Most headlines this week centered on the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas where 19 children and 2 adults were killed. This was the largest school shooting since Sandy Hook in 2012. Prominent personalities in media, sports, and entertainment made emotional pleas to the men and women in congress to put forth more reasonable gun safety laws. I am sympathetic to Americans’ constitutional rights, including the 2nd amendment. However, firearm laws have become more relaxed than restrictive in Texas over the past couple of years with the following having been passed: a permit-less carry bill, the Second Amendment Sanctuary Act (local agencies cannot enforce new federal gun laws), and a law that allows individuals as young as 18 to buy a handgun.
Also, the numbers I’ve come across indicate over 80% of Americans are in favor of conducting background checks before purchasing a gun. This seems to me to be a reasonable proposition. I believe the best rebuttal to any guns-rights activism was made on stage by stand-up comedian, Jim Jefferies. You can find his bit in two parts on YouTube by typing ‘Jim Jefferies gun control.’
In their meeting this week, the Federal Reserve indicated an aggressive, inflation-combating tone – which means interest rates will continue to be increased. The market seemed to approve of this course of action (at least in the short-term) as it posted weekly gains for the first time in 6 weeks. The market’s strong weekly performance can also be attributable to higher-than-expected numbers posted by other retailers this week, including Nordstrom, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Best Buy, Macy’s, Dollar Tree, and Dollar General. Solid earnings in the midst of turbulent economic storms are an encouraging sign.
In bond news, starting this week the U.S. Treasury Department will not allow Russia to pay its debt-holders through American banks. This will likely cause Russia to default on its debt obligations for the first time since the Bolshevik Revolution, which is bad news for anyone owning Russian bonds. This development will have more downstream economic implications moving forward. If you’re unfamiliar with the Bolshevik Revolution, read Orwell’s ‘Animal Farm.’
For Stranger Things fans, all 7 episodes of the fourth and final season (which reportedly cost $30M per episode to make) were released today. This may help resuscitate Netflix’s stock, down 68% so far this year.
Have a terrific weekend,
PW
