• 287 days Will The ECB Continue To Hike Rates?
  • 287 days Forbes: Aramco Remains Largest Company In The Middle East
  • 289 days Caltech Scientists Succesfully Beam Back Solar Power From Space
  • 689 days Could Crypto Overtake Traditional Investment?
  • 694 days Americans Still Quitting Jobs At Record Pace
  • 696 days FinTech Startups Tapping VC Money for ‘Immigrant Banking’
  • 699 days Is The Dollar Too Strong?
  • 699 days Big Tech Disappoints Investors on Earnings Calls
  • 700 days Fear And Celebration On Twitter as Musk Takes The Reins
  • 702 days China Is Quietly Trying To Distance Itself From Russia
  • 702 days Tech and Internet Giants’ Earnings In Focus After Netflix’s Stinker
  • 706 days Crypto Investors Won Big In 2021
  • 706 days The ‘Metaverse’ Economy Could be Worth $13 Trillion By 2030
  • 707 days Food Prices Are Skyrocketing As Putin’s War Persists
  • 709 days Pentagon Resignations Illustrate Our ‘Commercial’ Defense Dilemma
  • 710 days US Banks Shrug off Nearly $15 Billion In Russian Write-Offs
  • 713 days Cannabis Stocks in Holding Pattern Despite Positive Momentum
  • 714 days Is Musk A Bastion Of Free Speech Or Will His Absolutist Stance Backfire?
  • 714 days Two ETFs That Could Hedge Against Extreme Market Volatility
  • 716 days Are NFTs About To Take Over Gaming?
Dock Treece

Dock Treece

Dock David Treece is a partner with Treece Investment Advisory Corp (www.TreeceInvestments.com) and is licensed with FINRA through Treece Financial Services Corp. He provides expert…

Contact Author

  1. Home
  2. Markets
  3. Other

Economy: Not Quite in 'Tailspin,' But...

There are growing concerns about the US private sector, to say the least. Investors seem to be finding more and more reasons everyday to head for the preverbal high ground. Just this week we've seen manufacturing numbers decline, open goods orders falling, and investor sentiment suffering as the near-term outlook grows increasingly dimmer.

This slowdown seems to have several roots, perhaps the biggest of which is slowing manufacturing that has been reflected in the Richmond Fed's May survey.

Also having an impact is the fact that unemployment has brought its decline to a snail's pace as businesses have slowed their hiring drastically. This lack of new jobs has kept consumer spending from continuing to recover, and has also led to another dramatic slowdown in the housing market, both existing sales and new constructions.

Unfortunately, it doesn't seem like anyone else knows exactly what to do. We haven't heard a word of guidance out of Washington; not good guidance, not bad guidance, but no guidance at all. Of course, we have some ideas of our own, but we haven't been able to gain an audience. [Note: if anyone in the Obama administration would like to hear them, they're welcome to call our office.]

That leads us to another development that is both interesting and somewhat perplexing; and that is the overall lack of meaningful news coming out of Washington.

Many will recall that mere weeks ago the debates raging over the federal deficit and the national debt ceiling were front page news. It's now been a matter of weeks since any insightful news came out on either topic.

Doesn't anyone remember? Last we heard, the government had run out of money. It was flat broke, and the United States was going to default on its national debt and the end of the dollar was nigh, and we were all going to be living in shacks and bartering for corn, which would have certainly lost its federal ethanol subsidies.

And now? Silence - from both parties. It seems all of DC is simply closing ranks.

In fact, it seems telling that over the past several weeks this country has seen news stories on almost everything BUT the national debt. First we get Osama bin Laden; then there's all the debate over releasing photos, etc. We've seen everything from Barack Obama exploring his Irish roots to his wife doing the dougie with grade-school kids, but absolutely NOTHING on the federal budget.

While obviously our perspective on the inner workings of national politics is somewhat limited, we suspect that there are quite a few closed-door meetings going on among Democrats desperately trying to distance themselves from Obama before the upcoming election.

Our only hope is that the silence from Republicans is because they are recalling and adhering to the valuable advice of Sun Tzu when he said "Never interfere with the enemy while he is destroying himself."

 

Back to homepage

Leave a comment

Leave a comment