Saturday Broadcast 49

Key topics:

✔️ ICYMI news, 5/15 - 5/19.
✔️The amount of conflicting news we get is just absurd.
✔️If you like WFH, Lord Elon thinks you're a moral reprobate.
✔️Recession forecasts are hazy? WTH? Is this a recession forecast for Mars or what?


Links:

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/entering-the-era-of-the-big-stay-6294042/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/the-rto-debate-is-far-from-over-6300330/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/vice-media-files-for-bankruptcy-5637756/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/high-costs-weighing-on-consumers-6301714/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/americans-snacking-appetite-grows-6291946/

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/16/what-home-depots-poor-outlook-means-for-the-stock-market-and-economy.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/16/homebuilder-sentiment-may-2023.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/m/26729bd1-a9d1-363a-bd06-b280c0141115/%E2%80%98wall-street-is-bracing-for.html

https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/16/elon-musk-work-from-home-morally-wrong-when-some-have-to-show-up.html

https://bilderbergmeetings.org/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/recession-forecasts-remain-hazy-5292761/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/jobless-claims-drop-most-in-2-years-5288577/

https://www.linkedin.com/news/story/audio-exposes-free-range-fib-6299650/

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/walmart-calls-grocery-inflation-the-biggest-issue-facing-consumers-160745354.html

https://news24hours.in/2023/05/16/sara-causeys-search-for-job-market-truth/

Links where I can be found: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/2023/01/30/updates-housekeeping/

Need more? Email me: https://causeyconsultingllc.com/contact-causey/

Transcript

Unknown: 0:15

Welcome to the Causey Consulting Podcast. You can find us online anytime at CauseyConsultingLLC.com. And now, here's your host Sara Causey. Hello, Hello, thanks for tuning in. Today it is Monday, May 15. Over on CNBC, we have headlines such as consumer debt passes $17 trillion, for the first time, despite slide and mortgage demand, yet, you still have LARPers and the hot air and hopium crowd telling you that there will be a nationwide strike against RTO. In the face of all of this debt, somehow, people will sit it out at home and refuse to go back to the office. Right? Sure. Biden optimistic about a debt limit deal. But McCarthy says white house isn't being serious. What's really going to happen there who knows? I assume there will be all of this bickering. And then we will not actually default, the Fed will probably turn on the printing press again, and make more fiat currency. And we should just be prepared for inflation to go up again, if they do that. Paul Tudor Jones says the Fed is done raising rates stocks to finish higher from here to be determined. Over on LinkedIn we find entering the era of the big steak. Oh, I think I have to do it soon. Stamp. Yeah, so I think I will probably publish a blog post about this tomorrow or the next day. But I did warn you about this. And I warned you about this a lot earlier than the mainstream media did. In this article we read move over the great resignation. A new workplace trend called the Big State is emerging, resulting in fewer employees quitting and fewer job openings insider writes. New data from ADPs Research Institute found that although there were 9.6 million job vacancies in March openings overall have gone down 20% from the 12 million in 2022. And in the first three months of 2023, the amount of people who quit their jobs only decreased by 5%. Still, experts tell insider that job hopping hasn't necessarily changed for blue collar workers and the great resignation could always reemerge in quote. Yeah, it might reemerge again, if we have another AMI bubble. within our lifetimes, if we see another set of artificially manipulated bullshit markets, yeah, sure. It could ask for blue collar work. There are certain sectors of the economy where job hopping is and has been prevalent for a long time. In terms of white collar knowledge work, I'm gonna say it again. The great resignation is over dunzo toast and it has been for a while. If you were waiting on the mainstream media to tell you that you're behind. You just are not going to get on here and have false humility and try to sweep everything under the rug. Oh, well, yeah, I told him this, but I'm not going to take any credit for it. No, if you want to be on the leading edge of what's happening, choose wisely in who you listen to. Because I'm typically running three to six months out on my predictions. Some of the predictions I've made have been more than a year ahead of time where I was like, I'm worried this was going to happen a year ago. I hope you were listening. The RTO debate is far from over cod. So here's the deal. And I think I'll call this out in the blog post but entering the era of the big stay. And in this SR headline, the RTO debate is far from over. These two headlines are not unrelated. On the face of it. If you're just scrolling it might seem to be two different stories, but in my opinion, it's not. In this we read despite some companies requiring in person work employees still have some say about returning to the office, CNBC writes. The Real Estate Board of New York found that the average office building visits are above a pre pandemic baseline at 61%. But visitation rates have essentially plateaued and a new report from the Boston Consulting Group anticipates the rise of zombie office buildings due to vacancy and you utilization rates being under 50% in the US with worker productivity hitting 2.7%. So far this year, hard and fast rules on Office attendance could impact recruitment and retention in quote. Yeah, not for long. And if you care to read the article on CNBC, you will find in my opinion, hotter and hopium, you'll have people from the crowd try to tell you that if you demand RTO, it's going to go against you. It's going to hurt you everyone is going to have a rebellion. And there's anecdotal stories of these companies out there somewhere. We're not given any names, but these companies out there somewhere who demanded RTO, and everybody left and they suffered for it. So it's like, don't be doing that naughty, naughty, and I'm sitting here like, yeah, they mind the lone voice? Am I the only person in the HR staffing and recruiting field that's going to come out here and tell you the truth? No, it's not going to hurt them, it is not going to hurt them. There are people languishing on the job market a lot longer than they ever thought they would be. And unfortunately, there are people who are having to discover firsthand that No, indeed, we don't have a 3.4% unemployment rate. No, they're not two legitimate open jobs for everyone unemployed person. Things are not just churning and burning in the job market anymore. I hope that you heard that earlier. And that you're not only discovering it just now. We also find vice media files for bankruptcy. After a difficult few years for the ones new media darling vice media filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York on Monday. The move was not an unexpected move by the website, hit hard by the punishing realities of digital publishing. So the New York Times a group of its lenders including Fortress Investment Group and Soros Fund Management, agreed on a rescue package and we'll buy vice for 20. Now, excuse me, you know how I would numbers $225 million, subject to higher bids from other parties. According to The Wall Street Journal. The company was once estimated to be worth$5.7 billion. In April vice laid off more than 100 employees and canceled its flagship show. vices businesses, including its website ad agency virtue, the pulse films division and refinery 29 will continue to operate in the meantime. Wow. So Fortress Investment Group and the Soros Fund Management agreed on a rescue package and they are going to buy vice for $225 million. I'm wondering what kind of news and content we can expect to come out of there now. Americans die of propaganda. Probably just my opinion, and I could be wrong, but after it's where I would bet my money. High costs weighing on consumers. Whether you're buying diapers or renewing a streaming service subscription companies are maintaining high prices, with some seeing it to be a mark of brand strength, says the Wall Street Journal. While US household spending was up in March that growth is narrowing as inflation moderates, which in turn could show that high costs are weighing on Americans. Consumer confidence decreased 9% In May compared to April due to economic concerns. According to the University of Michigan's consumer survey, Mother's Day gift giving was anticipated to reach 35 point 7 billion in spending a nearly $4 billion increase from 2022. Well, I don't know about that. I actually heard a lot of people saying they were having to cut back and that their family understood that people were understanding because like the old political slogan goes it's the economy stupid. Yeah, high calls weighing on consumers and then over on CNBC, we are learning about record consumer debt. Of course, high costs are weighing on people. Inflation is cooling. Inflation is abating. I haven't freaking seen that yet. Also, we find Americans snacking appetite grows amid remote work and high inflation. Americans are snacking more US snack revenue rose to $181 billion last year as consumers reach for products like Oreos, skinnypop and Pringles. The Wall Street Journal writes I guess they just took every headline from the Wall Street Journal today. Around half of consumers now eat at least three snacks daily boosting sales for companies like Hershey's Mondelez and Kellogg by up to 30% between 2019 and 2022. Corporations and startups alike are vying for their slice of the snacking pie by transforming foods like salads and pasta into snacks are increasing their packaged foods investments in quote. Wow, well we know that's got to be just absolutely great for our health and well being to eat snack saw all the time and to transform salads and pastas into some kind of prepackaged abomination. All of this makes my head hurt. Today it is Tuesday, May 16. Over on CNBC we find Home Depot just forecast weak consumer demand. Here's what that could mean for the rest of the economy. Now this article can get a little bit dense at times, I'm just going to give you the highlight reel. Just an awful earnings report from the stock market's most important retailer on Tuesday, Home Depot. Bottom line, the broader market implications of Tuesday morning's post earnings stock move for Home Depot are going to be significant. And they go on to point out that this was the first earnings decline that Home Depot had since May 2020, ie since the start of the COVID pandemic. We also find where the CEO Ted Decker has said, we also observed more broad based pressure across the business compared to when we reported fourth quarter results a few months ago. Is there softening demand what's going on out there in the market? For one thing from a job market perspective, which as we know, that's my Bellwether people are going back there returning to the office. You have other people who have been laid off or they've been furloughed, I had to go to the dentist again. Earlier today. Well, I think knock on wood, I want to jinx myself here. But I think pretty much everything that needed to be done has been done now. I can't complain too much, because it's been like a decade since I had any major dental work done, but I feel like I was making up for lost time. But these past couple of appointments that were painful and decidedly not fun. One of the things that I noticed was just the number of cars and driveways. And I'm like it's just a random Tuesday. It's not holiday. I mean, are these people working from home is Tuesday, a popular work from home day and the hybrid model? Maybe some of the work from home in general, but I don't know it just the vibe of that was weird to me. Because some of the places I passed by I know the people who live there. I know what they do for a living and I know that they don't work remotely. Some of these people are machinists, welders, they have got auto mechanics, they're in a situation where they have to be on site in order to perform the job that they do. But yet cars were in driveways, trucks were in driveways, and I'm like, what's going on? On a random Tuesday? I don't I don't get why so many cars or driveways. People were also just sort of out milling about. And it really made me wonder are some of these people on furlough? I mean, maybe some of them have taken paid time off. Maybe they just felt like being off on a rainy, gross, disgusting Tuesday that we had today. It's humid. It's the ground is already saturated. Because we've had so much rain. It feels like the tropics out there, but not in a good way. Not like sunshine in the ocean. It's just very humid, and muddy and gross. Maybe people felt like burning a vacation day to be outside in the mud and the muck. I don't know. But it just struck me odd. And so my thought is if you have people that are on furlough, you have people that their hours have been cut, they've been laid off. They're in some kind of financial distress, they're not going to be going to the Home Depot spending money on home improvements, or having a garden or a flower bed this year. I know that that was trendy, that became the cool thing to do during the pandemic, especially at the beginning of the pandemic. People were baking bread and cookies and cooking from scratch and having gardens and tidying up around the house and now I mean, is the money out there to do that? Yet conversely, also today on CNBC, we find homebuilder sentiment pulls out of negative territory for the first time in nearly a year. In the TLDR key points we read. Builder confidence in the market for newly built single family homes rose five points to 50 in May, according to the National Association of Homebuilders slash Wells Fargo housing market index. It's the fifth straight month of gains and the first reading of builder sentiment since July that wasn't negative of the index is three components current sales conditions rose five points to 56. sales expectations in the next six months increased seven points to 57 and buyer traffic climb two points to 33. So what are you supposed to believe here? Are you supposed to believe that home builders especially for brand new construction are feeling good again and so you should think that this is a great time to buy a house you should just get back in there with the FOMO and the Yo lo and go buy yourself a brand new house? Or are you supposed to believe that Home Depot had weak consumer demand? And that's going to have a ripple effect across the economy? I would I myself from, from my perspective, my analysis would say that's telling you what's going on. That is an indicator that people are saying, I don't think so. There are other things that are more important like food, and water, and gasoline to be able to get to and from the job where I have to RTO now, there are other things more important than putting in a flower bed. There are other things more important than changing the paint on the wall in Billy's bedroom. I know he doesn't like it anymore, but it'll just have to keep for a while. That's what it tells me. I really just just my opinion, and I could be wrong. I really don't give a rip about homebuilder sentiment from the Wells Fargo housing market index. I just see so many shades of Oh 607 Trying to keep things pumped up trying to keep everybody calm. Nothing to see here. People move along, move along. It was like there was so much deception. And you weren't allowed to know. Oh my god, we're in a shitstorm until it was impossible to be papered over. And I have to wonder Will that happen to us again. Over on Yahoo Finance by way of Barron's we find Wall Street is bracing for something bad to happen. analyst says US stocks are declining after Home Depot delivered a downbeat outlook for the retail consumer and speaker McCarthy said debt ceiling negotiations have had no progress wrote Edward Moya, senior market analyst at OA en da Yeah, I I'm gonna say it again. I feel like the fat cats know what's coming. Their cronies on Capitol Hill, the big to dues the major CEOs of these global corporations, the Wall Street tycoons, they know what's coming, the economy does not catch them unaware. They know they know ahead of time. They count on you, not knowing ahead of time. And that's the rub. If you don't take the time to educate yourself about what's going on in the markets, what's happening in your industry, what's happening in your company. You can very easily get steamrolled, the onus is on you to educate yourself, going all the way back to Saturday broadcast 22, which was published on October 29 of last year, I was talking about that impulse to NIST, get everything situated, get what you need, and then get where you're going to be where you plan to be for this fallout. And I'm glad that I had that impulse. Ironically, for me, little did I know man plans and God laughs that only a couple of days later, I would be stricken with viral food poisoning. And then in turn that would lead to me getting a confirmed case of that. And strep on top of it and feeling like I was going to die. And accumulating medical debt and all of that fun stuff that I had to go through. really ruined my q4 of last year, that's for sure. But I'm glad, I'm glad that I tuned in to those instincts. Because it's better to have medicine. And if you do get sick things like Sprite or seven up crackers, chicken noodle soup, things that you can eat, or try to eat. When that's going on electrolytes ways to rehydrate yourself. Try to help your body with what it's going through. As I've said before, there are a lot of places that used to be 24/7 that are not if you wake up in the middle of the night with a splitting headache and there's no Advil or Tylenol. Or you wake up with a stomach ache or stomach erupt us, let's say and there's no Pepto Bismol there's no Imodium, you're just you're just there. You're going to have to suffer until eight o'clock in the morning when the nearest supercenter or the nearest pharmacy opens. That is not a fun experience. And I'm just I'm glad that I tuned into that instinct because I don't feel so nervous anymore. Even though I believe that we have transitioned from the opening prologue and the act one of whatever this mess is about to be. I genuinely don't feel scared. I don't I feel like I've done what I can do. I'm as prepared as I can be. I I've been through a battery of medical tests. I've had this dental work done. I studied and cram and studied and cram and pass the personal training certification exam. I I'm gonna make a goal for that other certificate in sports nutrition. On biohacking myself, you should see the nerdy Excel charts I have, oh my god, definitely the data analytics side of my training comes out, at least like line charts and statistics of here's my macros and here was my body weight versus here was my body fat percentage, here's the level of hydration that I had. Yeah, super nerdy. But I really am glad that I am using myself as my own guinea pig and just trying to be as healthy as I can be going into this because in my opinion, the healthier that you can be all the way around spiritually, financially, mentally, physically, the healthier that you can be the better shape that you can be in going into an economic downturn, the better off that you will be. I was recently interviewed by a small news outlet called news 24 hours to talk about myself and to talk more specifically about launching the publication, the job market journal. And of course, the question is going to come up when you're a staffing and recruiting Smee. And you talk a lot about the job market, the natural question that comes up is, well, what is the job market doing? How is the job market now? And here's the response that I gave them to that question. I was one of the lone voices, if not the lone voice and HR related work sounding the alarm bell that the great resignation for white collar work was over. I did that back in 2022, when other people imagined the band would play on forever. In my opinion, we've transitioned from the opening prologue of this mess and to act one. We're not in the thick of how bad things could become. But we're on a downhill slide. I think in the same way that the housing market was artificially pumped up into a bubble. So was the 2021 job market. But what happens to a bubble? It pops, I think the air is coming out of the job market. And candidates are a bit confused after a layoff because they typically aren't finding work as quickly as they'd imagined. It's like, wait a minute, where are all of these supposedly open jobs? Yes. Where, where are they? Are they even real? Are they ghost jobs? Are they posted for optics, because the onus is on you. And that was actually how I chose to wrap up the interview and my parting words, I said, I feel like the smart move is to be prepared ahead of time and to stay aware of changes in the market changes at your company, changes in your industry, and so on. There are times in life with ignorance is not bliss. That's it. If you feel like you're having those nesting impulses, like you don't think we need to just get ourselves situated, I think it might be time to make sure that we have that two to three weeks supply of food and water, make sure that we've got plenty of medicine, do what we need to do to stay healthy. I don't give you advice on I don't tell you what to do. All I can tell you is that I'm very glad that I listened to my better angels. We knuckle down, I went into recession mode, the fund budget got slashed severely. And it was all about what do we need to do to get ourselves in on good footing. Because there's so many things like my health crisis, for example, that can happen that just won't you out of nowhere, the car could die, the roof could need to be replaced. I mean, there's all kinds of things that can happen at any given moment that are outside of your control. This is one of the things that pisses me off so bad about these neocon narratives of everything is your fault. Okay, on the other side of the table, the Neo lives side of the table, nothing is ever your fault. Even if you have eaten your way into standard American diseases from the standard American diet. No, that's not your fault. Not at all. I'm like, okay, but isn't it a little of both? Isn't it your own personal responsibility commingled with the fact that the system is rigged, and the system itself is a piece of shit? I mean, I feel like there's common sense in the middle. So I hate this neocon narrative that Well, every single thing that happens to you is your fault. If a tornado comes and takes the roof off, it's your fault. If the car engine decides to blow up, even though you've done all the appropriate maintenance, it's your fault. If you catch the and get sick as a dog and lay in a hospital bed thinking you're dying, it's your fault. Everything that happens, right, it's just absurd. The onus is on you to look out for yourself and your family. It just is corporate America is not going to do it. Capitol Hill is not going to do it. You're boss at work is not going to do it. And I don't give a flying flip what they tell you? I don't, I have been in those Doggy Dog situations at work. And it's like being on survivor, people are making alliances and they're supposedly looking out for each other, and then it just doesn't go that way. If it's you or somebody else, the boss is going to make sure that they stay in the company. People are going to be selfish, they're going to look out for themselves. And we will see more of that as it becomes clearer and clearer. That No, we don't have a 3.4% unemployment rate. They're not all these legit open jobs paying a living wages are open, that everybody can go and be a barista at Starbucks or a burrito maker at Chipotle and make ends meet blah, blah, blah yadda yadda. Once it becomes clear to John and Jane Q Public What the hell is actually going on? You're going to see people getting very cutthroat indeed, it's going to be like the life rafts off the Titanic. I want to make sure that I get in one and I might like you, I might promise you all of these things on the job. But at the end of the day, if it's me being on the lifeboat or you being on the lifeboat, I'm sorry. But you're going out in the icy waters like Leonardo DiCaprio. That's that is what you're gonna see. Prediction alert, you will see that. And I think you need to be prepared for all of these things ahead of time. It's not going to catch you off guard and better yet, you can wargame out your own strategy for how you intend to cope with these things. Today, it is Wednesday, May 17. on CNBC, we find Biden and McCarthy say us won't default as debt talks inch forward. What a surprise. I didn't really think we were going to default. This just seems to be like political theater. Mike Pence rejects Trump's call to let us default as he hits it. 2024 White House bid who is going to vote for my pants? I don't give a damn who you are listening to this broadcast. I mean, who? When we think about Neo cons and Neo lives both Who the hell is gonna vote for Mike Pence? That would be like voting for a bowl of gruel. student loan payments are set to resume. Stocks close higher Dow surges 400 points as traders grow optimistic on a debt ceiling deal. Target expects organized retail crime fueled losses to jump by $500 million this year. We also find this little tidbit this is definitely going to have to be a blog post at some point. Elon Musk working from home is morally wrong. When service workers still have to show up, bump up a bone. Somehow it wasn't morally wrong during the pandemic that I guess maybe that was because a lot of people in service and hospitality jobs were just left in the dust with no way of making a living. I don't know. In the TLDR key points we find Elon Musk called Silicon Valley engineers a part of laptop classes living in la la land and said they should get off their moral high horse work from home bullshit. Musk made the comments in an interview with CNBC David Faber and said that his objections went beyond productivity concerns and extend to moral issues. Wow. So now you're just a piece of shit. If you enjoy working from home, if that's what works best for you and your family, then it's not only that you're living in la la land. It's not that you might be taking drugs and drinking, which you know, Bloomberg tells us that remote workers are like Coke heads. Okay, sure. You're just a moral scumbag. Coming from Elon Musk. You know, let's also scroll down just a few stories on CNBC and we also find Elon Musk's subpoena in Epstein JP Morgan lawsuit can be served to Tesla judge rules. And there's a picture of him in a tuxedo standing next to gate lane or GES lawn or wherever she says her name Maxwell. Right. But he's going to tell us the little people the peons who enjoy working from home that were full of work from home bullshit. And we're moral reprobates? Got it. Okay. Silicon Valley laptop classes need to get off their moral high horse with their work from home bullshit. Tesla CEO Elon Musk told CNBC David Faber in a Tuesday interview, Musk was discussing returned to Office imperatives that have caused significant concern among tech workers in Silicon Valley and across the US, many of whom were promised generous remote work mandates by top executives all but in long enough to say if I told you a one time I told you 1000 times if you don't have Hold if you don't own it, it doesn't matter if you were promised a remote work arrangement forever and ever, amen. If you don't own the company, you don't get to make that decision. I think that the whole notion of work from home is a bit like the fate Marie Antoinette quote, let them eat cake. Musk said, it's not just a productivity thing, Musk said I think it's morally wrong. Musk referred to tech workers this laptop class is living in LA LA LAND telling Faber it was hypocritical to work from home while expecting service workers to continue to show up in person. People shouldn't say these are his words. Okay, please, I don't want to get hate mail about using too many swear words. If you don't like it, fast forward, but I want to give you his full quote here and this is his quote, it's not mine. Musk says people should get off the goddamn moral high horse with the work from all bullshit. As productivity apparently slackened and investor expectations grew, many executives at companies including Amazon and Salesforce have demanded workers begin to return to offices. Like anybody from that class of hyperlinks is somebody that I want to take any advice from? How vomitus especially when it comes to anything about morality. Oh, speaking of which, on Yahoo Finance by way of Fortune we find in his first public appearance since SBBs collapse, former CEO Greg Becker is asked to defend trip to Hawaii, and whether he'll forfeit $1.5 million bonus. Also on Yahoo Finance we find first republic CEO on banks collapse, everything change overnight. But yet, that cats and bankers and CEOs of huge corporations were supposed to take lectures about morality and who's on a high horse from them. Please Esker said I'll retire to bedlam. Are you looking for more? Don't forget you can find Sara on her blogs at CauseyConsultingLLC.com. And at SaraCausey.com. You can also read her content on medium and substack. on with the show. Today it is Thursday, May 18. On the side panel for LinkedIn, we find Walmart boosted by bargain hunters who could be surprised it's the economy stupid workers disappointed by DEI efforts. Also not really a shock. Sad, but not shock. Montana bands tick tock recession forecasts remain hazy. Do they though? In this we find Are we there yet? Most economists still think the US is heading for a recession. But a core group of experts think the coveted soft landing. The Federal Reserve's goal of bringing down prices without triggering a downturn remains a distinct possibility. Really? Who are these core group of experts? I definitely feel like Seinfeld in this moment who ordered Babel, who a core group of experts think the coveted soft landing remains a distinct possibility. Well, I hope that they share some of the hopium they're smoking with me because I would like to get some it must be a very good strain. And they have real reasons for hope. Bloomberg writes, the job market remote God got this crap again. The job market remains unexpectedly strong. Retail Sales are solid and inflation is easing in certain sectors. economists who think a recession is in the cards also keep pushing back the timeline observers note we could be seeing a grueling recession characterized by some serious pain in some parts of the economy but strength and others says economic strategist Ed Yardeni and quote God, God Bless America help us all. The job market remains unexpectedly strong. Nope, don't think so. Retail Sales are solid. Or they though, feel like demand and that you share about that. Mean Home Depot just talked about having this horrible earnings report. People are not doing home improvements anymore. Oh, but retail sales are solid. And inflation is easing in certain sectors where where I'm not seeing it. I'm not seeing it. When we pay the utility bills, go to the grocery store, etc. It's not like wow, inflation is easing. You can really start to see that it's coming down. God help us. We also find jobless claims drop most in two years. Yet again, you hear about them. First time claims for jobless benefits last week fell by the most in two years. The Labor Department reported Thursday suggesting that the labor market is holding firm in the face of slowing economic growth. As the claims dropped by 22,000 to 242,000 in the week ending May 13. jobless claims had jumped in the prior week, but state officials said that was largely because of a spike in fraudulent claims and not due to a surge in unemployment. Oh no, it couldn't be that. Massachusetts alone accounted for almost half of fraudulent claims filed in the week ended may 6 official set continuing claims and indicator of how hard it is to find a new position after losing one declined slightly in the week ended may 6 to 1.8 million. Yeah. You sure about that. We also find audio exposes free range fib. Undercover audio from a Virginia chicken farm suggests food manufacturers essentially have free rein over how to use labels such as free range, all that in and say if you farm if you're involved in agriculture or ranching, then you already know that you already know where the loopholes are and that some of these virtue signals that we find on labels free range organic, all natural or just bull they just are on the recording and Tyson Foods technician can be heard saying Free Range birds don't go outside box reports. Use of the term requires chickens to be housed in barns with small openings. But as the nonprofit American pastured poultry producers Association notes, outdoor time is not actually required or enforced. Most barns are so overcrowded, many chickens cannot spend any time outside making the label of fundamental deceit says the A P P P A. Other terms that have no legal definition include humanely raised ethically raised sustainable, humane and raised by family farmers in quote. Well, that's what you get from corporate America. And that's what you get from Big Ag. If you've been listening to my podcasts, I've talked about these things before. This is one of the reasons why I myself am passionate about animal rescue and rehabilitation because the things that happen, particularly to animals that have been victimized, or they're of the species that they could be victimized by industrial agriculture, it's really horrifying. And if I told you some of the stories, you wouldn't sleep so well at night. Even though my real estate quest is for now on hold mean, we still keep an eye on listings, but there's just hasn't been anything in our part of the Midwest that has really tickled my fancy and made us say, Yes, we should even make an appointment to go look there. I mean, it's just not happening. Then you add on top of that the interest rates, I mean, it's gonna have to really be something totally amazeballs to want to make that move. But I'm still passionate about it. And I'm still committed to doing it when it's the right place at the right time. Because I want to expand, I want to be able to rescue and rehabilitate more animals. It's an a very important part of my life's work, and I'm not giving up on it. It makes me sad that I've had to table it. That goes back to the political slogan, I've said on here many times and just said a few moments ago, it's the economy stupid. We're having to just hunker down and do the best we can with what we've got, because it's tough out there. And I really don't give a damn who says, well, we're not in a recession yet. And people are skeptical. It's even going to happen because you just keep pushing the date back. God, I think back to that link that I've dropped from Jared a Brock's channel, the hyper elites are trying to have a recession so they can take your stuff exactly that the more tuned out that you are, the more that you're like, Oh, this is just a bunk. Just just just be us. Just nonsense. Just silly bunk. You're not prepping, you're not doing what you need to do to be in a good place financially and to be prepared for what's coming. It's you are an easier target. In my opinion, you're an easier victim in my opinion. If you're tuned out. If you got your head up your backside watching videos on Tik Tok and you're not really focused on what's happening in the economy, then you could get steamrolled. I do not want that for you. Oh, speaking of steamrollers the Bilderberg meeting is happening today through the 21st in Lisbon, Portugal. I'll drop a link. Check this out for yourself. You don't have to take my word for anything. Some of the participants from the US include Sam Altman, the CEO of open AI. Let's see who else we can find. Oh, Albert Borla, the chair and CEO of Pfizer, interesting Elizabeth economy, really Senior Advisor for China and the Department of Commerce. What's In a name, I guess, maybe that was just foretold. Avril Haines, the Director of National Intelligence, Alex Karp, CEO of Palantir technologies. Garry Kasparov, the chair of renew democracy initiative, Henry Kissinger, the chairman of Kissinger associates Incorporated. Oddly enough, Marie Kravis, the chair of the Museum of Modern Art. That seems like an odd person to have on the panel, but okay. John micklethwait, the editor in chief of Bloomberg, hey, hey, what Hey, wait a minute, Governor. Hmm. So let's go back to LinkedIn for a second, the Federal Reserve's goal of bringing down prices without triggering a downturn. Soft Landing remains a distinct possibility, and they have real reasons for hope, Bloomberg writes, and then we see that the editor in chief of Bloomberg is going to be at the Bilderberg Group. Hmm. That seems to be a rather weird coincidence, doesn't it? Definitely need my I need my tinfoil suit on for all of this. We also find Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft Corporation. Oh Peter Thiel, the president of teal capital. And Thomas Wright, the Senior Director for Strategic planning of the National Security Council. Some of the items on their agenda are AI the banking system China, energy transition Europe, fiscal challenges. India industrial policy and trade, NATO, Russia but of Sia, trans transnational threats, the Ukraine and US leadership. God only knows what will really be said and what will really happen behind those closed doors. Today it is Friday, May 19. on Yahoo Finance we find stocks rise amid debt limit confidence. Bank of America says markets underestimate the Feds next move. footlocker stock sinks as company slashes sales forecast. I can't even remember the last time that I was in a footlocker store. Or even the last time that I saw a footlocker store. So I how can they still have stock I didn't even know they were still in business. GOP hardliners could try to block a debt deal without robust cuts. Imagine that Fed Chair Jerome Powell speaks with Ben Bernanke. Oh, god, that's just what we need. If you were alive and well and remember the 2008 2009 debacle, Ben Bernanke was a major player in all of that. So is he really the person that we want to be taking advice from now? I mean, really? Chevrolet unveil Silverado Evie details as battery plants could slow US production. Walmart CFO says grocery inflation biggest issue now, do you think? Let's click on that. Walmart says shoppers wallets are getting squeezed among stubbornly high food prices. I'm going to butt in right here and say, Yeah, note up. So this inflation that supposedly abating cooling off, people are getting some relief. Where is that? I mean, seriously, where is that happening? Because we're not seeing it. I don't know personally, anybody else who has reported to me that they've seen it either, so I got you got me. If you look at the headline numbers, sure inflation is coming down because we're lapping higher prices last year. But if you're a consumer going to buy a basket of groceries prices are still high. John Ratey, CFO of Walmart told Yahoo Finance live following the retailer's latest quarterly results, Pocket Books are pinched and that's causing customers to be more discretionary with these larger ticket items like electronics, TVs home and apparel. He added. Rainey points out food prices on a two year basis are up 20%. Now let's start telling some truth here. Food prices on a two year basis are up 20%. It would not surprise me if it's more than that. But at least we're getting somewhere perhaps more in the neighborhood of something truthful. Instead of saying that we're running like a 789 percent inflation rate. No the EFF we're not. No. I think the persistent inflation and dry groceries and consumables is the biggest issue he told analysts during the company's earnings call. Walmart is seeing a continuation of trends and previous quarters as more higher income and younger shoppers are buying at the low cost retailer. The company has been steadily gaining market share and its grocery segment as consumers aim to stretch their dollars. Well, there you go. I I can't remember the last time that I was in Whole Foods. I can't really imagine how much the prices are at Whole Foods right now. It's been a while since I was in a sprouts, which is a little bit of a lower end version of Whole Foods, if you're not familiar with it, but I mean, I remember a time when I could go to Whole Foods and really be finicky about the stuff that I was buying and bringing home. But right now, we're just in a different set of circumstances. Now, with that being said, you know, I've, I've taken some hate, I've gotten some hate mail for people, because I said, Hey, look, if you're listening to some of the doomsday preppers that are telling you to hoard things like Top Ramen, spam, and SpaghettiOs. In my opinion, you might do well to be kind of careful with that. I don't give you advice, I don't tell you what to do, I merely would just say Caveat emptor, let the buyer beware and really think about the potential long term impact that that kind of crap is going to have on your health. I mean, I did make the decision to go for the sports nutrition certification. So I've started the process of cramming and studying and cramming and studying for that. I need to record a Redux episode of the hacking yourself episode that I did earlier. I mean, I grew up in the later part of Gen X. So by the time I was born, that whole George McGovern, and the war on fat thing had already happened. So for my entire life, really coming of age in the 80s. And coming in adult in the 90s. All you heard was fat as the devil. Now you can eat all the carbs and sugar you want, you can go and get a package of pasta, a package of candy bars, a package of chocolate chip cookies, whatever, in that vein, and it's fine. Eat whatever you want of that as long as it says low fat or fat free on the packaging. I grew up in that era. And it's not a wonder I look back on that. Now knowing what I know, the biohacking experiments that I've done on myself, it's not a wonder that I struggled with my weight. It's not a wonder that I was a yo yo Dieter. And it's like you go in the grocery store. And it really doesn't matter whether you're looking at you know, quote unquote junk food or healthy food. Everything across the board is still expensive. Wood would I love to get higher quality produce and higher quality meats, of course, who wouldn't? I think most people would like that. We're just having to make things go as far as they can and make things stretch, especially with really making healthy eating and health and wellness have more of a priority. I mean, it's like the old political slogan, it's the economy stupid. And I really wish that these economists in the media would quit telling bullshit lies about all inflation isn't like seven or 8%. It's totally manageable. No, no, no, it isn't. We're seeing trade downs in terms of buying less expensive meats. Or instead of buying a pack of 12 they're buying a pack of six. You can see that their wallets are being stretched more thinly said Rainey, Walmart CFO points to elevated use of credit to buy goods as another sign of stress on shoppers. Yeah, this is yet another reason why I have been the lone voice in the wilderness. And as you know, I don't get into the false humility. Oh, well, no, no. If I make prediction and it comes true, I'm gonna get on here and speak on it. Because I think people who make predictions and they don't come true should be made to speak on that to some of the same preppers that have been Oh, you need to fill your pantry full of junk food and salt, sugar and fat because the apocalypse is nice upon us. Okay, well, where is it? And then how long are you going to survive set Apocalypse living off of junk? You're gonna give yourself in my opinion, standard western world disease if you eat that shit. I just makes me mad. But I have been the lone voice in terms of HR and staffing professionals saying this work from home revolution nationwide strike hell no, we won't go. Really, in the face of people doing Buy now pay later for groceries. You want me to believe that? Individuals will just sit at home with no income and starve out rather than RTO. I'm sorry, but I don't see it happening. In the same way that I don't think inflation is seven or 8% and that it's finally cooling off. Wink wink. I don't believe everybody in the country will sit at home and have a shit fit over RTO either. If that offends you turn off the channel. if it offends you that I don't think that it's a smart decision to hoard things like spam Spaghettios and Top Ramen. Then you can turn the channel off too. Just my opinion and I could be wrong Lord knows. Over on fortune we find Apple clamps down on employees using chat GPT as more companies fear sensitive data sharing with AI models, the byline reads companies have tried to restrict the use of chat GPT and similar tools after data privacy concerns. Hmm, imagine that. You know, there's an old saying that while it's not super old, it's not like one of the old, you know, great cliches of our time. But it's an older saying that if you're giving, if you're given a product and you're able to use it for free, then you're not really using it for free because you are the cost that's being paid your data is what's being collected. So it's not really free. It's free wink wink, nudge nudge, but not really, because they're collecting the hell out of your data. What what do you think's happening with chat GP D, this is not difficult to figure out. In a lot of the world, the clock has hit midnight, China is calling in loans to dozens of countries from Pakistan to Kenya. high earning Millennials say making over 100k Doesn't always add up to a lot. Are we getting buy? Yes, but we're not getting ahead. Mm hmm. And you better trust and believe it was planned that way. 100 grand used to be like you've arrived. If you've gotten to that six figure salary, you've got a lot of breathing room as long as you're not going out spinning willy nilly and acting like an idiot with your finances. If you're capable of living beneath your means you've got it made in the shade? No. Oh, no. No. 100 grand is pretty much what I would say maybe 60 to 70k used to be 60 to 70k used to. It was like okay, I can I can make ends meet. We're doing okay, we're not getting ahead. We're still pretty well, paycheck to paycheck. But it's okay. We're not in danger of losing the house. We're not in danger of the car getting repoed there's food on the table. Things are okay. And it used to be that 100 grand was really that Hallmark that arrival. And it's just not anymore. 100 grand is what 60 To 70 used to be. We're making it we're okay. We're surviving, nothing's in arrears and the Repo Men are not coming but we're not getting ahead. Such as the time in which we live. But hey, hey, you're supposed to believe that inflation is abating. You can't tell me this doesn't work. Shark tanks. Kevin O'Leary has ripped apart Elon Musk's claim that working from home is immoral. It's pretty bad with Kevin O'Leary has to be the person to step up and say, You can't tell me this doesn't work in the face of Lord Elon. I published a blog post about that earlier and it's like, okay, so this guy who I've never liked him, I've never gotten the attraction to him. When he bought Twitter and all these right wingers at all. He's going to bring back freedom of speech and he's going to set the world on fire. I was like, Are you nuts? This is the same dude who has defense contracts. This is the same dude who wants to put brain chips in I mean, he's been photographed with Jesus Jesus lane, whatever her name is, and has been subpoenaed. In regards to some of tiff Rita Epstein's banking situations and you want why on earth? Would anybody say, Well, if Lord Elon thinks I'm a moral reprobate, I must be eff that guy, man. America has the debate about paying its debt after the revolution and civil war. Oh, that just tells you same old, same old. If we've had to have this debate before about whether or not we're going to default on our debts for all of these years. Twas ever thus, stubborn inflation is creating opposing factions within the Federal Reserve about what their next move should be. The economist who said Brits need to accept that they're worse off is backpedaling. I would use somewhat different words longer. In other words, it's more like I'm not sorry for what I said. I'm just sorry that I got caught and that y'all had a poor reaction to it. I plan to write a blog post about that as well, sometime soon. These non apologies, these mealy mouthed words that we get from CEOs and fat cats when they apologize to the public, because that's how it is I'm not really sorry for what I said or for what I did. I'm sorry that I got caught or I'm sorry that I got offended or that you got offended. I'm sorry that somebody leaked this to the press, but they really don't want anything back. It's kind of like yeah, I said what I said, but I'm going to give some half assed apology. Because I feel like I'm under heat and I have to and the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the meantime, stay safe, stay sane, and I will See you in the next episode. Thanks for tuning in. If you enjoyed this episode, please take a quick second to subscribe to this podcast and share it with your friends. We'll see you next time.