Marc Cuniberti A commonly followed measure of consumer confidence in the US economy just increased to the highest level since September 2021.
What a difference a day makes.
With the parts of the market rising briskly, the wealth effect from increasing stocks is brightening investor sentiment. Some stocks like NVDIA are likely experiencing FOMO buying (fear of missing out).
Investors, seeing crazy gains in some stocks and not participating drives anxious buyers to follow the gains. Never a good idea but it can pay off on occasion. Definitely not a recommendation to buy or sell anything mind you.
Meanwhile, President Biden, whose student debt plan was thwarted by the Supreme Court citing legal violation, said he believes he found a work around. The current attempt relieves only older student debtors with some other details that isn’t fully explained at the time of writing. 80,000 students with 39 billion in loans will be affected if the plan goes through.
On another note, Elon Musk’s plunge into the ownership of Twitter may be seeing some red in the future as competitor META (Facebook) initiated its version of the real time social platform called THREADS and initial enrollment figures are off the charts. Perhaps the constant barrage of fact checkers scrutinizing people’s posts and the questionable violation of First Amendment free speech rights during the Biden/Trump election time period is fast forgotten. I, for one, thought Facebook went way over the fence banning posts during that time. Like WAY OVER. My opinion of course and likely not an opinion all will agree with.
AT&T stock (T) now offers up an annual dividend north of 7%.
Dividends are periodic payments from companies to shareholders. Looking at a chart of the stock shows a company that people perhaps don’t want to own. Year to date the stock is down from about 19 bucks a share to $14.52 as of the time I penned this. I have used AT&T for decades and still do, unfortunately. In my opinion, it is a poorly run company.
At least that is my experience. Investors may be agreeing with me considering the downward spiral of its share price. Again, my opinion and not a recommendation to buy or sell the stock. Not to pick on AT&T too much as competitor Verizon’s stock and yield are similar. I use Verizon as well but don’t lose any sleep over their service or products as I do with AT&T.
On a more local level, the city of Grass Valley is considering adding an additional sales tax to support public safety risks posed to Grass Valley said the city manager Tim Kiser.
Without giving many details on the proposal, the city is encouraging public input on the matter.
With inflation raging and only slowly responding to Fed policy, the idea of more new taxes may not sit well with many. When a tax is levied, not all the funds make it back to the economy as implementation and the mechanisms of allocating public funds always encompass a certain degree of waste. It’s unavoidable when the government is involved.
In the opinion of many, including this analyst, money is most efficiently spent in the hands of those who make it, mainly the consumer. There is no administration bleed-off as there is with tax implementation by a central agency like a government.
With consumers finding wallet-busting price rises across the board, another new tax will certainly push some people over the edge into economic distress.
Not being trained in economics, what many elected officials fail to realize is, although the additional sales tax will likely be argued to be minimal, every penny taken from consumers has an effect on some people similar to the straw that broke the camel’s back.
Basically, some people just can’t afford another tax.
The reasons for new taxes always seem worthwhile. And they usually are. At some point, however, if we taxed for every seemingly worthwhile need, there would be an endless bleed of funds from hard-working families.
Maybe instead of just throwing more money at a problem, we should ask why those in power can’t make do with the funds they already have.
And if they can’t, perhaps we should consider getting somebody in there that can.
“Watching the markets so you don’t have to”
(As mentioned please use the below disclaimer exactly) THANKS (Regulations)
This article expresses the opinion of Marc Cuniberti and is not meant as investment advice, or a recommendation to buy or sell any securities, nor represents the opinion of any bank, investment firm or RIA, nor this media outlet, its staff, members or underwriters. Mr. Cuniberti holds a B.A. in Economics with honors, 1979, and California Insurance License #0L34249. His insurance agency is BAP INC. that can be contacted at (530)559-1214. Marc was voted best financial advisor in the county 2021. Email: [email protected]
