DHUnplugged #722: Who Cares?

Does anyone care about the data? Does the Data Matta? Port Strike ENDED - for now Hurricane Milton - Strong Cat5 going to hit West Coast of Florida... Employment Report Update PLUS we are now on Spotify and Amazon Music/Podcasts! Click HERE for Show Notes and Links DHUnplugged is now streaming live - with listener chat. Click on link on the right sidebar. Love the Show? Then how about a Donation? Follow John C. Dvorak on Twitter Follow Andrew Horowitz on Twitter DONATIONS ? Reminder: Intel CTP is open! Warm-Up - Does anyone care about the data?Does the Data Matta? - Port Strike ENDED - for now - Hurricane Milton - Strong Cat5 going to hit West Coast of Florida... - Employment Report Markets -Headwinds, Wars, Higher Rates, Higher Fuel Costs - Who Cares? - Hurricane Impact - Oil on the move - Yields moving higher - Robotaxi Day! Want to Bet? - A federal appeals court on Wednesday refused to block a lower-court ruling allowing Americans to bet on the outcome of the 2024 congressional elections. - This will be BIG - and a difficult thing to handicap - Plenty of ways to eventually get into the betting craze 0 from sportsbooks to investors with binary style investments. - Thoughts? Hurricane Milton - Nasty Storm hitting the Gulf Area - Generac stock flying - up 8% Monday and 50% YTD - Stock is down from $500 to $170 (from peak in 2021) - Crude oil rallying - combination of Hurricane Milton and Middle East conflict -- Follow-Up: Crude Dropping as HurcMilt not going to disrupt Gulf Oil All Over - Strike OVER! - Tentative deal and back to work....after first strike since 1977 - Under the tentative new agreement, workers will earn a 61.5% raise over six years. That means the highest paid workers would make $63 per hour in the final year of the contract — up from $39. - NO AUTOMATION - The union argues that technological advances could threaten the existence and value of union jobs, a concern that has persisted to varying degrees since the Industrial Revolution first introduced machines into the manufacturing space. Budget Deficit - No One Cares - The federal budget deficit was $1.8 trillion in fiscal year 2024, the Congressional Budget Office estimates. - The estimated deficit for 2024 was $139 billion more than the shortfall recorded during fiscal year 2023. - Revenues increased by an estimated $479 billion (or 11 percent). - Revenues in all major categories, but notably individual income taxes, were greater than they were in fiscal year 2023. - Outlays rose by an estimated $617 billion (or 10 percent). - The largest increase in outlays was for education ($308 billion). - Net outlays for interest on the public debt rose by $240 billion to total $950 billion. Pfizer - Starboard Value has amassed a roughly $1 billion stake in drugmaker Pfizer, according to people familiar with the matter. - Starboard believes that Pfizer’s current leadership under CEO Albert Bourla has stepped away from its historically disciplined cost structure and investment in novel drugs, said the people, who requested anonymity to discuss confidential information freely. - The stock is trading about 30% lower than it did in 2019. Seriously? - Two Democratic lawmakers are demanding that some of the biggest food and beverage companies stop engaging in “shrinkflation” — the practice of reducing product sizes while charging prices that are the same or higher. - In pointed letters, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Rep. Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania accused General Mills, Coca-Cola and PepsiCo of engaging in a “pattern of profiteering” through shrinkflation and by “dodging taxes.” Employment Report - Nonfarm payrolls increase by 254,000 in September - Unemployment rate falls to 4.1% from 4.2% - Average hourly earnings rise 0.4%; up 4.0% year-on-year - Average workweek slips to 34.2 hours from 34.3 hours - Yields Rocking higher - above 4% now..