at Seeking Alpha a few months after I started writing on that site in 2008. Jeff was already a seasoned veteran there, having been a contributor since 2006. I quickly discovered that he was more than just a stock jockey , but a keen student of many factors affecting the economy in general and investments in particular.
I have a distinct memory of Jeff challenging me to be more disciplined in my attempts to understand the employment numbers being reported in 2009 during The Great Financial Crisis. I learned a lot about the Bureau of Labor Statistics processes at that time because Jeff knew them in exacting detail and had personal contacts on the BLS staff.
May 26, 2021
Did you see the total eclipse of 2021’s closest supermoon on Tuesday (May 26, 2021)? If you didn’t catch it – even if you did – enjoy a few of our favorite lunar eclipse photos from EarthSky friends around the world. Thanks so much to all of you who shared your photos with us!
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Andrea Deegan captured the eclipse from Albany, Western Australia, on May 26, 2021. She wrote: “There was too much cloud cover at the start of the eclipse, so these were over the last hour or so when the sky cleared.”
View at EarthSky Community Photos. | Photo by Roit Gupta taken in Melbourne, Australia, May 26, 2021.
May 2021 Conference Board Consumer Confidence Little Changed
The latest
Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index s headline number was little changed in May. The Index now stands at 117.2 (1985=100), down marginally from 117.5 in April. A quote from the Conference Board:
. consumers short-term optimism retreated, prompted by expectations of decelerating growth and softening labor market conditions in the months ahead .
Analyst Opinion of Conference Board Consumer Confidence
Consumer confidence had been steady for the previous two years - but the coronavirus killed the upswing. Consumer confidence during the pandemic was as low as seen in 2014 - but now has improved to nearly pre-pandemic levels.
Preliminary May 2021 Michigan Consumer Sentiment Significantly Declined
The preliminary University of Michigan Consumer Sentiment for May came in at 82.8, down from April s 88.3, down from March s 84.9, but up from February s 76.8.
The Econoday consensus range was 90.0 to 94.0 (consensus 90.3)
Surveys of Consumers chief economist, Richard Curtin, makes the following comments:
Consumer confidence in early May tumbled due to higher inflation the highest expected year-ahead inflation rate as well as the highest long term inflation rate in the past decade. Rising inflation also meant that real income expectations were the weakest in five years. The average of net price mentions for buying conditions for homes, vehicles, and household durables were more negative than any time since the end of the last inflationary era in 1980 (see the chart). Importantly, consumer spending will still advance despite higher prices due to pent-up demand and record saving balances. This combination of pe