Long-Term Charts Of U.S. Equity Indexes As Of February 2, 2025

StockCharts.com maintains long-term historical charts of various major stock market indices, interest rates, currencies, commodities, and economic indicators. As a long-term reference, below are charts depicting various stock market indices for the dates shown.  All charts are depicted on a monthly basis using a LOG scale. (click on charts to enlarge images)(charts courtesy of StockCharts.com) The …

Read more

U.S. Dollar Decline – February 1, 2025 Update

U.S. Dollar weakness is a foremost concern of mine.  As such, I have extensively written about it, including commentary on the “A Substantial U.S. Dollar Decline And Consequences” page.  I am very concerned that the actions being taken to “improve” our economic situation will dramatically weaken the Dollar.  Should the Dollar substantially decline from here, as I expect, …

Read more

Problems Within The U.S. Economic Situation – February 1, 2025

Various surveys, economic growth projections, and market risk indicators indicate sustained economic growth and financial stability for the foreseeable future. However, there are various indications – many of which have been discussed on this site – that this very widely-held consensus is in many ways incorrect.  There are many exceedingly problematical financial conditions that have existed prior …

Read more

Employment Cost Index (ECI) – December 2024

While the concept of Americans’ incomes can be defined in a number of ways, many prominent measures continue to show disconcerting trends. One prominent measure is the Employment Cost Index (ECI). Here is a description from the BLS document titled “The Employment Cost Index:  what is it?“: The Employment Cost Index (ECI) is a quarterly …

Read more

Another Recession Probability Indicator – Through Q3 2024

Each month I have been highlighting various estimates of U.S. recession probabilities.  The latest update was that of January 6, 2025, titled “Recession Probability Models – January 2025.” While I don’t agree with the methodologies employed or the probabilities of impending economic weakness as depicted by these and other estimates, I do believe that the …

Read more

Jerome Powell’s January 29, 2025 Press Conference – Notable Aspects

On Wednesday, January 29, 2025 FOMC Chair Jerome Powell gave his scheduled January 2025 FOMC Press Conference. (link of video and related materials) Below are Jerome Powell’s comments I found most notable – although I don’t necessarily agree with them – in the order they appear in the transcript.  These comments are excerpted from the “Transcript of …

Read more

Real GDP Chart Since 1947 – 4th Quarter 2024

For reference purposes, below is a chart reflecting Real GDP, as depicted, with value $23,530.909.  This chart incorporates the Gross Domestic Product, Fourth Quarter 2024 (Advance Estimate) of January 30, 2025: source: U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Real Gross Domestic Product [GDPC1], retrieved from FRED, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis; accessed January 30, 2025: https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/GDPC1 _________ I post …

Read more