“I got stuck in a conversation with some wealthy people and one woman asked me how my investments were doing. I replied that both avocadoes should be ripe by tomorrow.” Food prices are an everyday reminder of inflation on the spending side of the equation, but on the flip side, plenty of people don’t know where to put their savings these days. One can pick up additional income on savings in places like the perfectly safe TreasuryDirect account and earn over 4 percent on as little as $100. (I would like to think that money won’t change me, but I won $5 on a scratch-off lottery ticket and used it buy name-brand aluminum foil.) The Fed has been, as usual, in the headlines this week by raising the target Fed Funds rate (what banks charge one another for overnight loans). Chris Whalen penned a piece titled, “FOMC Doubles Down on Market Risk.” One picture is worth a thousand words, and here’s a nice chart of Fed Funds to help keep things in pe
This is the start of Fat Bear Week. (My money’s on Popeye.) Those poor bears don’t have much privacy, and it turns out that neither do humans. Consumer Reports tells us that TikTok is tracking people even when they don’t use TikTok. Another blow to keeping everyone’s personal data personal. With satellites and drone photos, there isn’t any privacy from above, and the devastation in Florida is horrendous, a portion of which is shown in these before and after photos and citizens will certainly need more than paper towels to start the work of rebuilding in Florida and Puerto Rico. Families, homeowners, mortgage servicers, and lenders are continuing the search for survivors and evaluating the damage. The wind and rain are hitting New Jersey and Philadelphia, but with much less wind than the 155 MPH that hit Florida when Ian made landfall in Florida. The six-month hurricane season ends November 30th, so we still have a couple months but let’s hope t