Helping our clients achieve superior risk-adjusted portfolio performance
is Merk's mission

I listened to a pirated replay of last night's debate, with the folks that recorded it live commenting on the candidates. It was a reminder that candidates use references/symbolism/expressions that are at times over the heads of the audience. A sample:
* where's Simi Valley?
*… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Jitters in Eurozone debt markets? Not a headline from yesteryear, but fresh off the press at @FT: "Italian 10-year government bond yields rose 0.18 percentage points to 4.95 per cent, their highest level in a decade, after Italian prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s government raised… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

Did I miss something tonight?

As SCOTUS meets, I was reminded that the CFPB is on the chopping block. Unlike other agencies, it's funded by the Fed, not Congress. The reason? When the CFPB was set up, Democrats were afraid Republicans wouldn't award funding. And that's exactly how it's not supposed to work. twitter.com/i/web/status/1… twitter.com/AxelMerk/statu…

Housing crisis, China edition

An uncontroversial speech if these were normal times.
These are not normal times. twitter.com/ZaidJilani/sta…

WSJ: Buying a home or car right now is completely unaffordable for the typical American household because you’re mixing the higher borrowing costs with the high prices
wsj.com/personal-finan… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…