Biden is correct in wanting to increase the tax on share buybacks. Energy companies are not spending the massive increase in earnings they're seeing on more production. We, the people, can make better use of it. But much to oil & gas companies' relief, the Republican Congress will never vote to tax energy companies more. #CoSoFinance

This should make you laugh. If not, be sure to block me, because I'll post more like it.

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Fed Chair Powell spoke today, in case you're wondering why the market is behaving like a 12-year-old freaking out like Mom took away his phone.

Friday’s blowout jobs report helped propel Citi Economic Surprise Index for U.S. higher by significant degree … daily change was largest since June 2020 #CoSoFinance

Inventories are building, and apparently the Russians sent as much oil to sea as possible ahead of sanctions. This, plus a strong dollar, is weighing on crude oil short-term. A test of $70 is in order. #CoSoFinance

As bad as things were for gold on Friday, they were were worse for silver. It closed at its lows, closed below support, bearish volume was high and the Force Index, my favorite momentum indicator, turned bearish. #CoSoFinance

The strong U.S. dollar on Friday hammered gold back below $1,900, breaking support and giving it a horrific week with a bearish engulfing candlestick. Could it go back and retest $1,824.60 as support? Wait and see. Momentum is still bullish, but weakening. #CoSoFinance

The blowout 517,000 gain in U.S. employment in January sent the U.S. dollar index higher, because now the market thinks the Fed will keep hiking for longer. This gave the greenback a very good week, and a bounce from previous support made in May of last year. #CoSoFinance

Weekly chart shows #Copper is pulling back to test its breakout. #CoSoFinance

ISM Services new orders at 60.4 in January, up from 45.2 in December. Anything above 50 is expansion, and above 60? I'd call that a boom. #CoSoFinance

Markets are increasingly pricing in a second-half reversal of the global monetary tightening wave #CoSoFinance https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-02-03/markets-play-game-of-chicken-with-central-banks-on-pivot-bets

With #ChatGPT & Robots coming for all our jobs, now would be a great time for Hollywood to make a "Magnus, Robot Fighter" movie. And not in the crappy art style of the reboot, but the gorgeous style of the original.

Data from ⁦
@TickerSense
⁩ show in January 2023, announced stock buybacks more than tripled to $132 billion from a year ago, reaching highest total ever to start a year … surpasses previous January record (set two years ago) by >15% #CoSoFinance

Digging into the jobs numbers, we can see the big growth was in lower-wage services jobs. More restaurants are opening up, probably. Also, apparently Corporate America isn't ready to replace us all with robots ... yet. Nice chart from Liz Young. #CoSoFinance

Charlie Bilello reminds us that the drop in the US Unemployment Rate to 3.4%, puts it at the lowest level since 1969.
Were you even alive in 1969? I was. In 4TH grade!
Watch FOX News and the wingnut media spin themselves into knots trying to explain how this is happening when "socialist" Democrats are "ruining" the economy.
#CoSoFinance

US nonfarm #payrolls grew by 517K in January, way more than expected.
US unemployment rate: 3.4%
Labor Participation rate: 62.4
Average weekly hours worked: 34.7.
All those who focused on tech layoffs were myopic; most of America is hiring, not firing.
The stock market hates this, because the U.S. Fed has less incentive to cut interest rates, and the market is all about "free money". #CoSoFinance

Unemployment fell to 3.4% in January, the lowest rate since 1969. #CoSoFinance

When TV's bobble heads talk about disinflation, this is what they're talking about: Significant slowing of ULC in Q4, in line with a couple data points suggesting labor market costs softening. This report has a different flavor, suggesting an increase in productivity helping to bring down costs. #CoSoFinance

From Steve Rattner, who you see on CNBC sometimes:
2022 was a record-breaking year in the labor market:

- 11 million job openings on avg.
- 1.85 openings per unemployed worker on avg.

Both are the highest on annual averages on record.
#CoSoFinance #CoSoEconomics