Keep Your Balance If You Can

Going forward, running a restaurant will be much tougher. This winter and spring, farmers will be facing increased costs to produce a crop. The businesses that process raw materials into the foods sold at markets will face increased costs (labor, power, taxes, insurance, etc.) Retailers are releasing news of anticipated price increases to begin in January. If you are running a restaurant, your fixed costs each month will continue to rise. You can try to pass those costs on to your patrons, accept a reduced margin or try to do a mix of the two to find a balance. It’s going to be a balancing act. “We certainly don’t expect prices to go back to five- or 10-year averages,” said Carlos Mera, head of agri commodities market research at Rabobank. That’s partly due to a “floor” on global price rises: With fertilizer and other input costs increasing, farmers’ costs, too, are climbing. Meanwhile, increased hedging and building stocks to cushion the impact of now-familiar supply shocks is also pushing up demand." Thanks Federal Reserve pinheads, ass-clown Democrats (and their minions of useful idiots) who orchestrated this mess so that they could remove the Bad Orange Man and "save the world for democracy". I am prepared. A lot of people who don’t follow this bullshit are not and will suffer. Some will have it coming. If I see some fat ass clown on the news who is the poster boy or girl for “straight Democratic ticket mail in voter” bemoaning the fact that his or her rent is going up, their grocery bill just went up, their utilities are costing more, etc., etc., etc. I’m going to say to my television, “My heart pumps purple piss for you.”

BTFD is becoming STFU

A lot of retail investors and stock market novices have done well in 2021 by following a simple formula called "BTFD" (buy the fucking dip). As of this past quarter, insider selling has picked up the pace. Insiders have been strategically selling into a hot market and reaping large payoffs. The pace of selling has been high enough to keep prices high without flooding the market with discounts and triggering an avalanche. From CNBC: “CEOs and corporate insiders have sold a record $69 billion in stock in 2021, as looming tax hikes and lofty share prices encourage many to take profits. As of Monday, sales by insiders are up 30% from 2020 to $69 billion, and up 79% versus a 10-year average, according to InsiderScore/Verity. The selling is likely to increase even more as December is often an active month for sales due to tax planning.” The wealthy and well connected are keeping the frog in the pot of water while gradually turning up the heat. Before the frog knows what’s going on, the water will be a bubbling cauldron. The Fed has been fairly transparent about their short term intentions by stating that QE is ending faster than originally anticipated and that they are planning three interest rate hikes in 2022. The only reason that they are doing so is because inflation is far higher than they will admit; they’ve let the genie out of the bottle and the world is watching as the dollar’s reign as the world’s reserve currency just moved much closer to midnight on the financial doomsday clock. It won’t be enough to stop the inflation freight train. Their actions will be too timid – it will be the second coming of Arthur Burns (the Chairman under Nixon and Ford). Jerome Powell is no Volcker. He is a Burns. Translation: he’s a pussy and he’s surrounded by nitwits like wild eyed Neel “Cash ‘n’ Carry” Kashkari. That was evident during his time under Trump. He’s weak – until a Volker type is installed at the Fed, you’ll continue to see escalating prices for the everyday things you buy. Recently, I sold a chainsaw to a farmer who was telling me that his costs for the upcoming growing season will be higher. Input costs like fertilizer, seed, fuel, etc. will all be higher in 2022 when he starts planting in the spring. Who do you think is going to pay for those increases down the line, cupcake? BTFD is being replaced by STFU – my own abbreviation for the phrase for “Sell The Fucking Upside”.

It's a Perfect Day

A friend and I were chatting via text recently and I remarked that she was somewhat “rough” on humans and a complete pushover for doggies – also, I’m somewhat guilty of that as I’ve bent over backward at times for my best pal and can be a little on the “brusque” side when considering humans. She explained her rationale that, unlike a human being, a dog will never “ghost” his or her owner. They’ll never disappear on you – not until they’re called upon by nature to do so. If anything, you can’t get rid of them even for a few minutes when you need a little time for yourself. No matter, if you leave and come back for a brief time, they don’t care – they are happy you’re back and the moment is good. To use a Lou Reed lyric, it’s a perfect day. (And no, Lou Reed’s song “Perfect Day” is not a love song to heroin – it’s a love song about a girl. His own words in an interview given before his death said as much. Look it up.) Your dog is a little like a human in that he or she will use you to get what he or she needs or wants from you at that moment. Unlike a human, your dog is pretty fucking transparent about the whole affair. They wear their emotions on their furry sleeves for the entire world to see. If a dog loves you, you’ll know it. If a dog hates you, you’ll know it. If a dog is indifferent to you, you’ll know that too. You’ll always know where you stand. If your dog loves you, the blind loyalty given you is a rarity in this world. Even when you are clearly guilty, your dog will believe in your innocence and will gladly tell the world to go fuck itself in your defense. I think that is what endears them to people so much. I recognize it in my own dog. When he works his ass off trailing a running bird and then points the pheasant and I move in to flush the bird and then completely blow a slam dunk, going away shot in an open field at 25 yards, I lower my head and recognize that I should really do more practice on the sporting clays range. I apologize to him and he shrugs as if to say, “No worries, Pal. I’ll find another and that piece of shit gun of yours will fire correctly and then we’ll have us a dead pheasant. It’s all good”. It’s my own fault, I know it but he finds excuses for me.

Is It Just Me or Is Anyone Else Sick of Seeing This Fucking Garden Gnome in the News?

Good God, please just go the fuck away already.

Partying Like It's 1999

Banks and credit unions have a rainy day fund known as the loan loss reserve account. In short, there is a formula that is to be followed where a portion of current income is set aside to cover the potential losses anticipated from loans that are "going South". The Fed managed to create an "Alice in Wonderland" landscape where up is down, North is South, right is wrong and wrong is right. It's difficult predict what will happen in the future when the Fed is monkeying around with fundamentals of today. Giving the Fed these kinds of powers is to invite a clusterfuck. Think of giving a chimpanzee a loaded handgun or allowing a retarded child to man the controls of a landing 747 jumbo jet loaded with people. Anyway, banks and credit unions have been depleting their loan loss reserve accounts as people who should have defaulted two years ago on stupid loans did not - Fed and government intervention propped up the zombies for 2 years and now, the Fed is running out of juice. Fucking around with the price of credit has consequences when you have an economy that runs on credit.

Make no mistake - the Fed Governors (like crazy eyed Neel Kashkari) actually believe their bullshit and they'd like you to believe it too. Don't worry about the rising cost of everyday items that you need to live, lemming. You're all gonna be nigga rich with stocks to the moon and a gold mine for a house and you'll accomplish all of this prosperity by sitting on your ass and being a great fucking American. My old employer, the fabulous Together Credit Union (who the fuck came up with that name during the re-branding?) has depleted their loan loss allowance account year over year as follows: Loan Loss Allowance Q3 2021 vs Q3 2020 $11.4MM $14.3MM $3 million to party on and make acquisitions with in the space of a year. Good luck next year assclowns as the court cases pile up.

If You're Going To Be Stupid, You Had Better Be Tough

'Woke' retailers who asked Congress for help amid smash-and-grabs supported left-wing police reforms Nearly two dozen CEOs signed the letter asking Congress for support, including the chiefs of Target, Nordstrom and Levi Strauss Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar also said he will not support congressional efforts to assist retailers that "backed BLM during their ‘summer of love protests’ and efforts to defund the police." "These woke companies made their bed, now they can sleep in it," he told Fox News on Wednesday. "This is what happens to the woke, they reap what they sow. What did they expect would happen?" Police leaders have voiced similar sentiments, saying corporate leaders rushed to make donations in 2020 out of fear of being labeled racist and are now coping will the fallout of fewer officers and more crime. "Unfortunately, the result of these defund efforts has these CEOs waking up to a retail theft smash and grab nightmare, rampant violence on our streets and a fear of disassociating themselves and their companies from the very individuals and organizations intent on destroying the safety of our communities," Pritchard added in his comments to Fox News. So, personally I find this comical for a couple of reasons. The first is a story about my own first born. I am told that as a young adult, her blind faith in the story of Michael Brown and her willingness to participate in a bullshit “peaceful protest march for justice” during the whole “Michael Brown was unjustly shot and killed by a white and racist cop in a St. Louis suburb” narrative cost her a car break-in and the theft of her laptop. I remember her as book smart, cunning, arrogant, willful, untrustworthy young woman and an overall assclown. Raising her was no fun at all and I rejoice every day that it is over and I will never have to be around such a terrible child. I was cursed to have such a daughter. Anyway, I was told by a third party that while marching in solidarity with her “brothers and sisters”, her car was broken into and her laptop computer was liberated by some “underprivileged youths”. I just had to laugh out loud. You have to understand that this is a daughter who I became estranged from after her underserved contempt for me became too much to bear. The other story is about serving jury duty while a resident of Saint Louis City. If you are a guy who doesn’t have a criminal record, registered to vote and who is not a transient and who is a resident of the Great City of Saint Louis (translation: a regular law-abiding dude who has a job and pays his taxes and owns a home there) then you are a rarity in the wonderful City of Saint Louis as most of the residents are complete wastes of skin who look as if they recently escaped from either jail or the circus freak show. Make no mistake – it is a city that sucks ass where residency is concerned. So, eligible (translation: normal) residents are routinely asked to serve jury duty. While a resident there, I did twice. Of all of the places I’ve lived, I’ve only been asked to serve on a jury while a resident of that crime ridden hell-hole. But then again, it is the only city I’ve lived in as an adult that had a large part of the population made up of the precious people-of-color so, go figure. Anyway, one case involved a low class white woman who was shacked-up with her black boyfriend in a home not too terribly far from my own neighborhood. The two began drinking one night (nothing unusual about that in Saint Louis City as most of the residents are addicted to alcohol and/or drugs) and the black boyfriend decided it would be fun to invite one of his homeboys over. Now, the white woman and two black dudes are drinking and making merry. Next comes the proposal for a three way - naturally. Well now the white woman is undressed and getting fucked in ways she’s only dreamed about but things get ugly (gee, who would have thought it, right?) and she’s getting bitten on her tits and she’s got two black dicks stuffed up her ass and she’s having some second thoughts. It ends with her naked, bitten, bleeding and screaming for help at her neighbor’s place. The cops arrive (surely all racist, card-carrying Nazis and white supremacists) and round up the suspects who are then soon to be facing judge and jury. Well, we did our duty and threw the spade in jail where he belonged for rape and some other charges but as a jury, we all looked at one another and thought, “Where the hell did you think this was going to lead, you dumb bitch?” when considering the testimony of the white woman who loved black dick too much.

Fed Ending Supports, Moratoriums Over, Rising Rents, Rising Inflation. 2022 Will Be Interesting.

"According to the latest data from the Eviction Lab at Princeton University, evictions have been rising in most of the 31 cities and six states where it collects data. Evictions in September increased 10.4% from August. October numbers were 38% above August levels and 25% higher than in September. Filings fell around 7% from October to November and now remain nearly 48% below pre-pandemic levels." I suspect that this number will grow. No one wants to foreclose or evict during the Christmas season. It's bad optics. Don’t get me wrong. I do feel some sympathy for these people. Being evicted and losing one’s home is a traumatic event for people and some never recover from the experience. On the other hand, what is conveniently omitted from these types of stories of rising evictions is the fact that many of these same people collected thousands of dollars during the “pandemic” as a result of the expanded unemployment benefits that were given them – let’s not forget that many of these people collected more money being unemployed than they made while working at their jobs. They also enjoyed a backside benefit in the way of eviction moratoriums whereby landlords were left holding the bag while tenants were allowed to live rent free in their apartments, houses, etc. The government completely screwed the pooch by giving the renters the upper hand in being able to “squat”.

Evictions take time to work their way through the courts. Foreclosures take even longer. In the long run, the only real winners in this fiasco will be the lawyers and court staff. "There was a batch of initial commentary coming out when the moratorium ended and the tone ... was, well, there wasn’t a tsunami so we don’t have an eviction crisis on our hands,” said Ben Martin, senior researcher at Texas Housers, a nonprofit focused on housing issues. “That initial narrative was somewhat misleading. What we are seeing is a reflection of reality, which is that evictions take time to work their way into and through the court system.” “We have so much more work to do,” U.S. Rep. Cori Bush, a St. Louis Democrat, said, citing data showing that evictions during the pandemic “have taken lives.” There are some states and local governments that “feel, ‘We don’t want this money. We don’t want this federal aid," she said. "And, we have some landlords who say that they don’t want the money as well. So that makes it harder for the money to be dispersed.” What Cori Bush does not understand is that landlords do not want to continue to house a tenant who would gladly accept public funding and protection from eviction for nearly two years while thumbing their nose at their landlord when rent was due. Under no set of circumstances do they want to continue to deal with their current tenants. I wouldn’t. And, in the current environment where I could finally get rid of my deadbeat, fix up my apartment or house or condo and raise the rent 40% for a new and properly vetted tenant, I would do so in a heartbeat.

The Jussie Smollet Fun Club is Choking on Old Tweets

"The cream of liberal society, including President Joe Biden himself, have been mocked over old tweets backing Jussie Smollett in the wake of his conviction. President Biden, Vice President Kamala Harris and a host of other liberal celebrities face questions over their tweets, backing Smollett on the same day as the alleged January 2019 attack, which he was convicted of faking on Thursday. Hours after the staged beating Biden, then a presidential hopeful, tweeted: 'What happened today to @jussiesmollett must never be tolerated in this country."

The Jussie Smollett fiasco and the blind faith support he received from race baiting Democrats shows just how full of shit the majority of Democrats are. This is the same Joe Biden that recently told the nation that “unity was the only way forward” while standing next to Bob Dole’s coffin. How in the fuck are you supposed to have unity with a bunch of race baiting bullshit artists who always think the worst of you if you are not a card carrying member of their political party? Joe Biden can take his unity and shove it up his ass or up Kamala’s rotten cooze - his choice. I’m not in the mood to unify with a bunch of spotlight seeking weirdos and nitwits. I’ve made a personal vow that unless the Joe Manchin and Tulsi Gabbard types within the Democrat party expel the craptastic dickweeds and craven crunts from their ranks, I’ll never vote for another Democrat for as long as I live. I don’t care if it is the reincarnation of Bobby Kennedy – they can go fuck themselves.

Jussie's Subway Sandwich Sexual Healing Run

Lemme get this straight. The queer spade hired two black, MAGA hat wearing body builder brothers to beat his meat while performing autoerotic asphyxiation via a noose on him and while enjoying a Subway roast beef au jus in Chicago? Is that right? Some people are into some really weird shit.

Inflation Creation - Thanks Fed & Company!!!

With the meddling Fed diddling with the price of credit for nearly two years via lowering the overnight rate to nearly zero and buying up $120 BILLLION in the securities market EACH AND EVERY FUCKING MONTH FOR NEARLY TWO FUCKING YEARS and the seemingly unlimited amount of Fed Fun Bucks injected into the economy via the CARES Act (enhanced unemployment, PPP loans for frauds, foreclosure moratoriums) is it really any wonder that we have the inflation problem of today? It is amazing that our prices are not higher. It will take more than just a few quarter point rate increases to bring this under control. It will take Paul Volcker style movement to bring inflation under control. Half measures as proposed by the current Fed Heads ain’t gonna cut it.

PPP Covid Loans - A Great Program for Revealing Just How Shady Our Country Really Is

"Who can forget now-suspended Markham police Officer Kenneth Muldrow, who received money through a COVID relief loan and denied even owning the company? After CBS 2 exposed over 1,000 ghost businesses in Markham that received Paycheck Protection Program loans intended for small businesses struggling during the pandemic, viewers raised concerns over your tax dollars." (From CBS Chicago)

"When COVID hit, people masked up, and businesses locked up. And the federal government opened up its wallet through COVID relief loans. Crooks jumped at the opportunity. First, CBS 2 found businesses in south suburban Markham that did not exist – but people still got the money. Now, it has all grown bigger. “It’s a huge problem,” said Department of Homeland Security Special Agent Jeff Strauss. We have heard from dozens of people since we exposed rampant PPP loan fraud in Markham – many with tips about other questionable small business owners they wanted us to check out. Take Kelvin Dortch Jr. A quick entry into the PPP loan database reveals he received two loans for $20,000 each. His application claims he operates two barbershops from a house in Dolton." This is why we can never have anything nice.

With Leadership Like This, How Can You Go Wrong?

"British Prime Minister Boris Johnson apologised on Wednesday after a video surfaced showing his staff laughing and joking about a party in Downing Street during a Christmas COVID-19 lockdown last year when such festivities were banned. Hours later the main aide featured in the video, Johnson's press secretary at the time, Allegra Stratton, resigned as an adviser to the prime minister. In a tearful statement, she said she would regret the remarks she made in the video for the rest of her days." I suspect that people like this who are in some position of power are like mice. When you find one in your home, there are 100 of them crawling around in the walls. "For more than a week, Johnson and his team have repeated that no rules were broken in late 2020 after the Mirror newspaper reported there had been several parties including a wine-fuelled gathering of 40 to 50 people to mark Christmas. On Wednesday, Johnson told parliament that he was furious about the video, which was first shown by ITV late on Tuesday, but said he had been repeatedly assured that no party took place at Downing Street, his office and official residence. At the time of the Downing Street gathering, tens of millions of people across Britain were banned from meeting close family or friends for a traditional Christmas celebration - and even from bidding farewell to dying relatives."

Switchin' To Glide - this beat goes on and on and on and on and on and on and on and on

The New Zealand Prime Minister has either made a Freudian Slip of the tongue or she is truly drunk with power. The quote below reminds me of one of my ex-wife's famous statements made toward me during a contentious divorce. "You will do what I decide regardless of what's fair". She's now jamming those same words up her own ass on a regular basis (metaphorically speaking).

“There’s not going to be an end point to this vaccination program,” the Prime Minister revealed, while calling on people who got jabbed six months ago to come back for another shot. Ardern delivered the message while adopting her familiar passive-aggressive smiley mannerism, as seen many times before when she casually revealed the next step in COVID authoritarianism. People who fail to continually get vaccinated will face the same fate as those who have continued to resist compulsory shots, they’ll be out of work, face social ostracization and God only knows what else in the future. Enjoy your lifetime booster shots and enjoy not being able to travel, visit a restaurant or eventually go in a shop if you miss out on just one. Remember, if you don’t take the Pfizer jab for life, you’ll never be “fully vaccinated”. It truly never ends.

Pepperidge Farms Remembers

Remember when some low life piece of shit would get waxed by the cops and no one really gave a flying fuck?

"[Wright] was accidentally killed by a Brooklyn Center police officer on April 11, 2021, approximately three weeks after his crimes against [Hodges]," the civil complaint reads. "After that accidental death, a false narrative began establishing [Wright] as a young person that young people looked up to, when in fact a warrant was in place for his violations of law on bond for a past crime. [He] had previously chosen a life of crime." If you're gonna be a gun-totin' gangsta (and aspiring rapper), shit happens sometimes.

Allow Me To Translate

"The market has changed, as you know, and we have to move with it in order to survive," he said. He told the employees on the video conference that if they were watching him, that means they have been laid off. About 9% of the company was let go, reports said. Kevin Ryan, the company’s CFO, told the website that "having to conduct layoffs is gut wrenching, especially this time of year, however a fortress balance sheet and a reduced and focused workforce together set us up to play offense going into a radically evolving homeownership market." From Fox News business - Better.Com is an on-line mortgage outfit that recently announced the lay off of several employees via, of all things, a Zoom conference. That's rich.

The Fed has stated that the party needs to be wrapped up and over soon. The housing segment of the everything bubble is over (translation: "evolving"). The bullshit needs to end. Welcome to buyer's remorse if you purchased in the past 18 months. Enjoy the mortgage payments and the escalating property taxes that will never go back to "pre-Covid pandemic" levels (translation, bad case of the flu for most people).

Problem With His Used Car or Girlfriend or Both?

Thanks Fed!!!!!

Since March of 2020, used car prices are up a staggering 39.8%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Consumer Price Index. During that same period, the BLS inflation measurement for new car prices is up 8.9%, while overall, U.S. inflation is up 6.3%.

Transitory Inflation = Obama's "Shovel Ready Jobs" = Not So Shovel Ready After All

“Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said he expects policymakers in December to discuss accelerating the timetable for the tapering of monthly bond purchases. Speaking before a Senate panel, he said tapering could wrap up “a few months sooner” than anticipated. That would open the door to interest rate hikes thereafter. Powell also said “it’s probably a good time to retire” the word “transitory” to describe inflation.” Make no mistake - the Federal Reserve is an 800 pound gorilla within the financial world. Whether you agree with him or not, he's going to do what gorillas do and sometimes that includes throwing his shit at you. The Fed has BEEN THE MARKET in treasuries and mortgage backed securities ever since all of this Covid bullshit broke loose TWO YEARS AGO. The political class saw their opportunity to "max out the credit card" and they jumped on it. A more craven class of assclowns you are never going to meet but then again, look at their constituency and tell me we don't have a representative form of government. But, even 800 pound gorillas have limitations and Powell & Company have finally come face to face with their own. The “Everything Bubble” is real and, like all bubbles (Tulip, South Sea, Housing, Tech, Y2K) comes to end like all manias. The Fed recognizes that $3.50 per gallon gas and $10 per pound bacon and through the roof rents and houses sometimes doubling in price within the space of 18 months are not normal. The 800 pound gorilla just stepped into a steaming pile of King Kong’s shit and realized that he is not really the biggest ape in the jungle. King Kong’s alias is “end of the Dollar/end of the Empire” and the 800 pound gorilla has a choice. Go back down the mountain trail from whence he came or continue on the current path and meet King Kong face to face. Kenny Bing’s advice in all of this bullshit? Don’t find out too late that you are the proverbial bagholder.

You Have to Wonder What the Rich are Saying to their Brokers Tonight

I'm of the opinion that this has little to do with Omnicron (what a fucking name, right?) and a lot to do with Jerome Powell. I used to call Janet Yellen and Ben Bernanke the "Helicopter Parents of Barack Obama" because come hell or high water, they were going to do whatever it took to keep Barry's recovery from the housing bubble burst going throughout his presidency. Like all helicopter parents, they run out of resources and/or patience. Jerome gets to pick between protecting the dollar (translation - the empire) and protecting the stock market. You can't have both at this point. On a side note, I filled up the truck on the way to a pheasant hunt in the Land of Lincoln. I fill up in Missouri. Illinois gas is special and has a special price.