Sat Stats

In a few years, the Social Security Trust Fund will be exhausted. When that happens, Social Security benefits will be cut across the board by 21% — that is, unless Congress changes the law. Either way, changes are coming.--deRugy

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With Trump proposing 60 percent tariffs on Chinese goods and universal tariffs up to 20 percent, we’re in Hawley-Smoot territory, and risk another trade war. That means higher prices for American consumers, stiffer costs for American businesses, and retaliation that could, again, torpedo international trade.--Tuccilli

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Sat Stats

This year France’s Arianespace has managed to launch just one of the new Ariane 6 rockets made by its ArianeGroup umbrella company. It came four years late and hundreds of millions of euros over budget. SpaceX has already completed ninety-six launches this year, recovered and reused almost all of them, and expects to reach 148 launches by the end of December.
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In 1990 America accounted for about two-fifths of the overall GDP of the G7 group of advanced countries; today it is up to about half…. On a per-person basis, American economic output is now about 40% higher than in Western Europe.
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Has 'climate change' made hurricanes worse?
Just for perspective on hurricanes. Katrina cost .86% of GDP in 2005 and killed 1833, Harvey in 2017 was .68% of GDP. Andrew in 1992 was the most destructive hurricane to hit FL. That was 32 years ago and cost $25 Billion in 1992 dollars. There was one in 1919 that killed 600 people, 1928 that killed 2500 people, and the Labor Day Hurricane in 1935 that killed 400 in FL and wiped out the only connection between the Keys and the Mainland with a 20-foot surge and 185 MPH wind. All these dead and huge damage when a lot fewer people lived in FL. Then there was Sandy. In 1900 the hurricane that hit Galveston killed 12,000 people and destroyed much of the city.--Don
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Musk has doubled his security.
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3 billion people do not yet have the internet. It is estimated it will take another 5 years to get 1 billion of them online. That means there is a huge segment of the world that is falling behind faster and faster.
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Goldman has just released a paper stating that stock market returns for the next several years will be minimal, 3% or so.