1.Consumer Prices Rising are Washing Out Increasing in Wages.
Millions of Americans, especially at the low end of the pay scale, have received a raise as a result of the pandemic. In their rush to reopen, businesses have been offering higher wages, one-time bonuses, or both.
The problem is that, in the aggregate and in most industries, wages haven’t risen as much as consumer prices — meaning that even if pay-packets look bigger, they buy less stuff. The leisure and hospitality industry, a major employer of lower-paid workers, is an important exception.
2. High End Steak Houses..Delta Variant Delays Back to Work and Beef Prices Skyrocketing
Malcolm Knapp, a research firm that tracks steakhouse data, said sales at high-end steakhouses peaked in early July and have fallen in the first week of August. If the trend continues, there’s a risk that sales could flatline or go negative in the coming months.
New York City Open Table for the number of seated diners has slumped in the past 30 days.
HTTPS://WWW.ZEROHEDGE.COM/MARKETS/DELTA-AND-SOARING-BEEF-PRICES-FRY-US-STEAKHOUSES
3.Global Negative Yielding Debt Back to Highs
LPL Blog
Lawrence noted that yields might look low here, but overseas yields are actually quite high. In other words, with more than $16 trillion in negative yields around the globe, our 10-year Treasury yield at 1.25% actually might not be as low as it seems. Marc and Lawrence both noted that low yields have many concerned about the bond market, but that action in the credit markets is still extremely healthy and shows no signs of stress. If a new recession was coming, we’d likely see more worrisome indicators in the credit markets.
https://lplresearch.com/2021/08/12/lpl-market-signals-whats-happening-with-bond-yields/
4.Cash Hoard on Companies Balance Sheets Running 45% Above 5 Year Average.
Companies Are Hoarding Record Cash Amid Delta Fears-By
Anna Hirtenstein
5.The Hunt for Yield…Private Credit Funds Above $1 Trillion …Now Selling to the Masses.
Private Credit Soars
Market has surged past $1 trillion in the past two decades
Source: Preqin Pro
Note: Data as of Aug 16
There’s reason to believe the new products will attract retail demand: Yields on fixed-income investments are near historic lows as central banks suppress rates to support the post-pandemic economy. And private equity firms — whose client lists typically include pension funds, endowments, insurance companies and sovereign wealth funds — are now gaining traction with affluent individuals.
Rich Investors Are Buying Risky Credit That Banks Won’t Touch By
livia Raimonde and Heather Perlberg
6.Labor Shortages Number One Concern U.S. Companies
The Daily Shot Blog Equities: What do US companies see as the greatest threats to sales?
Source: S&P Global Market Intelligence
https://dailyshotbrief.com/the-daily-shot-brief-august-18th-2021/
7.Global Adoption of Cryptocurrency +881%
Global adoption of cryptocurrency has taken off in the last year, up 881%, with Vietnam, India and Pakistan firmly in the lead, according to new data from Chainalysis.
It is the second year the blockchain data firm has released its Global Crypto Adoption Index, which ranks 154 countries according to metrics such as peer-to-peer exchange trading volume, rather than gross transaction volume, which typically favors developed nations with high levels of professional and institutional crypto buy-in.
Chainalysis said the purpose of the index is to capture crypto adoption by “ordinary people” and to “focus on use cases related to transactions and individual saving, rather than trading and speculation.” The metrics are weighted to incorporate the wealth of the average person and the value of money generally within particular countries.
Most of the top 20 countries are emerging economies, including Togo, Colombia and Afghanistan.
Meanwhile, the United States slipped from sixth to eighth place, and China, which cracked down on crypto this spring, dropped from fourth to 13th.
0.16
Philippines
| This map shows where cryptocurrency is taking off around the World |
https://www.cnbc.com/2021/08/18/new-cryptocurrency-bitcoin-user-global-map.html
8.Home values in cities like Detroit are ‘just exploding’ as residents flock to Midwestern downtowns
″$100,000 is the price of a home in Detroit, and it’s now $100,000 more expensive to buy” downtown.
https://grow.acorns.com/downtowns-in-midwest-cities-like-detroit-are-hot-real-estate-markets/
9.America’s incarceration rate falls to lowest level since 1995.
The U.S. incarceration rate fell in 2019 to its lowest level since 1995, according to recently published data from the Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), the statistical arm of the Department of Justice. Despite this decline, the United States incarcerates a larger share of its population than any other country for which data is available
At the end of 2019, there were just under 2.1 million people behind bars in the U.S., including 1.43 million under the jurisdiction of federal and state prisons and roughly 735,000 in the custody of locally run jails. That amounts to a nationwide incarceration rate of 810 prison or jail inmates for every 100,000 adult residents ages 18 and older.
The nation’s incarceration rate peaked at 1,000 inmates per 100,000 adults during the three-year period between 2006 and 2008. It has declined steadily since then and, at the end of 2019, was at the same level as in 1995 (810 inmates per 100,000 adults).
The number of prison and jail inmates in the U.S. has also decreased in recent years, though not as sharply as the incarceration rate, which takes population change into account. The estimated 2,086,600 inmates who were in prison or jail at the end of 2019 were the fewest since 2003, when there were 2,086,500. The prison and jail population peaked at 2,310,300 in 2008.
It is not yet clear how the coronavirus pandemic may have affected the U.S. incarceration rate; statistics for 2020 are not expected to be released until later this year. But media reports suggest that the decline in incarceration may have continued and perhaps even accelerated in 2020.
A variety of factors help explain why U.S. incarceration trends have been on a downward trajectory. Violent and property crime rates have declined sharply in recent decades despite a more recent increase in certain violent crimes, especially murder. As crime has declined, so have arrests: The nationwide arrest rate has fallen steadily over the long term.
Changes in criminal laws, as well as prosecution and judicial sentencing patterns, also likely play a role in the declining incarceration rate and number of people behind bars. In late 2018, for example, then-President Donald Trump signed a law aimed at reducing the federal prison population. In its first year, the law led to shorter sentences for thousands of federal offenders and earlier release dates for many others, according to a 2020 report from the U.S. Sentencing Commission.
10.The 5 Stages of the Creative Process
In 1940, an advertising executive named James Webb Young published a short guide titled, A Technique for Producing Ideas. In this guide, he made a simple, but profound statement about generating creative ideas.
According to Young, innovative ideas happen when you develop new combinations of old elements. In other words, creative thinking is not about generating something new from a blank slate, but rather about taking what is already present and combining those bits and pieces in a way that has not been done previously.
Most important, the ability to generate new combinations hinges upon your ability to see the relationships between concepts. If you can form a new link between two old ideas, you have done something creative.
Young believed this process of creative connection always occurred in five steps.
- Gather new material. At first, you learn. During this stage you focus on 1) learning specific material directly related to your task and 2) learning general material by becoming fascinated with a wide range of concepts.
- Thoroughly work over the materials in your mind. During this stage, you examine what you have learned by looking at the facts from different angles and experimenting with fitting various ideas together.
- Step away from the problem. Next, you put the problem completely out of your mind and go do something else that excites you and energizes you.
- Let your idea return to you. At some point, but only after you have stopped thinking about it, your idea will come back to you with a flash of insight and renewed energy.
- Shape and develop your idea based on feedback. For any idea to succeed, you must release it out into the world, submit it to criticism, and adapt it as needed.
The Idea in Practice
The creative process used by Frederic Eugene Ives offers a perfect example of these five steps in action.
First, Ives gathered new material. He spent two years working as a printer’s apprentice and then four years running the photographic laboratory at Cornell University. These experiences gave him a lot of material to draw upon and make associations between photography and printing.
Second, Ives began to mentally work over everything he learned. By 1878, Ives was spending nearly all of his time experimenting with new techniques. He was constantly tinkering and experimenting with different ways of putting ideas together.
Third, Ives stepped away from the problem. In this case, he went to sleep for a few hours before his flash of insight. Letting creative challenges sit for longer periods of time can work as well. Regardless of how long you step away, you need to do something that interests you and takes your mind off of the problem.
Fourth, his idea returned to him. Ives awoke with the solution to his problem laid out before him. (On a personal note, I often find creative ideas hit me just as I am lying down for sleep. Once I give my brain permission to stop working for the day, the solution appears easily.)
Finally, Ives continued to revise his idea for years. In fact, he improved so many aspects of the process he filed a second patent. This is a critical point and is often overlooked. It can be easy to fall in love with the initial version of your idea, but great ideas always evolve.
The Creative Process in Short
“An idea is a feat of association, and the height of it is a good metaphor.”
—Robert Frost
The creative process is the act of making new connections between old ideas. Thus, we can say creative thinking is the task of recognizing relationships between concepts.
One way to approach creative challenges is by following the five-step process of 1) gathering material, 2) intensely working over the material in your mind, 3) stepping away from the problem, 4) allowing the idea to come back to you naturally, and 5) testing your idea in the real world and adjusting it based on feedback.
Being creative isn’t about being the first (or only) person to think of an idea. More often, creativity is about connecting ideas.
https://jamesclear.com/five-step-creative-process