August 23-27
Sadly, the situation in Kabul, Afghanistan, has gone from chaotic to tragic with the cowardly attacks on August 26, that took the lives of 13 of our brave service members along with dozens of innocent civilians.
Let us take a moment to pray for those 13 heroes and their families, their injured comrades, and the civilians seeking to escape tyranny lost in Kabul yesterday. Also, keep those who remain in Afghanistan in your thoughts, for I fear they have entered a living hell.
Above is a moving performance of the hymn, "Mansions of the Lord".
To fallen soldiers let us sing,
Where no rockets fly nor bullets wing,
Our broken brothers let us bring
To the Mansions of the Lord
No more weeping,
No more fight,
No friends bleeding through the night,
Just Divine embrace,
Eternal light,
In the Mansions of the Lord
Where no mothers cry
And no children weep,
We shall stand and guard
Though the angels sleep,
Oh, through the ages let us keep
The Mansions of the Lord
Market Lab
I have added a new page to the website, our Market Laboratory. You can access it by clicking on Market Lab on the top row of the homepage.
In the market laboratory, you will find a number of charts and graphs I use to gauge the health of the stock market. Since I can't get real-time feeds, I've provided a link in the caption at the bottom of each chart for you to click on to get the most up-to-date version.
This is a work in progress with new charts being added over time. So visit the Market Laboratory regularly!
Slip Sliding Away...
Citibank's economic surprise index now suggests that economic forecasts are too high and need to be revised downward. This also suggests the high rates of growth experienced over the last few quarters are slowing. This is not necessarily bad news for the markets but it bears watching.
Another Brick in the (Inflation) Wall:
Taiwan Semiconductor (TSMC) has just announced some significant price increases for the semiconductor chips they manufacture, in the range of 10-20%. Here's a link to an article from The Verge if you want to learn more.
This news comes on the heels of last week's Microsoft announcement to raise the price of their Office 360 suite of business software.
Inflation is spreading and looking a lot less transitory to me. Hope I'm wrong.
Thank You, Chairman Powell:
There was a collective sigh of relief from Wall Street after the Fed Chairman, Jay Powell spoke at this years Jackson Hole (virtual) retreat. Bonds rose (yields fell) and stocks hit all time highs. Let's hope his view is correct - that the rising inflation we are currently experiencing is mainly due to "transitory factors". (Wonder if he's talked to Microsoft or TSMC...)
Incredible Image:
This incredible image from the Hubble space telescope is known as an Einstein Ring. Learn more about it by clicking on the caption.
And, Finally:
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Questions, comments, (and wildly enthusiastic praise) are always appreciated! Send me an email at under.a.buttonwood.tree@gmail.com.